Guardians of the Galaxy - 5 iOS games that feature Star-Lord, Groot and co.

Based on one of Marvel's more obscure and out-there comic book properties, few expected Guardians of the Galaxy to be a particularly big hit when it landed in cinemas in 2014. But it was. In fact, it performed better than the first Avengers film during its opening weekend.

That's probably because it's a much better film, and a sci-fi adventure with real heart and humour (not to mention a killer soundtrack). The term 'rollicking' is overused, but it certainly applies here.

Following the massive success of the original film, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is set to hit the UK on April 28 and the US on May 5. People are rather excited about it, to say the least.

In a well-timed move, Telltale Games has just released its narrative-heavy take on the GotG universe onto the App Store. Which got us to thinking of all the ways you can play as Star-Lord, Groot, Gamora and co on your iPhone or iPad.

Here's the first iOS game dedicated to Marvel's motley interstellar crew. Developer Telltale has built a reputation for crafting polished adventure games based on popular IP with branching interactive stories at their core.

It's done just that for comic book properties like The Walking Dead, The Wolf Among Us, and most recently Batman. Now it's repeated the trick for Guardians of the Galaxy.

You will take direct control of Star-Lord throughout this five-part series, but of course you can expect the whole team to play a heavy part.

Kabam's slick breat-'em-up pretty much set the tone for a certain kind of freemium brawler that's high on polish and easy-flowing violence - all while throwing an irresistible number of playable childhood-favourites at the player.

Among those playable characters, of course, is the Guardians of the Galaxy crew. It's real wish fulfilment stuff, as Drax takes on The Hulk and Star-Lord rumbles with fellow motor-mouth Deadpool.

The Guardians joined Marvel's Future Fight back in 2015, with the entire crew from the original movie making the cut alongside arch villain Ronan the Accuser and antagonist Yondu.

Once again you're picking from a vast crew of Marvel favourites with which to indulge in a spot of fisticuffs - only this time those fisticuffs are of the dungeon-crawling action-RPG variety.

Starlord, Drax, and Gamora are available as individual characters in this match-three battler, while Groot and Rocket come as a pair.

Yes, you're effectively just matching gems in time-honoured fashion. But there's a pleasing attritional mechanic here that ties in well with the comic-book theme, and plenty of strong artwork to boot.

Tsum Tsums, as anyone under the age of 25 will know (I didn't), are Disney's popular brand of stackable plushy toys. This game builds a cute matching puzzler out of the concept - with adorable Marvel-themed Tsum Tsums, of course.

Star Lord, Gamora, Drax, Rocket Raccoon, and Groot were added to the game last year. And yes, they look particularly adorable in Tsum Tsum form. Even Drax.