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Oceanhorn ™ Review
It's fair to say that many action-RPGs released in the last 15 years have been influenced in some way by the Zelda franchise. However, few games wear their inspiration as proudly as Oceanhorn: Monster of Uncharted Seas. Stop me if you've heard this one: You're a young boy with a mysterious backstory who is sent on a perilous quest. You're armed with a sword, shield, and bow, and must explore forests, deserts, and caverns in search of keys to unlock doors. Along the way you'll chop up…
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Don't Shoot Yourself! Review
“Don't shoot yourself!” Once just sensible piece of advice, this statement is now the title of an iOS game. This game has a simple premise: survive long enough to shoot 100 bullets. How hard can that be? As you might expect, it's tougher than it sounds. You take control of a small arrow which finds itself trapped inside a number of oddly-shaped prisons. Normally this solitude would be good for such activities as introspection and self-discovery. But the arrow has a problem…
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Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous Review
Tilt to Live 2 is subtitled 'Redonkulous'. This is quite a boast, especially considering the first Tilt to Live became pretty crazy over the years thanks to a series of bar-raising updates. So, given the twitch-based insanity of the original, could this sequel be that much crazier? The answer is a resounding 'yes'. Those who have played the original should feel right at home with Tilt to Live 2. As before, you must tilt your iDevice to move a tiny arrow around the screen, avoidin…
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Stealth Inc. Review
Stealth Inc. is a platform puzzler with a cruel sense of humour. Like Portal's Chell before him, your little clone is trapped inside a testing facility filled with laser turrets, sentry robots, and spinning saw blades. It's up to you to guide the goggle wearing lab rat through a series of wickedly constructed death mazes, hacking into computer terminals along the way to open the exit. Being a port of a PC and console, the controls have been paired down a bit. It's definitely a little…
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Hot Mess Review
Hot Mess caused a bit of controversy when it was banned from the App Store not once but twice. You see, Hot Mess is a game about burning passion. More specifically, it's a game about locating burning passion, and then dousing those white hot with flames with a jet of cold water. You take control of a fire-fighting robot, who has been sent into a hotel to save the residents from a series of blazes. After an unexpected electric shock, the robot's targeting systems go haywire, causing hi…
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Pathogen Review
Ah... the carefree life of the virus: only interested in the act of self-replication and the consumption of every other organism on the planet. Fittingly, the disease-themed Pathogen is a competitive game between two players (either another human or an AI) in which the goal is to infect and consume the board until nothing but your counters remain. While the developer wishes to give the game an 'easy to learn, hard to master' tagline, we're not quite sure it applies here. To be honest,…
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Meltdown© Review
Sometimes, you need a break from the puzzles, the physics contraptions - even a good narrative. Sometimes, you just want to shoot things. Meltdown certainly excels in this area. It harbours thirty missions of randomly generated terrain and enemies, which give you access to a whole host of class and weapon upgrades. Plus - and here's the real draw - up to four players can jump in on the carnage at any given time. As a result, Meltdown is as pure a cooperative shooting experience as one…
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Sorcery! 2 Review
Part two of Steve Jackson's Sorcery! series has no time for altruism. If anything, the second chapter of Inkle's interactive repurposing of the '80s gamebook series is openly contemptuous of do-gooders. I'm exploring the cityport of Khare, wandering through its cruel streets trying to reach the North Gate, and continue my quest to retrieve the Crown of Kings. The interface from the first chapter is back, complete with its handsome 3D map, alphabetical spellcasting system, and turn-bas…
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Octagon - A Minimal Arcade Game with Maximum Challenge Review
Octagon is a game of borrowed ideas. It obviously takes its inspiration from titles such as Super Hexagon and Boson X, putting the player a punishing set of reaction-testing trials. Each stage consists of a tubular maze. You take control of a small octagon, which you must guide through the maze by swiping left and right. If you need to transfer to a platform directly above, then you swipe up to trigger a leap to the ceiling. If you can survive sixty seconds, you will cross the finish…
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Dwice - new puzzle arcade game from Tetris inventor Review
Dwice is the latest game from Tetris creator Alexey Pajitnov. As the city sleeps, the populace is unaware that the only thing that stands between them and utter destruction is a quick finger, and an even faster thinker The game itself is deceptively simple. Geometric shapes are descending upon the city. Tap on a shape and drag it through a matching shape, and both will disappear. The aim is to drag your finger through as many matching shapes as possible in a single swipe, thereby buil…
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Pocket Titans Review
Pocket Titans is a turn based strategy title that's easy for anyone to pick up and play, and utilizes a unique control system. In most turn based strategy games, you use movement and action points to put your character in the most advantageous position possible, allowing you attack your enemy while avoiding repercussions. This priciple still applies to Pocket Titans, but instead of moving players, you move the landscape. Each stage takes place on a five by five square grid. Each row…
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LEGO® The Lord of the Rings™ Review
The LEGO games are, and always have been, about teamwork - friends coming together to assemble contraptions, collect shiny studs, and dismantle evil one brick at a time. It was only a matter of time, then, before developer Traveller's Tales turned its attention to that most famous of literary friendships, Tolkien's Fellowship of the Ring. The result is a game that provides a slick and entertaining interactive abridgement of the Lord of the Rings movies, even if the gameplay itself is…
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Everyday Spelunker Review
Spelunker is a platformer created in 1983, remembered fondly by owners of PCs and Commodore 64s. The game was notoriously difficult, and falling to an untimely death was a frequent occurance. Factor in traps, hazards, and a ghost that just won't leave you alone, and you have an experience that could only be remembered fondly by masochists. Now, Spelunker has been faithfully ported to the iOS under the title Everyday Spelunker. So, 30 years on, how does the game stand up? Now, we coul…
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Rayman Fiesta Run Review
Rayman Jungle Run is a hard act to follow. With its dazzling visuals, tight-as-a-drum controls, and endlessly inventive levels, it set the standard for auto-runners on iOS. For the inevitable sequel, Rayman Fiesta Run, Ubisoft has pulled Rayman out of the trees and into the kitchen - or should that be 'la cocina'. You see, this sequel is all about food - specifically, Mexican food. Every aspect of every level has a distinctly Latin flavour. You'll smash pinatas and swing from da…
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Naught 2 Review
Naught was one of the better silhouette platformer-puzzlers to appear on the App Store in 2011. In it, you took control of a bipedal cat, whom you had to slide around cavernous levels by tilting your iPhone or iPad. It was tricky, but once you get a handle on the angles it was a pretty good time. Now, the spelunking feline has returned in a new game featuring spruced up animations, faster levels, and some seriously testing bosses. Most of these changes make Naught 2 a prettier, more e…
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