Apps: Games
With the release of jailbreak-based BluTrol and untethered jailbreak for all iOS devices (iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S; iPad 1, 2; iPod touch 3rd, 4th gen) running the most current iOS version, 5.0.1, if you are seriously into iOS gaming, you can't afford NOT taking a closer look at either the iCade arcade console (if you have an iPad 1/2) or iControlPad (if you don't have an iPad and/or want something portable).
Well, it seems G5 has done it again with Royal Trouble: Hidden Adventures for the iPhone and iPad. The best part is that despite its name and web page description it’s really not a hidden object game! Don’t get me wrong, because I love HoGs, but there’s also a need for more traditional point and click adventure games, and Royal Trouble delivers that kind of game play in spades. The story is funny, the characters are cool, and while you occasionally have to think about something for a bit, all the puzzles are really quite logical. I hope this is the start of a trend towards this kind of game on iOS devices, because I like it.
I think I have said before that I ride the train for several hours a day to get to work. Which means I need quite a few distractions in order to ignore the fact that I am wasting several hours daily. The iPad has been a real boon in that regard, offering a seemingly endless font of activity with which I may waste those countless hours I spend commuting. By far, my favorite way to spend that time is playing games on the iPad, and for the most part that means puzzle games. In fact, I like these games so much, ten games were just not enough. Which is why this article goes all the way to eleven. As usual, the games will be presented in alphabetical order.
Generally I prefer my games to have a somewhat compelling set of goals, but there are times when I do enjoy the simple pleasure of mass destruction. Still, while I figured Reckless Getaway would be fun, I was pretty much expecting it to be a “few minutes here, few minutes there” sort of game. Turns out I’ve become quite addicted to this little gem. With it’s over the top… well, everything it feels like you’re in control of a chase scene stolen from a John Woo film. About the only thing I wish at this point is that there were a variety of cars to choose from, but otherwise it’s a nearly perfect no holds barred racer.
Fat jump pro is a fun game which has you playing a small green character who starts out at the bottom of the screen, and has to jump from bouncy platform to bouncy platform without falling. While this does sound like many other games, this one has quite a few different unique additions to the game which have made it quite enjoyable and greatly adds to the length of time it can be enjoyed.
Piggy Woogy seems to operate on the premise that match-three games are way too easy and don’t feature enough lupine commandoes with their hearts set on eating you alive. I have to agree.
Petri-Dash is one of the new generation of “dodge everything” games that realizes a game can always use something more to do than just dodge things. In this case you are some sort of sub-species that lives in a Petri dish, and all you want to do is survive. In order to do that you’ll either have to dodge all the other organisms or take them on in a battle of butting heads in order to dominate the dish. Everything comes at a cost, however, and in this case you are constantly losing life just by swimming around. You are also weakened if you collide with another organism without dashing them. When your life is spent is back to the primordial pond for you. You can collect energy pellets to refuel your health, and there are also little versions of yourself that will attach to you when you run them over and give you bonus multipliers to your score. You lose these friends when you hit one of the bad guys.
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