1st & Goal is a board gamer's football game, a football fan's board game, and well worth a look.

It ultimately amounts to little more than a fresh coat of paint, but Mafia Wars Shakedown is every bit as habit-forming as its forbears.

Those after a challenging word game will greatly appreciate Spellwood. It doesn't hand victory over to the player by any means, especially in the early stages when there is limited equipment, but it's all the better for it.

The Sims Freeplay offers plenty of hours of fun. Some in one big dose, while other sessions are in shorter drop in sessions as is common with the freemium model. In each case, it makes The Sims Freeplay a worthwhile download at an excellent, non-existent, price.

There’s a fair amount of stuff to fight through in Immortal Rogue before it gets enjoyable, but it’s all worth it. Despite a few rough edges, the action offered here is worth investing time in, as it grants some very interesting and satisfying rewards that transform it from rote brawler into a varied action roguelite with huge replay value.

There's a great game to be had here in Growtopia. The crafting mechanic is unique, and growing all sorts of little trees for doors, bricks, wooden platforms, and (!) super crate boxes is compelling enough to get me to purchase more gems at times.

Skateboard Party 2 is not without its minor flaws, but it makes for an extremely solid and highly enjoyable skateboarding game that will keep players engrossed for hours.

The King of jigsaw puzzles comes to the iPad and is just as much fun as the physical version.

A great, simple baseball game that is only hindered by my previous addiction to Homerun Battle 3D. I love the simplicity of the game itself and find myself playing the game at times when I'm definitely not supposed to (like in the bathroom), but with a better batting system, smoother graphics and fonts, and a simplified upgrade system, this one would be a true, must have game.

Lil Smasher is a short but sweet physics-based puzzle game. Don't try to ape Gary's antique-smashing antics in a real museum, though.

har.mo.ny 2 brings more relaxing puzzle goodness and soothing music to fans of har.mo.ny, as well as newcomers to the series.

While it's got some room for improvement, it has a lot of good things going for it, has plenty of value and challenge in its 65 levels for $1.99 and is a concept that I hope gets explored even more in future updates and future games.

Overall, Gnomitaire is a nice little surprise and a fun little Solitaire game to boot. Don't come to it thinking you're getting a follow up to something as meaty as Card Crawl or Card Thief, though. Still, it's hard to complain about having a lite, fun Solitaire game on your phone that provides a fresh twist on the game at the sweet, sweet price of free.

If anything, Tweens HD might be a little too easy. However, annihilating its stages as quickly as possible is empowering to a degree not too often felt in puzzle games. Anyone looking for a more caffeinated brain teaser should check it out.

Marvelous storytelling, narration, and moving illustrations make this storybook worth a download.

Spirit Stones is a marriage of styles that just works.

A charming physics puzzler all about the love that a green blob has for plums.

Find numbers and create landmarks, people, and more, in this surprisingly compelling Hidden Object style puzzle game.

Though we've seen plenty of similar titles before, ABOVE is much more challenging thanks to the unique (though simple) controls, and the graphics are nothing short of gorgeous.

Quarriors is a faithful adaptation of the table-top game, but doesn’t *quite* hit all the right notes.

Heroes of Destiny is a free to play action rpg that remains fun in spite of its money-making model.

Charming and colorful, Glorkian Warrior is a frantic shoot em up full of reasons to return for more.

Take control of a kung fu sheep in this casual arcade game that successfully borrows from iOS hits.

Hazumino skillfully combines endless running with endless block stacking.

Master of Alchemy was beautiful on the iPad and its jump to the iPhone is no less breathtaking and fascinating to play.

Simply put: it’s fun and gives players good reason to stick with it.

At the end of the day, most fans of space combat games won't find too much wrong with Star Battalion. In typical Gameloft fashion, the game is smooth, looks nice, and has a half descent story (even though it is a total knock off). The controls will drive you nuts at times, but for most, the good will outweigh the bad.

KnightScape might not win over fans of truly "hardcore" runners and fighters, but anyone looking for a less intense good time should enjoy themselves. Especially if they love both those things. I know I do.

Football Manager Handheld 2012 isn't quite a revolution in soccer management but the addition of Challenge mode does go some way to encouraging that idea. It'd be nice to see some more hands on controls mid match in a future edition.

Combining golf with RPG mechanics and a dash of puzzle solving, Wizard Golf RPG is rather enjoyable.

For people who like social RPG/Task Management games, Prisonhood has arrived with a unique and interesting approach.

Blitz Brigade is an enjoyable first-person shooter where players fight online in multiple gameplay modes, taunting their way to victory.

A fun and exciting take on the baseball genre, combining addictive single player with competitive multiplayer to make a thoroughly enjoyable game!

Whirl the Squirrel might look cute, but underneath all that quirkiness is a challenging and entertaining racer.

Angry Henry And The Escape From The Helicopter Lords: Part 17: The Re-Reckoning lives up to its name.

SpaceChem isn't the most beautiful of games but it's certainly complex. Controls are easy to use and the concept is perfect for the iPad screen.

Lost Horizon is a mobile port of a PC adventure game classic that's good fun for genre veterans and newcomers alike.

Anomaly 2 is beautiful, but more of the same.

Sol Invictus is a pretty enjoyable sequel to Cubus Games's Heavy Metal Thunder, which was itself a similarly fun adventure game book.

Descenders is such a fresh take on action sports games that it manages to satisfy on iOS, even with troublesome touch controls.

The sequel to Ironhide’s incredible real-time strategy game serves up a lot more of it, and not much else.

Pyro Pursuit combines red-hot thrills with deliberately paced arcade action.

A fresh take on the block-breaker genre, Tiny Crashers 2 can be repetitive at times, even while adding missiles and ragdolls into the mix.

It’s a sequel to the original gravity-based platformer, and it’s packed with new surprises and better gameplay to keep players stuck to their iOS devices.

Pandemic 2.5 is one of those games that really has to be played in order to understand what all the fuss is about. It's not perfect, sure, but it's the best viral Armageddon simulator I've ever played.

Sneakiness and monotony aside, Dragon Flight is certainly worth trying out. It may only keep interest for a few minutes or it might take over your day, but either way I'm confident most will enjoy their time with it. It's free, it has endless shooting, it has dragons, and it has a cute pink-haired valkyrie. What's not to love?

CastleMine looks a bit rough and doesn't feel very balanced for difficulty, but it's a fun tower defense game that manages to be more strategic than most.

Flower is a great game that has aged well despite one, deep-seeded problem.

It's a very good game that's a lot of fun. It's just that the original offers pretty much the exact same experience with a lot more content and modes. If someone already owns Fruit Ninja, I can't really think of a reason why they'd also want this version. Unless they're a huge fan of the movie or the actor, anyway.

It might look rough, but Space Forest Dilemma is a satisfyingly tricky logic puzzle game.

Nitro Chimpsis not perfect, but for a game about high-flying stunt chimps, it does the job. Ride on, radical simian. Ride on.

Microsoft's motivations aside, Kinectimals still proves itself to be a cute way to indulge the inner pet owner in everyone. As long as players go in with realistic expectations of a kid-targeted experience, there is plenty to enjoy and even more to love.

Castle Doombad brings many different types of tower defense together into one game.

This introspective puzzle game occasionally disrupts its own flow but is otherwise a pretty special experience.

The charm of Grim Joggers comes with its retro interface. The little joggers all graphically look like they are somewhere between the NES and the SNES, and the sound effects and upbeat theme music really set the mood well.

Duckie Deck Huff n’ Puff is an early science app for toddlers with a lovely sense of style.

Stick Tennis Tour is a fun game of arcade style tennis.

Pocket Heroes shows immense promise and is plenty interesting as-is when everyone is active. But that's the rub. Only time will tell if it will become a hub of activity or a complete ghost town.

Like most good inspirational sports sagas, Team Paul Skiing is based on a true story.

Formula Cartoon All-Stars is a fun if shallow racing game.

Overall, Doodle Cat is a breath of fresh air when compared to all the games available in the App Store. It's not fast-paced and there's no time limit, making it relaxing and a pleasure to play. If you love this style of game or you're looking for a new game to keep the kiddos occupied, I recommend checking out this freemium title today.

The characters are cute and well designed, the levels are challenging yet not brutal, the music is bright and lively, and flinging the squids around the screen is a ton of fun. And we can all use a bit more of that, right?

Hairy Tales certainly has a few elements that make warding off the corruption a bit more taxing than it ought to be, but it's still a very entertaining puzzle game with loads of bushy cuteness. So go ahead; grab a crystal and start running. Just mind the gaps.

A console racing game would be hard to do justice on mobile, but Blur Overdrive has just enough old and new to appease both fans and newcomers.

It's a great package for card game fans and Assassin's Creed fans alike. The story mode within Assassin's Creed Recollection promises 8-10 hours of fun and the online multiplayer will no doubt extend that. Throw in the time it'll take to collect all 280 cards/memories and there's a lot of gameplay to be had for fans of the franchise.

A beautiful situational simulation title with vibrant visuals. While I thought the game could benefit from more features, including the ability to create your own in-game characters and overall gameplay length to be a little short coming in at just under 24 hours, I found that the attention to detail within the game, coupled with a great storyline and in-game control mechanics made Artist Colony an enjoyable experience.

A ski jumping game with an emphasis on style.

Match corresponding numbers together and clear the board in this simple to play but tactically focused puzzle game.

Brickies offers some fresh twists on a potentially tired formula.

My Laboratory is great for those who can't get enough of element-style games or those who are avid puzzle fans. The graphics are adorable and the game play keeps players hooked as they try to find all 200 combinations.

A highly-polished board game adaptation, Dungeon Heroes delivers challenging single-player and excellent 2-player gameplay.

SciBeaver is a more cerebral challenge than is usually expected on the App Store, especially once a variety of different lights are used in certain stages. This will mean that SciBeaver isn't for everyone. For those after challenging brainteasers, though, it's a hit and one that should keep players busy for a while to come yet.

This game is visually-stunning, and its missions have a great sense of scope to them.

Despite some minor technical and navigation issues, Orwell is a thrilling narrative adventure about the dangers of surveillance.

Door Kickers: Action Squad feels like a game that should feel tighter and offer controller support, but that's only because the game isn't great at letting you know what it is. If you spend more time with it, it reveals that it's a slower-paced game than it initally seems, and learning to shift your mindset to this more tactical mode is key to enjoying it. This mobile version probably isn't the ideal way to play Action Squad, but there's still plenty enjoyment to be had here nonetheless.

The design has charm, but because there is so much starting over the game can feel a little repetitive. That's offset, however, by the moments of real humor and the solid old school gameplay.

Take on the role of Major Zap and help stop the pesky insects from infesting the planet and dominating the world.

Take down enemy airships in this area-combat, turn-based, and steampunk-themed strategy title.

Leap from planet to planet collecting stars in this simple to learn one-touch jumping game.

It's a shame that Ronin takes a bit of time to hit its stride because it runs the risk of scaring off impatient players. However, anyone who sticks with it for a level or two will undoubtedly find plenty of enjoyment. So long as they never put more than one finger on the screen, anyway.

Hell Quest is an addictive dice-rolling RPG with a fantastic balance between skill and chance.

While I don't see Crap of Defense winning many game of the year awards, I do think that it is a top notch time waster with a style of its own.

While Bit Pilot, at face value, may not seem to have much to offer, the exact opposite is true; it's a deceptively-intense game with a lot of personality, fluid controls and a thought-provoking soundtrack.

It's challenging, requires a surprising amount of thought, and most importantly, is fast. Pick it up for some great action, just don't go in thinking that you are playing the next Final Fantasy.

Disco Kitten is unique to say the least. The eclectic mix of gameplay, mechanics, visuals and music makes for a game that doesn't easily fit into many genres. This one-of-a-kind game is lots of fun and very challenging as well.

The Dungeon Saga is, for the most part, the definitive puzzle RPG for the casual gamer. It eschews conventions like multiple complex classes and large amounts of weapons and instead boils just about everything down to simple upgrades.

If you're looking for a roguelike with a bunch of charm, Atomic Super Lander's got your back. It's not perfect, but its problems are easy to look past thanks to its charming execution on a fun concept.

Light in the Dark is an interesting and challenging puzzle game with some amusing bits of background humor thrown in to boot.

This focus on in-app purchases is a little infuriating as no one likes to be encouraged to spend quite so readily, even when playing a free to play game. There's no need to spend this money but the constant reminders will still frustrate. It dampens an otherwise enjoyable title.

About Love, Hate and the Other Ones is a classic puzzle game done differently and done well. Even without the charming presentation it provides a clever and fairly unique series of special-relation riddles that make time melt away.

It'll make many a puzzle fan scratch their head a few times throughout the game, which is all anyone can really ask of a quality puzzle game. With such a classy and well polished interface, Allods Adventure is all the more appealing.

The original game had some great artwork, although the finer details were a bit absent, and that's no different here. However, the lack of detail is almost completely nullified by being on the small screen.

Nobody said it was this clever either.

There might be no words within Unmechanical but it still tells quite the story about a little, lost robot. It's a highly imaginative puzzle game, too.

While some aspects did annoy me with the combat and platforming, overall this is an extremely enjoyable action-RPG experience. The classical elements are there but it's not overwhelmingly retro, and it is definitely worth checking out.

This free-to-play action-rpg has some compelling progression hooks but difficult controls.

Mutant Storm doesn't light the world on fire, but even as a 2005 re-release, it does some things differently enough on a structural level that it should engross fans of the dual-stick shooter.

Heroes of Normandie is probably my favorite game that Slitherine has put out to date. It's not perfect, but that's part of what makes it interesting. If you don't mind putting up with some weird text, spotty multiplayer, and dense UI explanations buried in a wiki, you will find a deeply satisfying and weird strategy game here.