14 best iPhone and iPad games this week - Blek, The Wolf Among Us, and more

Every Friday, Pocket Gamer offers hands-on impressions of the week's best new iPhone and iPad games.

So, what hit the App Store this week?

Well, you've got a swashbuckling pirate adventure, a claustrophobic sci-fi thriller, a loony fairy tale detective story, and a creative puzzler inspired by calligraphy.

Take your pick.

Think we've missed a top new iOS game? Shout at us with all your might in the comments section at the bottom.

Blek
By Denis Mikan - buy on iPad (£1.99 / $2.99)

It blows my mind that developers are still coming up with fresh ideas for puzzle games on iOS.

Take Blek, for instance, a game where you solve puzzles by simply doodling on the screen.

Essentially, your nimble-fingered squiggle becomes a self-perpetuating pattern that keeps repeating itself until it falls off the screen. With that in mind, you must draw out doodles that will propel themselves through all the coloured dots on display.

It's wonderfully creative. And with no set solution to figure out, you can toy with silly solutions and "I wonder if this will work" ideas. It's lots of fun, and is all wrapped up in a gorgeous minimalist art style.

Assassin's Creed Pirates
By Ubisoft - buy on iPhone and iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)

Hoist the main sails. Swab the decks. This Black Flag spin-off is all about engaging in simple ship-on-ship naval battles over and over again, as you sail across the Caribbean. It looks nice, and upgrading your ship from Schooner to Brig is fun. Be warned, though: there's not a whole lot of variety here.

Space Hulk
By Full Control Studios - buy on iPad (£6.99 / $9.99)

The latest Warhammer 40K game is asymmetrical strategy game (and boardgame adaptation) Space Hulk. One player controls the Genestealer aliens, while the other commands the hulking Terminator marines. Then, they kiss. I mean, kill each other in the claustrophobic corridors of a downed spaceship. A review is in the oven.

KingHunt
By Mountain Sheep - buy on iPhone and iPad (69p / 99c)

Minigore-maker Mountain Sheep has made a gorgeous Fruit Ninja-inspired slice-'em-up. The basic gameplay is pretty much identical to the gameplay in Halfbrick's seminal banana basher, but KingHunt does contain challenges, boss battles, power-ups, and a variety of enemy types. Not bad for a buck.

Division Cell
By Evgeni Gordejev - buy on iPhone and iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)

A simple and satisfying puzzle game in which you tap on rectangles to make them expand (if they have white dots) and contract (black dots) in the hope of turning them all square. It gets very tricky, very quickly, so consider this one for puzzle masters only.

Double Dragon Trilogy
By DotEmu - buy on iPhone and iPad (£1.99 / $2.99)

I'd say you probably know whether or not to buy DotEmu's latest retro compilation if a triple serving of old school brawlers fills you with nostalgic glee or existential dread. If it's the former, know that this game's got co-op over Bluetooth, tweaked difficulty for mobile play, and controller support.

Heroes of Dragon Age
By Electronic Arts - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

Don't be fooled into thinking this is some epic RPG. This is basically a card battler, though the tatty cardboard rectangles have been replaced with detailed models of your favourite Dragon Age heroes and foes. It's also got runes and crafting and PvP battles and all that good stuff. Worth a look, and a full review is on the way.

Galaxy Run
By Spiel Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad (69p / 99c)

Remember Run Roo Run? That addictive auto-runner where each level was only as long as your screen? Well, Galaxy Run is Run Roo Run in SPACE. Oh, and it's also bloody hard - each jump requires some seriously exact timing. No bother: you'll start again so quickly that you can't help but keep trying until you win.

Pretentious Game
By Bulkypix - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

Not just a silly parody of arty indie games like Passage and Thomas Was Alone. It's actually a series of smart single-screen puzzles where the pretentious dialogue hides the solution to proceed. The controls are a bit naff, but it's worth persevering with for at least the first free chapter.

Cyro
By Philipp Stollenmayer - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

It's essentially Game Boy Advance game Kuru Kuru Kururin... but with hip minimalist visuals. It's not as good as the Nintendo game (though, to be honest, what on this earth is?), but it's fun all the same. It's all about guiding a spinning bar through narrow corridors. This requires precision and, more crucially, patience.

The Wolf Among Us
By Telltale - buy on iPhone and iPad (£2.99 / $4.99)

If The Walking Dead is any indication, Telltale does its best work when turning graphic novels into graphic adventures. And this hard-boiled detective game, which is based on the Fables comics, is just yet more evidence of this. Great writing, impossibly stylish design, and a clever concept make for a great start to an interesting series.

Nightmare: Malaria
By Psyop Games - buy on iPhone and iPad (Free)

A creepy fever dream platformer, set inside the bloodstream of a girl infected with malaria. It's not a terrific game by any measure, but it's worth a mention as you can buy a mosquito net with an $3 in-app purchase. Are you going to buy an extra builder in Clash of Clans, or potentially save a life? A weighty decision.

Savant - Ascent
By D-Pad Studio - buy on iPhone and iPad (£1.49 / $1.99)

The guys at indie developer D-Pad Studios took a sabbatical from making Owl Boy to work on this iOS and Android time sink. And we're glad they did, as this barmy bullet-hell game with dubstep music and twitchy controls is a joy to play. And those detailed Castlevania-style graphics are outstanding, too.

Dokuro
By GungHo - buy on iPhone and iPad (69p / 99c)

A charming puzzle-platformer about a teensy skeleton who must pull switches, duff up baddies, and push boxes to make a safe passage for a princess. You'll also unlock the ability to draw new objects with a chunky wedge of chalk. We liked the Vita version, calling it "thoughtful, taxing, and tight".