Shiny The Firefly has it all – slick controls, puzzles, epic boss battles… but most of all, it has my heart.

Little Luca is a charming, innovative and downright beautiful game – nay, piece of art – that no iOS user should be without.

Scurvy Scallywags bleeds the charm and personality of Ron Gilbert’s classics, and is something to appreciate in a landscape of games that often find themselves without an identity.

There's little creativity, but there's effective design. In a genre so saturated as TD, however, it takes both to stand out.

Overall, Turbo Racing League is a very fun game.

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.

It's possible to make mundane roles great fun, but Merchant to the Stars hasn't quite worked out how.

As I mentioned at the top of this review, if you've never played Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic and you're even vaguely interested in the Star Wars universe or just surprisingly deep RPGs in general, this is a game you need on your iPad yesterday. KOTOR is easily among the best Star Wars games, and on my personal list of top RPGs I've played in my life.

Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery: Episode 1 – A Bump in the Night is, at its core, a simple game with a mix of challenging and dastardly puzzles thrown in that will be enjoyable for both adults and kids.

In the end, the most notable thing about this title is its cheeky title, pointing to ambitions it's ill-equipped to achieve.

Okay, so WazHack is a roguelike, and one that owes a lot to Nethack [Free / Free (HD)], including a turn-based mechanic, shopkeepers who will mess you up if you screw with them, and the permadeath.

1968 is a rather uneven game in terms of its mechanics, its difficulty, and its presentation, but it all tends to shake out on the positive side of things.

Go Round is an easygoing game. That's not to say it's easy—later levels can be mindboggling. It's just not pushy. Turns out that's a strange feeling—almost as strange as playing a match three that doesn't care about tidiness. Strange is rare. Enjoy it.

Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Trilogy HD is an excellent adventure experience all-round. Sure, the lack of true iPad Retina or widescreen support is a bit of a letdown, but it's hardly a deal-breaker.

If you're a big fan of hack 'n' slash side-scrollers, this game is a no-brainer. If you like supporting premium titles that eschew IAP, or games with responsive developers who actually listen to their players, you'll want to grab Fangz.

Ninja Wrath is an object lesson in how not to handle your game's pricing structure in iOS. Originally priced at more than a dollar, the game is already above the curve by App Store standards. For a premium title to have most of its content locked behind a paywall is totally unacceptable.

While Blitz Brigade offers an enjoyable experience in team-based FPS gameplay, the overall experience is still clouded by freemium add-ons that add unnecessary annoyances.

After the Missile Command novelty wears off, there isn’t much to this game besides the survival fest and some eerie music.

Warhammer Quest, while being an excellent port of a classic board game, is actually an amazing dungeon crawler on iOS, no matter what your experience with the source material. You owe it to yourself to check out this excellent hack and slash experience.

Considering how many games on the App Store are essentially doing the same thing, Fetch is mostly unique, and pretty beautiful to boot. For a little less than the cost of a can of Dog Food, you will certainly get your money’s worth from Fetch, especially if you have young children, an aging puppy, or a soft spot for man’s best friend.

Ultimately the card game at the heart of Rootwork doesn't quite uphold its thematic aspirations.

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.

It's probably a safe bet that a lot of iOS gamers looking at screen shots of CastleMine wouldn't think much of the simplistic visuals. However, I'd employ TD fans to look beyond the visuals and give CastleMine a chance

If you’ve been looking to drop a little spell crafting, enemy-splatting charm onto your iPad, look no further than Magicka: Wizards of the Square Tablet.

It could be prettier, sound better, borrow (much) less from World of Warcraft's iconography. Any of those things would make it a more appealing game. But Healer: A Light in the Darkness has the two things down it truly needs: a sea of green boxes, and the desperation you'll feel as you watch them empty.

Sure there are a lot of running games out there, but why not try running with your friends for a change?

The 100 stages are fun, and the gameplay gets more complicated and interesting as it goes along, but the look and music are stagnant.

For fans of Tony Stark and his universe, Iron Man 3 is definitely a fun adventure. For those who care nothing whatsoever for comics or the Iron Man universe, it’s still fun as an endless runner. It doesn't feel as finished as other Gameloft games, but time may change that. But be prepared to either spend lots of your time, or your money, to get the most out of Iron Man 3.

The game isn’t timed, so you can take as long as you want to hem and haw, but unless you have a chess-master’s mind, you probably will need to dive in and just start square-swapping to crack how to best survive the world of Mosaique.

There isn't much room left for new match 3s, and Tomb Breaker is bound to have a hard time breaking in. Being less manipulative and more challenging than the competition isn't exactly a winning combo from a financial point of view. It is, however, a great reason to check the game out. If you still have love for this overplayed genre but want to spend a little more time planning than panicking, Tomb Breaker will be worth your while.

Right now, Minecraft - Pocket Edition is just a pretty block-building game. It's getting better, and I'm really rooting for it to, but it doesn't give me any sense of adventure. Survivalcraft does, and it does it in impressive fashion for a mobile device. For that reason and the reasons listed above, it's the mobile Minecraft that I'm sticking with.

In the end, Go Home Dinosaurs is a well-executed tower defense title with enough additions to the genre to make it worth checking out. Suffice to say, I hope other developers take note when trying to differentiate and improve upon tower defense.

This is a game with style, substance, and its own great blend of action and strategy, and for now is an iOS exclusive to boot. If you have any love for Sid Meier, strategy games, aviation sims, or just darn good games you'd be crazy to not give this game a shot.

Perhaps with updates, Gamevil will add more to Dark Avenger, and bring it up to a competitive level. It’s worthwhile to try because it’s different enough and free, but unless you’re playing on the subway or are bored at work and have nothing better to do, it won’t last you long.

Frozen Synapse succeeds at bringing a beloved PC game to iOS.

Its simplicity is what makes it work, so as long as you aren't looking for your next deep iOS gaming experience, Daddy Was A Thief should fit the bill.

If Talisman is new to you, Prologue can be a good way to see if you want to invest your time and money in the boxed or digital versions of this flawed but enjoyable classic.

When the four-book work is finished, Sorcery! is likely to be one heck of an impressive gamebook experience. Inkle's groundwork is fantastic, making for an unusually vibrant piece of interactive fiction. It's a bit like a prologue at the moment, but every journey has to start somewhere. This one gets off on the right foot.

Despite the game's relatively short length and lack of replay value, Murder Files offers a fun sleuthing experience, and I felt that it was definitely worth my time.

With Haunted Hollow, Firaxis have created a perfect Frankenstein, having transplanted a fun, strategic, digital board game into the body of a casual, cutesy freemium app. It is a not a perfect game and the lack of a really strong solo experience is a serious oversight.

Kingturn RPG's ugly exterior belies the brilliant tactics game beneath. If you're looking for good graphics or story in a game you should look somewhere else. However, if you're looking for a strategy game that will truly test your mettle, look no further than Kingturn.

It's always hard to review these classic FF titles on iOS because they're always essentially ports of ports of the originals. Just as was the case with the previously released iOS ports, Final Fantasy V is a no-brainer if you're an RPG fan and have not had the pleasure of playing it.

If you are ready for a grand space strategy epic, this an amazing specimen on iOS.

Slamjet Stadium is made to be taken lightly, to be played for a laugh when you're with good friends. Not the sort of friends that feel strongly about winning or losing, though. It's all about how you play the game, and we're not talking about good sportsmanship.

’Gods Among Us’ comes off as more of a companion app for the console version than a stand alone title, and as it hints so tantalizingly at what could’ve been, that’s the real injustice.

The Nightjar is a definite bird to catch so check out our forums and see what the community is saying about the experience.

But the core idea, the thrill of pinning a captain's badge to your chest and piloting your own ship through the starry depths, remains intact in the form of an addictive and brilliantly chaotic experience.

On an iPhone or iPad, the 2-D, side-scrolling block-based sandbox is a winning formula, and The Blockheads is the most well-executed, true-to-Minecraft game I've had the pleasure to experience on iOS.

Suffice to say, LEGO fans have little reason not to check out DC Super Heroes, while anyone else interested in a light-hearted adventure should take the plunge.

How much you'll enjoy Gun Commando will depend on how nostalgic you are for a shooter that recalls the bygone days of boot disks and Sound Blaster 16 cards.

They Need To Be Fed 2 is familiar but worthy followup to They Need To Be Fed, and both are great little platformers. If you're new to the series, hop straight into the sequel. You won't be missing much that can't be found within. If you're already a fan, you know what to expect: the struggle, the achievement, the inevitable death. A hundred meaningful deaths or more, with hundreds of dangerous jumps in between.

Rocket Patrol is an unapologetically casual game, and the strategy probably isn't deep enough to hold an iOS card aficionado's long-term interest.

You might be tempted to skip Cut the Rope: Time Travel. It's just another sequel, right? Nope. Time Travel offers a unique twist on an already solid formula. It's an excellent time waster, one that every member of your family should enjoy.

TMNT Rooftop Run makes for a rollicking good time, especially if you enjoy runners but crave a recipe with some spice.

Whether or not you've got a friend (or toddler) to play Crabitron with in this unintentional co-op mode, you really need to check the game out as Crabitron is a perfect example of how to intelligently craft a game for the iPad that really could only exist on the iPad.

When you take the sum of all the great things that Nimble Quest does, you end up with an excellent casual title that’s easily approachable while having just enough strategy elements to want to keep you coming back to beat your high score one more time.

The balance at work in Fist Face Fight is one between challenge and length. It's further confused by an IAP system that doesn't take into account the lack of consumable uses. If you can set that aside, however, and rise to the challenge, there is a great lot of fun to be had.

There's no barrier to entry here, with one exception: this isn't a game that's ever likely to get a color blind mode. Otherwise, though, anyone can play Blendoku, and play it freely. All you need to be able to do is drag a square from one position to another.

All together, these systems make for a clever game. And it's certainly a cute one. I'm just not convinced it will have all that much lasting power.

Even with the controls, I haven't stopped playing Stealth Assassin which is a testament to what a quality game it is. So if you've dreamed of being a stealthy killer and can put up with some control wonkiness, at the very least give Stealth Assassin's free version a look.

Despite all my gripes and nit-picking, I enjoyed Garden of Fear. Its pace fluctuates from intense to idle a little too often and the controls demand an overhaul, but players able to look past those flaws will find a brief and moody horror experience set at a fair asking price.

Mighty Dungeons is hard to recommend in its current state.

It's just a shame because Dungeon Hunter 4 does a decent job putting the series back on track to its roots. Unfortunately, the emphasis on freemium elements puts a damper on the improvements made. Seeing how it's free, dungeon crawling fans should definitely check it out. However, the question remains whether or not its worth the investment required to plow through the entire experience.

With all the comparisons and nods to Super Mario Bros., mobile gamers might wonder if The Other Brothers is their platformer's Mario. I wouldn't go that far, but 3D Attack's long-awaited entry in the house that Mario built is charming, humorous, and most importantly, feels darn good in motion. Give it time to grow and I foresee it getting even better.

Little Chomp came out of nowhere and charmed me with its smooth controls, variety of fun goals to check off, and absolutely vibrant graphics and crisp audio. At only a buck, you don't want to pass this one up.

Three modes, touch controls that hop to at the slightest touch, and retro graphics. Doesn't sound like much, does it? Don't be fooled by appearances, Plasma-Sky is a solid addition to the ever-expanding galaxy of shmups available on the App Store.

Suffice to say, Tiny Troopers 2 is just as enjoyable as its predecessor and comes highly recommended as a simplified RTS that just gets it done right.

As it stands, Mr. Crab is a solid, clever little one-touch platformer.

For just a dollar, Worm Run almost sells itself. Its lightning-on-ice movement speed and motivation to keep on trucking in the form of a gigantic carnivorous beast make for a nice alternative to the droves of autopilot runners available on the App Store.

That type of versatility and richness speaks to the strength of the core ideas behind Badland. In a marketplace lousy with them, Badland is a well-considered and well-executed physics-based puzzle-platformer, tetchy controls notwithstanding.

One of the advantages of this being a port of a classic game is that there is far more content – more scenarios and ways to play them – than would be invested in an original iOS game.

Expectations aside, Dungeon Hearts can be great fun. Just don't let the battle music and cute little heroes convince you you're settling in for an RPG.

It's really a shame because outside of this frustrating facet of the game's story mode (as well as the pop-up) Dream Chaser isn't that bad of an endless runner. As it stands, genre fans will probably still find it worth checking out, if anything for its style and story mode. For everyone else, it's probably worth a pass.

Like a top notch student handing in a rush job, Mittens sags not under the weight of what it does wrong, but all that it could have done much better.

Eyes is as immersive, as unsettling, and as chilling a horror experience as you'll find on any platform, if not as lengthy as horror fans would like.

Slayin may not have done much to quell my hopeless addiction to retro visuals, but it may have done me one better: it's raised the bar for all games like it.

Still, if platforming is your bag, don't let grinding or opening your wallet keep you from missing out on Ms. Splosion Man's gorgeous, fast-paced, and rewarding adventure.

Sonic Dash is free right now, so give it a try. Whether or not you'll want to pay more into the game for a coin doubler or currency packs requires almost as little consideration: if you like endless runners, you'll like this one, too.

In many regards, The Seed plays out very much like its namesake. Small-time gameplay elements eventually flower into complicated contraptions that require analysis, foresight and precision to succeed. It's this growth in gameplay and scenery that's showcased through the entirety of the (all too brief) game that makes it fun to play.

My technical issues due to playing on an "older" device aside, brevity is the beauty of Smash the Office. The game is mostly mindless, but that makes it the perfect time-waster when you just want to smash things--real things, things you have to soldier through every day for eight hours and a lunch break--for a few minutes here and there.

Trauma is a game with small frustrations and big ideas, well proportioned.

Make no mistake, as an RPG Nameless is about as streamlined as it gets. Unfortunately, it doesn't quite hit that exploration/battle balance that's important for preserving interest.

IAP grievances aside, Super Stickman Golf 2 is a fun and compelling puzzler, and a steal at only a buck.

Go ahead and give it a try. Spaceteam is fun, free, and guaranteed to be a hit at your next get-together.

Fellow robot sympathizers, players looking for a mental workout, or anyone bitter their iPad still can't play Machinarium: don't let this one pass you by.

Whether in your own crypt before you go to sleep, or at a family dinner with ghoulish relatives, Le Vamp is a charming, clever runner worth checking out. If your last flirtation with the genre was with something like Punch Quest [Free], this may just be one worth sinking your teeth into.

Still, the foundational gameplay in Galactic Conflict is sound and is certainly worth checking out for iOS RTS fans as long as you don't go into it expecting the next great masterpiece.

The campaign is fun, but it really has nowhere to go but through the same paths again and again. And the multiplayer—the multiplayer has so much potential, but it's crippled by the lack of online competitors.

With plenty of depth, replayability and a great melding of genres, there's plenty to check out and enjoy.

In the same way Electroplankton offered the DS a totally unique game-like way to relax, create, and experiment with music, Melodive is a must-have when you want to mellow out, or tickle your brain.

It's a sharp, fast-paced romp and while its somewhat hampered by its diminutive length, there's enough of Liberation Maiden to warrant attention. Bombs away.

Of course, Bobbing isn't for everyone—you need to have the patience and mild masochism that constant failure and repetition requires—but if you can dig its viciousness, don't be surprised if you start forgetting to put it down for less important stuff, like breaks. And meals.

It totally captures that gameplay niche of a game you can load up and play for a few minutes while providing a feel of progression that also makes the title suitable for substantially longer play sessions- Especially once you start to discover some of its secrets and other particularly effective techniques for maximizing your score.

It does do an amazing job of exploiting its aesthetic, and it’s worth picking up purely because of that.

Assuming you can handle the grind associated with its difficulty, by all means check out Fury of the Gods as its certainly worth playing.

It’s a pity – Gravity Duck has such style, and the four-way-gravity gameplay holds a lot of potential for puzzle-solving. Unfortunately, unlocking unchallenging levels never feels like much of an accomplishment, and difficulty levels remain ho-hum throughout the entire game.

Runner aficionados will find little to keep them hooked in a playing field full of meatier options.

The most important thing is this: if you play, you will die, but you will want to pick yourself up and start all over again when you do. That's the mark of a good roguelike, that incentive to never give up, no matter how stacked the odds.