iPhone developer Moregames Entertainment has an impressive collection of games under their belt. iDracula [$2.99 / Lite] was one of the first really great dual stick shooters released on the App Store, and both Knights Onrush [99¢ / Lite] and Knights Rush [99¢] are great castle defense and action games set in a similar fantasy universe. One game you might not be too familiar with of theirs is Orions: Legend of Wizards [$4.99], a fairly complicated card-based battle game with a seemingly small but very hardcore following.

If you were a part of that following, you're in for a treat:

The sequel is set to land next month, and aside from a totally redone campaign mode, and even the ability to customize your decks for use in single duels. There is even going to be online multiplayer. The down side of all this is that the small but hardcore audience I mentioned earlier that loved the original aren't too happy to see many of the features and functionality originally slated for updates now appearing in a brand new game. Personally, I'm just glad to see them at all, as the original Orions was a ton of fun, and I can't wait to play it online.

For more information on the game, check out the thread in our forums.

Back in January of last year, developer Gaia released a unique game into the App Store called Sword & Poker [$2.99/Lite]. Similar to how games like Puzzle Quest 2 [$4.99] or Dungeon Raid [$2.99] wrapped a simple match 3 mechanic around an engaging RPG system, Sword & Poker is build around making poker hands from a 5x5 grid of cards and fleshes out the experience with all the usual RPG trappings of leveling up and upgrading equipment. It’s a formula that we really enjoyed when we reviewed the game upon release, and the sequel Sword & Poker 2 [$3.99/Lite] offered even more of this satisfying gameplay when it released several months later.

Then, for whatever reason, both Sword & Poker games and accompanying lite versions disappeared from the App Store late last year. Even more puzzling is that the titles still appeared in the App Store but if you actually tried to download any of them you were met with a message that they were no longer available. I had since emailed Gaia, as did many members in our forums, to see if I could find out what the deal was. Unfortunately none of us ever received a response.

While we still don’t know the reason for their absence, Sword & Poker, Sword & Poker 2, and both lite versions have since become available for download once again. I can’t say for sure if something like this will ever happen again, so I would suggest that if you’ve had interest in any of these titles you should waste no time picking them up just in case. At the very least give the lite versions a try, as both Sword & Poker titles offer a fun and unique experience that shouldn’t be missed, and it's great to see them finally return to the App Store.

When the original Sword & Poker [$1.99 / Free] was released early this year, it served as a perfect example of a game concept that sounded so insane we just had to try it. The idea of a poker-powered RPG was extremely unique, and the original Sword & Poker was a huge hit, both on our forums and amongst my circle of friends.

The basic gameplay remains identical to the first. From our review:

At the core is a card-based strategy/adventure game where battles take place by making poker hands on a 5×5 grid. When each game starts, nine cards are dealt in to the center of the grid and you take turns with the AI opponent placing pairs of the four cards you're dealt on the perimeter of the game board to form hands down, across, or diagonally. Jokers are wild, and as you play more hands a gauge in the bottom left slowly fills which allows you to swap a card for a joker as well.

There is a surprising amount of strategy in placing cards, as you need to look at what you've been dealt to try to determine the best order to play them as your opponent could also have plans for the same squares you hope to utilize on your next turn. Furthermore, as the game board fills up, you can potentially form multiple hands. A well-planned hand placed on the diagonal could also form many other hands going down or across.

The "Sword" portion of Sword & Poker comes from the roleplaying game layered on top of these poker battles, which could practically stand alone as its own game. Instead of just playing poker battles of increasing difficulty, the games are structured as floors in a dungeon and the challenge differs based on the type of monster you're fighting. ...Read More

We absolutely loved the game the first time around, and eventually ended up rating it 5 stars along with the other January iPhone games. The good thing about Sword & Poker 2 [$1.99] is that it's extremely similar to the original, almost to the point of feeling like less of a sequel and more of an expansion. This is also the bad thing about Sword & Poker 2, as if you didn't really like the first one, or simply are looking for more than just even more dungeons to make your way through, Sword & Poker 2 has very little to offer.

If this is the first you've heard of Sword & Poker, I highly recommend at least giving Sword & Poker Lite [Free] a try. If you like it, you should give some serious consideration to picking up Sword & Poker if not Sword & Poker 2 as well.

And chances are, if you played the first one, all you need is the iTunes link to the sequel:

App Store Link: Sword & Poker 2, $1.99

TouchArcade Rating:

Early this year we first caught wind of the hybrid poker RPG Sword & Poker [$1.99 / Free] and instantly fell in love with the game to the point of awarding it 5 stars in our January best iPhone games listing.

The basic premise of the game is explained in our review:

At the core is a card-based strategy/adventure game where battles take place by making poker hands on a 5×5 grid. When each game starts, nine cards are dealt in to the center of the grid and you take turns with the AI opponent placing pairs of the four cards you're dealt on the perimeter of the game board to form hands down, across, or diagonally. Jokers are wild, and as you play more hands a gauge in the bottom left slowly fills which allows you to swap a card for a joker as well.

There is a surprising amount of strategy in placing cards, as you need to look at what you've been dealt to try to determine the best order to play them as your opponent could also have plans for the same squares you hope to utilize on your next turn. Furthermore, as the game board fills up, you can potentially form multiple hands. A well-planned hand placed on the diagonal could also form many other hands going down or across.

The "Sword" portion of Sword & Poker comes from the roleplaying game layered on top of these poker battles, which could practically stand alone as its own game. Instead of just playing poker battles of increasing difficulty, the games are structured as floors in a dungeon and the challenge differs based on the type of monster you're fighting.

We don't really know anything yet about Sword & Poker 2 other than that it is coming soon, and the other sparse details on the Sword & Poker 2 web site. Obviously there are going to be new dungeons, and even new weapons and magic to players to wield. The story is a continuation of the original game, and from the sounds of it, Sword & Poker 2 is going to provide even more Sword & Poker gameplay.

Personally, I can't wait for the sequel. Sword & Poker really surprised me with how much fun I had with the game and I look forward to making my way through even more dungeons in Sword & Poker 2. If this is the first you've heard of Sword & Poker, please, if nothing else, try the lite version.

On the first day of PAX East I met with Rob Lemon and the rest of the Gilded Skull game to get a closer look at a fairly functional build of Galactic Keep: Dice Battles. Inspired by table top RPG's, Galactic Keep is set in a sci-fi fantasy universe and as the title would hint, weighs heavily on dice battles amongst the various enemies you come across on your adventure.

The game is still in development, but you can get an idea of what's to come by this brief teaser trailer and series of screenshots:

The developers have been very active in the thread on our forums where they've been answering questions and holding various contests to include forum members in the game's development. Galactic Keep: Dice Battles is still a ways off, but as a fan of dice powered RPG's, I cannot wait to finally have this game on my phone.

Last year we reported on an upcoming multi-player update to the iPhone card game Durak. The promised update has finally arrived and delivers a number of new multi-player features.

Durak is a popular Russian card game typically played between two to six people (two to four in the iPhone version). Each player receives six cards and the objective is to get rid of all your cards. The game is a trump-card based game where players take turns being on the attack. Attacking involves placed a card down face up. The defending player must place a card of higher value with the same suit or a trump card. Attacks can continue if you have additional cards in your hand whose face values that match any of the cards in play. If the defender can't defend, then they must take all the cards into their own hand. If the defender does successfully defend the attacks, all the cards get swept into the "graveyard" and remain out of play. The goal is to get rid of all your cards.

We described the iPhone implementation of Durak to be "top-notch" and the only real criticism we had was the lack of any sort of online multiplayer. A list of new features include:

• More difficult single player
• Online multiplayer (3G and Wi-Fi)
• Bluetooth multiplayer
• Chat
• Buddy lists
• Push notifications
• Nudge notifications
• Profiles
• Private games
• Local and global leader-boards

If you already own Durak, now's your chance to upgrade to try out the online features, or buy it if it interests you.

App Store Link: Durak, $4.99

One of my favorite things about the App Store are all of these insane game concepts that likely would have never seen the light of day if it wasn't for the low barrier of entry in to iPhone development. Discussed during our most recent podcast, Sword & Poker [App Store] is a game we greatly enjoyed with an odd combination of gameplay elements that surprisingly enough work very well together.

At the core is a card-based strategy/adventure game where battles take place by making poker hands on a 5x5 grid. When each game starts, nine cards are dealt in to the center of the grid and you take turns with the AI opponent placing pairs of the four cards you're dealt on the perimeter of the game board to form hands down, across, or diagonally. Jokers are wild, and as you play more hands a gauge in the bottom left slowly fills which allows you to swap a card for a joker as well.

There is a surprising amount of strategy in placing cards, as you need to look at what you've been dealt to try to determine the best order to play them as your opponent could also have plans for the same squares you hope to utilize on your next turn. Furthermore, as the game board fills up, you can potentially form multiple hands. A well-planned hand placed on the diagonal could also form many other hands going down or across.

The "Sword" portion of Sword & Poker comes from the roleplaying game layered on top of these poker battles, which could practically stand alone as its own game. Instead of just playing poker battles of increasing difficulty, the games are structured as floors in a dungeon and the challenge differs based on the type of monster you're fighting.

The various monsters have different amounts of coins, which is how your life is measured in game. Forming a hand like a flush subtracts far more coins from your opponent's coin purse than a simple pair, and when either you or the monster you're fighting runs out of coins the battle is over.

As you get farther in the game, the shop eventually unlocks where you can use the money you win from battles. Aside from upgrading your coin purse to increase your stamina in battles, you also can buy a number of different weapons. These weapons change your damage output, and some of the later ones you come across also have special abilities when you form particular poker hands.

Weapon selection adds yet another layer of strategy on top of Sword & Poker, as some weapons are bottom heavy, and do more damage when you form simple hands like one or two pairs. Other weapons are top-heavy, and while they do very little damage when you match pairs, they inflict devastating strikes upon laying down hands like straights or flushes.

In addition, certain weapons (along with some monsters) have special effects associated with certain hands. For instance, the thief's knife I'm using now steals a card from my opponent's hand when I form any kind of straight. Other special effects include shielding yourself from damage, causing your opponent to skip a turn, and more.

This is barely scratching the surface of Sword & Poker, a game which nearly defines the term "a hidden gem of the App Store." There are a few things that are strange about the game, such as there seems to be a huge benefit in passing your turn to make sure you are able to play the last two cards of each game board as you're often guaranteed more than one poker hand.

Also, as you progress in the game, poker battles can drag on for quite a while especially when fighting harder "boss" monsters. These fights can be a lot of fun, but the battle music is a painfully short loop that quickly becomes very repetitive as it has a very clear start and finish. However, these are merely minor complaints for an otherwise fantastic game.

If you like poker, RPG's, or just strange games that actually turn out to be a lot of fun you owe it to yourself to at least try the five levels in Sword & Poker Lite [App Store]. We discussed the game on our last podcast, and there is a thread on the forums where several people have posted about how much they're enjoying it if you need any more reason to give the game a try.

App Store Link: Sword & Poker, 99¢ - Sword & Poker Lite, Free

TouchArcade Rating:

While there is no shortage of card games for the iPhone, Lost Token's Durak [$0.99] seems to have distinguished itself over time, generating a loyal following along with a couple of glowing (one, two) TouchArcade user reviews.

Durak is a popular Russian card game typically played between two to six people (two to four in the iPhone version). Each player receives six cards and the objective is to get rid of all your cards. The game is a trump-card based game where players take turns being on the attack. Attacking involves placed a card down face up. The defending player must place a card of higher value with the same suit or a trump card. Attacks can continue if you have additional cards in your hand whose face values that match any of the cards in play. If the defender can't defend, then they must take all the cards into their own hand. If the defender does successfully defend the attacks, all the cards get swept into the "graveyard" and remain out of play. The goal is to get rid of all your cards.

The iPhone implementation of Lost Token's Durak really is top notch, with a natural touch interface, as well as clear efforts to make the game accessible to new players. At any time during a game you can tap on a help icon to tell what you are supposed to do. Durak also offers local multiplayer over Wi-Fi, 3 levels of difficulty, and customizable cards based on your photo library.

In fact, there really only has been one thing that has held us back from really diving into Durak. Like most multiplayer card games, the real fun and challenge tends to come in playing against other people. While Durak does offer local Wi-Fi play, if you don't happen to have iPhone wielding friends nearby willing to play against you, you are left playing against the computer.

Lost Token has let us know they are about to address this and open the game up to worldwide players with an imminent online multiplayer update. The update will feature both online and Bluetooth multiplayer, Facebook integration, buddy lists, and push notifications. Here's a teaser video showing the online feature:

And in anticipation of the release, they've dropped the price of Durak from $2.99 to $0.99.

So, if you're looking for a great card game that's well implemented on the iPhone, Durak is a safe bet, and the upcoming online multiplayer update should guarantee long term replayability.

App Store Link: Durak, $0.99 (On sale)

Everyone loves a freebie! If you don't already own these four games, their respective developers recently released lite versions for you to whet your appetite before jumping in to the full version:

Lion Pride Lite, Free (Lion Pride, 99¢) - A neat spin on line drawing games, Lion Pride has you taking control of lions and chowing down on the various prey of the African wild. Utilizing a Draw Race-like system where the speed of the line you're drawing determines how fast you move, Lion Pride is a great addition to the somewhat crowded line drawing genre. We enjoyed the full game in our review, and Lion Pride Lite is really worth checking out.

Uno Free, Free (Uno, $4.99) - What even needs to be said about this? If you've ever played the XBOX Live Arcade version of the game, the iPhone version is very similar. If you haven't, just imagine the classic game of Uno playable against AI opponents as well as friends or complete strangers online, all without needing to carry around a deck of Uno cards.

Dungeon Defense Lite, Free (Dungeon Defense, 99¢) - Dungeon Defense is similar to a tower defense game, except instead of building towers you position guards in a number of predetermined points on the map. You have a variety of units that can be placed such as swordsmen, archers, or axemen, and you need to fend off waves of attackers. The lite is worth checking out if you're a fan of the tower defense genre.

NFL 2010 Free, Free (NFL 2010, $2.99) - If you're looking to find out how a full-on football game works on the iPhone, give NFL 2010 Lite a try. We thought NFL 2010 was impressive in our review, but since then, Madden NFL 10 has also been released. Gameloft has attempted to make the decision between which game to get a little easier, recently dropping the price of the full version to $2.99.

Gameloft has provided a gameplay video for their new Uno title we reported the other day.

Overall, the iPhone version of Uno is relatively well implemented, but one of its most compelling features is Online Multi-player play. This means that aside from playing over local Wi-Fi, you can reach out to play others on the internet. (Because, let's be realistic, how many of you are sitting out there playing iPhone games with others in the same room.)

There were no players available when we tested this on the first day of its release, but just today were able to play a few games with some random internet players. Note that you must be on a Wi-Fi connection to play online.

App Store Link: UNO, $7.99

Gameloft has just released UNO [App Store] through the iTunes App Store, an iPhone adaptation of Mattel's highly popular Crazy Eights-style card game.

Play the classic card game that's #1 for fun with friends and family. In single or multiplayer, playing UNO has never been so fun and easy, thanks to a brand new gameplay system! Simply drag & drop cards using your finger on the screen for intuitive control, and be the first to get rid of all your cards.

• All your favorite Action Cards are here: Wild, Reverse, Draw 2 and more!
• Customize your game with 9 different rules including 7-0 and Jump-in.
• Play against the AI or your friends: use only one iPhone or play with multiple devices through a WiFi connection
• Take on increasingly hard challenges in Tournament Mode.

App Store Link: UNO, $7.99

Freeverse, one of our sponsors, has provided us with gameplay video for their newly released Burning Monkey Casino [App Store].

The $0.99 game offers seven different casino games in one package:

App Store Link: Burning Monkey Casino, $0.99

Freeverse has released their latest iPhone and iPod touch game called Burning Monkey Casino [App Store].

This $0.99 game brings seven different casino games in one stylish package:

• Slots
• Blackjack
• Video Poker
• Money Wheel
• Pachinko
• Scratch-N-Win Lotto
• 3 Card Monty

Additional Screenshots:

App Store Link: Burning Monkey Casino, $0.99

MotionX has dropped the price of their popular dice poker game from $4.99 to $0.99 [App Store].

Motion-X Poker was one of the early standout iPhone applications from the July 11th launch of the App Store. We reviewed the game and found it to be surprisingly addictive.

MotionX Poker is a dice poker game based on FullPower technology which is a motion recognition technology platform. For this iPhone game, it provides realistic dice rolling physics to provide an impressive package.

The game itself is easy to pick up and play at any time and easily worth $0.99.

Here's the video of the game in action from our original review:

For those who are just interested in the dice-rolling technology from Motion-X, they do offer a free dice application called Motion-X Dice [App Store].

If you recently watched 21 (Movie) and became interested in the game of Blackjack or just want to learn how to play a little better before your next casino trip, Avalinx's 21 Pro: Blackjack provides a great iPhone tool for you.

21 Pro: Blackjack is a remarkably well implemented version of Blackjack that takes the game quite seriously. It provides an excellent tool for casual Blackjack play that could also translate into improved casino performance. With plenty of documentation, dealer tips, card counting stats, and numerous gameplay options, 21 Pro: Blackjack truly is well-suited for both beginners and experts.

The game of Blackjack is a traditional casino game in which you are initially dealt two cards by the dealer. The basic gameplay involves deciding whether or not to "hit" (get dealt another card) or "stand" (end your turn). The goal is to get closest to a total value of 21 without "busting" (going over). While the basic game is well known by most as early as grade school, there are a number of added intricacies when playing in a casino environment.

The game provides the following features which are very helpful when perfecting your Blackjack game:

Card counting instructions and optional real-time stats

Basic strategy card, and on-demand dealer recommendations

Explanation of rules, terminology and game variations

Customize the number of decks in the shoe

The game comes in both a free ad-sponsored version [App Store] and a $4.99 pay version [App Store]. But the ads in the ad-sponsored version are relatively unintrusive, so I'm not sure if there's much incentive to upgrade.

Game Details Name: 21 Pro: Blackjack (v1.0.1) Price: Free [Get] or $4.99 [Buy] Developer: Avalinx Size: 5.0 MB In Brief: A remarkably good version of Blackjack for the iPhone that offers plenty of documentation, dealer tips, card counting stats and gameplay options. With a free ad-sponsored version available, there's no reason not to try this game if you have any interest in Blackjack.