While this week has been filled with news and reviews of fast paced games, I've always had a weakness for word games on the iPhone, even though I'm fairly terrible at them. Here are three recently released or recently updated word games that are all worth checking out–

Guess the News [99¢ / Free] – Surprisingly enough, the news is good for more than material to auto-tune. Guess the News pulls news stories down from various RSS feeds, and turns them in to puzzles to be solved. You're given a brief description of the article, then need to guess the headline from the pile of letter tiles on the game board. Puzzles are broken out in to several categories such as health, sports, and even "odd stories". For instance, I recently played a few games in the technology category that had me guessing the titles of Engadget posts. Guess the News features three difficulty levels which control how much of the headline is already completed at the start of each puzzle, and with the dynamic content fetching provides infinite replay value.

Word Spin [$1.99] – As seen in the above trailer, this game has two parts to it, the first stage amounts to rotating and positioning the various wheels loaded with letters to line up as many words as possible. You then tap the top of the screen to lock the wheels in place, then find every word you possibly can as you rotate the locked set of word wheels searching for valid words. Once you get good enough, you can compete both against friends by sending email challenges where they will play against your exact configuration of the word wheels or by submitting your score to the global online leaderboard. The gameplay mechanic is solid and provides an interesting spin (See what I did there?) on the word hunting game formula.

Words With Friends [$2.99 / Free] – Everyone who owns an iPhone or iPod Touch should have either the free or paid version of this game on their device. Words With Friends takes the game of Literati (a variant of Scrabble) and adds excellent asynchronous online multiplayer with recently added push notifications that alert you when it's your turn in any of your active games. The free version is ad supported, but otherwise fully featured, and according to a recent presentation by the developers at GDC Austin, Words With Friends and Chess With Friends [$2.99 / Free] has 50,000 active users daily.

I've had numerous Words With Friends games going for months now with nearly every friend of mine who owns an iPhone, a clever in-game search function will search the Words With Friends player database for friends of yours you want to start a game with, and if the game can't find them it will offer to send them an email invitation. Everything about the game is implemented so amazingly well that you owe it to yourself to at least try the free version if you're even remotely interested in word games, especially with the recent update adding push notifications. If you need people to play with, stop by the Words With Friends thread on our forums.

So, is it possible to fit another worthy line-drawing game into an already crowded market? Backflip Studios thinks so with their new game Harbor Havoc 3D [$1.99].

Like Flight Control, the objective of the game is to route your ships to their proper docks. Simply draw a line from the ship to the dock and you're on your way. Harbor Havoc 3D's claim to fame, however, is the incorporation of multiple layers of vessels that you must properly navigate. Depending on the map, this can include submarines, boats and helicopters or even submarines and ground rovers in the underwater map. Each type of ship can only collide with like ships, so keeping this in mind is critical for success.

The game comes with 4 maps: Far East, Atlantis, Arctic, and Lighthouse. Each offers a variant in gameplay. Far East is your straightforward Flight Control setup where you are docking different ships to their ports. Ships, however, don't have to be undocked as in Harbor Master. The game also adds an anchoring mechanism by tapping on a ship that will keep them in place. The Far East map is going to feel boring to anyone who has put in much time in any of the existing line-drawing games, but Atlantis and especially Arctic are where things get interesting.

The developer's gameplay video shows how crazy things can get and even shows the locked Lighthouse level which gives you a partially obscured view of the play area.

For advanced players who have gotten bored of Flight Control and are looking for more of a challenge, Harbor Havoc 3D manages to provide added layers of challenge without necessarily being different just for the sake of being different.

App Store Link: Harbor Havoc 3D, $1.99

Riptide Games has released the first game that was the product of the 360 iDev Game Jam. The Game Jam was an all night coding session for developers to try to create a game in 10 hours. This particular game was created in conjunction with Jonathan Hartstein of Pyro Monkey Productions and Eric Lannan of Crucial Games.

Gravity Sling is an inertia based puzzle game, where you must try to get the astronaut back to the space shuttle safely. In order to do this you'll need to take advantage of gravity from the nearby planets as you sling the astronaut through space.

Here's a promotional video showing how the game is played:

Rather than releasing the game at the expected $0.99 price point, Riptide games has taken advantage of Apple's new policy allowing games to be distributed for free with the ability to purchase additional content. 15 levels are included in the free version, with 30 additional levels available in-app for $0.99. This eliminates the need for a Lite version and could be a peek into how things may evolve in the App Store.

App Store Link: Gravity Sling, Free

As is the case with most Gameloft games, very little is known about these two games short of the contents of their trailers. Thankfully, there is quite a bit of gameplay shown in both of them so it's not very hard to get a feel for each game.

The Settlers – The last in a long line of Settlers games starting with the original that was released on the Amiga all the way back in 1993. The Settlers is a real time strategy simulation game that historically has had a fairly relaxed gameplay pace which should translate well to the iPhone. The amount of units moving on screen at once is fairly impressive, and with how few of the games there are of this genre on the App Store, The Settlers should easily stand out from the pack.

Castle Frenzy – Castle defense games have seen a remarkable amount of success on the App Store, from the numerous games with simple stick figures to highly detailed games like Knights Onrush that all share the same basic gameplay elements. Castle Frenzy seems to have the same array of defense upgrades and abilities seen in most similar games, with the most notable difference being its colorful 3D graphics. It's hard to say what if any effect this will have on gameplay, but from the trailer alone Castle Frenzy seems to be one of the coolest looking castle defense games if nothing else.

The much publicized Commodore C64 emulator from Manomio is finally coming back to the App Store. The app has had a rocky history with an initial rejection, public out cry, App Store approval and was then pulled from the App Store by Apple due to inadvertent violations of the SDK terms.

Well, C64 is "almost back" with details posted in FAQ forum by Manomio. According to the developers, the 1.1 version will include the following:

• Compliance with the Apple SDK agreement
• Up to 30% improvement in performance – better battery life and smoother game play
• 3 additional games, International Soccer, International Basketball and International Tennis
• Minor UI improvements

Manomio also reveals that they will be supporting in-app purchases in the 1.2 version which is expected in December. This will allow you to buy additional games in-app rather than the rather cumbersome installation process they had previously used. Existing customers of C64 will get the 1.1 update for free as if nothing had happened.

Looking towards the future, Manomio is considering support for external controls, network play, social gaming and more. Read our hands on with C64 for more details on the App.

TipCat Mobile just released a very nice side scrolling shooter called Cell War [App Store].

The $2.99 game offers a beautifully stylized side scroller that places you as the pilot of a nano machine whose mission is fight off viruses and save the humans from disease. Designed for the iPhone, the game has some nice touches with a good variety of level design and power-ups that seem to keep the game interesting. Three levels of difficulty are provided over 9 different stages, and the game also provides online leaderboards.

The game is controlled primarily through the use of the iPhone's accelerometer allowing you to move the ship with tilt controls alone. This can be calibrated in the options so you can choose the neutral position. Your primary weapon is fired automatically and can be upgraded multiple times. Beyond this, the game also offers a nice touch targeting system for missiles akin to Space Deadbeef — simply touching on the enemies will lock on your missiles.

Here's the game in action:

The developers have also released a fully featured Lite version that provides the first two stages of the game, complete with all 3 difficulty levels. There really is a lot to like about this game, and the production values are outstanding. My only real issue with the game may simply be a personal one. I've never been a fan of the use of the accelerometer for ship movement in 2D iPhone shooters, and I much prefer touch (which is not an option). If you have no such hang ups, this game is definitely recommended, but even if you do, the Lite version provides you with a great sampling of the game.

App Store Link: Cell War, $2.99, Cell War Lite, Free

We once again had the opportunity to speak with id Software's John Carmack today. This time about Doom Classic [App Store], the iPhone, and his plans for the future among other things. We've included the audio of our complete interview in podcast format in our TouchArcade podcast [App Store], but have summarized several of the highlights here.

When we asked Carmack about the lack of 3G multiplayer in Doom Classic, it turns out he left it out because he doesn't feel the ping times over the cellular network are conducive to a good multiplayer experience, and unfortunately doesn't have plans to implement 3G multiplayer in any of id's action-twitch-FPS games– which pretty much covers most of their catalog.

Carmack isn't quite yet sure how exactly they will deploy Doom's vast array of extra content. In our previous interview he mentioned the likelihood of bringing Doom 2 levels along with several other level packs to Doom Classic. The two examples he gave for how they might roll out this extra content were either in discretely buyable level packs, or a completely different "premium" version of the game with every level that exists for Doom.

Most interesting is that he does have plans to eventually implement the ability for Doom Classic gamers to enjoy all kinds of player-created customized maps and other content, and cites Wolfenstein 3D Classic's [App Store] latest update which utilizes a specially formatted link inside of mobile Safari to import this data in to the game as an example of what they would like to do with Doom Classic. Carmack seemed very excited about the potential this system has.

For those concerned about missing specific Wolf 3D control options (such as strafe) in Doom Classic, Carmack told us he regretted not simply including all of the Wolf 3D control methods and that he will likely add these missing control layouts in a future update.

The next game we will see on the App Store from id Software will likely be Quake Classic, which will eventually be followed by Quake 2 and then Quake 3. The release date for Quake Classic, however, is likely several months off, and he's still shooting for one iPhone game per quarter. Carmack also reports that another "from scratch" iPhone-specific game is still in the plans at some point next year. This game hasn't even gone into the design phase, but he expects it to be based on Rage and be a combat/action/racing game.

Carmack also reveals he does follow the TouchArcade forums/comments to see how people are reacting to his games and was complimentary of the iPhone gaming community.

These are just a few of the points of our discussion with John Carmack, but the entire 20 minute interview is worth a listen. If you'd like to hear more about id Software, their games, and Carmack's feelings on the iPhone and the App Store, you can either subscribe to our podcast in iTunes, or download the file directly.

App Store Link: Doom Classic, $6.99
TouchArcade Podcast: Subscribe in iTunes or Direct Download (M4A, 10MB)

Ngmoco announced today that they had acquired iPhone developer Miraphonic, the developer of Epic Pet Wars [App Store].

Epic Pet Wars is one of the Mafia-type MMO games on the App Store that revolves around picking a pet, training and leveling it up for battle. The game is offered for free and makes money based on the sale of add-on pet races and respect points. The game has a loyal following on our forums and seems to fit right in with Ngmoco's recent push into Free + Paid DLC business model with Eliminate Pro and Touch Pets.

We've never provided much coverage to these types of games here on TouchArcade, but they do seem to have a large following amongst App Store customers.

id Software's John Carmack posted new notes about the development of Doom Classic for the iPhone as well as providing some control tips and notes about future products.

First, he provides a few tips for Doom Classic:

• Multiplayer requires a WiFi connection that doesn't have UDP port 14666 blocked
• For those who care about tilt-to-turn, it can still be enabled by four-finger-tapping to bring up the keyboard and typing "tiltturn 4000" or some number like that. Make sure you have tiltmove pulled down to 0.
• "Center sticks: ON" that can be toggled off to keep the sticks fixed in place like in Wolf 3D.
• Turning sensitivity is now graded, and can be disabled by toggling "Ramp turn: ON"

Carmack reports that they do plan on supporting Doom Classic with further updates, but don't plan on making a Lite version. While he will be stepping back from direct iPhone development in the near future, he will put some time into working out a good touch interface for the upcoming Quake Classic for the iPhone. Meanwhile, work on an iPhone specific version of Doom 2 RPG is already underway, and if its well received, they will probably bring over Orcs & Elves as well.

Carmack also reveals that he was initially excited about the possibility of Doom multiplayer over 3G, but after some testing of ping times, he decided on "local link networking only."

TouchArcade will be speaking to Carmack later this afternoon in a very brief interview about Doom Classic, if you have any pressing questions, please leave them in the comments, and we'll see if we can fit them in.

App Store Link: Doom Classic, $6.99

We felt somewhat obligated to review a game as huge as Eliminate Pro [App Store]. Following its epic development cycle, it's hard to think of many other games which were as highly anticipated among our community. But it's not just Touch Arcade forum members who have been waiting for Eliminate, as countless other developers have all been anxiously holding their breath to see how successful the microtransaction-powered gameplay is from a business perspective.

If it wasn't apparent by now from reading our other coverage on the game, we really enjoy Eliminate. The classic four player deathmatch gameplay is enhanced with an RPG-style progression system which adds a great deal of depth to an otherwise simple game. Power-ups littered throughout the maps spice up battles, and when it's working as intended, the matchmaking system seems to do a decent job of making sure the game you get thrown in to is reasonably matched.

While we did feel obligated to review Eliminate Pro, since you can download and experience everything in the game for free, there isn't much reason for me to dwell much on the gameplay. Instead, I'll try to clear up some common misconceptions I've seen in comments and in forum posts, along with offering some helpful tips and hints for new players.

Read the rest of this entry »