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

There's nothing revolutionary enough in Heroes in Time to think it will become an all-time classic RPG, but it's a very good addition to the genre, even without considering the limitations of the iOS platform or its low price tag. Don't be hesitant to put on your rose-colored glasses and try out this particular throwback.

Sentinel 4: Dark Star is a beefy game, making tower defense as dense as possible. While the Sentinel is unique to this series, the game doesn’t otherwise muck around too much with tower defense conventions – it’s just got a lot to it.

There’s little to complain about with Gold Diggers, and little touches like your hit points being communicated by the number of cars left on your drilling machine, or the perturbed facial expression of your anime-esque character when you run directly into a wall will charm you for the duration. None of the limitations with the genre are solved here, but you’ll still strike some gold with your time.

There's an awful lot to like about Toca Band. The wonderment and joy evoked when kids and adults alike encounter the possibilities of the app for the first time is truly something to behold. And when that glow has worn off there's still plenty of band combinations to try out and soloist capabilities to explore.

The designation of "World" in its title just goes to show how large the scope of Chop Chop Ninja World truly is: from sidescrolling stages, to kingdom building, to competing in challenges with friends, fans of the series will find much to love here.

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.

Although for our money it’s not as engrossing or as immediately entertaining as Shovel Knight’s usual adventures this is still a well put together title that has very few faults when viewed purely as a roguelite.

Quite cute and charming in its way, it might be lightweight in tone — but there’s plenty of depth within this prison sandbox strategy game. Control issues let it down a little, but it’s still a rather fine mobile adaptation.

TypeShift is the type of challenging, mind-bending and vocabulary expanding word game that helps demonstrate why Gage has developed a reputation as one of the strongest mobile game developers around. Likely to captivate both word puzzle connoisseurs and crossword fans alike, TypeShift is one of the best twists on the word game genre in recent years.

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.

MacGuffin's Curse is a great, meaty puzzler that will really get your brain cogs whirring. With so much content, the formula was bound to feel a little samey eventually, but by the time that feeling sets in you'll have more than gotten your money's worth.

If you're looking for a fun, spicy puzzler with some serious kick, head to the App Store for Mexiball. The gameplay is simple but deep, with loads of replay value and variety. It's worth the trip south of the border.

Neo Angle is the kind of puzzle game you’re going to want to clear an hour of your Thursday night for, but don’t be surprised if you find yourself hooked for the weekend.

A clever and generous puzzler that excels in gameplay far beyond where it fails in presentation. Open it up anytime you’d like a cool, refreshing Ahhh followed by an inevitable brain freeze.

Despite the interface annoyances and rather tacky monetization, Lawless still makes for a shockingly good time – especially for arcade shooter fans. It can get a tad repetitive at times, but it’s easy enough to switch to playing something else for a little while.

Though I do wonder how much longevity a puzzle game that’s meant to be a promotional tie-in to a console game will have. Still, it’s certainly worth checking out regardless of whether or not you own Uncharted 4.

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.

They’re certainly not enough for me not to recommend World of Warriors. Yes, we probably can’t call it WoW without confusing the heck out of some people, but this is one game that shouldn’t need a catchy abbreviation to earn some fans.

Koa and The Five Pirates of Mara is perhaps a little twee for older gamers, but anyone that’s after a fast paced platformer should check this out.

Aside from the pachinko machine, there's nothing inherently unique about Samurai vs Zombies Defense. The game is everything you'd expect from a castle defense game that just happens to focus around the struggle between two unlikely enemies. While it's not necessarily anything new, it's definitely one of the better titles in this genre that we've seen.

It’s not quite the same as being on the open road, but if you’re in the market for a spot of gentle drama and some pleasingly sensible driving, Truck Simulation 19 is worth taking for a spin.

Small Town Terrors has a lot of classic adventure style puzzles that are straightforward but always fun to complete. If you find a bucket you know you’ll need to fill it with water. Because obviously, right? These flow well with the often abstract solutions that need a little trial and error to solve. They’re also helped along by a few small extras such as the morphing crystal ball objects hidden in every scene. While the story of Galdor’s Bluff will draw you in (everybody loves magician drama!), the off-beat puzzles and approachable mini-games will keep you coming back for more. Just remember that these are professional tricksters you’re dealing with. Nothing is ever as it seems.

Sky Tourist requires an unexpected amount of patience, but brings an unexpected offering of creativity and visual charm in trade. If you’re looking for something that isn’t another endless runner, animal-flinger, or puzzle solver, and you’re ready to play nice with a demanding control scheme, this skycation is for you.

Between these two interlocking gameplay hemispheres, Star Trek: Fleet Command has a huge amount to offer. Fans of the series should enjoy the game’s sense of exploration and its idiosyncratic cast of characters, while fans of strategy-MMORPGs in general should appreciate this novel take on the genre. If you choose to boldly go, you won’t be disappointed.

It might not go down as the best Harry Potter video game ever, but it offers some stretches of fun that you won’t find anywhere else, and the guess here is that Jam City will be dreaming up more to throw into its world for some time to come.

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.

Unless there's some grim subtext I've not managed to pick up on, that is. I guess you could say this whole situation is... puzzling. To add to the mystery, "Ichi" is the word for "one" in Japanese, and the game is very much a one-button affair. Could that be the link? I leave that mystery to you.