I told myself I'd go get lunch after getting through one more of Bobbing's [Free / $1.99] 86 levels. They're short and sweet, once you know what you're doing. It shouldn't have been a problem. Twenty minutes later, I was finally done. Famished, but finished. I probably should have taken the break I promised myself—Bobbing is not a game to be played on an empty stomach.

It's cute, colorful and quick, but it isn't kind. Most precision platformers eventually let you get by on muscle memory. Repeat a level enough times and you'll know it in your fingertips. Bobbing starts out that way, but it isn't long before it becomes clear that Little Bobby Games has created something more ambitious. Each level becomes a maze, a puzzle that needs to be worked out as you go.

You wouldn't think it would be all that complex. Each level is only half a screen high, and there are only two inputs to work with. Tap the left side of the screen to reverse gravity and the right to swap colors. It's loosely familiar if you've played Polara [$0.99], at least up to that point.

(more...)

It was nearly a year ago that we first heard about Deepworld [Free], a 2D Minecraft-like building and crafting game set in a very cool steampunk world. Deepworld launched on the iPad this past December, and although there are tons of these sandbox-style games all vying for your gaming attention, we thought that Deepworld was one of the better ones and worth your time to check out, especially since it's a free download.

That recommendation was limited to iPad owners though, so if you're rocking an iPhone or iPod touch only then you were out of luck. Until last week that is, when Deepworld was updated to be Universal. Now smaller-screened iOS gamers can finally explore the interesting worlds of Deepworld.

That's not all, though, as since we last talked about Deepworld in December the game has been updated numerous times, adding all sorts of new functionality and content as well as tweaking and smoothing out the entire experience. You can get all the nitty gritty details in the App Store update descriptions, but if you tried Deepworld initially and it didn't click with you then, it's worth giving another look now. Also, join in with the community at the official Deepworld forums or the game discussion thread in our very own forums.

Last week, we detailed a massive update for Majic Jungle's Minecraft-y world building simulation The Blockheads [Free] which would fundamentally change the way the game and its free-to-play model worked. Like many free-to-play games, The Blockheads is outfitted with various cooldown timers and a premium currency system which you can use to speed them up.

The thing which was different about The Blockheads compared to similar titles is that the timers would only count down while the game was open and running, which was inconvenient to say the least. Initially this was to encourage players to warp in a second character, and while one was busy with timer-based tasks you could use the other to continue on with your progress.

That's not really the way it worked out, though, as Majic Jungle looked at their data and realized the majority of players were never getting to the point of introducing additional characters, and in fact were hitting game-stopping timer walls where they were left with nothing to do but sit there and stare at the game until the counters finished.

This wasn't how the game was intended to be, so with today's update you can now queue up your tasks and exit the game and they will continue to count down while you're gone. It's also cheaper to warp in another character to help out with your various endeavors, and the maximum number of total characters available in a single world has been increased from 3 to 4.

While the change in timer behavior is the big news in this update, version 1.2 of The Blockheads is chock full of tons of other new stuff too. Sharks and fish have invaded the oceans, and you can build yourself a fishing pole to get out there and catch some of them. You can also craft your Blockhead a tin foil hat, which will give him or her their own free will, meaning they'll run around your world collecting resources, mining or exploring while you're away.

There are plenty more details on what's new in this update in the App Store description, but if you tried out The Blockheads initially and were turned off by how the timer system worked, then now is the time to give it another chance. Or if you're like me and just plain put up with the waiting because you enjoyed the game so much, today's update should make for a much more enjoyable experience all around. Be sure to check it out.

Heads up pen and paper role-playing enthusiasts or just anyone looking for a quirky new adventure: you're going to want to check out Knights of Pen & Paper [$1.99] which is currently free for the first time ever. Originally releasing this past October, Knights of Pen & Paper is more about the theme of classic pen and paper role-playing games rather than trying to be a digital recreation of it. It's literally a game about people playing a game, and it's full of self-referential humor and references to the world of video games that will bring many a smile to your face.

Knights of Pen & Paper doesn't ever take itself too seriously, and has an abundance of personality and charm throughout, which are big reasons why we enjoyed it so much in our review. There's also a challenging battle system and more quests than you can shake a stick at, all jammed into a tight little package that feels very well-suited to the mobile gaming platform. It can be a tad grindy at times and the quests aren't always the most creative, but these are minor shortcomings compared to all the things that Knights of Pen & Paper does really well.

You don't have to be a diehard role-player – in analog or digital form – to get a ton of enjoyment out of Knights of Pen & Paper, and for free it's definitely in no-brainer territory. Grab it and check it out, and don't be surprised if its charms win you over. Also be sure to hit up our forums to talk strategies and hear new information straight from the developers.

We're fairly eagle-eyed when it comes to spotting the good games that grace the App Store's shelves, but inevitably with such an expansive offering of games there's bound to be those that fly under our radar. One of those games was Help Volty [$0.99 (HD)], an atmospheric and clever puzzle game for the iPad.

Help Volty actually released back in October of last year, a lifetime ago in the mobile space it feels, but Brad happened across it last month in his never ending plight to discover cool games, and found it enjoyable and worth talking about. Him and Eli took it for a spin in a TA Plays video, and a couple of days later offered out a full review for Help Volty, awarding it a solid 4 stars.

I'm bringing all this up because right now, to celebrate the integration of Game Center leaderboards and achievements late last month, Help Volty's creators have decided to make the game free until March 10th.

If you're an iPad owner looking for a new puzzle game to work through, and this one originally slipped by your watchful eye just like it did ours, then you should be all over this free promotion. Check it out with the link below, and also be sure to stop by the thread in our forums for some discussion and strategies for Help Volty.

It's been over two years since Glu's Gun Bros [Free] landed on iOS with a bang. A dual-stick shooter infused with freemium elements, Gun Bros' gameplay style was somewhat novel at the time and would be a precursor to the way iOS games would monetize in the coming years. Fast forward to today, and Gun Bros 2 [Free] looks to update and improve upon its predecessor in an environment that is vastly different than before. Offering more guns, more bros, and a streamlined experience for earning experience and currency, Gun Bros 2 is an enjoyable shooter, if you can get past the inevitable paywall.

From a gameplay standpoint, Gun Bros 2 continues the standard arena-based dual-stick shooter style that genre fans should be familiar with. The game features two primary modes: Campaign and Arcade. Campaign challenges players with completing missions across a variety of locales, taking out pre-set enemy waves as fast as you can. Faster times net more valuable medals, which in turn reward more currency and experience. Crates will also randomly fall during campaign missions, which can reward armor, added experience, and added currency. Each set of missions culminates with a boss battle, and taking down that boss unlocks the next tier.

Arcade mode, meanwhile, is classic Gun Bros gameplay and challenges you to survive as long as you can against a neverending horde of enemies. Players earn experience and currency during this mode and a score mechanic allows players to challenge friends on a higher. While the goal is to eventually conquer all the missions in Campaign mode, players will spend most of their time in Unlimited, as the experience and currency flow more freely.

Speaking of currency, the dual currency system from the original Gun Bros returns in this sequel, with 'Xplodium' acting as the standard currency and 'Bucks' acting as the premium currency. Xplodium is freely earned in every mission and arcade run, although it's important to note that players will be replaying missions and arcade mode many times in order to earn enough Xplodium to purchase new weapons. Still, with enough grinding, it's entirely possible to earn enough Xplodium to get through most missions.

As the premium currency, Bucks are rarely earned during normal play and are primarily used to buy the more extravagant (read: overpowered) weapons of the game, and as a last resort to continue on a run if you die. However, Gun Bros 2 also uses bucks in its enemy shield system. Later missions feature shielded enemies that require weapons that have been attuned to that shield's color in order to effectively dispatch them.

While this is an interesting twist to the strategy, attuning a weapon requires a small amount of bucks. This converts the premium currency from simply being for extravagances to being an currency of some necessity, which I think is a problem. If you don't manage your bucks, you'll eventually find yourself needing to excessively grind or shell out real money just to move forward and take on more complicated enemies.

While the freemium elements mostly remain unchanged, Gun Bros 2 does streamline other aspects of the game. For example, armor can no longer be directly bought; you'll find most pieces in crates during mission mode. In addition, every time you find a new piece of armor, its power gets 'absorbed' and your bro earns gains more HP or speed. Finding collections of armor add even more bonuses. This means that equipping armor is exclusively an appearance issue, which works well if you find a cool-looking piece and want to keep it for awhile.

Otherwise, Gun Bros 2 is the same enjoyable gameplay that made the original popular. The ability to hire and use your friends' bros during missions makes a return and is a feature I always liked. While I'm not the biggest fan of the shield color implementation, I still think it adds some strategy to a game that is relatively mindless for a dual stick shooter. The game also enjoys a modern facelift, although the visuals don't particularly standout. In addition, the inclusion of vehicles and weapon mods add some much needed variety, especially since fans of arena shooters know that grinding is a natural part of the game.

Gun Bros 2 is one of those sequels that isn't going to convert gamers that weren't fans of the original. However, if you were a fan of the original and its brand of grind-heavy arena dual-stick shooter gameplay, this sequel simply offers more of the same (for better or worse). Assuming you're in the mood for some grinding and you're willing to accept the fact that a lot of content is effectively locked behind freemium elements, I'd say Gun Bros 2 is worth checking out.

If you happen to be among the last people on the planet who still don't have Angry Birds [$0.99 / $2.99 (HD)], guess what? It's free, so you've got absolutely no excuse anymore. Angry Birds has turned into a classic of sorts on the App Store, and has been ported to basically ever platform under the sun, including, hopefully, your refrigerator at some point in the not too distant terrifying future.

In weirder Angry Birds news, Angry Birds Space [Free / Free (HD)] has been updated with an all-new version of the theme song by Slash. Yes, as in Guns 'n' Roses Slash. It's pretty wicked, I guess, but I'm still stuck on the fact that an 80's rock god is playing the Angry Birds theme.

These are weird times we live in.

If your cravings for behind-the-back runners somehow still isn't satiated, or you've felt the genre was lacking in the social engagement area, then Zynga is hoping to woo you with their newest title Running with Friends. You can probably guess exactly what it is by the title alone: a Temple Run-like endless runner decked out with the social trappings that Zynga's games are known for. Running with Friends was briefly launched in the Canadian App Store back in January, but if you blinked you would have missed it. It appears they weren't quite ready to hit the market, but are taking another stab at it today according to an article at VentureBeat.

The plan is to launch Running with Friends in the Canadian App Store again as a soft launch, with a worldwide rollout happening about a month from now if everything goes smoothly. Right now, in fact, a version of the game is available in the Canadian App Store called Running with Friends Free [Free]. As with many other Zynga games, I'm thinking there might be an ad-free pay-up-front version at some point too.

As for the game itself, Running with Friends is set at the famous Running of the Bulls event in Pamplona, Spain. That's a pretty darn great setting for a Temple Run-like game, I have to say. Mechanics appear pretty standard, with plenty of swiping, jumping and sliding, though there are sections with breakable objects to smash through and occasionally you'll actually be able to hitch a ride on an actual bull. There are also 3 playable characters: a ninja, a ballerina, and a zombie. Here's a couple of App Store screens.

With Zynga's reputation of borrowing a little too liberally from the design book of other popular games, Running with Friends will no doubt take some heat. The truth is though, there's no less than one zillion Temple Run knockoffs in the App Store, and if anything I'm surprised it's taken this long for Zynga to put out their own game in the genre. I'm also curious to see how playing with other people works out, as it might end up being pretty cool.

If you're Canadian or have access to a Canadian App Store account, you can check out the game for free with the link below. Keep in mind that it's iPhone or iPod touch only, no iPad support. You can also drop some comments in our discussion forum and keep your eye out for a worldwide launch of Running with Friends in the near future.

[VentureBeat]

Canadian App Store Link: Running with Friends Free, Free

Quick, to the speculation station! Our pals across the pond at Pocket Gamer spotted something curious while surfing the Chinese App Store: A new-ish version of Need For Speed Most Wanted [$0.99] titled "Need For Speed Most Wanted OL" has launched (and is currently their #1 free app) which not only has all sorts of free to play trimmings but also sports the same time shifted multiplayer found in Real Racing 3 [Free].

The game's web site [Translated] mentions a career mode, daily challenges, and more. What has us scratching our heads is that Real Racing 3 doesn't appear to be on the Chinese app store, making us wonder if this is just their version of that game? If that's the case, why is it so different instead of just a quick and easy re-skin/re-branding? Hmmmm...

We're reaching out to EA to see what (if anything) we can find out. Stay tuned.

Chinese App Store Link: Need For Speed Most Wanted OL, Free

[via Pocket Gamer]

If you've been diligently living an entire second life inside The Blockheads [Free] like I have, then you're really going to be excited about its forthcoming version 1.2 update. The Blockheads takes the whole Minecraft building/exploring/crafting formula and mixes in a dash of The Sims with the ability to have multiple characters with various attributes that needed to be managed. It also bested Minecraft in the interface department, simplifying things with a 2D plane instead of a fully 3D world and using a brilliant touch control scheme and easy to navigate menu system. The Blockheads feels perfect on iOS devices.

It's also a free-to-play title, and uses a premium in-app currency and different levels of timers in a similar fashion to the hundreds of other free-to-play games out there. One big difference though, and something that a lot of players weren't crazy about, is that the timers in The Blockheads would only tick down while you were actually playing the game. Most other free-to-play games allow you to play for a few minutes, queue up a bunch of actions, and then leave the app and go about your business while the timers ticked away, usually reminding you via push notification when one had expired.

The main reason the game was designed this way was to encourage people to warp in a second character. It's not something you can do right off the bat, but eventually you progress far enough with your single character that you're able to add a second character to your world. This is one of the main features of the game, as you can have up to three characters in a world at once and you just kind of play god and tell them what you want them to do. It also heavily mitigates the timers, as similar to using multiple cars in Real Racing 3 [Free] you can queue up a bunch of stuff for one character to do and while they're busy you can go off and play with your other characters.

Well, the problem is that many people either didn't realize, didn't have enough of the proper in-game items, or just plain didn't want to warp in a second character. Because of that, there are many players out there who are queueing up a bunch of tasks for their character and then are forced into sitting there and staring at them until they're done. This isn't what developer David Frampton had intended.

So with version 1.2 of The Blockheads, a fundamental change will take place. When you exit the game, whatever tasks you have queued up will continue on, and when your Blockhead is done they'll simply pause until you come back and give them something else to do. They'll also stop what they're doing if they become too hungry or tired, so you'll need to be mindful of that at least. But this means that no longer will you need to just leave your device lying somewhere with the game running so your Blockhead could finish whatever they were up to. Instead you can play a different game or app while the timers run in the background. Actually, to be clear the game itself doesn't run in the background, so don't fear for your battery life. Instead it quickly simulates the time that's passed (among other things) when you start up the game again.

What other things, you ask? That's actually the next big fundamental change coming to The Blockheads in the version 1.2 update. Now you'll be able to craft tin-foil hats that free your Blockheads from your omnipotent control over them, and while they're wearing one they'll act on their own exploring, mining, gathering resources, or whatever other activities pop into their wee AI brain. I can't wait to set a Blockhead loose in a cave somewhere and come back to find out what they've explored or done on their own.

Among the tweak to how timers work and the ability for Blockheads to have free will, there are tons of other new things coming in this update. For one you'll now be able to warp in an extra Blockhead for a total of four, and the cost for warping one in has been reduced to half what it was before. Fish now live in bodies of water and you can craft a fishing pole to catch them for food. Sharks also live in the water, and if you encounter one and are able to defeat it you'll get a bounty of meat and a shark jaw trophy that you can hang on your wall at home. The size of the trophy correlates to the size of the shark you killed too, which is a cool touch, and you might even come across a clothing item or two in the shark's stomach from a Blockhead who wasn't so fortunate.

There are many many more details too, like tweaks to how queueing up items and actions work and lots of performance improvements and fixes. Too many to name in this already too long post, but rest assured the flow of The Blockheads should be better than it's ever been once version 1.2 hits. As mentioned, the update is submitted and in Apple's hands now, and assuming everything goes smoothly with the approval then we should be seeing it hit sometime in the next week or two.

For now be sure to stop by our forums or the official Blockheads forums for some discussion, or read up on some tips to help you get started if you're new to the game. We'll let you know when version 1.2 of The Blockheads hits the App Store.

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.

If you don't know Whitaker Trebella by name, you'd probably know him by his work. Aside from designing Polymer [$2.99] he's also composed themes for fantastic games like Tilt to Live [$2.99 / Free / Free (HD)], Super Stickman Golf [$2.99] and more. We haven't done a Free Play for a while, and a super clever puzzle game seemed to be the perfect fit following our previous offerings in both the action and RPG space.

We explained how Polymer works in our preview, which also provides the origin story for the game if you're curious about that:

A polymer, in the parlance of the game, is a complete shape, one with no unfinished edges. You achieve this by sliding rows and columns back and forth to move pieces into place. A skilled player might be able to use every piece on the board, but each piece you move takes six or nine others with it. Larger creations become exponentially more difficult to make without disruption, but they're oh so satisfying to reach for. It's almost a shame to destroy them, but that's where the points come in.

We liked it a lot in our review, and since then the game has been updated with universal support, iCloud syncing, multiplayer, and more- Turning a great game into an even better one. Whether you're a iOS puzzle veteran or don't play too many games like this, Polymer is worth a look.

We hope you enjoy taking Polymer for a spin during this TouchArcade Free Play promotion, and feel free to visit our forums to leave your thoughts or questions about the game and join in on the community discussion. We'll be on the lookout for more games to feature in the Free Play program, so keep your eyes glued to TouchArcade for all the best news, reviews and deals in the world of iOS gaming.

To read more about the TouchArcade Free Play program, check out our introductory post: Introducing TouchArcade Free Play - Get Amazing Games for Free where we lay out what it takes to be a Free Play game, and how often you should expect to see awesome freebies. To stay on top of future TouchArcade Free Play titles, bookmark http://toucharcade.com/freeplay and download the TouchArcade app [Free] to get push notifications of when they go live!

In the life of the App Store, the original 2009 release of Real Racing [$0.99 / $0.99 (HD)] was a massive turning point. As mentioned in our review, both the graphical quality and the "feel" of the game were unlike anything else available at the time. Almost a year and a half later when Real Racing 2 [$0.99 / $0.99 (HD)] hit, we questioned whether or not it was "the perfect iPhone game" in our review. Fast forward two more years and tonight Real Racing has officially turned into a trilogy with the release of Real Racing 3 [Free]. Everything in the game is better than its predecessors, except how much you'll need to fork out if you want to play it like you may have played previous installments in the series- Or essentially any racing game you've ever played before.

Real Racing 3 by far has the best "out of the box" experience of any iOS game I've played. After a totally free download which is going to suck up close to 2GB of free space on your device once it's installed you're thrown into what initially seems to be a typical pre-rendered intro cut scene of a Porsche zooming around a track- But then you quickly realize this isn't pre-rendered at all, this is running in real-time, on your phone. This first race serves as a brief tutorial of sorts on how the game works, and if you're online, you'll come to the second amazing realization that these other cars in the tutorial were actually driven by real people via Firemonkeys' new "Time Shifted Multiplayer" system. The whole thing is ridiculously impressive, particularly if you're used to the typical free to play offerings on the App Store which normally consist of basic arcade style games or endlessly reskinned cow clickers.

From there, you buy your first car (Per our tips post we recommend the Silvia!) and you're off to the races. I cannot stress enough just how great the graphics are in Real Racing 3. "Console quality" seems to be a buzzword often thrown around, but if there's any game that deserves that distinction it's this one. The game screams on the iPhone 5, with high resolution textures, amazing looking models, incredibly detailed car interiors, and mirrors that actually work. The sound design is great too, and with a good pair of headphones it's crazy just how immersive the game can feel- Even on the 4" screen of your phone.

Like previous Real Racing games, RR3 sports enough control configurations to satiate everyone regardless of how crazy you want the setup to be. There's options for tilt controls, on-screen controls, and every mixture of the two you can think of. There's also assistive systems for practically everything. If you're a super casual player that isn't very good at racing games, leave steering assist, brake assist, and traction control on and all you'll need to worry about is tilting your phone to drive around the track. If you're a experienced racer, you can take full control of everything (except shifting gears, oddly enough) and likely see way better results as you're not subjected to the overly-cautious automatic systems.

I've really been enjoying how the new Time Shifted Multiplayer works in Real Racing 3. Racing against ghosts has been around for what feels like forever, where you're playing against a car that you cannot interact with, recorded from a previous racing attempt. In this game, Firemonkeys have taken similar data and melded it with an AI racer. If you play into the social features and have friends who are also playing the game, you'll be actively racing against them, potentially hours after they completed the same race. The experience is particularly cool once you link up your Facebook account and randomly see friends on the track that you didn't even know had the game. What's even better is catching up to one of these friends, and actively being able to ram them out of the way to take first and beat their time.

After playing a few races, you'll quickly come to the harsh realization of just how much of a timer-based free to play game Real Racing is. You'll start the game out with a small initial load of premium currency, and periodically unlock smaller amounts in game, but Real Racing 3 is as much a waiting game as it is a racing game. You'll eventually find yourself waiting for the weirdest things stopping you from racing again, covering everything from installing performance upgrades to repairing your suspension. Of course you can skip all these time sinks by making it rain real-world dollars, making the actual price of Real Racing 3 anywhere between free to infinitely expensive depending on how often you open your proverbial wallet.

The up side, if there is one, is that these timers can be somewhat mitigated by playing intelligently and may not be an issue for you at all depending on how you play iOS games. Racing conservatively and actively trying to avoid wear and tear on your car can allow you to squeeze out a few more races before you need to repair, but you could also make the argument that what's fun about these sorts of games is aggressively taking corners, slamming into cars, and barely squeezing out a first place finish. You can't do that in Real Racing 3 unless you want to wait, potentially a very long time.

Personally, I'm so inundated by other things to play that the way I've been enjoying Real Racing 3 is by playing as much as I can, eventually hitting the wall with timers, and then just waiting for the game to send me a push alert telling me my car is repaired and ready to go. Then, when I have time I'll do a few more races before repeating the cycle again. I'm totally OK with this because these short bursts are typically how I play games on my phone. However, if you're the kind of person who wants to download a game like this and blow through it in one massive marathon play session, Real Racing 3 is very much not the game for you.

On the subject of push alerts, in its current iteration having them enabled has some serious drawbacks if you're annoyed by alerts. I'm of the camp of people who like their phone to buzz and beep as little as possible. I'll almost always say no to the popup asking if an app can send you push alerts, and will instantly delete anything that sends me alerts without asking, but I like Real Racing 3 enough that I want to be notified when I can play it again. Unfortunately, by allowing alerts, you're also inviting an endless stream of beeps and vibrates, particularly if you've got lots of friends playing the game. Real Racing 3 will send you an alert whenever someone beats your time in a race.

If you're an active player with friends who are also fairly active, you're in for alert spam like you've never experienced before. This wouldn't be so bad if these alerts actually did something. As it is, when you get an alert that a friend beat your time, you slide it, and the game just loads. It's not like you can swipe the alert to get thrown directly back into that same race to compete against them. The implementation seems really sloppy, and I wish there was a way I could turn this alert spam off while keeping the whole "Hey your car is ready to race again!" alert on.

Firemonkeys have shown that they can tweak these sorts of things on the fly. Since its release in New Zealand two weeks ago, the amount of time players have needed to wait for various things in game have varied wildly, and the solution to my push alert problem is just a checkbox away. It will be interesting to see how these aspects of the game evolve over time, especially considering in its current iteration the way timers work don't make a whole lot of sense. For instance, you can almost mitigate them entirely (or at least get to a point where you can play the game for way longer before stopping) by purchasing multiple cars. Real Racing 3 is actually at its worst for gameplay-stopping timers for new users, as once you hit the point where your car has to be repaired there is absolutely nothing for you to do other than wait or pay. Making new players hit this wall seems very counter-productive when it comes to user retention.

Real Racing 3 is a weird game to review. On one hand, it's free, and is the absolute best looking game available on the App Store right now. You need to experience the sights and sounds of the game as it is downright jaw-dropping to see what Firemonkeys has accomplished on a technical level. On the other, it feels incredibly strange to take a genre that's typically very hardcore and wrapping it in free to play trimmings with hard timer-based stopping points. The juxtaposition between awesome adrenalin-fueled racing and the "Sorry bro, insert coin or come back later" is very, very odd.

If you're a free to play gamer used to the often basic games that litter the Top Free chart on the App Store, Real Racing 3 is going to knock your socks off. Our verdict is to definitely give the game a try, and if you feel the timers are too oppressive, the alerts are too annoying, or it just doesn't otherwise jive with your play style, either download one of the other Real Racing games or check out other great racers on the App Store like Gameloft's Asphalt 7: Heat [$0.99] or EA's Need For Speed: Most Wanted [$0.99] and race the night away.

NOTE: We're not sure what (if any) difference there is between the two Real Racing 3 entries on the App Store. If one link doesn't work in your region, try the other one.

Firemonkeys' Real Racing 3 [Free] is almost upon us, and whether you love that it's free or you hate that it isn't a buy-once-play-forever title, it's going to require a bit of strategy to get the most gameplay out of the title while spending the least amount of money. Managing timers in free to play games can almost be a mini game themselves, and intelligent repair scheduling and car purchasing can significantly mitigate how much time you spend waiting versus how much time you spend racing. While its US release is still a few hours out, now is the time to absorb some strategy on how to spend as little real money as possible while playing the game.

Yesterday I started a thread in our forums asking for tips from New Zealanders and "New Zealanders" who have been playing the game since its soft launch two weeks ago. What's strange about Real Racing 3 is that it's almost the reverse of your typical free to play game. Titles like Clash of Clans [Free], for instance, have very short timers at the start of the game that slowly ramp up into building upgrades that you have to let run over night, or even multiple days.

Get The Silvia

On the subject of which of the starter cars to get, we agree with Xeyad: "Go for the Nissan Silvia, because it accelerates faster and brakes better than the Focus RS." Additionally, when looking at what to get next your additional car purchases should be from the next tier of cars instead of merely saving up for the Focus RS to have two cars for the same class of races. While you totally can buy the Focus RS as your second car, you won't be able to advance outside of the races that both those cars are eligible to compete in.

Buy A Second Car as Soon as Possible

In its current implementation (which we've already seen can be tweaked on the fly) the game's timers seem to be the most punishing at the start of the game when you only have one car. The overall consensus seems to be to do everything you can to reserve both in-game money and the various premium currency you can scrounge up on rushing to owning multiple cars.

Connector explains how he did it:

The most important tip that I have is try to get 3 cars as soon as possible to counter the wait timers. Don't bother upgrading, repairing, or servicing your car until you get your third car. This way, you can switch cars once the lenghty wait timers hit, and you will enjoy the game alot more when you have 3 or more cars.

As you race your cars, they eventually need various repairs, but with two cars you can essentially play twice as long as you beat up one car, then move on to the other. So, at the start of the game it pays off immensely to be patient with timers and let them run instead of dumping the premium currency to speed those up.

Keep An Eye Out For Deals

Amusing Grace points out that the 3rd, 6th, and 9th race in a particular tier will feature a car that's on sale. You will only get this offer once, so try to plan ahead to take advantage of these offers whenever possible. Also, if you're having trouble with races and need to upgrade your car, try to do it as strategically as possible. If you just need a small edge, go for a inexpensive upgrade like tires. If you're committing to something more substantial, upgrading your drivetrain is the best bang for the buck.

Mitigate Damage Whenever Possible

As mentioned by Hoggy110, a mixture of taking corners conservatively to avoid damage while doing everything you can to get out of the way of the AI racers as soon as possible will keep you in the game longer. More damage equates to the necessity of more repairs, and the first few corners can both make or break your car as well as your positioning in the race itself.

Connector also has had good luck getting creative with shortcuts:

This may sound really stupid, but there are times that you may just want to cut through the grass to pass like 10 cars when the ai cars are getting bundled up. While your car will get a little damage from this, you may actually gain more money cause of placing, a faster time, and possibly less overall damage than actually passing the cars on the track. I know the expert players are gonna cringe from my remarks, but it is an option, and it works, especially for beginners.

Find a Control Method That Suits You

Experiment with the different control options finding the best one for your personal level of driving skill. Real Racing 3 features tons of assists, making the game incredibly easy to manager for players who aren't that experienced with racing games, but these assists can also be detrimental to your performance. For instance, the brake assist seems a little heavy handed compared to how you might brake if you were controlling them entirely yourself.

Turning off these assists can be a double edged sword, however, as once again you come face to face with the balancing game that is your overall racing performance and how damaged your car gets. It's entirely possible to make a greater profit placing lower in multiple races than going all out in one race driving so aggressive you're forced into repairing your car immediately.

Choose Your Repairs Wisely

On the subject of repairing your car, keep an eye on which items actually are impacting your performance. For example, there's not much reason to take your car entirely out of commission to repair your headlights as the performance impact of them being broken is negligible and once they're totally broken it's not like they can get damaged more. Also, JagerBombS mentions that brakes needing servicing isn't that big of a deal either, especially if you get good at controlling them manually and handling corners mainly using deceleration.

Make Social Connections to Maximize Earnings

Multiple forum members have suggested getting involved in the social features of the game, as the more friends of yours that you're racing against, the better the rewards can be. Speaking of rewards, The Stick plays by finding what he calls an "easy win" race that you can race over and over again to grind money quickly. He's partial to doing five laps on Suzuka with the Ford Focus RS and four laps on Mount Panorama with the Audi TT Roadster.

Also, like many free to play games, keep an eye out for bonus offers to get additional premium currency. These games almost always have offers you can complete such as liking Facebook pages, checking out other apps, and more simple things to get a small boost.

Queue Up Timers Before Bed

Meanwhile, both JagerBombS and FilipAGuy are mitigating the timers by trying to be a bit more proactive with when you actually execute your various repairs and upgrades. For example, if you're going to bed or aren't going to be able to play for a while, queue up a ton of timers. When you come back, everything will be ready to roll.

If you've got any similar tips, feel free to drop them in the comments here, in the forum thread, or both.

New Zealand App Store Link: Real Racing 3, Free

We've been talking about the new Star Wars Pinball from Zen Studios for the past few weeks, and as of earlier today the update that contains the three Star Wars-themed pinball tables is now available as an update to Zen Pinball [Free]. From what Zen has indicated before, a standalone version is set to be released as well, though we haven't seen any signs of it in international markets just yet. If a standalone version sounds more appealing to you then you might want to wait to see if that version pops up, but if you're eager to grab the game through the Zen Pinball app then you can dive right into that now.

As mentioned, Star Wars Pinball is a collection of three pinball tables, each available separately in Zen Pinball for $1.99 each. If you missed out on our previous coverage but are curious what the tables are like before you plunk down the cash, then have a look at the table based on Star Wars: The Clone Wars, or this one for the table based on Boba Fett. The final table is based on The Empire Strikes Back, and is embedded below.

Of course, you can also get impressions from our community in the forums too. I've only spent a little bit of time with the tables so far, but they seem extremely well done, and a are likely insta-buys if you're into Star Wars and/or Zen Pinball in any way. Check 'em out, and we'll let you know when we catch wind of the standalone release of Star Wars Pinball if and when it hits.