A charming twist on the Scrabble formula with more than enough content to keep you playing into the new year, Spellwood is well worth the investment.

A timeless classic is reborn on iOS. The Lords of Midnight has lost none of its ability to captivate and entertain, and serves as a fitting tribute to Mike Singleton's genius.

If you're okay with seeing nothing new, you'll find CandyMeleon will while away a solid few hours of your time with its perfectly palatable sweetie action.

A solid and frequently impressive platform game, but its ferocious nature often makes it too frustrating.

The first non-linear Layton game turns out to be one of the best. Professor Layton and the Azran Legacy is a selection of stories and puzzles well worth your time.

Windjammers is one of the finest co-op games in any genre, and it remains as essential now as it was back in 1994.

Metal Gear Solid: HD Collection contains two of the very best stealth games of the last decade, lavishly updated and jam-packed with extra content.

After a two-year hiatus, the Tiger Woods franchise makes a triumphant return to the DS with this exceptionally entertaining golf simulator.

Absolutely not a video game in any shape or form – but something that's more immediately useful than Brain Training and its ilk.

Shibuya is a fresh take on the block-dropping puzzler complete with neat progression system and excellent soundtrack.

While offering nothing radically new or different, House of Mice is an entertaining and charismatic physics based puzzle game.

Cell Bound has the nucleus of a great puzzler, but the rush to introduce new ingredients contaminates this interesting experiment.

SpongeBob's Super Bouncy Fun Time is a well-presented and competent Peggle clone.

Conclusive proof that retro games can still mix it up with modern releases, Gridrunner is a shooter fan's dream come true. Sublime controls and a stern challenge make this one of the best blasters to grace iOS in ages.

Bright and breezy presentation, and a few clever ideas, mean Amoebattle is worth a few hours of anyone's time.

Tough, entertaining, and slightly mad, Hairy Tales is a decent puzzler that definitely deserves some attention.

A novel abstract strategy game that checks all the boxes for a fantastic digital experience and is charming enough, despite occasional accessibility issues, to win over abstract cynics like me.

Bitcoin Billionaire is admittedly light on gamey-stuff, but it can be extremely difficult to put down all the same.

Warlock's Tower offers satisfying puzzles crafted from a strong central mechanic and smart level design.

StarFox 64 3D reminds us why we've been begging Nintendo for a proper sequel for nearly 15 years.

Not only is Yoshi's Island DS huge, cute, innovative and beautifully presented, its layering of light platforming skills and hardcore item collection mean it's ideal for all abilities.

Intensely frustrating strategic military shooter, which could do with being massively simplified.

Castle of Illusion combines old school challenge with impeccable presentation to create a fitting tribute to one of the 16-bit era's finest platforming classics.

A solid – often brilliant – simulation, which for some may prove a little too realistic for its own good.

Gameloft expands its Order & Chaos universe with this excellent multiplayer online battle arena game, which is packed with depth and playability. Once more content is added and stability is improved, it will become a mobile must-have.

Patapon 2 improves on some areas of the classy rhythm-based strategy game, but the new leveling up system is overly complex.

Joe Danger 2: The Movie’s oodles of content and its unique platforming/stunt racing hybrid experience makes it an undeniable hit.

A neat action puzzler, Fragger is another example of a popular Flash game making a welcome leap to iPhone.

The Sims 3: Ambitions builds on the core game with a welcome slate of new features, even if they don't make for a must-have expansion pack.

Attractive and addictive, Cubes vs. Spheres is a geometric war worth waging.

FlipShip isn't the most original shooter, but genre fans will enjoy the ride.

A fun and easy to play strategy game that entertains with its great graphics and wide variety of troops and missions.

Hitman GO is a smart and satisfying puzzle game, with loads of content and plenty of variation. It's also totally adorable.

Bravely Second is a worthy sequel to a fantastic game and fans of the series will be very pleased.

With some essential new features, the best football management sim on mobile just got even better.

Deus Ex GO is another triumph that finds crafty puzzles in the DNA of a much-loved franchise.

Plants vs. Zombies belies its cartoonish appearance with a deep and engaging tactical experience providing lasting appeal.

Crisp, bright, and immensely enjoyable, Project Diva f will delight and challenge fans of Vocaloid and rhythm games alike.

An acute mix of intense twin-stick shooter action and dazzling visuals hampered by awkward controls.

While it doesn't win any awards for originality, Pizza Boy is a well-executed, if too short, tribute to classic 2D platform gaming.

Too simple a set up to stretch out across an entire game, Egg vs. Chicken is nonetheless an entertaining match-three battler, even if it comes to the boil a little too quickly.

While differing from the main series, ANNO: The Harbor explores a new style of gameplay that proves franchises can have exciting new life on iPhone and iPod touch.

Thanks to a solid foundation, the new ideas that Chip Chain brings to a crowded table make it a lot of fun.

A run and gun twin-stick shooter with a little more to it than most. Xenowerk has its problems, but it's worth a look all the same.

Divide By Sheep is cheeky, difficult, and an awful lot of fun.

Yes, some people are going to find that steep price point a little off-putting, but this is a superb mobile game that's releasing at the same time on the App Store as it is on other platforms. But even if it wasn't, there'd still be a case to be made that Dandara was worth it. If you're a fan of superbly designed action games, then you owe it to yourself, and to the devs, to give this one a try.

Bright, beautiful and extremely playable, Revenant Wings breathes new life into the portable line of Final Fantasies.

Tapper World Tour is a shot of fun arcade gameplay and colourful graphics that will have you asking for a second round.

The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword still doesn't wholly convince a decade on, with flaky controls, drab visuals, and a dull over-world. But it retains enough of that irresistible Zelda magic to warrant a place on your Switch. Just.

Super Phantom Cat 2 is an interesting, if simple platformer, with a few decent ideas thrown into the mix.

A vibrant, fast-paced, special platformer that works perfectly on touchscreen, Shadow Blade is well worth as much of your time as you have to spare.

While it lasts, this wonderfully relaxing physics-puzzler makes an ideal antidote to Angry Birds rage.

Reaper’s main adventure can use a little more meat, but cutting up enemies should keep you busy regardless.

The quality of the original game still shines through, and thanks to some inventive controls and screen modes, Pinball Fantasies retains its position as one of the finest pinball simulators ever made.

Space Grunts is a decent roguelike, but that's about it.

While its resource-management gameplay won't be for everyone, there's a pleasant rhythm to Rebuild that makes it difficult to put down.

1001 Spikes will frustrate, but its retro difficulty is worthy of a seasoned player's time.

The Silent Age: Episode Two wraps up the story nicely, but it wastes its clever time-travelling mechanic.

A beautifully designed game that'll turn your life inside out for a week.

An engaging and intriguing mix of adventuring and puzzling all set in the world of someone else's phone.

A typically polished footy game with a surprisingly generous freemium model. But EA needs to improve the way it plays touchscreen football if it's to keep the paying punters happy for FIFA 15.

FAST RMX is a solid arcade racer, with a gratifying sense of speed, excellent visuals, and an interesting phase mechanic ensuring you have plenty of fun. It's not quite a flawless experience though. Outside of Hero mode, it's all a bit basic, with no tricks to perform in the air, and tracks lacking the intricate design of Mario Kart or Wipeout.

Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection is an absolutely essential purchase for any fan of the classic 2D games.

Danganronpa 2 builds on its predecessor's foundation for a murder mystery that is brimming with personality.

A combination of cheeky grins and exploding donkeys makes Worms: Open Warfare 2 a simple and enjoyable slice of handheld action.

A very good physics-based puzzler that's held back by a woolly scoring system.

A fun, zippy roguelike platformer with a cute premise that belies its high difficulty.

A hugely enjoyable brawler with an engrossing story and an atmosphere you can cut with a machete – one of the greatest movie tie-ins ever.

Magnetic Billiards packs an original gameplay concept, tweaked to near-perfection, and steeped in character. This is what indie gaming should be.

A slick, accessible platform-puzzler with a satisfying emphasis on fast reactions and quick thinking.

A solid snowboarding experience, but one that doesn't quite have the bite to make it a classic.

Bright, colourful, and tons of fun, PinOut is a reimagining of pinball that blows the original out the water.

The third game in the much-loved lawyer-sim series makes a watertight case for classic status.

Solomon's Boneyard smartly hones in on a more action-oriented brand of gameplay than its predecessor, casting the established twin-stick combat and RPG character development elements in a new and attractive light.

Shadow Bug looks great, it plays brilliantly, and you're going to have a lot of fun slicing through it.

Steam World Quest isn't a perfect RPG, but it's a damn good one. If you want some bitesized, simple card battling mechanics on the go, this is an excellent choice.

A bright, shiny arcade blaster with a cartoon swagger and enough challenge to keep shooter fans grinning maniacally.

A breathtaking auto-runner that ups the ante in pretty much every regard. Highly recommended.

Charm and challenge in a neat 22MB file that will sit on your PSP for a lifetime. While it's an unforgiving game in places, it largely overcomes this with a vibrant and intelligent design ethos.

Age of Zombies needs to pull back on the lame jokes to let its nicely designed gameplay shine through.

If you're after a truly traditional RPG experience with some modern 3DS trimmings, Dragon Quest VII is a safe bet that'll keep you busy till Christmas.

It's got a few niggles here and there, but this is a much deeper effort than anything we've seen from King before.

Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom is an endearing casual adventure title in which you must save Tamagotchi planet by spreading friendship and love.

Subtle, hugely addictive and massively fun, this is a rare strategy title that manages to be as accessible as it is deep.

A lovingly remastered version of an iconic game, but sadly one that will only frustrate and annoy when not viewed through rose-tinted spectacles.

It takes some getting used to, but stick with this and you'll find a platformer of real quality.

A strong tower defence game that does very little new, but doesn't put a foot wrong, either.

A solid traditional RPG married to a refreshingly modern narrative, shot through with a lovely sense of humour.

Take away the absurd loading times and choice of opting for a more enhanced version on other platforms, and Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled is everything a bandicoot lover could have hoped for.

There's a solid game here, but Drop Wizard doesn't manage to turn its good ideas and great presentation into a must-buy.

Simple to the point of beauty, and beautiful to the point of becoming a work of art, this is a game you won't want to win, because you won't want the experience to end.

A novel and entertaining blend of sandbox and strategy with a unique theme and a few unfortunate PC port flaws.

One of the best Pokémon games just got even better. This release pushes the DS to its limits and in doing so makes for one heck of a monster catching adventure.

A brilliantly put together little game, Skylanders: Cloud Patrol quickly becomes an addictive way to waste a few minutes, whether you care about the characters or not.

The natty storyline will make you grin, while the perfectly pitched gameplay and glorious multiplayer mode will make you sing: a near-perfect light-hearted and innovative music title for the PSP.

An engrossing strategy game with a rich array of units, excellent replay value and a history lesson thrown in.

It's their season: FIFA 07 is the best portable football sim to date bar none.

Snipperclips is a joyously accessible, deceptively smart multiplayer treat, and a game that really sells the whole Switch philosophy.