Another batch of new Thursday iOS releases have hit the App Store and we’ve got some good ones this week, including a number of sequels of popular franchises.
Kicking off the free apps we have 4 Snaps, a new asynchronous casual co-op guessing game from 16 year-old developer Michael Sayman. It is a Draw Something style game that relies on your photo taking skills rather than drawing ability to get your playing partner to guess a mystery word. In each round the player selects one of three words and then snaps 4 pictures which act as the clues for the other player to guess. At launch the game has 1600 words, with new words to be added regularly. I’ve been playing some pre-release matches and I gotta say, it’s a fun new twist on the casual coop genre and definitely worthy of a download.
Next up is a new interactive digital book app from CJ Educations called The Earth Book: Round Like a Ball, which has ‘Mom, Dad and the rest of the family (even the pets!) trying to guess what is ROUND LIKE A BALL from the series of clues’. It is a cute looking book that aims to increase your child’s vocabulary in a playful way, while encouraging them to take care of the environment.
Ivanovich Games is back with a new word game called Roll-a-word in which players compete in 5 round head-to-head knock-out tournaments by finding words using the set of 6 letters that have been provided. There is also a strategical passing element as well as power ups, and single-device play as well.
Frima’s vigilante vestals are back in Nun Attack: Run & Gun. As you may have surmised from the title, this time around the Nuns can dash, sprint and dodge while delivering their enemies to their maker in this traditional side-scrolling 2D endless runner.
adult swim’s sadistic operating room is once again open for business. In Amateur Surgeon 3 players take on the role of the (aptly named) Ophelia Payne as she slices and splices her victims patients using all manner of ill-suited medical tools from pizza cutter to stapler, car battery to dust buster. Looks like some devilishly inappropriate fun, and prob not for those with weak stomachs.
Gameloft hits the gridiron with the 2014 edition of their NFL Pro: The Ultimate Football Simulation. “Thanks to the official NFL license, you can choose your favorite team among any of the 32 franchises and lead them through exhibition and season matches all the way to victory at the Super Bowl!”
Butterfly Sky is an endless-jumper from indie Danish studio, Funday Factory that looks like a mix of Doodle Jump and Tiny Wings with nice cartoony aesthetic as you make your way from cloud to cloud.
And onto the paid apps…
Gleamer is an old-school puzzler platformer with simple one-touch controls. You must try to safely navigate your Gleamer (which is constantly moving back and forth) through the neon-hued room, using the blue platforms to help you collect all five of the stars, whilst avoiding the deadly red platforms. The catch…your Gleamer gets faster and faster anytime it hits a wall.
Dive, gamer dive. That’s the goal of the Chillingo-published endless diver. With its strong vertical scroller vibe, Abyss Attack has players tilting or tapping to avoid obstacles and sea creatures determined to crush the life out of your submarine. With six upgradable submarines, 15 ranks, 87 missions and mega-missions to complete, Abyss Attack looks like it has plenty of stuff to entertain endless runner and arcade game fans alike.
If you ever wondered how BeaverTap Games could make their excellent speed run game Mikey Shorts even better, the answer is GRAPPLING HOOKS! And this revelation brings us to my most anticipated title of the night, Mikey Hooks. Keeping the same great simple controls of the original this new Mikey adventure adds a super smooth grappling hook element which not only adds a fun new way to play, but also more strategy and ways for you to shave valuable seconds off your runs. This game is an absolute blast and there are loads of new unlockables including a Polymer hat! A MUST HAVE title.
Empires II: What Would You Risk for World Conquest? is a Risk-inspired game of strategy and conquest that builds on the familiar gameplay by adding the ability to buy ships and move your armies across the ocean. Select your country of origin, then wage war across the map’s 160 counties as you attempt to defend your region and defeat the enemy or team up to take over the world. Challenge up to 5 real-world multiplayer opponents via pass and play, local network or turn-based asynchronous game play. Or you can just battle it out against the AI.
Any Shrek fans in the audience? If so, then you may want to check out Shrek Alarm, a new interactive alarm clock app from Blitz Games Studios (Paper Titans) featuring everybody’s favorite green ogre, Shrek.
Last but not least is Worms™ 3. An all-new entry in Team17 Software’s popular strategy game franchise, designed and developed exclusively for iOS. This latest tour of duty features new weapons and a new optional card mode which adds a whole new element of strategy. It looks like great new addition to the series.
I know there are a boatload more new titles that I neglected to mention so keep an eye here for even more new stuff.
 4 Snaps |
 The Earth Book: Round Like a Ball |
 Roll-a-word |
 Butterfly Sky |
 Amateur Surgeon 3 |
 Gleamer |
 Abyss Attack |
 Mikey Hooks |
 Shrek Alarm |
 Empires II: What Would You Risk for World Conquest? |
 Worms™ 3 |
