Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of May 2013

Every month, we like to look back at all the iPhone and iPad games that have come out in the past four weeks and pick out the very best of the bunch.

May was the month for the armchair general. In the last 30 days, the App Store approvals squad has been inundated with games for strategists, tacticians, and dungeon masters.

Whether that involves your planning your unit's five seconds in Frozen Synapse, dealing with a hull breach in Star Command, or commanding a squadron of fighter planes in Ace Patrol, these games favour brains over brawn.

But that's not all. There have been some superlative puzzle games, a minimalist ball roller that's taken up way too much of our month, and a trilogy of courtroom dramas. Let's take a look.

Frozen Synapse
By Mode 7 - buy on iPad

In the fiction of your typical strategy game, a turn can last hours, days, or - in the case of Civilization - decades. In squad-based tactical shooter Frozen Synapse, however, a turns last five seconds.

In that time, you have to micro-manage every troop's every movement, including walking, aiming, crouching, and waiting. Count yourself lucky that you don't have to plan when your troops breathe and blink.

This super-magnified strategy might sound exhausting, but it's a dizzy thrill - wholly rewarding when you execute a perfect campaign, and extra brutal when your squad is annihilated in five seconds.

Sid Meier's Ace Patrol
By Firaxis - download free on iPhone and iPad

A strategy game in the sky has some unique challenges. Planes never stop moving, weather is game changing, and altitude is a constant concern (you want to have the height advantage over some enemies, but sneak beneath others).

That all makes strategy godfather Sid Meier's peppy WWI dogfight sim Ace Patrol so unique. And its finely tuned balance and boardgame-like design make these mid-air skirmishes so much fun.

Impossible Road
By Pixels on Toast - buy on iPhone and iPad

Impossible Road has a lot in common with Super Hexagon. The minimalist design, those airtight controls, the rage-inducing failures, and the fist-pumping triumphs. And the way it has swamped my Twitter feed for the past month.

The idea is simple: you try to roll a ball down a winding, curving, spiralling ribbon-like road... without falling off. Things get tricky - and brilliant - when you realise you can actually drop off the track and land on a later portion of the road.

Sneaky.

Star Command
By War Balloon Games - buy on iPhone and iPad

Compare the release version of Star Command to its Kickstarter pitch, and you'd be right to be disappointed. By the time the game came out, you see, the dev had jettisoned half of its planned features, and removed elements like science, diplomacy, and exploration.

But what is there - a game about chaotic starship dogfights, time management, second-to-second decisions, and not letting your best engineer get sucked into space - is a thrill.

Men's Room Mayhem
By Sawfly Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad

There are plenty of obvious applications for Flight Control's clever finger-friendly chaos-management controls. But directing a bunch of drunk men into urinals and toilet cubicles?

Didn't see that one coming.

Men's Room Mayhem is more than just a filthy joke, though. Its complex rule-set (including pee vs poo, urinal etiquette, washing hands, desperate bladders, and doddery old men) results in one smart strategy game.

Quell Memento
By Fallen Tree Games - buy on iPhone and iPad

Quell Memento is a puzzle game we've played many times before. You push a ball and it doesn't stop travelling until it hits a wall. Ring a bell?

But Fallen Tree Games mixes up the formula with so many new mechanics that it somehow feels fresh. You'll play with portals, spikes, laser beams, and light switches. There's an evolving set of rules here, but they're taught in such a way that you'll have complete mastery of them by the final, super-difficult levels.

And let's not forget the engrossing little tale of love and loss that unfolds between conundrums.

Warhammer Quest
By Rodeo Games - buy on iPhone and iPad

Warhammer Quest is a finely crafted tabletop favourite that's been recreated as a staggeringly high-quality app.

It has superb graphics, an elegant interface (some don't like the 'tilt to open inventory', but I was won over), and more content than you'll ever get through.

It's not particularly original, sure, but it makes wailing on rats feel surprisingly fresh.

Ace Attorney: Phoenix Wright Trilogy HD
By Capcom - download free on iPhone and iPad

The Ace Attorney games are terrific. These DS courtroom epics have great dialogue, enthralling stories, and sharp comic wit. But getting your hands on them today is tricky.

Luckily for you (and your wallet), you can grab the first three games in the form of this iOS port at an agreeable price point. The port isn't perfect - its rap sheet is as long as your arm - but it's a great intro to a fab series.

Steve Jackson's Sorcery!
By inkle - buy on iPhone and iPad

We've seen plenty of gamebooks reborn on touchscreens, but few come out looking this this. Sorcery! has been lovingly recreated for iOS. It's completely reinvented, and not just a digital re-telling of the paperback.

Some of the presentation is astonishing. During fights, characters look like they've been carefully cut out of the book. And bright, colourful maps pop out of the screen.

Oh, and the game is fun, too. It's filled with feisty RPG battles, and offers a grand branching narrative that carefully weaves itself around your decisions.

Jacob Jones and the Bigfoot Mystery: Episode 1
By Lucid Games - buy on iPhone and iPad

Jacob Jones's inspiration is obvious. It's a game where the story is broken up by riddles, quizzes, and tricky puzzles - all very reminiscent of DS puzzler series Professor Layton.

But Lucid manages to put its own twist on a borrowed formula. That takes the form of snappy dialogue, artful vinyl-like characters, and Pixar-style storytelling. This is a charming little campfire story worth telling.

Previously... April 2013 - March 2013 - February 2013 January 2013 - December 2012 - November 2012