Wayward Souls is teeth-grindingly hard, thanks to some loose controls and punishing perma-death, but high replayability and a smart progression system tease you back into the fray.

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.

They say an elephant never forgets. We doubt we’ll forget our experience with 9 Elefants, although not for the right reasons.

The Amazing Spider-Man 2 is rife with mechanical problems, bloated with aggressive in-app purchase hooks, and forces a constant sense of mission deja vu. Don’t get caught in this web.

Third Eye Crime serves up a masterful blend of stealth puzzling and noir-inspired storytelling, with misdirection cleverly applied on both counts.

Intricate yet fun to learn, Yomi mixes fighting and card games together into a compact package that plays just as well on iPad as it does on your tabletop.

Hitman GO is a clever and stylish work of alchemy, bringing elegant stealth mechanics to a new platform and a fresh genre.

No amount of fan service or witty writing can save Family Guy: The Quest for Stuff from mediocrity born of leaden pacing and shameless freemium money-grubbing.

David presents an abstract, dangerous world that’s as tough as it is beautiful and surprisingly emotive.

R.B.I. Baseball 14 is fundamentally fair, but the too-streamlined approach and lack of common modes make for a foul lasting impression.

If you can deal with the business model, or are happy to waste a few hours before abandoning the game entirely, Trials Frontier is pretty, fairly playable, and reasonably fun. But stick around and the veneer is soon stripped away to reveal endless, soulless grinding to appease cartoon simpletons.

Monument Valley’s dazzling aesthetics and deceptive terrain combine wonderfully to form a rich, memorable experience.

FTL's seat-of-your-pants strategizing hits the sweet spot between careful planning and unpredictable action. This survival sim can be a heartbreaker at times, but it's one of the most thrilling downloads you'll find on iPad.

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.

Star Wars: Assault Team is an engaging, strategy-minded card battler quest that's a blast for series fans. However, its steep challenge might push you to spend more than you originally intended to once you get sucked in.

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.

The founding concept behind Words & Cards is certainly unique, but a novel idea isn’t a substitute for good puzzle design and fun features.

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.

Despite some freemium hassles, Monster Legacy is as charming as many of the monsters you’ll meet. Its various aspects all work together to create an inviting adventure you’ll want to keep playing.

Despite the cute aesthetic, Globlins is not one of Cartoon Network’s finer efforts.

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.

First Strike is a fairly simple strategy game, but its fast-paced games and demands for smart thinking yield challenges on all difficulties.

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.

Dudeski pits your shredding skills to the test in a race against an avalanche—and totally nails the run.

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.

Smash Hit turns the simple pleasure of shattering glass into an enjoyable arcade-style cruise through abstract terrain.

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.

Calculords inventively combines math with collectible card gaming and old-school aesthetics to offer a deeply enjoyable experience that’s more than the sum of its parts.

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.

Trolls vs Vikings proves incredibly derivative of Plants vs. Zombies 2, which may hit enough of a sweet spot for die-hards — but the few elements Megapop changed or added tend to throw off the balance in unexpected ways.

Bug Heroes 2 builds on the fine foundation of its predecessor to assemble a strong and varied MOBA-style game, which only stumbles on a few minor points.

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.

Despite the strangeness of some of its surface-level changes, Final Fantasy VI has aged surprisingly well, and holds up beautifully on iOS.

Its combat system may be simple, but Fright Fight offers plenty of ways to have fun with its Smash Bros-like online matches. Just expect to spend money if you crave variety or quick progress.

Second Chance Heroes calls on some big-name historical figures to kick ass in the zombie apocalypse, with just enough style, variety, and depth to keep you engaged.

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

Adventure Time: Card Wars is an impeccably designed card-battler with the show’s signature humor generously slathered over it. Don’t be turned off by the energy mechanics — this is one game that makes that minor annoyance worth tolerating.

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.

We’ve been dreaming of an Eliss update for years, and Eliss Infinity proves dreams can sometimes come true. More importantly, what was innovative in 2009 remains fresh, tactile, and truly terrific today.

Threes!' engaging mechanics add up to iOS puzzle perfection.

Bloodstroke pays lip service to John Woo’s bloody brand of action, but it lacks any grace, efficiency, or flair. Cool art style notwithstanding, Bloodstroke’s clumsy controls doom it from the start.

Marvel Run Jump Smash! contains everything promised in its title, but leaves out the fun and excitement.

Dawn of the Plow’s no-frills retro style gels perfectly with its simple snow-plowing mechanic, which provides a light-hearted distraction that can easily become a chaotic battle to stave off the inevitable.

Dungeon Keeper’s pared-down reboot is fun on its own right, even if it's not quite the same creature as the excellent classic games it’s based on.

Tales of Phantasia's crass cash-in on nostalgia — via brutal gameplay tweaks and a heavy focus on in-app purchases — comes at the cost of its own magic and value. Keep your beloved memories intact and dodge this damaged port.

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.

Lost Yeti’s throwback aesthetic and charming puzzles are a Super Nintendo-lover’s sugarcoated dream come true.

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.

Castle Doombad is an impressive tower defense game that charms and challenges in equal doses.

Cool setting aside, Joe Danger Infinity is largely more of the same stunt biking action seen in the first iOS game. Luckily, sweet rides and vibrant characters help keep it interesting, and the underlying action is as entertaining as ever.

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

Jet Car Stunts 2 demands extreme skill and patience, but the payoff is four varied and equally stellar game modes that offer style, speed, and character in spades.

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

By air, land, or sea, Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed delivers an entertaining burst of nostalgia-drenched fun, though the slow-to-unlock content and awkward in-game currency implementation are unappealing new mobile-exclusive features.

It may be nearly a decade old, but in spite of technical hiccups, difficult controls, and a slow start, Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas is still one of the best open-world games of all time.

Streamlined stealth and an intriguing premise blend well to get République off to a promising start in Exordium.

Colossatron’s couple hours of campaign chaos are plenty amusing, but it’s short on the depth and diversity needed to ensure real staying power.

Ridge Racer Slipstream delivers the unique and thrilling flavor of the well-known arcade racing series without messing up the controls, but it relies too heavily on its console predecessors for inspiration.

Cut the Rope 2 works in some new puzzle mechanics, but we hoped the series’ first numbered sequel would feel just a bit more distinctive.

Fiz's slow-burning but incredibly entertaining brewery management simulation really nails the nitty-gritty details, offering addictive beer-making entertainment for hardcore enthusiasts and casual imbibers alike.

The Room Two builds on the original game in smart ways without losing the thrill or depth of its finely tuned puzzle play.

Lawless is easily one of the slickest titles on the App Store, but gorgeous visuals don't really equate to a great way to spend your time.

Angry Birds Go! may be the most glaring example to date of a stellar game concept thoroughly corrupted by an awful litany of freemium tactics.

It doesn't quite have The Walking Dead's emotional weight or instantly relatable characters, but Episode 1 of The Wolf Among Us is a fun, intriguing opener for what promises to be a macabre supernatural noir thriller.

Mountain Sheep’s stylish art direction and new ideas are promising, but in execution KingHunt is perfunctory and unfocused, relying too heavily on high scores to the detriment of its pacing and rhythm.

Heroes of Dragon Age is a generally entertaining romp through Thedan lore, but a lack of battle interaction and an overly limiting stamina bar blight the whole.

Band Stars brings charm and fun in a polished package, but it fails to build on good first impressions and ends up feeling blandly generic.

With fun exploration and beautiful visuals, Assassin's Creed Pirates skirts close to greatness, but settles for being an enjoyable diversion.

Strange, surreal, and spectacularly designed, Icycle: On Thin Ice is a one-of-a-kind platformer that only stumbles when it proves overwhelmingly punishing.

Players looking for the chance to devise a plan and execute it perfectly may bristle at Skulls of the Shogun’s reliance on slow-moving chaos, but open-minded tacticians will find a sense of levity, flexibility, and improvisation not found in most turn-based strategy games.

Skateboard Slam tears up the course with charm and skills aplenty, but then hits the wall hard when it comes time to level up.

Boasting a minimalistic design style and simple controls, Darklings is a delightful affair that pulls you in further each time you play.

There’s no in-app purchasing your way out of Touchgrind Skate 2's challenging learning curve, but players willing to put in some practice time will find a satisfying skating game.

Strike Force Heroes: Extraction almost nails its attempt to bring the classic shooter genre to iOS, but a few mechanical rough spots keep it from being on par with its inspirations.

Point-and-click adventure games have always worked well on touch devices, and The Shivah makes the jump to iOS gracefully. It’s rare that a game’s plot, characters, genre, and platform mesh as neatly as they do in this short and bittersweet tale.

Despite solid controls, cool and playful presentation, and decent depth, Flick Kick Football Legends shoots itself in the foot with invasive advertisements and a too-short stamina meter.

Though not perfect, Oceanhorn delivers an impressive Zelda-like adventure that anyone can enjoy.

Smart, funny, and challenging as all get out, Stealth Inc. is one of the most interesting puzzle-platformers to hit iOS this year.

Take Redonkulous lightly at your peril – the gameplay here is hardcore with a vengeance.

While it doesn’t stray far from genre conventions, GT Racing 2 is competently executed and fun to play. There may be higher-profile racers on iOS, but few that nail the controls and upgrades quite as squarely as this does.

The astonishing illustrations, excellent soundtrack, and delightful world of Morphopolis may be worth the price of admission alone in what is an otherwise middling hidden-object game.

Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies isn’t a drastic re-invention of the original, but adding more content and refined gameplay to an already impressive strategy game is hard to argue with.

Pathogen offers a stylish and elegant tactical struggle against computer or human opponents that draws immense depth from a simple set of rules.

Football Heroes is a fun pigskin game that offers a continual stream of great moments, though it’s held back by unintelligent computer opponents.

Tiny Death Star's slow but satisfying consumer-centric twist on battlestation management lacks the excitement of the films it draws from, but makes up for it raw cuteness and loads of thoughtful fan service.

LEGO The Lord of the Rings may not match its much pricier Mac counterpart on features or gameplay depth, but it's still the best LEGO game on iOS by a wide margin.