In the end, your Hackycat experience is entirely what you make it: whether you only have 10 minutes to kill, or several hours to spend building up your attributes and adopting every cat.

The game is perfect for those looking for a more hardcore experience on a handheld device, without alienating the more casual mobile audiences either. With a shining presentation, addictive shooting gameplay, and a whole battalion’s worth of missions to complete, it’s going to be D-Day on your mobile device for a long time to come!

At its best, Kyubo requires precise planning and execution to make magical “aha!” moments a reality; these moments are its legacy, and what Kyubo will be remembered for long after he’s tumbled out of the tower.

It’s a twist on the usual type of asymmetric online gameplay that makes even the most introverted smartphone gamer want to interact with other players, and deftly expands Socioball from a great puzzle game into a connected community of players.

It’s packed with unique style and mechanics that give it an edge over similar titles, and the number of levels will keep you suitably addicted without suffering too much frustration during the tougher tasks.

It’s a fun little Peggle-like game that rewards skill rather than simply having the player rely on luck, and as a result, brings something truly fresh to an already well-worn genre.

It’s satisfying to watch as your skills steadily improve, and its speedy nature means you’re sure to come back for more anytime you’ve got a few minutes spare. Even if it’s just to watch your crash test dummy character fly out of the car, as you hurtle into a barrier for the 100th time.

Lost Socks: Naughty Brothers isn’t a perfect game, but it offers a good deal of solid content for its asking price.

So long as you aren’t expecting anything new with the Kami formula, Kami 2 is definitely worth a look. Heck, the user-made levels (and the option to make your own, of course) alone make it well worth checking out. This is one of those instances where more actually is better, rather than simply being more.

Now I know Otome games can get steamy sometimes, but some of the dialogue and art for Tengoku Struggle Strayside had me giggling and kicking my legs like a teenager. That’s a good thing, trust me.

Yes, that’s an awfully hefty price for a mobile game, one so large that it does make one wonder whether it’s worth it to take the plunge or simply buy the console version of Final Fantasy XV, which by now can be had for less than its original price. Still, if seeing the game on mobile is what prompted you to want to give it a try in the first place, it’s well worth trying out the initial, free chapter to see if you want to invest more money and time into it, as well as to marvel on how a full-fledged RPG can be translated to touchscreens without compromising all that much.

A deep and rewarding rhythm action title that is surprisingly accessible.

Clumsy Ninja is a solid simulator that really shows off some impressive character personality and animation.

This is the kind of game that reminds you that good design and fun mechanics can make even relatively simple concepts shine, and it certainly falls into the “easy to learn, hard to master” category that was the developer’s intended goal.

Overall, though, Act of Fury: Kraine's Revenge proves that revenge doesn't always have to be served cold. Sometimes, when vengeance is all sound and fury and hot-blooded madness, the results can still be a pretty tasty dish.

A great iPhone game with plenty to offer most mobile gamers. Despite a few setbacks in variety, the game still manages to be plenty of fun in short bursts, which is just about all I could ask of an iPhone game.

Our stodgy beliefs in the power of real human interaction aside, Playdek's digital take on Fluxx is just about everything fans of the card game could ask for. Here's to hoping that they add some in-app purchases down the road, because my life just won't be complete without Zombie Fluxx on my iPad.

Towelfight 2: The Monocle of Destiny is really, really good. Even if you don't dig the humor (and I'm sure it won't resonate with everyone, although I love it), the intense shooter action on which it's built should be enough to satisfy even the twitchiest of thumbs. And if you enjoy a good laugh with your bizarre cartoon violence, then this is one game you really cannot miss.

While Cling Thing may have a lot of heart in its quest to become the next big thing in cutesy physics-puzzling, the game is really hurting in terms of its charm. With bland, forgettable characters and boring level designs, not to mention controls and physics that do more to harm the playing experience than do it any good, this is probably one game that’s best left stuck on the back of your chair like a stale piece of gum.

This sandbox aspect will be a negative for players who prefer more guided gameplay, but a boon for those who appreciate nearly limitless replay value and opportunities for creativity. The few rules and features that do exist must be discovered on your own, and doing so can greatly change how you view past levels.

One Hour One Life might seem like it trivializes one of life’s immortal truths, but it also challenges you to do something with the time you have. This is a lesson we can all stand to learn.

Add in a good number of different arenas as well as a solid mix of power-ups and you have a title that’s well worth trying out at your next games night. It’s just a shame there’s no online play.

Even if you haven't been bitten by The Walking Dead phenomenon yet (horrible pun fully intended), if you like strategy games, you're going to want to give this one some of your time.

While there is no denying that Slayin is an incredibly charming title, it’s hard to recommend a game based on charm alone. Yes, this is a great way to kill a couple minutes, but it is also easily forgettable and just about as niche as it gets.

The iOS version of Crazy Taxi is a hard game to judge. On the one hand, it's a pitch perfect port. It's the kind of port that makes me wish more classic driving games would come to the App Store (Burnout, I'm looking at you). On the other hand, the Crazy Taxi license has so much untapped potential that it's killing us that SEGA isn't doing more with it. This release proves that the Crazy Taxi formula is a fantastic fit for mobile gamers… but SEGA needs to think about putting some new tires on this old cab.

The visuals are too determined to mimic the past than impress in the present, the plot is awful fan fiction guff, and world feels utterly drab and lifeless. None of the areas I explored were memorable, and I had no desire to return to any of them once I’d moved on. The result is a game that clearly wants to be Jet Set Radio 3, and because we’re all so starved for more, we’ll lap it up like it is. But, ultimately, it’s not up to the same standards. I’d definitely back Sega giving Team Reptile the opportunity to make a genuine stab at a Jet Set Radio 3, as the love for the series oozes in every screen, but it needs the big budget that the series deserves. And, a vastly superior writing team.

As movie tie-ins go, Monsters, Inc. Run is a great deal of fun – but it's also completely forgettable, and you'll have moved on to a new experience and pushed this one aside pretty quickly.

I won't claim that the control scheme here – good though it may be – is on par with using a physical controller, but it's still very solid. Your fingers will inevitably cramp during long play sessions, but all in all Lunar Silver Star Story Touch is an impressive facsimile of the console classic.

It’s hard to stop playing Ravenmark: Mercenaries once you get started, which is probably the highest form of praise that a strategy game can get. It’s fun to play solo or against other people, and it’s almost certain to have you plotting strategies even when you’re away from your phone or tablet.

If you're one of my fellow, bitter, retrogamers, Frogatto will be a breath of fresh air in a world filled with motion control, exercise games and war simulations. Despite the jumping mechanics that may test your patience, this game is a lengthy, polished platformer that serves up hours of nostalgic, amphibious fun.

Ultimately, that's the stock and trade of Duckers: plenty of charm. Retro Dreamer has traded highly nostalgic visual design in for squeal-worthy adorableness, and jumped on the freemium bandwagon, but like the era to which they pay homage, some things always stay the same: great gameplay drives this studio, and this title is no exception.

If you're getting a little burned out on the idea of match-3 mixing with role playing, 10000000 probably won't do much to change your mind. Then again, if you're a little burned out on the idea of match-3 mixing with role-playing, you're probably not very much fun, and I don't want to talk to you. For the rest of us though, 10000000 offers up another great example of genre mashups done right. Congratulations – we've just found your next month-long addiction.

A nice challenging puzzler, but it offers nothing special to really draw you into its world, and its puzzles aren't so inventive or mind-boggling for you to go and tell your friends about.

Fiz takes an unusual setting for a sim or RPG, mixes in some wit and whimsy and blends it into something that will make you feel like you can actually take on the King of Beers with your own homebrew. And if that’s not living the dream for some of you out there, I don’t know what is.

If you've been looking for a game that runs up a bunch of numbers that you can shove in your friends' faces, you could do far worse.

You go back to it again and again because levels are passable – you just wind up trying again and again until the candy gods take pity on you and finally issue a board that gives you a fair chance at succeeding.

At the very least, you can certainly say this: It’s very pretty, and very fun.

This collection on iOS is already pretty solid at its foundation, and even at its worst, is still playable and enjoyable, if a bit distracting due to some sloppiness at times. It's definitely worth looking at, and with any luck, perhaps Capcom will "Wright" what few wrongs there are to be found here in short order.

If you have even the slightest fondness for Dragon Quest, or RPGs in general, Dragon Quest VIII will be a worthy addition to your mobile games library.

Even with its room for improvement, Snowball! is a frosty treat for fans of pinball and pixel art. For those who don’t want to venture out into the cold, Snowball! will evoke the spirit of winter without the seasonal side-effects.

There are plenty of rewards for those who dive in, but I still think Pokémon TCG Online’s entry to the iPad could have been smoother.

What ultimately holds Lightopus back is the lack of any real growth or development. What you're doing in Level 1 is the exact same thing you're doing in Level 20, but with more enemies onscreen. It's the same thing every single stage, and even though it's fun for a little while, the mechanics and gameplay aren't engrossing enough to stand on their own for an extended period of time.

Nimblebit has once again dropped you in the middle of a universe that feels like it was built just for you, and filled it with a deeper, more compelling mission. If you love strategizing, organizing, building something, and watching it grow, you'll love this game. Oh, and fun. If you love fun.

Coco Loco is an interesting creature for sure, as it's not quite good enough to knock those perturbed birds off their perch but it is good enough and fleshed out enough to warrant a cheap download. The game is especially worth it if you're a huge fan of these types of games and can't stand the wait for Angry Birds Space.

It's not the most original of trivia games, but it's certainly one of the most polished ones I've encountered.

The game is full of those small touches that can easily go overlooked, but indicate true love on behalf of the developers: the golden crown that appears on your unicorn when all stars have been collected; the little speech bubble from the King when he's inside a fish cannon, saying "I'm in here!"; or the fact that one of the King's power-ups is an actual green sticky hand.

Notably, KAMI isn't exactly mind-blowing, or even exciting. It's more of a calming, zen-like experience that never really does anything that will wow you, but is still rather pleasant.

Dragon Quest III: The Seeds of Salvation joins mobile’s ever-growing Dragon Quest pantheon, and fans of traditional RPGs should rejoice.

You might be tempted to play through most of Rust Bucket’s Puzzle Mode before diving into the Endless Dungeon, but I wouldn’t recommend it. You can figure out most of what you’ll need to survive after only a few levels, and the constant appearance of obnoxiously long ads might make it unbearable if you have to deal with too many of them. Instead, play a few puzzles and then jump straight into the Endless Dungeon – it’ll be a lot more enjoyable that way.

Embracing the subject matter, as well as maintaining a fast paced take on matching different colors, means you’ll find yourself frequently itching for just one more go.

My Friend Pedro: Ripe for Revenge is a wonderfully ridiculous shooter that manages to turn bullet-time slaughter into a simple but effective artform. There’s so much fun to be had here that you’d really be pretty foolish if you didn’t pick it up and give it a go.

At face value, Date Everything may seem like a silly little dating game. The hilarity of the memes and social media posts regarding the game is certainly attention-grabbing, but they don’t touch on the intricacies of the title. I was pleasantly surprised by the fact that it’s so much more than that. Characters interact with each other, and some even have a bit of history. Harper and Dirk, I’m looking at you. It creates a world that feels real, as they speak of other objects, immersing you in a sort of hub world within the walls of the house. You forget the fact that you don’t touch grass, and instead, you spend all day, every day socialising with your furniture. Okay, it sounds weird when you put it like that, but despite the game taking place in one major location, it doesn’t feel limited in the slightest.

While Infinity Blade III doesn’t break any significantly fresh ground, it manages to refine everything that we’ve loved about the series to absolute perfection. As the end of a trilogy, I could think of no better way to close things out.

Great fun for pocket gamers.

So, while I’d love to see some more value added for the player who has maxed out everything, Deep Loot is a really fun dive up until that point. Upgrading items is satisfying, finding special treasures is exciting, and the quest to do both is a great driving factor for a long period of time.

If you've only played a handful of tower defense games, Siegecraft TD will be right up your street. It's polished, it's to-the-point, and it's meticulously crafted. But if you're looking for something more from your tower defense games, Siegecraft TD is going to be a passing distraction and nothing more.

Magic Flute by Mozart is a well put together puzzle game that will keep you entertained in its entirety making it well worth picking up.

Dead Effect 2 certainly has a few quirks that might annoy you or even turn you off entirely (it’s mainly the forced registration and the tone-deaf script for me), but if you can endure or ignore them you should be able to have quite a bit of fun with it.

The truly rewarding moments in The Trace are exploring its gorgeous, accessible world and feeling like you are a physical part of it.

I’ve been having a lot of fun with Transformers: Earth Wars. It’s a well-made game that doesn’t buck any trends, but it stands as a solid representation of the genre — starring robots in disguise.

If the number one goal of gaming is to have a good time, then this is a great way to do just that.

Aside from some slight control issues and an annoying theme song, Burn The Rope has just about everything you could ask for when it comes to pick-up-and-play puzzle games. It's cute, simple to play, and full of plenty of challenging stages. And it's the only way to burn ants without looking like you're crazy.

As it stands today, Kumo Lumo is an adorably strange game that has stolen my heart, but not a spot on my must-play list. A rainy day game, for now.

Though Duck Dynasty: Battle of the Beards is somewhat limited and basically an interactive ad for A&E's television show, it's well made, challenging, and far more fun than it has any right to be.

Space Chicks is the rare kind of mobile game that gets everything right.

Until Siege Hero finds a way to give it a real distinctiveness, there's not enough here to help it stand out in the crowd. That's too bad, too, because it really should.

I’m seriously going to make it a regular addition to my exercise routine because A) it’s fun, and B) it works up a sweat! I genuinely feel as if I’ve done a real workout at a gym class with an instructor afterwards, but from the comfort of my own home with my favourite Vocaloid. I also think the addition of building up your data to keep an eye on your progress is a nice touch, as I can see where I’m going wrong, and what I need to do more of.

A pretty repetitive game, and you get tired of flinging and smiting before very long. Don't be surprised if you return, though. Velocirapture isn't a very diverse distraction, but it still works well for bite-sized play sessions.

Jam-packed with levels of content to explore, The LEGO Movie Video Game delivers a faithful experience for fans of both the movie and previous LEGO games.

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.

In conclusion, I had a blast playing Sympathy Kiss, and I can’t wait to dive back in to reach other endings. This Otome game has given me yet another fictional man to love, and for that, I highly recommend it.

Those willing to forgive Rain On Your Parade’s rough edges will find a lot to enjoy though, especially at its well judged price-point.

True Axis likely has another hit on its hands. True Skate makes you feel like you can really skate, and at least for this writer, that's quite the accomplishment.

While it's no Skateor Tony Hawk, that's perhaps the most surprising thing of all: the fact thatsomewhere along the line, Penny Timestops being an advergame, and starts feeling like a trippy skate session more than worth the price of admission. In a sea full of games shilling pet food and restaurants, you could do a lot worse than to shell out for this wild ride.

A cheap thrill. It takes away control from the player with automatic shooting and running, but it does so to good effect. When the screen fills with bullets, bad guys, buzzsaws and crumbling platforms, your adrenaline will begin to flow. But when you die -- which you will, a lot -- you won't become frustrated.

Color Zen is a rewarding experience from start to finish; I only wish that finish didn’t come so quickly.

Overall, the entire concept of an office building being run by the Grim Reaper, or Death, himself brings a smile to my face. I look forward to making it back to the main area so I can watch the NPCs hold their coffee mugs as they gossip about other members of staff. I think my favourite NPC at the moment is the adorable Pump Quinn who clearly loves her work and is often seen clutching a bunch of papers. I’ve already recommended this game to everyone that I know, and I wholeheartedly recommend it to anyone who loves roguelike games. Even if you’re not usually a fan of the genre, you should give this one a try purely for the fast-paced combat and comedic situations that pop up throughout the game.

MotoHeroz does a few things wrong, but it does a lot right, too. It's a lot of fun to race against randomly-selected online ghosts, and spitting in the face of gravity will grant you an undeniable rush of joy. Just be prepared for some repetition, though there are worse experiences to repeat than bouncing along rough terrain in a monster truck.

It pushes the boundaries of what a ball-breaking game is, and is absolutely worth your time, effort and money.

Poker Pals is more than just a great new spin on poker – it's a great step forward for the world of freemium asynchronous play.

It does, however, incorporate some great multiplayer features we rarely see on the platform, and the free-to-play model is a fair compromise. If you haven't yet overdosed on defending your bases from automated hordes, Spice Invaders is well worth checking out.

This Could Hurt is pretty brief and pretty challenging, but it's also pretty fun. The 3D isometric graphics are vibrant, and what's more ridiculous than sending a child through a mechanized death course? Players who have a knack for games that require perfect timing will love this one, even if they find themselves finishing the entire game a little quickly.

The Curse is a great game, but again, it's out to taunt and torment you into spending your money to be able to lock The Mannequin away once again. It's just a darn shame we kind of want him to stick around, which seems to work against the entire premise.

Finger Tied isn't the first "it's kinda like Twister but with your fingers" experience we've seen on the iPad, but it's the best I've played.

Lost Treasures of Infocom can't quite decide which audience it's going for: existing interactive fiction fans or new players. It tries a few ease-of-use tricks to help attract interactive fiction newbies, but it also includes legacy things like scans of feelies, something that might confuse anyone who didn't grow up with packaged versions of the games.

Tap and fling gameplay is nothing new on mobile devices, sitting at the root of a little game by the name of Angry Birds. But PUK manages to distill that style of play to its most essential bits, while bringing in a deviously clever timer to keep the action moving. The result is a game that could quickly become a new mobile obsession.

Bottle Cap Blitz is a slick little timewaster that doesn't try to be anything more complicated than it is, and instead caters to those who are looking for a trusty app to spend five or twenty minutes with on the commute to work or while sitting on the throne. It does its job, and makes bottle cap tossing pretty darn fun.

Problems aside, series fans should enjoy Bloons TD Battles, especially since the Assault Mode adds an extra layer of strategy. Get back to monkeying around. It’s your duty.

Hunter Island isn't a Pokémon substitute, but it doesn't try to be. It's just a very decent RPG that provides hours of battling fun. It is, quite simply, its own monster.

Island of the Lizard King was originally written in 1984, and it shows. By the standards of modern fantasy, it can sometimes seem clumsy and crude. But besides being a great nostalgia trip, it reminds us of the simple excitement that sophisticated fantasy has lost. Sometimes those primal thrills of adventure and exploration get buried in the desire to justify and explain everything. Besides, any book that lets you fight a lizardman riding a styracosaurus gets two thumbs up from me.

Tiny Dice Dungeon is still very much worth a roll if you're a fan of RPGs.

It doesn’t revolutionize it, and it’s not trying to. Regardless, Adventure Xpress is still plenty entertaining for fans of the genre.

A hammer with dreams of being a scalpel.

If you’ve not picked it up yet and nostalgia is tugging at your thumbs, by all means go mobile.

Race the Sun is a surprising little racing game that will sink its hook in you for quite some time.

While the games are fun and engaging, after you’ve completed the first area a good 5 times because you accidentally close the app out of habit, it ceases to be fun or cute.

It feels like Star Wars: Force Arena delivers enough fun and nostalgia that the de facto four-battle limit won’t be a dealbreaker, but it is something to keep in mind. It’s certainly a worthy addition to the overall pantheon of Star Wars mobile games, one that gives you new hope — pun fully intended — that creative ways to approach the world’s most famous sci-fi series are still out there.

In fact, if you’re old enough to go all the way back to the beginning of the Power Rangers brand, you’ll probably enjoy Chroma Squad on a level that younger gamers might not appreciate. The nice part is that it’s of high enough quality that anyone can enjoy it, and the fact that Bandai Namco published it gives the game an extra special seal of approval. Get ready to be shouting “Lights, Camera, Chromatize!” at random moments and have other people looking at you strangely. Unless, of course, they’re playing too, in which case they might flash you a knowing smile.