Sure the $9 price tag is bigger than most apps, but this is a fantastic way to enjoy a critically acclaimed game in the palm of your hand. Even without async, you aren’t going to regret picking up this gem and getting busy injecting an atmosphere, triggering volcanoes, or dumping millions of gallons of water on an alien landscape. The game is designed to give you options, and this app is a great option when considering how you want to play.

Despite its looks, Rosie’s Reality is a family game that the whole family can actually enjoy. Its friendly visuals and cheerful narrative, combined with challenging puzzles and easy-to-learn gameplay will keep players of all ages engaged in this colorful adventure.

I think those who have patience and are okay with off-beat games will get an awful lot out of Romancing SaGa 3, and I’m absolutely thrilled that it’s out and accessible for a far wider audience at long last.

Overall, Mosaic is a game you should try for yourself. Its story, although a bit short and predictable, is appealing, relatable and rewarding in the end. However, the experience of the game might not be enough to tolerate the bad controls and monotonous gameplay.

The good thing for us is that this game is not designed to force you to make purchases. It’s actually tough to find the purchases in the game and you don’t need them. It actually serves as another reminder this isn’t a corporate money printer. That said though, Raid Manager is not as good as it could be for many of the above reasons, but the bottom line is that it is still a fun game despite itself.

Overall, Discolored is a short, pretty game that’s worth checking out. Despite some gameplay mechanics, Discolored is enjoyable and rewarding if you’re into puzzle games. Plus, its story, if you can call it that, gives you just enough details to make you wonder a lot of things, like who’s giving you these jobs and what’s that evil thing doing here. You feel like there’s more to the story than we know of right now, and it leaves you craving for more.

Overall, Atone: Heart of the Elder Tree is one of the best games Apple Arcade has to offer to date. Its interesting story, colorful characters and scenery, and its outstanding music will keep you hooked to the game despite its extremely challenging battle system.

There’s definitely love and passion that went into making Star Fetched — enough that it feels like a shame that I can’t score it well. But unfortunately, it’s a game that would only be mediocre if it worked properly the whole way through — and it doesn’t work properly, so I can’t even give it that.

Overall, Sayonara Wild Hearts isn’t just one of the best Apple Arcade games available today, it is one of the best games of 2019 for me and easily Simogo’s best yet. The soundtrack is killer and I haven’t played a game that felt this cohesive visually since Atlus’ Persona 5 on PS4. I know Apple Arcade has a lot of great games right now with multiple getting added each week but nothing has come close to the experience I got with Sayonara Wild Hearts. I’ve made some bad gaming purchases in 2019 but buying Sayonara Wild Hearts three times across three different platforms was definitely not one of them.

Yaga, overall, was a really enjoyable experience for me and there were few hiccups at all. I found it both challenging and rewarding, with a storyline that kept me interested and combat that felt fluid and fun. The replayability and different endings you can obtain help it even further to be a game you’ll likely want to play through at least twice to see just how much the world can change.

There are things that the game could do better — like less-linear stage progression, a story that’s more than just an afterthought, and a few bug fixes spring to mind. But it’s rare to find a mobile game that embraces its platform as well as Bleak Sword, and I encourage anyone with an Apple Arcade subscription to check it out.

Stela is a beautiful, cinematic game that does a great job keeping you curious and scared since the beginning. While it could do a better job when it comes to guiding the player through the game or making the gameplay mechanics a little more intuitive, Stela is one of the more enjoyable gaming experiences I’ve had in a long time.

It has all the makings of a good game but fails to execute most of them well. Rather than rewarding you the more you play, it feels like it’s punishing you by everything you have to do the further you go. If there was just the one change of your crew being able to make daily items for you, it would be tremendously better. Until then, it falls into mediocrity.

There’s certainly things that Towaga could do better, with its samey environments, token upgrade system, and uneven powers. But the problems never feel like much more than nitpicks, and don’t distract from what is ultimately a great exploration in how to take simple mechanics and weave them into a game that feels like a blockbuster experience.

To sum up, Over the Alps is a fantastic game. It has a believable story, realistic characters, a great setting, several hundred different choices, multiple endings, a great balance between relaxing discovery and hard-pressed action, and emotional moments that make you feel. I cannot recommend this game enough for anyone that enjoys a good story, especially about spies and overcoming fascism.

While being like any other skating game, Skate City stands out as a good option for the people interested in skating. Its several challenges, different cities, and excellent music make this game a great game to enjoy. Just try to use a BlueTooth controller when playing to improve the experience.

Down in Bermuda does a lot of good by keeping it fresh. Puzzles are unique, the different islands and environments are refreshing, the style of the game is relaxed, and there was no feeling of frustration from it. It’s a really solid game that I hope gets a whole lot more content soon as I saw no issues at all with it. I would certainly recommend this game to you (or your kids) for a fun little weekend.

The Bradwell Conspiracy does a lot of good, though. It introduces us into a relatively interesting story, opens up what could be a great mechanic for future games, and creates a character you’re invested in even though you’re never invested in your own at all. I wished for more the entire time and I very much am interested in a second game if there should be one. It’s a basis of a good game but that’s all it ever lives up to as the game is neither long nor varied. Puzzles and platformer aspects get stale far too quickly and I feel it relies too heavily on Amber which gives your own character just the status of Tool #6428.

One the whole, The Pinball Wizard is a solid game that is in desperate need of more. It needs more layouts, more enemies, more obstacles, more powers, more bosses, more locations, and more reasons to keep coming back. Anyone who subscribes to Apple Arcade and likes the idea of a pinball dungeon crawler will find exactly what they’re looking for. It succeeds at being an entertaining diversion, but it could have been more than that.

In all, Grindstone is a very satisfying matching puzzler with an equally satisfying price. I do have my suspicions that the novelty of getting what is essentially an extremely free-to-play game but with all the predatory aspects removed might be coloring my perception and making me think it’s more compelling than it really is. Maybe in an alternative universe where the word “freemium” never existed and this exact game cost $5 I wouldn’t find it particularly special. But we don’t live in that world, and it’s hard to argue that the game doesn’t look cool and play really well. And it’s certainly very fun, with an insane number of stages to play through. If you’re craving one of these gem-matching puzzle games but tend to shy away from free-to-play stuff, I think you’ve found your new addiction in Grindstone.

Where Cards Fall is a relaxing, beautiful game meant for you to relax and enjoy while thinking about your own life and gaming as a whole in a new perspective. Not everything has to be explosions and cliffhangers. Sometimes you could use a little time to relax. If you don’t care about the story, it’s still a fun and challenging puzzle game with over 50 levels for you to solve. But if you’re looking for a story-driven game, filled with fiction and mystery, you’ll have to keep looking.

Dear Reader hit every tick I had for it. It was always entertaining, the puzzles were fresh and varied, the content was interesting, the features are all helpful. There’s enough options in it for anyone from those that seek challenges to those that just want to read to be satisfied. The game itself took up little battery and can be played for five hours or five minutes. The best part? This is the perfect game to scoop up for your kids as they’ll learn not only more about reading and spelling but also writing and story while having fun doing it.

Fledgling Heroes ends up in a sad state: a simple but fun game that’s all too short, and attempts to make up for its length by padding it out with pointless challenges and promoting a larger community that will never materialize.

Despite the controls, which I hope they address in a future update, Projection: First Light is a game worth playing. Its beautiful scenery, great music, and cute wordless story outweigh the annoying controls and interactions with shadows and different objects. You might even rage quit because of its controls and interactions, but the game is so good you’ll want to pay again almost right away.

Overall Tangle Tower is great and very enjoyable. The story is well done and will always have you guessing who the killer might be, the controls are very simple which leaves you to investigate rather than fumble around, and the atmosphere helps to draw you in. All of that coupled with the superb voice-acting found in almost every action in the game will surely leave you satisfied with your time. I for one am excited to see what comes next.

In all, Tint probably won’t change the world. It’s not flashy like Soyanara Wild Hearts or bursting with heartfelt storytelling like Assemble With Care. And there’s certainly no Sonic racing around in it. But what it lacks in hedgehogs it makes up for with snails. I guess what I’m trying to say is that while it may not blow your socks off, it will certainly gently peel them off and toss them in the dryer for you while you curl up on the couch with some hot chocolate. If any of that sounds appealing to you, definitely give Tint a try.

In the end, Jenny LeClue – Detectivu succeeds in telling you an engaging story with good mechanics, fun puzzles, a great way of introducing mystery, and characters that you’ll really find yourself enjoying. If you take away the glitches, this is definitely a top-notch game that I think any lover of mystery, murder, or puzzles will enjoy.

It’s a shame that the game’s flaws detract so much from its innovations, because I’ve never seen a strategy game that feels as tense as Overland, and I was always compelled as I slowly unlocked its mysteries. But each time I died and had to start over, I found myself wanting to restart less and less, frustrated at how tedious, buggy, and poorly-streamlined the game turned out to be.

Cardpocalypse is perhaps my favorite game on the Apple Arcade. The deep strategy and customization offered here is amazing and gives me so much replayability that I could easily see myself playing it at least four times and still not running out of new things to try. If you enjoy battling card games or just think you want to try one out, this is the game for you.

My biggest issue with the game, as I’ve said, is undoubtedly how much less clear it is with how traffic behaves than in Mini Metro, and how upgrades like the traffic light are supposed to help. I’m not ready to definitively say Mini Metro is better, though–it might just mean that Mini Motorways is a deeper game that I haven’t fully cracked yet. As it stands now, it’s still incredibly addicting and satisfying to play and very beautiful to look at and listen to. Even with the few problems I had, it’s certainly a top-tier Apple Arcade exclusive that shouldn’t be overlooked by fans of the original or newcomers to the series.

Overall, Hot Lava is a fun parkour/action game with a lot of potential. Once they fix things like the control design, it’ll become a solid game on Apple Arcade. Until then, Hot Lava remains as a great game for the people with the correct equipment, i.e. a Bluetooth controller. The environment and unique universe will keep you entertained from beginning to end, and thanks to the different starts and collectibles there are, you have a lot of reasons to keep playing this game.

In the end, Red Reign does a great job of creating a real-time strategy game that looks simple on the outside but has many different layers on the inside, especially if you play multiplayer. My only hitch is that I want more, and if this game added some customization options like flags or armor/skin tattoos and perhaps a multiplayer with friend option or even rankings, it would reach an even higher level of recommendation. Until that point, it’s a solid game that only really wavers if nobody is online to play it.

So, is this game worth it? If you enjoy platformers, frogs, or reflex-based games, I think so! The controls can be a little iffy on the phone sometimes but everything about this really feels like a great job at taking an old, loved title and bringing it to 2019.

EarthNight is a game that could have been amazing, but lets a few failings knock it down from the heights it might have reached. Instead, we’re left with a really good game — one that shows the inventiveness and imagination of its creators without quite reaching the level of greatness that was well within their reach.

Word Laces does good things. The difficulty is perfect, the images are all high quality, there are no bugs that I’ve seen, and it does entertain at first. Unfortunately, the grind in the game is unreal and the lack of variety makes it less fun the more you play it. The game has its strong points and would be great for helping children learn spelling and vocabulary, but for the general public it’s just not good enough.

The story kept me entertained and invested, the characters feel good and have their own stories as well, the combat is fluid and complex, there’s great customization in individual troops, and it’s paced well enough that I never felt like I wanted it over sooner. Classic Mode may just be tacked on to give it that replayability factor, but the real reason you’ll be playing this is for Story and that makes the game an overall solid experience.

Overall, What The Golf? is a silly, fun little game filled with popular references, different characters to control, and a lot of lame and funny puns. While you might get stuck in a few levels, the game is entertaining enough to keep playing until you figure them out. Even if the game is not that long, it will give you a crazy experience that will keep you entertained and make you chuckle.

This game is perfect for anyone with a love of stories, puzzles, and fixing things alike, but I highly recommend everyone take a quick peek at it. There’s an even balance between story and puzzle so I doubt you’ll find it lacking in any one area. Assemble With Care is truly one of the best apps I’ve played in far too long and really left me wanting more even though the story was wrapped up quite well. No matter if you’re still in your parents’ house or already having children of your own, I feel confident in recommending this game to each and every one of you.

Is Dead Cells well suited to being a mobile game? Personally, I think so, but I would also love to see games like Stellaris or Mirror’s Edge on mobile as well. Generally speaking, if the thought of using a controller to play a game on your iPhone or iPad is anathema, then this is almost certainly not the game for you. On the other hand, if that sounds like the greatest thing since sliced bread and goat cheese, you’re in the right place at just the right time. But, regardless of platform or what controls you choose to use, there’s no question about it: Dead Cells is an amazing game, and anyone interested in rogue-lites would be well advised to give it a shot at their earliest convenience.

Overall, GRIS is definitely one of the best games you can play on iOS right now. I adored it when I played it on Switch back in December and replaying it twice has been a joy. I wouldn’t really call GRIS replayable even though you will miss some things on your playthrough. These aren’t really essential because the core story that is a three to four hour long experience feels just right. While I already know how to solve the puzzles so I was just blasting through the game again, I will never tire of the stunning art, animations, and audio design in GRIS. This is easily my favourite iOS port so far this year.

Overall, Journey on iOS is a must play if you’ve never played it before. Hopefully the few issues like the audio bugs on older devices and camera controls are addressed in a future update. The lack of controller support is pretty baffling considering this is originally a console game and I hope proper controller support is added at least when iOS 13 ships. If you’ve already played Journey on PlayStation or PC platforms, this is the only portable version and it has been a joy to play on iPad and iPhone years after replaying it on PlayStation 4.

Void Tyrant is a fantastic game. At $5 it’s hard to find a better value for entertainment or longevity as I have already invested numerous hours delving in and unlocking base upgrades. We don’t usually find something like this under $10, much less as a free to play with an option of being a single purchase game. I will have this game on my phone for a long time to come, and for good reason. If you like card games, or roguelikes, or space adventures, Void Tyrant has something for you.

Hyper Light Drifter is still an essential for any fan of pixel art games or action RPGs. I have a few problems with the difficulty spikes when there are too many enemies near you, but still adore this game. If you missed out on it on other platforms for whatever reason, the iOS port is an absolute steal even without the pre-order discount. I’d recommend playing this with a controller but Abylight Studios has done an excellent job with touch controls if you are going to play it on your iPhone. Over three years since the game debuted on PC and there really still is nothing like Hyper Light Drifter on any platform.

It’s a no-brainer purchase if you’ve liked any of Brough’s previous games, of course. But if that’s you, then you’ve probably already bought it, haven’t you? If, however, you bounced off one of his games before for any reason other than the art, you might want to give this one a glance. There’s a concerted effort here to try to reach out to a slightly different set of tastes, and if you give it a chance to get its claws into you, you may end up finding this to be the gateway to a brighter, Broughier world. Wouldn’t that be wonderful?

On the whole, it is a delightfully well-made game that is far, far too kind to its players. If it had an asking price instead of an optional in-app purchase, it would be worth it; as it is, it’s a steal.

I feel the need to personally thank the developer, Nyamyam, for creating Astrologaster. I learned a lot from it, and now want to talk about it with everyone I know because I’ll seem so smart, knowing all about this obscure British man from the 16th century. Not only that, but the game is an experience in its own right, with the madrigals and artwork creating something wonderfully unique. I cannot rave about it enough.

There are countless visual novels devoted to dating a bunch of very busty women, but few that turn that trope onto its head; Dream Daddy does that through objectifying men. Not in a mean way, or even an overly-sexual way – instead, Dream Daddy makes virtual dating wholesome and punny. It shows the importance of community and friendship, especially for a single parent. It’s not so much about the dating as it is exploring new interests through new people. I’m so appreciative of the experience.

Regardless of my personal struggles with stealth gameplay, Worse Than Death is an incredible experience of love, life, and the past that haunts Holly. She’s the type of heroine you cheer for whenever she succeeds, and that you truly feel bad for when something goes wrong. The simple gameplay enhances the narrative by not overpowering it, and the use of auditory cues really is amazing. Simply put, Worse Than Death more than lives up to my expectations for it, and I already look forward to my next playthrough.

While I am disappointed with the lack of full controller support and how some aspects have not transitioned well to touch controls, Minit is still a must play title. It is such a brilliant concept that takes a gameplay style that works well but keeps things super fresh at all times. If you’ve not played Minit on any other platform yet, the iOS version is absolutely worth the asking price. Do yourself a favour and get the soundtrack as well.

All in all, Ordia is a hell of a game. It’s absolutely gorgeous, the animations are buttery smooth, and the sound effects and haptic feedback are incredibly satisfying. So satisfying, in fact, that if you aren’t actively paying attention, you don’t even notice them. It sounds counterintuitive, but you don’t want your sound effects to shout too loudly or they’ll become distracting. Apple was right––it’s a great game, and well worth the time invested. Everyone, but particularly one-handed gamers, fans of finger-flinging fun, connoisseurs of minimalism, or folks looking for a solid offline portrait game, should give it a shot.

Dawn of Isles is a gorgeously crafted mobile MMO. With a delightful art style, plenty to see and do, and countless rewards and achievements to reap, it’s a true testament to how far mobile graphics have advanced in such a short time.

There’s a very good chance you’re not looking for another zombie game for your phone or tablet, now or perhaps ever. But Infectonator 3: Apocalypse is good enough for you to cast aside your many preconceived notions and give it a shot, because trying to end humanity is actually a lot more fun than you might think.

I’m not used to a mobile game, even a free-to-play one, that feels so limited in terms of play time (the one egg every 20 minutes thing). The collectibles trickle in, and it will take weeks to get them all – a good thing for F2P titles, keeping players coming back. I expect NomNoms is either the type of game to grab you, or something someone would pick up and delete almost immediately.

On the whole, Magnibox is pretty great. It sets out to deliver a charming platform puzzler experience, and it more than accomplishes that goal. It has a premium feeling, a relaxed pace, smooth controls, and so very, very many unique levels. While it could do a better job with its difficulty curve and introducing new mechanics, and while I have a special dislike of the swipe controls on iPads, the gameplay and unique feel more than make up for such minor issues. At its price point, Magnibox is well worth picking up.

While it isn’t perfect, and while I would not recommend it to casual players or folks who do not handle frustration well, those looking for a more hardcore experience will certainly find it in Daggerhood.

Instead of just taking a console or PC game and assuming a virtual cursor can be replaced with touch, Feral did a fantastic job with the interface and retained everything that made Tropico a fun experience in the first place. Just be ready to pay proper attention to the tutorial as it helps a ton for someone who hasn’t played a Tropico game before.

In the end, Forget Me Not: My Organic Garden is a delightfully active addition to the tapping genre, bringing it into the premium game world instead of setting it adrift amongst throngs of free-to-play titles. The artwork is the superstar, absolutely darling and always intriguing. The story is a bit light, but there’s nothing wrong with that when the purpose is to work in a garden. And the gardening itself is streamlined, logical, and a pleasure to play.

While it’s primarily a turn-based RPG, it does feature a healthy amount of songs originally performed by the headline girls. Tapping along to the beat won’t affect your performance in-game, but adoration of the tracks will obviously add to your overall enjoyment when your chosen song kicks in to signal your team’s buffed up combat potential.

In sum, Solar Settlers offers diverse card sets for a variety of races to colonise new solar systems. While this requires careful thought and strategy in expert mode, it tends to be rather easy outside of it, despite its ranking system. While I enjoyed playing the game as a whole, I found the best experience was in choosing a random race and playing on expert, although that resulted in quite a few losses. While it does have flaws, they are few and easily overlooked. Solar Settlers is an easy recommendation, and one I make whole-heartedly.

OCO isn’t going to give Animal Crossing a run for its temper-quelling money or replace that book of slightly damp sudoku puzzles by the john, but leaving it on your phone’s multitasking list for a quick poke while waiting for the kettle to boil isn’t such a stretch. Each level is presented as a bite-sized chunk that’s easy to swallow, and the only thing that might get in the way of the VCR-style Play button moving you to the next stage is a 30-second ad for a clicker game that is a much bigger waste of time than any of OCO’s gloriously addictive and intelligent puzzles.

Rolando: Royal Edition ensures that HandCircus’s opus will go down as more than just a forgotten footnote in the depths of TouchArcade’s archives, but instead a significant part of the App Store’s incredible legacy. Welcome back, Rolando – we’ve missed you.

The term “video game" doesn’t feel right when Photographs is more than that: it truly is a haunting experience of human nature and compassion, depression and connection.

The game unfolds in entertaining and challenging ways that I can’t share in great depth (again, I would be spoiling a lot of the fun if I did so), but I will say that what starts as a simple card game becomes a story-creation engine that includes summoning alien gods, sacrificing friends and foes alike, founding cults, and much more. Just be prepared to discover this world as you go along, as long as you don’t mind losing your sanity (thankfully only in terms of the game) along the way.

It is a welcome reminder that war isn’t all about the soldiers on the frontlines, that it has a heavy impact on citizens living in war zones. Father’s Promise, for lack of a better term, is a promising addition to the This War Of Mine line-up, and I’m already looking forward to more tears if/when the second episode (The Last Broadcast) comes to mobile platforms.

As it stands, Cure Hunters is really a game for folks who want that retro platformer feel, or a challenging roguelite, but don’t necessarily want to pay for a ported oldie or a new game. For everyone else, the monetisation strategy will be a big red flag. Whether it’s worth downloading despite that… well, that’s up to personal preference and what you’re willing to tolerate.

Sprout: Idle Garden is fun and casual rather than all-consuming. Yes, I want to get that next flower that seems unobtainable… but I also want to do a complete redesign, so maybe that takes precedence. Or I want to stay away from my phone all day to spend time with family, and return to a boatload of cash and an option to triple it for watching an ad: score! As an added bonus, the game has an active Discord community! With 600+ members, the community (which is linked to in-game) is quite active which absolutely has an impact on the game experience as a whole.

Skylanders: Ring of Heroes is a solid turn-based RPG, but it’s quite clearly a Summoners War skin slapped onto a familiar franchise for a very transparent reason.

All things considered, Shieldwall Chronicles is a pretty solid game. It needs some work—specifically on the complex combat system, and for play on smaller screens—but, on the whole, it is a fun, well made game. When there are so many games that are made for consumption and consumption alone, it is good to find one now and again that is made by someone who cares, for players who are looking for quality. Despite its flaws, Shieldwall Chronicles: Swords of the North delivers just that.

Guildmaster Story is, on the surface, a game about solving puzzles. The levels are fun, albeit entirely predictable and somewhat easy. But where the game truly shines is through its biting social/political commentary combined with the consistent jabs at the very free-to-play model the game is derived from. The irony is delicious and very much intentional. I look forward to Ganyo’s future business endeavours (and yours as well, Will O’Neill).

On the whole, I have remarkably few complaints. I have enjoyed my time playing Immortal Rogue and, bar the few complaints I do have, recommend it wholeheartedly. I would like to see the narrative system addressed, and the home bar issue fixed; but, after that… well, I can only wait to see what else Kyle Barrett has in store. If what we have is any indication, the future will not disappoint.

The game is nostalgic in all the best ways, enhanced by today’s technology. The bleeps and buzzes and vibrations make it feel like there is a real virtual pet in my hand, when really I have multiple in one device. The sheer amount of customization for your avatar and the Noa casings is remarkable. Most importantly, as I initially stated, it feels like home: entirely familiar and can be navigated with your eyes closed. Now please excuse me, as I need to get back to discovering new species!

With promises of further development we could see new formats, new single player adventures, competitive seasons and more added on in the future. I hope the price tag doesn’t scare players off because this one is worth every penny.

It’s crazy to think that a mobile game in 2019 would live up to a PC/Console game’s legacy, but I really believe that Alien: Blackout does. It may not have been the sequel I wanted, but that didn’t stop me from it being a sequel I enjoyed.

Rangers of Oblivion is bound to entice those with limited experience in the genre, and it’s a great opportunity to dip your toes in the field. But the lack of truly terrifying monsters and subtitles that regularly deviate from the words coming from your speakers, it’s difficult to truly immerse yourself in the world NetEase and GTArcade has attempted to build. There’s plenty to see and do, but only newcomers may want to stick out the ride.

Maybe over time Skate Jam will become a good game? Or maybe that’s just me really, really searching for reasons to give a Tony Hawk game the benefit of the doubt. Either way, it’s just super unfortunate, but not entirely unexpected, that Tony Hawk’s Skate Jam turned out this way.

If you like SEGA, you might want to rotate SEGA Heroes in as your game to play when you only have a few minutes to kill and don’t want to put in a lot of effort. In that context, it’s innocuous enough, and every so often you’ll get to add Knuckles to your party, so that’s cool. But I wish the core puzzle gameplay had had half as much thought and attention to detail put into it as the monetization systems seem to have received, because then we might have something pretty great instead of a generic game with a lovely SEGA label slapped on the tin.

You’ll get blown away by all of the character customization, rummaging through enemy corpses and treasure chests for loot, journeying through procedurally generated dungeons, taking down Bounties for rewards, completing achievement-like challenges, participating in ongoing Seasons–*deep breath* You get what I mean here. There’s a lot of content waiting for players of Diablo III: Eternal Collection, and it’s very much worth investing time in on the Switch.

Haunted is good enough to recommend to those who enjoyed Kero Blaster or just want a decent run ‘n gun, even if it’s ultimately a little too obsessed with the object of its admiration for its own good.

Old School RuneScape is like a whole king-sized Las Vegas buffet. I’ve been playing for weeks now, and still feel like I’m barely even coming close to knowing what I’m doing, which has been really awesome as so few mobile titles seem to offer anything that even feels like any meaningful discovery or character advancement anymore.

Candies ‘n Curses is a great time, and has its hooks in me like any game with a fun upgrade cycle. The freemium stuff is pretty in your face, and the dual $4.99 IAPs to turn it into a more premium experience feels a little on the expensive side for what’s basically just a simple fast action arcade game. It also has some minor rendering issues on the iPhone X, with the game displaying some game data under the notch, but that sort of thing should be an easy fix. But, hey, for the entry price of free, Candies ‘n Curses is totally worth downloading.

If you’re the kind of person who often complains about free to play games and the lack of depth in mobile games, do not hesitate to put your money where your mouth is and buy Stardew Valley. This game is absolutely incredible, and will not disappoint.

Part of the charm of Pivotol is in the fact that it’s totally endless, with no levels to speak of. It’s a game to be played because it’s fun to make tiles disappear, rather than because you feel the need to progress. It’s surely not going to be for everyone, but for me, Pivotol tickles all the right spots and I’m thoroughly enjoying my time with it.

Setting aside the mandatory ads, this is one of the best things I’ve seen come out of Konami in quite a while. Imaginative? No. I mean, it’s just Picross. And it’s certainly trading heavily on nostalgia. But it’s a very well-done take on that kind of puzzle, and I’d be telling one of the biggest lies in my life if I said the window dressing hadn’t scored a direct hit on me. I hope the game gets updated with more franchises, puzzles, music, and perhaps some larger grid sizes, but what’s already here is incredible for a free game.

It’s a true meditative experience via a game with cute little animal faces, which was an unexpected factor. Every factor enhances the experience, from the chirping birds to the different drum sounds, and to the chimps’ eye-popping glee when the beat touches them. Even business decisions seem to have been made with the player’s stress levels in mind, keeping in-app ads away and instead using one low price for the entire 85 levels of play. I can not recommend it enough to anyone that finds the stressors of living in 2018 just a little too much to handle.

I suspect mobile gaming fans will be playing and replaying this one for years to come. I’m a little surprised to see such effort behind a paid original title on mobile in 2018, particularly without even a hint of added purchases to be found in it. I hope it works out for the developers, because I’d love to see more feasts like this come across my mobile plate now and then.

As much it’s kind of a bummer that you can’t pay to get rid of the ads, Pandoraid is still a really fun game that will keep you playing for a good long while. The retro-style visuals and chip-tune soundtrack are great at evoking a vintage feel, the controls work well, and the unlocks are both enjoyable and meaningful.

I may have my nits to pick with Monster Hunter Stories, but the game is certainly quite a good JRPG all-around. It ranks fairly high even among the impressive JRPG library of the Nintendo 3DS, so in the increasingly dry traditional JRPG landscape that is today’s mobile gaming market, it’s a real blessing. It’s not as good as a mainline Pokemon release, nor will it keep you playing as long as a mainline Monster Hunter game, but I suspect fans of either looking for something to play on their phones or tablets won’t be unhappy with Monster Hunter Stories.

I am immensely enjoying Dragalia Lost. Just like Super Mario Run did for the time honored runner genre, so does Dragalia Lost do for social RPGs. It follows the formula and makes key improvements along the way. After hours of playinng I have yet to come close to running out of energy yet. The gameplaay, graphics and story all shine out above competition within the social RPG genre. If you can wrap your head around the departure from usual Nintendo fare, you’ll be rewarded with a gem of a game.

The pace is pretty good, the game looks and sounds great, and on an individual level some of the puzzles are fun to untangle. The games shines with potential, and that does take it a good distance. As such, I’d probably still recommend the game, even if I can’t do so as enthusiastically as I would have liked to. It’s buggy, the design feels inconsistent, and the story keels over at the last minute, but you may want to put up with all of that if only to get at the bits that work.

The bottom line is that Legend of Solgard is free and the mechanics and polish are all top-notch, and the game loop quite compelling, so there’s no reason not to give it a shot yourself and see which side of the fence you end up on.

On the one hand it infuriated me at times, and as I type I still don’t really know what was going on at times or why I was solving certain puzzles. But on the other hand, I enjoyed playing the game.

Needless to say, I’m quite excited by SHI•RO, both as it is and as it can be after the following two parts are launched.

When it comes to making a puzzle game feel like it isn’t just another match-three game or the like, there are few things developers can do without going too far. The Company Game arguably treads that tightrope just so, though at times I did wonder whether the puzzles were too obscure or if I was just not as smart as I thought I was! The Company Game will not be for everyone, of that there is absolutely no doubt, but if you’re a fan of smartphone puzzle games, want something a little bit different to the usual fare, and don’t mind having your blood pressure increase further than it really probably should, The Company Game should at the very least be on your radar.

What it all really comes back to is that Wall Kickers just feels good to play, something that will come as zero surprise to anyone who has played any previous games from Kumobius. It can fill short periods of time quite well, but you’ll also find it up to the challenge of making you procrastinate on more important matters for longer sessions as well. The core mechanics ride the line between simplicity and depth the way any genuinely satisfying arcade experience needs to, and the difficulty scales up nicely. Throw in that usual Kumobius quality on the presentation, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

It’s a great quick reprieve from the stresses of daily life, with reason to return time after time and a great reason to share your progress on social media with the photo booth. The paid No Ad option does seem expensive to still have to wait for honey, but that’s absolutely no deterrent from the title.

Valleys Between offers a remarkably calming experience despite the dangers that can appear. Being mindful about the environment you control with the touch of a finger allows you to also reflect on your physical world. The level difficulty is balanced compared to current progress through the game. The graphics, music, and sound effects combine to create a thoroughly awe-inspiring experience. But perhaps mostly importantly, Valleys Between is a well-needed reminder that life, the universe, everything is about finding the right balance.

There is something about being able to play a golf game that takes itself seriously, but not too seriously on an iPhone, one-handed, any time I want that I think makes this a great addition to any gaming arsenal. And when you’ve done that, maybe check out some of Colin Lane’s other work? There’s plenty to choose from.

Ultimately you can customize how tough the game is and no matter how rough it gets, Barbearian will look gorgeous throughout and will feel amazing whether you use a MFi controller or the touch controls. It feels completely different when the difficulty is adjusted so there is value in getting into the options and fiddling around. When people ask where the good premium games are, Barbearian is one I will point to, with gusto.