After a limited release in Canada, ngmoco's We Rule launched first in Canada this afternoon. Since We Rule has finally launched worldwide.

We Rule is a kingdom building game, somewhat similar to the massively popular Facebook game Farmville. Here's what we had to say about the game from our hands-on preview at Macworld San Francisco:

The game map shows you your kingdom as well as the kingdom of your Plus+ contacts. Scrolling across the map shows you the relative size of everyone's kingdoms. The goal of the game is to build up your community as much as possible, but with the added twist that your own kingdom can be customized with a number of special cosmetic tweaks. These tweaks will make your kingdom truly unique and personalized.

The game consists of alternating between your daily activities of harvesting or otherwise managing your resources while building up new houses, farms, and businesses. Your kingdom will be bustling with activity from townspeople as it grows, though unlike God Finger, you don't actually have individual control of the inhabitants. …Read More.

The game is free to download and play and has been well received since its original Canadian launch.

App Store Link: We Rule, Free

Back in October we covered the 360iDev Game Jam, an all-night coding frenzy that challenged developers to create a playable (and, hopefully, interesting) game in just 10 hours. The results were impressive.

One of the developers who took up the challenge was Owen Goss of Streaming Colour Studios. Owen labored through the night and came up with an interesting title called UpDown.  As Owen described the game,

UpDown is a puzzle game. To complete a level, all pieces must be raised or lowered to level 0. However, you can only raise or lower pieces in the patterns dictated by the brushes. Strategy and intuition are required to master this simple yet challenging game.

While graphically sparse, the game was maddeningly difficult. What Owen had come up with was such a challenging formula that, when we spoke with him about the title last year, he indicated that he was considering building the prototype into a more complete game and releasing it through the App Store.

At GDC 2010, I sat down with Owen and he showed me LandFormer, his upcoming puzzle game that is the evolution of UpDown. And trust me, it's still maddeningly difficult.

The included screenshots show rather clearly how the game has evolved. LandFormer presents a five-by-five game-world grid with five different terrain levels for each block. The goal is to alter the terrain such that all blocks form a flat plane (the blocks with the little villages on them). To do so, you must pick a brush along the side of the playfield, tap a block on the playfield at which to center the action, and carry out a two-finger swipe up or down to indicate the desired direction of change.

If that sounds easy to you — well — it's not. The effects of one move are layered upon the next (and upon the next, and so on…) in such a way that you can pretty quickly develop a dread sense of having painted yourself into a corner, in a manner of speaking. I was having difficulty with the easiest few levels and could feel a growing desire to send Owen's test device into the wall of the Marriott lobby. But, despite my own frustrations, Owen assures me that all of the levels in the game can indeed be completed.

To enable players to torture their friends, the sinister developer has included a level editor that allows for the creation of custom maps, built using the same brushes used for standard play (so that all levels will be solvable). User made levels can be shared with friends via a web-link system, where all the data needed to describe the level is present in the link's CGI variables.

Puzzle addicts who enjoy having their brain crushed will want to run, not walk, to the App Store and grab LandFormer when it makes its debut in April. The game will be a free download including about 10 tutorial-difficulty levels (which is what I was playing at GDC…) and the aforementioned level editor, with additional levels available as in-app purchases.

Whether you love or hate ngmoco's new freemium payment model they've implemented in all of their recent games, it's hard to deny the popularity of Eliminate. Eliminate: CO-OP [Free] was released this evening, and as the title may hint, adds a new co-op mode where players team up to fight swarms of attacking bots.

This new game mode also includes all kinds of new loot to collect to turn in to credits for the various armor and weaponry upgrades included in the game to make your character even more powerful.

The recently released trailer shows co-op gameplay:

If you've grown bored of Eliminate in the past, it might be worth giving this new game mode a spin. It seems pretty fun so far, although having played similar game modes in many XBOX 360 games, it really really makes me wish Eliminate included some kind of voice chat.

App Store Link: Eliminate: CO-OP, Free

Team Phobic's sequel to their popular Bounce On platformer for the iPhone has almost arrived. Team Phobic has released the lite version of Bounce On 2 ahead of the full version's release scheduled for March 29th. The original Bounce On has been a consistently popular platformer for the iPhone that was first released December 2008 but has seen consistent update since that time bringing the total level count to 75.

The Lite version contains 3 levels of the new game which features a much enhanced graphical engine which allows for 3D sprites, special lighting effects and even gravity changes. Team Phobic has also adopted a special alternate "key" level system which opens up different paths/objectives on the same physical levels. Like the original, there are special hidden items, this time represented by "phobic coins". In order to make the game more accessible, Team Phobic removed the limited number of lives, now allowing you unlimited retries from the last checkpoint.

Full version features will include:

• 3 Worlds
• Over 100 keys to collect
• Boss fights
• 21 unique musical tracks
• Use the accelerometer or touch controls
• Plus+ Enabled

iPhone OS 3.0 is required and Team Phobic plans to update the Lite version with additional levels before the full version's launch on March 29th. Try it now for free.

App Store Link Bounce On 2: Drallo's Demise Lite, Free

In the midst of the GDC news blitz, we just got word from ngmoco that GodFinger is live in Canada. If you're unfamiliar with this song and dance, it's almost impossible to do large scale beta testing with iPhone games. Ngmoco's solution to this problem is a limited release in Canada to test their server infrastructure with real players.

From our Macworld preview of GodFinger:

In GodFinger, you are an all powerful deity who control the people and environment of a small planet. The planet environment is a side view cross section that you can navigate by swiping on the screen and pinch zooming in and out. When the game begins, you are given a very small planet with one inhabitant. As you demonstrate your powers to the inhabitants, they become followers and earn you gold and mana for their efforts.

We'll take a closer look at the game when it hits the US App Store, but in the meantime if you've got a Canadian account you can get an early edge on the competition. Otherwise, check out the thread on our forums that has oodles of different gameplay videos.

Canadian App Store Link: GodFinger, Free

Do you have what it takes to help Mark the mole locate the elusive Terracore gem?  That's the question, really, in Roo Games' recent release Mole - Quest for the Terracore Gem! [App Store].

Mole is a game that, on the surface resembles classic Dig Dug, but is really a deeper game (sorry) that's much more about scoring up in order to better equip your character than simple arcade action. In Mole, you start off as a rather ill-equipped Mark the mole that can't do much beyond burrow about the top-most layer of the six-layer underground world that hides the fabled Terracore Gem (in the deepest layer, of course). While burrowing, you can pick up various precious metals and gems, and they can be used to up your gear in the equip shop — and better gear is what really opens up the game. It's a gear-to-gameplay dynamic that's reminiscent of that in Hook Champ.

The aforementioned shop offers air tanks, pick axes, gem detectors, and the like for the player with enough metal. All of them help you on your quest, but the most important upgrade would have to be the air tanks, for, despite the occasional pockets of air that can be found in some (but not all) of the underground layers, you're not going to get very deep without some serious tankage. And the Terracore Gem lies deep.

The game offers very simplistic controls that work quite well; tap out some distance from your mole and he'll move there or just hold and drag in the direction you want to travel. The arrangement of on-screen indicators can be adjusted for left or right players, as well.

See the developer's gameplay video.

This is one of those games that delivers just a really nice balance between light playfield strategy (how deep should you go with your limited oxygen supply?) and asset allocation (how best to spend money in the shop?). If break-neck arcade action is what you're after, then Mole – Quest for the Terracore Gem! will disappoint, but for the gamer that can weigh risks and keep their eye on the goal, this one is a true hidden gem.

In honor of the Game Developers Conference 2010, Mole is free until Sunday, March 14th.

App Store Link: Mole – Quest for the Terracore Gem, Free (limited time, normally $1.99)

Late last year Volkswagen teamed up with Firemint to bring us Real Racing GTI [Free], a cleverly disguised free demo of Real Racing [$4.99] loaded with VW cars and branding that is still totally worth downloading if you haven't tried out Real Racing yet.

VW's most recent collaboration was just released today, this time working with Fish Labs to bring us what appears to be some kind of crazy economical driving edutainment game that appears to share a similar game engine to their previously released Rally Master Pro 3D [$4.99]. In Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge [Free], instead of racing as quickly as you can, players are forced to drive economically.

As silly as this sounds for a video game, doing well is actually quite challenging. You start the game with a small amount of gas, and with each checkpoint you come to, you're asked an often obvious question about fuel efficiency to get more fuel. You then try to drive as far as you can with the amount of gas the game gives you. This means intelligent throttle management, coasting down hills, taking turns properly to not lose speed, and other economical driving techniques the game explains for you.

When you finally run out of gas, your distance is submitted to a global online leaderboard showing how far the world's most economical drivers have gotten in the game. Initially I just wrote Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge off as a marketing gimmick, but after playing a few games it's really kind of neat how the game encourages highly technical driving. So often in driving games you're able to just go all out, bounce through corners and off other cars with little if any penalty at all and this is a nice, albeit fairly odd, change of pace.

Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge is free, and who knows, you might even learn something about economical driving that could end up saving you money on gas in your own car. If you like the graphics in the game and how it calls out turns for you, be sure to check out Fish Labs' game this seems to be based on, Rally Master Pro which we posted a review on when it was first released.

App Store Link: Volkswagen Think Blue. Challenge, Free

Turn-based strategy gameUniWar has gone free today. Uniwar came out in mid 2009 and has since seen numerous updates since that time.

UniWar tips its hat at both the StarCraft and Advance Wars series with three playable races that each have slightly different advantages and disadvantages while waging a turn based war on a hex grid.

We loved the game when it was introduced as it was one of the few asynchronous online multiplayer games available on the iPhone. The game now supports push notifications so you know when it's your turn.

If you somehow missed picking up this game so far, now's the perfect time while it's free.

App Store Link: UniWar, Free (Today)

I'm really not even sure what to make of Gundead Defense [App Store]. It's a free tower defense game set in 1885 where cowboys are battling zombies in the wild west. While the premise is beyond ridiculous, the gameplay is extremely solid and it even features some functionality I haven't seen in other tower defense games before.

Gundead Defense follows the standard tower defense formula in that there are creeps traveling down a set path that you need to defend. Instead of placing towers, you position members of your posse armed with different kinds of weapons. You can also dispatch different henchmen down the path to fight with the creeps to supplement your defenses, which creates this interesting second layer of strategy to the game as you not only need to manage placing and upgrading members of your posse, but you also must strategically order your henchmen to attack to exploit the weaknesses of the various zombie types.

In addition, there's also a multiplayer mode where you can either play on a single device, or with two devices via Bluetooth. When playing via Bluetooth, both players play at once on a split map and you can see where your opponent is placing towers and everything. It's really cool, and again, I can't believe they're not charging for any of this.

The included single player has seven maps and features both a quick play mode and a story mode that focuses on your posse robbing a bank and being jumped by zombies. There's also a single 99¢ DLC level pack that adds an additional seven maps and allows you to play as the zombies who have completely different abilities. Purchasing the DLC pack also will let you play as the zombies in multiplayer.

I've been having a great time with Gundead Defense, and highly recommend downloading it. If you somehow haven't played a tower defense game before, this freebie is an excellent introduction to the genre.

App Store Link: Gundead Defense, Free

In early February we were tipped off to a mysterious announcement on Ubisoft's web site regarding a multiplayer Assassin's Creed game exclusive to the iPhone and iPod touch. Last night Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer [App Store] was released, along with the surprising promotional price point: Free for the next 48 hours.

AC2: Multiplayer initially appears to be an extremely simple game. Players are matched with other assassins online, and then pick up assassination targets to determine which player they need to kill. Following this, you wander around town until you find them, then tap to assassinate. Doing well in a game seems to actually require a surprising amount of skill, as you need to walk with the other civilians around town, matching their movement as much as possible, all the while looking for other civilians who are moving irregularly or are somewhere they wouldn't normally be.

The game is loaded with several different power-ups, online leaderboards, a friends system, and other cool unexpected features. It's even under 20MB, so you can download it over 3G. In two days it's going back to its normal price of $2.99, so be sure you grab this game while it's still free.

App Store Link: Assassin's Creed II: Multiplayer, Free (For a Limited Time)