After the big release month of November and the surprisingly full-featured month of December, January was always going to feel like a slump no matter how good its releases were. Thankfully not every developer or publisher was afraid of this stigma and as a result iOS gamers were treated to some really fun games that helped to smooth things out.
Starting as of this year we'll be dropping the numbered order of these top releases. The reasoning for this is that they all essentially represent the best of what's on offer, meaning any order given to them is purely personal preference.
To offset this I'll be choosing one of the three games as my personal favorite - this will give you an idea of what gets me excited each month.
Leave a comment and let us know what your favorite release of the month is - we may review, but you get to decide, so it'd be great to know what you decided to stick with.
Run Roo Run (5TH Cell) $0.99
Run Roo Run is 5TH Cell's first serious push on the iOS platform and much like Scribblenauts the game is aimed at all ages and all skill levels. The emphasis, though, is on the last part as the game's initial 420 levels ranged from being so simple you could 'finish' the game in an hour or so, to brutally unforgiving if you dared to try its unlockable hard-mode levels. For a game that demands little more than your ability to quickly read a level and tap to jump, Run Roo Run manages to mix up the experience enough to make it a seriously hard game to put down.
JAZZ: Trump's journey (Bulkypix EggBall Games) $2.99 Universal
While platformers are becoming increasingly more common on the App Store, finding a fresh title that stands on its own two feet is far less common. Although you may not get the hardest of challenges with JAZZ: Trump's journey, what you do get is a game that feels so good, the developers even turned its menu system in to a platform game all by itself. You'll learn to control time and solve miniature puzzles while searching for unlockables that tell more of Trump's story - a fantastically simple example of what happens when everything comes together in a game's development.
Puzzlejuice (Colaboratory) $1.99 Universal
I honestly think my original review of Puzzlejuice is enough to stress how much I enjoy the game, but seeing as it's my personal pick of the month I'm going to highlight it a little more. As puzzle games go, there's not a lot that's original about Puzzlejuice, at least when you break it up in to elements. There's Tetris, Color Matching and Word Finding, but what makes this such a fun experience is attempting to manage all three at the same time. Puzzlejuice is the result of a collaboration between three industry professionals out to create something unique, beautiful, and downright addictive - and they acheive all of these things in one simple package. If you find yourself wondering what puzzler you want to play to kill some spare time, consider cutting out the middle-man and play all of them at the same time thanks to Puzzlejuice.
While our website is still under maintenance, don't forget you can keep up to date with the scores, news and features we release via Twitter and Facebook. Thanks again for a wonderful 2011 and we look forward to more great releases to share with you this year.
