The gaming genres that iPhone built, and the best of the games

With just a slim two years of evolution under its belt, the iPhone App Store has been a wildly influential platform. It's introduced an economy that can sell games for less than the price of a chocolate bar, a space where big development teams go toe to toe with two man indie teams, and, most surprisingly, a series of brand new genres.

It pretty much had to, to be honest. With no physical buttons to speak of, all the traditional genres had to be tweaked and changed and squished to fit the iPhone. But any new games, built with the device's form factor and touchscreen in mind, could come alongside some really wacky ideas, and stuff we've never seen on consoles before.

So here are five new genres that were either born on the iPhone, or have Apple's fleet of devices to thank for wildly popularising it. And we've shoved in three examples of each genre, too, to let you know the top titles in each category.

Who'd have thought that controlling nothing more than the movement of inanimate objects would be so taxing. No wonder the AI path-finding in strategy games is always tripping over itself.

Utilising the iPhone's gorgeous touchscreen, these games task you with guiding all manner of vehicles into safe landing, just by drawing out their path with your digit.

You're soon drawing spaghetti on your iPhone, redrawing lines in a mad panic as planes and trains and cars and boats graze dangerously close to each other.

Flight Control

The creme of the crop, and the landmark app that is solely responsible for this gold rush of line-drawing games. Flight Control is a barmy air traffic control sim that has you guiding planes, choppers and seaplanes into landing.

Harbor Master

Available on both iPhone and iPad, this splishy splashy take on flight control has you avoiding everything from cyclones to sea monsters as you park boats and ships into nearby ports.

Valet Hero

The lost member of Activision's Guitar Hero franchise, this one's a little less stressful than guiding planes and boats filled with hundreds of passengers. Still, you'll be equally penalised for bashing up a Peugeot, so park wisely.

Okay, the name needs some work, but it's such a ubiquitous and incredibly prolific genre that it needs, on the iPhone at least, a specialised term.

Mostly one handed affairs, perfect for cramped tube rides, these are all about getting a little animal, be it a bird or a weird hoover-looking alien or Garfield or a ninja, as high up as humanly possible by leaping off platforms or balloons.

Or, if you're feeling particularly wild, you could try something like Hippo High Jump, and try and get as low as possible without messing up.

Doodle Jump

Did Doodle Jump invent this popular genre? To answer such a question would require more strenuous archaeology than finding out Tutankhamen's shoe size. Regardless, it's the most popular of the bunch, even getting named checked on popular TV nerdfest Big Bang Theory.

Bird Strike

Unlike Doodle Jump, this one actually has goals to reach. It's just a case of how many points you can rack up on your way to the level's top spot. We love rocketing back down to the ground, too, and even through the manhole for bonus points, if you've got the reactions of a hawk.

Ninjatown: Trees of Doom!

This one, which features the ultra cute artwork of Shawnimals, has all the addictive nature of Doodle Jump, but with endless triangle jumping that'd make the Prince of Persia shed a tear. You've got to dodge enemies and collect power ups, too, which should keep you busy on the way to the top.

The iPhone and iPod touch pack a kicking tilt sensor. You might think it's just to turn your boring album list into a sweet coverflow when the iPhone twists on its side, but the following games will show its got quite a bit more going for it.

These games put the accelerometer to the test, making sure it can accurately read large swooping banks and tiny distinct movements with a incredible precision.

Tilt to Live

While most Geometry Wars styled games on the iPhone, including Geometry Wars Touch itself on iPad, feature some rather convincing virtual analogue sticks through the touchscreen, Tilt to Live is all about the motion of the ocean, baby. Rack up high scores, just by wiggling your iPhone like a maniac.

Taxiball

Plenty of games let you turn your iPhone into a marble rolling Chinese puzzle. And while games like Labyrinth and Little Metal Ball show off this functionality in a tad more traditional manner, Taxiball is just plain cool, with a pixel-art aesthetic and a human beat box soundtrack.

Glyder 2

Okay, so just about every racing game uses the tilt to steer setup. But Glyder's free flying feeling allows you to soar around the game's environments just by banking and twisting and jerking your iPhone.

The iPhone might be nothing but a screen, and the iPod touch might be as thin as an atom, but they still pack a hefty processing punch under the hood.

These devices can make some rather convincing physics simulations, which has opened up the floodgates for hundreds of games that have tumbling blocks, flimsily built structures and random explosions. Just because they can.

Angry Birds

Since earlier this year, not a week goes past without seeing Rovio's disgruntled red bird on the iTunes homepage. But it's with good reason, as this is one top physics puzzler.

Your goal is to fire birds at the creaky castles and wooden buildings, hoping to knock them down and kill the pigs inside. Check out our guide, for tips.

Saving Private Sheep

Sheep are terrified of being off flat ground - that's a fact, and one you can have for free. Bulkypix's Saving Private Sheep has you shooting away blocks and blowing up explosives to get your woolly pal back on terra firma. Just don't be fooled by the wolves in sheep's clothing.

Implode!

It might not look like a physics game at first glance, but press down on that detonator and watch those blocks go flying. Your job is to deck out buildings with explosives, before setting them off and hoping your destruction levels the house without too much messy debris. It's a universal app too, so it'll work on your iPad. Lovely.

Perhaps the most radically new function of the iPhone is its spiffy multi-touch display that can recognise a handful of fingers simultaneously. Its not often used for much more than pinching and zooming, but some super smart devs have put it to use in their creative games.

Maybe it'll get a much needed comeback on the iPad. Not only is the larger form factor suitable for two handed play, but the tablet can read up to 11 inputs. That's all your fingers and your... nose.

Eliss

This arty game is all about keeping multicoloured planets apart, and splitting those giant pulsating stars in half with two fingers. That's right, the same motion you use for zooming in on Safari is used for ripping apart gigantic celestial bodies.

Sway

An animal swinging adventure that requires the dexterity of a thumb wrestler to master. You'll need to switch off between your digits, and press them both together, to master the free flowing motion of a swinging monkey, frog, or ninja.

Cross Fingers

From the creators of Edge, this brilliant puzzle game has you pulling apart gates with your fingers, and then sliding blocks through with your thumb. It gets so hectic that you'll often need to recruit the help of a pal's pinkies to clear later stages.