Chillingo is quite possibly one of the most well-known publishers of iOS games, and for a very good reason. They’re constantly releasing high-quality, polished titles. Last week, along with Disco Kitten, they released Eager Beaver, developed by Gamagio, a puzzle title which has you helping a beaver build dams. 

When I first saw the trailer for Eager Beaver, I didn’t think I’d like the game too much, but after completing the first world (10 levels), I was hooked. The goal of each level is to use rocks to build up a barrier which blocks off the water from reaching the right side of the screen. Using fewer blocks results in a higher score. This gets pretty challenging, even towards the beginning of the game, once teeter-totters, mines, the water current, floating wooden barrels, and fish which can knock over your barrier, and disrupt where blocks land are introduced to the gameplay. 

There is no time limit, which is nice, and lets you completely focus on how you want to build up your rock dam. The controls are also simple and easy to use. Each rock is automatically picked up with a crane at the top of the screen, and then you’re able to touch down on the screen, and drag the crane to where you want it, while picking your finger up from the screen releases the rock. Adding to the difficulty, however, as the crane is holding the rock, the rock spins clockwise, so you’ll need to make sure that you let go at just the right time so that you can match rocks together perfectly. 

Each of the 5 different worlds has 10 levels, and each of the levels has an available 3 star ranking. Though to reach worlds, you do not need to complete all of the previous levels, you just need to get a certain amount of stars, which is great for a puzzle game like this, as it’s never fun getting stuck on just one level. To get 3 stars, you’ll need to build the dam with a certain number of rocks, leaving the rest of the rocks un-used. This does add to the challenge, as well as replay value, especially if you’re driven by high-scores or achievements. GameCenter contains a leaderboard for your total score, and 18 hard to snag achievements, giving players plenty to try and complete even after finishing the last level. 

Graphically, Eager Beaver is well done with very nice and vibrant environments, each with their own items, hazards and plenty of variety in the atmospheres. Physics, animations, and inertia are all very well done, and highly polished. Even the movement of the water and the fish’s underwater breathing is animated, and these little touches add a ton to the all around feeling of the game. 

Priced at $0.99, being Universal, and having loads of fantastic gameplay+replay value, it’s definitely a title that stands out within the physics puzzler genre. Seeing more levels, or even another gameplay mode would make it an outstanding title, but as it is now, it’s one of the better puzzler titles I’ve played in a while, and I’d certainly love to see more from Gamagio in the future. 

Match-3 games are almost as abundant as runners in the AppStore, which makes it hard to find titles within the genre that really stand out. Luckily, there are those few that do. Be-Rad’s latest release, WarGames: WOPR is definitely a title that stands out above the rest. Officially licensed, WarGames centers around the 1980’s Movie by the same name, with you taking control of the WOPR computer.

WarGames: WOPR only has one mode; the Campaign. It takes you through the story of WarGames from the computer’s perspective. You’ll go up against each of the movie’s characters, gaining special powers, and pieces of the launch code. 

WarGames is played by connecting groups of 3 or more symbols in order to use that action. On the board are missiles, satellites, + and $ symbols. The missiles attack your opponent, satellites go towards filling up a percentage which, when it hits 100%, gives you a special option, usually giving you health, an extra attack, or placement of power-ups on the board. The “+” symbols regenerate health, and the “$” symbols give you money, which you need in order to use your power-ups which you’ll gain as you progress throughout the game.

As you complete stages, you’ll earn RAM. This RAM is used to purchase and upgrade Tactics, or usable power-ups, which you can use in-game with the money you gain while playing, and Mods, which are permanent bonuses like gaining money with each turn, spawn a powerup tile when clearing chains of 12 or more, gain money instead of health when health is already at 100%, things of this nature. You are able to buy more RAM through the IAP, but it isn’t required to complete the game, and is mainly there if you want a super-powered up computer, or just feel like donating some money to the developers. 

The graphics are a simple, retro inspired, minimal style, and the animations fit very well within that fashion. However, the music is more modern, but accompanies the style of the game perfectly. The User Interface is clean, simple and responsive, and with no time limits, you’re able to thoroughly think through your moves, which, like most other match-3 games, does involve some strategy. 

WarGames: WOPR is Universal and priced at $0.99. It is supported with GameCenter, having a leaderboard for most Nukes, along with 8 Achievements. It’s also got iCloud support, which is fantastic, considering some of the levels are incredibly challenging, and sharing the saved data between devices is a real time saver. As far as Match-3 games go for the iOS, WarGames is definitely one of the best. If you’re a fan of the genre, it’s one title you should check out.

Seems like a lot of FANTASTIC games have been going free lately , and here are 4 more that you can add to your device at no charge to you. If you don’t have these already, they’re great games to check out, especially Project 83113, which is sitting comfortably at #2 on my favorite games of 2012 list right now. If you’re a platformer fan, Blobster is a nice one to check out, and Avenger is heavily influenced by Castlevania. Monster Shooter: The Lost Levels is a great dual stick shooter that feels like a cheat version if you’re familiar and use to playing the freemium version of Monster Shooter. So go ahead, spend some of your bandwidth, because these games are all worthy of snagging. =o)

Project 83113

Blobster (iPhone/iPod)

Blobster HD (iPad)

Avenger

Hacking based games have always been a favorite of mine, and they really seem to fit very well on the iDevice. Hacker Evolution, Digital Heist, The Hacker, The Hack Run Trilogy… but none of these have really done for me what Introversion Software’s Uplink has done. A perfect port of the PC version, Uplink’s fantastic story, user interface, graphics, music, gameplay and paranoia are just as addictive as they were 10+ years ago using a mouse and keyboard. Though not very realistic, it captures the essence of ‘Hollywood Hacking’ like that shown in Hackers, Swordfish, Sneakers, and other ‘Hacker Inspired’ films, which makes for a much more interesting video game. 

Uplink’s story revolves around the Andromeda Research Corporation, which is creating a computer virus using artificial life research that can destroy the Internet. Another company, Arunmor, is trying to create another virus that can destroy Andromeda’s virus. You’re able to choose between Arunmor and Andromeda, or you can just focus on completing every mission you can while the story goes on without you. 

You start off joining the Uplink Corporation who provides work for hackers by matching missions with skill levels and providing both the hardware and software that’s needed to do the work. Once you create a user account with the company, you’ll need to prove you have what it takes to work for them by completing a test mission. You are able to activate the tutorial for this, which walks you through, step by step, showing you the basic mechanics of the game. There’s also a ‘Help’ section on the Uplink Corporation’s mainframe which gives you information about security systems and software, as well as anything else you might have questions about throughout the game. 

Once you complete the test mission, you’re able to sign in to the Uplink Corporation and view the ‘Mission List’. Here is where you’ll be able to accept jobs from companies based on your user level. Completing missions raises your level and gives you credits which you can use to purchase more software and upgrade your hardware. Starting off, you’ll have a bunch of missions which have you copying and deleting files, but once you raise your level, you’ll be altering documents, destroying entire libraries of data, and even outing other hackers. 

The user interface for a hacking game like Uplink is extremely important, and Introversion Software has done a great job making the game easy to navigate and understand. On the top of the screen, you’re able to see the date, and your IP address, as well as fast forward time which comes in handy if you’re waiting to have better hardware installed, or are waiting for more missions which fit your level. 

There’s also a CPU Usage bar , which is pretty much like a Task Manager, showing what applications are running, and how much power they’re using. You can also send more power to a specific application, making it run faster, or take power away from one that doesn’t require as much, like your Trace_Tracker (which lets you know when you’re being traced), so that you can give more power to your file copier, password breaker, or any other applications that might need to be sped up. 

In the top right corner is the world map, showing all of the networks which you can connect to. Here is where you’ll bounce different connections off of different networks, making it harder for companies to trace your IP address. 

Along the bottom of the screen are your icons used for starting up applications, reading e-mails, reading your accepted missions, checking out your level, credit amount, installed software and what hardware you currently have. Tapping on the satellite in the bottom left corner pops up a menu which separates your applications by type; Utilities, Drivers, Security, Crackers, ect. To start an application, all you need to do is find it in the list, and tap on it. Once you get further along into the game and need to change information, or enter names to search for, a keyboard pops up on the bottom half of the screen. It’s responsiveness is fairly quick, so you’re never stuck waiting for the keyboard to pop up, taking up time while you’re being traced, which is great.

Uplink is priced at $4.99, and only available for the iPad. If you’re even remotely intrigued by hacking, or into hacker games, Uplink is one of the most entertaining titles, on any gaming platform, that you can check out. Sadly, there is no GameCenter integration, which means no achievements, which would have been a fantastic addition to the iOS version. A leader board for total number of completed missions would have been great to have as well. But the gameplay doesn’t suffer from the lack of a leaderboard and achievements, and still gives players the drive to keep coming back, completing more missions, and progressing further along with the plot. It’s a must get for fans of the genre, and at the current price, is a steal. Hopefully Uplink will sell well, and get some much deserved attention so that Introversion Software can port over more of their fantastic titles to the iOS. DEFCON, Darwinia and others would be fantastic on the touch screen. 

Myst. For a lot of gamers the name conjures up great memories, fantastic gameplay, and one of the most innovative games of the 90’s. The first time I played Myst was in 1999 during my 3 free periods in High School. It took me about two weeks to complete the game, but it’s stuck with me after all these years. I had heard about a ‘realMyst’ which was done in a type of first-person gameplay incorporating free-roam, but I never got the chance to play it. Now, almost 20 years after it’s original release, realMyst has been ported over to the iOS, and I’ve been extremely excited to dive back into the game after all these years, being able to experience it in a new way.

If you’re new to Myst, it was originally a point and click puzzle adventure title done in a first person view that had you thrown onto an island and left the rest up to you. There was no tutorial, no one telling you where to go or what to do, you had to figure it all out on your own. There were clues left in notes around the island, and little clips found in books and strange machines that guide you along and give you backstory. It took me about 10 tries before I actually got into the game because I never knew what to do, until a friend told me where the first note was, and then I was off, totally immersed in the world, exploring the island through the different ‘ages’ solving puzzles, backtracking, gathering clues, and loving every minute of the gameplay. 

The controls fit perfectly with the touch screen, dragging to look around, tapping and holding to move forward, doing a double tap and hold to sprint, and touching two fingers to the screen to move backwards. Everything within the game can be dragged or tapped to be activated, and like most other point & click games, feels like a perfect fit for the iDevice. 

The graphics in realMyst are fantastic. The atmospheres and environments are beautifully crafted, and full of seemingly esoteric structures that eventually come to life before your eyes. Unfortunately, there are some notes within the game that are pretty blurry, and hard to read. There’s also some very noticeable drops in frame-rate and jitteriness while exploring the world. This does wind up knocking you out of the immersion a bit, but it doesn’t really harm the gameplay. Myst is not an action oriented game, no one is chasing you, and you’re not under a time limit to find clues so you’ll never die because you couldn’t move fast enough or because a couple frames were skipped. But it would be nice if there was a way to optimize the game, even at a drop in frame-rate, so that you’re not constantly reminded that you’re playing a game. But it’s easily one of the most graphically impressive games I’ve ever had the pleasure of experiencing. The music, ambience and sound effects are also just as fantastic as the graphics, and fit in perfectly with the settings, adding immensely to the atmosphere and feeling of the environments throughout the entire game. 

It might take a while to actually get into the game, and figure out what to do in some parts, but the main thing is to keep at it, keep exploring, keep looking at everything, switching levers, touching books, pictures, and knobs, and you’ll slowly progress through one of the most amazing games to date, and find out why some gamers call Myst an experience that borders on being referred to as art more than a game. realMyst is only available for the iPad 2 and 3rd Generation iPad, and priced at $6.99 for launch, with the price set to go up to $9.99 soon. There is no GameCenter integration, which is kind of disappointing, as achievements for Myst would have been a wonderful addition, and would have added to the drive to really explore every little inch and crevice throughout the entire game. 

If you’ve experienced Myst in the past, realMyst’s gameplay and feeling is different enough that it’s worth checking out again. If you’re new to Myst, realMyst is quite possibly the best version you could check out, and even at the regular price of $9.99, is more than worth every single penny you’d spend on it, even with the couple of issues within the game. Being able to have Myst on my iDevice is still pretty surreal, and I’m going to fully enjoy every single minute I spend exploring and solving the puzzles all over again. It’s definitely one game that every person who calls themselves a gamer should experience, and with this iOS port, it’s yet another opportunity to do just that. 

Racing games coupled with the iDevice’s accelerometer control option works extremely well. Thankfully, developers are going above and beyond your typical racers, expanding the genre, and creating new and unique games. QuBIT, Protoxide, Axon Runners and others are great examples of this. Green Ferry Games first iOS release, Lightraycer, is another attempt at pushing the genre beyond the typical trends. 

In Lightraycer, you control a space ship trying to outrun a supernova blast by racing along a track through space. The controls are typical of other racers on the platform, tilt to move, but you can also jump by tapping on the screen. With the inclusion of the jump mechanic, Green Ferry was able to include light walls, breaks in the track and falling orbs which slow your ship down. 

The graphics in Lightraycer are fantastic, with beautiful, vibrant backgrounds, a great looking track, and when the supernova gets closer behind you, the sides of the screen start closing in on you with a bright orange and yellow glow accompanying shaking from the blast. Unfortunately, this is pretty much all that the game encompasses. 

There’s only one gameplay mode, one ship, no power-ups, no GameCenter or OpenFeint integration, no objectives, and no real drive to keep playing, or get a better score, which makes Lightraycer seem like a pretty bland and basic title when compared to the rest of the genre. This is made more disappointing by the core gameplay, which has loads of potential, but isn’t taken advantage of. 

Being priced at $1.99, it’s hard to recommend Lightraycer, especially with so many other great racers for the iOS at either the same price or cheaper. Until more is added on to the game, chances are it’s not going to reach it’s target audience, and will fade into the background as so many other iOS titles have, which is unfortunate, because there’s clearly talent behind the game, and unique ideas floating around Green Ferry Games studio which isn’t being fully taken advantage of. 

It’s always exciting seeing a new coming development company come to the AppStore, especially when they have previous iOS experience, release their first iOS game. Suspect In Sight, from Jujubee Games (founded in 2012 by ex-Projekt RED, Traveler’s Tales and Infinite Dreams developers), is their first release, and it shows that they have quite a bit of experience behind them. 

Suspect In Sight has you controlling a helicopter, chasing suspects cars, lighting them up until the police can take them out. The game has 4 separate game modes, and 3 cities to chase the criminals in. the main game mode is the campaign, where you’ll gain experience points and chase down wave after wave of cars until your time runs out. Starting in Miami, you can choose between two different control schemes, tilt and joystick (on the left or right side of your screen), and are given a basic helicopter to start off with. 

As you chase down the cars, gems are given to you after each capture which add to your overall score. There is a multiplier gauge as well, which increases if you can keep the cars in your spotlight until they’re taken down. Each car also adds 5 seconds to your time limit, and there are also “?” scattered throughout the stages which give you little bonuses, like extra time, increased speed for a short time, extra points, stopping the cars for a short time, and more. Experience is gained depending on how many suspects are arrested, how many waves you complete, and your time played. 

Leveling up is required to unlock the extra modes. Race for Gems Mode has you following a stream of gems throughout a level, trying to get them all in the shortest amount of time. As for the other two modes, AC-130 Mode, and Bird of Prey, I haven’t been able to unlock those yet. Which brings me to pretty much my one and only complaint with the game. 

Unlocking modes requires you to reach certain levels by gaining experience. Race For Gems requires Level 3, AC-130 – Level 7, and Bird of Prey – Level 12. After playing for about an hour and a half, I managed to reach level 4. Generally, each game takes about 5 minutes, and only nets between 300 and 600 experience points. Level 3 is at 5,000 experience points, and level 4 is at 10,000 experience points, with level 5 at 15,000 points. With the gameplay being pretty basic, and everything that might make the game a lot more entertaining locked away when you first pick the game up, the grind to get up to level 12 (which is when Bird of Prey is unlocked) can turn out to be long and boring. I’m assuming others are experiencing the same type of grind, as I’m currently #11 out of 5,125 players on the Highest Score board, and #18 out of 5,141 players for Total Experience Points. 

This is pretty disappointing, considering how great the graphics are, and how much potential the game seems to have right now. GameCenter leaderboards for Highest Score, Total Experience Points, and Best Time in the Race For Gems, along with 18 achievements. Being Universal, priced at $0.99, and having loads of replay value, it’s a great game that all action/arcade + high-score chasing fanatics should check out. Hopefully the experience points required for leveling up will be lowered, or the next helicopter I unlock (whenever I reach whatever level I need to reach in order to unlock it – it doesn‘t say when it is unlocked) helps me gain experience points faster. In the beginning it’s a pretty big downer seeing how long it’s going to take to unlock all of the modes. 

Platformers. Whenever a new one hit’s the AppStore, I get extremely excited. There’s always so much potential and possibility within the genre, even on mobile devices. The most recent one to find a spot on my iPod is Mike & Milkbox, developed by SangWoon Yi. You are a bird spy named Mike who’s been recruited to save the world. Evildoer ‘Melanie’ is trying to design her own world government, and you need to traverse through the 4 worlds/24 stages taking out her minions, collecting coins, and saving little baby chicks. 

First off, Mike & Milkbox currently only has an iPhone version, which means that playing on the iPad will be in 2X mode, and the controls really aren’t designed for the big screen at the moment. The developer has said that an HD version is coming, so there is hope that they will be customizable on the iPad, and maybe the iPhone version will get some control tweaks in a future update as well. As it is now, the controls work well enough, but the jump button could be a little more responsive. You are able to choose between big buttons and smaller arrows in the pause menu, which is a nice addition, especially since the bigger buttons sometimes block enemies or objects. The dead zone for both control schemes is perfect, but it’s always nice to have buttons which you can place wherever you like, and with so many iOS platformers including that option, it is kind of a bummer when you come across a title that only has fixed buttons. 

Other important aspects of a platformer? Inertia, physics, and movement speed. Mike does move a little bit slower than what I’d like, but it’s easy to get comfortable with, and isn’t distracting at all. As for inertia, there isn’t any. Once you let up off of a directional button, your character comes to a complete stop, even when in mid-air, which is a huge plus. No need to try and adjust when you let up off of buttons while trying to land on a box, or edge of a platform, and the physics in Mike & Milkbox feel great, making most of the gameplay very comfortable. 

The graphics are great, with beautifully detailed backdrops, retro inspired platforms and wonderfully designed character and enemy sprites. The animations are decent, with enemies falling down into the bottom of the screen when killed, and Mike’s death animation being pretty cute (a bandage, bruises, and ‘x’ed out eyes appear as Mike falls down into the bottom of the screen). 

The level designs in Mike & Milkbox are also a highlight of the game. At the beginning, in the Barnyard levels, the stages do seem pretty simple, but as you progress into the Jungle, Lab and Cave environments, the levels become pretty complex, with great warp mechanics, and areas hidden behind fake walls making exploration a part of the gameplay. 

Each of the 24 stages has a 3 star ranking, one for completing the level in under 100 seconds, another for collecting each of the 3 little chicks, and the last for taking no damage throughout the level. Since the game does not include any online support, no leaderboards or any achievements, this does help add to the replay value, but only so much. Along with some control options, GameCenter boards and achievements would add a ton to the game.

Mike & Milkbox is FREE right now, but is regularly priced at $1.99, so make sure you grab it, and tell all your platform addicted buddies about it. SangWoon Yi has definitely made a platformer that fits very nicely in an iPod folder full of Miss Claire Garden, Wawa Land, Supercow, Kale, and loads more… if you’re a fan of the genre you definitely need to check it out.

Recently, a whole bunch of fantastic games have gone free. If you don’t yet have any of these, now would be the best time to snag em up! So pull our your iDevice, and get ready to download. =oD

Mailmen [Ayopa Games]

Sonic & SEGA All-Stars Racing [SEGA]

Ballistic SE [Radiangames]

Tower of Fortune [Game Stew]

No Gravity [Realtek VR]

Vermes On Mars [Aztlan Games]

Nano Panda [Renren Games]

6th Planet [Monkube]

RPG Slots [Frozen Star Studios]

Spy Mouse [Electronic Arts]

Spy Mouse HD [Electronic Arts]

Lock ‘n Load [Chillingo]

Flight Control Rocket [Electronic Arts]

:Shift 2: [Armor Games]

Call of Atlantis HD 9Premium0 [Playrix]

Hollow Grounds [Full Color Planet]

Dragon Wrath [Faraway Frontiers]

Grabatron [Future Games of London]