As we mentioned at the beginning of the month with the release of Stick Stunt Biker 2 [Free], Djinn Works are the most prolific producers of stick-figure based mobile games. They crank them out at a brisk pace, but they always end up being pretty darn fun little games. Not even a month later and already they are back with another title, this time taking on the world of tennis with Stickman Tennis [$0.99].

Strangely, there aren't a whole lot of options for tennis fans on the App Store, and even Sega's mobile rendition of their popular tennis franchise Virtua Tennis Challenge [$4.99 / Free] was kind of a letdown when it released last year. However, for a somewhat simplistic, arcadey game of tennis, Stickman Tennis delivers.

The setup is simple. You'll guide your stickman through 64 different tournaments in the single-player campaign, or just hop right into a one-off quick game. You have the option of having your character auto-run to the ball or you can choose to control his movement manually. You can also choose from 3 opponent difficulty levels and the length of each match.

Stickman Tennis is controlled with a virtual stick for movement (or just for shot direction, if you choose the auto-run option) and a set of 3 virtual buttons – one each for a lob, slice, or topspin shot. You'll hold down the button of the type of shot you want to hit, and when the ball is near you release it to perform the shot. How well you hit that shot is all based on timing, so let go too early or too late and it won't result in an optimum shot.

And… that's pretty much it. Like I said, this is a simple game, but a fun one. The performance is smooth and the AI appears to be pretty competent, at least in the early goings. This isn't some deep tennis simulation game, but for what it is I'm enjoying it a lot. It feels like a good fit for mobile. Stickman Tennis is out worldwide already, so if you're interested grab it with the link below or check in with the forum community for more impressions. Also, if you're an iPad gamer you're out of luck at the moment, but a Universal update is in the pipeline.

Baseball season is in full swing, and in celebration of the 2013 All-Star Game coming in July Major League Baseball has released MLB.com Home Run Derby [Free], a free-to-play game that puts you in the shoes of an actual MLB player as they try to become the winner of the Home Run Derby competition. While the core game at the center of Home Run Derby is solid, and visually it looks great, the whole thing is hampered by a stingy free-to-play model that pretty much ruins what would have been a fun little mobile game for baseball fans.

The game uses a dual-currency system, MLBucks and coins. At the onset you're given enough bucks to purchase one lower-tier player from all the players who have participated in the last three Home Run Derbys. You're then given the option to play either of the game's two modes: the Home Run Derby itself or Arcade mode. Both can be played in single player or in online multiplayer.

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My official most-played-iPhone-game True Skate [$1.99] just received a minor, though significant update. Backing up, True Skate is Jet Car Stunts [$1.99 / Free] developer True Axis' attempt to create a skateboarding simulation built for the touchscreen, and they absolutely nailed it. We loved the game in our review from back in October, and since that time True Skate game has been updated frequently with new features and customization options, and even a huge new skatepark to play around in.

More parks are planned for later this year, but today's True Skate update includes two enhancements that actually change the fundamentals in the game. One is the ability to tilt a gyroscope-equipped device prior to doing an ollie, which will then shift which way your ollie ends up in the air depending on which direction you tilt. It's a small change, but it helps a lot when trying to line up your board to hit a rail or ledge for a grind or slide trick.

The second and more significant change in this update relates to skating transition, a spot that True Skate has had difficulty getting right in the past. Previously, when skating transitions you'd have to stick to the larger stuff that had actual vertical surface in order to keep your board in the air and land back down in the transition. Otherwise you'd just launch yourself out of the bowl or quarter pipe and it acted more like a jump ramp.

With the updated version, you can actually flick your device towards you right before doing a trick in transition and it will ensure you stay hovered in the air above that transition, so you can land right back down in it. This totally improves skating transition in True Skate, and I have to say it feels awesome to bust a big trick in a bowl and be able to land back down and keep going. I'm not typically a huge fan of having to flick or move my device in any way, but here it feels completely natural and works incredibly well. Hats off to True Axis for finding an elegant solution to this tricky problem.

As I mentioned, True Axis has more goodies planned for True Skate in the future, but for right now they're going hard and heavy on Jet Car Stunts 2 and as much as I love True Skate I have to say I'm more than happy for them to devote the time to that much-anticipated sequel. However, I'm also quite pleased they were able to push out this latest update and how just a couple of minor tweaks have really improved the overall experience. It's also worth mentioning that this update improves performance on older devices, and you can now slow down by touching the ground with your finger if you feel like you're going too fast at any time.

If you're into skating or skating games and have yet to check out True Skate then you should get on that, and join in on the discussion in our forums too.

There's no escaping it: multiplayer on a single iPad is pretty much always a full contact sport. It's all hands and fingers everywhere, ducking and dodging to see under and around your opponent and clear to your goal. You can try to fight it, to keep everything very organized so everyone stays in their respective corners. Or you can embrace it, as Alistair Aitcheson has with Slamjet Stadium [$2.99 (HD) / Free (HD)]

Slamjet Stadium is pretty chaotic in its Solo mode, in that crazy future bloodsport sort of way. Playing bumper cars with a soccer ball, more or less. Then you add a second player on the same screen, and things get downright aggressive. This is a game that encourages players to steal their opponents' units if it helps. Anything goes, though you really ought to stop before your opponent gets physical. It's probably not supposed to be that sort of bloodsport.

Each player (or team) controls two units, slingshotting them to try to get a small ball into the other team's goal. The stadiums are claustrophobic. Four bumper car-style units is a crowd, and anything more would be impossible. Half the battle is avoiding your own goal, and the rest is making the best of the arena.

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The Apple TV ecosystem is a curious one to watch, as when you think about it- All the ingredients really are there for a potentially killer video game console experience, but no one has really put them together yet due to various stopping points like AirPlay lag, Apple's refusal to allow third party apps to run on the Apple TV, and other obstacles. Well, Rolocule Games is making an effort to play inside of the rules set by Apple to bring a Wii-Like motion gaming experience to the Apple TV via Motion Tennis. Check it out:

It seems like a cool idea, and if nothing else I'm really excited to see how they've optimized the AirPlay mirroring lag that makes playing AirPlay games just ever-so-slightly annoying. From the looks of it, they're starting a beta process soon, so if you're interested head over to their site and drop your email. Alternatively, if you just want a heads up when Motion Tennis is actually available, add the game to your watch list in the TouchArcade app [Free].

We already posted about Com2uS's attempts to re-balance the IAP in their recently released online golf game GolfStar [Free], but today they're taking that a step further. In what seems like an attempt to spur more online multiplayer, they just launched a "Million-Golfer Appreciation Event" where one on one as well as ten player tournaments don't burn any of the consumable "Hearts" currency required to play the rest of the game. According to the patch notes of the recent update, this promotion will be running until next week.

As we've already mentioned, the actual golfing in GolfStar is a ton of fun, and easily up there with some of the best golf games I've played on the App Store- particularly as all the equipment and unlocks scratches my proverbial character progression itch quite well. Unfortunately, the actual gameplay is totally mired with some really crazy (and sort of confusing) IAP mechanics, bonus offers, and all that other gross freemium stuff.

So, this event should let you cut through the crap and just play the game against real people- A welcome change in this brave new free to play world we live in. Be sure to check it out while this promotion is running so you can join me over here in the, "Man, I wish I could've just paid for this game" camp.

Here's something weird: we can't figure out how you can play as Mike Vick in Mike Vick: GameTime [Free], an arcade-style football game that has Mike Vick's name attached to it. Well, that's kind of a lie. You play as Mike Vick for about 15 seconds in the tutorial. After that, though? We haven't seen him, which is kinda crazy since, you know, this is a video game with Mike Vick's name on it. Figured that needed to be re-iterated because, what?

Instead of Mike Vick, GameTime thrusts you in the shoes of a nobody. Like, a legitimate nobody, a randomly generated character on a made up team that consists of you and a trio of made up receivers. You're then tasked with winning five or seven tournaments against several other fake teams with fake players. We've played 2.5 of these so far and still no Mike Vick. Weird!

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One of the reasons that previewing free to play games is hard is because you never really get an idea of what the out of the box experience is going to be like until you actually download the game yourself. Back at GDC we got a great demo of Com2uS's GolfStar [Free] but like most of these demos we see, it was a development account with loads of IAP which essentially allowed them to play the game, well, like you'd think a golf game should be played. In actuality, when GolfStar launched yesterday, it was packed with some shockingly gross freemium elements which our forum members were (understandably) having no part of- Which really is too bad, because I was really excited for the game as it was demonstrated at GDC, without all that junk.

The good news, if there is some to be had here, is that Com2uS is listening to the player base. Similar to how Real Racing 3 [Free] saw some timer tweaks, Com2uS is changing up how quickly "hearts" regenerate. See, your hearts are used as that all-too-familiar energy mechanic to rope you into either paying or waiting to play in GolfStar. When the game launched, you'd regenerate one heart every half hour, which is just crazy considering playing a nine hole course burns up five of your hearts.

This regeneration rate is being doubled, so it'll only take fifteen minutes to regenerate a heart. That still doesn't feel great, but it's way better than two and a half hours to play another round of golf. So, if you grabbed GolfStar and deleted it because of the timers, or you just skipped the game because of the overwhelming negativity in the forum thread, it might be worth a second look.

Personally, I wish I could just pay $9.99 or whatever reasonable price Com2uS sets for this game and just play it like you'd normally play a golf game. It's too bad too, as if you stripped away all the freemium offers, ad pop-ups, timers, and other nasty stuff you'd be left with a really radical game with great multiplayer, a cool almost RPG-like feeling of progression between gear and ability unlocks, and a bunch of other neat features.

Fingers crossed for that, I suppose.

UPDATE: Oh, and if you do give the game another shot, Com2uS is doing a free item promotion where if you enter this code on the events screen in game you'll get some free stat-boosting gear:

Straight-up, if you were a fan of Tecmo Bowl, Mutant League Football, or any other zany old-school football game, you've got to check out Football Heroes. It's a throwback to those games of old, except updated with modern RPG, customization, and competitive trimmings. As you play, your players level up and you can acquire increasingly zanier moves. You can also name your own players, teams, and assign colors. It's a small thing, but as you'll see in our video, you can get some pretty hilarious results.

You might not get a sense of this in the video, but the feel of the game is fantastic. The movement is fluid and easy and the gestures make sense. Hilariously, this over-the-top football game is the best controlling football game we've ever played on iOS.

Football Heroes is due out at some point later this year. We'll be keeping our eyes on it, for sure. Oh, and here's that image of the new look (as mentioned in the vid):

Golf games have always been great on iOS devices as both gesture-based as well as the three tap method of swinging the club seems to work really well with touch screens. Com2uS is capitalizing on this with an upcoming game called Golf Star, a free to play multiplayer golf title where you play against real people and can play in games with up to ten players.

Of course there's a whole in-game store filled with items and unlockables to work towards. Golf Star is coming soon, and we're totally stoked for it.

Last week we got our first big taste of Super Stickman Golf 2 with a new trailer showcasing the various new features of the upcoming sequel to Noodlecake Game's physics golfing extravaganza. The release of Super Stickman Golf 2 is fast approaching too, and to celebrate this the original Super Stickman Golf [$2.99] has gone free.

We've previously talked about how much fun the online multiplayer is in Super Stickman Golf when it first arrived via an update to the game almost two years ago, but the single-player portion is not to be dismissed either, and provides a fantastic challenge and loads of content that will keep you busy for hours on end.

Super Stickman Golf has been free before, and ridden the rollercoaster of price drops that most games endure in the course of its more than two year lifespan. However, if you somehow have managed not to pick it up yet, I just can't recommend it enough and it should be a great introduction as to what to expect in Super Stickman Golf 2. We'll have more on the sequel as it nears release, but definitely don't slip on picking up the original for free while you can.

Sir Pussington is my favorite cat—hackycat? He's just so dapper with his little top hat and monocle, and his mustache gives fellow hackycat Mustachio a run for his kitty treats. Both of them bounce nicely when I kick them, and their little feet paddle the air as they fly.

Hackycat [$0.99] isn't kind to these animal denizens. The little kitties just fall to pieces if they touch the ground. It's up to you to save them, to keep them up and away from that tragic fate as long as you can. Like Hacky Sack, this means a lot of bouncing things off your feet, your knees, or your head. Unlike those more humane games, these things meow piteously when you bounce them. It's a tough gig, but what are you going to do? Let the little guys explode?

It works because Hackycat takes itself ever so seriously. This is a right proper game of kick-ups, one with a steep climb to insane heights on its leaderboards. You'll learn to manage three, four, five balls at a time, never blinking, never letting one drop—only the balls are cats and you adopt new ones with cheeseburgers (or tofuburgers) and it's all completely and utterly silly.

You start with a single cat. It can be bounced up, then bounced over and over without a miss for a combo. A ribbon of cheeseburgers appears, and you bounce your kitty over to collect them. When you collect enough, a target appears. Anything tapped inside that target can be launched right out of the game, never to be seen again.

After a bit you find yourself with two cats, and you juggle both the same way. If you can hit both in one tap you'll get a bonus. Then a third parachutes into the mix. This might be when you start to hope for that superkick target to show up. If not then, your moment of need will come. There are always more cats to kick.

Doesn't that sound just horrid? But Hackycat makes it work. Perhaps you have a fundamental moral objection to depictions of violence against animals. Otherwise, the game does a fantastic job of alleviating any guilt there is to be had. The cats look disgruntled when you kick them, and positively high when they get cheeseburgers. Each power-up you unlock gets them even higher, until you can be fairly sure they'll just float away. Even failing, their limbs scatter bloodlessly in little piles of ex-hackycat. It's all adorable, except the meowing.

Along with high scores, your kitty kick-up adventures are rewarded with cheeseburgers. You can spend them on a whole list of adoptable kittens, each one cuter than the last. Those get cycled in randomly as you play. There's also a bonus character to unlock, and bonus stages to play in. None of these things makes a significant difference to your high score but they're all exceptionally desirable. It's a good carrot, and there's no stick to be seen.

All that crazy stuff sits on top of a strong foundation, so it's not like Hackycat is only for fans of the absurd. It's legitimately challenging to keep the cats all up for any length of time, and it takes skill to corral hits into major combos. Risky moves earn the big points, after all. You also have to be cautious and aware, or you'll tap the occasional bird that shows up to mess up your groove.

Hackycat is a solid game of kick-ups wrapped in a pretty delightful package—and hey, if you're going to kick cats, make it these ones. They need the help, and you need the cheeseburgers if you're going to kick 'em all.

If there were some sort of award for "game I've spent the most time playing since release" then I'm almost positive True Skate [$1.99] would be the winner. Since its release last October, and our subsequent review, I believe I've played True Skate every single day in at least some capacity. It's just the kind of game that I can't help but jump into whenever I have a free moment.

Last month we detailed a new skatepark that developer True Axis had in the works for True Skate, and as of today that update has gone live in the App Store. The new park is called Inbound and is available as a 99¢ in-app purchase. It's an indoor skatepark and it's absolutely massive, filled with all manner of different ramps, ledges and rails. The possibilities seem endless, and Inbound should keep True Skate'rs busy for a very, very long time.

The other big feature in this new update is the ability to customize your board. You can dive into your device's photo collection and choose a picture to apply to the bottom of the board and even to the grip tape on the top. It's great to finally be able to see something other than the default board, but my one gripe is that the system is very basic.

There doesn't seem to be a way to adjust the size or position of the images you use, so you're stuck with however the game ends up placing it on the board. I've been able to find images that look cool anyway, so it's not a huge deal, but it would be a nice option to have. Also, the customization uses a similar system to the Slow Motion mode that was introduced in a previous update where customizing your board will cost you the True Credits that you earn through playing or by buying as IAP packs. Otherwise, if you wish, you can purchase unlimited customization for a one-time 99¢ IAP.

There are a bunch of other welcome new options in this update too. Setting a respawn point is now much easier to do right from the main game screen, and the physics engine now recognizes and locks into blunt slides on ledges much better. You now have the option to change the opacity of the HUD as well as turn off all the trick and scoring text that pops up on the screen for a much cleaner interface. I love that change a lot. There are also new missions and a new leaderboard for the new park, among many other tiny tweaks and fixes that make True Skate a better overall game.

You can join in on some discussion in our forums, and if you're a massive True Skate fan like I am then you'll want to check out this new update right away. True Axis says more updates are planned too, and I can't wait to see what's next.

I'm almost embarrassed to admit just how much time I've spent playing True Skate [$1.99] since its release this past October, and it was easily one of my favorite releases of 2012. It really captured the essence of skateboarding and testing the limits of your own skill and imagination, and the satisfaction that comes with some complex and cool tricks. We thought True Skate was great in our review, but definitely craved more.

Developer True Axis is getting ready to just that, and deliver more to True Skate fans by way of a brand new level. It's an indoor skatepark with tons of different transitions, including a full halfpipe, but there are plenty of rails and street-inspired obstacles scattered about as well. You can see the first work in progress screens of the new park below.

True Axis is hoping to have the new skatepark available by late February as an in-app purchase for somewhere in the realm of a dollar or two. Along with the improvements the team has made to the transition physics and lip behaviors in previous True Skate updates, this new ramp-heavy park should be a lot of fun. Late February really can't come soon enough.

2012 had a lot of cool surprises and good games, as you've probably noticed. But not all of those good games could be neatly categorized. This post is for the weirdos, the games that straddled too many genre lines or are members of genres that have too few rad games to sufficiently flesh out a "best of" post.

You'll see some oddities in this listing -- games that really stretch the meaning of game or apps that just have stupendous gaming elements. There's also titles that can be firmly categorized, and would have been, if there was more to celebrate.

It'll be interesting to see what 2013 will bring. Will we see way more card games than we did this year? What about open-world god games? New trends might have us re-thinking the way we categorize and the lists we bring to you.

For now, though, here's our best of the best of the rest of 2012.

Topia World Builder, $1.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Topia World Builder has the creation and the emergent systems we look for in a solid god game, but shrugs off messy scenarios. In the game, you can build valleys, rivers, trees, and animals. Then, you can watch world you've created work. It's kinda wild.

Hatchi - A retro virtual pet, $0.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Hatchi is a spiritual successor to the Tamagotchi. In the game, you hatch a pet monster and then care for it, subtly changing the way it grows and forms as you do so. The retro visuals and simplistic mechanics might be a drag for some, but for those of us who had a pet monster on a keychain, they struck the right chord.

Magic 2013, Free - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 is a brilliant follow-up to a rad series that not only show you how to play Magic the right way, but allows you to jump in without plunking down dollars for cards. It's also nice that the core action of Magic is front and center throughout. This is truly a joy.

Zombies, Run!, $3.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - If you like jogging, but hate the tedium that can sometimes come along with it, consider giving Zombies, Run a try. It measures the distance you run and all of that jazz, but it also tells you a great survival story in the process. The audio has some neat hooks in it that gets you running faster, as well as systems that reward you for the effort.

Shufflepuck Cantina, Free - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Shufflepuck Cantina is what happens with adventure game meets sports game. Presented as a "space western," Cantina tasks you with dominating a bar's shufflepuck table, while also learning about the world's creatures, characters, and mysteries. It's weird, but we think you'll dig the game's commitment to seeing its premise through.

Organ Trail: Director's Cut, $2.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Organ Trail is an awesome little satire that rips on Oregon Trail. In the game, you play as a survivor of a zombie apocalypse on a journey to get his friends to a so-called Safe Haven. Along the way, you'll have to hunt for food, as well as repair your car's tires and mufflers. This is one you shouldn't miss.

Micro Miners, $1.99 - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - This is a weird one. In Micro Miners, you control a horde of little miners and are tasked with collecting every possible scrap of resource as a screen scrolls eternally downward. Solid controls bolster the experience, while a great art style really sells it.

Skee-Ball 2, Free - [Review] - [Forum Thread] - Skee-Ball 2 is, oddly, a big favorite around here. It's a Skee-Ball game through and through, but it feels remarkably good, boasts a ton of lanes and balls, as well as a good amount of collectibles to obtain as you rock out.