The iOS gaming thread

[BedroomBusinessman]

The broken sword games are probably the ones I've enjoyed playing most, really well written. Really wish there were more point and click style games, theyr perfectly suited to the touch interface. Personally I found Broken Sword 1 & 2 to have far better touch implantation than the monkey island games.

..... Get both!

The broken sword games are probably the ones I've enjoyed playing most, really well written. Though I do wish there were more point and click style games, theyr perfectly suited to the touch interface. Personally I found Broken Sword 1 & 2 to have far better touch implmentation than the monkey island games.

..... Get both!

[deerokus]

Galaxy on Fire 2 is a good game, but I would agree that it's not suited to handheld gaming. Fine for a flight, mind you, but even in those circumstances my personal preference is to read a book or watch a film.

iOS Broken Sword isn't a port of the original, it's a port of the 'Director's Cut', which is essentially a remaster/remake that made a few too many changes that I'm personally not a fan of. That said, it's still a great game, and the differences aren't game ruining, especially if you've never played the original versions. It also works perfectly on a touch screen as the Director's Cut was originally developed for DS, I think. BS1 is my favourite adventure game ever.

[Harsin]

Is there a way to reset a chamber in Waking Mars if you've made a royal balls up of it?

[Flub]

King Of Dragon Pass sounds pretty amazing but may be TOO involved - and at £7 and iPhone only I might wait until my return...

It doesn't have to be really. The way to learn how to play it is to follow the initial tutorial and then just play by fucking up. Every time you do something wrong (And it's utterly hilarious how much fucking up you can do) is another piece of the game that you understand better. It's a bit like a choose your own adventure crossed with resource management. Each year is broken up into seasons. Each season you get a chance to do "something". Explore, raid, quest, trade, diplomacy and then loads of random events start cropping up. There's a stupid amount of these and they involve you making decisions on behalf of your clan. I started a game on the train to work today and I was so into it that the journey became nothing at all. I really wish they'd release a lite version. If people could play it for a couple of ingame years they'd probably sell loads more. It's utterly perfect for your travel gaming

There's rather a long video that shows the tutorial. After you finish your first game with the tutorial it won't bother you with that again

[MBM]

I loved Kingdom Rush and Fieldrunners (but have finished both, pretty much), is Geodefense / other Tower Defence game worth it?

GeoDefense is very hard, but definitely worth it. Also check out Sentinel 3 and maybe Samurai Bloodshow, which will get a sequel soon. Tower Defense: Lost Earth HD is also pretty good, as is Anomaly Warzone Earth.

Aside from those I would recommend Incoboto even though it's a little fiddly in terms of control.

[milko]

I see Imperium Galactica 2 is out for iPad. I never played it before, but heard lots of people refer to it as a classic.

[Davros sock drawer]

Depending on what you like undercroft might be worth a look. old school RPG in the style of dungeon master.

We should mention Undercroft every 10 pages or so, just so that people don't miss out. It's free, and it's still one of the most enjoyable games I've played on the iPad, even though it's an iPhone game.

Think Dungeon Master/Knightmare/Ishar and games of that ilk:

I would kill for a sequel.

Tiny Bang Story is a good time killer. It is partially a hidden object game, but with proper puzzles to do as well. Simple, but engrossing.

[milko]

Also, Combat Mission is out on iPad! Gosh.

[smackie]

We should mention Undercroft every 10 pages or so, just so that people don't miss out. It's free, and it's still one of the most enjoyabel games I've played onthe iPad, even though it's an iPhone game.

Think Dungeon Master/Knightmare/Ishar and games of that ilk:

I would kill for a sequel.

Tiny Bang Story is a good time killer. It is partially a hidden object game, but with proper puzzles to do as well. Simple, but engrossing.

It is awesome. Lets hope Legend of Grimrock gets converted to iPad/iPhone.

[Cheeko]

Crytek's iOS game Fibble is out, I'm torn between thinking it looks terrible and also thinking it could be good fun, anyone bought it?

[meatbin]

Anyone playing Bit Pilot? The controls are sublime once you get used to them...

[Grobbelboy]

Edge reviewed Bit Pilot only last week. Is it being re-released or something? Because I've played it over a year ago already.

[Mentazm]

I also love Undercroft and want a sequel.

Need to complete the first tho, stuck near the end iirc.

[meatbin]

Edge reviewed Bit Pilot only last week. Is it being re-released or something? Because I've played it over a year ago already.

Well it was the Edge review that made me check it out, I assumed it was new!

[Clipper]

Edge reviewed Bit Pilot only last week. Is it being re-released or something? Because I've played it over a year ago already.

Ok it had to happen.. saw bit pilot and thought "sounds good"... Turns out I got it last year already

Deleted it as I didnt get on with the controls

Doh.

[toythatkills]

Yeah, I never got on with the controls either. Always kept it around because I liked the music and felt like one day maybe I'd master it.

774 Deaths is a new thing from Square-Enix, special launch price of 69p. It's basically a series of short platforming levels/minigames. There are four types. One with virtual controls, one where you're falling and have to tilt to avoid spikes. One where you auto-run and have to time your jumps, and one where you tilt to move. The thing about it is that it's really fucking hard. Throwing-your-iPhone-at-the-wall hard. It's not called 774 Deaths for no reason! There are 33 levels, I've done the first ten or so and died 100 times already.

I really like it.

[Uncle Nasty]

Also, Combat Mission is out on iPad! Gosh.

Anyone tried this or Battle Academy? Not really a genre I'm familiar with, but after Hunters I'm warming to a bit of turn based action.

[joeplus]

Well, Swordigo is the first game that's made me miss my stop on the train, which must count for something. Has its flaws, but there's a lot of game in there.

[Flub]

Piano Dust Buster is amazing.

http://toucharcade.com/2012/04/02/please-send-piano-dust-buster-back-in-time-to-1988/

[Cheeko]

Managed to score 700 on ZiGGURAT today, finally getting to see what happens at 6 mins, yay!

[milko]

Anyone tried this or Battle Academy? Not really a genre I'm familiar with, but after Hunters I'm warming to a bit of turn based action.

Battle Academy has been a price point too far for me to jump in yet while I've loads of other things to try, but I've heard good things. I got Combat Mission and have mixed impressions. For the price it's fine, but it's also pretty clunky in places. Reading reviews, some veterans of the PC versions are saying they've taken out too many detailed nuances to make it work smoothly on tablet. Others and the makers say its just fine, which is how I feel about it so far. I get the impression it will improve over time, it's almost like a paid beta just now. So yeah, hardcore turn-based strategy that will happily kick your arse. Touch arcade forum has a thread with quite a few opinions in both ways, as does Battlefront (the maker).

[Flub]

Avernum is out for the iPad. It's another RPG by the guy who did the rather excellent old school Avadon

http://itunes.apple....d499730787?mt=8

*Edit* Just had a quick 5 minutes. It's like Avadon but the UI seems a bit nicer (Going from memory) and the graphics seem a bit more vivid. This time you start with a full party of 4 (Customisable by you) and it looks like some banging Baldur's Gate style old school fun. 5 minutes in and I've already killed a load of giant rats

[Gotters]

I quite like a few of the Eurogamer app of the day recommendations - yesterdays was Tiny Heros which is a free (initially) tower defence very much in the same style of play as Plants v Zombies (but with more paths of enemy attack) - looks like further chapters are IAP but there are a good slug of free levels to start to see if you like it.

Don't think its new at all but had slipped under my radar and well worth a look, particulalty if you liked PvZ

[mechamonkey]

I love Tiny Heros, superb game.

[Gotters]

any game that can induce bog seat leg pins and needles is alright by me, really enjoying Tiny Heroes but it seems quite hard, that or I'm crap at it.

[Qazimod]

Remember those bits in Donkey Kong Country where you had to guide your monkey from one barrel cannon to the next whilst collecting bananas along the way? Yeah, well Cannon Cat is nothing like that. Oh wait.

Apparently due out later this month...

[joeplus]

I guess I sort of respect "nick the best bit from another game" as a design strategy. I'll probably pick that up.

[Flub]

In Avernum I got to chat to a demon before the fight kicked off and the conversation tree devolved into a discussion about what the correct term for a collection of worms was*. Followed by some innuendo about worm breeding. Then I stomped on his face.

*(Bed apparently although there are others. The demon wanted to use swarm because the real terms aren't as terrifying to humans. I think he out-sperged me though)

[Gotters]

Cannocat looks a lot like land a panda

[Harsin]

Saturday Morning RPG is an episodic role-playing game firmly set in a world inspired by 1980s Saturday morning cartoons.

The game follows the story of Martin “Marty” Hall, an average high school student who has been gifted a powerful ability to channel magic through everyday objects. With his newfound powers Marty has inadvertently attracted the ire of the world’s most heinous villain – the evil Commander Hood. This leads Marty into a series of dangerous plans that he must unravel to save the world (several times!).

Saturday Morning RPG is a Japanese style RPG that allows players to build Marty’s power up throughout multiple stand alone episodes. Players can carry over stats, inventory, and even story decisions between these episodes (sometimes your actions in one episode will ripple into previous or future episodes!). Saturday Morning RPG is a truly unique and engrossing role-playing game experience that can not be missed!

9.5 out of 10: “Saturday Morning RPG is one of the most ambitious handheld games I’ve played in a long time, and it’s unbelievably well done.” – Adam Jones, stashow.net

93 out of 100: “Saturday Morning RPG is a refreshing take on the genre.” – Matt Smith, n00balert.com

“This is how JRPGs always should have felt!” – Sean Koch, iFanzine.com

“I found myself desperately wanting more.” – Trevor Faulkner, elder-geek.com

First episode is released for free tonight on the App Store. A guy on SomethingAeful who played a promo copy is raving about it.