Virtual buttons are a nuisance, yes, but sometimes they're just the better way to do things. Or at least with Joe Danger Touch, while touch-optimized controls were clearly important, they were not perfected before shipping, and they're a large part of why this one crashes and burns too much for me.

MildMania's Darklings is a wonderfully unique and magical game that relies heavily on gesture-based touch controls.

Brutal. Uncompromising. Utterly addictive. FTL finally warps to iPad and it's even better than we'd hoped.

Botanicula is an adventure game that might be a bit frustratingly-abstract at times, but is a beautiful experience.

Dark Echo is one of the creepiest and most creative horror games on the App Store.

Horizon Chase is racing with an old school theme.

This action-adventure RPG is just about as fully-featured, customizable, and fun as they come.

The gameplay is varied, thanks to the many different types of items to bag and players will have a challenging time completing all the game's levels. Bag It! HD is a nice, quirky little departure form the stacking puzzle norm.

The puzzles are fun and the game is very well designed. If players can play without losing their lunch, they are likely to have a great time.

Girls Like Robots is a fantastic puzzle game: there's a lot of creativity that came from such a simple starting point, and the way that everything expands out from its simple beginnings is the kind of trait that great games have.

Mike Bithell's creative platformer is a fantastic experience because of its writing.

Sage Solitaire is a great variant on the usual solitaire vibe.

A fantastic and fascinating re-envisioning of the classic novel by Jules Verne, 80 Days is a delightful piece of interactive fiction.

Sword & Poker 2 is like the Pokemon sequels: it hasn't changed much, but it's still an incredibly addictive and satisfying game.

Building upon the success of its predecessor, Sorcery! 2 is a gripping and well told story of intrigue and adventure, amongst some great game features.

If you like arcade racing games, you definitely need to play Riptide GP: Renegade. It's extremely impressive on basically all fronts. Even its file size is astoundingly modest (107 MB). Whether you're looking to race your friends or just enjoy some single-player racing, Renegade provides some of the best racing on mobile to date.

Mikey Hooks takes the casual speedrun formula of Mikey Shorts, and adds grappling hooks for more addictive speedrun fun. Speedfun!

Ridiculously good fun.

Despite its depth and sense of tactical freedom, Motorsport Manager is one of the most accessible and addictive management sims around.

Frogger-like in nature, Crossy Road is an easy to recommend endless runner of sorts.

This role-playing game takes place in a completely original sci-fi universe, which makes discovering it a delight.

HoPiKo is a frantic speed run of a game, requiring some exceptional reactions.

Space Marshals 2 takes what was great about the first game and adds to it ever so slightly. In some ways, this makes it feel like a half-step of a sequel, but it's still great fun.

Being able to play XCOM 2: War of the Chosen on iOS is a good time, even if the port is far from perfect.

Bigger, better, stronger, The Room Two is an exceptional sequel to the equally exceptional first game.

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.

Osmos for iPad is a game that plays about as beautifully as it looks. It's tranquil, yet it can be intense; it can be thoughtful, but require quick reactions.

Kingdom Rush Vengeance proves there is still room for new, great tower defense games on an App Store that sometimes feels overloaded with them. Although it still has some annoying monetization stuff in it, Kingdom Rush Vengeance is the biggest and baddest the series has been. A few IAPs doesn't change the fact that this is a must-buy.