The Humble Indie Bundle and other gigantic collections of PC indie titles are all the rage nowadays for a lot of reasons, but starting now, there’s a feel-good App Store equivalent. A collection of twelve developers have come together for “12 Indie Apps For Christmas." It’s “slightly different," but the bottom-line is that 25 percent of each individual sale of one of its games, post-Apple cut, will go to Child’s Play or Doctors Without Borders throughout the rest of December.
The official rundown is available on the event’s web site, so do check that out if you plan to get your humanitarian on. The developers involved are all pretty hip, and the games are pretty bangin’, too. Here’s a break-down:
Christmas Air Hockey, $0.99 – [Forum Thread] – This is what you think it is — no surprises, it appears. On the other hand, this is definitely festive Air Hockey at its finest, as it includes tons of Christmas trimmings including snowmen, snow, and Santa sounds.
Galcon Labs, $2.99 - [Forum Thread] – Galcon, a real-time space strategy game fusion, has received a ton of updates over its life. At one point, Penny Arcade said that it’s a “must," and we basically agree with that sentiment.
Harbor Master, Free - [Forum Thread] – Harbor Master was one of those titles original that kinda validated the App Store game section, and it still rocks. Direct boats, move them into port, and get them away safely — this is a “light" strategy game that moves pretty fast, but does require a careful eye.
Smiles HD, $3.99 – [Forum Thread] – Smiles HD incorporates two different matching and strategic puzzle games. It probably won’t blow you away, but it’s a sharp and well-designed package that has a ton of charm
Disc Drivin', $2.99 - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Turn-based racing sounds a little abstract, but Disc Drivin’ is a fantastic time-waster that pairs hardcore flick action with asynchronous play. The Bearded One enjoys this so much, he’s practically physically bonded with it.
Full Deck Word Games, Free - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – If you’re looking for the next Words With Friends, you won’t find that depth of multiplayer here. But as an inexpensive way to entertain yourself while chatting with a friend, Full Deck Word Games will more than do the job.
iBlast Moki, $2.99 - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – iBlast Moki is a fun, high quality physics puzzler with intuitive controls and a full level creation and online sharing system. We highly recommend it, and people still seem to love it.
Red Nova, $1.99 - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – Red Nova actually does quite a few things to set itself apart from the pack. It has an interesting premise, one of the smartest control schemes I’ve seen, Game Center integration for high score bragging rights, and above all else it’s just a blast to play.
Sword of Fargoal - GameClub, Free - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – But, really, what makes the game so well suited for the iPhone is its casual nature as compared to the typical roguelike. Those who’ve never played a dungeon crawler before might just find themselves drawn in to Sword of Fargoal.
Tilt to Live, $2.99 - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – It is said that the best ideas are often the most simple ones, and there doesn’t seem to be anything quite as simple as the dot. Developers One Man Left seem to agree, as they’ve staked their entire game, Tilt to Live, on the premise of our beloved period; albeit the rapacious, hell-bent variety.
Trainyard, $0.99 - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – This, unsurprisingly, is a game about trains and routing them. And while that premise is simple, don’t let that fool you: this is one of those deceptively complex games with some mind-bending puzzles and a fantastic user-creation element.
Velocispider, $2.99 - [Review] – [Forum Thread] – If you’re anything like us, the thrill of fighting off waves of aquatic-robot monsters with a well armed half-spider, half-velociraptor Araknasaur makes Velocispider an extremely easy buy. Fortunately, it’s also a challenging top-down shooter that’ll keep you scrabbling for a high score.
