So there you are making your list, checking it twice, and trying to remember where in the garage you put the Christmas decorations. Life is tough. And while they may not solve your problems (or find your snow globes), these new titles from the App Store game section may restore you to a happy seasonal mood!
Also in the spirit of giving, please keep sending us your tips — we read and enjoy them and try our best to follow up with each.
Angry Birds Seasons
Angry Birds Seasons
Well it looks like this is going to become a trend. One wonders how they’ll treat the whole “egg” theme come Easter, but in the meantime…another season, another Angry Birds mutation.
Angry Birds Seasons is actually something more like a modular expansion to the Halloween version we last saw — and contrary to what some commenters will have you believe, it does NOT delete your Halloween levels, they’re easily accessible from the menu and all progress is of course saved. So you end up with a new golden egg, 25 days of Angry Birds, and a lot of seasonal cheer.
This is another no-brainer for fans of the series who want more content, so if you’re one of them then chances are you’re already enjoying and if you aren’t then Angry Birds Seasons is as good a place as any to jump onto the bandwagon!
Price: $0.99
Developer: Rovio Mobile Ltd.
Download: App Store
Kosmo Spin
Kosmo Spin
Kosmo Spin is one of the most amazing looking apps I’ve seen in a while. The papery art style is extremely well produced and the underlying animations and sound design pull everything together into an excellent and fun new game.
The gameplay is a bit dizzying, requiring you to spin around a planet to bravely save its desperate citizens…and by “bravely” I mean “inexplicably”, and by “desperate citizens” I mean “muffins, coffee, and other breakfast foods”. Yeah, it’s a bit of a strange premise. That doesn’t stop it from being fun though, and while it’s pretty easy to scoop up all the pastries and avoid the flying saucer at first, things get progressively more challenging.
There’s a quest mode, an endless mode, achievements, leaderboards, and free updates promised…the only thing there isn’t is a good reason for you to avoid taking this title out for a spin (so to speak).
Run Like Hell!
Run Like Hell!
The descriptive title of this intriguing new running game from Mass Creation is a decent summary of what you’ll be doing throughout your time with the app.
Playing as a man (who looks suspiciously like Nathan Drake) trapped on a lonely tropical island, your job is to run like hell away from the tribe of cannibals that wants to have you for dinner. Luckily, they are a very linear bunch and haven’t yet discovered flanking, so all you have to worry about in terms of obstacles are logs, bits of crashed airplane, rocks, ruins, and other annoying things that could trip you up on your way to your boat.
With quick pacing, stunning graphics, great powerups, and endless modes to keep the replay value up, it’s definitely easy to recommend Run Like Hell!
Price: $1.99
Developer: Mass Creation Sp. z o. o.
Download: App Store
Hooga
Hooga
Rewind the clock a few thousand years and you’ll find yourself in the Jurassic alongside Hooga. Who? Presumably an ancestor of yours who stars in the game of the same name by the masters of mobile gaming over at Chillingo.
This latest adventure is a side-scrolling platformer with a lot of personality and the same absolutely outstanding production values that one expects from the makers of Cut The Rope. There are about 40 different enemies who will bother you as you traverse the lush and diverse levels of the game, but they don’t really stand much of a chance against Hooga’s skills, especially once you start picking up the fun powerups.
Chillingo has strangely decided to adopt the Crystal gaming network rather than the more popular Open Feint or Game Center, but it’s a minor quibble against another successful title. Not the cheapest on the App Store, but it’s worth a look for fans of good side-scrollers.
Plant Tycoon
Plant Tycoon
We try to bring you a variety of titles, some of which fly under the radar, and Plant Tycoon is one of these. Produced by Last Day of Work as a port of their PC title of the same name, the iOS version is extremely faithful…perhaps too much so.
The game is a simulator, but there is something of a story in that you’re seeking to find six magical species of plant on a mysterious island. To do so, you’ll grow and nurture many ordinary species in a detailed environment that requires you to plant, water, clean, pollinate, prune, and eventually sell your plants. You can also catch and collect bugs for fun, and there’s a shop for chemicals, tools, and accessories that will help you on your quest. As with other “free” games in this genre, you can use real money to help augment your virtual income with extra “Plant Bucks”.
The biggest drawback for this title is that, on an iPhone (it’s universal, and the iPad version fares better), the on-screen text is just plain tiny, and many of the elements you have to interact with are so small that it can be frustrating for anyone without very delicate and precise fingers. If you can ignore that, or if you’re on an iPad, then Plant Tycoon is a patient, beautiful, relaxing, and surprisingly rewarding way to spend some time.
Price: Free
Developer: Last Day of Work
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
There’s our selection for the week — what about yours? Let us know in the comments if you’ve come across any other great titles this week!