Snoticles is a good game. It's a fun physics puzzler that provides a mid-tier challenge. But there are so many similar games out there, and this one doesn't do much at all to set itself apart.

The one spot I'd criticize are the visuals in particular. While the particle stuff on the explosions are great, I think the art comes off as a little flat.

If you've enjoyed Super Meat Boy on any of the platforms it's available on, and have been looking for something similar for iOS, League of Evil is totally worth your dollar.

The course design changes enough that you'll likely never get bored and the puzzling aspects make for an entertaining experience -- it's just too bad the golf part of it seems to be getting in the way of what has always made Worms interesting -- screwing around and aimlessly taking the chaotic approach.

AirStrike Defense is definitely worth a look if you've enjoyed line drawing games in the past, and want something a little more involved than Flight Control and similar spinoffs.

No matter how different the results, every game feels pretty much the same, and that really cripples its long-term appeal.

I can't help but feel that if this was made by any other developer, we really wouldn't care that much.

Another solid – though not groundbreaking – entry.

I've been having a lot of fun with Spinzizzle, largely in part because it's often entirely possible to clear the entire game board at once, and figuring out how to do that is a really good time if you're a puzzle game perfectionist.

The actual game of Ascension is a somewhat refreshing spin on fantasy-based card games in that instead of building a specific deck that you use in battles, you're building your deck on the fly from game to game.

Rocket Bunnies never completely grabbed me. It's a solid, even game that's good across the board that is never quite great. If you're looking for a new physics platformer, you certainly won't go wrong grabbing this one. It's not quite a universe of entertainment, but it's a galaxy or two for sure.

Unfortunately, there's just too much variability in terms of match quality to unequivocally recommend N.O.V.A. 3 based on its multiplayer. The annoying glitches and matchmaking system don't help and the lag is an issue that needs to be addressed. It's a shame because the underlying advancement and build systems are solid with a large potential for customizability.

For some fans of the original, Not Tonight 2 might feel erratic in some ways, but I enjoyed it almost as much as the original on Switch. I recommend it to fans of the original and those who enjoy Papers Please. It just needs some performance improvements in certain areas.

Yes, Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes is worth playing. If you have a recent iPad or an iPad mini, it's probably worth playing on iOS, though you might want to hold out for a few bug fixes. With those in hand, this could easily be one of the best puzzle strategy games on the platform. Without them, it's simply not.

But looks aren't everything, and thankfully Kard Combat makes up for its weak points with a great personality.

While not perfect, - the somewhat drawn out nature of the early stages of the game can be a little boring for folks who pick up on this sort of thing quickly, Quell:Memento is certainly worth checking out, especially if you like a little personality with your puzzlers.

Star Thief feels like one heck of a demo. I'm looking forward to playing the whole game.

Sigma is a brilliant looking match 3 game of top notch quality.

On the face of the game is a simple looking castle defense game, but peel that back and you'll find more of a gallery shooter than the flicking frenzy of other castle defenders.

With so few competent dog fighting games on the App Store, both H.A.W.X. and Ace Combat Xi are worth considering.

Mortal Kombat 1 is an excellent fighting game that managed to surpass Mortal Kombat 11 in almost every way, but I’d avoid getting it on Steam Deck unless you’re ok with 30fps gameplay. The game itself has smart improvements over the prior entry, and the story mode might be NetherRealm’s best one yet, but the online feels dated right now. Having now played it on Steam Deck, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch, I’d recommend getting it on Xbox Series X for sure, but avoiding it on Switch. The Steam Deck version is Verified by Valve, but I don’t think it is worthy of that badge right now. I’ll be revisiting it after a few updates, but my recommendation for the game on Steam Deck has a big 30fps caveat right now.

You probably won't want to set down roots in Twisty Hollow, but it's a heck of a good place to visit for an afternoon.

Outer Wilds on Switch isn’t remotely the best version of the game, but the fact that it didn’t give me motion sickness like the Xbox One version is enough of an achievement. If you have access to an Xbox Series X, PS5, PC, or Steam Deck I’d play Outer Wilds there, but the long wait for this port has been worth it in many ways. It needs more optimization in parts despite the cutbacks to visuals, but Outer Wilds is an incredible experience that isn’t lost when played on Switch in handheld mode. I just hope the performance issues can be ironed out by the time the physical release is available.

Funky Smugglers is a stylish game that's a lot of fun to play, and absolutely miserable to compete in. If that doesn't concern you, you'll be in great hands.

It's a brainless sort of fun, the kind you can easily waste many unsuspecting hours on. So, if you've been aiming for something new to keep you occupied during a particularly laborious stretch of the day or during your daily pilgramage to the Porcelain God, you should really give Major Mayhem a shot.

Cordy doesn't bring a whole lot of innovation to the table, but, even with some slightly off physics, it's a game that makes a lasting visual impression first and plays well-enough second.

I'm not the biggest platformer fan in the world, but I'm in love with this one anyway. Though I could have done with a few more collectibles and a deeper story, there's not much to complain about here.

Any platformer fan - retro or no - might just find this one worth some space on their home screen.

Throwing Chuck into danger is a great pastime, even if we're the ones that suffer when he fails. As the game deepens in difficulty, there's a real satisfaction to be found in slipping around the opposition, taking them out when they're not looking.

At the very least, you should start with the original Trails of Cold Steel, something that isn’t possible on Switch right now. But when I think of all of the time and effort you’d have to put in to get to the ideal state to enjoy this game, all I can conclude is that it’s probably not worth it. If you’ve come this far, by all means: this is an ending, and you might as well experience it. But had I known back in the day how it all would turn out, I’m not sure I would have gotten into Cold Steel in the first place. I was really hoping for something better than “well, it’s fine". Well… it’s fine.

It's a great looking, quick-paced game that is perfectly suited to the App Store, and shouldn't require much thought to pick up for those interested in strategic and competitive multiplayer puzzlers.

As far as built-for-mobile action RPGs go, Reaper is worth every free second you have - if you find yourself enjoying what you see from the freemium period. The beauty of free-to-try is… you get to see for yourself. My job is then to tell you what comes after.

Another Lost Phone is worth playing because it does broach the kinds of topics we don't usually see in mobile games but we see and hear about every day. Some may disagree about the potential of mobile games as a tool for social awareness, but since these devices are usually implicated in all kinds of unpleasantness, I think it's appropriate that they also be used as a way to remedy the issues they can often create.

Learning to move your ship accurately is a bit of a challenge, but in that "gotta try one more time" kind of way.

It’s a solid action game, and one that will especially appeal to those who appreciate stylish combat.

Joe Danger Infinity has a terrific theme, sure to be fun for everyone who plays it, and will keep you coming back to beat your best and keep climbing the leaderboards.

For iPhone and iPod touch owners though, Diggin' Dogs is as entertaining as Where's My Water?, which is a pretty big compliment.

100 Trials is still a good mission-based puzzler and worth checking out. Just don't expect anything particularly groundbreaking with it.

Webbies might be casual-friendly, but it's got plenty of potential for those of us looking for more of a challenge.

Granny Smith is a fun, high-speed platformer. It's nice to take a break from the endless types and still keep up the inertia that goes with them.

Much like the Walking Dead game and other iOS Telltale titles, if your iOS device is the only way you have to experience them then they're worth checking out, but if you've got any other piece of kit capable of running these games you'll have a substantially better experience regardless of whether you're playing on a PC or home console.

Still, with plenty to see, lots of replay value through the many paths you can take, some wonderful illustrations by Gary Chalk, and an intriguing new world, you could do a lot worse in the genre than Gun Dogs

LEGO Jurassic World is par for the course for iOS LEGO games.

This game type in particular really is a lot of fun, but all the different game variations work well and add welcome variety to the beat 'em up style genre.

It sells itself as a game with a unique and engaging story, and that's something it simply doesn't have. Setting aside the translation, the message of the game is still iffy at best and you'll only find parallels to Louis Armstrong if you squint really hard. But it is, for the most part, a solid, fun platformer.

It's a great experience, but I think you need to be in the proper state of mind to enjoy it, and even then I'd lean more towards describing the game as "this is really neat" rather than "this is really fun."

Monster Trucks Nitro 2 has impressive graphics, loads of content to play through, and an over the top fun factor that makes it a recommended purchase.

If you enjoy difficult puzzle games, and haven’t yet tried this game, you owe it to yourself to give it a shot. The controls carry over well, it’s fun, and it’ll take you a while to get through all the chambers.

It’s still a fun game and players that put forth the effort can get enjoyment out of the additions. However, it just didn’t fully do it for me like the original did.

Shadow of the Ninja – Reborn is another solid effort from Tengo Project, and in some ways is the most substantial improvement over its predecessor of any of their releases yet. Whether or not you should pick it up is really going to depend on how you feel about that original game, because the core is still very much in line with that NES title. Those without any prior experience will find an enjoyable but not essential action game here, one that very much subscribes to an 8-bit design sensibility.

As it is, iBomber Attack's biggest complaint may be that its too simple.

When I actually play the game, I find a remarkably enjoyable soccer sim. And the Ultimate Team parts, upon reflection, aren't that horrible.

If you remember the Scott Pilgrim game, this is it. The 2010 game on your Switch. No more, no less. Improvements that could have and perhaps should have been made are not part of the package. If Scott Pilgrim is new to you, this is a competent, energetic River City Ransom-inspired beat-em-up with a memorable, charming presentation and enough secrets and Easter Eggs to keep you invested for a while. There are better brawlers on the Switch, but none of those will let you beat up a telekinetic vegan until he explodes into a pile of Toonies. That’s worth a couple of points at least.

About as testing as a coloring book, to be sure, but not without its enjoyment.

The game ends up being a roller coaster ride that starts fun, becomes frustrating, then gets enjoyable again until it cedes to tedium, taking one last-minute hairpin turn into frustration depending on your party build.

A safe bet. While not the kind of game that will eat away hours of your time before you realize what's going on or the sort that would be branded as revolutionary, Little Acorns is the sort of title you'll find yourself constantly going back to, the kind of game that fits too easily into a spare five minutes. In short, pick it up if you have an appetite for well-executed and adorable 2D platformers.

If I had a wish list for Wars and Battles, I would say the top item would be increased UI functionality. There is no reason a mobile app should include a syllabus of required reading in order to play.

It's a tiny, handheld version of a game that's already a bit scaled big from its originals. Still, it's one of the first truly different experiences of the Sims in a while and although it's a more directed experience, it offers enough new to keep casual players happy.

Were it not so buggy, I would be giving Cult of the Lamb some of my highest praise. It’s weird in a lot of interesting ways, fun to play, and has some sharp ideas. It can make you laugh, it can make you think, and it will sometimes force you to make tough choices. I’m not sure what the state of the game is on other platforms, but right here and right now this Switch version has everything from little problems to the biggest issue of them all, so despite the enjoyment I got from the game I can’t recommend it with much vigor until some serious patches have been delivered.

The set-up is exhaustive, I'll give it that, but the breadth of the gameplay balanced against the length of the story causes it to feel like I've just played through a tiny sliver that was mercilessly sliced off a larger game with little regard for where it was cutting

Sparkle is great if only to rekindle some of that Zuma nostalgia right in the palm of your hand.

The game itself gets in the way at times of enjoying the art, but otherwise, The Swords is a worthy experience.

It's all a shame because I really want to like Red's Kingdom. I still like the concept, as sliding puzzle games are just collections of single-level vignettes, and this game transcends that. When you dig into it, and get going with the flow of the game, there's the spark of something brilliant and fun. And Red's Kingdom is gorgeous to look at it. But the flaws are deep, that it's tough to recommend despite its great looks and creative ideas.

The biggest problem with A Musical Story comes in its gameplay mechanics, though. You play the tunes in sliced out sections, and you have to hit every note perfectly before the game will let you move on. And unless you’re really good with audio cues, you’re going to fail a lot. The worst thing is that once you’ve missed a note, you know you can’t succeed but you still have to finish out the slice anyway. It’s aggravating in the worst way. You never get that feeling of being one with the music that you get with better rhythm games. Great music, an uneven story, and unpleasant gameplay make for a very rocky road trip indeed.

For randomly generated high score game enthusiasts this is one that's not to be missed.

Kami 2 is a gorgeous puzzle game packed with challenging content, but it allows its sense of style to get in the way of a smooth experience for the player. It's fine that the game throws out difficult and complex puzzles, but the game seemingly goes out of its way to make the process of solving those challenges as tedious as possible. Between its generous pay model, stunning presentation, and heaps of puzzles to solve, Kami 2 is probably worth taking at least a few swings at. It's at least a few folds away from the gameplay living up to the slick visual designs, however, and there are clearly some kinks to work out with the online modes.

While Tengoku Struggle shows the usual high production values and polish seen in Idea Factory’s other visual novels, I found the story here just wasn’t quite up to the usual output we see from the developer. There’s some good in it, and the best route is certainly worth experiencing if the premise has intrigued you. The writer’s tendency to try to shock the reader in cheap ways gets a little out of hand here, and some of the romances really aren’t sold well. A decent effort, but given the generally high-quality output of Idea Factory in this genre, Tengoku Struggle has some difficulty making its mark.

Overwatch 2 is a free to play game, and I’d definitely recommend trying it out if you haven’t to see how you feel about the gameplay and to see how well it runs on Steam Deck. Despite its flaws, it is still worth playing, but some of the decisions with how certain content has been handled in-game are weird. Overwatch 2 is yet to reach the highs of the original Overwatch, but it is still a great multiplayer game to play on Steam Deck. I enjoyed Overwatch 2 quite a bit on Switch despite the visual and performance cutbacks, but it really shines on Steam Deck.

Capcom Fighting Collection is a pretty good collection of games, including some titles that we haven’t seen in these specific forms on home consoles before. It leans a little hard on the Darkstalkers games with some very slight variants that feel like they are padding the number out a bit. The overlap with other collections and my bad experiences with the online play keep me from recommending this too enthusiastically, but even with all of that taken into account, this is still worth picking up for fans of Capcom’s fighters.

River City Girls 2 is more River City Girls, with all the good and bad that implies. The expanded playable roster and some minor gameplay tweaks are appreciated, along with the ability to play with others online, but so much here is the same that you probably don’t even need to read a review to know if you’ll like it or not. Want another reason to stomp around River City with Misako and Kyoko? Here it is. Looking for the next great brawler after Shredder’s Revenge? You’ll have to keep waiting.

The core gameplay is enjoyable and there's a lot of room for strategy while still leaving some of the outcome up to chance. However, it's obvious that Fluxx was meant to be played in-person, and a lot of the fun gets lost in the asynchronous multiplayer.

Most of the time, though, The Walking Dead: Assault isn't much more than a decent tie-in, one that won't make any waves.

There really isn't a whole lot to Mr. Ninja, but the gameplay mechanics are solid and it's a fun time in either short or long bursts.

A great diversion. Retro Dreamer has brought in a lot of its brand of charm, with cute in-joke collectables to discover and tongue-in-cheek descriptions for every little thing. It may not be the best game for those looking to dig up a serious challenge, but it's also far from mindless.

True, it's no RollerCoaster Tycoon, but it's still a highly competent coaster builder with a nice dose of puzzle objectives. Suffice to say, if you're a fan of making thrill rides, you should give it consideration.

I see Heavenstrike Rivals as a mobile game that just happens to have connections in console gaming.

If you're looking for an atmospheric zombie shooter, this one's an easy recommendation.

Tumbledrop isn't particularly original, but if you're a fan of these types of games you likely have several similar ones on your phone already.

Despite my misgivings, Sentinels of the Multiverse is entertaining. It has an aura of desperation in fighting a superior enemy and really drives home the threat level of the 4 included bosses.

I applaud the creative spirit behind Once Upon a Jester, and I had a decent time playing through it. I’d love to see these characters again, and I hope to see more from this developer in the future. The game thankfully reaches its conclusion before the novelty wears out completely, but some parts of it get a little repetitive even within that span of time. It’s an affable affair, and its quirky charms are worth experiencing even with a few shortcomings in tow.

While not for everyone, RoboSockets is definitely one of the more interesting falling block games that I've seen in a while. Its strong mix of innovative gameplay and robot presentation really work for the genre… a genre that is typically synonymous with being quite drab.

This has never been the strongest single-player KOF, so I'm not sure it's worth suffering the finicky controls if you're only going to play against that vile, cheating CPU.

I suspect many people will be happy to see that LEGO Batman: Beyond Gotham has reverted back to the old style, and I think I'll go ahead and agree that it was probably the right call for this game.

If you didn’t care for the tone or gameplay of the first game, Void Terrarium 2 isn’t going to change your mind. It’s similarly dark and heart-breaking in its narrative, and while the gameplay has certainly been refined it hasn’t been dramatically overhauled. It’s simply another Void Terrarium, but when you consider how singular and odd that game was I can’t say there isn’t room for one more like it.

If you haven't had enough of the LEGO games yet, LEGO The Lord of the Rings will satisfy you.

There's plenty of content to play through, with 80 levels currently in the game and more coming in updates. Burn the Rope is definitely worth a look if you're interested in a unique puzzle game, and if you aren't afraid to spin your device around in public.

When it comes down to it, Andro Dunos 2 is a faithful ode to a particular era of shooters that is a few options and features away from being all it can be. It’s perhaps a bit too faithful, as it can feel a little bit pedestrian at times. The mechanics are easy enough to pick up for newcomers, but require just enough strategy to apply to give more skilled players something to chew on. The lack of online leaderboards takes some of the wind out of the score attack sails, and the disappointingly minimal display options fall below expectations. Still, fans of the original and shoot-em-up fans should find enough to chew on here.

So no, everything is not awesome. Everything is the same as ever. Everything is boring and expected.

A little rougher around the edges maybe, but a ridiculous, ageless thing that can be enjoyed by anyone. And that's okay.

My current favorite futuristic racer in the App Store. The camera angle, the well done tracks, the visual effects, the excellent sense of speed - they all come together to deliver what really does feel like a "console" title on the iPhone.

The heart of Corpse Granny is trial and error, and it works as long as you like to play in bite -sized bits and puzzle your way through how to solve each level. This game is chock-full of personality, and it also uses OpenFeint to track scores and such so you can compete with your friends.

I have no problem with encouraging players to spend some cash on premium items that are not necessary for normal gameplay. The restrictions in Spice Invaders do not fit that example, especially since all these design choices are solely made to encourage folks to spend money (rather than designs that encourage fun).

This Could Hurt isn't quite what we'd been hoping for when it comes to the next generation of iOS platformers. That said, the game still plays great and you could still get at least several hours of enjoyment out of it, just set your expectations accordingly.

It's just too bad it suffers for design decisions that have nothing to do with the puzzles themselves.

Set against the overall iOS gamebook landscape, it's hard to recommend unless you're a big fan of the genre.

The average player with no connection to the license who only goes for the occasional table can probably find more interesting choices, however, and veteran pinball players are likely to find it just a bit too simple to solve to be truly satisfied.

As far as free-to-play RPGs go, Etherlords is well worth it for the curious.

Gunslugs 2 is a unique run 'n gun game, for better or for worse, but considering that not many developers are trying to take the modern run 'n gun crown, if shooting enemies by the hundreds sounds like a rollicking good time, then check this out.