Features

Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of November 2013

Boards! Rabbis! Blocks! Lords!

Top 10 best iPhone and iPad games of November 2013
|
iOS

Video game characters are weird.

This month, we've played as a rabbi who becomes a detective, as an endless number of clones who get killed by lasers, and as a floating mouse cursor in a sea of dots.

Those are just a handful of the unlikely heroes in these ten amazing iPhone and iPad games that debuted on the App Store in the last 30 days.

As always, this is hardly a scientific list. We just looked at the top-rated games from our back catalogue of reviews, at games that did well on review score aggregate site Qi, and at games that have simply refused to budge from our Home screens.

Touchgrind Skate 2
By Illusion Labs - buy on iPhone and iPad Touchgrind Skate 2

This skating sim is all about realism, so pulling off a tricky move in Touchgrind Skate 2 is almost as difficult as it is doing it on a real board. Only, there are fewer grazed knees and broken limbs in the iOS game.

Simply skating around and hopping onto rails requires dexterous movement of your pinkies and a truckload of complex combinations. What we're trying to say is that it's tough. But, boy, it sure is satisfying when you successfully pull off a string of tricks.

Rayman Fiesta Run
By Ubisoft - buy on iPhone and iPad Rayman Feista Run

Bouncy, boneless auto-runner Rayman Jungle Run was a standout hit of 2012. And this yummy food-obsessed follow-up, in which Rayman is sent through the kitchen and into a sea of soda pop, is a worthy sequel.

Things are largely the same. Rayman still darts through hand-painted obstacle courses while you tell him to jump and punch. But Ubi adds a welcome injection of challenge here, and some excellent new levels to dash through.

Stealth Inc
By Curve Studios - buy on iPhone and iPad Stealth Inc

It's Zelda-meets-Metal Gear. And you'll certainly meet your maker more than once as you try to solve satisfying logic puzzles while hiding in the shadows.

The best bit is the self-aware sense of humour. When you get churned up by machine gun fire and the message "Everyone does that" pops up, you're left to wonder is that from the shadowy overseers of this clone facility... or from developer Curve Studios?

Shivah
By Wadjet Eye Games - buy on iPhone and iPad Shivah

Who would have thunk that the bitter old rabbi of some doomed New York synagogue would make such a good detective.

But it's true. This tired old Jew has a knack for hacking into computers and prying info out of witnesses.

But there's more to Shivah than just following leads. This short point-and-clicker is a thoughtful game, where questions of faith and morality are keenly explored. Come for the puzzles; stay for the sermon.

Blocky Roads
By DogByte Games - buy on iPhone and iPad Blocky Roads

You might take one look at Blocky Roads and lump it in with the hundreds of cheeky Minecraft clones that clog up the App Store. But look again - this is a satisfying little physics racer.

In the game, you choose (or build) a car, and then try to navigate across a lumpy, bumpy terrain to win back bits of your farm and earn enough currency to upgrade your ride. Simple stuff, but the call of "one more drive" is irresistible.

Sid Meier's Ace Patrol: Pacific Skies
By Firaxis - buy on iPhone and iPad Ace Patrol Pacific Skies

In this follow-up, Firaxis might take us from World War I to World War II (and from Europe to the Pacific), but the underlying gameplay is largely the same as the gameplay in the first Ace Patrol entry from six months ago.

That's no bad thing, mind. It's still a considered, involving, and intelligent dogfight strategy game. And by making a few new additions (like more advanced moves and an overhauled structures) and by ditching the F2P nonsense, Firaxis has crafted an altogether better game.

Oceanhorn
By Cornfox & Bros. - buy on iPhone and iPad Oceanhorn

Zelda games are like busses. You wait for ages and then two come along at once. Or, at least, a real Zelda game and another that looks incredibly like one.

So, Oceanhorn may not be a patch on its source material. But it's still a grand adventure where you hop between distant islands and creep into underground lairs.

Throw in a stirring orchestral soundtrack and some of the best visuals on iOS, and you've got yourself a Silver Award-winning game.

Joe Dever's Lone Wolf
By Forge Reply - buy on iPhone and iPad Lone Wolf

Like jelly shoes and Take That, Choose Your Own Adventure stories have made a triumphant comeback of late. But with these digital gamebooks, devs can add interesting twists on the formula, such as voice-overs and physics-based dice rolls.

None has been quite so dramatically re-engineered as this Joe Dever-penned book, which morphs into a manic turn-based RPG whenever you get into a fight. It makes it one of the most engrossing and entertaining gamebooks on the store.

Lords of Waterdeep
By Playdek - buy on iPhone and iPad Lords of Waterdeep

When I say "Dungeons & Dragons", you probably think of descending into dank tombs and slaying goblins (and character sheets stained by pizza grease).

You probably don't think of building a city, hiring mercenaries, and negotiating with other lords.

But this massive bureaucratic boardgame is surprisingly exciting... and deeply engrossing. This iOS port is especially impressive, with five-player online and some fancy multimedia tweaks.

Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous
By One Man Left - buy on iPhone and iPad Tilt to Live 2

How can anything live up to a name like that? It seems impossible for a game to actually earn such a, erm, redonkulous subtitle. But this screwball, knockabout avoid-'em-up just about did so.

Like before, you're tilting your tablet to dart away from enemy dots. But now you have wonderfully insane weapons, enormous boss battles, and new dot types with which to contend. It's fast, incredibly fun, and ultra-addictive.

It is, in a word, redonkulous.


Previously... October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 October 2013 - September 2013 - August 2013
Mark Brown
Mark Brown
Mark Brown is editor at large of Pocket Gamer