Top 10 iPhone and iPad games we're most looking forward to

We gamers are always thinking about the future. Sure, there are more games on the App Store than you could physically play in a lifetime, and there's always a handful of new gems each and every week - but we want more.

We want to lust after games that are just around the corner, and dream about ambitious titles that are on the far horizon. We devour any scrap of information, gobble down new screenshots like pills in Pac-Man, and watch trailers hundreds of times over.

But, of all the new games that are promised to come out for iPhone and iPad - from big games from big developers to tiny gems from indie studios - we've picked just ten that we've already cleared a space on our Home screen for.

Note: All prospective dates in this article are temporary, suitably vague, and definitely subject to change. So, don't book time off work just yet.

Shadowgun
iPhone and iPad - September 28th, 2011

Grisly sci-fi blaster Shadowgun, which is heading to iPhone and iPad this month from Samurai II: Vengeance creator Madfinger Games, is probably the closest we'll get to Gears of War on the iPhone.

It definitely takes its fair share of cues from Epic's testosterone-fuelled chainsaw sim, borrowing those big burly men with tree trunks for necks and a body-slamming cover system that would turn any normal human into dust.

But, one thing it doesn't adopt is Epic's Unreal Engine. Instead, Shadowgun employs Unity to pump out those gorgeous space station visuals, awe-inspiring lightning effects, and smooth 60 frames per second animations.

Lost Mars
iPhone and iPad - 2012

Indie developer Tiger Style has been on our radar since the release of Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor. After the success of its bug-trapping arachnid sim, we've been waiting with baited breath to see what the studio would deliver next.

Turns out, it's an ambitious Metroid-inspired "action farming" game, set deep within the bowels of the red planet. The jetpack-sporting hero will hunt down and collect seeds, which he can toss into fertile Martian soil to unleash monsters and solve puzzles.

Unlike Spider's subtle storytelling - which suggested a backstory through understated backdrop art - Tiger Style's next game will push its storyline with cutscenes and conversations. Best of all, it's inspired by '70s-era sci-fi.

Junk Jack
iPhone - 2011

Pixbits's side-scrolling world builder has definitely got cult-classic Minecraft to thank for its concept. Just like the blocky PC toybox, you'll dig into soil, collect raw materials, and use a crafting menu to make new tools and objects.

But, there's more to tunnelling through dirt than just escaping Creepers. The two-man team of Pixbits has built a monstrously massive underground maze system for you to burrow through (including feiry hell caves and ancient Mayan ruins) and incorporated quests galore.

Those RPG-like tasks have you digging deep into the earth's crust to find increasingly improbable objects (newsflash: if your iPod or goldfish is buried 50 feet into the dirt, it probably doesn't work anymore), before bringing them back to the surface to collect your prize.

Star Command
iPhone - December 2011

It'd probably be fair to call Star Command a mix of Star Trek and Game Dev Story. The space-faring sim puts you in charge of a monster space ship and its crew, as you level up, explore the galaxy, and meet new civilisations.

If you're into hippy stuff like science, diplomacy, and peace, you can turn your space vessel into a floating lab. On the other hand, if you prefer to deal out death to any alien species you might come across, you're free to construct a terrifying battleship instead. Up to you.

As you fly through the vast expanse of space, you'll constantly be tweaking your team, upgrading your ship, and getting into nasty battles with nearby celestial foes. It's up to you to use your funds wisely and keep your crew alive and well.

Star Command recently called out for a cash injection on social funding site Kickstarter. The team quickly hit its $20,000 target, meaning the crew (the real-world humans making the game, that is) will plonk the game onto your iPhone (or Android, if you swing that way) soon.

Ridiculous Fishing
iPhone - 2011

Indie developer Vlambeer isn't having a lot of luck, it must be said. Its best known games have become the target of pilfering plagiarists in Super Crate Box clone Muffin Knight and blatant Radical Fishing knock-off Ninja Fishing.

To teach those light-fingered naughties a lesson and show them how it's really done, both games are coming to iOS soon. The latter will be cast onto the App Store in the sparkly new guise of Ridiculous Fishing.

This bonkers angling spin-off is about flinging your lure deep into the ocean, catching a bunch of marine life on your hook on the way back up, and then shooting the bejebus out of them with a shotgun. The more fish you smoosh, the more cash you'll earn to spend on upgrades and unlockables.

Forever Drive
iPhone - October 2011

If "Outrun meets SimCity" doesn't pique your interest, we don't even want to know you. Get lost.

For everyone else, put Supermono's - it of MiniSquadron and EpicWin - next game high on your wish list.

Forever Drive is about crafting the best futuristic metropolis - decked out with towering neon skyscrapers, winding roads, and the like - before plonking down a motor and racing around your creation at ridiculous speeds.

But, when you hit the end of the road, the game doesn't stop. Forever Drive seamelssly connects your race track onto another city, made by another creator somewhere out on the World Wide Web. You'll cruise across the highest-rated cities until time runs out. Or you get bored.

Jurassic Park
iPad 2 - 2012

Adventure game behemoth Telltale is taking a surprising diversion in this upcoming dinosaur adventure.

The studio has become well known for trotting out the same old adventure game template time and time again, swapping out a detective dog for a time-travelling teenager or dropping a claymation inventor in favour of a wannabe pirate.

But, in Jurassic Park, an epic iPad 2 movie tie-in based on Steven Spielberg's series of sci-fi '90s gems, Telltale has scrapped its tired template altogether. There's no on-screen HUD to heighten the game's sense of atmosphere, there are QTEs alongside puzzles, and there are more dark and dingy moments than funny stuff.

Whether or not the studio can pull it off is anyone's guess, but we've been pleased with just about everything Telltale has made so far. Here's hoping it's another winner, eh?

Battlefield 3: Aftershock
iPhone and iPad - TBC 2011

EA isn't interested in taking the bombastic, console-quality blockbuster that is Battlefield 3 and pairing it down - beyond recognition - until it squeezes into a pocket money iPhone app. That's not its mission.

Instead, Aftershock is a wave-based shooter like Call of Duty: World at War's zombie spin-off on iPhone, or the survival mode that's turned up in every shooter from Bad Company to Gears of War. Simply put, it's all about fending off increasingly tough waves of enemies - forever.

But you'll do it in style, - with pumping audio, realistic-feeling guns, and gorgeous visuals - set in various globetrotting locations from the big-boy version. So, bunker down, pick up a gun, and shoot until your trigger finger gets knackered.

Warm Gun
iPhone and iPad - 2011

Warm Gun kicks off its introduction with one heck of a oxymoron. It's a "futuristic wild west," apparently. According to developer Emotional Robots, if you take the classic western genre, add in a little "obliterated technocracy", and drop a nuke on the whole thing, you've got Warm Gun.

Whatever the case, it's a multiplayer-only shooter, built on the Unreal Engine. You've got six different character classes to pick from, and five game times - from Deathmatch to Capture the Flag to a few off-the-wall innovations, too - to tackle.

It's looking rather swish, and the developer has bundled oodles of content and ideas into this game. If it comes anywhere close to meeting the studio's ambition, we should have one very exciting FPS on our hands.