Pac-Man Dash has some fast and fun action here and there, making it a good title to mess around with for a little bit. But I was not going in to this game ready to be blown away by anything. It’s really more or less what you would expect of a stock endless runner title that revives a classic video game character.

It lasted for a little bit, but as with a lot of free-to-play titles out there, staying power was not its strong suit. While there are certainly things to unlock and grind for, it doesn’t feel like there will be any gameplay-related payoffs to work your way towards. But Giant Boulder of Death is certainly a good enough time to give it a look.

Ultimately, I recommend Scrooge’s Loot to those with children due to it being free, imaginative and simplistic fun. But for those hoping for a clear-cut shooter, I suggest you look elsewhere.

Gold Diggers was a better title than I thought it was going to be when I first downloaded it onto my home screen. It’s worth giving a try if you’re looking for a new title that offers up some fun, fast-twitch action.

There is vast amounts of potential, but without spending actual money to unlock some of these potentials, Cross Horizon is simply your run-of-the-mill iOS RPG with a fresh coat of cel-shaded paint.

Gleamer’s clutter-free art style and basic controls mask a game with slightly more complexity to it than you’d expect (but not much). Some players will likely find their in-game avatar — the ever-moving cube — annoying, but despite some minor gameplay complaints what lies here is still a fairly solid platformer designed for the bite-sized consumption needs of most iOS gamers.

It’s a decent title, but unfortunately, it never reaches the angelic heights of fun that were promised.

If you enjoy these type of freemium games, then Dungeon Keeper is a worthy download.

Dodge This! is a fun, solid game. Exactly how long it stays fun will depend on the player, but thanks to the high degree of repetition and stingy upgrades and unlocks, the fun will run out eventually.

If you’ve got a couple of bucks and feel like you need something to occupy your time in minutes-long intervals, whether on bus rides, in waiting rooms or just while you’ve got a moment, Triblaster is a pretty fun distraction.

To sum up: Gizmo is super cute, and playing Drop That Candy can be fun for a little while.

That is the problem with Ooga Jump, it doesn’t have the staying power. The gameplay isn’t varied enough to be the full experience it wants to be.

Lara Croft: Reflections, after its initial speed bumps, is a diverting enough app that, if you love card games, is worth a peek.

If you can get past the occasionally finicky controls and lack of things to do, and if you’re really into just wheeling around and mastering this two-fingered skate system, you may find that Touchgrind Skate 2 shreds gnarlier than most; other gamers, however, will probably find more fun digging back through the huge library of Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater titles.

Halos Fun is an enjoyable enough experience that should appeal to physics puzzler lovers.

“Serviceable” is the word when it comes to Warhammer Quest. Its job is to be a turn-based dungeon crawler, and that it is. What it doesn’t do, however, is find a way to light that fire in a player’s belly, the hunger for loot and the thirst for the blood of the unrighteous.

Sidekick Cycle is a simple game that’s fun to play in bursts, but there are better endless runner/downhill racer experiences to be found in the App Store.

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.

Along with the ability to swap your gunfighters in the middle of combat and a seemingly endless achievement-based system, Pocket Gunfighters should have been a can’t miss title. With treasure chests to discover, gold coins to grab and villains to eliminate with a quick finger swipe, this app still has me hooked even with its gaping freemium flaw. It’s a compromise I’m willing to make, but it’s still disappointing that this app isn’t more than just a charming little dog and pony show.

If you’ve got a younger sibling who’s into the show, they’ll probably have a blast with Ski Safari Adventure Time… for a little while. Its repetitive gameplay and the prohibitive costs to its in-game shop will deter players for playing it too long, which is a shame given how fun-loving and imaginative the source material is.

The Last Guardian is an interesting and frustrating game that can’t decide if it wants to be modern or retro, and that constant argument brings the entire experience down a notch. While I was willing to deal with the limits of the previous era to enjoy the perks of the current one, I can understand where others might grow weary of the experience.

It may not replace Magic the Gathering: Duels of the Planeswalkers 2014 as your go-to for trading card gaming goodness on the iPad, but it’s a decent enough game for you to pick up and play every few hours on your iPhone. Just don’t expect to get terribly strategic.

It’s a good game, it’s just not a memorable one, nor is it one you’ll feel the need to keep coming back to.

As it stands, the controls don’t work very well and aren’t nearly as responsive as they need to be for such a fast paced game.

Baby Nom Nom will tease your brain and fingers into satisfaction while at the same time making your heart feel nice since you’ve contributed a little bit of good to the world.

I had fun with this, but I could also see how it could get under the skin of some who are growing tired with hipster pixel art games. Case in point: developer I Fight Bears makes “Games For People With Beards.” Granted, that’s a joke. But I can’t tell whether or not there’s a line in Fist of Awesome that divides between satire or pandering.

As disappointed as I was in the experience, I can’t help but look forward to future installments. There’s a lot of promise in Spiral and I’d like to see where the story goes and whether or not Pixel Hero Games will tighten up the controls. For now, I’ll rate Episode 1 with a modest 6.5. Let’s hope that subsequent episodes warrant higher scores.

Once the Jedi Mind Trick of nostalgia and Star Wars love wears off, you'll realize there are plenty of better multiplayer shooters out there that aren't as far, far away.