Hey, it's Wednesday again. The second Wednesday of the new year, which thankfully, is bringing us a few more games than last week. We're still not back up to 100% of crazy nights of releases, but I feel like this is a good sign that more than three noteworthy games are out tonight. As usual, these will be available everywhere by 11:00 PM Eastern.
The Blockheads, Free - Forum Thread - Imagine Minecraft, but set in a 2.5D world. We've spent some time with the game, and I'd go as far as to say due to the control limitations of iOS devices that this might almost be a better Minecraft than the actual real Minecraft.
Death Golf, 99¢ - Forum Thread - Golf games, especially of the miniature variety, always have been a lot of fun on iOS devices. This one seems to have an almost Mutant League flavor, if anyone remembers those series of games.
I Am Vegend: Zombiegeddon, $1.99 / Free - Forum Thread - A castle defense game of sorts, with a premise that seems totally crazy. It comes in a free variety as well as a "premium" version which comes with everything unlocked versus eventually hitting a pay wall.
Joe Danger, $2.99 - Forum Thread - Another one of those bike jumping games, but this one looks awesome. Lots of folks have been talking about this game, and I'm really excited for it.
Take My Machete, Free - Forum Thread - A side scrolling slicing game, complete with a story mode and endless mode for your slicing pleasure.
Wake The Cat, 99¢ - Forum Thread - We're really scraping the bottom of the barrel for things to do in puzzle games. In this one, you wake up cats. I can feel a Jared stirring in the distance...
Zenonia 5, Free - Forum Thread - The Zenonia series is back, in its fifth iteration. This one is free to play, but these sort of action RPGs hinge on grinding anyway so it's debatable whether that's a good thing or a bad thing.
Liv Games' excellent strategy defense title Legendary Wars [$1.99] received a massive version 2.0 update back in November, adding fan requests, fixes, tweaks and heaps of new content that had been bubbling up since the game originally launched in January of 2011. Now its follow-up title Monster Wars [$0.99], which offers a lot of the same style of gameplay as Legendary Wars but from the bad guys' perspective, has also received a big update. And, since both titles had launched in January, both Legendary Wars and Monster Wars are celebrating their two and one year anniversaries this month, respectively. Because of these milestones both titles will be free over the weekend.
Now, this update for Monster Wars isn't quite as massive as Legendary Wars 2.0, but it's welcome nonetheless. The biggest addition is full iOS 6 and iPhone 5 widescreen support for the game, along with a lovely new icon and some new in-game graphics for loading screens and menus. There are some new Tier 4 monsters in the game, and you can now play the "Hero" campaign from Legendary Wars right from the main menu of Monster Wars. Finally some additional optimization and fixes should make Monster Wars an overall better performing game, especially on older devices.
It's been an interesting ride watching both Legendary Wars and Monster Wars release and evolve over the past couple of years. Legendary Wars really brought a fresh approach to the fairly stale castle defense genre, offering tons of content and variety as well as a great art style and a fun story. Monster Wars basically took those ideas and improved upon them, while also tying things into the original Legendary Wars in a lot of cool ways. The two games really complemented each other, and after so many updates and improvements that feels more true now than ever.
If you don't own either Legendary Wars or Monster Wars yet, definitely take advantage of this freebie promotion and pick them up, as they should keep you entertained well into their next anniversary milestones.
It's officially 2013, and instead of starting this week's release cycle with a bang we're starting with... Well, a whimper, I guess. Regardless, I've been pretty stoked for Hundreds, so even if this week doesn't have dozen of new games, I'll still take one (hopefully) really good game. That seems like a decent trade. Either way, like all other weeks, these titles should all be out at 11:00 PM Eastern.
Catch the Ark, 99¢ - Forum Thread - So, Noah's Ark has left without three critters, and you've got to catch up to get onboard before, um, the great flood? This game also has dinosaurs.
Lego Legends of Chima: Speedzorz, Free - Forum Thread - I suppose this sort of shows my age as I have no idea what the "Lego Legends" are or who "Chima" is. If you do, it sounds like this game is supplementing a 3DS and Vita title as well as some future online title? So, if you're geeked out about any of those, this seems like it might also be up your alley?
Repulze, 99¢ - Forum Thread - A futuristic racer that seems to be in the style of Wipeout games. We haven't seen a good Wipeout-like racer on the App Store, this could be it!
Swing King, 99¢ - Forum Thread - A physics-y game that involves flinging a swinging king across levels. Also, the king sort of resembles the Ice King from Adventure Time to me, which I'll give a thumbs up to regardless of whether it was intentional or not.
Happy New Year, everyone! Now that we've finally got another year of raw site traffic analytics under our belt, it's always fun to go back and see which stories were our most popular. Keep in mind, these are just articles that were posted in 2012, as for whatever reason, things like this five paragraph story on Words With Friends is consistently one or most trafficked pages with comments from many people who apparently assume we were the creators of the game. (And wouldn't that be nice?)
Anyway, here's the top 25 TouchArcade articles that got the most hits last year, and it doesn't take too long of reading down it to see a definite trend in the previous year:
What's crazy is that looking at the numbers, the NimbleBit versus Zynga drama generated so much traffic that they're basically in a league of their own. Oh, and people really apparently are into the TouchArcade Pocket Planes [Free] Flight Crew. I can't wait to see what the top stories list of 2013 brings. I hope everyone had a safe and happy new year. We're taking it easy today around here, but tomorrow we're going to kick the tires and light the fires on making 2013 the best year for TouchArcade yet!
Well, it's Friday and our week of the best iOS games of 2012 is over. Looking back on all these posts, we saw an incredible amount of amazing games over the last year. No matter what genre(s) you prefer, we dug through everything the App Store had to offer and came up with the best of the best.
If you disagreed with any of our picks, or misunderstood the purpose of these lists and thought we "missed" things, you're in luck- The TouchArcade Forums 2012 Game of the Year nomination process is still taking place. Head on to the thread and give it a look then drop your favorite games in for inclusion.
We'll post about the winner when the whole thing is over with the release of the next batch of new games on the 3rd, but if you want to participate, don't wait.
Anyway, here's a handy list of all of our "Best of" articles:
2012, like the years before it, have been incredible times for iOS gamers. This year was a little strange in that due to the magic of the App Store, a lot of the great games from 2011 continued to shine even brighter via updates throughout the year. Instead of one stand-out title like last year'sSuperbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP [$4.99], we ended the year with a list of fabulous games and ended up splitting hairs over which to socket into which positions. These five games are absolute must have titles that anyone with an iOS device should own.
Keep in mind, all next week during the iTunes freeze we're going to be running various "Best of" lists, so if you don't see a hat tip to a game you love in this particular list, chances are it'll make an appearance somewhere next week as we conclude our 2012 coverage of iOS games and move on to bigger and better things in 2013.
TouchArcade Game of the Year
Waking Mars, $4.99 by Tiger Style Games - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - The same studio blew us away with our 2009 Game of the Year pick, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor [$1.99 / $1.99 (HD)], and only a few years later does it again with Waking Mars. In the game, you play as an explorer who has landed on Mars and through a Metrovania-style adventure you explore the inner depths of the planet.
Numerous things set Waking Mars ahead of the pack, including a great graphical style and fantastic storytelling. What truly gripped us though, is how the game is entirely non-violent. It would've been all too easy for Tiger Style to give your character a gun and have you blasting through Martian caves until you're blue in the face. Instead, you're forced to meld with the ecosystems you discover and overcome challenges and puzzles utilizing the seeds of the various plant life you encounter.
Games these days entirely too often seem to hinge on how many things you can blow up, kill, or otherwise annihilate. Waking Mars provides a remarkably unique experience in that mastery of the game hinges on creation and harmony rather than destruction and mayhem.
TouchArcade Game of the Year Runner Up
10000000, $1.99 by EightyEight Games - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - This incredibly deep match three perfectly embodies the promise of the App Store. Here we've got a genre that's beyond saturated in every way imaginable, and then a single developer comes entirely out of the blue and blows our collective minds. Here's the gist- Everything you do in this game matters. On the surface, it's a simple row sliding-based match three, but once you play through the tutorial you begin to realize that it's more about managing the board state over forming any single specific match.
For instance, you'll need sword and stave blocks in an immediate sense, as matching those is how you attack enemies. However, without managing removal of the stone and wood tiles, you quickly run out of available board space for swords and staves. Stone and wood are used for upgrading and repairing your castle, adding a sense of over-arching progression between individual match three dungeon crawling sessions. There's a totally cool story behind the development of the game too, be sure to check out our bonus podcast where we interview the developer.
TouchArcade Game of the Year Honorable Mentions
Devil's Attorney, $2.99 by 1337 Game Design - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - The end result of sky-high production values, courtroom comedy, and gameplay that almost seems like a strategic card game, Devil's Attorney absolutely blew us away. As you progress through the game you expand your career as a lawyer, complete with increasingly tacky wardrobe upgrades, heinous apartment tweaks, and so much more. Court battles hinge on defending your own credibility while attacking that of the opposing lawyers, evidence, and witnesses. Depending on your path of upgrades, you gain access to different abilities, which potentially substantially alter your courtroom strategy.
The Room Pocket, Free / The Room for iPad, $1.99 by Fireproof Games - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Few games succeed at providing the level of immersion of The Room. Play it on your iPad if you can, but otherwise, grab your headphones, turn down the lights, and dive in. As a player you're put to the task of unraveling the riddles of a curious mechanical box. Secrets are everywhere to discover, and each "layer" of the box reveals an increasingly detailed puzzle to solve. The only real down-side to The Room is that it ends shockingly abruptly, leaving you remarkably hungry for more. Fingers crossed for The Room 2 in 2013.
Super Hexagon, $2.99 by Terry Cavanagh - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Perfectly playing on the need to play "just one more," games in Super Hexagon can last mere seconds. All you need to do is avoid the incoming hexagon. Sounds easy, right? See if you can last longer than ten seconds. Keep playing and suddenly you'll be able to last 20, then 30, then much more. The sense of progression is incredible when you consider your typical game session (unless you're just really, really good) often lasts less than a minute.
It's the Wednesday before the big iTunes freeze, which means this is basically the last of the new games until next year. Speaking of next year, I think I've about reached my personal limit of hearing "See you next year *eyebrows furl wildly*" jokes. Anyway, all of these games should be available at 11:00 PM Eastern, or potentially earlier if something weird happens.
Anomaly Korea, $2.99 - Forum Thread - The original Anomaly Warzone Earth [$3.99] is one hell of a reverse tower defense game. We're expecting huge things from its sequel, as it doesn't get much more "day one purchase" than this. (more...)
After an incredibly positive response from our new TouchArcade Free Play feature last week, we've already nailed down another fantastic title for you to grab for free. Arc Squadron [$2.99] from developer Psyonix is an arcade-style space combat game built using the Unreal Engine, so it's definitely a visual showpiece title.
Beyond its great looks, though, lies a visceral behind-the-back rail shooter with a heavy influence from the classic Star Fox series. An intuitive touch control scheme translates your taps, drags and swipes into firepower, barrel rolls, and deft ship maneuvers. The controls are what really appeal to me about Arc Squadron, as it feels like you have real hands-on control over your spacecraft, almost like it's an extension of your finger, and it's much more satisfying pulling off cool moves using a scheme like this as opposed to some plain old virtual buttons.
If you're still waffling on whether or not to take advantage of this freebie promotion, you can check out our TA Plays video of Arc Squadron from before its release or read our full 5 star review from when the game launched back in October. Here's an excerpt from that review:
When it comes to a game focused on accuracy and precision, pin-point controls are an absolute must. This is an aspect that ARC Squadron nails, and I think puts it above any other similar games. Rather than focuses on virtual joysticks or buttons, ARC utilizes a simpler control scheme that allows you to move your ship with a simple touch-and-drag.
I'm a huge fan of the control scheme in ARC Squadron. Movement feels so intuitive, and the auto-fire is an excellent move, letting players focus on other aspects. Maneuvering your ship simply feels natural, which is a rarity for me.
One other thing worth mentioning about Arc Squadron is that it's a lengthy game with tons of levels to play through, and should last you a good long while. This is especially true if you buckle down and go for full 3-star completion of every level, which is no easy feat. Though it does recycle environments to fill out its sheer number of levels, Arc Squadron somehow manages to still feel fresh throughout, and it's an exciting ride. Oh, and since its release Arc Squadron has been updated to include iCloud support, a higher sensitivity option for the drag controls, and new items in the shop.
We hope you enjoy taking Arc Squadron for a spin during this TouchArcade Free Play promotion, and feel free to visit our forums to leave your thoughts or questions about the game and join in on the community discussion. We'll be on the lookout for more games to feature in the Free Play program, so keep your eyes glued to TouchArcade for all the best news, reviews and deals in the world of iOS gaming.
To read more about the TouchArcade Free Play program, check out our introductory post: Introducing TouchArcade Free Play - Get Amazing Games for Free where we lay out what it takes to be a Free Play game, and how often you should expect to see awesome freebies. To stay on top of future TouchArcade Free Play titles, bookmark http://toucharcade.com/freeplay and download the TouchArcade app [Free] to get push notifications of when they go live!
Whoa, Christmas really has come early with the sheer amount of incredible freebies lately. Well get ready for a doozy: the first episode of Telltale's Walking Dead: The Game [Free] is currently free for some reason. Why is it free? Don't concern yourself with such things, just get to downloading already.
Walking Dead: The Game is an episodic adventure game set in the same universe as Robert Kirkman's critically acclaimed Walking Dead comic series. Its hook is that it presents you with incredibly tough choices thoughout the story, and your choices affect things that happen later in the game. Telltale has pulled this off with varying degrees of effectiveness, but despite that the emotional aspects and the connections with the characters in the game are what people have really been applauding about Walking Dead, and everyone seems to have it in their running for Game of the Year this year. Heck, at the Spike VGAs this year it did win Game of the Year, among other awards.
If you need to know more about Walking Dead: The Game, you can check out our full review of all 5 episodes. Since its an episodic game, we made our review episodic as well, reviewing each episode as it came out and adjusting our feelings and ratings as needed based on the new content. It ended up being a 5 star game as a whole, but let me warn you that Walking Dead is something that's best experienced spoiler-free, so my advice is to just download this sucker and have at it fresh.
It's also worth noting that this is just the first episode being offered free, and episodes 2-5 are available through IAP for $4.99 each or as a bundle for $14.99. You're still saving yourself a fiver though, and since this first hit is free chances are pretty good that if you enjoy it you'll be springing for the rest of the episodes. But seriously, stop reading right now and go download this first episode of Walking Dead: The Game for free, and tell every zombie-loving person you know to do the same.
Whoa, this is nuts. Australian developer Halfbrick Studios is looking to end the year with a bang, and their way of doing this is apparently to slash the price of every single one of their titles on both iPhone and iPad to free for 24 hours. I can dig it. Most notably, I think, is the game that put Halfbrick on the map permanently: Fruit Ninja [$0.99 / $2.99 (HD)]. It's never been free before, and is an essential title for every iOS gamer's library. If you've somehow never gotten around to picking it up for whatever reason, now is your chance.
But let's not forget what else is on offer. Age of Zombies Anniversary [$0.99], the colorful dual-stick shooter starring Barry Steakfries, is also free for the first time ever. And if you have an older device, the standard definition Age of Zombies [$0.99] is free as well. Barry Steakfries' first iOS adventure, the auto-runner Monster Dash [$0.99], is - you guessed it - free. The Fruit Ninja movie tie-in Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots [$0.99 / $2.99 (HD)] is free, and Halfbrick's somewhat obscure inaugural iOS offering Blast Off [$0.99] is free too. Oh, and Jetpack Joyride [Free] is free too, but it always is anyway. I just wouldn't have felt right not including it. Huh, I guess I could have saved myself a bunch of typing by just saying everything is free.
This sale is just insane, it's like an Oprah show up in here with all these freebies. Halfbrick has consistently put out quality iOS games for coming up on 3 years, and it sounds like they've got big plans for 2013. We'll be keeping a close eye on them for sure, but right now I just want everybody to focus on downloading all these free games. I mean, really, get on it. Halfbrick says the sale will last just 24 hours, ending at 6:00am GMT on Tuesday, which for us here in the US should be around 1:00am EST tomorrow morning. Unlike most "one day" iOS sales that last for far longer, I tend to believe them on this whole 24 hour thing.
That's still plenty of time to grab what you want though, so be sure to share this with the iOS gamers in your life and snag all of these fantastic titles for free while you have the chance.
Hey, before we leave you to enjoy your weekend, why don't you grab some awesome iOS titles that are currently FREE so you have something to do with your days off. Of course, I'm sure a lot of you work over the weekend too, but hey that's not reason NOT to download some sweet freebies. If anything it might make your time at work go by even faster if you can sneak in a few sessions of iOS gaming while your boss isn't looking. As with all sales on the App Store the prices can go back up at a moment's notice, so if there's anything here that strikes your fancy then it's probably wise to download them right away. Have a nice weekend!
It's a good time to be an RPG fan on iOS. Not only has an updated and enhanced version of the classic '90s Bioware RPG Baldur's Gate: Enhanced Edition [$9.99 (HD)] become available, but the 2008 Nintendo DS 3D remake of the original Final Fantasy IV is also coming to the App Store next week. Now, another classic RPG franchise, The Bard's Tale [$2.99], has gone free for a limited time.
The original Bard's Tale games were released on desktop computers as first-person style dungeon crawling RPGS in the '80s, but this iOS version is actually a 2004 reboot of the series that's completely done in 3D and follows a completely new story. It still harkens back to the original games in style, humor and tone though, and was critically acclaimed when it released almost 8 years ago. We thought the iOS version was pretty darn good in our review, and as a very cool bonus InXile Entertainment, who are responsible for this port, have added the original trilogy of The Bard's Tale games to the iOS version for free.
It's worth it to download The Bard's Tale for free just for that original trilogy if you were a fan of them back in the day, but the contemporary version of the game is also one of the better action RPGs I've played. It's never been free before, and I get the feeling this promotion won't last too long, so be sure to grab it at a discount while you can.
It's Wednesday again, and a rather exciting Wednesday at that. If you haven't yet, you should really check out our new TouchArcade Free Play program where you can get Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD for precisely zero dollars. Anyway, this is a massive release week as we approach the holidays, so let's get on with the show. Like previous weeks, all of these games should be available at 11:00 PM Eastern.
Quite a few stars have aligned to launch the TouchArcade Free Play initiative. Our first game we're going to be featuring is Crescent Moon Games'Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD [$4.99]. The two year anniversary of the game's original release is coming up and Crescent Moon is gearing up for the impending launch of Ravensword: Shadowlands- Another massive open-world RPG. Aralon provides a fantastic glimpse of what iOS devices are capable of, and according to everything we've seen, Ravensword: Shadowlands is taking this formula one step further.
I used to look at my iOS device as a small window into new worlds and fun experiences, and with Aralon I feel like I actually have a fully realized living and breathing universe sitting snugly in my pocket.
Aralon features over 30 hours of gameplay, and an incredibly depth character creation system complete with multiple races and classes- Each with their own unique skill trees. Accompanying the main story quest is tons of optional side quests to complete, hundreds of items to acquire, faction systems, crafting systems, and mounts ranging from basic horses to epic dragons.
To sweeten the deal further, online save game syncing allows you to bring your character with you across multiple devices. Additionally, because it was released in 2010, the game runs well on basically every iOS device out there, and has only gotten better on newer hardware which has allowed for rock solid frame rates and Retina Display graphics.
We hope you enjoy Aralon: Sword and Shadow as much as we have over the years. It's an incredibly solid start to the TouchArcade Free Play program, and serves as an excellent benchmark for what to expect in future Free Play titles. We'd like to thank Crescent Moon Games for agreeing to participate in this inaugural Free Play.
Aralon is going to be free for a very limited time, so be sure to grab it, tell your friends, and have fun playing it.
To read more about the TouchArcade Free Play program, check out our introductory post: Introducing TouchArcade Free Play - Get Amazing Games for Free where we lay out what it takes to be a Free Play game, and how often you should expect to see awesome freebies. To stay on top of future TouchArcade Free Play titles, bookmark http://toucharcade.com/freeplay and download the TouchArcade app [Free] to get push notifications of when they go live!
As you've probably noticed by now, the App Store ecosystem is loaded with ways to get free games. Whether you're involved in some elaborate referral code scheme or are simply downloading a game that a developer paid (potentially lots) of money to be promoted as free, quality is something that is rarely considered. We aim to change all that. Today, we're rolling out a new program we're calling TouchArcade Free Play.
We're following a few guidelines for this project, which will all likely evolve over time. First off, and arguably most importantly, we're only going to be featuring games that were well reviewed by TouchArcade, and we aren't receiving any payment for featuring them. The selection process is purely based on our editorial staff and the generous cooperation of the developers. We are also going try to find quality games that have never been free before. This isn't a promotion that's going to be scheduled on a daily or weekly basis- It's meant to be something special, something to get excited over, and something to look forward to. Additionally, they are all going to be real games, as they were originally meant to be played- Not games that are promoted as free as part of a stealth update implementing loads of IAP and in essence turning it into a free to play game in the process.
Essentially, when a new TouchArcade Free Play game goes up, it's our way of saying, "This game is great, everyone with an iOS device should have it, and now you can for a limited time without paying a cent."
All you need to do is keep an eye on TouchArcade for new Free Play titles, then download and enjoy them. If you like the games, help out the developer by leaving an iTunes review, telling a friend, participating in the forum thread and/or checking out the rest of their iTunes game library. That's it. There's no catch.
Stay tuned for the weeks and months ahead for all sorts of awesome free games courtesy of TouchArcade.
Our first Free Play title is Aralon: Sword and Shadow HD [$4.99], read more about this incredible open world RPG here. To stay on top of future TouchArcade Free Play titles, bookmark http://toucharcade.com/freeplay and download the TouchArcade app [Free] to get push notifications of when they go live!
