Granny Smith is a suitably sweet and satisfying casual game with a moreish mechanic at its core.

Cute cartoon looks and compulsive high score-chasing can't hide the meagre modes and wonky tap controls in this budget range plank-'em-up.

Gorgeous visuals and a fun Fruit Ninja mini-game help liven up this city-builder.

Immeasurably enhanced by a beautifully realised universe and an original narrative, Bastion is one of the best action-adventure games on the iPad.

While most people will never see it through to the end, those who persevere with The Curse are in for one of the most difficult puzzling experiences going.

An enjoyable, engaging blend of two very different genres, but its focus on immediacy over depth makes for a game that's just far too ephemeral.

Attractive and addictive, this clone of Puzzle Bobble ticks almost all the right boxes, but its reliance on in-app purchases means it's best sampled in short doses.

The Next Space is a great display of just how far the shmup genre has come, and is a particularly generic example from the '80s.

Mikey Shorts is a speed-run platformer that's all about learning levels and nailing jumps with expert precision. If you prefer to take it slow, though, Mikey's unimaginative design will fail to thrill.

Dull, repetitive, and just not that funny, Vote!!! won't keep you entertained no matter your political persuasion.

A bit broken in places, Gluey still offers up some enjoyable, if not revolutionary, puzzling fun.

Solid card-based strategy and tactics result in a surefire hit for fans of the Catan persuasion.

Whilst its intriguing central conceit isn't always perfectly implemented, One Tap Hero is enough fun that you can look past the occasional frustration.

Kingdoms of Camelot: Battle for the North is a freemium city-builder with genuine slow-burn appeal and a nifty social element, but it may just too much of a slog for the average player.

KooZac is a number-based puzzler that largely eschews its dry style to provide decent entertainment.

A standard endless-runner that's hampered by its dodgy controls, lack of social features, cheap deaths, and painfully unfunny humour. Verdict? Jog on.

A cute and enjoyable stealth / adventure title that is hampered a bit by fiddly level design.

Physics-puzzlers are hardly in short supply on the App Store, but Fish Hooks offers enough entertainment to justify your attention - the top-notch presentation and absence of a price tag certainly help, too.

Entertaining but sometimes incredibly tough, Fluid Football doesn't have the grace of New Star Soccer, but it'll keep football fans engaged for hours.

A fun, if pricey, game that will appeal to fans of Vocaloid and rhythm games.

Gamelion shows it can make a fast-paced pseudo racing game with SpeedX 3D, but a paucity of content and experimentation will leave hardcore gamers cold.

A lighthearted and fun strategy game with a freemium payment model that gamers expecting a full-blown StarCraft clone may find off-putting.

An entertaining experiment, Puzzle Craft won't convert anyone to its slow-paced cause, but it'll certainly keep fans entertained.

Not without its merits, Jack Lumber is a decent line drawer, but it never manages to spark into life.

Unrelentingly difficult, Mad Skills BMX doesn't offer up enough fun-shaped rewards to make the slog through its levels worthwhile.

Novel and at times rather pretty, yet also banal and ugly, only die-hard fans of LCD games need take on this disappointing downloadable.

Well built and easy to pick up, San Juan is an intriguing game of building and trade.

An uninspired game that gets old fast, Epic Meal Time's diet of fatty foods makes for an uninteresting, sweaty experience.

An ambitious Zelda-inspired adventure offering plenty to get your teeth into. Horn shoots for the stars and, barring a few technical issues, lands admirably close.

Fast paced, gorgeous, and violent in all the right ways, Random Heroes deserves to be played by as many people as possible.

With its clever gimmick, smart design, and charming sense of style, Bad Hotel is a fine addition to the tower defence genre.

A cute tower-building game that does its best to hide its tedium under cute graphics and simple mini-games.

Dull, repetitive, and lacking content, Foosball 2012 might get the feel of the physical game right, but it doesn't do much else.

A cynically deceptive experience that promises deep strategy while delivering the same old social freemium 'gameplay'.

A bright and humorous point-and-click adventure with excellent dialogue but frustrating gameplay - just like they used to make 'em.

Breakout updated. Wizorb is more intense than your average stab at the format. And the inclusion of extra abilities and retro appearance refresh a genre that didn't seem to be going anywhere.

A fun little monkey-flinger, Chimpact is an entirely forgettable, overwhelmingly cheerful slice of twee gaming nonsense.

Imbued with a retro style and blessed with tight controls, Kid Vector calls to mind the great platformers of yesteryear, but sadly lacks long-term prospects.

All the content of the Amiga originals - plus some new levels - make this update a must-have for retro enthusiasts and twin-stick blaster fans alike. It's just disappointing that the two-player mode wasn't included.

After a lot of false FPS /TPS starts, Trigger Fist is the first iOS shooter that works within the limitations of the hardware, and it's remarkably good fun.

Blessed with instantly appealing gameplay, engaging presentation, and plenty of long-term challenge, Super Mole Escape is a must-have download.

By abandoning the original and failing to match the best Temple Run clones on the market, Pitfall has misjudged its leap onto the iOS platform.

An excellent multiplayer portion makes up for an occasionally flimsy single player campaign to make Gasketball a highly recommended purchase.

Clever, well-designed, and occasionally pretty special, Car Toons! is well worth a try for anyone with even a passing interest in physics-puzzlers.

A simple and cute little title that delivers far more enjoyment and challenge than you'd think possible.

A fun little diversion of a game that allows you to kill time via iOS or Facebook.

Happy Street is a charming freemium builder that fails to live up to its inspiration thanks to a gameplay-distorting freemium model.

A fine mixture of excellent presentation, surprising depth, and perfect control, Shellrazer is one of the most compelling action games we've seen on iOS in quite some time, but its intense action may not be for everyone.

Sound Shapes is a short, unremarkable platformer that's transformed into something quite special when mixed with the sights and sounds of its killer line-up of artists.

A strange concoction that somehow just works, Wizorb is an entertaining, though at times unwieldy beast.

A fun, addictive concept ultimately bogged down by intrusive IAPs and a cumbersome interface.

As good as it's always been, this is really worth a look if you've never strayed into the delights of Zuma before, but veteran players need not apply.

A fun retro platforming adventure that faithfully represents '80s gaming with a crisp modern polish.

A well-intentioned attempt to bask in some of Angry Birds's reflected glory, Chicken Raid is a physics-puzzler which is at best mildly distracting and at worst downright broken.

A handful of new features, lessons, and a robust tool kit makes New Art Academy essential for anyone looking to further their drawing skills beyond doodling on Post-its.

While it has occasional moments of levity, more often than not Commando Jack is an unrewarding slog.

Monster Life is one of the prettiest and best constructed social freemium titles we've ever seen, but its core gameplay systems don't offer anything new or particularly interesting.

There's a paucity of challenges to keep you engaged, but Pinball Arcade makes up for that with sheer power of presentation and rock-solid ball physics.

A good-looking and accessible dungeon-crawler, Orc: Vengeance falls down with restrictive levels and woeful controls.

New Super Mario Bros. 2 is exactly that: a sequel to the original. New levels and new abilities will keep fans pleased, but there's little in the way of creative spark to be found here.

It might not have the longevity of its legendary cast of characters, but as long as you don't mind punching things a lot, Justice League: Earth's Final Defense will keep you entertained for a while.

If you've never played a gamebook, Judge Dredd: Countdown Sector 106 is an entertaining, brilliantly designed introduction to the world of dice and bookmarks.

Bucketz is a hyperactive game full to the brim of bright ideas, but its attempts at variation and humour can be a little overwhelming.

Puddle may take a while to fully get going, but once it does it gives you no excuse not to take the plunge.

Baseball fans should retrieve their wallets immediately. You won't find a more immersive baseball game outside the ballpark.

An endless-runner with a sense of style and a great difficulty curve, Agent Dash! entices you in with pretty graphics, and before you know it you're hooked.

A lovely little downloadable for the creative types in younger age brackets, this solidly constructed application yields a surprising level of flexibility considering its cheap and cheerful design.

Engaging gameplay and appealing visuals combine to make a thoroughly enjoyable game, which is only marred by the persistence of the pop-up adverts.

It's more Harvest Moon, sure, but it's still top-notch fun, and the inclusion of clear goals this time around should convert some new fans to the series.

Farming Simulator 2012 is slow, repetitive, ugly, and dull. But that doesn't mean it's not a relaxing and often addictive little diversion, too.

An exacting simulation and management game that has you controlling most every aspect of your minions' lives.

While you could do a lot worse in terms of fundamentals, there are much better handheld film tie-in offerings out there, and it's probably in your best interests to avoid this one.

A clunky, uninspiring mess, Arel Wars 2 is only saved from the doldrums by an entertaining multiplayer component.

A decent enough wander down memory lane, Spy vs Spy hasn't aged that well, but it's still fun in small doses.

Flick Champions World Edition is more polished than its predecessor, but the new line-up of events simply isn't as accomplished.

Getting your head around its name might be an epic quest in itself, but 10000000 is an enjoyable fusion of match-three and RPG.

A brilliant, addictive shooter, Blazing Star might have a few niggles, but they're made up for with bombast and bullets.

While it's still an incredibly entertaining game, the world has overtaken SolaRola ever so slightly, and stolen some of the vigour from its platforming.

You're not buying much of a game with Freakyforms Deluxe: Your Creations, Alive! but if you're of a creative persuasion, that shouldn't stop you from taking a closer look.

A generous, well-constructed platform puzzler that delivers plenty of lightweight entertainment with its delightfully ADD approach to level design.

Splash is a novel take on the casual physics-puzzler muddied slightly by fiddly controls.

A painfully simple pair of ideas that are executed poorly and endlessly recycled.

A fun little dance game that's great for parties or those times when you don't feel like firing up your Wii.

An engaging, neon-bright puzzler, Slydris plays with the building blocks of the best and comes up with something pretty damn good.

Despite being essentially an interactive movie, The Walking Dead: The Game's convincing cast of characters and meaningful decision making lifts it above Telltale's previous efforts.

This conceptually solid music-based tunnel racer gets it all wrong in the execution, with disorientating track layouts and dull gameplay.

Kingdom Hearts continues to innovate in the RPG genre ten years on from the original release with [Dream Drop Distance], a generous and exciting addition to the series.

More Pokemon spin-off delight as Pokemon Conquest proves an entirely enjoyable ordeal.

Devoid of content and far too easy, even for younger gamers, Ice Age 4: Continental Drift - Arctic Games is over almost before it's begun.

With its ropey physics and irksome controls, Jar on a Bar fails to capitalise on what is an initially engaging premise.

A not particularly impressive experiment in cross-platform storytelling, Electric City The Revolt has its moments, but they're too few and far between.

While its single-player campaign leaves a lot to be desired, Mad Cows makes up for it with an excellent multiplayer offering.

Strategic, deep, and full of content, Great Big War Game carries on nicely where its predecessor left off.

It hovers, but never soars. For its price, Ballooned! is a good diversion for a few minutes.

Dark Knight is a pale imitation of the Arkham games, with boring combat, cheap presentation, and dull missions. It works, but it never thrills.

Spirit Camera is a nice concept but one that's a little too demanding to be easily enjoyed. It's full of neat spooks and tricks but there are far cheaper and better ways of getting your freak on.

The same old Tap Tap beat-matching gameplay we love, applied to an oddly restrictive structure we don't.

Jeff Minter updates one of his favourite shooters and the result is a feast for both the eyes and the fingers. Regardless of whether or not you have an appreciation for vintage shooters, you should give this wacky wonder a spin as soon as it's convenient.