Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of June 2012
June-bug
Every month, we like to find ten games that have caught our attention, stolen our free time and warmed our cockles in the previous 30-odd days.
We look through Pocket Gamer's reviews, compare scores on Quality Index, and see which icons refuse to budge from our home screen. This month, that's included planes, zombies, plagues, and cards.
Here are ten games we loved in June. Did we miss anything? Shout your opinions in our stupid faces, via the comments below.
Pocket PlanesBy Nimblebit - download on iPhone and iPad
Pocket Planes often makes you feel like a data entry clerk, instead of an air traffic controller. You boot the app up every few minutes to ferry a crate of pickles to Munich, or carry a mime to Belfast.
It's busywork, and waiting. But it has a lot of depth - with layovers, fuel, and plane capacity. And the tantalising allure of owning an airline monopoly to rival Ryanair keeps you opening the app.
Plague Inc.By Ndemic Creations - buy on iPhone and iPad
The best bit of Plague is naming your deadly disease. Want to decimate the world population with farts? Go ahead.
It's also a magnificently evil strategy game, where you carefully mutate a virus to infect the planet. You'll smartly evolve it to suit different climates and bypass cures. One key strategy for success is knowing when to swap from infectious to deadly. Mwa ha ha.
Dungeon VillageBy Kairosoft - buy on iPhone
A scrappy hamlet in the middle of monster-filled fields might not look like the best investment for a business-savy entrepreneur - but I want to say one word to you: heroes. RPG adventurers with loot to spend.
Kairosoft's latest addiction makes you mayor of a town in a fantasy RPG, where you'll sell armour and weapons to would-be Clouds and Cronos. When they slay slimes, you'll reap the rewards.
Project 83113By NCsoft - buy on iPhone and iPad
It's got a terrible name, but a creative solution to platforming without buttons. 83113 does the running for you, so can concentrate on making your funny pink rodent jump, duck and shoot.
It's all about gestures, so leaping over incoming gunfire is achieved with a swipe, and a big blast of firepower only takes a tap. The controls stand up well, even as the game adds back-tracking and secret areas.
Temple Run BraveBy Disney - buy on iPhone and iPad
An interesting new trend has cropped up, lately. Movie studios have been redecorating App Store super-hits with characters from the latest CGI blockbusters. So we end up with Angry Birds Rio, and Fruit Ninja: Puss in Boots.
This Brave-based spin-off of Temple Run is the latest - which swaps Imangi's nameless adventurer with the carrot-top lassy from Pixar's latest. The only thing that's new is a set of arrow-shooting segments.
Dead TriggerBy MadFinger Games - buy on iPhone and iPad
Like the zombies you spend so much time decapitating, Dead Trigger is a little brainless. Basic gameplay often boils down to "kill the undead", and MadFinger has only been able to spin that so many ways
But the thrill of blasting zombies will certainly cover your 69p entry fee. It's gory, fast and frenetic. The controls work rather well, and the visuals are simply astonishing.
CSR RacingBy NaturalMotion - download on iPhone and iPad
Somehow, Boss Alien and NaturalMotion has made a fun racing game without steering, laps, or circuits. This is drag racing, baby, where the accelerator is glued to the floor and the only controls you need to worry about are shift paddles and a nitrous button.
It's a freemium game, so expect waits and in-app purchases and requests to badger your friends, but the actual races are a quick-fire thrill, requiring precision and patience.
Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013By Wizards of the Coast - buy on iPad
Some games just make more sense on certain devices. So while the Xbox Live version of Magic introduced frugal gamers to the world of mana tapping, lands, and red magic, the iPad version feels way more natural.
Shuffling, playing and tapping cards with gestures is a joy. Online muliplayer over Game Center gives the game a competitive bite, and fair in-app purchases keeps everyone on a level playing field.
Cthulhu Saves The WorldBy Zerboyd Games - buy on iPhone and iPad
Cthulhu, the tentacle-face mega monster of Lovecraftian lore, has lost all his powers. He can earn back his godlike abilities, but he's forced to lead an uncharacteristic life of virtue.
Cthulhu is an RPG parody, poking fun of the genre and leaping out of the fourth wall at any opportunity. But it also revels in those tropes, with grinding and random enemy encounters. If you dug role-players of the 16 bit era, you're the target audience for this sharp satire.
Squids: Wild WestBy The Game Bakers - buy on iPhone and iPad
Squids is often described as the spawn of Angry Birds and Final Fantasy Tactics. It's got all the strategy and depth of a tactics game, but moving about the battlefield means catapulting your cephalopod troops like Rovio's suicide bombers.
It's a satisfying mash up of tactical and tactile. The sequel is more fair, and isn't so reliant on in-app purchases. You'll also find the usual raft of fresh characters, ideas, and environments.
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: May 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: April 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: March 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: February 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: January 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: December 2011
