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Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of January 2014

Blades! Yetis! Tanks! Traps! Particles!

Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of January 2014
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For consoles, January is a dead month.

Everything that is anything came out in time for the Christmas rush, so you're left with the odd dud that got delayed past December and maybe a 3DS game based on an obscure Cartoon Network show... if you're lucky.

There's no such downtime for mobile. Any month is a good month to launch an iOS game, it seems. Whether it's the dead of winter or the middle of summer, these things just don't stop appearing. No matter how much we pray.

This month, then, we helped a Yeti get home, solved a murder in a swamp, defended our castle from nuisance heroes, and raced a hedgehog against a monkey.

Here are ten amazing iOS games from the past 30 days.

Shadow Blade
By Dead Mage Studio - buy on iPhone and iPad Shadow Blade

Maybe it's time to forget this outmoded assumption that twitchy speedrun platformers don't work on iOS. League of Evil worked. Mikey Shorts worked. And now Shadow Blade works.

This scrappy, brash, bloody game moves at a lightning pace as you dart through levels, bounce off walls, leap over spikes, and slice up guards. Most amazingly of all, though, you're never let down by the virtual controls.

Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed
By Sumo Digital - buy on iPhone and iPad Sonic and All Stars Racing

This mascot mash-up isn't a go-kart game; it's a racer. That means it has sharp handling, no rubber banding, and no unbalanced Blue Shell-style items. If you want to win, you need to master your car, learn the tracks, and practise.

Besides, it's a game that features Shenmue's Ryo Hazuki driving an OutRun arcade cabinet on wheels. Shall we just call it Game of the Year now and be done with it?

Battle Supremacy
By Atypical Games - buy on iPhone and iPad Battle Supremacy

If there's one thing I see in my inbox more often than Clash of Clans clones and heartfelt letters from Nigerian princes, it's joyless free-to-play tank games from devs desperately riding on the coat-tails of PC super-hit World of Tanks.

That's why I almost missed Battle Supremacy, a decidedly un-F2P tank battler from the Sky Gamblers guys.

It's tough; solidly made; and is a great experience online or off. If you're a military fan who's sick of shelling out for shells, get this.

Castle Doombad
By Grumpyface Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad Castle Doombad

We've played plenty of games about sneaking into an evil mastermind's lair and dodging traps on our way to the damsel in distress.

In Grumpyface Studios's latest, however, the Arizona-based dev turns the tables by making us the villain and putting us on trap detail.

In play, it's a fine side-scrolling tower defence game with a hint of Plants vs Zombies. You've got a huge variety of traps at your disposal, minions that roam the halls, and traps you activate manually (like a satisfying spiky squisher that drops down from the ceiling).

Detective Grimoire
By Armor Games - buy on iPhone and iPad Detective Grimoire

In detective games, you rarely feel like a PI. In Detective Grimoire, though, you're really forced to follow the facts. If you're not paying attention, the case will stall and this cartoony whodunit will go unsolved.

For example, you're often tasked with rearranging Grimoire's scrambled thoughts, which means you're responsible for the sort of 'Eureka!' moments that most video game crime fighters have on their own.

Plus, the art style is fantastic and the game is genuinely funny in spots.

Lost Yeti
By Neutronized Games - buy on iPhone and iPad Lost Yeti

The elements that make up this chilly brainteaser aren't too fresh. It's forged from match-three puzzlers and block-shifting bits and a hero who plods along all by himself.

But when brought together, developer Neutronized Games has managed to come up with some unique contraptions for you to work through, and some surprisingly tough and unforgiving puzzles.

Don't let those cute visuals fool you: this game is hard.

Joe Danger Infinity
By Hello Games - buy on iPhone and iPad Joe Danger Infinity

Joe Danger Infinity is not much different from last year's effort.

You're still guiding daredevil Joe through an obstacle course of jumps, fans, and loop-the-loops. Now, however, everything's micro-sized, there are new vehicles to try, and levels are automatically queued up like TV episodes on Netflix.

It's still challenging, rewarding, playful, and works perfectly on touchscreens. So, if you liked the first game and want more, get this. Simple as that.

LYNE
By Thomas Bowker - buy on iPhone and iPad LYNE

LYNE is a puzzle game that ever-so-slowly spirals out of control. It starts off simply enough, as you trace your finger to connect up identical shapes. Soon, however, the game maker introduces new ideas and wildly complicated puzzles that change everything.

Luckily, you're not tossed into the deep end here. Instead, you're carefully led there from the shallow end, the difficulty slowly being ramped up notch by notch until you finding yourself solving absurdly complex riddles like they're nothing.

Atomic Fusion: Particle Collider
By Bytesized Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad Atomic Fusion

I wouldn't use Atomic Fusion: Particle Collider as a scientific textbook.

In this game, you see, Bytesized Studios posits the idea that elements transform into one another by your swapping an atom between yellow and blue and then guiding it through big pulsating rings of energy. I don't think Hawking would go for that.

It does make for a fun, fast-paced, easy-to-grasp arcade romp, though, with oodles of style and flourish. And it has nifty Game Center achievements that come with scientific facts, so it's not entirely without educational merit.

Rhythm Thief & the Paris Caper
By Sega - buy on iPhone and iPad Rhythm Thief

Rhythm Thief & the Paris Caper is a quaint little adventure about a boy who dances his way though a bonkers Parisian murder mystery. It's also a criminally underplayed 3DS game.

This iOS port isn't the exact same thing - it's got some unwelcome social nonsense, some IAPs, and a nagging need for a constant internet connection.

But the terrific rhythm mini-games that defined the 3DS version are still here, present and correct.


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