Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of November 2012
Remember, remember
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.
It's not an exact science, mind. We don't tot up the review scores or cross-check everything with Quality Index. We just have a good think - and a good argument - about what was best.
During the month of November, we've loved dreamy puzzlers, comic book tactics, pen-and-paper RPGs, and a controversial game about tapping on a cube.
Let us know your iPhone and iPad favourites in the comments below.
Micro MinersBy BonusLevel.org - buy on iPhone and iPad
Take a spoonful of Lemmings and add a dash of Where's My Water?, and you've got Micro Miners.
It's a subterranean digging game where you lead a band of tiny Daniel Plainviews on a quest to harvest the ground and obtain its rich deposits.
This one involves a lot of on-the-fly thinking and strategic decisions. Different miners can dig different minerals, so you'll soon be commanding two disparate teams at once. It gets wonderfully complex, which makes gunning for three-star awards so fun.
Angry Birds Star WarsBy Rovio - buy on iPhone or buy on iPad
It sounded like a brand synergy nightmare. A cynical excuse to generate enough merchandising to force collectors into bankruptcy. It sounded evil.
But, despite the odds, this Star Wars spin-off is funny, respectful of the source material, and a downright good game.
It mixes classic Angry Birds with the astrophysics of Space, and adds in lasers and lightsabers without them feeling, ahem, forced.
Dream of PixelsBy Dawn of Play - buy on iPhone and iPad
Dream of Pixels is a rather apt name. Once this relaxing puzzle gem has got its hooks into you, your thoughts will be invaded by its wispy cloud-like blocks.
It's best described as 'Tetris played upside down'. You use the classic tetronimo blocks to slice off chunks of a falling nimbus cloud and win big points for clearing multiple rows in one go.
It's clever and creative, and wonderfully calming - until it all falls apart.
Writer RumbleBy Feel Every Yummy - buy on iPhone and iPad
Word games are often a rather sedate affair. In Bookworm Adventures, you could take hours to form the perfect anagram. In Letterpress, you could take a week.
But, in Writer Rumble - a fighting game, with literary legends transformed into pugilists - you better think fast or your opponent will lay you out flat.
You can either plump for the single-player mode and ward off waves of baddies, or go multiplayer with friends and enemies.
Arcane LegendsBy Spacetime Studios - download free on iPhone and iPad
With four 'Legends' games under its belt, Spacetime has by now got this mobile MMO thing down pat.
Arcane Legends is an enormously co-operative hack 'n' slash title, with all the loot and collectible gubbins you've come to expect.
You've also got pets, a basic-but-effective combat system, and daily content. If you're the sort to get stuck into a giant fantasy world, this free-to-play MMO could have you hooked for months.
Rage of the GladiatorBy Gamelion Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad
This first-person fighting game often gets compared to Infinity Blade on account of its gesture-driven controls and tactical dodge-and-weave battles.
But, do your history homework and you'll find this game actually predates Chair's oft-copied slash-'em-up.
It was a WiiWare game originally, see. Now, this bloody and brutal fighter has swapped its Wii remote for a touchscreen, and it works just as well.
Knights of Pen & PaperBy Behold Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad
This pixel-art RPG deserves to be on this list for its presentation alone. It has fantasy fans sitting around a table, which gets magically whisked away to caves, forests, and towns as the dungeon master reads his story.
Thankfully, it's also a solid role-player with all the rat-bashing, sword-forging, quest-solving fun you could ask for.
It's a little grindy and the IAPs are a tad uncomfortable, but if you know what a d20 is, you'll have a good time.
The Walking Dead: AssaultBy Skybound - buy on iPhone and iPad
Oh, look - The Walking Dead comic has formed the basis for another good game. I don't think a single book has spawned this many successful spin-offs since The Bible.
The Walking Dead: Assault's a top-down strategy affair, in which comic heroes Rick and Shane (and friends) totter about their post-apocalyptic surroundings, whacking walkers and collecting supplies.
The controls are dependable, the tactics are deep enough, and the graphic novel art style is to die for.
Arc SquadronBy Psyonix - buy on iPhone and iPad
Arc Squadron has been compared to Nintendo's StarFox series on a number of occasions, but I think that's a little off.
For one, there are no talking toads in sight in Psyonix's shoot-'em-up. Plus, it's way more focused on high scores than saving the galaxy.
This is a space shooter about style, grace, and chaining together combos. To get the best score - and earn a lot of dosh to upgrade your ship - you'll need to master your ship's controls and learn how to squeeze points out of every enemy encounter.
Curiosity - what's inside the cubeBy 22Cans - download free on iPhone and iPad
*Controversial pick alert!!!*
Yes, we admit it. The actual gameplay of Curiosity - which involves you chipping away at an enormous black cube, one infinitesimally small tile at a time - is about as much fun as water torture.
But, there's more to it than that. There's the community element, where other players scrape willies and swastikas into the cube. There's the mystery element, where the box is said to harbour a "life-changing" prize.
And then there's the sheer 'he's done it again' element, where veteran game designer Peter Molyneux has roped in another million-or-so suckers to chase a promise he can't possibly keep. We've put this on the list for the sheer theatricality of it all.
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: October 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: September 2012
The 10 best iPhone and iPad games: August 2012
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
