Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of August 2012
Summer lovin'
Every month, we like to look back at all the iPhone and iPad games that have come out in the past four weeks and pick out the very best of the bunch.
We look for games that we fell in love with, games that are crafted with the finest care, games that feature new concepts, and games that contain an awfully good spin on the ideas of others.
This month, it's been all about moles, lumberjacks, zombies, and Tokyo hipsters. Download any of these apps, and we guarantee you'll have a good time.
Mikey ShortsBy BeaverTap Games - buy on iPhone and iPad
At face value, Mikey Shorts isn't that impressive. It looks a little amateurish, it runs out of ideas fast, and it's just not that hard.
Dig a little deeper, though, and you'll discover there are thrills aplenty in trying to get those three-star awards, or in the aptly named Challenge mode.
Meeting those speedrun demands requires timing and precision: pixel-perfect jumps and well-timed slides are the name of the game here. Addictive stuff, and thankfully the controls are reliable.
Jack LumberBy Owlchemy Labs - buy on iPhone and iPad
We've seen a few Fruit Ninja-alikes in our time, but the extent of their mimicry was changing the banana into a potato. Owlchemy's remix Jack Lumber is far smarter.
Logs must be slashed lengthways, trees have nuisance kinks, and some fussy logs require you to strike them three times. It's all set in a madcap cartoon world, with wise-cracking beavers and lumberjack jokes. It's funny stuff.
GasketballBy Mikengreg - buy on iPad
No statement quite gets the blood flowing like "I bet you can't do this", especially when the "this" is dunking an anti-gravity space basketball between two circular saw blades.
That's the setup in Gasketball, a barmy shot-matching game of H.O.R.S.E., where you design impossible trick shots for your Game Center friends to match or miss. Blood will spill over these asynchronous face-offs.
Organ Trail: Director's CutBy The Men Who Wear Many Hats - buy on iPhone and iPad
Organ Trail - a jet-black parody of Oregon Trail, with zombies instead of bison - could have just been a quirky Photoshop gag.
But, developer The Men Who Wear Many Hats has gone the whole nine yards, hiding a surprisingly deep simulator beneath Organ Trail's Apple II graphics.
The mini-games are rather fun, too, whether it's defending an encampment from the undead or weaving your station wagon between zombie deer.
Bad HotelBy Lucky Frame - buy on iPhone and iPad
Mashing up a tower defence game with a generative music maker seems like such a smart idea, you're left surprised that it's never been done before.
So, as you defend your hotel from bees, birds, and snakes, every turret adds a note to the game's offbeat soundtrack.
The actual strategy isn't too shabby, either. It's got a very simple rule-set, but because of the constantly changing setups and enemies, you can never rely on just one set of tactics.
BastionBy Supergiant Games - buy on iPad
Xbox Live Arcade port Bastion is deserving of its shelf-load of awards. It's a fun and thoughtful brawler, with obscenely nice visuals and a fascinating world to explore (and smash to bits with a hammer).
But, it's the narration that really seals the deal. An omnipresent voice describes your every move, from key plot points to accidentally falling to your death. Having a god-like voice whisper in your ear makes the game really come alive, kid.
Lost CitiesBy The Coding Monkeys - buy on iPhone
If there are two card game experts you want partnering up on a project, it's legendary designer Reiner Knizia and Carcassonne-dev The Coding Monkeys. Get these two in a room and you've got Lost Cities.
As expected, this solitaire-style game is enormously complex, and comes to the iPhone with rare style. Whether you're playing against a friend or some AI opponents, it's a game worthy of this duo's renown.
Super Mole EscapeBy Adult Swim - buy on iPhone and iPad
Meet your new just-one-more-go addiction. Adult Swim's latest follows the exploits of jailbreak felon Marty Mole, who digs through dirt for dear life, while a ruthless copper is hot on his tail.
It's Jetpack Joyride in vertical orientation, where you need to collect gems, pick up items, avoid monsters, and evade the law.
But, it's even more frantic and frenzied than Halfbrick's endless-flyer, with new areas and enemies appearing every few seconds. Only suited to those with the most finely tuned reflexes.
The World Ends with You: Solo RemixBy Square Enix - buy on iPhone or buy on iPad
Trust Square Enix to release a game that's breathtakingly expensive yet has us reaching for our wallets all the same.
The World Ends with You might cost more than all the other apps on this list combined, but having this DS RPG on your mobile is a proposal that's hard to shoot down.
The game follows an amnesic spiky-haired hipster in Shibuya, who splits his time evenly between beating up baddies and yakking on his mobile. It's a desperately cool game, and Square's done a bang up job of bringing it to iOS.
Random HeroesBy Ravenous Games - buy on iPhone and iPad
Ravenous's last 16-bit platformer, League of Evil, was a trial-by-fire gauntlet of death and spikes, which could only be cleared with nimble thumbs and pinpoint leaps. Random Heroes is not easy, but it's definitely more relaxing than League of Evil.
It's got longer levels, more plodding pacing, guns to take out enemies from afar, and no timer breathing down your neck. It's still finely crafted and packed with content, and is, therefore, an easy recommendation for platformer fans.
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: July 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: June 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: May 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: April 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: March 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: February 2012
