In a mobile market saturated with clones and “me too" copycats trying to ride the coattails of the mega hits, it can be rare to come across a game that genuinely feels fresh and unique. That was certainly not the case though when Rule With an Iron Fish ($3.99) launched early last month. This is one of those games that blends a lot of popular concepts together, but not in a way that feels like its treading familiar territory.

Its main “hook" if you will (HEH) is in its fishing portions, which are extremely simplistic but totally satisfying and even relaxing, just like real fishing. Rule With an Iron Fish has the soul of an idle clicker, as incremental upgrades and new equipment are what keep you pressing on and immediately picking the game back up just moments after you’ve thought you were finished. Then there’s an RPG-ish element to it, not just in terms of the upgrading but in that there’s a well-realized tiny little world in the game that you get to explore, complete with humorous characters, interesting locations, and lots and lots of corny pun-filled dialogue. (But in a good way!) The game’s title is just the tip of the iceberg.

All these elements come together extremely well to make for one of the more interesting and entertaining games on the App Store, and we loved Rule With an Iron Fish in our review. Anyway, there was one big problem with Rule With an Iron Fish, and that was that it was an iPhone-only game. iPad owners could play the game in zoomed mode, but the experience wasn’t ideal. Well that changes today as a brand new update has just made the game Universal. Along with the Universal support, this update also nips a few issues in the bud like trophies that you’ve earned going mysteriously missing and a rare bug that screwed up Alvid’s tentacle quests. We wouldn’t want our tentacle quests getting screwy now, would we?

I really can’t recommend Rule With an Iron Fish enough. It’s one of those games I didn’t expect a whole lot from, but found myself helplessly obsessed with it for days after it came out. The progression slows down a bit in the middle parts, but the grinding, aka the fishing part, is so enjoyable you never really notice or care. This is the kind of game you’ll finish and then start over from scratch just for fun. Oh, and it’s also probably worth mentioning that, while this might seem like a perfect fit as a free to play game, it’s entirely pay once and has no form of ads or IAP anywhere in sight.

So if lack of true iPad support was holding you back before, now you have no excuse, and if you simply missed it or dismissed it when it originally launched a month and a half ago, definitely consider checking out Rule With an Iron Fish now and see what people are saying about it in the game’s forum.