Upcoming iPhone games: Amazing Alex, Pocket Heroes

Every Friday, we like to finish off the week by looking ahead and talking about the iPhone and iPad games that are just over the horizon.

This summer was seemingly designed for sporty types. Between Euro 2012, some ace face-offs at Wimbledon, and the Epsom Derby, sports fans have been living the dream of late here in the UK.

If the mere act of watching a man run 100 metres in six nanoseconds gives you cramp, then perhaps you'd prefer a video game instead. These exercise-free iOS experiences are out in July.

Note: Dates, prices, and features are subject to change at the whim of the developer and Apple's approval team. Dates were correct at time of publication.

Pocket Heroes
By F5 Games - out on iPhone on July 12th (source)

Pocket Heroes is a living testament to the turbulent world of indie development. This ambitious RPG was revealed more than a year ago, and missed its release dates of both May 10th and June 8th. So, it's with some hesitation that we say the following: it's out on July 12th.

It's an asynchronous take on Dungeons & Dragons; a party-based role player aimed at paladins for whom time is in short supply. If you will. Teams of four players go on snack-sized adventures, but heroes are free to quit the app while others take their turn.

There are six different classes to pick from, with loads of weapons and items to buy. Those include warhammers, axes, swords, and magic pendants. The best place to find these are in campsites, which crop up between quests.

F5 Games has thought a lot about death, the morbid lot. It reckons that it's probably not much fun to receive a push notification to say "you've died", especially if your party has no revival potions. Luckily, you can do a deal with Death, and pay a floating Grim Reaper to bring you back to life.

If you want to save cash, it's probably best to co-ordinate your moves and tactics with your party, using the built-in chat system. Just don't forget to role-play as a fantasy dwarf - there shalt be no "lols" in this realm.

Amazing Alex
By Rovio - out on iPhone and iPad in July (source)

All eyes have been on Rovio since the meteoric rise of Angry Birds. How do you follow up a half-billion mobile phenomenon? Aside from the inevitable seasonal and cosmic spin-offs, that is.

Amazing Alex represents the Finnish firm's next move in the portable space. The eponymous kid is an inventive fella who likes to cobble together Rube Goldberg-esque chain reactions. But, in truth, this is not a new game. Rovio is actually just re-branding Casey's Contraptions - an iPad-only hidden gem that debuted in 2011.

An Incredible Machine-style game, Casey's Contraptions had you lining up toys and knickknacks - including tennis balls, books, balloons, and remote control cars - in a certain fashion so that it performed a simple task.

Casey would introduce each puzzle with a request (put the tennis ball in the bucket, say, or pop the balloon), and it's your job to make a hokey physics-led device with that very outcome. Optional stars could be grabbed by the most creative builders.

Amazing Alex should be pretty similar, and impressive Casey features such as a custom level editor and the ability to share solutions over Game Center will be carried over.

The only real change is Casey himself, who's gone through several phases of focus testing and emerged with a slightly spikier hairdo and a hoody instead of braces. It's out sometime this month.