Well, readers, that special day is upon us. It’s Valentine’s Day. And what better way to share our love with our readers — who are certainly glued to the website, the App Store, and their iPhones, rather than out weaving a web of romance with someone special — than to underscore a few Valentine-savvy iPhone games?
Makeout Mania! from StormHatch ($0.99)
Makeout Mania! is a “chain-reaction puzzler" that puts you in the role of that love-spreading cherub, Cupid, on a mission to pierce the heart of a school full of unsuspecting students with your arrows of love, sending them on a frenzied bid to kiss, kiss, kiss, kiss.
The title offers 24 levels of gameplay in Puzzle Mode, where the mission is to pierce a heart and make the perfect match (consult the yearbook to see who’s nuts about who) while avoiding the teachers at all cost. There’s also Mania Mode where it’s a race against the clock to trigger the most kisses possible in an ever-scrolling schoolhouse, with the option to compete against your Facebook and Plus+ friends.
Free, new levels are on the way and an update has been submitted that tweaks a few areas of gameplay.
App Store Link: Makeout Mania! ($0.99)
Flower Garden from SnappyTouch ($0.99)
A big part of Valentine’s Day, for those of us that don’t spend all our time playing iPhone games, is flowers. And, thanks to Noel Llopis of SnappyTouch, you can have your own lovely flower garden right inside your iPhone.
As we said in our initial review of the app, Flower Garden is not really a game. It does, however, fall into the same sim / virtual pet type experience that has boosted apps such as Koi Pond, Pocket God and Touch Pets Dogs to the heights of popularity in the App Store.
There’s no real goal to Flower Garden. It’s something of a zen-like experience, really. Grow flowers. Unlock new seeds. Clip flowers to make bouquets. And it’s the last that really puts this game under the Valentine’s Day crosshairs; you can make a lovely bouquet and email it to someone special. Basically, it turns your iPhone into a digital Cupid, with email for arrows. And, to make things even sweeter, the game is currently under a 60%-off weekend-only Valentine’s Day sale at $0.99.
App Store Link: Flower Garden ($0.99, sale)
Whac-a-Mole: Whacky Valentines from Mattel (Free)
Everybody’s played a whack-a-mole game, in one form or another. It’s a pretty simple formula: the mole pops up out of its hole and you whack it. And, who doesn’t like to bludgeon moles? Especially when the damned things are trying to ruin Valentine’s Day!
Whac-a-Mole: Whacky Valentines is basically a Valentine-themed version of the iPhone original [App Store] which is, as such games go, a pretty solid take on the whack-a-mole formula. Amusingly, the digital backboard of the game provides the occasional (though highly simplistic) mini-game — a nice touch.
I’d go into further description of the title but…it’s free, so just download it and start whacking.
App Store Link: Whac-a-Mole: Whacky Valentines (Free)
Touch Pets Dogs Valentine’s Goodies Pack from ngmoco ($2.99 DLC)
Virtual pet buffs need not be left out in the cold on this day of love and merriment. Ngmoco is currently offering a Valentine’s Goodies Pack as paid in-game DLC ($2.99) in Touch Pets Dogs for those that want to lavish their v-pooch with as much love as can be.
App Store Link: Touch Pets Dogs (Free)
Happy Valentine’s Day, everybody.
