turtlestrike_592748620_ipad_03It is another huge Thursday of new iOS releases, with a high-profile title from SQUARE ENIX (and possibly a couple from Gameloft and Ubisoft as well).

There are also some sequels and fresh IPs from indie studios, as well as some nice looking freshman efforts from iOS newcomers.

Those looking for some free entertainment have quite a few titles to choose from including eeGon’s multiplayer-only (live) turn-based strategy game, Turtle Strike which features regular tournaments and prizes of up to $1000 in real money. Or if you prefer your battles to be more ‘magical’ you can check out League of Mages an online spell-casting / dueling game. Boom Boom Hamster Golf is a 3D dimensional round on the links from HammerCat Studio who swaps clubs for cannons and balls for hamsters. And the final freebie is Pocket Mine, a deck-building, arcade digger that looks super-fun and comes from the team that brought us the Endless Roadtrip series.

sky-tourist_647585833_ipad_02Moving on to the dollar bin, we discover newcomers, Three Legged Egg who launched Sky Tourist, a puzzle platforming game with a unique control scheme in which players must guide space tourist, Petey Pendant through maze-like cityscapes by moving Petey’s twin jetpacks up and down (independently). It’s both cute and challenging. Keeping on the space theme, we also have Blastronaut, a classic style platformer featuring an interesting looking blend of black and white and color visuals.

Not as well-known here in the States, but in publisher Bulkypix’s native France, the comic book duo of Asterix and Obelix are quite popular and this week they star in Asterix: MegaSlap, a go-farther style catapult game set in various locations from the series. This is bound to be très populaire with their fans. Nexus Game Studio’s Blitz Block Robo is an action puzzle game with “a fresh new take on the typical match puzzler”. Watch the trailer and you can see it looks like it gets pretty challenging and has some nice aesthetics. It is on sale for 50% off at launch.

NAMCO BANDAI Games returns with Bird Zapper: Seasons, the sequel to their popular action puzzler, with new Freeze and Frenzy attack combinations. Speaking of sequels, Vector Unit has launched Riptide GP2. This console-quality water racing game features online multiplayer gameplay as well as a new career mode, new watercraft, new stunts and more.

delta-v-racing_429903190_ipad_03Fans of retro gaming may want to take a look at these next two titles… Spacehopper Studio’s Delta-V Racing, looks like a frenetic and fun 2D, retro side-crolling space racer, this one is definitely on my personal short list for tonight. Next up is Chillaxian. As you may have guessed from its great pun of a name, Chillaxian is an 80’s style arcade space shooter “with a laid back vibe”.

For the bookworms among us, the Penguin Group has teamed up with the talented folks at Inkle (Sorcery!) to bring you Cainsville Files, the first-ever, digitally interactive story app written by New York Times bestselling author, Kelley Armstrong. This branching adventure story follows Jenn McCoy, a former cop-turned-struggling PI who is hired to investigate the disappearance of her “missing high-school sweetheart–possibly a victim of the notorious Valentine Killer”.

On a lighter note, Oceanhouse Media has just launched the first of its final three Doctor Seuss interactive book apps, Daisy-Head Mayzie at an introductory price of $3.99. It is Seuss’ classic tale of a young girl who “becomes a worldwide sensation when a daisy grows out of the top of her head”. Finally a popular children’s book called The Book of Holes has been re-imagined in an all new digital form with collage-style illustrations and over 100 carefully crafted interactive elements that allow children to learn and explore.

bloodmasque_663664240_ipad_01And last, but certainly not least, we have SQUARE ENIX’s BLOODMASQUE. First shown at E3 earlier this year, this vampiric mix of RPG and Infinity Blade-style combat, puts you into the game like never before, with a character creation tool that renders your actual face onto your character. Despite its hefty price tag, this is bound to be one of the most popular titles of the week.

One final note, even though they have yet to make an appearance, Gameloft’s Asphalt 8: Airborne and Ubisoft’s Prince of Persia The Shadow and the Flame are both rumored to be arriving sometime today as well.

Please leave a comment below and let us know which (if any) of these titles you’ll be picking up this week.





Go to the second page of this post to watch the trailers for these games.