Let’s welcome the new month with some gaming, shall we?
Recently, we’ve seen some truly stunning iOS games hit the App Store, and we want to help you discover them too — click through for our favourite new titles!
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Gun Bros. 2
As wild as the first, Gun Bros. 2 is a sequel to one of the most beloved open multiplayer shooters on the iPhone.
With a familiar setting involving the ongoing conflict between F.R.A.G.G.E.D. and the nefarious T.O.O.L., you’ll play as the brothers Gun who, besides their obsession with weaponry, are just a pair of guys trying to save the universe again. The freemium model continues to be exploited here, allowing you to accelerate your acquisition of new items and weapons — the arsenal is vast this time around, and each level also hides a piece of free armour.
Monstrous bosses, upgrades and the excellent real-time multiplayer round out this exciting iCloud and Game Center enabled funfest. Did we mention there’s tanks now too? Because there are. Gun Bros. 2 is free, so grab it and go help the universe!
Price: Free
Developer: Glu Games Inc.
Download: App Store
Year Walk
On a more serious note, Year Walk emerges as the standout iOS game of the past few months. It is a profoundly creepy and engrossing game, and while it focuses more on the experience than the action, it has plenty of actual gameplay to keep it from being just an abstract art piece.
Drawing from Swedish mythology to craft its snowy world, Year Walk is a fable involving an ancient custom of venturing into the wilderness on the last night of the year in the hopes of catching a glimpse at the future. Unfortunately, such quests are fraught with peril, as the creatures of the woods are watching. While not explicitly a horror game, Year Walk maintains a consistently dark tone, with a few moments of sheer terror unexpectedly brought forth by innocent actions.
As you tap and swipe, tentatively, to navigate, you’ll want to keep a notebook handy to jot down clues — there’s no such thing as a superfluous detail in Year Walk. Alongside the main app, Simogo has published a free “Companion” app containing reference information that fills in the lore of the Year Walk phenomenon. But here too, there is more to the app than meets the eye…suffice it to say that the Companion app is not optional, and that once you “beat” the game itself, you aren’t yet finished with this incredible experience. Make time, grab headphones and delve into Year Walk. This is a special one.
Major Magnet
Major Magnet is a comical platformer with a magnetic personality. You’ll play as a slightly clumsy man named Marvin with a pet guinea pig who just wants to save the world.
The gameplay revolves around tapping magnets to propel the Major through each level. Swiping activates a boost, and the careful combination of both will help you blast through stages in 6 different environments. Special mention must be made of the animation and artwork, which is extremely dynamic and polished. Though you might not have time to focus on the details with the quick pacing.
If you’re after some quality arcade action, then Major Magnet delivers in spades.
Spunk and Moxie
Staying in the world of platformers, we come to Spunk and Moxie. A game about a mutation trying to escape the laboratory it was created in.
The auto-run platforming is augmented by your tapping and swiping, allowing you to control how Spunk and Moxie bounce, fly and slide around the many obstacles in the game’s 30 levels. Each level is deep, featuring many power ups and unlockable secrets including medals, cameo characters from some very famous games, and stars that signify total completion of a level.
For the first player to successfully unlock all 30 stars, Tilt Studios is offering a generous $1,000 prize — if that’s not incentive to pick up and try this game, I don’t know what is!
Price: $2.99
Developer: Tilt Studios
Download: App Store
Krashlander
If robots were to destroy the world and you happened to be left alive, it’s understandable that you’d be looking for vengeance. Not all people would resort to skiing as a means to this end, but then not all people would be a Krashlander.
With your Krashsuit in place, you’ll ski the slopes of planet earth picking up speed and momentum before launching yourself valiantly at improbably perched robots on cliffs. Smashing into them is satisfying and quite difficult thanks to the old-fashioned controls that are modelled, according to the developer, on an older game called Ski Stunt Simulator.
Regardless, the experience is like a more challenging version of Tiny Wings combined with the crashing madness of Angry Birds, and the resulting game is an entertaining challenge for those who appreciate new mechanics.
Price: $0.99
Developer: Farseer Games LLC
Download: App Store
What Have You Been Playing?
Enjoy your weekend gaming and come back next week for a new batch of games to play!