Little Luca is a physics puzzler that takes a lot of simple elements and makes a wonderful game with a surprising amount of depth.

Sword of Xolan is a wonderful bite-sized platforming adventure.

After spending dozens of hours with it, it’s safe to say that KartRider Rush+ is the best kart racer on mobile.

I can’t even begin to imagine how Sky was made. It’s ultra-smooth visuals and seamless multiplayer feel like they can’t work on a mobile device, yet they do. This is indeed an achievement, and I cannot deny that. Once I start playing it though, it feels like I’m smearing a painting. Everything is so beautifully composed, and then I come along to fly into a wall or get hung up on a ledge. This happens so frequently that I don’t really like spending time in Sky, which is a real shame.

The title is heavily inspired by Blizzard's World of Warcraft, but its portability adds a dose of novel freshness to a familiar outing.

Florence takes a pretty familiar plot line and adds more life to it through clever gameplay mechanics and a bright aesthetic. It’s not the most involved game out there, but the relatively small amount of stuff Florence does have to offer is dang near close to perfectly executed.

The visuals are very well done, making it easy to track the action even on small iPhone and iPod screens.

5th Cell have been known for their inventive ideas on handheld systems for a while now, and with this fun micro-platformer and great idea for adding extra content, their legacy continues. Fans of endless runners looking for something new and willing to experiment with a game with set levels will definitely want to check this out.

The combat is fun, the graphics are excellent, and from a technical perspective it's a phenomenal feat.

Easily one of the better-designed platformers I've played on iPhone. And considering it's only a dollar, it's hard not to be impressed.

While there are a few bumps along the way, Polymer is an extremely impressive game even when forgetting that it's from a first-time developer.

It’s hard for me to say anything too bad about the game, nor anything that’s especially effusive in praise. Syder Arcade just exists as it is, a retro-styled shoot ’em up that wants to let players destroy waves of enemies, unleash special abilities, and just have some mindless fun for a little while. That’s perfectly fine! It’s not a game of the year candidate, but it’s something those who download it and check it out will enjoy.

The best drawing game on the App Store gets a sequel, and it's even better than ever.

Romance. Kidnapping. Heroics. Inebriated robots? Trust me, it works. CLARC is an action-puzzle game not to be missed.

Sproggiwood is a cute and fun turn-based roguelike.

SIMULACRA is a creepy and thrilling game that may make you feel uncomfortable, but that’s kind of the point.

GNOG takes a simple emerging genre and smartly gives the additional depth it deserves.

Beautiful, fun and innovative.

It's charming and cute. Most importantly, it's an absolute bargain for a game that has the addictive qualities of iPhone greats such as Angry Birds or Flight Control.

Heroes and Castles is quite possibly Foursaken Media's most refined strategy title yet, and I personally find it to be their most entertaining. It's still a little rough around the edges in a few places but it's full of enough upgrades and unlocks (not to mention fun) to keep fans of the genre, or the developer, busy for quite a while.

One of my favorite games this year – even after completing all 100 of the levels (with a 5th world with a brand new gameplay mechanic coming soon), I still found myself going back to try and improve my scores.

Without an "endless" mode or some other such business that we've all grown accustomed to in our iOS games, I worry that some players will simply expect to beat To-Fu: The Trials of Chi in a matter of days (or several consecutive hours) and move on to the next title. While this is certainly a possiblity, as it is with most popular App Store offerings, it's still bound to be an enjoyable experience.

Really, the only thing about Battleloot Adventure that might deter the loot-hungry iOS gamer is the 600+ megabytes it occupies. Aside from that it's cheap, addictive, nice to look at, and quite a bit of fun.

Quick, light, MOBA fun.

Whether you’re dead-set or on the fence about picking it up, it only takes a stable WiFi connection and the tap of a button, so you may as well give it a go. Don’t blame me if you get addicted, though.

Tiny Troopers 2: Special Ops offers tiny warfare with a large amount of fun throughout 21 missions, and also includes unlockable zombie survival maps with high score leaderboards.

Aside from these minor gripes, Tower Defense: Lost Earth is a fantastic game. One that genre lovers and armchair generals should not miss.

As someone who grew up idolizing fictitious cartoon characters each weekend, such as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I was instantly drawn to Seal Force. It plays to that particular audience incredibly well. However, it's more than just a nostalgia trip. It's also a clever mash-up of two popular iOS genres that, surprise surprise, work quite well together.