It is I, Kevin Beimers, one of the cobjockeys who brought you the critically defamed Hector: Badge of Carnage series. So I thought, since the boys over here at AppAddict loved (and promoted) Hector so much, that I’d disgrace this fine site with my grim visage, maybe blather on about apps and whatnot. In truth, for years I’ve been trying to find a way to play games all afternoon and tell my wife I’m working. Done and done.

I suppose I should tell you a little about myself so you can decide if my opinion is worth time you could be spending watching babies laughing on YouTube. Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a fat, vulgar, belligerent British lout who eats nothing but kebabs and kerbsides. I’m actually Canadian. The rest is more or less accurate though.

Truth be told, I’m kinda crap at keeping up with trends and new releases and such. I tend to trawl the App Store in fits and starts, usually just after finishing a big project or something, and I tend to get games that aren’t going to take up a lot of my time. Rather, I tend to pick little gems that I can dip in and out of; open it, finish a level or two, and close it. You know the type: Physics rollers and tilters and dexterity testers and mind benders and wordy-puzzly things, rather than full-blown attention-demanders. Very rarely do I buy stuff (which could be why I’m frequently disappointed).

I’ve got an iPod Touch 3G with a cracked screen, and an iPad1 that I got on sale when the iPad2s were coming out. My actual mobile phone is an eight year old classic Nokia brick, which features no apps, no ringtones, no colour, no rubber ear-plate and all the numbers have rubbed off the buttons from being in my pocket all the time. No one can figure out how to text on it except me.

I don’t tweet. I rarely Facebook. I love winning achievements but can’t be arsed with sharing them with my friends. I’ve never made an in-app purchase: I’ve earned all of my upgrades without spending any real money. I don’t even multitask. Consider me a very casual gamer, so casual that you should probably poke me now and then to see if I’ve gone to sleep.

That’s where I’m coming from. Just so we’re clear.

I checked out the list of games deemed by AppAddict to be review-worthy, and, not being able to decide, opted for my usual approach: I just grabbed everything I could get my mitts on that was free. You’d be surprised how often that works out.

The four new games that graced my iPad this month:

• Beaver’s Revenge™, which appealed to my Canadian heritage,
• Snoticles, which appealed to my cheeky juvenile side,
• Blockwick, which appealed to my obsessive-compulsive nature,
• Seal Force, because Milo, my 3-year-old son, liked that one of the seals was named Milo, and so did I.

I’ll start with Seal Force. In a word, it’s great! I love it! And that’s not sarcasm, I genuinely like it! Look at me, I’m using exclamation points!

Seal Force is a simple premise, as most fun apps are: You’re a seal, eat the krill. Actually, you are three seals – Sarge, Fonzie and Milo (heh, love that Milo) – pink, green and orange, respectively. They need to nab the pink, green and orange krill, also respectively. To nab said krill, draw the seal’s path, and get as many shells and power ups and such as you can in the process.

Story-wise, there’s an evil dude named Krillian, who is apparently behind it all, whatever ‘it all’ actually is – he doesn’t really do much besides popping up at the start to say “I’m gonna poison the whole sea!” in a nasal sneer, after which the game has nothing to do with sea-poisoning… but that doesn’t seem to matter one bit! It’s still a grand old time!

One of the features that kept me playing was the way the achievement system was handled. Since the adventification of the gamification revolutiomacation, the majority of game designers seem to be satisfying the achievement demand by dumping a thousand or so into a stupidly long list, usually containing little more than what you probably would have done while playing the game anyway – “Congratulations, you’ve received the Completed Level One achievement!” – that sort of thing.

Seal Force handles achievements in the style of Jetpack Joyride by doling them out only a few at a time, some easy, some hard, all different ways of playing the game. The shortlist is in the pause menu and at the end of each level. As a result, they’re always in your eye line, easy to remember, and thus you’re always tempted to knock off just one more before shutting it down and getting back to work.

Anyway, I finished Seal Force, so that’s gotta be worth something. Plus, the smile I got from my boy every time one of the other seals said “Nice work, Milo!” could bring a tear to your eye. It was like bonding, only easier.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Beaver's Revenge, Blockwick, Freeloader, iPad, iPhone, iPoad Touch, Seal Force, Snoticles

(Time to get on my soap box for a little bit…)

Further fueling my doubts were the number of recent review requests we’ve received for new games which look like they basically lifted the assets (and game play elements) directly from ZeptoLab’s fun puzzle game, Cut The Rope. One look at True Media Games’ Lay the Egg, Curatus Technocorp’s upcoming title The Candy Monster and (to a lesser extent) Sharp Creative Agency’s Drop The Chicken, and you will see (at least in my opinion) FAR TOO MANY similarities with Cut The Rope.

We see this type of thing time and time again whenever there is some breakout hit, everyone wants a piece of the pie. First there were all the Doodle Jump clones followed by the Angry Birds, Canabalt and Tiny Wings clones. Sure, developers can (and should) be inspired by these games, but you need to create something that is unique and fresh, not a mere facsimile which (as is usually the case) is less crisp and polished than the original.

Fortunately, creativity is not definitely dead amongst the iOS development community. For every clone, there seems to be two or three splashes of brilliance from indie development community. Recent releases like Hutch’s Smash Cops, Colaboratory’s Puzzlejuice, Asketic’s Mailboxing show that that independent spirit and spark is still burning strong. These are creative, original ideas that live or die by their own merits (and ironically) create new fodder for the cloners, it’s just the nature of the iOS ecosystem.

Before I step off my soap box, I just want to say one more thing: if you are just going to release a game that’s sole purpose is to try to capitalize on another’s success, why even bother? Releasing an iOS game is hard work, so instead, why not put your time and talent into developing an original idea…that’s just my two cents.

I apologize for the rant, I guess I just got asked to look at one clone too many…back to our regularly scheduled programming.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: clones, Cut the Rope, iOS, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Nimblebit, Zynga

Hank Hazard is a very cute looking arcade/ puzzle game where players help guide the hamster ball-wearing Hank, through an array of stunt courses while collecting stars and secret coins. One Epic Game is a cartoony infinite runner where you must attempt to “protect the world from an alien invasion right in the middle of a zombie outbreak in a post-apocalyptic wasteland”. Aliens AND zombies?! sounds like a winner to me.

Next up is the highly anticipated platformer Paper Monsters from Crescent Moon Games. This universal title drops you into a “living world made out of paper, cardboard, and a few cotton balls” where you must help the adorable characters jump, bounce, warp, swim, fly and battle ‘ginormous boss dudes’ in attempt to save the world.

Low on cash? You are in luck, because G5 Entertainment, Bulkypix and GAMEVIL will each be releasing free to play titles later this evening. Spirit of Wandering – The Legend offers up an undersea hidden-object quest filled with sunken pirate ships and mysterious spirits. PyramidVille Adventure is an exclusive adaptation of the hit social game PyramidVille on Facebook, which allows players to develop their own ancient Egyptian cities. Finally, Baseball Superstars® 2012 is GAMEVIL’s latest iteration in their Baseball Superstars® series, now with HD graphics, level restrictions unlocked, upgraded batting and pitching moves, endless customization, new super players and more play modes.

In the tactical RPG game Dungeon Crawlers from Ayopa Games and developer Drowning Monkeys players must lead their “Dungeon Crawlers team as they delve into goblin-infested hallways, lava-drenched caverns, and other suitably hostile environs in pursuit of loot, women, and monsters to crush”. It will be available at a special $1.99 price for launch.

Finally, if bugs are your thing, then you may want to check out these iPhone games from Small Green Creatures and Prank Ltd.(respectively). Lazybug is a “farthest distance” genre casual game where you upgrade your ladybug’s launcher and wings to try to achieve the farthest distance jump or the fastest lap. Ant Raid for iPhone is the small screen release of Prank’s popular bug-themed tower defense game.

So which of these titles will YOU be picking up?
Leave a comment below and let us know.

PyramidVille Adventure Bulkypix Free	Baseball Superstars® 2012. GAMEVIL Inc. Free	Spirit of Wandering – The Legend G5 Entertainment Free	Spirit of Wandering – The Legend HD G5 Entertainment Free
Paper Monsters Crescent Moon Games 99¢	Dungeon Crawlers Ayopa Games LLC $1.99	Hank Hazard Chillingo Ltd 99¢	One Epic Game Chillingo Ltd 99¢
Lazybug Small Green Creatures 99¢	Ant Raid for iPhone Prank Ltd. 99¢

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: BulkyPix, Chillingo, Crescent Moon Games, G5 Entertainment, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, New Releases, Universal

It is a game where players build their own skyscrapers, “Open cozy apartments for your citizens. Discover dozens of amazing stores.” If the concept sounds familiar, it should, because the game is a complete and total ripoff of NimbleBit’s Tiny Tower.

This is not the first time that Zynga’s lack of creativity has come to light. The obvious choice is Words With Friends vs. Scrabble, but earlier this year the developers of the Pokerist.com app wrote to let us know that Zynga completely copied their UI when they redesigned their Poker by Zynga game.

I think NimbleBit’s David Marsh put it best when he tweeted, “Pretty sad when a company of 2,789 people can’t even come up with their own game ideas. What a large scale failure of imagination!”

Several years back Apple removed a wonderful Zuma-like game called StoneLoops! of Jurassica, because developer MumboJumbo claimed that the game infringed on their game Luxor’s copyright, “confusing customers, stealing Luxor’s look & feel”. StoneLoops (despite being a better game) hasn’t been seen since.

While in that case, MumboJumbo’s true motivation may have been fueled more by money (and the fact that their app wasn’t selling as well) than actual protection of intellectual property, however the precedence still stands. NimbleBit should be able to get the same satisfaction and get Zynga’s (obvious) Xerox job removed from the store. I’m not sure what legal action the 3-person NimbleBit team has taken (or will take) against the much larger Zynga. So far NimbleBit has taken the high road, with David Marsh writing in a later tweet “I don’t wish Zynga any ill will, I just think it’s depressing for all the devs at Zynga that don’t have creative freedom”.

The folks at NimbleBit came up with this excellent open letter (of sorts) to Zynga, clearly illustrating the extent to which Zynga has copied their game.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for competition and even derivative works, but outright theft of an indie dev’s original and creative idea by a big corporation is just plain wrong. I hope this can be resolved quickly in the NimbleBit team’s favor.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: App Theft, apple, iPhone, iPod Touch, Nimblebit, Tiny Tower, Zynga

Starting things off, you may have a sense of deja-vu seeing Smash Cops from newcomer Hutch Games on the list again this week. That’s because this title was only available for less than a day before it was pulled due to administrative reasons. Fortunately this fun and unique racing title is back again this week.

Chillingo offers up two more titles this week, Order Up!! To Go and Greedy Penguins™. Order Up!! To Go is a frenetic time management game where you must cook up orders and attempt and upgrade your restaurants as you attempt to build your empire. Greedy Penguins™ is a physics-based puzzle game involving a cute and colorful band of gluttonous penguins.

For those of you into puzzle games, Puzzlejuice looks to offer something a bit new and different, combining elements of both the classic match-3 and word games. “Multicolored BLOCKS constantly fall from the top of the screen and it’s up to you to arrange them. Once you complete a row with these blocks they will turn into LETTERS! The only way to clear out these blocks is to spell WORDS. Oh and also you can MATCH COLORS—that will make letters too.”

Futuremark Games Studio releases their tongue-in-cheek tower-defense game, Unstoppable Gorg which pays homage to vintage sci-fi movies from the 1950s. “Flying saucers, rubbery aliens, dodgy effects, it’s got them all.”

There are also a couple of realy charming looking platformers, Bulkypix’s JAZZ: Trump’s journey which follows the adventures of a young, star-struck jazz musician, in love with the lovely Lady Poppy. The other is Niko (from sulake) which features and adorable looking title character who must “race through the dangerous Otherworld in hopes of rescuing his captured friends”.

Finally, rounding out this week’s new releases are Time of Heroes, a 3D turn-based strategy game from smuttlewerk interactive, Letters from Nowhere, the latest hidden object genre title from G5 Entertainment, and the iOS debut of NamcoBandai Games’ classic arcade fighter SOULCALIBUR (at the hefty price of $11.99!).

Smash Cops Hutch $2.99	JAZZ: Trump’s journey Bulkypix $2.99	Unstoppable Gorg Futuremark Games Studio $4.99	Niko sulake Corporation Free ($1.99 full game unlock)
Letters from Nowhere G5 Entertainment Free	Letters from Nowhere HD G5 Entertainment Free	Order Up!! To Go Chillingo Ltd Free	Greedy Penguins™ Chillingo Ltd 99¢
Time of Heroes smuttlewerk interactive 99¢	Puzzlejuice Colaboratory $2.99	SOULCALIBUR NamcoBandai Games Inc. $11.99

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Chillingo, G5 Entertainment, Hutch Games, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, New At Eleven, Smash Cops

Reading?
Watching TV?
Playing video games?
Going to the movies with friends?

Well, in rural Pennsylvania, an eleven year-old boy named Conner Haines is developing Apps.

Sure, we’ve all read stories of younger (and younger) kids developing apps, but what makes this story truly unique is the altruistic nature of Conner’s endeavor. For Conner is offering up his services FREE OF CHARGE to any child (aged 5 and 12) with cancer.

Unfortunately like too many of us (myself included), Conner has a personal connection with the disease. His older sister was diagnosed with cancer when she was just two and a half years old, and struggled with the disease for nearly seven years, but is now thankfully cancer-free. He wants to use his talents (and love of app development) to help bring kids with cancer’s App ideas to life via a free service he calls ‘BElieve’.

The production is a bit of a family affair, with everyone chipping in. One of 8 kids, Conner utilizes his siblings as his QA team, play testing the apps, his dad helps “with some of the tech stuff” and his mom helps with “some of the typing stuff”.

All a child needs to do is visit the flipflpgames website and print out the iPhone app template pages (which look like a blank iPhone screen). Then they simply draw their ideas on these screens, scan or take a picture of them and email them to flipflopgamesbelieve@aol.com along with any other pertinent information. All Conner asks is that “the idea for the game is not too hard for me to develop…I’m only 11 years old”.

To make sure no one is taking advantage of his good will, applicants also need to include a copy of their cancer diagnosis (a scanned letter from a doctor, etc.). It takes Conner two to three months to develop the game and get it into the App Store, but it will also be playable on the web via GameSalad’s HTML5 functionality. Children have the choice of making their app either free or paid, however if it is a paid app, then all profits will be donated to Make-A-Wish.

flipflpgames was just started in October and Conner’s first app That chipmunk Bob was released the day before Thanksgiving in both free and paid releases which to date have sold more than 1400 copies.

While Conner’s the apps are certainly not the next Angry Birds or Infinity Blade (just yet), it is wonderful to see a child putting their time and talent to such well-meaning and unselfish use. I hope that his BElieve program is a big success.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | One comment |
Post tags: BElieve, Conner Haines, Flipflopgames, GameSalad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Make A Wish, That chipmunk Bob

Kicking things off is GlitchSoft’s much anticipated release of Star Marine: Infinite Ammo, an action-packed Contra-esque bullet-ridden ‘classic’ arcade game. Who needs “↑↑↓↓←→←→BA” when you can equip yourself from a selection of seven high power weapons with infinite ammo and let the bullets fly as you mow down the enemy forces.

Next up is Smash Cops from newcomer Hutch Games. Its a unique, fun (and beautiful) looking racing game where you are a cop in a high speed chase. Using your finger you “steer, weave, defend and attack runaway felons with full control of your vehicle”.

Scribblenauts Remix developer 5th Cell is back with Run Roo Run, a cute looking level-based platformer that will have you (Roo), a mother kangaroo, traveling across Australia from Perth to Sydney in search of her kidnapped Joey. With over 400 levels and 100 extreme levels the game features simple one-touch gameplay and unique abilities like “double jump, ride-able clouds, gravity-defying umbrellas, invisibility, tire swings, and more”.

Also in the ‘cute’ category is Atari’s port of the popular PC title for kids, Freddi Fish and the Stolen Shell. My daughter Emily has really been enjoying this title a lot (expect a full review soon).

Finally, we have some new titles from the usual suspects, Chillingo and Gameloft. Chillingo is offering up , the sequel to last year’s popular zombie defense game from developer Xoobis. There second title (because they always release more than one) is Woody Woodpecker, a game that looks to borrow heavily from Tiny Wings, except that it takes place in the Woody Woodpecker universe and players can choose from Woody Woodpecker, Chilly Willy, Winnie Woodpecker, Miss Meanie, and Buzz Buzzard!

Last but not least is Urban Crime, a free 3D crime simulation game from Gameloft in which players try to take over territories controlled by rival gangs in their bid to conquer the city. “Free-roaming gameplay merged with an endless variety of missions: Lose the Tail, Steal Cars, Kill the Enemy, Save Your Gang Member and more.” Weapons include grenades, flame throwers & more.

Star Marine: Infinite Ammo GlitchSoft $1.99	Smash Cops Hutch $2.99	Run Roo Run 5TH Cell 99¢	Run Roo Run HD 5TH Cell $1.99
Freddi Fish and the Stolen Shell Atari 99¢	Urban Crime Gameloft Free	Woody Woodpecker Chillingo Ltd 99¢	Zombie Wonderland 2: Outta Time! Chillingo Ltd 99¢

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: 5th Cell, Atari, Chillingo, Freddi Fish, Hutch Games, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, New At Eleven, Run Roo Run, Smash Cops, Star Marine: Infinite Ammo, Xoobis

First up is Super Crate Box (Vlambeer and Halfbot), the game that inspired Angry Mob Games’ hit Muffin Knight.

Is it too late to the party, or will its charming 8-bit graphics and rock’n chiptunes soundtrack have gamers clamoring for this original. Only time will tell, but I suspect It’ll do just fine.

Next up is NoodleCake Studios’ newest creation, a fun multiplayer 2D racing game called Lunar Racer. The game features exciting single and multiplayer action as well as another great soundtrack from Whitaker Trebella.

It wouldn’t be a new release Thursday night without an appearance from Chillingo, who hits the street with two more new titles in classic arcade style, Street Wrestler and Streetbike: Full Blast. Street Wrestler is a arcade beat-em up game with a varied cast of characters and some nice looking visuals. Streetbike: Full Blast is a retro arcade bike-racer for the iPhone. The only downside is that it appears that it may only be a single-player affair, I guess we’ll find out for sure when it releases tonight.

Let us know if you’ll be picking up any of these titles.

Super Crate Box Vlambeer 99¢

Lunar Racer Noodlecake Studios Inc 99¢

Street Wrestler Chillingo Ltd $2.99

Streetbike: Full Blast Chillingo Ltd 99¢

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Chillingo, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Lunar Racer, New At Eleven, Noodlecake Studios, Street Wrestler, Streetbike: Full Blast, Super Crate Box, Universal

Once again I was invited onto The Portable Podcast (Episode 118) by host Carter Dotson along with guests Blake Grundman (148Apps and Games Are Evil) and developer Colin Walsh (Celsius Game Studios) to discuss our favorite and most under-appreciated iOS games of this past year

Sit back, have a listen and see if our favorite iOS apps of 2011 matched yours.

Listen to the podcast on iTunes.
Listen to the episode streaming via the web.

©2012, AppAddict.net. | Permalink | No comment |
Post tags: Blake Grundman, Carter Dotson, Colin Walsh, Dead Space, GTA III, Infinity Blade II, iPhone, Jetpack Joyride, NBA Jam, Par Out Golf, Sword & Sworcery, The Portable Podcast, Ticket To Ride, Velocispider, Zen Pinball

Before we reveal the Staff’s picks for their favorite apps of the year, you will see that some of our selections were NOT actually originally released this year. This actually raises an interesting point. One of the wonderful and distinctive things about the App Store is its flexibility and fluidity. You CAN teach an old app new tricks. Mature apps which receive regular updates to keep them current, relevant and prominent on your device even years after their original release date can go head to head (and even win) against newly released apps. Many of the apps that I use on a daily basis are at least a year old.

Without further ado… here are the AppAddict.net Staff picks for the best Apps of 2011.

	Brett’s Picks
Before I reveal my picks, I have a few honorable mentions of some really great apps released this year: Temple Run, GTA 3, NBA Jam, Ticket To Ride, Poker Pals (now that it’s been mostly fixed), iBlast Moki 2 HD, Hector Episode 2 HD, Homerun Battle 2, Dead Space™ for iPad and Downcast (not released in 2011, but I discovered it in 2011).
Jetpack Joyride Halfbrick Studios Free	Halfbrick has always been a go to studio for a great, solid and polished gaming experience. Fruit Ninja, Monster Dash and Age of Zombies have all been stellar games, but Jetpack Joyride is easily their best effort to date. The finest 2D endless runner available on the App Store to date, the game has everything you could possibly want from a title in this genre. Powerups, points, missions, and even cloud syncing, it is a brilliant and addictive game worthy of your attention.
Tweetbot — A Twitter Client with Personality Tapbots $2.99	At a time when the powers that be at Twitter were making it very difficult for third party twitter clients to stay viable, the folks at Tapbots did the unthinkable…they launched a new Twitter app for the iPhone. And boy am I glad that they did. In my opinion, Tweetbot is the most intuitive and easy to navigate twitter client available for iOS and a breath of fresh air. I can only hope that 2012 will see the app go universal or we’ll get a separate iPad release.
iOS 5	While not technically an App, iOS 5 updated the iPhone 4 with so many features and knobs that I simply HAD to pick it as one of my favorite iOS “things” released this year. From notifications to free iMessaging, iCloud to Music Match, iOS 5 adds so many wonderful new features that I use each and every day, and which I most certainly can no longer live without.

	Wil’s Picks
Man oh man what a year 2011 was for us iOS geeks. Creativity has been pushed, boundaries have been broken and overall just another solid year showing how dominant iOS can be in the mobile gaming and app arena. Narrowing it down to 3 is insanely tough as there are easily 20+ apps I consider 2011 “best of” material. But alas, I’ll narrow it to 3.
Infinity Blade II Chair Entertainment Group, LLC $6.99	Let me get this out of the way, Infinity Blade 2. Absolutely stunning, jaw dropping and insane for a mobile game to look and play as this one does. I’m an Infinity Blade fan, through and through and Infinity Blade 2 has more than certainly surpassed every expectation I had coming into a sequel. From playing it in bed on my iPhone 4S, then utilizing iCloud and continuing my game on my iPad 2 via sofa, this game has it all and will be on my devices until Infinity Blade 3. Can hardly wait for co-op mode!
Find My Friends Apple Free	Next up? Find My Friends! YES, I love this App. As a Apple fan, I’ve converted near ALL family and friends to said products. Enter Find My Friends, all my CLOSE friends and family utilize this app and I think it’s outstanding. Simple, but outstanding. I use it daily, thus why it’s on my list. Plotting events/dinner/meet-ups has never been easier when you can simply pull up Find My Friends to see locations. Gonna meet my best bud for a hamburger? Maybe I’m a tad early? No prob, it appears he’s about 1 mile away…guess I’ll play some iPhone games till then. I love it and use it daily.
Siri	Lastly? Another Apple-made app that’s made a new splash into my daily happenings, Siri. I picked Siri because even despite being young in its creation, it’s a game-changer. Never do I type in my reminders anymore…all are now spoken and perfectly executed. Daily am I conversing with my digital assistant having her remind me and setting up calendar events. What did I do before her? Type stuff? Never! What’s typing!?   This year was crazy and there are WAY to many games and apps that I’d love to list here…so, in closing, I’ll leave a few games/apps I felt need to be mentioned as well. Runners-up: LogMeIn, Alien Blue, Waze, Temple Run, Sonic CD, GTA 3, Where’s My Water? and Flipboard.

	Jaden’s Picks
Downcast Jamawkinaw Enterprises $1.99	I listen to a lot of podcast. I mean around 40-80 hours a week. Managing them through iTunes, then syncing them to my phone daily, became a huge chore. Downcast came to the rescue. Not only does it download your podcasts for you, it can organize playlists almost any way you could possible want them. A little while ago, they added yet another great feature: iCloud syncing between devices so everything you use will know where you left off. It doesn’t get any better than this.
Kard Combat ™ Hothead Games Inc. Free	As a fan of Magic the Gathering, I was excited to see that Richard Garfield designed a card game for iOS. Kard Combat ™ comes free and lets you try it out before you have to invest in it ($2.99 for each half of the available decks). You have a fun challenge mode to unlock all the cards for each deck, a super-hard section that puts you in matches that are near impossible to win, and a great multiplayer system. This is one of my favorite games of all time on iOS. Are you playing? Hit me up for a game sometime (OpenFeint and Game Center are both TheEternal).
Jetpack Joyride Halfbrick Studios Free	It’s not often I find a game I can play for hours and hours, but this is it. Endless runners can be frustrating, but this one has so many powerups and goals to work for that it stays fresh every time you turn it on. There’s nothing like high-fiving the scientists as you go to make you smile and come back for more.

	JP’s Picks
2011 was an incredible year for apps with some amazing gems coming out of an app store that spent most of the year dominated by games like Angry Birds, The Smurfs and Where’s My Water?. My picks this year are tempered by the release of a new iOS device generation which saw beautiful and powerful games usher in a new era of cutting edge technology. Meanwhile, I stayed slightly behind the tech curve with my trusty 2nd Generation 8 gig iPod Touch. As frustrating as it became to see highly anticipated games require the latest and greatest devices, it made me truly appreciate the developers that remembered that not everyone has the best of the best just yet. I may have had to pass up some wonderful CAVE shooters, most of the Square-Enix throwback RPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy, not to mention Elder Sign by Fantasy Flight Games, but I also got to dive into some stellar games that did work on my now-elderly devices that I may have passed up otherwise.
Mage Gauntlet Rocketcat Games $2.99	Mage Gauntlet is by one of my personal top 5 developers, Rocketcat Games, who always have their finger on the pulse of the retro 8 and 16-bit style. It is a fun dungeon RPG-lite romp using a unique magic mechanic that makes you really have to budget your spells rather than just spamming Magic Missle at the darkness. Give it a whirl if you liked their previous offerings like Hook Worlds and Super Quck Hook or if you just enjoy 16-bit Action-RPGs like Zelda
Ascension: Chronicle of the Godslayer Playdek $4.99	As many of you know I spend most of my time at work running events and demos for various card, board, and role-playing games. That said, I am a massive fan of the Deck-Building Game genre that has become quite popular in the tabletop world. Instead of bringing a deck you construct from packs of cards, you build the decks as you play. Ascension made the transition from tabletop to iOS perfectly, comfortable and responsive even on the iPod/iPhone’s small screen. Online asynchronous multiplayer makes this a must-have for tabletop gamers on the go.
Jetpack Joyride Halfbrick Studios Free	Another game by perennial favorite Halfbrick Studios, creators of Fruit Ninja, Monster Dash and Age of Zombies. This one sees our hero, Barry Steakfries, stealing an experimental Jetpack and taking it for an exciting journey….a ride of joy shall we say. Jetpack Joyride has become my go-to game when I want to kill 5 minutes, which of course has made me late for meetings and other adult responsibilities, since one game turns into four very easily. This game reminds me that my little iPod 2g can blow me away with vivid colors and lightning fast gameplay even without retina display and super rad processors. (yes that is what is in the new devices, “Super Rad” processors. you don’t need to look it up, just trust me.) So there are my 3 games for 2011! What did you think of 2011? See you in THE FUTURE!!!!

	Martin’s Picks
Instagram Burbn, Inc. Free	Released in October 2010, but none the less awarded as app of the year by many. And I couldn’t concur more with it. Instagram has been a fresh start for social apps with a simple and beautiful concept. I think now people are truly using their iPhone’s camera capturing the world surrounding them. Sometimes fascinating, sometimes just they daily journey into life, Instagram has caused a real revolution in photography apps and emerging businesses offering prints on real canvas with your favorite images.
Grand Theft Auto 3 Rockstar Games $4.99	They people at Rockstar Games managed to develop a complete Grand Theft Auto III port from the Playstation 2 to the iOS. Nothing is missing and playing this classic on its 10th year anniversary on my iPad brings nothing but joy. While the graphics might seem a little outdated, we are not looking at a reissue, but the original game from 2001! For fans of the franchise and hardcore gamers alike, this could probably be one of the best releases in the games category of the App Store this year. Regarding sales, we’ll just have to wait and see how well it does for Rockstar, since the release is only a week old.
Magic Piano Smule Free	I just love what Smule has done with Magic Piano for the iPhone. If you like music and you wish you could play the piano like in your favorite songs, well now you can feel a little bit of the experience thanks to Smule’s Magic Piano app. It offers daily free classical songs, good sharing options, and a solid store to buy hot and popular songs and even synth sounds.

	Emily’s Picks
Like her Dad, Emily has A LOT of apps, so narrowing down her favorites to just three was a difficult task. So here are some honorable mentions: The Monster at the End of This Book…starring Grover!, Another Monster at the End of This Book…Starring Grover & Elmo!, Pirate Scribblebeard’s Treasure with Oscar & Josephine by Kidoodle Apps, Toontastic and Harold and The Purple Crayon
Toca Boca	If given the choice, Emily’s top 5 would have been filled with nothing but Toca Boca titles. For her 2011 was the year of Toca! Fun to say, fun to play, these guys know exactly what kids her age (2-6 yrs old) like. Inventive, creative and stimulating Toca Boca’s digital toys are a MUST have for kids (and parents). Emily’s favorites are: Toca Tea Party, Toca Hair Salon, Toca Kitchen, Toca Store and Toca Doctor.
My PlayHome Shimon Young $2.99	The dollhouse goes digital in My PlayHome. Emily loves to use her imagination, moving and playing with the characters in her virtual home. Feeding them, making them talk to one another, putting the kids to bed, there is so much to explore and discover in this house and it keeps Emily entertained for hours.
Big Kid Life Fire Fighter Fingerprint Free	Last but not least is Big Kid Life Fire Fighter. Emily loves to put out fires and save animals in this cute little platformer for kids. It has sone neat features that allow your kids to send you voice and/or email messages while they are playing to let you know how they are doing and how many fires they’ve put out and animals they’ve saved. Something about this game has really captured Emily’s interest and it is one she constantly goes back to time and time again.

	Gary’s Picks
Angry Birds Clickgamer.com 99¢	It was always going to be! 2011 was the year of Angry Birds domination; with a new title in the franchise, Angry Birds Rio, being priced at an unselfish 99¢. Rovio Mobile has certainly made one of those series that’s almost impossible to say no to. I won’t lie – I’m not a complete Angry Birds addict (yet), however I appreciate that this game is as ingenious as it is visually stunning – and for the price of a can of cola that’s got to be worth something!
Sleep Cycle alarm clock Maciek Drejak Labs 99¢	Sleep Cycle is an app that I was originally very cynical about. The “premise” of the app is that it monitors your movement during the night and wakes you up during your lightest sleep stage (in relation to the time you set on your alarm clock). Additional features include handy graph displays of your activity through each night (ranging from awake to deep sleep). After a week of usage I realized that this app is bang on the money and I’ve been waking up feeling refreshed every morning. One downside? It doesn’t run in the background of your phone, so you have to leave it to do its thing when you’re ready for bed. Not a big deal, though.
Grand Theft Auto 3 Rockstar Games $4.99	I was torn between this and Plants vs. Zombies for a while and couldn’t choose which one deserved 3rd place. Both were/are excellent games and run extremely well on the iPhone, however I’d have to say GTA just takes it due to it being such a robust, detailed and responsive port of one of the PS2’s biggest games. If you were going to do a price comparison of how much bang you get for your buck, GTA III would easily knock P v Z out of the park. It’s a game that provides gamers with weeks of play – and when you get bored of beating up prostitutes it’s not game over! Oh no! 100 hours of entertaining in-game radio is there to be enjoyed!

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Post tags: Best of 2011, Downcast, GTA, Halfbrick Studios, Hothead Games, Infinity Blade, Instagram, iPad, iPhone, iPod Touch, Jetpack Joyride, Playdek, Rocketcat Games, Rockstar Games, Smule, Telltale Games, Toca Boca