plants-vs.-zombies-2_597986893_ipad_01It is certainly shaping up to be another monstrous night of new iOS releases as I had to limit myself to just sixteen of the many new titles arriving tonight.

Kicking things off with the free-to-play crop, we finally see the worldwide release of PopCap and EA’s long-awaited sequel, Plants vs. Zombies™ 2. While the early reports of the game’s free-to-play model were not very favorable, I’m hoping that these extra months it has taken for the zombies to shuffle onto US shores has helped. Either way it is free to check out, so definitely go and download it (like you weren’t already going to anyways).

Another humorous looking free-to-play game is Sheep Happens, which comes to us via Kongregate. It is a level-based (as well as endless) runner in which players don their winged sandals and take to the streets of Ancient Greece as the demigod Perseus. However, there is one small issue, once Perseus starts going his magical shoes won’t let him stop, so he wants revenge on Hermes, the god of shepherds, who sold him the faulty footwear.

battlefriends-in-tanks_669539144_ipad_01Next up is BattleFriends in Tanks, the second title in Tequila Games’ BattleFriends game series. This freemium cross-platform, turn-based multiplayer game allows you to hop in a tank and wage war against your friends. There is also a available for $2.99 which starts you off with 1700 Gold, is ad-free, adds HD graphics and gives you an exclusive tank. Keeping with the online multiplayer theme we have Battle Camp. It appears that tonight PennyPop’s popular Facebook monster battling ‘puzzle MMO’ is coming to iOS. Players must “work together to crush raid bosses, wage Troop Wars and dominate in real-time PvP”. MMO’s are quite honestly my thing, but the graphical style of this one looks pretty appealing.

If you thought that the penalty kick genre had already been thoroughly played out at this point, think again, for it seems that Chillingo is hoping that you’ll be willing to take to the field once again and fire a few more shots on goal with Perfect Kick. With a cute looking cast of characters, both traditional gameplay and the ability to “replay classic penalty shootouts from history”, plus a bunch of upgradeable gear to put on your player and weekly leaderboards, this looks like a welcome new addition to the pitch.

Vellum Interactive’s debut puzzle platformer, Telekinesis Kyle is a title that I somehow managed to miss at PAX East earlier this year, so I’m excited to be able to finally check it out tonight. Using Kyle’s special telekinetic powers you must move objects to solve puzzles in order to help Kyle escape his captors and secure his freedom. The first 7 levels are playable for free, with the remaining 20 unlockable via a one-time $1.99 in-app purchase.

sago-mini-pet-cafe_659448144_ipad_01If you have a toddler, at home there are a couple of titles that will definitely interest you, the first of which I’ll mention now, the other (featuring Fraggles) will come a little later. Sago Sago launches another of their ‘mini’ apps, Sago Mini Pet Cafe. This is a re-vamped version of Zinc Roe’s Sort Slider which has kids tilting and/or tapping to match a silhouetted object with itself. It also adds two great new mini games in which your child gets to pour his/her own colorful shake and then watch the animals reactions as the sip through the maze-like straws and another where they count and then sort different colored objects. It has garnered a lot of giggles from my 3.5 year-old, and I’m sure your kids will enjoy it too.

Pocket Land is a sandbox construction game which I’ve had my eye on for some time. It looks like an interesting mix of matching, crafting, resource management and strategy in which players attempt to create “the most attractive land they can on a six by six grid and increase the land’s population”. It has a simple set of base rules, making it very approachable by players of all ages…ie. “match two game pieces to upgrade your land. Match plants to create trees, match rocks to create mountains and so on… Collect mana, wood, stone, water, fire and gold to unlock more buildings”. I’ll definitely be checking this one out tonight.

way-to-go!_634883213_ipad_01Rounding out the 99&cent’s offerings we have Headup Games’ rather inviting, cartoony, logic puzzle game Way to Go! which offers a whopping 350+ puzzles and eSolution’s Game of Watchcraft: Spawn of Squishy oddly entertaining-looking retro Game & Watch-meets-DS, Warcraft style MMO.

Already available for download, Foxy Robot’s iPhone brawler Cool Clash offers up a nice variety of hand-drawn, animated characters and makes great use of the touch screen and gestures to craft a compelling new entry in the genre. Those wanting to try before they buy can grab the, free, Lite release which has access to only one fighter, while the paid version offers a number of additional fighters (which are unlocked through gameplay).

Maniac Manors is a creepy looking 3D puzzle / adventure game centered around a man who purchases a mysterious, yet inexpensive old house and he may or may not live…to regret it when he visits his new home and explores the property. And on a cheerier note…the Fraggles are back in Fraggle Rock Game Day. This is the second interactive Fraggle storybook from Cupcake Digital’s and this one centers around Red and her attempt to break record after record and save her friends when the Fraggles celebrate Record-Breaking Day. Entertaining and educational, all of your favorite Fraggles make an appearance including Boober, Gobo, Mookey, and (of course) Wembley.

pirate-legends-td_626884809_ipad_03It is easy to see that when developing Pirate Legends TD, developers Super Hippo Studios took A LOT of inspiration from the likes of Kingdom Rush, but they have done a really nice job of making it their own by adding a number of unique elements to the game play and crafting a top-tier tower defense game. With its varying speeds of water, user-controlled power-ups, flying aces and loads of upgrade-able towers, Pirate Legends TD is certainly worthy of your attention. You can expect a full review very soon.

Winding down this long post, we come to the final two titles I wanted to highlight tonight. The first of which is Solar Flux HD, a mission-based space puzzle game which developer Firebrand Games promises will challenge both your mental prowess and dexterity as you explore unknown galaxies, collecting plasma, restoring dying suns and riding solar flares.

Last but not least, we get the second episode of Phoenix Online Studios’ Erica Reed adventure game series, Cognition. Kidnappings, serial killers and an FBI agent with a sixth sense, the mystery continues in this second outing.

So did I miss anything?
Leave a comment below letting us know what new iOS titles you plan to pick up tonight, and don’t forget these most of these links don’t go live until 11PM EST on Wednesday August 14th..


Universal

Telekinesis Kyle
Vellum Interactive
Free
($1.99 full game unliock)




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