Undoubtedly we are all quite fond of our iPhones. After all, never has it been easier to bring our favourite games around with us wherever we may be. But how would it be if the roles were reversed– if our games instead brought us around with them? That is the question on which Glu Mobile has rested the success of its latest foray into the AppStore.

1000: Find 'Em All! [App Store] is as much an abstract as it is the title. You are tasked with simply finding and collecting 1000 items– that is the extent of the what, but it's the how which really sets 1000: Find 'Em All! apart.

The first method of collecting items is the easiest. You navigate your character by dragging him around a lifeless but gorgeously crafted in-game world; leaving a trail of sunshine, rainbows and lollipops behind you. Well, maybe not lollipops, but your very presence injects color and life into your surroundings– flowers will sprout, grass will turn green, objects will animate– for anyone that's tried their hand at De Blob [$3.99 / Free], you'll know what I'm on about. And every now and then you'll stumble across a sparkling item and tapping on it may or may not reveal an item to collect.

This is all well and good but still largely derivative. It's the second and third means of discovering items that really bring something new to the table. Making use of the iPhone's in-build GPS and in partnership with Google Maps, 1000: Find 'Em All! will populate your neighbourhood and surroundings with virtual items simply by the press of a button. A map of your area will download and presents will pop-up all over the place; Christmas only coming early to those willing to physically move to the highlighted locations. In a similar fashion the third and final means of collecting items also interacts with the real world; virtual 'Gifters' appearing at different WiFi hotspots that you may come across to bestow presents on you. At this point you may be thinking what I was– if only Glu Mobile were in league with Starbucks or McDonalds we could be gifted some serious rewards for our exertions.

In any case, 1000: Find 'Em All! comes packaged with a raft of achievements, not only to do with the number of items collected and the percentage of the game world colored, but also concerning how items are collected (presumably to encourage players not to just sit at home). Collected items can only be interacted with as far as their tooltip, and whilst they can be quite funny or informative, they really serve no other purpose than as trophies.

Whether this worldwide scavenger hunt will appeal to you is really quite up to you as an individual. I can see how some may rally to the idea of having something interesting to distract them while they're out. Personally, I could not depart from the feeling that it was too gimmicky and ultimately superfluous– that it demanded too much from you for it to be worth your while. If anything, it seems more suited to those with kids, to encourage a little out-and-about time whilst still whetting the little monsters' insatiable appetites for technology.

It's disappointing that finding and collecting items is really all there is to do in 1000: Find 'Em All! though, as the game world is rich and detailed and screaming for further interaction. But for all you budding treasure-hunters out there, finding 1000 items is sure to occupy you for a very long time, and you may actually take something from 1000: Find 'Em All! if you're willing to brave the elements to do so.

Please note that only the iPhone is supported due to the GPS requirements, and only if you have OS 3.0 installed.

App Store Link: 1000: Find 'Em All!, $2.99.

Storm Basic has released their hack and slash game Tehra Dark Warrior which we previewed just a couple of weeks ago.

Early feedback is rolling in our forums noting high production values with a core hack 'n slash gameplay mechanic. From squarezero:

Having played for about half an hour, I can't disagree with the gist of Gabrien's impressions. That said, I'm probably enjoying more than he is. It's a middle-of-the road hack 'n slash action game in a platform that has very few of them. The production values are very high, the controls are nearly flawless, there's a real story (nothing new, but it does give some context) and the addition of spells does add some variety to the gameplay. There are some nice environments to explore (without a Gameloft-style arrow telling you exactly where you need to go) and as far as I can tell right now, there's quite a bit of content.

The game features both magic and combat skills, leveling up, and even special visual effects on supported 3rd generation hardware:

We'll take a more in depth look in time.

App Store Link: Tehra Dark Warrior, $3.99

During episode #9 of the TouchArcade podcast, Kepa Auwae of Rocketcat Games let us in on some details regarding the successor to Hook Champ [App Store], a game currently dubbed Avalanche Game. This morning MTV Multiplayer posted some new tidbits, including a image comparing the art style of the two games and the evolution from "8-bit" to "16-bit" graphics:

As we discussed during our podcast, Avalanche Game is going to be a randomly generated never-ending game, building on the fun the developers had with Canabalt. Gameplay is said to remain similar to Hook Champ with new abilities to master and items to collect along the way. We loved Hook Champ, and needless to say, are going to be closely following the development of Avalanche Game.

We've been tracking Chillingo's forthcoming 3D adventure shooter Vampire Origins since April of last year. The studio has just given us word that the game is approaching its App Store debut — though no solid date has been set — and has provided a series of screenshots along with a new demo video to help whet the appetite.

Vampire Origins should appeal to fans of Gothic adventures. It pits Dracula's arch-nemesis Van Helsing against a vast horde of underworld creatures. The game features a Diablo-like battle system, dispensing with more complicated inventory and weaponry systems in the name of fast-paced action. Chillingo indicates that, while puzzles and exploration of the game's vast Gothic environs are part of the mix, the focus first and foremost is on action and killing enemies.

We'll bring further information about this upcoming title as we get it.

From Revolution Software, the same people who brought the iPhone the fantastic remake of Beneath a Steel Sky, comes Broken Sword: Shadow of the Templars: The Director's Cut [$6.99], a remake of a point-and-click adventure from '96 that many consider to be one of the greatest games within its genre. As we covered in our preview two different versions of this remake were already published on the DS and Wii in March of 2009, and the new iPhone version is a bit of a mixture of the two, adding full voice acting and other features that the DS version lacked.

Broken Sword, which was renamed Circle of Blood for its release in the USA, has been given a significant facelift. Whereas the original version of the game focused almost solely on the male character, George Stobbart, The Director's Cut does a better job of fleshing out the back story of the game's female protagonist, Nicole Collard. The game opens as Nicole prepares for an interview that unexpectedly becomes a murder investigation when the man she was set to interview is shot by a mysterious mime. Other modifications to the game include new puzzles that are specific to the iPhone platform and new art and animation from Dave Gibbons, who you might be familiar with through his work on Watchmen.

The story in Broken Sword, as in most point-and-click adventure games, is the most important element of the game, so those who haven't played a version of the game before will be pleased to find that Broken Sword's writing is excellent, and the story is quite gripping. I particularly enjoyed the self-depreciating sense of humor that Nicole occasionally displays with her commentary, and George is a comedic parody of an American from a European perspective, making him a fairly amusing character as well.

For a point-and-click adventure, Broken Sword does a lot to make itself easily accessible. In an intelligent move by the developers, a simple finger swipe will reveal everything that George or Nicole can interact within a single screen, preventing players from having to poke around the screen randomly until they find something that they can interact with. The game's many puzzles range from brain games wherein an abstract combination of collected items must be used to progress to a lock-picking game that's nearly identical to the iPhone's own Blocked to a ridiculously complex cypher that players must harness incredible code-breaking skills to crack.

Luckily, the game has a built-in walkthrough in the form of a hint system that can be easily accessed if players want to give up and find the answer to a puzzle. For each puzzle there are several hints, each one more explicit than the last, with the last one usually being a straight-up answer to the puzzle for players who just couldn't figure things out. The genius of both the "swipe-to-reveal" mechanic and the hint system is that it's possible to never use either if a player doesn't want to. Some of the hardcore fans of the original PC version of the game that're picking up the iPhone version will want a more "pure" experience, and that option is available to them, but softies like myself can still enjoy the game without having to resort to an online walkthrough.

Broken Sword's creative touch interface works like a charm on the iPhone screen, but it was the one-two punch of the game's fantastic soundtrack and art that really hooked me. The piano-heavy orchestral soundtrack is so good that I purchased it from the iTunes store so I could listen to it later, and the fact that every line of dialogue in the game is voiced makes this a game that must be experienced with headphones. Dave Gibbon's contribution to the art and animation was an invaluable addition, as the painted backgrounds and the fluid animation adds a certain appealing touch to the game.

Even though I've never been a huge fan of point-and-click adventure games, the story and all around high-quality production values of Broken Sword sucked me in like a good book. Whether you're an old fan of the original game, a newcomer to the series, or even someone who's never played a point-and-click adventure before, Broken Sword is a game with mass appeal that will draw you in.

App Store Link: Broken Sword: The Director's Cut, $6.99

A trailer was recently released for Glu's exploration and collection game, 1000: Find 'Em All!. In the video, Chris White, head of Glu's London studio, reveals the three different ways the game can be played. First off, with a GPS-capable device, you can wander around in the real world visiting locations shown inside the game with presents to be found. Travel there, and the game awards you with one of the many items available.

If you don't have a device with GPS, or the thought of wandering city streets to collect virtual goods doesn't appeal to you, there are two other way to collects in-game presents: Exploring in-game, coloring the black and white landscape in the process or finding random WiFi hotspots. Item generation based on WiFi data sounds a lot like Monster Rancher for the PlayStation, a game that used data from music CD's inserted in to the system as the seed for the random monster generator.

The idea behind the game seems cool enough, and there's no doubt that there are people out there who love games with tons of things to collect and unlock. I just can't quite decide if the GPS functionality and the exploration Glu asks you to do with the game is going to turn out to be a really neat gameplay element, or a gimmick players will ignore, choosing instead to just run around in-game.

The Spore series started as a PC game by Will Wright and has since spawned several other games and a line of t-shirts, posters, and other swag. Plans for the future include expansion packs for the original Spore, a Spore card game, and even a Spore movie by the director of Ice Age. But where do the iPhone games fit in to all of this?

The first Spore game released on the App Store, Spore Origins [$1.99 / Free], arrived in early September of '08. At the time, it was an amazing game compared to the other games available in the infancy of the App Store, especially with how few "name brand" game franchises there were available at the time. Sadly, the game has not aged well, and the enhancements made in the sequel, Spore Creatures [$6.99], don't bring much to the table.

Much like the original, the goal in Spore Creatures is to eat everything lower on the food chain than you are to collect DNA which is then used to evolve, improving existing abilities and granting new ones to your creature. You control your creature (this time on land) by tilting, and the heart of the game mostly involves tilting your phone to steer your creature in to anything that moves.

Spore Creatures attempts to add some much-needed depth to the game by adding different obstacles in the game world that require certain creature upgrades to overcome. For instance, one of the first things blocking your progress to the next area of the game is a rock which can only be moved once you've added legs to your creature, giving it the power to move the rock out of the way. Farther in to the game you will come across boss monsters, and other creatures that you can socialize with.

The one thing that is a lot of fun in Spore Creatures is the actual creature editor itself. With 45 unique body parts, body shape, and colors to be tweaked the iTunes description claims that there are billions of possible combinations. Making silly looking creatures is much more fun than tilting your phone to have them randomly bump in to things, and I really hope that EA brings something similar to the Spore Creature Creator to the iPhone some day.

Spore Origins was released at a time when a ton of people were completely engrossed in Spore mania. Now that the Spore franchise is getting stale, I doubt the sequel will have the same allure. Quite simply, there are both better tilting games and better adventure games on the App Store right now, and unless you're in love with the crazy creatures of the Spore universe, there aren't many reasons to spend much time with Spore Creatures.

App Store Link: Spore Creatures, $6.99

This weekend, Revolution Software released an iPhone version of Broken Sword: The Director's Cut. The game franchise dates back to 1996 but the most recent release is a remake of the original title and was released on the Nintendo DS and Wii in 2009.

Broken Sword: The Director's Cut is a loving update to the adventure which introduced George Stobbard, Nico Collard and the conspiracy of the Knights Templar in an epic narrative spanning the globe. A massive smash on its original release, the Director's Cut includes a significant amount of content not featured in the home computer version, adding approximately 20 per cent to the total play time.

The game is a traditional point and click adventure game but has been updated to adopt the wonderful iPhone interface also found in Beneath the Steel Sky. The iPhone version also contains new cut scenes and animations.

The game has been getting positive reactions in our forums, and we've been really enjoying it. Our full review will follow shortly.

App Store Link: Broken Sword: Director's Cut, $6.99

Following the unexpected release and somewhat confusing removal of Ubisoft's Assassin's Creed II: Discovery, we managed to get producer Ben Mattes on the phone to discuss the game, but more importantly, the future of Ubisoft's involvement in the App Store.

We were able to clarify what most people have been wondering about, and found out that an updated version of the game will be re-released on February 1st for $9.99, a price that Mattes described as "more than a good value". If you were lucky enough to purchase the game when it was available for a few hours, it appears the updated version shares the same iTunes app ID, and you should be able to download the update following the re-release without issue.

Prior to Assassin's Creed II, Ubisoft utilized their partnership with sister company Gameloft, allowing them to take Ubisoft properties and run with them on the App Store. H.A.W.X. was the most recent product of this partnership, and Discovery represents Ubisoft's first foray in to serious iPhone development.

They've taken the Nintendo DS version of Assassin's Creed II: Discovery and revamped it in nearly every way imaginable from higher resolution graphics, higher bitrate audio, additional game modes, and other goodies such a story designed to supplement the "full" version of the game on home consoles while creating an experience strong enough to stand on its own if you've never played Assassin's Creed II on the XBOX 360 or PS3.

Going forward, Ubisoft plans to treat the iPhone and iPod touch as a serious gaming platform, with games that draw from their extensive library of popular gaming franchises with the same gameplay quality that you would expect from a big-name game studio. Ben Mattes was reluctant to go in to any more detail, but did say to expect some "super-cool content" coming in the following weeks and months, with some of it announced sooner than later.

Mattes foresees multiple iPhone development teams working at Ubisoft for many different games that will spread the gamut of gaming experiences and price points– With everything from cheap and simple casual titles to "premium" games like Discovery.

He assured me that Ubisoft is committed to coming to the App Store in a "big way", but admitted that they have a lot to learn, and quite a bit of information to digest before determining how to best utilize the massive pool of game development resources that Ubisoft has on hand. Ben explained that they're interesting in exploring as many opportunities as possible with the iPhone and iPod touch, which should excite any App Store gamer.

Much to our surprise, Assassin's Creed II Discovery [App Store] popped up for sale on the App Store this evening, following a mysterious development cycle leaving everyone in the dark regarding the game's progress following the initial announcement at an Apple keynote in September of last year. We presumed the iPhone version would be released along side the PC and home console game, but that date came and went without a peep of news regarding the iPhone game. Whatever the cause of the delay was, the game is finally here, and so far it seems fairly impressive.

We will be providing a full review in the not too distant future, but in the meantime initial impressions are being collected in the thread on our forums.

Update 1: We got word from Ubisoft that the version of Assassin's Creed II on the App Store may not be the final version, might include bugs, and is incorrectly priced. It is currently in the process of being removed from the App Store. If you don't care that the game might have a few bugs and/or you might pay a couple extra bucks now instead of waiting, grab it quick… Otherwise we will have more information on the correct release of the game sometime soon.

Update 2: Assassin's Creed II has been removed from the App Store.

Update 3: We were in full gear to review Assassin's Creed II, which is now on hold pending its official release. In the meantime, check out this gameplay video of the first couple levels–

App Store Link: Assassin's Creed II Discovery, $11.99 (Removed from App Store)