There's no doubt that the App Store is absolutely loaded with different physics games, and many with very similar gameplay to Tumbledrop [App Store], but few are anywhere near as cute, colorful, or filled with rainbows for that matter.

Gameplay amounts to making your way through the 60 included levels (with more coming soon per the iTunes description) by tapping on screen to remove pieces in order to guide the star at the top of the pile safely to the ground– Very similar to game modes in the Topple series, Finger Physics, and others.

What interested me in Tumbledrop was the forced delay in between removing the pieces that comprise the various structures of each level. Other games you could pretty easily cheese your way through the challenges by just quickly removing pieces as fast as possible while guiding the goal item back to the ground. In Tumbledrop, you have to plan your movements carefully as you can only remove one piece every three seconds.

Tumbledrop isn't particularly original, but if you're a fan of these types of games you likely have several similar ones on your phone already. If you want to give the game a try, there's a free version you can play in a web browser, you just have to download the Unity browser plugin. It's worth a look, if only to see how happy the star you're rescuing gets when its on the ground accompanied by the fanfare of rainbows and multi-colored confetti before progressing to the next level.

App Store Link: Tumbledrop, $1.99

Lately, it's become quite popular amongst App Store developers to do ports of web-based flash games for the iPhone, and Chrome Wars Arena [App Store], playable here on Kongregate, is a continuation of that trend. Chrome Wars, which is described by developers Jaludo Group B.V. as a turn-based fighting game, has deep roots in the RPG genre. Its biggest appeal lies in its upgrade/level up system that allows players to improve and customize their bots as they battle their way through the 50 challengers in the "Chrome Wars Tournament."

After creating a custom bot, players will be begin a path that will take them through six arenas to battle their way (one enemy at a time) to the top. Each victory will earn your robot money and five skill points to spend on increasing total health, attack power, speed, etc. Losing a fight will provide a player with a bit of cash as well, so if players get stuck in a rut, they can always use that spare cash to buy any number of upgraded parts from the well-stocked in-game shop to tilt the odds in their favor.

One word of warning that I should probably give to those interested in the game is that you'll definitely need a comprehensive strategy when distributing those skill points. I spent many of the initial 20 points that come with new robots on upgrading my speed stat, and that really came back to bite me in the butt later when I had barely upgraded my health (called "grit" in the upgrade menu) or power. My robot's attacks were lightning fast but packed about as much punch as my grandma's left hook, so I wasn't very successful in most fights.

When not working their way through the 50 baddies in the arena mode of Chrome Wars, players can take the fight online against random opponents. It's best to fully complete the game's arena mode first (thereby getting all the upgrades you can) if you'd like to have any chance of success online, but it's also possible to play against people you know, if that tickles your fancy.

Fights in Chrome Wars Arena work pretty much exactly like they do in the flash version (albeit with some UI modifications so the game fits the device better), so if you'd like to check out the game for yourself, try it on Kongregate.com first. Slower-paced RPGs like Chrome Wars Arena aren't for everyone, but plenty of people (myself included) can appreciate some good old fashioned turn-based battles, so you don't have anything to lose by at least giving the game a shot and trying out that free flash version.

App Store Link: Chrome Wars Arena, $1.99

I have a love-hate affair with tile-sliding games, so when I first discovered TileStorm [App Store, I had mixed expectations. Generally, tile-sliding games are pretty difficult (and TileStorm is no different), but the satisfaction that one gets from completing a puzzle is worth the rough path there. TileStorm faithfully delivers this tried-and-true gameplay with some nice, clean 3D visuals, soothing audio, and complete option set.

There are 100 levels in TileStorm, all equally split up between industrial, Egyptian, medieval, and jungle environments, which serve as really nothing more than a set up for some variety in the level-to-level color palette. Your goal as the player is to create a path for "Eggbot the robot" to make his way to the level's exit. This is accomplished by figuring out a way to move around the different tiles that happen to be laid out in a jumbled fashion in select areas of each level. While most levels only require players to solve one puzzle to complete the level, some feature numerous puzzles with pieces that must be re-used.

There's quite a challenge to be had with many of the levels in TileStorm, but players can take their time while playing as their is no time limit or other way to "lose." The game does track your time in the top-right corner of the screen, but this feature is merely included as an option for those who want to beat their own best times. There are no online leaderboards for the game, but I feel that TileStorm gets a pass for excluding this otherwise necessary feature because of the nature of the game; once players memorize the solution for a puzzle improving their own times would become an exercises in finger dexterity, not actual skill, to see how quickly they could mindlessly repeat the motions required to solve them.

TileStorm features a clean 3D isometric perspective, and both the environments and Eggbot himself all look great. The few bits of animation that Eggbot does have all play out without a hitch, and tiles slide along without any lag when prompted with a swipe of the finger. I always appreciate the option to turn a game's audio and listen to my iPod library while playing, and the game offers that up as well. One feature that TileStorm managed to fit in that I enjoyed is an incredibly detailed stat counter for players. By selecting "Game Stats" from its options menu, players of TileStorm can see how many puzzles they've completed, how much time they've spent playing the game and even the number of times that the screen has been touched during play. I think that being able to check out such statistics is a lot of fun, and I'm glad that TileStorm's developer included this functionality.

While I've had a lot of fun with TileStorm, there are a few problems that need to be ironed out. The biggest issue that I have with the game is its level-unlocking system, which requires players to complete all of the levels in one area before proceeding on to the next– Causing gameplay to come to a halt if you get stuck instead of skipping to a different level. Also, there are some interface issues such as requiring players to completely exit levels to restart them instead of simply having a button in a menu somewhere. However, the developer has been very active in our forums, and these fixes should be coming soon.

TileStorm is a fun, well-made puzzle game that offers up plenty of challenge and hours upon hours of gameplay for those who stick with it long enough to complete all 100 levels. While a few minor issues with the game may cause some annoyance, I don't believe that these problems will be nearly large enough to keep players from having a good time with it. This is not an easy game, but is definitely worth considering if you enjoy a good brain-teaser.

App Store Link: TileStorm, $1.99 – TileStorm Lite, Free

Bottle Rocket Apps is responsible for quite a few entries on the App Store, most notably, the National Public Radio app which has been well received by iPhone owning fans of NPR. Their most recently release is Doodle Bomb [App Store], a physics-based bomb puzzle game that is a lot of fun.

The goal of each of the 50 levels in Doodle Bomb is to assist your eyepatch-equipped "bomb master" in tossing bombs from what appears to be some kind of strange sewer pipe to flip various switches, resulting in a door being unlocked– Allowing you to progress to the next level. Bombs are thrown by tapping on screen in the direction you want to throw, tapping closer or farther away from the bomb master to control the strength of your throw.

Throughout the game you will come across many different obstacles such as mice to bounce bombs off of, soldier to blow up with bombs, switches of different colors that control different gadgets and gizmos on the game board, pipes to throw bombs down, and many others.

Each level can be completed either by just tossing tons of bombs out and hoping something lands where you want it to, or by precisely throwing bombs and using the least amount possible. Every level also comes with a target number of bombs to use, and if you get under that, you will earn a "bomb badge" which then unlock additional goodies in game.

Doodle Bomb reminds me a lot of Ragdoll Blaster and other similar physics games on the App Store. I think it's safe to say if you're a fan of the physics puzzle genre, Doodle Bomb will be a welcome addition to your game collection. The Doodle Bomb thread on our forums also has quite a few people posting positive responses, along with the developer actively answering questions.

App Store Link: Doodle Bomb, $1.99

Similar to the amount of care that went in to updating and enhancing the Missile Defense formula in Low Five Games' other game, Earth Vs Moon, The Horrible Vikings [App Store] is much more than a simple catapult game.

Like other catapult games, the basic premise amounts to aiming and flinging something to fly as far as possible and collide in to other things on the way. In the case of The Horrible Vikings, you control a pair of vikings: One who moves back and forth in the ship as ballast to control the angle of your shot, and by dragging the catapult back with another viking in it you control the power of your shot. While flying you can tilt your phone to control the direction of your flight, swipe down to stomp targets, and later in the game you get access to other abilities to fly farther such as a wizard that zaps you.

Along the way you pick up coins to spend on items and upgrades, slaughter ninjas, smash jars, and of course– Loot and plunder whatever goal lies at the end of each level. The game is incredibly varied, both in the enemies you come across, the different abilities and upgrades you can buy from the in-game store, and if you're a fan of OpenFeint achievements, The Horrible Vikings has tons.

One of the nice things about The Horrible Vikings is that you can take as many shots as you want to complete a level. You will never run out of lives, and there doesn't seem to be any penalty for flinging your vikings over and over. However, if you are precise with your shots, there is also an OpenFeint leaderboard for your "evasion efficiency", or how few shots it takes you to complete the levels. (There is also a leaderboard for most gold collected.)

Low Five Games has a few different videos up on their YouTube channel showing The Horrible Vikings gameplay:

If you're a fan of catapult games, there isn't much to not like about The Horrible Vikings. Yes, the core gameplay element has been done to death on the App Store, but few of them can even begin to rival the amount of refinement seen in The Horrible Vikings.

App Store Link: The Horrible Vikings, $1.99

In the spirit of games like Lode Runner that use a limited number of ways to interact with an enironment to force players to think creatively, developer Alexander Williams brings us Arctopia [App Store], a puzzle game with a distinctive retro feel.

Arctopia provides players with three simple on-screen buttons: a "move left" button, a "move right" button, and an "ice" button. As the player, you control an unnamed penguin intent on ending the lives of as many angry-looking fireball critters as possible. There are 120 levels, each of which can be played in any order, regardless of how many levels have been completed. This is a method of game design that I really enjoy, as it allows players to skip levels that they think are too easy or too hard.

Each level is 2D with a side-view perspective, and puzzles are solved by knocking ice or iron blocks into the aforementioned fire critters. Pressing the "ice" button will create ice in the space below and to the right (or left, depending on which way you're facing) of where your penguin in standing. If there is already ice in the targeted location, that ice will be destroyed, potentially causing a chain reaction in which other ice pieces fall and cause a ton of destruction.

Despite the simple control scheme, there's a lot of complexity in the game mechanics due to the different elements that must be considered when attempting to solve a level. The penguin can hop up on small steps, but any ledge more than two blocks high cannot be climbed. Other elements (each of which are rolled out over time as the game progresses) like flaming barrels or iron blocks can interact in seemingly unlimited ways to create seriously challenging puzzles in the later levels.

I think that the art style could've used a more creative direction, but the game has a very clean feel to it. The main menu manages to give players options for quick-starting on the last level they played, selecting any of the total 120 levels, fooling with sound settings, or checking out the tutorial, all while providing extra information like the total number of completed levels and some randomly selected fun facts about penguins.

Arctopia keeps track of how many moves it takes players to complete its levels, and encourages players to try to beat them in less moves. Unfortunately, it doesn't provide any information on what the lowest possible number of moves a level can be beaten in, so there's no real baseline number for players' comparison. If there's anything that needs to be changed in an update, it's this.

Arctopia is a fun little game that will appeal greatly to those with fond memories of similar '80s classics. For most people, the game is a really enjoyable pick-up-and-play little app that will likely give those who download it something to do for a long time. Those who aren't interested in slower-paced, thinking games should probably avoid this one, but if you're like me and have an unexplainable love for Lode Runner, this game is worth a look.

App Store Link: Arctopia: A Puzzle Game, $1.99 – Arctopia: A Puzzle Intro, Free

If you're flying in a plane, bird strikes are bad. If you're looking for a ridiculous game for your iPhone, Bird Strike [App Store] is great. Colorful art, good animations, and a silly gameplay premise all combine to make a game that I really doubt few people will be able to play without at least cracking a little bit of a smile.

Bird Strike begins with a tiny blue bird precariously perched on a power line. You drag your finger down to turn the power line in to a makeshift sling shot to send your bird soaring towards the heavens. During your flight, destroying objects, collecting seeds, how clean your flight is, and how high you fly all factor in to your score. Your bird is controlled by tilting, and on your way up you can jump on rockets to give you an extra boost.

When you run out of momentum, your bird flutters for a second, and falls back down. At this point you can either collect additional seeds you missed flying up, break any balloons you run in to, or try to catch another rocket to fly higher. After the first few levels you will come across a football helmet that can be picked up that will allow you to break through one obstacle without losing momentum.

These obstacles include different types and sizes of balloons, Donkey Kong-style girders that are mysteriously floating in the air, various other types of birds, along with other things. Assuming you can make it all the way to the top of a level, a UFO hovering above you blasts you with an onboard ray gun, turning you in to some kind of green fireball– At which point the game tells you "break stuff".

On your way down, you blast through all the obstacles that caused you trouble as you flew up, and the more things you break the higher your score gets. This is extremely rewarding, especially when you absolutely decimate the series of girders that you kept hitting your head on while flying up.

All of these gameplay elements can be seen in the Bird Strike trailer:

Unfortunately, while the game itself is awesome, it does come with a few issues. First of all, there are no online leaderboards or achievements– Something the game practically is begging for considering all the achievements that could be worked in to the game such as collecting every rocket on a level, not destroying any obstacles, etc. The developer's other games have OpenFeint, and according to a post on our forums, they're thinking about adding it to Bird Strike.

Secondly, and far more annoying, is that the game doesn't seem to prevent your phone from initiating its automatic screen lock. Since it's a tilt controlled game, you rarely touch the screen aside from the level select process, and having to remember to move your thumb around every few seconds so the screen doesn't turn off is a major oversight. Thankfully, fixing this involves little more than two lines of code to disable the device's idle timer– PikPok is aware of the issue and it sounds like it will be quickly fixed in an update. In the meantime, you can disable auto-lock in your device settings, just be sure to remember to turn it back on.

If you're able to overlook its flaws, Bird Strike is a ton of fun.

App Store Link: Bird Strike, $1.99

Bruno Meilick's Zwirn [$1.99] seems to borrow a lot of the mood and tactile gameplay from Zen Bound [$1.99 / Free], replacing manipulating a 3D object to wrap it in string with actually controlling the string itself to meet the goals of the 25 included levels.

The four tutorial levels walk you through the basic premise behind the game: A length of string comes from one white dot, and must be extended to the other white dot while laying on top of the various black dots that spot the screen on each level. You don't have much control over the string itself aside from pulling it from the end across the screen, which is where the push pins come in.

Later levels come loaded with different amount of push pins which can be moved around by tapping to pick them up, then tapping again to place them. You then pull the string across the screen, bending it around the push pins, and hold it at the second white dot for a few seconds to progress through the game.

It doesn't take long for Zwirn to become quite difficult, but if you get stuck the solutions are available on the Zwirn web site. The developer also put together the following gameplay trailer, which is worth watching because the way the string responds to your touches is neat:

Where Zwirn left me scratching my head was when it comes to the complete lack of music in the game. So much of the atmosphere in Zen Bound came from the fantastic soundtrack which is completely absent in Zwirn. I've somewhat "solved" this problem by playing the Zen Bound soundtrack (which is freely available for download once you purchase Zen Bound) while playing Zwirn. The difference, oddly enough, is night and day.

Regardless, if you like odd puzzle games, Zwirn is worth a look. The gameplay mechanic of stretching the string works well, and the art style is cool– You just need to bring your own music.

App Store Link: Zwirn, $1.99

It's always great to see indie developers banding together for cross promotion, and even better when those joint efforts result in some fantastic deals. The Second Annual New Year's App Blowout which was put together by the guys at Howling Moon Software is back again to ring in the new year with a bunch of games (and a few apps) on sale. All of these prices should be in effect by now, with normal pricing returning sometime after the first of the year.

• Aqua Wars, 99¢ → Free
• Dragon Eye, 99¢ → Free
• Outnumbered, 99¢ → Free
• Volcano Planet, 99¢ → Free

• 3D Wizard Wand, $1.99 → 99¢
• Cash Machine, $1.99 → 99¢
• CatTaTa, $1.99 → 99¢
• Eyegore's Eye Blast, $1.99 → 99¢
• Hi, How Are You, $1.99 → 99¢
• iHurt, $1.99 → 99¢
• iTweetReply, $1.99 → 99¢
• iType2Go Pro, $1.99 → 99¢
• MatchTunes, $2.99 → 99¢
• Pinch 'n Pop!, $1.99 → 99¢
• Pollywog, $1.99 → 99¢
• Rail Adventures, $1.99 → 99¢
• Ringo, $1.99 → 99¢
• RocketFuse, $1.99 → 99¢
• Screw The Dealer, $1.99 → 99¢
• Smiles Zen, $1.99 → 99¢
• SpaceDuel!, $1.99 → 99¢
• Tap-Fu, $1.99 → 99¢
• Trace It, $1.99 → 99¢

• Battle for Wesnoth, $4.99 → $1.99
• Crayon Ball, $2.99 → $1.99
• Rogueship, $2.99 → $1.99
• Smiles, $2.99 → $1.99
• Train Conductor, $2.99 → $1.99
• Twilight Golf, $2.99 → $1.99

• Sword of Fargoal, $4.99 → $2.99

NimbleBit has quite a fan following on our forums, and tonight Fishtropolis [App Store] joins their existing lineup of fun and simple iPhone games. Fishtropolis is a sequel of sorts to Textropolis [App Store] which shares all the same mechanics and gameplay elements with a whole new set of words to find within the names of 15 different types of fish.

Textropolis was well-recieved in our review, and Fishtropolis is more of the same. Starting with the letters that make up "white carp" you search for words with four or more characters. As you find more words you earn stars and attract more fish and other aquatic life to your game until the screen is almost completely full when you've found most of the words. The first star you earn unlocks the next level, "blue platy," where you start the whole process over.

When you find a word, the definition scrolls across the screen and if you find yourself stuck you can shake your phone to sacrifice five of the fish you've earned finding words to get a hint. The thing most people liked about Textropolis originally was that there were no time limits of any kind, and you can take as long as you want instead of trying to beat a clock, and Fishtropolis works the same way.

At the end of the day, Fishtropolis is little more than a reskin of Textropolis with new words to find. If you were among the many people who enjoyed the original game in the series, you will also have a lot of fun with this one. However, if you're looking for something new, there isn't much to be found in Fishtropolis aside from a different graphical theme and a new catalog of words.

App Store Link: Fishtropolis, $1.99