There are ways of earning coins such as by completing certain objectives or simply by enabling push notifications, but Crosswords With Friends is very much a game that’s keen to get some money out of you. I enjoyed my time with it and happily used up all the free coins I could retrieve, but you’ll soon realize that this isn’t challenging by any means. It’s a way of inflating your own ego – making you feel smug that you’ve succeeded at a crossword when this really isn’t hard. As an introduction to the concept of crosswords, it’s fine but expect to want to move on soon enough. You will get bored, even more so when certain answers keep being repeated.

There's a difference between simple and bare bones, and Poker Royale veers a little too much in the latter direction.

It's these gameplay and programming issues that keep Pocket Heroes from being an amazing game, but every problem that I've listed seems easily fixable in future updates. Even if it isn't perfect in its current form, Pocket Heroesis a fun experience that is both unique and nostalgic. With a few gameplay tweaks, it could easily become a must-have for all RPG gamers alike.

KnightScape ends up inhabiting a weird space where neither the course-running nor the combat really grab you on their own, yet they don't necessarily combine like Voltron to kick butt either. There are a number of mobile games where you can see what the developers were trying for clearly enough to lament when they don't make it there, and this feels like one of them.

Even with the "reasonable" pricing, it's hard not to define Deadlings by its shortcomings rather than its successes; a shame, because those successes scream to be genuinely enjoyable. I genuinely want to give it a pass for what it does wrong, and that, at least, says something.

It offers little surprises but if you’re a fan of puzzle titles like this then you can’t really go wrong, especially for the low price point. Just don’t go in expecting much in the way of frills when it comes to the presentation.

If you like orcs, elves, and other Lord of the Rings-esque fantasy trappings, give Kingdom of Heroes a try. Just don't expect to be bowled over by its less-the-stellar presentation and pedestrian gameplay.

OK Golf by OKIDOKICO doesn’t have a lot of charm, but then again, charm isn’t something it needs to have. It accomplishes everything it promises in the name – it’s an ok, but not particularly amazing, golf experience that can be enjoyed by golfers and non-golfers alike. What sets it apart from other mobile golfing experiences is its diorama-style holes. You never have to wonder what’s around the corner because you’re always working with a full 3D topographic view from tee to flag. Although the graphics aren’t exceptionally detailed, it’s very much beautiful in a minimalist sense.

Lords Mobile’s hero mode gets a thumb up from me. The developers have the right idea of how to make a fun game with that gameplay mode, they just need to trim the fat that slows the rest of the game down.

Chroma Rush is far from a bad game. It’s a fun diversion in short bursts that should definitely appeal to the color-arranging fans of Blendoku. But its simplicity and lack of polish make it feel like an appetizer before the next meaty entry in that series, or even something that should have just been a game mode within Blendoku 2.

Frocket isn't a bad game by any means - the concept is solid, and it's all been well put together. Rather, there are a number of niggles that come together to create one almighty problem that takes away from what the game could easily be.

As is, it’s decent. Unfortunately I’m not sure “decent” is enough, considering the competition.

As a game, Lost Tracks is pretty, but too simple (and short) to get much enjoyment out of. As a means of telling a brief but meaningful story about a shy boy trying to work up the courage to talk to a girl he likes, it succeeds.

A first person shooter that is perhaps a little too focused on style over substance, this is still worth investigating for fans of the genre.

Castle Creeps TD might be a fun reminder of why Tower Defense is such an enjoyable genre to play, but it’s also a reminder of some of the less kind elements of free to play. It’s these which are going to stick in your mind in the long term, rather than the enjoyment you had before they set in.

It’s not a game we really needed, and not a game that further expands the universe by offering a mobile option.

At its core, Pang Adventures is a grand arcade flashback from a great time in gaming’s history. Until we get that hoped-for control fix, however, this adaptation of Pang remains an awkward collision of the past and the present.

Tap Bistro isn't precisely a bad game, it just doesn't offer any compelling reason to play it over the glut of similarly-themed games.

The controls in Punch Hero are responsive, and there isn't much wrong with the core game, except that it's not as fun and goofy as Punch-Out!!, which is clearly what Punch Hero is trying to emulate.

A game like What The Golf? strikes a far better blend of ridiculousness and actually engaging gameplay, although younger gamers might still get something out of this.

At their core these are perfectly entertaining games, but are bewilderingly poorly presented. If we are to keep receiving ports of older titles on the Switch we should certainly be demanding ones that are put together with a bit more effort than this.

Joe Dever’s Lone Wolf Act 3 does add a new monster or two to the action, although practically speaking there’s not much to distinguish them from their predecessors aside from being bigger and badder.

For speedrunners on the more masochistic side there’s undoubtedly a lot to get your teeth into here though. For everyone else we’d recommend a more rewarding and streamlined hardcore 2D platformer.

The worst sin that the game commits, though, is that it quickly turns into a boring experience. It's not bad, but it's a great example of the word "meh" in action.

Dropchord is one of the most stylish experiences you can have on your mobile device, and if you're looking for just a short experience to fill the good part of an hour, then it's well worth grabbing.

The great combat mechanic is largely overshadowed by repetitive play and the lack of any real incentive to push forward.

Fans of Nintendo’s series will definitely get a kick out of moving around eerie floating Pokémon heads, though the monetization schemes undeniably coat the experience with a thin layer of “ick.”

I don’t necessarily think Sister Location is the worst mobile iteration of the FNaF series, but it’s certainly not the best despite the overall improved visuals. Most of the animations are choppy or gone, a lot of audio was cut, you can’t replay the mini-game at will (which really sucks), and so on. Port issues aside, that checkpoint system is also super obnoxious. If you’re a fan who has some or all of the other games on your mobile device then you’ll probably want to get this one as well. Otherwise, you’re not missing much.

It’s all a little too unfair, which is a shame for a game that, at heart, is pretty fun. While it was never going to rival proper golf games, Golf Clash is a great little blast for arcade sports fans until you realize how unfairly balanced it is. Then it becomes a game that’s a brief distraction, but one that you really can’t get behind. All too soon, you’re going to be vanquished by people with a lot more money than you. And that’s just no fun at all.

Indestructible is a neat game with a bit of a learning curve, but as you play, one gets the feeling that those who get the most out of it are the ones who put the most money into it. This seems to be the key differentiation between scrounging for scraps in the hopes of pulling together enough points to upgrade, and being truly "indestructible."

As best I can figure, the plot is a fairly paint-by-numbers deal centered on a Dark King and the Elemental Knights who could defeat him.

Archery King might try to lure you in with promises of new locations and fun secrets. Yes, they are in there somewhere, but its pacing is off. It’s too slow to throw in the interesting stuff, and once you get there, it frequently feels like too little too late. In the fast moving mobile marketplace, games need to hold your interest far more quickly than Archery King ever really does.

As a fan of Metroidvania style gaming, it was hard not to get excited at the thought of what Dark Incursion could potentially offer. And with so much of the package being exactly what it needed to be, the poor controls only sting that much more. Dark Incursion is a great, great game – but it's one with a serious flaw that ultimately hampers the experience too much. Be sure to keep an eye out for this one, but only after its version number moves past 1.0.

Nightmerica's garish coloring, 8-bit violence, and retro aesthetic go a long way to escalate it from simple wave-based gameplay to a much more interesting-looking exercise in gaming exotica, and for 99 cents it's worth checking out the soundtrack if nothing else.

The biggest beef that I have with SuperRope is the fact that the store is expensive.

f you're looking for a new game to play as an adult-pass on this. It's a little too easy and a little too shallow to really be worth your time. But if you and your family are about to head to the theater and watch the movie, having your children play the game during the car ride certainly will occupy their time on the road on the way there and back.

Draw Something is a great concept that has been proven to work by other games of its ilk, but the general execution of the OMGPOP's app just leaves something to be desired.

The level design is occasionally interesting, but sadly it’s not enough to make this worth investigating – especially when superb ports of Doom and Quake are already available on the system.

Presentation-wise, Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom is decent, but it feels a little dated in terms of its art style. Nevertheless, it will still appeal to many players and does have a bit of a nostalgic feel to it. Even so, it far from makes up for the poor usability and lack of control granted to the player over their armies.

There's so much theoretical enjoyment to be had with Wizardlings that it pains me to see it all squandered.

At its core, Legendary Heroes seems like it could be something truly great. Unfortunately, it's held back by the lack of polish, general bugginess, a missing multiplayer mode, and the fact that it falls into the freemium trap of having content that's essentially off limits unless you're willing to spend cash.

It's a decent introduction to cricket and plays well enough for what it is, but the depth and replay value simply aren't there for people who are already fans of the sport.

The developers have great history, the presentation is exceptional, and gameplay can be intense. It offers no more than half an hour of gameplay, which will likely be the time it takes you to complete the game or give up on it in frustration. With zero replay value, we can't help but feel it's a shame that the adventure is cut off so soon.

It’s simply not much fun, and often feels difficult just for the sake of it. The visuals also make it a little too tough to work out what’s going on at times – making this a game that’s for masochists only.

For most players, BlockHopper is too much of hassle to be fun. Everyone likes a challenge, but you cannot ask players perfection when your own control scheme doesn't accommodate for it. Unless you are comfortable with the control scheme and don't mind a bit of challenge, find another game to get your platformer fix.

Gods of Rome leaves much to be desired. It’s a good idea crammed into a cookie-cutter mobile game mold that is just too small for it to work well. Everything it offers has been done before, and done better, in other mobile fighting games.

Knitted Deer boasts cute graphics and a great soundtrack. Its knitted world is an interesting place. Unfortunately, if an endless runner doesn’t excel in every category—and Knitted Deer doesn’t—it’s going to get run down and left to bake on the asphalt.

Even if there weren’t already a bunch of space adventures/MMOs on iOS that do it better, Starborn Wanderers would still be incredibly disappointing. It looks great and controls great, but it doesn’t seem like that same level of attention was given to the rest of the game. It’s downright painful to try and follow along with the story, and it simply isn’t any fun to play.

Bravo Games has outdone itself in terms of presentation, but I can't help but feel that the game could have been more, well, MORE. It's not a bad game, it just lacks the elements that will keep players wanting to play further than, perhaps, ten minutes at a time.

Game of Thrones: Beyond the Wall is an entertaining distraction. It’s better than the last series of the show, in that it won’t leave you confused or furious, but it’s still not the mobile Game of Thrones experience a lot of us are waiting for.

Never Yield is an impressive technical achievement from solo developer Neil Jones in many ways – and the soundtrack is undoubtedly superb – but as a game it simply doesn’t come together.

Its story is really quite cookie cutter in its exposition, the characters aren’t interesting and lack the personality of the movie, and it’s all a little too simplistic. It’s more reminiscent of the stories that kids would be able to read via the junior tie-in novel of whatever the big Blockbuster of the summer happens to be — yet it’s even simpler than that. The interactive moments are a little too few and far between, meaning you’ll be on auto pilot a lot of the time.

An average-at-best arcade title.

So The Ramp feels more like a prototype in its current state, and it’s a shame. As what’s here works very well, but it’s low price tag can only mask so much.

When you aim to go toe-to-toe with Angry Birds Space, your presentation needs to be flawless, and Gnu Revenge's awkward design and difficulty keep it far from that. It's definitely not a terrible app, but it's simply been done before, and done better.

All in all, is Fish Heroes bad? No, it's just not really as astounding as it could have been. If you're in the market for another way to wreck structures and take revenge with an unlikely team of flying animals, it's certainly packed with enough charm and content to be worth your while. It's just a shame that it isn't nearly as strong as the past titles it emulates.

Overall, Golf Blitz is a failure of design. In trying to make golf a faster-paced, frantic multiplayer game, Noodlecake has lost sight of what golf is really about.

No matter where you stand on all of this, I think we can all agree that server issues are a total bummer. Curiosity suffers from them, and at times it kept me from even firing the game up. I'm hopeful the issue will be fixed in a forthcoming patch, but as of now it's a pretty big annoyance.

Even the strong wrapper can’t overcome the lack of focus with this title. As great as the whole package sounds on the tin – shooting, strategy, historic gameplay, alternate realities – it just doesn’t pay off.

Battle Golf is a super simple game that holds itself back from being a truly fun experience — for the sake of being simple.

Garfield: Survival of the Fattest is worth a shot if you’re the type of Garfield fan that owns every scrap of orange-and-black merchandise ever created (and we know you’re out there). Otherwise, if you’re looking for a licensed city-builder, you’re better off staying in Springfield.

Poker with Bob is a competent game, but I was bored after about 40 minutes and absolutely done about 40 minutes after that. If you're a fan of poker, there are better mobile options out there.

Remarkable in its utter unremarkability.

There's nothing inherently wrong with the game, but there was really nothing that made it stand out either. I'm starting to think the worst thing you can be in the crowded app store is "meh", and unfortunately, that's really what Extreme Skater is. While there's no reason to tell you not to check out the game, there's really no reason for me to tell you should either.

As near as I can figure, it's aimed at children: easy to understand, easy to play, and not in the least bit punitive. Got a youngster who's hung up on zombies and likes to collect things? Give 'em this. But most people, I suspect, will find it too insubstantial to appeal, even for a collectible card battle game.

With the developers having got carried away, adding element after element without checking to see if they actually gel, Sticky's sorry legacy is to serve as a lesson for all those that follow: however decent your idea, it'll count for nothing if it's played out in a less than suitable setting.

It's really below average to average at best. But when placed up against other similar titles it just gets the pants beat off it. I can't in good conscience give you any reason to own this game, especially with such better options on the market.

It all feels too messy, and combat is too one-note. There’s no real flow to matches, and they often just devolve into an unclear muddle of small characters whaling on each other. It’s a shame as there’s a range of modes and clearly effort has been put into the character designs – but Guts ‘N Goals just isn’t a particularly memorable or satisfying experience.

Circus Atari is an uninspired game that attempts to coast by on a name that holds a decent level of recognition with gamers from the 80s. The potential was there for Atari to take a chance and experiment a bit, but instead we have a game that suffers from being similar to too many other games.

It's ambitious to say the least. But I think to a large extent the game's engine gets in its own way far too often. There were numerous times I saw characters get stuck or fall through the ground, or mission objectives simply not appear.

I love a challenging game, but Calvino Noir is simply too difficult to keep my interests for long. Calvino Noir demands 100% concentration, and if the gameplay experience was 100% consistent, it might warrant it.

If it weren't for the circus theme, we'd have a hard time telling this was a new game at all.

Baller Legends takes the skill out of the free throw and asks players to be okay with making the same gesture, with marginal adjustments, over and over and over again.

It's an uncomfortable spot to be in, right between the Sudoku and the Rush.

On paper, this sounds good — and if you play well, you can play for a really long time. But this system becomes a huge barrier once the difficulty ramps up, and it ramps up big time, out of nowhere.

Fruit Frenzy's biggest mistake is that, as a result of its stripped back style, it lacks any sort of spark or originality.

Real Boxing wants to be the iPad's answer to Punch-Out for Wii, but instead, well… it just makes me want to go out and buy a copy of Punch-Out for Wii again. Flailing your arms can be plenty of fun, but unless those flails are going to translate into on-screen action 99% of the time, it just ends up feeling like an exercise in futility.

If you’re really into playing games that look and sound like a retro gaming experience, or dig turn-based dungeon crawlers, Into the Dim could be worth your time.

Geo Hunters takes some time to get used to, but it's not really worth the effort. There's so little variety to the gameplay, and the combat grows tiresome very quickly.

A game that I want to enjoy, but simply couldn't get into.

Faily Brakes seems like it ought to be a joyride, but it’s more like taking an awkward stop-and-go trip with your grandmother. It’s not beyond saving, though, and its premise is sound.

There are plenty of great skateboarding games for mobile, and while MyTP Skateboarding might have delusions of grandeur, it never manages to land its toughest tricks.

If you love Lord of the Rings and can put up with the grind that is needed to get an A+ Fellowship, then you’ll probably have a decent time with The Lord of the Rings: Legends of Middle-earth.

With two more episodes to go, I’m hopeful that Telltale will be able to iron out the technical issues, and that the following two episodes come with a healthy dose of character development.

With an excellent simulation in Grand Prix Story still fresh on the market, there's just no reason to settle for such an inferior game.

This game is pretty, but pretty ain’t everything…especially when we’re talking about slaying legions of the undead.

Flip Diving might be interesting as a narrative diversion about a man receiving severe concussions from a variety of objects, but other than that, it’s not really worth your time.

Malevolent Machines is simultaneously great and lacking in a few too many key areas. It’ll remind you of 90’s style arcade hits — but you’ll soon realize that it doesn’t actually have much to offer, and you’ll end up wishing there was more going on.

Clue: Secrets & Spies has a reasonable amount of stuff going for it, but it's inconsistent in the final execution. It's not bad, but it isn't as fun as it should be, and it stops being interesting if it's played for more than a few episodes in one sitting.

Ultimately, Angry Birds Match is near replica of just about every other basic match-3 game, offering very little beyond a nominal collection mechanic. To successfully contribute a new entry to the overcrowded match-3 space, there must be something special about the mechanics, the characters, the environments, or the extra features. Rovio has skimped on all of that to produce a glorified rehash with some cute baby birds. However, if you’re desperate for some new match-3 action and are a fan of the Angry Birds aesthetic, then you may find something you like here.

The combat is fiddly, and the levels are designed in a way that means it becomes even more frustrating than fun.

Patient photographers may be able to push through, but the rest of us should let this Sasquatch remain at large.

Unlike its charming cinematic counterpart, Frozen Free Fall is a definite disappointment. Although it has the advantage of Disney audio visuals, it lacks the magic that should be inherent to anything with the Disney name on it. Really the only reason you should bother downloading it is if you're a kid under twelve, a Frozen fanatic, or a die-hard Disney defender.

The Deep Paths is okay. If you keep the volume low or play on mute. And you have the patience of a saint for clumsy controls/menus. And you don’t ever use maps in games. I suppose if there weren’t similar games that have been out for a while that do what this one does better, it wouldn’t seem quite so bad. Unfortunately for The Deep Paths, we live in a world where Legend of Grimrock exists.

All said, without the needed variety for these types of games, and with less than ideal controls, expect Red Ball 3 simply isn't worth your time and money.

As both a comic book fan and an endless runner aficionado, Marvel Run Jump Smash! didn’t need to do much to wow me. But in the end, it just fell flat.

Crap! I’m Broke: Out of Pocket is a stylish collection of mini-games wrapped in a simplified life sim package. It has a number of good ideas that initially come together into an engaging diversion, but the ultimate result is too shallow and grindy once your foot’s in the door.

Peggle Blast is so hair-pullingly careless about its attempts at monetization, you can’t shake the feeling that somewhere in the bowels of EA, a person in an expensive suit has their feet up on a nice desk and is roaring with laughter.