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Newly Available On iOS: Infinity Blade III, Toca Cars, Angry Birds Star Wars II, Incredipede, Disney Infinity and More

While many of you have probably spent much of the day frantically updating your existing apps as well as your iOS devices to iOS 7, there have been quite a number of great new apps released that are worth checking out. In particular, there is lots of fun stuff for this kids this week!

Starting with some free fare, we have Disney Infinity: Toy Box this is Disney’s iOS portal into the Disney infinity world, allowing players to build their own Disney-themed worlds and redeem codes from the console items to access them within this mobile version as well. Disney Infinity: Toy Box is free until October 5th, so definitely make sure to download it before then.

Kuyi Mobile is taking their time-management gaming know-how off the streets and into the lift in Elevator Joe. You are an elevator operator, delivering passengers to their correct floors as quickly as possible, trying to keep VIPs happy while ignoring your distracting relatives. Upgrade your elevator, take on more passengers and complete goals.

Are you ready for some football? In Pocket Gems’ football-themed endless runner NFL Runner: Football Dash, you get to hit the gridiron and attempt to dodge, jump and run your way down the (extremely long) field as far as possible without getting sacked.

Also this week a couple of free-to-play titles that (I believe) had soft launches in New Zealand, finally make their way to US shores. Mojaro’s Puzzle Knights combines elements of match-3 games, tactical games and RPGs, while PennyPop’s Battle Camp is a rather nice looking monster battling Puzzle MMO.

And the last freebie is Carnage Racing, a polished looking combat racing game with online multiplayer for up to 8 racers and offers a number of control schemes.

Also in the (destructive) racing genre, our first paid app is NOT AT ALL violent. In fact, Toca Cars is the latest kids app from Toca Boca. Set in a cardboard world, your kids can create their own tracks and then drive their car around where ever they’s like, smashing things up, going off jumps and more. Think of it as a digital matchbox set…my daughters are having loads of fun with this one….highly recommended!

At last Rovio seems to be listening to its fans, releasing their Angry Birds Star Wars sequel, Angry Birds Star Wars II as a universal app at the low, low price of just 99¢! With 30 playable characters including (for the first time) the pigs, and the aforementioned telepod support, this looks like a promising new entry in a somewhat stale franchise.

Little Bit Studio saw huge success with their first Bugs and Buttons kids game and now they are back with the sequel,Bugs and Buttons 2 at a special launch price of 99¢. This learning app teaches kids valuable skills like counting, sorting, pinching, balance, letters and more, through a series of 18 different fun games and activities involving (you guessed it) bugs and buttons.

Retro Dreamer has just launched a kid-friendly version of their strangely addictive ice cream vertical platformer, Ice Cream Jump for Kids. Your kids can now enjoy bouncing their ice cream from platform top platform avoiding pesky flies while you feel secure in the fact that the game contains “no in-app purchases, no ads, and no links to leave the app”. There are still unlockable items, but no coin packs to buy.

Apps like Todo 7 -The ORIGINAL To-Do Task List, Clear – The Revolutionary Todo App, and OmniFocus 2 for iPhone mark the start of what some see as an alarming trend, where developers are updating their apps for iOS 7 and then releasing them as entirely brand-new apps, forcing owners of the existing versions to re-purchase these new releases (at non-discounted prices) if they want continued support and/or any new features going forward. In cases where a substantial amount of new features have been added (that were not previously promised to owners of the current version) I could see this as a valid way to compensate the developer for their work, but unfortunately that doesn’t seem to always be the case. Are you willing to re-buy “iOS 7 versions” of apps that you already own? Needless to say, this is one trend we’ll be keeping a close eye on in the next few months.

Riddick: The Merc Files is a top-down stealth action puzzle game from the creators of “Chronicles of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay” where players take on the iconic role of Riddick and attempt to avoid bounty hunters. “Complete your objectives by staying hidden, or take out your enemies using stealth, melee counter-attacks or using firearms.” Fans of the film series may want to check this one out.

Incredipede is a richly illustrated puzzle game featuring “Quozzle, a lone Incredipede with the unique ability to grow new arms and legs wherever she needs them” You must navigate 120 puzzles by transforming Quozzle to “swing through the trees, climb sheer cliffs, dance over rivers of lava, and even soar through the air on thermal winds”. This looks like another great PC port that iOS gamers are very fortunate to have.

Finally, we of course have the much-anticipated third title in Chair Entertainment’s hack and slash Infinity Blade series. Fans of the series have probably already downloaded this, newcomers can feel free to jump right into this biggest and best looking entry in the franchise.

And that’s all I have this week, I need to check back on my iOS 7 update(s )and get a little shut-eye before I camp out for my wife’s iPhone 5S in the wee hours of Friday morning.

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