Ant Raid, Munch Time, and Elf Defense are the highest-reviewed iPhone games of Q1 2012

Seeking inspiration from public game companies' announcements of financial sales numbers every three months, the iPhone Quality Index (iPhone Qi) publishes its own quarterly figures.

But, instead of assaulting your ears and eyes with talk of operating profit, the iPhone Quality Index quarterly round-up ranks the top 20 best-reviewed iPhone games that were released during the period January 1st - March 31st, 2012.

Simple as that.

As for the reviews themselves, the iPhone Quality Index boasts over 200,000 of them from the world's leading online sources, including 148Apps, Slide To Play, Pocket Gamer, and AppSpy.

There have been many strategy titles jostling for chart superiority over the past three months, but none has scored as highly on the iPhone Quality Index as Prank Entertainment's insectoid assault sim Ant Raid.

Swapping guns and tanks for antennae and pincers, this small-scale RTS impressed critics with its intuitive touchscreen controls, beautiful presentation, and slightly bonkers lightning power-ups.

In the end, Ant Raid stormed past the competition to the top of the hill with a Qi rating of 9.5, a score big enough to make even the most demanding queen proud.

Think you know tower defence? Well, Korean developer Jellyoasis has reinvented it with Elf Defense.

It's a graphically supercharged game that has you battling over 100 enemies. Thankfully, your unit selection and upgrade system is flexible enough to let you find strategies for success. There are also special items for when things get a little frantic. You can earn them or stock up using in-app purchases.

Rounding out the top three places is Gamistry's Munch Time HD.

The Dutch developer scored highly with its three-star trajectory-puzzler that has you swinging around Munch the chameleon using his elastic tongue. Of course, being a chameleon, there's also a colour basis to the gameplay.

Flowers have different colours, so Munch needs to change colour to latch onto each flower, something he can do via the special colour flies that are flying around. Now, that's a puzzle game.

Screeching into fourth place on this rundown with a tankful of critical green lights is the highest-rated driving game of the past quarter: Reckless Racing 2.

There's so much to like about Polarbit's arcade wheel-spinner that it's difficult to know what to praise first.

The career mode is expansive and rewarding, and the gameplay evokes memories of those superb '90s Micro Machines titles. The handling is tight, your opponents are challenging, and the multiplayer is well implemented.

All of this contributed to Reckless Racing receiving no fewer than three perfect 10s from the critical masses, amassing a Qi rating of 8.9, and earning a reputation for being one of the best racers on any mobile platform.

Also worthy of mention from our Q1 2012 shakedown is Simogo's beguiling rhythm-platformer Beat Sneak Bandit, which stole into the #6 spot.

Boasting a genuinely unique premise, this award-winning mobile hit mixes music with stealth gameplay, and is wrapped up in a handsomely drawn cartoon package.

It's only proper that something as clever and quirky as Beat Sneak Bandit should be recognised for its excellence, making it all the more pleasing to see it on this round-up of the most critically acclaimed games of Q1 2012.

Join us again in July to see if any of the next quarter's selection of iPhone gaming goodies can match Ant Raid's phenomenal iPhone Qi score.

iPhone Quality Index's Top 20 games of Q1 2012

Methodology #1

To qualify for an iPhone Quality Index rating, a game must have received three or more reviews from the 60+ sites that feed into iPhone Qi's database. Methodology #2

In the event of a 'tie', titles are separated in the first instance by number of reviews - the higher the total, the better. Should the number of reviews also be identical, the iPhone Quality Index rating comes back into play, for while we only display the average score to one decimal place, the list is generated to further significant figures. You can always keep up to date with the hottest-reviewed iPhone games at the iPhone Quality Index.