There's a lot going on in this strategy game, which makes it both confusing and unstable.

This shooter is pretty great, but there are many, many free-to-play annoyances surrounding it.

ATOMINE certainly is a unique twin-stick shooter, but the visual aspects that make it look cool also make it harder to play. There are certainly neat things about it, particularly its modular weapon system, but even these things are obscured by some questionable visual design choices. Although the game is generally a pretty fun shooter, there are other ones out there that are more fun and less confusing.

As beautiful as Morphite may look on the surface, it's innerworkings are pretty ugly. The entire game just feels kind of empty and lifeless, and nothing in the gameplay, story, or aesthetic do anything to inject much life into it. It's a real shame that such a cool aesthetic is wasted on such a dull game.

Another Lost Phone: Laura's Story may be a bit unsurprising, but it's still a great sequel.

In the heyday of adventure games, players would put up with being stuck and pixel-hunting because–in doing so–they could expect to be rewarded with an interesting story and entertaining characters. Thimbleweed Park is a game that provides very elegant solutions to the mechanical problems of traditional adventure games, but then completely fails to provide any sort of satisfying narrative payoff in return. As a result, Thimbleweed Park is easy to play, but extremely hard to enjoy.

When making a multiplayer game on mobile, it's extremely important to be mindful of players' time. If your game isn't super complicated, it should be a quick, satisfying experience. It shouldn't be bloated with long animations, and matches should be designed to end in a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately for Stormbound, neither of these things are true. Although it has a lot of neat mechanics and potential, Stormbound is just a bit too slow for its own good.

Drag'n'Boom is a neat arcade game that makes a great first impression, but it falls off hard because of its lack of difficulty and tuning. If there were some more complicated level designs or a limit to your powers, I could see Drag'n'Boom being a really satisfying platformer, but instead it's just a flashy power trip that gets old pretty quickly.

If you're looking for a digital version of Eight-Minute Empire, this release provides exactly what you're looking for. Although it may take quite a bit of time to get an asynchronous match going, the game otherwise works as intended. That said, playing Eight-Minute Empire isn't all that satisfying, especially if you are looking for a strategic, empire-building experience.

Iron Marines is quite possibly the best real-time strategy game on the App Store. It's full of variety, lovingly crafted, and imminently replayable. Its in-app purchases may rub you the wrong way, but that feels like a small blemish on an otherwise extremely polished and fun experience.

Battle Golf Online isn't a terribly deep experience, but its arcade action is lightning quick and has just enough layers to it to feel satisfying every time you play. Do yourself a favor and pick this up for some delightfully quirky and frenetic fun.

There is some satisfaction in Death Point's stealth action, but all of it comes with a bevy of caveats. Mechanically, it is capable of delivering experiences reminiscent of Splinter Cell or Hitman, but its story, characters, and design all get in the way. This makes Death Point hardly worth checking out, even if you're a big stealth-action fan.

As a game, Little Red Lie may not look or play like much, but as a piece of interactive fiction, it's intense, thought-provoking, and really well written. It's certainly worth seeing through to the end, even though that involves putting up with some sub-par gameplay.

Radiation City is a conceptual step in the right direction as a follow up to Radiation Island, but it fails to reach its potential on almost every level. A survival game based more on looting and exploration is a great idea, but only if the looting and exploring feel good. Unfortunately for Radiation City though, wandering around the streets of Pripyat mostly feels repetitive, random, and overly clunky.

If you played and liked Darkest Dungeon on PC, picking up the tablet edition is a no-brainer. For five bucks, you can take your dungeon-crawling on-the-go, and even continue adventures you've started on the PC by exporting your save file via Dropbox. That said, Darkest Dungeon certainly isn't for everyone. It feels like a game that wants to beat you down by throwing its systems at you. This can be fun to a point, but it also makes the game feel pretty oppressive and downright random. Considering the game is about fighting off eldritch horrors, this makes a certain amount of sense, but it also makes for a less fun game experience.

This strategy/shooter hybrid has some interesting ideas, but its blend of styles ends up being less-than-compelling.

Swipe Casters is essentially cool mechanic buried inside a pretty middling arcade game. Drawing spells to cast down enemies is a really neat idea on paper, but when it's reduced to simply tracing patterns given to you as quickly as possible, it's not exactly a great time. In fact, it's pretty disappointing.

Holy Potatoes! A Weapon Shop?! is a deeply satisfying and charming management game. Some minor control issues aside, it feels right at home on mobile. Between its great pacing, bright visuals, and satisfying mechanics, there's a lot to like here.

The strategy in Demise of Nations is really compelling and interesting. Its focus on combat makes feel pretty different than something like Civilization while still retaining a good sense of depth. I do wish the game looked a little better, and that its menu commands were easier to decipher, but otherwise, Demise of Nations is an excellent (and free!) strategy game.

Bottom of the 9th is a really cool take on a sports game. It looks and feels almost nothing like most other video game sports, yet it captures the feeling of real sports in ways that a lot of other games don't. This magic is only at its best when playing with others though, and finding people to play Bottom of the 9th with can often feel like more trouble than it's worth.

Burgle Bros is a solid board game to play solo or on the same device with friends. It's not a game you'll win a lot, but there's fun in trying to overcome the odds anyway. If you like heisting games and a healthy challenge, this is a worthy purchase.

It would've been nice to see a Pokémon contender like Nexomon set out to fix some the series's problems (e.g. long grinding sessions, general slow pace, simplistic battles, etc.), but Nexomon instead opts to provide a very straightforward translation of Pokémon to the App Store. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but it is a little disappointing. All of that said, Nexomon is definitely your best bet for playing something like classic Pokémon on your phone. There may be other titles out there that try to do this same thing, but none pull it off quite as well as Nexomon.

This action RPG takes some tried-and-true mechanics and turns them into a cute, cuddly, and very satisfying experience.

Titanfall: Assault is largely just a gussied up version of Clash Royale that leans mostly on its brand to make itself stand out. It definitely looks great and has things reminiscent of Titanfall in it, but it doesn't surpass (or even match) the level of quality of the game that it's borrowing from.

Road Warriors feels fast and awesome as you flip and shoot your way through insane race tracks. It also does a great job of bringing you back to it by providing a new course every day and loot boxes to upgrade your car with. The track may not always be great, and you might not always have the best luck with loot, but the racing action here more than makes up for it.

If Galaxy of Pen and Paper were simply a sci-fi reskin of Knight of Pen and Paper, it would be a fine–although underwhelming–game. As is stands now though, almost everything Galaxy of Pen and Paper does to differentiate itself seems to either make it perform worse or find some other way to be frustrating. Simply put, if you're looking for a sci-fi RPG to enjoy, look elsewhere. This is not the game you're looking for.

If you were looking for a follow up to Card Crawl that is less complicated, this is the game for you. It doesn't hide anything behind unlocks, and presents a perfectly enjoyable solo card game that way. For fans of Card Thief though, Miracle Merchant could prove a little less satisfying.

If you're way into mini-golf, Vista Golf is a great game to pick up. It guarantees a near limitless amount of courses for both competitive and casual players alike. It may not be a perfect golf game, but it's hard to beat for the price.

Fighting Fantasy Legends is a near-perfect balance of a gamebook and role-playing game.

This classic adventure game got a nice makeover, but the game itself hasn't aged well.

Age of Solitaire is a really hard game to recommend. It's a pretty game, but it's otherwise a version of Solitaire that is muddied with ads, consumable in-app purchases, and a relatively lifeless civilzation-building visual layer.

Eden would be a decent imitation of something like Lara Croft GO if it didn't feel so unwieldy. Perhaps if it moved a little faster, had an undo button, and squashed a few more bugs, it would be great. As it currently stands though, Eden is a very middling puzzle game.

The Lion's Song isn't the strongest adventure game out there, but it is certainly one of the most uniquely interesting ones.

This strategy game does a poor job of explaining itself, but is otherwise a great 4X-style experience.

Sidewords turns the traditional conventions of word games on their heads in a way that is truly unique and fun.

Top to bottom, Motorsport Manager Mobile 2 is a better than the great game that came before it. It's elegant, smart, difficult, and supremely satisfying, regardless of whether or not you are a racing enthusiast. It is certainly the leader of the pack when it comes to management sims on mobile. Don't let this one pass you by.

Resynth is a decent puzzle game, but its musical elements are all pretty weak. The music is there and it's tied to the game's aesthetic, but at the end of the day, these elements don't change the fact that you're pushing blocks around the same way you might in dozens of other Sokoban-style games. As a result, there's no real reason to go out of your way to check out Resynth.

Star Vikings Forever feels like a collection of mechanics that are desperate to try and find some direction. The game's procedural generation can occasionally make interesting and satisfying levels, but more often presents boring or unfair ones. Without the presence of intentionally designed levels, Star Vikings Forever's parts–interesting as they may be–don't create a cohesive whole.

Valerian: City of Alpha's attempts to deliver stories from Valerian's universe are undercut by its gameplay, and its gameplay is clunky and slow.

Street Fighter IV Champion Edition is a hugely disappointing game. It does almost all of the right things when it comes to making a great mobile fighting game, but really messes up the most important thing: the multiplayer. Playing Champion Edition online is such a compromised experience, it feels like a different game, and not one you'd ever want to play.

This mini version of DayZ is a little too small and rough to feel satisfying.

This card game is a creative and clever mashup of Solitaire and Missile Command.

Swing King and the Temple of Bling has a neat swing mechanic, but it's otherwise a pretty unsurprising puzzle/platformer. If you've played something like Major Magnet before, you know most of what to expect here. Perhaps if the game's swinging felt a bit easier to control or the game's monetization strategy was a little less annoying, the game would feel more special. As it stands now though, Swing King is pretty middling.

The way that Kalimba builds levels around its swapping mechanic is exquisite. Every single level presents a new and creative challenge and not just a harder version of something that came before. Simply put, Kalimba's platforming is excellent and well worth your time and money.

When credits started rolling on The Little Acre, I felt quite ambivalent. The game is packed full of great ideas and characters, but a lot of them feel like they weren't given the proper room to breathe. In general, I'd prefer a game to be this way than overly long and artificially lengthened, but in the case of The Little Acre, its brevity keeps it from living up to its potential.

This multiplayer card game is delightfully tactical and unique.

There isn't really much to like about Dark Universe Stories. It's a game of dialogue, story, and puzzles, and all three are underwhelming. Considering the quality of Night School Studio's past work, I was hoping they could make a cool licensed game, but they fail to deliver even when trying to play to their strengths.

I'm glad to see Colin Lane continuing to make weird sports games, but I'd like to see things trend more toward things like Golf Zero than Touchdowners. Although this game doesn't really feel like football, it still feels a little too much like a sport. This makes Touchdowners seem like something you might want to play with someone else, but not alone against AI.

While beautiful, exploring in forma.8 GO isn't quite as fun or clear as it should be.

On its face, Flipping Legend is a pretty light game that doesn't look like it has much to it. Once you get your hands on it though, the game ends up feeling like a lot more than that. It's got a great core mechanic, a solid amount of variety, and some amazing detail work. Flipping Legend may be an arcade-style phone game, but it is a truly excellent one of those.

I don't dislike FRAMED 2, but it is one of those sequels that seems just like “more” of a previous game rather than something that pushes the core ideas of a franchise forward. While there are a few moments where this sequel tries to do some new stuff, a lot of it feels like too little, too late. If you liked the first FRAMED and want more of it, FRAMED 2 is great, but if you were looking for something more than that, you might be a bit disappointed.

Fowlst takes two, obvious sources of inspiration and shamelessly slaps them together. The result is a game that is clearly reminiscent of both Downwell and Flappy Bird while still feeling like its own thing. There are times where its run-based nature can feel a little overly repetitive, but this roguelike arcade game is still a hoot.

After playing Monument Valley 2, I have an idea of why the first game got propped up to be mobile gaming's standard-bearer. At the time of its release, it was a novel experience wrapped in a breathtakingly gorgeous package. It was easy to look at, easy to play, and therefore easy to recommend to anyone. Much like an actual monument, Monument Valley was (and still is) an important landmark in mobile gaming. Monument Valley 2 seems to iterate on the things that made Monument Valley so beloved, but in doing so it feels like a duplication of effort–like a monument to a monument. It's still pretty and easy to recommend, but feels far less special.

DISTRAINT is far from a perfect game, but some of its problems make it a memorable, and almost endearing, experience. The not-so-fun issues, while present, are minor enough that you can still make your way through the game just fine. As a result, DISTRAINT makes for a unique adventure experience that is more curious than it is scary.

Skullgirls is a flashy-looking game that is pretty miserable to actually play. It's combat feels a little too simple, and your success seems determined more by lucky Relic rewards than skill. Add to this the fact that this is a fighting game with no multiplayer component, and there's very little reason to actually pick Skullgirls up.

This turn-based strategy game isn't particularly complicated, but it's got a great concept and a lot of heart to make up for it.

It's hard to look at Prison Architect and not be impressed by it. Even with some of its technical issues, it's one of the most fully-featured management sims I've ever played. It's a game that somehow creates fun in an extremely dour and complex setting, all while handling its sensitive subject matter with remarkable grace.

Jaipur isn't a hugely complicated card game, but there's enough to it that makes it feel strategically satisfying when you play. When you combine that with a healthy multiplayer community and an unexpected amount of modes, there's a lot to like about Jaipur. This is definitely a card game worth picking up.

A New Frontier shows just about every way that a Telltale game can go wrong. It sets up an interesting direction for the series to move in, and then squanders its potential due to artistic and technical issues. Unless you really need to see more developments to Clementine's story from previous seasons of The Walking Dead, there's really no reason to see this adventure through.

Magikarp Jump isn't a great game so much as it is a curious, clicker-esque thing. It is laudable insofar as it takes a totally uninteresting gameplay loop and actually gives some life to it. This doesn't make Magikarp Jump feel any more like a satisfying game, but it does make it one of the more interesting Pokémon titles out there.

Guns of Boom is some solid, streamlined shooting that feels better than quite a few other mobile shooters. That said, it has a free-to-play economy that can directly influence the outcome of matches. This isn't something that's noticeable in every match, but whenever you do notice it, it's frustrating.

Beholder is a fascinating game that gives you a cool, clockwork world to play around in. It also tells a story about the difficulties of living in a totalitarian state, but some of that can be overshadowed by the depth of the game's mechanics and the ease with which you can undo decisions you've made. It's still a game worth playing and experiencing, but perhaps one that won't stick with you after you've played through it.

Artificial Superintelligence is a fine spin on Reigns. It takes a few storytelling and conceptual risks, but that's about it. If you loved Reigns and are looking for a fun take on its formula, this game could very much be for you. You shouldn't come to this game looking for much else though.

Miles and Kilo is simply a great platfomer with old school roots. Because of this, it's pretty unforgiving. With the help of some amazing controls and an instant restart mechanic though, Miles and Kilo's difficulty ends up feeling immenseley rewarding instead of unfair.

In a lot of ways, Old Man's Journey is a lot like its own protagonist. It's precious and fascinating, but has its fair share of wrinkles as well. I wouldn't let any of the technical issues with the game stop you from picking it up though. Old Man's Journey more than makes up for its shortcomings through its unique mechanics, breathtaking visuals, and emotionally affecting story.

SPIFFING may look a bit cheap, and its controls can be bothersome, but it's a solid adventure game nonetheless. It's a funny game (an impressive feat) that has some clever puzzles, which is most of what you need out of a quality adventure game. It's humor may not be for everyone, but SPIFFING is certainly worth picking up for some very British adventuring.

Crash Club offers some light multiplayer action that is reminiscent of Twisted Metal, albeit in a much more colorful way. It's a game formula that works, but only when it's firing on all cylinders. When the game's randomness isn't working in your favor though, there long stretches of playing that aren't fun. This isn't enough to make Crash Club a bad game, but it is enough to keep me from playing much more of it moving forward.

It is convenient that you can play Match Land without a data connection, but that's pretty much the only edge it has over other match-three games. Its byzantine upgrade structure and loads of free-to-play mechanics make it hard to enjoy, and–even if those weren't present–the core matching mechanics seem a little too random to be satisfying.

Battle Bay avoids feeling like a simple clone of World of Tanks by being a better game. It's colorful, varied, and simultaneously more accessible and strategic than Wargaming's tank battler. Sure, Battle Bay may not be a completely new idea, and the free-to-play-ness of it might be a touch overdone, but it's still a blast.

Spaceplan isn't an exceptional clicker. It's an exceptional game that just so happens to be a clicker. It's a game that manages to be smart, funny, beautiful, and strange with a simple set of tools over a relatively short period of time. Most games can't do that. Spaceplan does so effortlessly.

Super Senso is a smart combination of ideas plus some cool mecha-on-kaiju action. It isn't perfect, but it seems like its worst issues are mostly behind it. If you're looking for a quality, multiplayer strategy game in the vein of Advance Wars, I'd recommend Super Senso, but perhaps not ahead of something a little more balanced like Warbits.

Despite its issues, I enjoyed my time with The Bunker. Its shortcomings are only noticeable because of how well made the rest of it is. The Bunker's tone and look make you want it to be more complicated from both a narrative and mechanical standpoint, but what it accomplishes on these fronts is at least as good as other games like it. As a result, it's a good adventure game, but one that also compels you to wish it were better.

There's really no reason not to check out Father and Son. It's a beautiful, free game that tells a solid story along the way. Go get it, and go visit the Naples Archaeological Museum to get more of it to play if you like it.

Onirim is a great little solo card game that you can get a lot out of. It may not be particularly impressive in the looks department, but that's ok for a card game.

While the limited number of lives in Topsoil might sound like a bummer, you'll know whether or not this game is for you by the time you have to decide between watching an ad or paying for the game to keep playing. For me, Topsoil's minimal approach is just a little too barebones to make me stick with it. There are other puzzle games I'd rather play.

Get Me Outta Here is a solid 2-D shooter with a great sense of style. While I wish it had an option to opt for a controller, it's still a pretty good time without one. I don't think it will blow anyone away, but it's great fun that's easy enough for you to try out for free if you think it might be for you.

Vignettes is perhaps a little too mysterious, but that's a minor gripe in the grand scheme of things. It's an otherwise entertaining and stylish puzzle game that will definitely mess with your head in a lot of creative and mind-bending ways.

The core premise of CATS is solid, but the walls that it puts up as part of its free-to-play design can be annoying. This is less true as long as the randomness of unlocks works in your favor, or if you pay, but both of these only offer temporary relief. As a result, it's difficult to get a ton of time or satisfaction out of CATS, despite the fact that it's otherwise a pretty good game.

Construction Simulator 2 is a all right time, but it's also a game that doesn't really jive with mobile gaming. It's a slow and deliberate game that rewards patience and accuracy on a platform that's ideal for quick experiences using a (somewhat imprecise) touchscreen. It's not exactly a bad game. I had quite a bit of fun with Construction Simulator 2 at times, but it also tested my patience constantly.

Sailing the high seas should feel like an adventure, but in Tempest, it just feels like a battlefield. While the game does have some surprisingly nuanced naval combat, it otherwise feels kind of empty and slapdash. If you just want to fire cannons at other boats, this might just be right up you're alley. Otherwise, I'd recommend you check out the recently released Sunless Sea for a more robust seafaring experience.

Full of Stars is a neat combination of ideas in a poorly executed package. Although it has a pretty glossy exterior, that doesn't make it any easier to look past the control, difficulty, and performance issues that it has. In fact, it makes things more frustrating. Full of Stars could be so much better than it is, and it's a real shame that it isn't.

Gunhouse might not be for everyone, but that's part of what makes it special. It's proudly uncompromising, and delightfully absurd. For me, that makes it a winner, but I'd totally understand if you disagreed.

Even in the opening moments of Planescape: Torment, it's easy to see that it is an important game. Just because it's important though, doesn't mean that it has held up well in the 18 years since its release. Unless you have a high tolerance for old game design or have some deep nostalgia for Infinity Engine RPGs, I'm not sure you'll have a great time controlling Torment, but you may still enjoy how totally unique a game it is.

I applaud Meganoid (2017) for its ambition. The roguelike platforming that Spelunky offers feels like a great fit for mobile. Unfortunately though, this game doesn't quite capture the magic of its source material, offering a decent, but sub-optimal, platforming for the kind of game it's trying to be.

Sunless Sea is a fascinating game because of its genre-blending and evocative writing and setting. It's also a game that provides both the freedom to let players do what they want and the structure to give players concrete goals to work toward, with both paths feeling satisfying even after several playthroughs of the game. It's truly a remarkable game. Go play it.

MouseBot offers up some light and cute puzzling, but it's a little hard to control. Losing lives and having to wait, pay, or watch an ad to replenish them can feel a little frustrating when you feel like the reason you failed is the game's fault and not yours. Although there are checkpointing systems to mitigate this issue somewhat, it feels like a cheap solution. Because of these issues, MouseBot is hard to recommend.

There's really nothing redeeming about Gangstar New Orleans. It's a bad GTA game with no personality, terrible free-to-play mechanics, representation issues, and a boatload of bugs. Just don't bother with this game at all. There's no reason to.

I know that flashy effects aren't necessary for a game to be good, much less a CCG. But, when your card game–while good–doesn't look great and doesn't really bring much new stuff to the table, it's hard to be excited by it. Legends does a decent job of interpreting the the world and lore of The Elder Scrolls series into a competent card game, but, on a platform where there are tons of great CCGs, that's not enough.

Mushroom 11 is a creative puzzle game that challenges you to repeatedly experiment with its physics to succeed. Although there may be some instances where things behave the way you don't expect, the penalties for failure are minimal. That doesn't mean Mushroom 11 won't test your patience (it will), but the game's clever puzzle design makes the whole experience worth it.

Though it has some control issues, Oxenfree is really something special. It tells a unique story that's peppered with character moments that will stick with you. Seriously, don't pass this one up.

Despite the frustrating randomness of Ticket to Earth, I had a really great time with the game. Between the interesting characters and (eventually) satisfying combat, I can't wait to see what's in store in episode two.

Typeshift is an incredible package because of how sleek its puzzle formula is. It's not a mechanically dense game, and its puzzles are simple variants on word games that have come before it. That said, the way these puzzles are designed and presented makes Typeshift not only a fantastic word game, but the only word game I ever want to play.

With slick visuals, a solid soundtrack, and neat mechanics, this rhythm game will keep you going the distance.

I generally have a low tolerance for control issues in games, but Death Road to Canada is just so fun that I want to keep playing it even when I don't love the way it feels. That goes to show just how great this game is. Death Road to Canada is a fantastic game that you shouldn't miss.

If you are craving a platformer that pushes your skills to their limits, go pick up Golf Zero or something. The Big Journey just wants you to be happy, and it succeeds at doing that by providing a familiar formula in an adorable package.

I could see Card Thief being a disappointment to those who like Card Crawl's straightforward translation of dungeon-crawling into a Solitaire game. But, if you enjoyed Card Crawl and were hoping for a successor that would take its concepts to the next level, Card Thief just might grab a permanent spot in your game folder.

This city builder is a pleasant way to spend some time, but is otherwise a pretty familiar clicker.

This mashup of minesweeper and match-three is charming when it isn't being confusing and overly-punishing.