Five Stars - Quarrel, SPY Mouse, Edge Extended, and more

Last week, we looked upon the new App Store releases with agony. Outside the Gold Award iBlast Moki 2, finding four other games to talk about in this - our weekly round-up of the best new iOS games - was a struggle.

As if to tell us that we were insolent fools for ever doubting it, the spiteful god iTunes has unleashed a plague of new releases upon us - way more than we could ever fill in a single Top 5 list.

There's '80s-inspired puzzler Radballs, gorgeous interactive art piece Contre Jour, retro-tastic RPG Dragon Fantasy, and the third episode of 1112, just to name a few. But amongst the pandemonium we've still managed to isolate the best five of the lot.

So get them all downloaded, ready for the upcoming bank holiday weekend. See you in seven days!

Quarrel
Universal - Free or £2.99 for Deluxe version - UTV Ignition

Quarrel, the latest game from Scottish developer Denki, is a quirky mix of all-out strategic warfare and nerdy verbal knowledge.

The game's main battlefield - a series of coloured panels, each occupied by different numbers of cutesy troops - is reminiscent of strategy boardgames like Risk. But once you go into battle, you're better to arm yourself with a dictionary than a rifle.

Once battles start, it quickly shifts from warfare to wordfare, as attempting to occupy enemy territory turns switches the game into a impromptu vocal-slinging Scrabble-off.

You're asked to craft a word for a hodgepodge handful of letters, and hopefully score a bigger and better word than your opponent. More troops on a territory means more letters to lay down.

As you advance through the various single-player modes and tackle Denki's daily challenges, you'll soon rise from scrappy monosyllabic scrub to a domineering lexicon lord.

Hector: Episode 2 - Senseless Acts of Justice
iPhone - £2.99 / iPad - £4.99 - Telltale

Detective Inspector Hector - arguably the lewdest and crudest 'hero' this gamer has ever had the good fortune to control - is back for more violence, depravity, and blatant disregard for protocol.

In Episode 1, Hector took on the role of hostage negotiator as he was bossed about the filthy town of Clappers Wreake on behalf of a twisted but somewhat benevolent sniper.

Now, with the hostage-taker's demands finally met, Hector has to plunge into the sniper's den and fish that nagging creep out. And then solve a bunch of barely logical puzzles, pick up more items than his pockets can handle, and chat to a bunch of nonsensical NPCs. You know the drill by now.

Irish developer Straandlooper describes Episode 2 as twice as long (though half as fun) as Hector's debut chapter. It also promises more tasteless characters and situations, which surely deserves a medal.

With American point-and-click god Telltale now publishing Hector's misadventures, let's hope we don't have to wait so long for the miscreant's third raunchy outing.

Edge Extended
Universal - 69p - Mobigame

Developer Mobigame wants to remind you that Edge - the cuboidic iPhone platformer - is more than just a magnet for trademark battles, courtroom spats, and gaming villains. It's also a smart little game, remember?

In this semi-sequel, Edge Extended does exactly what it says on the tin, extending the debut experience with better visuals, some fresh concepts, new challenges, and armfuls of original levels to tackle.

The core gameplay is still largely the same. You 'roll' a rainbow-coloured box about a grim and grey isometric world, using your finger to tilt your boxy hero onto pressure plates, up steep inclines, and across hazardous platforms.

But Extended brings fresh concepts, like the nefarious 'Dark Cube' - an autonomous box 'bot that trundles about Edge's worlds with little regard for your personal safety.

Sometimes it will help out, like sitting on a button that opens a new path for you to take. Sometimes it's less helpful, triggering a trap door that sends your box to its untimely demise.

New levels are joined by fresh background tunes and some gorgeous new visuals. By taking on a 3D engine, Edge Extended plays with morphing camera angles and organic worlds that are hastily constructed - spilling out and weaving into platforms - before your eyes, as levels start.

On iPad 2 in particular, edge-smoothing tech makes, *ahem*, Edge look absolutely jaw dropping.

Spy Mouse
iPhone - 69p - Electronic Arts

Spy Mouse, the eponymous hero of Firemint's latest title, is set to be the second greatest espionage-based animal that gaming's ever seen. Well, no one can top James Pond (Robocod), are they?

Like the Aussie studio's first smash hit app Flight Control, Spy Mouse is all about drawing lines with your fingers. But instead of steering kamikaze planes away from certain destruction, this squeaky spy game is about piloting a cheese-thieving ninja.

You draw your finger across the screen to guide Spy Mouse over massive chunks of cheddar and into the safety of a tiny mouse hole. Easy enough in an empty house, but the game soon ramps up the difficulty by introducing patrolling guard cats and other such obstacles.

Whether or not Spy Mouse has the ability to fulfil Firemint's ambitious dreams and become "the Mario of iOS" is yet to be seen. But that the game is bursting with creativity, comes bundled with oodles to do, and is an absolute steal at 69p.

Peggle HD
iPad - £1.99 - PopCap

Peggle is the greatest illustration of how gaming can turn a small input into an outrageous output, or a a single button press into an epic event. In PopCap's digital Pachinko, a single click can lead to flashing lights, massive scores, a cacophony of chimes, and even Ode to Joy.

If you've never had the opportunity to try Peggle before, here's the deal. You're presented with an ocean of coloured pegs - some blue, some orange. You have a cannon that shoots ball bearings, and you have to use those balls to hit - and remove - all the orange pegs.

Sounds simple enough, and it usually is. Outside the odd special power, or perhaps the misguided notion that you can foresee the ball's trajectory after the first couple of bounces, Peggle is a disarmingly simplistic game.

But that means little to those stuck in its addictive embrace. Like any good PopCap game, Peggle's recipe of small inputs, large outputs and every bell and whistle in-between leads to compulsive hour-long sessions.

Now you can witness it on your iPad, with this supersized HD port. This version has 55 levels, 40 challenges, multiplayer against friends on iPhone, and video replays to save and brag about.