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Incoming! Our 100 most anticipated iOS and Android games for the rest of 2014

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Incoming! Our 100 most anticipated iOS and Android games for the rest of 2014
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This is it. The year is halfway over. We've looked at the best games of the year so far on iOS, Android, Vita, and 3DS.

But now it's time to look ahead.

Here, then, we have 100 games that are (hopefully) coming to iOS and Android before the year is out. And that's not even all the games we're looking forward to.

We're not going to list platforms in this piece. In 99 percent of cases, the games will come to iOS first and then arrive on Android a few weeks or months later. We'll keep you in the loop on both counts.

Plus, we can't promise that all these games will make it out in 2014. Some will slip into 2015. Some will go into hiding and pop back up in a few years. Some will be cancelled and never come out and we'll be sad. Some are out next week.

But with that being said, here are 100 games that we can't wait to play on mobile. Click the big bold names of each game to find more on Pocket Gamer.

Death Road to Canada (Rocketcat and Mardgarden)

Death Road to Canada

This game creates a randomised post-apocalyptic world of zombies and survivors, and gives you one chance to get your group safely across America by looting, hiding, fighting, and negotiating. It's permadeath, so if you die you re-roll a whole new scenario.

Avoid Droid (Infinite State Games)

Avoid Droid

Fruitorious developer Infinite State Games gives us a shmup without the "sh" bit. Which means you dodge enemies, rather than blast them to bits. Also the enemy is fruit, giving kids a rather dangerous life lesson and a nasty victim C deficiency. Eat your greens, boys and girls. Don't live life like Candy Crush Saga.

FFFFF2P (Elevate)

FFFFF2P

This tongue-in-cheek platformer will poke fun at games that try to take all your money, while simultaneously trying to take all your money. Will it be biting satire, or is developer Elevate trying to have its cake and eat it? We'll find out, soon.

The Blackwell series (Wadjet Eye Games)

Blackwell

Point and click revivalist Wadjet Eye Games is bringing its entire psychic detective series, Blackwell, to mobile. The first three are out next week and the rest are due in 2014.

Hellraid: The Escape (Techland)

Hellraid The Escape

We weren't too impressed by this dark and morbid take on The Room in our hands-on preview, but Dead Island developer Techland has taken a few more months to polish the game. We'll happily give it another shot.

The Witcher Battle Arena (CD Projekt)

Witcher MOBA

CD Projekt Red is making a free-to-play MOBA. And considering the eye-watering success of League of Legends and DOTA 2, you can't blame those talented Poles. This one has six player battles, and features heroes from the whole Witcher series.

Motorsport Manager (Christian West)

Motorsport Manager

We've likened this F1 management simulator to a Kairosoft game, just replace the pixel art with swish UI design and stunning tilt-shift camera work. Lone dev Christian West used to make stuff for Hello Games and Sony.

Secret Files Tunguska (Deep Silver)

Tunguska

In 1908, Siberia witnessed the Earth's largest impact event in all of recorded history. That's the backdrop for this memorable point and click adventure from German developer Fusionsphere. It ain't amazing, but it's worth a shot when it comes to iOS.

Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery: Episode 2 (Lucid Games)

Jacob Jones

We really enjoyed the first Jacob Jones: a cute Professor Layton-style puzzle adventure with gorgeous vinyl model art. We can't wait to continue the story in part two.

Pako (Tree Men Games)

Pako

This barmy car chase simulator took second place at our Big Indie Pitch event in Helsinki. The simple rage-quit game has you dodging cops and obstacles in a speeding car with no brakes.

Hearthstone: Curse of Naxxramas (Blizzard)

Hearthstone

It's not a game, it's an update. But we're so damn excited for this single player campaign for Hearthstone that we don't give a frig about the rules. Like everything else in Blizzard's hazardously compulsive card battler, Naxxramas will be free.

The Witcher Adventure Game (CD Projekt)

Witcher Adventure

MOBA The Witcher Battle Arena isn't the only mobile game to come out of the esteemed Polish RPG series. There's also this digital edition of The Witcher board game from Fantasy Flight Games and CD Projekt Red.

Angry Birds Stella (Rovio)

Angry Birds Stella

We're probably not the right audience for Angry Birds Stella: a pink and purdy spin-off aimed directly at tweenage girls. But that never stopped Bronies, and it won't stop us checking out Stella.

Godus (22cans)

Godus

Peter Molyneux's spiritual successor to Populous hasn't gone down well on Steam's early access program. But the veteran game designer will tell you that it will be totally, utterly, mind-blowingly brilliant and unique and life-changing when it's done. We'll see.

Crazy Taxi: City Rush (Sega)

Crazy Taxi

Sega's still pulling old games out of some dusty cupboard and turning them into free-to-play mobile games. But don't fear: endless runner City Rush still feels like an arcadey taxi sim, and Crazy Taxi producer Kenji Kanno is on board.

Tony Hawk Shred Session (Activison)

Tony Hawk Shred Session

An endless runner with skateboarding tricks. It actually works quite well (we've had a fiddle with the soft-launched version), giving you all the thrills and spills of trying to link up a load of skating tricks but in a format that works well on phones.

Fat Princess: Piece of Cake (Sony)

Fat Princess

This match-three puzzler, based on a bizarre PS3 game about feeding cake to obese royalty, is very clever. You command a small team of RPG heroes by matching different coloured blocks, adding a smart layer of strategy to an addictive timesink.

RETRY (LVL 11)

RETRY

Angry Birds takes on Flappy Bird, sort of. The first game out of Rovio's experimental indie label LVL 11 is a game about trying to control a nose-diving plane and get it from airport to airport. It's way smarter than your average Flappy clone, but just as addictive.

Bears vs Art (Halfbrick)

Bears vs Art

Halfbrick's new game is a puzzler about a rampaging grizzly with a hatred of art. Makes sense. The paintings are procedurally generated, so you'll never claw up the same landscape twice.

Agents of Storm (Remedy)

Agents of Storm

Remedy is best known for cinematic action adventures like Max Payne and Alan Wake. But that's not what it's going for in its next mobile game: instead, we get a Clash of Clans-inspired game about infiltrating island bases in boats. Boats with GUNS.

AG Drive (Zerg Entertainment)

AG Drive

This disgustingly pretty Wipeout-alike took home first prize at our Very Big Indie Pitch event in Helsinki. The lead designer behind the game says he's been dying to make the game for 17 years and sold his Transformers toy collection on eBay to fund the project. Now that's dedication.

The Banner Saga (Stoic)

The Banner Saga

The guys behind utterly gorgeous turn-based tactics game The Banner Saga told me that the game was always designed with iPad in mind. The mix of feisty strategic battles and reams of Viking lore will be perfect for long-haul flights.

Splot (Frozenbyte)

Splot

This might not look like the sort of game that Trine developer Frozenbyte would create. But looks can be deceiving: Splot may be colourful and kid-friendly, but that sugary exterior hides a sharp, challenging, and exacting little platforming time sink.

Trine 2 (Frozenbyte) Trine 2

But if that doesn't do it for you, Frozenbyte is bringing the full Trine 2 experience to Android phones with Nvidia K1 chips soon. This detailed fantasy physics puzzler worked great on the Wii U Gamepad, so it should play nicely on touch.

Beatbuddy: Tale of the Guardians (Threaks)

Beatbuddy

I've described this game as a mix between Aquaria and Beat Sneak Bandit. Which means its a serene underwater exploration game, but with rhythmic obstacles and enemies that move to the beat of the song. The game's music comes from a variety of composers, including Sabrepulse (Bit Pilot) and Austin Wintory (Journey).

Angry Birds Transformers (Rovio)

Angry Birds Transformers

The puns write themselves. Bumblebeak. Optimus Swine. Autobirds. Shia LaBeef. We don't know if this synergistic brand mashup will be a puzzler or a racer, but we're open to either. Besides, Rovio can't ruin Transformers any worse than Michael Bay.

Final Fantasy Agito (Square Enix)

FF Agito

This mobile-only FF game is set in the universe of Final Fantasy Type-0, and is an entry in the Fabula Nova Crystallis subseries. If that means anything to you. It's a classic turn-based battler, but with social features and multiplayer fights.

Final Fantasy VII G-Bike (Square Enix)

FF7 G Bike

Final Fantasy VII is coming to mobile! Oh wait, no. The G-Bike mini-game from the Gold Saucer amusement center is coming to mobile. We'll play it, but Square - you do realise you'd be hit with an avalanche of money if you brought VII to mobile, right?

Hitman Sniper (Square Enix)

Hitman Sniper

Tabletop puzzler Hitman GO was weird, but kind of wonderful. And now, the team is working on another Agent 47 spin-off. This time you spy the world through a sniper rifle's scope, and try to take out targets without causing commotion.

Sonic Jump Fever (Sega)

Somic Jump Fever

Remember Sonic Jump - the weird Doodle Jump-style Sonic game we had to make do with before the much more suitable Sonic Dash came along? Well it's getting a free-to-play arcade time wasting spin-off called Sonic Jump Fever. So there we go.

Anno: Build an Empire (Ubisoft)

Anno Build Empire

We're cautiously optimistic about this tablet take on the deep and sophisticated Anno series. Especially as Ubisoft confirmed to us that it will be a free-to-play game. Let's hope the team has taken a long hard look at Dungeon Keeper for inspiration in what not to do.

Modern Combat 5: Blackout (Gameloft)

Modern Combat 5

Gameloft may be making most of its revenue from in-app purchases these days, but the next instalment in shooty bang bang series Modern Combat will be a distinctly premium experience. Expect short missions, multiplayer, set pieces, and handy drones.

Framed (Loveshack)

Framed

Each level in Framed is a graphic novel where your hero gets killed or caught by the cops. But by re-arranging and rotating the panels, you can rewrite the story so he gets away. It's a fantastically brilliant idea and we can't wait to play more.

Warhammer 40k: Armageddon (Slitherine)

WH40K Armageddon

Warhammer game number one: a turn-based, hex-based strategy game from the chaps at Slitherine. This one will be packed full of content (including a branching campaign with 30-odd scenarios, and 100-odd units) and a separate set of maps balanced specifically for online multiplayer.

Midnight Star (Industrial Toys)

Midnight Star

History would tell us that first-person shooters don't work so well on touchscreens. But we'll let some ex-Bungie (Halo) developers give it a bloody good go in this sci-fi shooter. Because we're nice like that. It's currently in soft launch in Ireland.

80 Days (Inkle)

80 Days

Inkle has pressed pause on its recreation of Steve Jackson classic Sorcery!, to make an interactive adventure about Jules Verne's classic novel. You get to travel around a nifty 3D globe, by steamer, express train, airship, hover-car, hydrofoil, gyrocopter, camel, horse-back, hot-air balloon…

Tiny Tower Vegas (NimbleBit)

Tiny Tower Vegas

Let's sidestep all those jokes about free-to-play and gambling, and just be happy that NimbleBit is working on another pixelated, productivity-threatening sim. This one puts you in charge of a sky-scraping casino, and you get to play the games.

Broken Sword 5 - Part 2 (Revolution Software)

Broken Sword 5

The first episode of the Kickstarted Broken Sword revival was a bit bum. A lacklustre murder mystery that bounced back and forth over the Channel. Part two should make things better with more exotic locations, more cults and conspiracies, and more adventure. Here's hoping, or I'll regret my £15 donation.

Plunder Pirates (Midoki)

Plunder Pirates

The next game from Rovio Stars - the Angry Birds creator's publishing arm - is an absurdly polished Clash of Clans-inspired game, which swaps Vikings for pirates. You're still building your HQ, attacking enemy bases, and protecting your precious grog from rival captains.

Severed (Drinkbox Studios)

Severed

Mexican wrestling Metroidvania Guacamelee! was one of the very best games of 2013. So when developer Drinkbox Studio announced this striking Punch-Out!!-style game about lopping off your enemy's limbs, we were all "where do I send my money?"

Anomaly Defenders (11bit studios)

Anomaly Defenders

"The really unique thing about the Anomaly games is that it's a tower defence game… in reverse," said an 11 bit studios employee. "So let's go one step further and do a reverse reverse tower defence game". Oh wait. That's just a tower defence game. Crap.

Seabeard (HandCircus)

Seabeard

A bit of Zelda, a bit of Animal Crossing, and a bucketload of charm. That's the ingredients list for free-to-play Seabeard, which sees you pottering about islands to go on adventures, collect stuff, and trade items with pals.

Gunslugs 2 (Orange Pixel)

Gunslugs

Pintsize Metal Slug-inspired shooter Gunslugs was good for a laugh. So I'm going to go out on a limb here, folks, and make the absurd suggestion that a game called Gunslugs 2 will also be good. I know, crazy right. I'm a maniac.

A Good Snowman is Hard to Build (Alan Hazelden)

Good Snowman

This clever twist on the Sokoban formula (those games where you push boxes around a warehouse without blocking yourself in) has you rolling balls of snow to form cute little snowmen. Hopefully it's out before Christmas, because this might be the only snow we'll ever see again.

Chroma Squad (Behold Studio)

Chroma Squad

In Chroma Squad, you manage a TV studio that puts out a Power Rangers-style sentai show. And then, when you're filming the fight scenes, the game turns into a impromptu turn-based tactics game. Get out of my dreams and onto my iPad.

The Silent Age 2 (House on Fire)

Silent Age 2

Time-travelling point and click The Silent Age was a fantastic indie gem we found at Casual Connect in Hamburg. Part two won't be free, but that definitely won't stop us from continuing the story.

Dice Soccer League (LambdaMu)

Dice Soccer League

Pixel People developer LambdaMu's next game is a football / table-top RPG mashup called Dice Soccer League, where your players roll a die to decide what their next move is. Presumably, two of the faces read "take a dive" and "bite the shit out of someone". Hashtag bants.

Warhammer 40k: Space Wolf (HeroCraft)

WH40K Space Wolf

Warhammer game number two: a free-to-play strategy game with deck-building fun times from Russian studio HeroCraft. This one has you beating up Word Bearers and Necrons who probably deserve it, or maybe you're just a big space asshole.

The Wild (Toonuva Games) The Wild

A single-player game inspired by Rust and DayZ, which - considering how important multiplayer is to those two games - is a bit like a Guitar Hero clone that you play with a wooden spoon. But at least it has the creepy atmosphere.

Million Onion Hotel (Onion Games)

Million Onion Hotel

A bizarre whack-a-mole game about tending the onion patch for a hotel that serves the best darn onion soup on the planet. It's Japanese and weird, in a sort of Katamari Damacy or Noby Noby Boy way. And that's fine by us.

Brothers in Arms 3 (Gameloft)

Brothers in Arms 3

Not actually a game about hugging your male sibling. Instead, it's about shooting other human beings in the face with high-powered World War II weaponry. We don't know much about the game, but it sure is pretty. For a game about murdering people.

Card Hunter (DropForge)

Card Hunter

A collectable card game. A tabletop board game. Free-to-play mechanics that won't make you puke uncontrollably for six hours. Those are the ingredients of this browser-based hit, which comes from dudes who worked on Bioshock and Magic: The Gathering.

Spider-Man Unlimited (Gameloft)

Spider Man Unlimited

An endless runner, starring your friendly neighbourhood arachnid bloke. Or, I guess, an unlimited runner. Well, an unlimited swinger if we're going to get really precise about matters. You'll beat up foes as you swing through New Yoik.

Spoiler Alert (Tiny Build Games)

Spoiler Alert

Tiny Build Games calls this "the only game you'll uncomplete". Basically, you start at the end and work your way backwards, attempting to undo everything previously done in the game without creating paradoxes. Confusing, but clever.

Dog Sled Saga (Dan Fitzgerald)

Dog Sled Saga

A curious little management game about hiring a team of dogs to use in dogsledding races. It's a clever idea, and it's got yummy retro pixel art, so it's no surprise that Dog Sled Saga smashed its modest $6,000 goal on Kickstarter.

This War of Mine (11bit studios)

This War of Mine

11 bit studios has made plenty of games about war, in its esteemed Anomaly series. But This War of Mine turns the attention away from super soldiers and tanks, and to a group of civilians who are trying to survive in a besieged city. Haunting, traumatic stuff.

Shadowmatic (Triada Studio)

Shadowmatic

A meditative 3D puzzler about twisting, moving, and combining weird lumpy objects so their shadow reveals a familiar image. You'll manipulate those silhouettes in nine different areas, each with its own soundtrack.

Tales from the Borderlands (Telltale)

Borderlands

Telltale's next licensed game takes us to planet Pandora, and puts us in control of two characters: the con-artist Fiona and data-miner Rhys. Like The Walking Dead it will be episodic and feature decision making, but this one's got more guns.

Game of Thrones (Telltale)

Game of Thrones

This one has far less guns, presumably. Then again, I don't watch the HBO show - unlike every person on my Twitter feed. Maybe there's an episode where Tyrion Lannister guns down a white walker with an Uzi. Oh yeah, Telltale's making a Game of Thrones game.

Invisible, Inc (Klei) Invisible Inc

More turn-based tactics games now. This time we're in the shadowy world of espionage, but with a focus on stealth inside of killing. It comes from Don't Starve, Mark of the Ninja, and Shank developer Klei, and should be heading to iOS eventually.

Mikey Boots (BeaverTap Games)

Mikey Boots

BeaverTap Games figured it out. Either through smart programming and lots of testing, or some kind of dark magic, BeaverTap figured out touchscreen controls in Mikey Shorts and Hooks. Which is why we're down for this jetboots-sporting threequel.

Warhammer 40k: Eisenhorn: Xenos (Pixel Hero)

Eisenhorn Xenos

Warhammer game number three: We take a turn away from strategy for a 3D action adventure type thing from the guys who made Spiral Episode 1. In this one you play as inquisitor Gregor Eisenhorn, and you'll get to witness the inner works of the Imperium.

Scrolls (Mojang)

Scrolls

This turn-based multiplayer card and board game hybrid is Minecraft maker Mojang's second game. It's currently undergoing beta testing on PC, but it will be heading to iOS and Android at some point in the future. Fingers crossed for a 2014 debut.

Turbo Dismount (Secret Exit)

Turbo Dismount

A long long time ago, Secret Exit made a game about kicking a ragdoll mannequin down a flight of stairs. That beleaguered dummy is back and now he's on a tricycle, and trundling towards a busy motorway. This is Turbo Dismount - it's hilarious.

Nightmare Cooperative (Lucky Frame)

Nightmare Cooperative

Bad Hotel and Gentlemen! creator Lucky Frame's next game is a gorgeous new dungeon-crawling roguelike with a twist. Your adventurous adventurers all act simultaneously, so you need to think very carefully before you make each move. Could be an insane headache, could be a nefariously brilliant puzzler. We'll find out.

Space Age (Big Bucket Software)

Space Age

The Incident developer Big Bucket has stayed relatively quiet about its mysterious sci-fi game, Space Age. But that just makes us even more keen to delve into the enigmatic depths of this intriguing space exploration and adventure game.

Epic Eric (232 Studios)

Epic Eric

Epic Eric might looks like another game that perpetuates the boring stereotype of manly knights rescuing helpless princesses. But flip a switch and the game becomes Epic Erica - a progressive puzzle platformer about a princess rescuing a knight.

Gettysburg: The Tide Turns (Shenandoah Studios)

Gettysburg

Drive on Moscow and Desert Fox studio Shenandoah is turning back the clock for its next epic strategy game: Civil War sim Gettysburg: The Tide Turns. This could be the developer's most gorgeous game yet, with the battles playing out on stunning paper maps.

Deponia (Daedalic Entertainment)

Deponia

With games like The Whispered World, German firm Daedalic Entertainment is making some of the most beautiful adventures around - but most are exclusive to PC. Luckily, Daedalic has seen sense and plans to launch Deponia on iPad soon.

Riot (RIOT)

Riot

A multiplayer riot simulator, where one side plays the protestors and the other side wields truncheons and tear gas as the police. It's not a jokey game, though - this is a serious look at the way citizen unrest has manifested itself in recent years.

Electronic Super Joy (Michael Todd)

Electronic Super Joy

We go from reverent investigation of social issues, to a game where you search for your stolen butt. If that doesn't describe video games in one sentence, I don't know what does. Michael Todd's insane techno ninja game is coming to iOS and Android this year.

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath (Just Add Water)

Oddworld

Just Add Water still plans to bring this cult-classic Xbox bounty hunter game to iOS and Android. And it will do it with mobile-friendly controls, enhanced visuals and sound, new Easter eggs, and unlockable extras.

Joan Mad Run (Happy Magenta)

Joan Mad Run

The most gory and blood-soaked endless runner since Despicable Me: Minion Rush (that game got dark after 700m). As Joan runs through the level and hops between floors, she can rip baddies into tiny pieces with various over-powered guns.

Curious Expedition (TerraInc) Curious Expedition

An adventurous roguelike set in the 19th century, where famous explorers - including Darwin, Earheart, Tesla, and Kingsley - explore worlds, manage supplies, and fight giant 20-foot crabs. There was a whole chapter on them in The Origin of Species.

Warhammer 40k Chess - Regicide (Hammerfall Publishing)

WH40K Chess

Warhammer game number four: okay, at this point we're literally just sticking photos of Warhammer characters on chess pieces. This is getting silly.

Exiles (Crescent Moon)

Exiles

Crescent Moon's hotly anticipated sci-fi adventure should hopefully be like Ravensword - only in spaaaace. We know you'll be fighting massive monsters and exploring weird alien planets. If Ravensword was Skyrim for iPhone, Exiles might be Mass Effect for mobile.

Naked War (Pickford Bros) Naked War

The Pickford Bros were doing asynchronous multiplayer long before push notifications. In this turn-based strategy game you had to send your moves using an old fashioned communication method called "email" which you sent with an ancient machine called a "computer" which you controlled using weird archaic implements called "hands".

Lumino City (State of Play)

Lumino City

State of Play's Lume was a cute adventure, with a tiny set made entirely of paper and cardboard. Sequel Lumino City goes full Art Attack with a sprawling metropolis made of paper, card, wood, miniature lights, and electric motors.

Prevail (Johnny Two Shoes)

Prevail

We've been following Johnny Two Shoes's Prevail for about a million years, now. And with good reason: this open world game from the dudes behind the critically acclaimed Plunderland looks brilliant. Unfortunately development has hit a financial roadblock, so we'll have to keep waiting.

Drifter (Celsius Studios)

Drifter

I'll let Celsius explain this one: Drifter is "an open-world sandbox space trading game with a procedurally-generated galaxy 100,000 light years across made up of tens of thousands of star systems to explore". Sony's publishing it on PS4 and Vita, but it's still coming to iOS.

Faraway (Steph Thirion)

Faraway

We put this in every list of upcoming games. And we will continue to do so until it's out. That's because we loved Eliss, and we're down for anything new by Steph Thirion. Especially a stunning game about a rampaging comet swinging around stars to form constellations. Especially that.

The Witness (Jonathan Blow)

The Witness

Personally, The Witness is my most anticipated game. It's a Myst-inspired, puzzle-filled, enigmatic adventure game set on a beautiful island, and designed by Braid genius Jonathan Blow. It will launch on PC and PS4, and then hop over to iOS after that.

forma.8 (Mixed Bag)

forma 8

Most adventurous exploration games let you play as a strapping space marine or a buxom British archeologist or a wisecracking everyman with his shirt half tucked in. In forma.8, you're an unmanned drone. Certainly saves on the animation budget, right lads?

Wizards and Warp Drives (The Men Who Wear Many Hats)

Wizards and Warpdrives

As elevator pitches go, Dungeons & Dragons meets FTL could make a publisher pull the emergency brake. What that means is a co-op multiplayer game with classes, but set in space. Oh and there are dragons. Space dragons. Not even making this up.

Rebuild 2 (Northway Games) Rebuild 2

The world has ended. The dead have risen. Your town is in ruins. Now it's time to get to work and rebuild your city as a defensive safe haven for survivors of the zombie plague. That was the idea behind the terrific Rebuild, and this sequel adds loads of new stuff to play with.

Mew-Genics (Team Meat)

Mew Genics

A bizarre crazy cat lady simulator, from the guys who brought you Super Meat Boy. Your job is to maintain a house that's overrun with randomly generated and constantly reproducing kittens, and then pit them against one another in fights, beauty pageants and races. It's like Pokemon, only real.

Aralon: Forge and Flame (Crescent Moon)

Aralon 2

Another epic RPG from Crescent Moon. This time, a sequel to the well-loved Aralon: Sword and Shadow. This hotly anticipated game will feature three different continents, each with their own dungeons and towns, just like planet Earth doesn't.

Gabriel Knight: Sins of our Fathers - 20th Anniversary Edition (Pinkerton Road)

Gabriel Knight

Gabriel Knight a fledgling writer who uses a series of local murders as the basis for his new novel. What happens next? I dunno, I didn't play it back in 1993. So I'm well up for this remake, helmed by game director Jane Jenson.

Snow Siege (Milkbag Games)

Snow Siege

Milkbag's first game was supposed to be a mashup of tower defense, card collecting, and Tetris. But then, the Canadian duo created Disco Zoo and made a billion squillion (plastic) dollars. Hopefully that will bankroll this interesting winter weather concept.

Spider: Rite of the Shrouded Moon (Tiger Style)

Spider

This follow-up to early iOS classic Spider still sees you ensnaring wasps, butterflies, and hapless moths in your sticky cobweb traps. But this moody game will have more locations, new insect types, and the real world time and weather is reflected in the game.

Game 6 (Simogo) Simogo

Year Walk and DEVICE 6 studio Simogo hasn't said much about its sixth game. It doesn't even have a name. But when your back catalogue could also be a list of the best games on iOS, you get a free pass at this article. Check out the team's mood board for hints at what the next game will be like.

The Detail (Rival Games)

The Detail

In the world of games, procedural is something you stick on the front of "ly generated". But in TV land, it means a police drama where you go through the nitty gritty of working a case. That's the deal in this stunning cop game, which is inspired by The Wire and Telltale's The Walking Dead.

The Deer God (Crescent Moon)

Deer God

The Deer God is not just a gorgeous explorative puzzler about a pixel art ungulate. It's also a game about Karma, where good and evil deeds shape the powers of your character, and dictate what you'll come back as when you die and go through reincarnation. A terrific idea.

Blood Bowl (Focus Home Interactive)

Blood Bowl

Blood Bowl is based on Warhammer and- wait, come back! It's based on the classic fantasy Warhammer stuff, not the 40,000 nonsense. And it's a clever mashup of American football and board game that was pleasantly received on consoles, and is now on its way to tablets.

Alphabeats (Rad Dragon)

Alphabeats

As someone who can't spell (not the best when you're an editor) and with no rhythm, I'm going to suck at Alphabeats: a DDR-inspired game about spelling out words to the beat. But I'll get this anyway, just to hear the tunes from Disasterpeace (Fez) and Big Giant Circles (Threes!).

Wizard Golf RPG (Floor 27 Industries)

Wizard Golf RPG

Golf is about navigating an environment by carefully plotting your next move and avoiding traps. RPGs are about navigating an environment by carefully plotting your next move and avoiding traps. So that's why we get this clever pixel art mashup.

Magic 2015: Duels of the Planeswalkers (Wizards of the Coast)

Magic 2015

Magic 2015 isn't just the next iteration of the excellent digital rendition of Magic: The Gathering. It also hosts loads of new cards designed by industry greats like inXile's Brian Fargo, Super Meat Boy's Ed McMillen, the Penny Arcade duo, and Minecraft man Notch. See the lot, here.

Zen Garden (Epic) Zen Garden

It's not much of a game. It's about as deep and interactive as Unreal's last tech demo, Epic Citadel. But this stunning visual showcase will show us how iOS 8's new Metal functionality will let developers squeeze up to 10 times more processing grunt out of your iPhone or iPad's graphic chip. So it's worth a download.

Tharsis (Choice Provisions) Tharsis

A '70s style sci-fi turn-based survival game about Earth's first manned mission to Mars which lands on the red planet without incident and everyone is fine. No wait, everything goes wrong and the astronauts eat each other. This one comes from SpellTower designer Zach Gage.

Arecibo Man (Madgarden) Arecibo Man

A Robotron-inspired arcade romp, from Chillaxian developer Madgarden. Most of all, it's giving the developer a bit of a break from Death Road to Canada which, if you're reading all these in order, you heard about six hours ago. Thanks for reading.

Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer