There are few things as relaxing as winding down after a hard day of work by playing some great new App Store games. We’re happy to find the best of the best for you each week so you can spend less time browsing idly and more time playing fun games!
Check out this week’s roundup after the jump!
Puzzlejuice
Puzzlejuice is Spelltower meets Tetris. I’ll give you a moment to just scramble over the App Store and grab it now.
Though it may seem like an unusual pairing, the combination is a stroke of genius and, as the introduction says, will “punch your brain in the face.” This is a bit of a mind-bender since you’ll be working on matching colours as well as forming words, all while keeping up with the increasing pace of falling blocks. Not for the faint of heart, that’s for sure, but Puzzlejuice is the best kind of brain candy.
Several game modes, a local multiplayer system and a built-in dictionary all contribute to the experience and give some variety to the replay value. This is without a doubt one of the cleverest mash-ups we’ve seen in a while, and the perfect presentation makes it an easy recommendation. Your brain will thank us.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Colaboratory
Download: App Store
Soul Calibur
It seems to have happened again: a major console franchise jumps to the App Store. In this case, it’s the venerable Soul Calibur — fighting franchise extraordinaire — that has made the leap.
The fighting genre, at least in the traditional sense, has not had a very strong presence on the App Store yet, but it’s entirely likely that Soul Calibur will change this because it demonstrates that it is possible to bring the speed and fun of the genre to a touchscreen control scheme. While the graphics aren’t on par with the latest console entries in the series, you’ll enjoy seeing some familiar faces amid the 19 playable characters, and in true Soul Calibur fashion, each one has a very distinct feel and style in combat.
It is not without its problems though. For one thing, the $12 price tag will deter all but the most ardent of fans until a sale shows up, but in addition to that, the largest gap in the presentation is the lack of any sort of multiplayer — a must for a fighting game. That being said, the game is sure to receive updates over the next few weeks, so prepare yourself for a fun and authentic Soul Calibur experience on the go when you decide to pick it up.
Price: $11.99
Developer: NamcoBandai Games, Inc.
Download: App Store
JAZZ: Trump’s Journey
Next up is a game with a lot of spirit and a lot of jazz. Bulkypix’s latest offering is an incredibly beautiful story about the birth of jazz, wrapped up in an attractive platformer. The look is very unique, borrowing cues from the silent film era and combining them with a Paper Mario aesthetic.
The story unfolds as you gather together your jazz band and try to woo a lady (the true calling of all musicians, of course). Your trumpet will be a powerful, time-stopping ally as you come up against the usual set of platformer obstacles, and while the gameplay may not be brand new, the entire setup feels fresh and somehow more meaningful than your average genre piece.
That being said, the controls currently need some tightening, because they float around and feel too imprecise, which can lead to some frustrating deaths. Those, along with some grievous translation errors, are promised fixes in an upcoming update, which means that this nearly perfect effort will soon achieve its full potential.
Triple Town
If the title seems familiar, it’s because Triple Town has already enjoyed great success on several other platforms including Facebook. It remains a strong strategy game and feels very comfortable on the App Store.
In Triple Town, your goal is to fill the board with as many houses and structures as you can, while thwarting the wandering giant bears who will try to get in you way. Combining three of any tile type will create a single, better tile in its place. Three grass tiles make a bush, three bushes make a tree, etc. The strategy emerges as you get into the intricate tic-tac-to style gameplay and must contend with wildcard crystals, gravestones and all manner of other unique structures.
It’s very easy to get lost in Triple Town if you’re not careful, as it strikes a tempered balance between accessibility and depth. There’s certainly no shortage of charm, that’s for sure. Bring your glasses though — the text is a little small.
Price: Free
Developer: Spry Fox, LLC
Download: App Store
Greedy Penguins
Our final title of the week is Greedy Penguins, a puzzle game that takes the Cut the Rope formula and complicates things by adding more mouths to feed.
No longer are you just worrying about getting one piece of food delivered, now you need to cut fish out of their nets to feed the penguins — but to make matters trickier, you need to make sure the right fish gets to right penguin. It adds a very good new dimension to the formula and forces you to really plan ahead and get a sense for the mechanics of the level before diving in and starting to slice at things.
Cutesy animations and bright colours make the different environments pop, and there’s nothing like penguins to put a smile on your face!
Price: $0.99
Developer: Shamrock Games
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
We hope you’ll find your new gaming addiction among our choices, but if you think we’re missing a wicked title that showed up recently, drop us a note in the comments and let us know. Happy Friday, everyone!