Pixile Studios is a new two-man development team working on their first iOS title called Pixel Wars. The gist behind Pixel Wars is that it offers a competitive tower defense game for two players on one iPad. Each player gets one side of the screen and can place various towers to defend against the other team's forces breaking through your gate. While you're setting up your defenses, you're also choosing offensive units to send over to your opponent's side, trying to break through their array of towers and into their gate.

Each player has 20 hearts as their life supply, and each creep who makes it through your gate will take off a single heart. The first one to lose all of their hearts loses the game. It's a really simple concept actually, and I'm surprised nobody has thought to do it on the iPad before. I'm a big fan of same-device multiplayer on the iPad, and Pixel Wars is a fun and strategic way to compete against a friend face-to-face.

There are 3 different teams in Pixel Wars – a technology team, a nature team, and a mutant team – and each will have their own array of defensive tower choices and offensive units. There will be 3 maps to play at launch, with more planned for updates down the line. There's also the possibility of more teams, tower types, and units that could materialize post-launch to further flesh out the experience.

Just because Pixel Wars is a same-device multiplayer game doesn't mean you can't play alone, though. There will be a single player campaign where you face off against an AI opponent, and there will also be a challenge mode that tasks you with winning against the AI under special circumstances. Pixel Wars was a ton of fun while I had a chance to play it, and it's a clever take on tower defense with a competitive edge. Pricing is still up in the air, but if all goes according to plan Pixel Wars should be hitting the App Store sometime next month.

Feel like 1997's Starship Troopers left a little to be desired? You're not alone. Sony Pictures Worldwide Acquisitions is taking another stab at it with the fully animated Starship Troopers: Invasion, due out this summer. And it won't be alone: there will be a companion game released for iOS.

Starship Troopers: Invasion (the game) is being developed by industry newcomer Spectre Media, and it looks like its coming along well. The game is going to be an on-rails third-person action game, set in the universe of the film but not hitting quite the same story notes. Both take place on an isolated Federation outpost, Fort Casey, that's under attack by the Bugs, the arachnid enemy from the Robert Heinlein novel and the films. The hero, a member of the Terran Federation's Mobile Infantry, is alone and up against a huge enemy force.

It sounds as though Spectre Media has been inspired to some degree by Infinity Blade. Players will explore the environment, taking the occasional branching path to discover the secrets and destroy the bugs of Fort Casey. There will be upgradable weapons and power armor, resources that can be gathered and IAP options. Combat will consist of tapping to shoot and gesture-based weapon swapping.

From what we've seen, Starship Troopers: Invasion has some serious potential. It's done a good job of mixing tension with cathartic action. There's a need for stealth as you travel through the game's hallways and caverns: make too much of a scene, and you'll draw the attention of infestations of Bugs while you're stuck in narrow corridors. A rear-view camera lets you know when Bugs are sneaking up behind you, and then you'll have a choice. Will you stand and fight and risk bringing the full wrath of the Bugs down on you, or will you flee?

Story-wise, the game runs parallel to the movie, tying into it without telling the same tale. It can be enjoyed with or without the film, but the story from each will enhance the other. Invasion also bears hints of a greater story for fans of the novel. If you're an action nut, it sounds like you can safely ignore it and keep mowing down bugs, but there's lots out there to be found for the curious player. Plus, the assets for the game are shared from the film production, so it's sure to look great when it's complete.

Starship Troopers: Invasion will be released this summer on iPad, iPhone and iPod Touch. Spectre Media hasn't finalized price point for the launch, but they don't expect it to be higher than $0.99. We'll bring you more info as it's available.

Get Set Games, creators of the tremendously successful Mega Jump [Free], have a booth here at GDC where they're showing off their follow-up title Mega Run. Just like the endless vertical jumper that Mega Jump is, the auto-running genre is certainly nothing new. But like Mega Jump, Get Set has injected a ridiculous amount of variety and personality into the formula.

Mega Run is not an endless runner, rather it's level-based with 3 different worlds each consisting of 16 levels. There is a stupid amount of coins, power-ups, special items, and more literally littered throughout each level. My favorite thing about Mega Run is that each level is very non-linear, despite the fact that you're hurdling to the right towards an end goal. The levels have many branching pathways and hidden areas to discover, and with 3 hidden gems in each along with a 3 star system and time goals there is plenty of reason to go back and explore every square inch.

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At some point in April, the sequel to Are You Quick Enough, an aptly titled game that goes by the name of Are You Quick Enough 2, will hit the App Store. If you're not in the loop, Are You Quick Enough is a furious collection of brain and reaction mini-games that are split across dozens and dozens of levels. The sequel is much the same.

In a brief demo this afternoon, we played through a flurry of mini-games, including a simple match-the-boxes romp, a dexterity-based shoot-the-robbers firing range, and even a tap-to-break-the-pinata song and dance. Mini-games literally take seconds to finish, and each can be re-tried infinitely for higher rankings.

This is a family-oriented title, so don't expect this to be the next WarioWare. For what it is though, it's pretty neat. We look forward to its release.

It's hard not to gush about Tiny Thief. Earlier this morning at GDC in San Francisco, 5 Ants, a freshly assembled studio based in Barcelona, gave us a quick peek at its initial title, which merges stealth with traditional point-and-click. Simply put, it's gorgeous, and has the kind of mechanical pop that we all want for The Next Big Thing.

As the game's titular Tiny Thief, your job is to steal treasures like diamonds without betraying your presence. Thief can hide in wardrobes and crates, hang on chandeliers or banners, and even sneak into bed next to a sleeping sheriff's wife. This is all in the name of avoiding conflict, of course. Thief is the world's smallest burglar; he doesn't have the means to defend himself.

In addition to hiding, Thief can also freely use items around his immediate environment to accomplish his goals. In one level, for example, Thief needs to use a cuckoo clock to wake a sleeping feline and its owners long enough for him to sneak closer to his goal. These solutions are never readily apparent, as each level boasts a number of interactive items, and the game logic keeps the utility of them rather fuzzy.

In our short demo, we were impressed by the sheer amount of interactive objects in the levels, as well as the hand-drawn visuals. This thing is dripping with cutesy, as you'll see in the trailer below:

Tiny Thief is split into five themed chapters, all of which have five levels. This kind of structure in particular is intriguing: Tiny Thief relies on a lot of trial-and-error as you try to find the right combination of actions and hiding, but its instanced action seems to keeps the puzzles small and, you, as a result, focused and not annoyed.

Game is due out in the next three months. We'll be following this one pretty closely as it hurdles towards release. Stay tuned.

EA and Chillingo had a nice demo event going here at GDC showing off a slew of already released titles, previously announced ones, and some that were just announced today. Mass Effect Infiltrator [$6.99], Fancy Pants Adventures [99¢/Lite], and iBomber Defense Pacific [$2.99] are some of the games that you can nab on the App Store already, but there was an interesting mixture of upcoming titles on display as well.

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We were lucky enough to piggy back on the back of the tiny press event at GDC for Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD, which is this really fabulous remake with a conglomeration of content from the first two Tony Hawk Pro Skater games set to be released sometime this summer as a downloadable title for both the Xbox 360 and PS3. Jared and I are massive fans of both Tony Hawk and the Tony Hawk series of games, so we totally fanned out. How hard did we fan out? This hard:

We had a great chat with Tony, and learned that it was actually him that pushed through the iOS port of Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 2 [$1.99] after seeing the original fan video we posted which turned out to be totally real. He's really excited to potentially see the rest of the Tony Hawk series on iOS devices, but openly admits that at the end of the day it all comes down to Activision. With the success Sega saw with the similar fan-made Sonic CD [$4.99] we're hoping Activision wakes up and smells the coffee sooner or later that there's a whole group of gamers out there hungry for these classic THPS games on our iPhones.

And if Tony Hawk's Pro Skater HD ever got ported? Jared and I would be in heaven.

We've seen a lot of endless runners at this year's GDC, but none so far have iterated on the Jetpack Joyride model as well as Super Squawk's Crash Cam. In the title, you control an overeager director as he hurdles through several Hollywood-themed levels, including a backlot. A power meter on his camera stand functions as a time mechanic. As you play, it steadily drains. To refill it, you'll need to collect orbs scattered about.

The thing that caught our eye is the game's reverse power-up. Grabbing one switches the director's direction from the traditional left-to-right setup to right-to-left. It's a small tweak, but it really gives the game a new-look kind of pacing. Crash Cam will also feature a full compliment of goals and perks, as well as accessories.

The build you're seeing above in the screens is a work in progress. Crash Cam isn't expected to launch on iPhone and iPad for another two-to-three months.

Earlier this afternoon in San Francisco, we got a quick look at the HD version of Galaxy On Fire 2's first expansion, Valkyrie. As fans would expect, Fish Labs has significantly ramped up the visuals in its now, second, HD re-release. Valkyrie HD boasts new models, a new lighting model, and significantly improved assets all around.

We also got to see a few moments of Fish Labs upcoming expansion for Galaxy on Fire 2, Super Nova. Fish Labs says it'll match the content present in both the core game and its first expansion, Valkyrie HD. The build was early, but it was clear that Fish Labs has built several new assets, including ship models, and integrated a few new mechanics. Of note, users will have to monitor a "gamma" bar in addition to health. The super nova, in general, radically alters the game's world. In one mission, we observed flares pummeling a sky spire. In another, a mission revolved around saving people before the explosion.

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This afternoon, Fabrication Games rolled by TouchArcade HQ in San Francisco to show off its super hip upcoming iPad and iPhone side-scroller, Project Belle. Mechanically, it appears to be a fairly traditional shooter-style take on the genre. Players control a funny bear thing with four arms, each of which is equipped with a gun, and they unload those guns on a variety of cutesy, though dangerous, enemy robots. Interestingly, Belle also incorporates cave flying levels, as well as rail cart excursions.

What caught our all-seeing eye specifically is its moment-to-moment flow. Belle is controlled exclusively via swipe gestures, which keeps the shooting, jumping, and bouncing action rolling at a steady clip. Gorgeous art compliments this, as you'll see from the screens just below:

Project Belle is expected to launch a little later this month as a $.99 Universal app. It'll have free-to-play elements, too. In the game, you'll be able to obtain a variety of different weapons, each of which will require in-game credits to upgrade. At launch, users will be able to buy these credits with actual cash.

Back in January we brought you the news that Semi Secret Software, the studio behind Canabalt [$2.99], was working on a new game with Greg Wohlwend, best known for his work on Solipskier [$0.99]. We've had the chance to get our hands on an early build of the game and can give you some of the details.

First up, Hundreds is a minimalistic puzzle game. As you can see from the screenshots, it has a stark black, red and grey look, one that's carried through every part of the game. It plays something like Surfacer [$0.99] or similar titles: you have a series of circles, and touching them makes them grow until you hit a certain goal. In this case each circle counts up toward 100, the total you need to hit between them all.

But that's where the similarities to other titles end. The circles move around each level, and as a general rule of thumb they can't touch anything while you're touching them. The play style is reflexive— it's vital to time touches for the moments they aren't about to path into an obstacle. Over time you'll need to use all your fingers, and while it isn't an official mode the game is surprisingly fun to play with a friend.

We've run through several of the game's levels, and they get ridiculously complex. There are so many different pieces that interact with the circles in different ways, and learning how each of them work seems like it's going to be quite rewarding. It looks like the game going to get very difficult, and Semi Secret's Adam Saltsman tells us that one of his goals is to create a game that may not be completed by every player, but will reward the ones who stick it out.

That may just be the coolest thing about Hundreds: for dedicated players, it will be two complete (and completely different) puzzle games in one. We haven't had a chance to see this in action, but the overarching narrative will be portioned out in a very novel way. Much of it will be revealed through obscure ciphers and codes, fleshing things out for players who are willing to really dig in and maybe even cooperate with others to work through them. This adds a whole other level of gameplay on top of the usual Game Center meta-layer and what sounds like some very cool community-wide statistic tracking.

Semi Secret isn't ready to announce a release date, but the company currently aiming to release Hundreds before this summer. It will launch on iPad for sure, and the company is currently considering whether it will also be suitable for smaller devices.

InMotion Software is here at GDC this week, and they stopped by our makeshift TouchArcade headquarters here in the Marriott lobby to show off an upcoming update for the Nickelodeon-published Monkey Quest: Thunderbow [99¢/HD] as well as tease a brand new title.

First off, Monkey Quest received a nice update in early February. We were surprised by how much we enjoyed the game in our review, and the February update added 20 new levels and a boss battle, as well as some new monsters, new weapons, and new control options. The upcoming update is set to add another 30 new levels and should be hitting before the end of March.

In addition to that update, InMotion has also announced a brand new game called Tiny Tails. At first blush, you might write off Tiny Tails as a Farmville clone or something similar. However, the team was vehement that they are not fans of timer-based games like that, but they do want to include a town building-style component for Tiny Tails.

Your main character is a mouse, so everything in the world is comprised of tiny items repurposed as other things. Like buttons attached to a sardine tin to create a wheelbarrow to store food in. While creating a tiny world gives you somewhere to play in, the bigger emphasis will be on actually crafting items, combat, and exploration.

Tiny Tails is still at a pretty early point in development, with nothing beyond some concept art and some early screens. But, the art style is fantastic and I’m curious to see how the crafting and combat pans out in the final game. InMotion is hoping to have the game released in the 3rd quarter of this year, and we’ll definitely be keeping a close eye on it as it gets further along.

Oddly enough, even after all this time the App Store is still lacking a really solid Pokemon-like. There are a few out there that I'd describe as OK, or sort of similar, but if you're looking to scratch that collecting and battling monsters itch that you can only get on Nintendo platforms, there's not much out there. Or, not much before we saw Mirror Match Games' My! My! Monsters.

The game is in a very rough (and early) state right now, but I like everything they told me that they've got planned. They're trying to capture the essence of those nostalgic Pokemon games with all the exploration, collecting, and fighting that you expect but also with a hip social spin to enable all sorts of online community interaction.

The world map is delightfully pixel-y, and really fits in with the whole nostalgic theme they're going for:

As mentioned, the game is in a very early stage right now so it's hard to get into specifics when it comes to how large the world is going to be, how many monsters there will be to collect, and all the other social features. Mirror Match assured me they're really anxious to hear community feedback, so if there's some important features you want to see in a Pokemon-like, drop 'em in the comments.

Hungry Game released Fly Kiwi, Fly! [99¢] in early 2010, and I liked it quite a bit. It's one of those "see how far you can go" flying games with all sorts of upgrades, all themed around the hit YouTube video "Kiwi!". Well, in the meantime, Hungry Game merged with NGD Studios, and they've been working all sorts of other non-iOS things before shifting to the sequel to Fly Kiwi, Fly!. The difference between the original and the sequel should be immediately obvious:

It sounds like it's going to be a pretty standard sequel. The big feature is the new 3D graphics, combined with more gizmos to equip the Kiwi with to fly even further. If all goes as planned, we should by flying as Kiwis in 3D sometime this summer.

Here's a hip one that might interest puzzle game fans. Trigger Happy Labs is close to releasing its first title, a casual color-based matching game called Colorgon. Like a 2D version of a Rubik's cube, the title has its users rotating colored blocks to form a chain of perfect pairs. The faster the better.

We saw the game earlier this afternoon, and were impressed with its UI direction. This specific element is as stripped down as the rest of the game, which, conveniently was the point of the entire project. Designer Mikael Tyrsen wanted a simple and beautiful, as well as time-wasting type of title. Mission accomplished so far.

Colorgon is slated to hit at some point within the next four weeks. It'll launch as a Universal app, and incorporate Game Center and Facebook.