Sid Meier’s Ace Patrol is a deceptively deep, highly polished and surprisingly addictive look at the strategy behind old-school dogfights.

Breezy and pleasantly presented, Go Home Dinosaurs may not be a hardcore tower defense option, but it's still an enjoyable tweak on the genre.

Impossible Road stands alongside Super Hexagon as one of the top tests of skill, reaction, and sheer pluck on the App Store.

Haunted Hollow is an uncomplicated, charming, and fun strategy game that's particularly potent with pals.

Some of The Yoda Chronicles may work as an extremely gentle initiation into the strategy genre, but the adorable cut-scenes don’t override the problems present in a short, awkwardly paced, and frequently dull adventure.

Angry Birds Friends brings the Facebook favorite to iOS, but while the new angle is interesting, the competitive balance seems muddled.

Star Command's violent romp through the galaxy is equal parts challenging and clever, making it a must-play for sci-fi strategy fans.

The Lost Reels is a pale shadow of the original, but it does a decent job with what little it's been given.

Despite control quirks, LEGO Batman: DC Super Heroes delivers console-quality visuals and tons of variety to bolster its familiar-but-fun smash, build, and puzzle gameplay.

Iron Man 3 is a fun free game and a very solid diversion, but slow progress saps its long-term appeal.

Robot Unicorn Attack's trademark brand of dumb fun hits a new apex in this improved and smartly executed free-to-play sequel.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Rooftop Run is a fun, competent endless runner with nice visuals, although we're not fans of its steep in-app purchases.

Vendetta Online's MMO space exploration and combat is deep, complex, and satisfying – once you get past the learning curve and get a feel for its quirks.

Bookworm Heroes is a polished word/fighting game hybrid, but its aggressive in-app purchases ultimately mellow its charm.

It's the same Cut the Rope that we know so well, albeit with a little more to love.

Laudably unique and pleasing in short bursts, Fish Out of Water falls short of warranting long-term attachment.

Mr. Crab features plenty of entertaining levels that make it easy enough for a child to pick up, but tricky enough for adults to enjoy.

Lumber Jacked is a stellar retro-stylized platformer that’s challenging to no end and will keep you replaying stages to enjoy its brutal objectives and cutesy aesthetics.

If you like unspooling a good sci-fi detective story, Gemini Rue is well worth the investment.

Dungeon Hunter 4's slick look and fun scope get trampled out quickly by absurdly aggravating and omnipresent IAP grabs.

Even with its odd mix of casual fighting and (eventual) hardcore-only challenge, Injustice’s solid action will please the crime-fighting crowd.

The Other Brothers' control issues are bad enough to sink this platformer.

Simple, gorgeous, and brutal, Badland is a real treat for the senses that marvels as it challenges.

Mittens is a cute and cuddly time-killer that hearkens back to classic cartoon sensibilities, but its puzzles are a bit more linear than in Disney’s finest.

Ms. Splosion Man is a mostly excellent puzzle-platformer, but a couple of unfortunate design decisions hold the iOS version back from greatness.

A clever spell system, great cartoon visuals, and loads of humor make Magicka's side-scrolling spell brawling a real treat.

Dungeon Hearts is a match-three puzzler with an interesting concept that just never pans out.

Funny, fast, and free, Lie Swatter makes facts and fibs alike seem totally amusing.

It doesn't take a long time to play through Fetch from start to finish, but this whimsical, kid-friendly puzzle journey is brimming with style and charm.

Streamlined without being dumbed-down, Frontline Commando: D-Day is a fun, accessible romp that shooter fans will find easy to like.

Petting Zoo is one of those rare apps that brings out the kid in all of us.

Best (and most cheaply) experienced in small bursts, Solitaire Blitz offers an engaging high-score chase disguised as a classic game of cards.

With the look of a classic RPG and the heart of an arcade favorite, Nimble Quest is an engaging free-to-play curio that's a hair less gripping than either influence might suggest.

Order & Chaos Duels can quickly become very pricey the more you play, which is a shame since it offers a rich combat system and lots of charm.

Alien Hive is a unique puzzle game, but the originality crumbles a bit under the weight of limited resources and a pointless enemy tile.

Beautifully crafted and unflinchingly unique, Capsized+ is a marvelously quirky shooter adventure worth getting lost in.

The Croods isn’t the kind of game you’d expect from a Rovio and DreamWorks partnership, and it fails to leverage the strengths of either while beckoning for your wallet.

Whether you love Star Wars or just crave new tables to dominate without needing rolls of quarters, it's digital pinball done right with a licensed twist.

Tight controls and effective ambience make NightSky one of the best physics platformers around.

Marvel's back catalog is a fantastic resource, but the clunky reader interface and current offline restrictions make the mobile experience less than heroic.

Minor quibbles don't keep Super Stickman Golf 2 from being a brilliantly fun and addictive iOS game, whether you prefer to swing solo or outshoot the competition.

Danger Boat enters an overcrowded genre with a few novel ideas, but some speed bumps prevent it from racing past the competition.

Ridiculous Fishing is absurdly fun and seriously memorable.

Block Fortress hides ample fun and depth behind its clone mask, yielding an arguably more entertaining experience than the iOS hit it draws its visual inspiration from.

For what it’s worth, Liberation Maiden is the far better value and experience than its 3DS counterpart. Play this version of the uncommon shooter if you haven’t already, but don’t expect it to last you long.

Sonic the Hedgehog seems like a perfect fit for an endless runner, but Sonic Dash fumbles the fundamentals and aggravates with heavy-handed in-app purchases.

Temple Run: Oz puts a slick Disney spin on the top 3D endless runner, but isn't quite as captivating or fully-featured as the free and still very recent Temple Run 2.

While it's a short romp, there's a lot of replay value in this unusual game of chance. King Cashing 2 duct-tapes some strange ideas together to make a fun and funny offering that'll hook you right away.

Toy Story: Smash It! is easy to pick up, hard to put down, and always enticing to play again. While completion may be brief and easy for experienced players, aiming to notch a perfect score provides sufficient challenge and shows just how clever the puzzles really are.

Serious adventure fans will be able to look beyond Cognition's warts to appreciate the story and puzzle challenges, but it's bound to be a love-hate relationship.

AVP: Evolution might turn into a worthwhile iOS brawler with some notable tweaks, but for now it's a rather mundane exercise in patience.

Scaled down in some respects and expanded in others, Real Racing 3 might irk some old fans, but it's a remarkably giving free-to-play affair.

Gun Bros 2 is a serviceable twin-stick shooter hampered by a miserable free-to-play model that punishes the player for not paying.

With finicky controls and frustrating stages, it's almost like Worm Run wants you to get eaten.

Sporos is a pure puzzle game in the classical sense, with a simple rule set that quickly iterates and expands. It may not dazzle, and it’s easy to fall into a trial-and-error grind – but if you want a cerebral challenge, it’s as difficult as the limitations you place on yourself.

Year Walk is smart, thrilling, and absolutely stunningly crafted. It'll throw you for a loop, leaving you transfixed to the screen until you shake out all of its dark secrets.

While the “endless shooter” mechanics are nicely executed, Die Hard's increasingly boring gameplay and irritating checkpoints aren't worth the effort. "Yippee ki-lame," sadly.

Beastie Bay isn't as multi-layered as the games it is based on, plus its battle system is lacking, but the great simulation features may still keep you coming back for more.

Strong atmosphere and artsy, minimalistic presentation make Kairo's puzzle-adventure gameplay a fascinating experience, though it lacks the structure and direction that many players come to expect from the genre.

In spite of a few control issues, Metal Slug 2 is a surprisingly strong showcase for old-school action and rich 2D presentation.

While it doesn't reinvent the wheel like its predecessor, Anomaly Korea is an almost wholly different strategic experience than anything else found on the App Store.

The Journey Down's unique setup and well-implemented adventure gameplay gets the series off to a promising start.

Ingeniously conceived and expertly executed, Hundreds is one of the very best iOS games to date.

Pudding Monsters might try a few too many things within a short span of levels, but its breezy puzzle action entertains while hinting at better challenges down the line.

Inane and unvaried gameplay, paired with some terrible boss stage design, yields another sad Shaq action affair; a real Diesel disappointment, to say the least.

Joe Danger Touch is a bright, addictive platform game that should serve as required playing for any developer interested in moving a console favorite to the App Store.

The Room is a gorgeous, unique, and mentally stimulating exercise in mechanical puzzle-solving that's steeped in atmosphere. It's a gauntlet of challenges worth running through.

Lode Runner Classic is just as hectic and demanding as the beloved original, but control problems hamstring the experience.

Familiar framework aside, Temple Run 2's notable upgrades and thrilling pursuits make it one of the most entertaining free-to-play options around.

Rather than offering fun fan service, All the Bravest is little more than an insidious attempt to prey on nostalgia — and waste your time doing it.

Bit Dungeon treads charted ground, but it absolutely owns its retro roots, and making stat numbers larger is a joy as old as gaming itself. If imitation really is the sincerest form of flattery, then consider golden-era gaming red in the face.

This amazingly deep and addictive puzzle-RPG hybrid gets a mostly solid port that's still a blast to play, despite some rough edges from the transition to the App Store.

Wave Trip may feel derivative in spots to multiplatform players, but it's nevertheless an exciting and engaging musical odyssey.

While the allure of setting fires cools off before long, the engaging style, story, and puzzle elements make for an enticing experience.

The App Store is full of great racing games, but Table Top Racing is a comparatively vanilla effort hardly worth the investment.

It may not be as involved as other simulation genre offerings, but Pixel People's adorable take on city building and gene splicing makes for good times with a casual focus.