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Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of February 2013

Year Walk! Rock Runners! 1001 Attempts! More!

Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of February 2013
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iOS

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.

Games that have intrigued and inspired us, like Simogo's creepy wander-'em-up Year Walk. Games that have made us giggle, like Godzilla simulator Roar Rampage.

Addictive games, ingenious games, evergreen games: iOS has got the lot.

Here are the ten that we loved most in February.

Roar Rampage
By FDG Entertainment - buy on iPhone and iPad Roar Rampage

And the award for the Smartest New Control System in a Game goes to… Roar Rampage.

In this game, you are the puppeteer, and a rampaging lizard is the marionette. So, you literally drag the dino's fist around the screen to smash in buildings and slug helicopters.

Okay, so it's not very deep and it's not very sophisticated, but you do get to punch a jet plane into a tank, and use a subway car as a giant whip. What more could you possibly ask for?

Rock Runners
By Recoil Games - buy on iPhone and iPad

Rock Runners

Off-world auto-runner Rock Runners is all about the flow. Nail every jump, ace every swing, and dodge every drill bit, and you'll finish the level in one unbroken movement.

It's like parkour or a Super Mario speedrun. It's agile, it's elegant, and it's every bit as satisfying when you finally pull it all off.

Year Walk
By Simogo - buy on iPhone and iPad (Companion app)

Year Walk

Stumbling around a snowy Swedish forest is either your idea of a good holiday or an unending nightmare. In Simogo's Year Walk, it's the setting for a mysterious vision quest.

So, you'll find cryptic symbols and solve tricky logic puzzles. You'll lap up the atmosphere, get lost in the woods, and wonder exactly where this intriguing story is going to take you.

Cordy 2
By SilverTree Media - download free on iPhone and iPad Cordy 2

Cordy has a lot in common with other platforming heroes. He can bounce like Mario, accelerate like Sonic, and suffers from the same terrible disease as Rayman. You know, the one that makes all your limbs fall off.

Which means that Cordy 2 can feel like a pretty typical jump-'em-up. You collect doodads, you bop enemies, and you solve easy puzzles.

But the game's bouncy energy, constant flow of new ideas, and impeccable polish make it worth checking out.

Real Racing 3
By Firemonkeys - download free on iPhone and iPad (US version)

Real Racing 3

It's your official Controversial Pick of the Month, folks!

Yes, Real Racing 3 is hampered by a payment model which means you'll spend as much time in the pit lane as you do in the fast lane.

But the actual racing - when you're behind the extravagant cockpit of a supercar, snaking around corners and overtaking your Time Shifted frenemies - makes it worth the wait(s).

The Silent Age
By House on Fire - download free on iPhone and iPad The Silent Age

Time travel and point-and-click adventures go together like peas and carrots. Tricky logic puzzles become even more fun to solve when you can skip through time to see how your actions affect the future.

That's why The Silent Age - an elegant little game from Danish dev House on Fire - is so ingenious.

Add in that groovy minimalist art style, and a moody, foreboding atmosphere, and we're already waiting impatiently for episode two.

1001 Attempts
By Everplay - buy on iPhone and iPad 1001 Attempts

1001 Attempts belongs to the cool clique of indie games that hark back to a time when games were friggin' impossible. Games that had chunky pixels, chiptune beats, a fast pace, and probably the word 'Super' in the title.

This one involves bouncing between floor and ceiling, in a mad dash effort to avoid saws and drills and missiles and lasers. It's hard, it's unfriendly, it's stupid, I hate it, and I love it.

Just one more go!

Major Magnet
By PagodaWest - buy on iPhone Major Magnet

It's been interesting to see over the last couple of years how different mobile game developers have faced up to the challenge of making a platformer on a gadget that has no joystick or buttons. Every month, it seems, a creative new solution is proposed and tested.

Here's the latest: the hero of this madcap cartoon world carries an enormous horseshoe magnet around his waist. This magnet can become attracted to metal nodes with a tap.

Major Magnet is clever and original, and a truly satisfying challenge to master.

Red Rusher
By Araso Pandan - buy on iPhone (Lite)

Red Rusher

"Elite Beat Agents: The Auto-Runner". Now, that's a potent combination.

In stylish monochrome slash-'em-up Red Rusher, you tap (and swipe and hold) to the beat, as you sprint down corridors and dispatch foes.

It's missing the eclectic soundtrack from iNiS's aforementioned cult hit on DS, but it's got all the challenge, satisfaction, and barmy screen-stabbing thrills.

Backflip Madness
By Gamesoul Studio - buy on iPhone and iPad

Backflip Madness

Watch out, QWOP: there's another bonkers sports sim on the scene.

Backflip Madness is allegedly about performing agile acrobatics, but it's as much fun to just send your limp-limbed tumbler head-first into a basketball hoop.

Still, once the joke has subsided, this remains a fun and challenging game, with a clever control system. Rather addictive, too.


Previously... January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 January 2013 - December 2012 - November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 October 2012 - September 2012 - August 2012
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer