Kind of Soccer’s quirky and ridiculous hit-the-referee hook is backed by fun-yet-challenging gameplay and a cool lo-fi aesthetic, though its ultimately shallow nature shows through sooner or later.

A minimal, fairly effective, and initially compelling arcade experience that lacks the depth and pulling power to keep it around for the long haul. Still, it’s worth a look for a buck or two.

Flashout 2 is fast and slick, but its combat and upgrade systems stand out more than its racing elements. There are more substantial sci-fi racers on the App Store, but Flashout 2 is a fun, lightweight diversion.

Boom Beach continues Supercell’s fight for your wallet in a solid, yet unspectacular freemium combat strategy game that rewards the patient and meticulous.

Solidly enjoyable (albeit super streamlined) brawling action makes The Winter Solidier an intriguing comic affair, but serious repetition and underwhelming side elements wear out its welcome.

Star Horizon is a tightly responsive, beautiful action shooter throwback with only a few issues—namely the bland story and short playtime—holding it back from being a mobile classic.

The Collectables shapes up well early on, but its straightforward-yet-fun shooting and strategy elements are well and truly hamstrung by a freemium-spoiled design with a stingy reward system.

Glorkian Warrior is a sweet-natured, old-school shooter with a sting in its tail in the shape of a harsh difficulty level. It’s fun but also frustrating, even on the so-called easy setting.

Surgeon Simulator is full of gags and funny moments that are bound to make you laugh out loud, and the intentional wonky controls ramp up the crazy shenanigans. Bizarreness burns brightly in this silly sim, but its humor doesn't always translate into lasting fun.

At its best, Knock-Knock is creepy, surreal, and gripping. However, that grip is loosened by frustrating repetition and a set of muddled systems that obscure more often than they engage.

Block Fortress: War’s unique blend of real-time strategy with tower defense and base building gains ground early, but gets bogged down in the trenches before long.

Eets Munchies will nourish your inner level designer, but the experience as a whole is a bit inconsistent.

Mines of Mars puts a cool building and crafting spin on the side-scrolling action genre, though its fun is whittled down a bit by control issues and minor bugs.

Autumn Dynasty Warlords does a great job of translating 4X strategy for mobile play, although its simplicity threatens the appeal of its combat.

With atmosphere and story driving the slow-burning adventure, Out There is decidedly light on action and excitement. That said, it's the game's personality and surprises that will keep you pushing deeper into the stars.

Another Case Solved is enjoyable enough to warrant the free download, but it lacks a strong enough hook to carry you through the eventual tedium and repetition.

Rigid in spots and light on impact, Tengami still feels like the ideal kind of App Store curio: it’s short, sweet, intimate, and handcrafted, with dreamy environs and meditative, low-key puzzles.

Oquonie is a puzzle-based adventure full of contradictions, notably in being both simple and complex. Soothing to noodle around with but also hard work to understand, it’s tricky to say how much actual fun’s on offer, but Oquonie’s an easy game to be quietly impressed by.

Word Puttz is a solid free-to-play puzzler, though it won’t scratch the itch of advanced word nerds.

Minor technical issues aside, Kahuna is a flavorful reintroduction to a 16-year-old game of Hawaiian-themed stratagem.

Toast Time perfectly captures the chaos of a rushed breakfast; similarly, it doesn’t always sit well and it’s tough to fully digest.

In Fear I Trust is a well-made thriller with some clever puzzles, but its tendency towards tired horror clichés makes it feel generic and aimless.

Baldur's Gate II is a great slice of RPG gaming history, though it’s geared towards serious fans of old-school role-playing — and the tricky touch interface, punishing difficulty, and unintuitive design elements tend to get in the way of fun at times.

There’s a quirky kind of fun in dunking on UFOs, dribbling around explosions, and jumping into outer space for extra coins — but theme aside, NBA Rush brings little new to the saturated endless runner genre, and it’s too shallow to hold much long-term interest.

Equal parts Mirror’s Edge, League of Evil, and NinJump, Shadow Blade is solid, slicey fun for its duration — but that isn’t terribly lengthy.

While lacking the depth and visual diversity of its desktop counterparts, Archangel is a fun touch screen take on the action RPG.

Battle Supremacy’s slow, purposeful shooting isn’t thrill-a-minute stuff, but sustained online firefights are satisfyingly tense.

Fightback’s base combat is entertaining enough, but its reliance on a pay-to-win model dramatically overshadows its gameplay.