What Tempest does well it does really well. If you ignore the loose ends and missed opportunities, you have a five star must play game. Even in its current incarnation, a few patches and an update could bring this game to the forefront of the app store. As it is, I have hope that we can see updates that could bring a real introduction, a fix to intermittent camera/graphical lag and a difficulty indicator per each fight or maybe some balance tweaks for certain fights(or boarding for that matter). With a number of tech updates already released, my hopes are high. If you keep in mind that the seas can be a little rough, you are going to have a whole lot of fun playing Tempest . This game is worth the investment.

If you're a fan of Trailer Park Boys, Greasy Money is an effortless recommendation. If you're not into the show, it's still an incredibly competent idle game that mixes up enough of the standard mechanics in a way that somehow manages to feel fresh- Particularly with the boss battles and the way the prestige system works. However, it's difficult to say if you'll appreciate it as much as someone who is picking up every tiny reference the game drops. Personally, I love Trailer Park Boys, and idle clicker games are a guilty pleasure, so this is the perfect game for me. I could definitely see how it might not be for everyone though, particularly with the (censored) swearing and drug themes which pop up.

Bottom line, if you memorize the location of the "skip dialogue" button for every game, you may want to give this one a pass. Planescape: Torment still stands tall as a landmark masterpeice that can continue to age gracefully, now on your phone or tablet. Make sure you pack your reading glasses if you grab it!

Sunless Sea is easily one of the best narrative-based games on the App Store, and I would easily venture to say that it's one of a kind. The sailing and exploration parts combine almost seamlessly with the narrative part and help to deliver a fantastic game that you shouldn't miss out on. And this time around, we also have an app that works great, which is definitely a plus. Hopefully, we'll get the Zubmariner expansion soon for more madness and terror, but until then, there's more than plenty to do in Sunless Sea, including go mad and eat your friends.

I can definitely see Realteach VR returning to the world of Quantum Revenge in the future and building on the foundation they've already set. Although battling the evil Rokuseya was a blast while it lasted, I'd love to see some of the cast get fleshed out in the sequel, and see some brasher and more bold mech designs. If you're still the type of person who's rooting for a Zoids reboot you'll probably have a great time here, but otherwise you can likely hang on for more updates and improvements -- some of which the developer has already acquiesced.

There's a lot of little frustrations that I have with Full of Stars, especially as the charm of the concept of space chaser meets interactive fiction wears off after you continue to fail against the difficulty presented. Still, it's a game that compelled me to sit down and fight against it to try and beat it. And with the promise of future content teased with additional pilots, and a long-term meta-game as you upgrade Blue Sector, along with the rewarding feeling of beating a tough level, there's a lot to like about Full of Stars, even if this game wants to beat you down to the core of your soul, too.

Ragging on freemium elements aside, this game is super cool. I’ve really enjoyed my time with it. It’s a bit of a slow burn title, and it’s a little grindy in the leveling, but as you learn and explore the mechanics it only gets better.

While it gets the core gist of the Spelunky formula right, and does some rather cool things, the game suffers from its short development time, leading to a lack of variation in level designs. Also, the game just doesn't have the tight platformer feel necessary for what the demanding difficulty requires to give the player a good shot at succeeding.

I didn't expect much from Ellie & Max, and got quite a bit back in return. There's a lot of heart in the game's duo, and even though you probably won't recognize them until you've played a few rounds, the developer definitely has my attention going forward.

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.

This is the only way to get a good, deep, baseball simulator on mobile, and it is a good way to get a taste of what it might be like in comparison to a full-fledged game. If it's your first time, I'm sorry about the rest of your life that you will no longer have because you're stuck managing a bases loaded, one-out situation in an August 2023 game. It could be the most value you get out of a $4.99 game. If the little annoyances got to be too much in earlier years, well, unfortunately, many of them are still here. But whether you can see the forest for the trees is a question you'll have to consider for yourself.

While it might seem like a subjective thing, and it probably is, Versus: The Elite Trials reflected my choices back at me in such a way that I saw a slightly new side of myself. That alone makes it a great gamebook, in my opinion. Even setting aside personal epiphanies, the improved pacing, more nuanced tone, and the smaller cast of more fully fleshed-out characters make this a far better effort than the first book. As I said at the beginning of the review, though, you're going to want to play through The Lost Ones before you touch this to get the full effect. But you can now do that knowing that it's worth the effort of pushing through some of that book's rougher spots. Versus: The Elite Trials is an excellent gamebook, and I will wait with great anticipation for the next part of the story.

Death Road to Canada is another masterpiece from a partnership that keeps cranking out the hits.

I really like TypeShift. I think it's an awfully fun game, and I always found myself coming back to it not long after putting it down over some irritating puzzle or another. But its various parts don't quite lock together as well as smoothly as you might hope, leaving the overall experience a little wanting. It's also a bit of a battery hog, surprisingly enough. If you enjoy word games, you'll almost certainly want to check this one out in spite of the little problems I've mentioned. There are tons of free puzzles to try out that should give you a solid idea of whether this is your thing or not. TypeShift might not have the accessible charms of SpellTower, but it does quite well in carving out a different sort of enjoyment all to itself.

The extremely reasonable price makes it hard for me to say you shouldn't even consider buying Wolf of the Battlefield: Commando Mobile. If you think you can deal with the control quirks, this is a good technical conversion of the arcade game. Provided that's all you're looking for, I can think of worse ways to spend a couple of bucks. Between the control issues, the relatively low amount of content, and the inconsistent difficulty settings, Commando Mobile is probably the hardest one of these releases to recommend so far, however.

My chief complaint about Golf Zero is that there isn't more of it. This is the kind of game I could play for hundreds of levels at a time, and although there is more content in the pipeline it couldn't come soon enough. The 40 standard levels won't take you that long to blaze through, but that's because they're so addicting to knock out in rapid succession. With a more forgiving ad system and some extra levels it would be even easier to recommend.

This is a game that becomes a real battery-killer if you give it a shot. Also, because on my (shockingly old!) iPhone 6 Plus, the game drains battery quickly. It might not click right away, but it will click eventually, and there's so much of a rewarding experience here, with new content to unlock. I do wish there was iCloud, so that I could keep my progress going on my iPad and maybe not kill my battery so fast. However you play it, this is a must-play, and a game I don't see leaving my iPhone any time soon. Just be patient.

Those who love first-person dungeon crawlers should check it out, though. It's no Grimrock, but I think there's plenty of room in the pool for decent efforts along with that giant.

Ghosts 'n Goblins Mobile is a technically-sound port of a good, classic game that really isn't well-suited for touch-based controls. There are some quirks with the options that are likely to be addressed in a future update, but the biggest problem with the game is that it probably shouldn't have been picked as a candidate for a mobile port to begin with. It's already a severely difficult game, and adding even a little frustration on top makes it too much. That said, for the price of it, it's hard to tell anyone not to buy it if they're interested, but just be aware that you're probably not going to get too far unless you're incredibly stubborn or a virtuoso with virtual controls.

Platformers on iOS need to have something very interesting about them in order to get noticed. To make matters more difficult, they also need to execute the basics without issue. The Big Journey succeeds on all these fronts with a gorgeous adventure about a colorful kitty. I had a great time leading Mr. Whiskers on his journey and I'm sure you will too.

This is an interesting game that I had a good time with. Also, there's a lot of whacking stuff with a stick, which is especially satisfying. Heck, the joy of whacking stuff with a stick justifies much of the experience. I recommend Pan-Pan, and hope Spelkraft has more mobile titles planned in the future!

I wish there was a little more to Incidence, but I had a great time learning its rulesets and mastering them. By the time I hit level 100 I felt like a pro, but there wasn't anything left to conquer. I have a feeling that any updates probably won't incrementally increase the difficulty or expand upon the concept (as the complete onboard set doesn't either, it's more of a moderate slow build). Right now Incidence simply is what it is, but puzzle fiends should have a grand old time picking it up while it lasts.

If you've never played the game and are wondering if it's worth picking up, I can say that it's alright but it certainly feels like a game from its era in most ways. For the low asking price it's fine, but don't set your expectations too high just because it's a big name.

I like this game, and it’s fun in short bursts, but it doesn’t scratch that itch like it should. There’s no zing. Progression is slow and upgrades often have minimal impact. Despite the huge variety of weapons, new runs don’t usually feel that varied. For some reason the shops almost always have duplicates of the weapons in your hand. Sometimes you’ll find or buy a super awesome gun, but that’s rare. I don’t know if they need to tweak their algorithms or what, but It all becomes a bit too repetitive. If you do manage to beat the game, you’ll gain access to hard mode. All that said, a solid, free, gameplay focused mobile game with no price gouging? I want to hug the developer. Definitely pick this up and try it.

All in all, it’s a lot of fun. I wish the monster energy worked differently, but otherwise it’s the same kind of timer based freemium stuff you’re either OK with or you’re not at this point. There are some visual bugs that are annoying, like not displaying the amount something costs, or always showing you a “new” upgrade to a building every single time you log in. Minor stuff, mostly, just annoying. Re-organizing your town as it grows can be very satisfying. If it sounds like you’d enjoy this game, you probably will.

Despite the deduction problems, Miss Fisher is a very entertaining interactive novel for everyone but especially fans of the show. The game even lets you collect costume pieces to change Phryne Fisher's looks; completely unnecessary but great fun. The plot is fun, the visuals and music are great, and the jokes and double entendres land well. And since the ending twist breathed new life into the case, I'm interested in playing the upcoming episodes too. And it even comes with iMessage stickers; what more could anyone ask for?

If you want to spend a little bit of time in an interesting world, play Milkmaid of the Milky Way. Developer Mattis Folkestad has put forth a tremendous solo effort here into a charming game that's worth your time.

I ended up having more fun with Djinn Caster than I expected to ever have with a game published by Kemco in its current form. I don't know if it's going to be to everyone's tastes, but if you've ever found yourself pining for the days where you could get a good, solid Eastern-style ARPG without getting a free-to-play shakedown, you'll probably want to give this one a look. The story and cast are memorable, the gameplay is enjoyable, and I really like the style of its presentation. It feels completely unlike anything else in this publisher's line-up, and if you ask me, it's about time.