Batman: Arkham Origins should have been a top flight journey, but due to its free to play compromise, this title is far from perfect. If you’re not going to spend any cash, make sure you have other apps to play while you wait for the status bar to refill. It’s an inconvenience which turns this fighter into merely a good outing for the Dark Knight.

Overall, Escape from Doom is a lot of fun and a perfect compliment to your gaming regime this October. It provides you with some classic horror fun that I haven’t seen in a running game in ages. It is well polished title that would be welcome to anyone looking to have their nerves jilted and fingers pleased.

If you’re looking for nonstop action, something tells me that you really have no interest in typography or simply platform puzzling. But, if you’re looking to slow down your gaming time and learn a bit about history, then you can’t do better than Type: Rider.

There are too many cars to drive, and unfortunately F1 Challenge doesn’t go the distance.

The greatest aspect of Monster Adventures lies in the epic breadth of its game play. This is not a simple build your creature and watch him fight journey, as its RPG element guarantees hours of fun on your respective device.

Kingturn Underworld RPG could be a game that one could easily see pop up on an old Playstation, but the retro feel and fun battles makes this app so much fun to play.

Maybe if there were more games to play without paying first would Ariel’s Musical Surprise be a bit more enjoyable.

Random Runners isn’t the best endless runner out there, nor is it the worst. This running, gunning title manages to be average in virtually every area, making it neither a good purchase, nor a terrible one.

In-game purchases aside, Drift Mania: Street Outlaws is a solid racing title with one big problem: the gyroscopic controls will probably make you dizzy. Still, if you’re good at resisting vertigo and the like, and you want a drifting-oriented racer with tons of car upgrade and cosmetic options, you could do much worse than this.

With that said, it doesn’t stop Costume Quest from being an addictive experience that oozes with humor and good-hearted fun. The $4.99 asking price might seem a little steep, but you’re getting a console-quality game with the “Grubbins on Ice” downloadable content. This should ensure that you’ll have a sugar rush for a long time.

Steampunk Tower may be a bit too easy for its own good, especially since Tesla infused guns have a way of electrifying everything in sight. Still it’s an arresting enough app to overlook that minor shortcoming.

For all it sets out to do, Spellcaster: The Forgotten Spell is a fine start to what is supposed to be a trilogy.

My only gripe regarding Ring Run Circus lies in its complexity, but that’s just me whining about my lack of intellectual dexterity. Finding the right circles to run in, as well as when to collect stars and slap elephants, really isn’t my forte. For some, life is just a circus, and for others, it solely exists as a dream. This app offers a bit of both, so choose your circle wisely.

Nakama may appear as just another pixelated action app, but it’s an experience filled with nuance and inspiration.

NBA 2K14 is not a horrible game by any means. The new music and the depth of the LeBron: Path to Greatness mode definitely give it a good amount of fun and value. But is that value worth the $7.99 asking price? Probably not. Unless you really care about LeBron James and his mode, then I would just stick with NBA 2K13. It’s got the same gameplay and the same graphics, but it also packs a better sound suite that indeed, sounds sweet.

Priced at only five bucks, Gilbert’s latest effort is undoubtedly a gem. But much like something valuable you’d unearth while digging around in an actual cave, it’s got some schmutz on it that needs to be polished off.

It’s a diverting way of passing the time on your respective device, and although it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, Happy Hills 2: Bombs Away! succeeds as a solid puzzler.

Pandemic: The Board Game is great. It doesn’t stray from the tabletop version’s awesome gameplay, and expands it a little with the addition of a couple of new characters while adding in the option of flying solo.

If you’re hungry to play a real-time strategy game on your iPad, one not marred by free-to-play restrictions and the like, Machines at War 3 does an adequate job of translating that experience to a touchpad-based device and of providing a complex game for strategists to sink their teeth into. This complexity, however, comes with a lack of depth and a steep learning curve, both of which detract from what is otherwise a strong iOS RTS experience.

Marvel Puzzle Quest: Dark Reign isn’t completed at the moment but is still fun to try out for the time being. There will be a lot more levels and things to do as the game is continually updated in the coming weeks, but for now the it’s good enough to give a try.

It would have been cool if there were other features, such as monsters in the field or hidden areas to explore, but going from Point A to Point B gets rather boring. But, if you ask me, the only thing that Lead the Brave has led me to is a hunt for better games on the App Store. I suggest you leave it alone and search out better titles!

If you have other apps to play or have the patience of Job, this cash grab exists as a minor hindrance to an otherwise addicting app. Hills of Glory 3D is a multifaceted gaming experience, and its comic strip style animation and battle style instantly won me over. Due to empty pockets, in-app purchases are not exactly on my to-do list. I can play the waiting game and still play this app for free. Patience is a virtue, especially when you’re winning the battle.

While I might not be a terribly huge fan of NASCAR, I am a big fan of racing games. For the first NASCAR game on iOS devices, this one sorely disappoints. Now, I realize it could be pretty tough to smash in 42 cars on a track on a tiny device, but something with actual racing would have been greatly appreciated.

Slot Revolution is one of those rare apps that knows how to effectively employ the freemium model, as it gives gamers a ton of action without any mandatory in-app purchase.

Gravity: Don’t Let Go is an intriguing enough app which ably serves as a complement to the highly anticipated film. There’s a multiplayer mode that is being offered in a future update, but as a free to play title it’s still a worthy download, especially if you’re in the mood for a cool little space odyssey.

Don’t be fooled, this is not an endless runner that will have you snoozing in the back of the lecture hall.

The story is interesting if you like fairytales and gives you a chance to battle the once good-guys-turned-bad instead of playing as them.

Shadowrun Returns is an inspired blend of science fiction, fantasy, and film noir, giving gamers an intricate mystery to investigate. It may cost a pretty penny, but if you need hours of alone time with your iPad, this app should definitely do the trick, especially if you’re in a Seattle state of mind.