disco-zoo_794524208_ipad_01Well, it is another very busy week for iOS gamers!

Loads of new games came out this week, so this list is a bit longer than usual, but I’ll start (as always) with a few free-to-play offerings before spending all of your iTunes credit.

Disco Zoo is the newest free-to-play game from NimbleBit LLC and the first released game from the new studio Milk Bag Studios formed by developers Matt Rix and Owen Goss. As you might expect fromt the title…you are running a zoo. You start by traveling around the world, ‘rescuing’ animals to create and level up habitats within your zoo (by playing a pseudo battleship style mini-game). The animals in your zoo are only awake for a certain length of time and only earn you money while they are awake. Species of animals can be awoken one by one, or bux can be used to start a Disco Party which will wake up all the animals all at one. It is an endless game as you try to build up the worth of your zoo, get new animals, rescue lost animals and level up your existing animal habitats.

Chillingo’s latest publishing effort Duck Destroyer, is like a modern-day (free-to-play) Duck Hunt where players take the role of a sling shot wielding fox who’s up to no good, shooting down as many ducks as he can. It has a neat parallax 3D effect, but this one could get cluttered up by its free-to-play mechanics.

Set in the Labanoir Academy, the university for mad scientists, Laboratz looks like some sort of digital card game where players ” build and train their own armies of rats”. Could be fun.

the-tribez-castlez_663254283_ipad_02Game Insight has just launched, The Tribez & Castlez, the sequel to their 2012 city builder The Tribez. Once again you travel to the past to help Prince Eric rebuild his kingdom, “visit well-guarded dungeons and wizard towers, discover the ancient ruins of abandoned castles, seek mysterious artifacts, and wage war on hideous monsters”. Fans of the original will surely want to visit this next chapter in the Tribez franchise. It is also worth noting that the studio also just added iPhone support to their MMO armored vehicle combat game, Tank Domination.

Charging forward from the Medieval times to the 1980s we have Snip and Chu – The Game, the second retro ‘LCD Remake’ title from Game of Watchcraft creators Clicker. It takes place in Wasteworld, a land where trash that has been discarded by humans continues to live a life of its own. Snip (a toenail) has been captured by the ‘evil RecyKiller’ and it is up to his friend Chu (a piece of gum) to save him. The game features the same dual-screen Game and Watch style aesthetics of the classic handhelds. In addition to the game, Clicker has launched a FREE 100 page graphic novel App starring the game’s main characters to give you some background.

the-voyage_818674981_ipad_01The Voyage is the latest logic puzzle book from the makers of The Curse. This time they’ve adopted a pirate theme to lead you through the 100 mind-bending pages of logic, perception, timing and arithmetic puzzles as you try to beat Captain Bucklebeard to the solution of the mystery of Velvet Marley’s lost fortune. The game looks like it has the same high production values and great cut scenes that build a narrative around the nice variety of puzzles. This is a steal at its special launch price of just 99¢.

Crescent Moon Games is back again this week with Demonrock: War of Ages, a 3D action game that they are calling a ‘reverse defense game’, in which players battle hordes of creatures as one of 4 different Legendary Heroes (Barbarian, Ranger, Knight and Sorceress) each of which has a set of skills. The game features some nice looking graphics and is only 99¢.

If you are at all familiar with the Cubed Rally Racer series, then the name Jared Bailey should instill visions of challenging pixel art racing. Now he takes the action from the streets to the slopes in Cubed Snowboarding. Jump on your board and try to successfully navigate between lanes and try to make your way down the twisting and curving ski slopes, pulling off sweet flips in the air or riding on the rails. Cubed Snowboarding looks like another fun, casual but challenging time waster.

one-spear-savage_787165583_ipad_0136peas surprises us with their first iOS title since 2011, a fun, addictive, little one-more-try type game called One Spear Savage. Originally created for the Ludum Dare Game Jam in December 2013, it is a game of kill or be killed as you toss your singular spear at enemies hopefully striking the intended target. However, as the name suggests, you only have the one spear, so now you must avoid the enemies’ attacks as you run to retrieve your spear so that you can fire again. You have plenty of cover due to various objects spread about the landscape. The game features simple retro graphics, several different maps and a variety of game modes like death match, capture the flag and a timed checkpoint mode. This is quite an enjoyable experience and is currently available at a special launch week price of just 99¢ (reg $2.99).

Midnight Bite is a neat looking little vampire-themed stealth game in which players must help Little Draku the vampire “quench his thirst” by finding and preying upon unwilling blood donors, whilst staying unnoticed by patrolling officers and vampire hunters.

Selosoft’s endless runner / action RPG mashup, Running Quest looks like it may appeal to Temple Run fans looking for a little bit more meat in the character upgrades department.

toca-pet-doctor_808108897_ipad_02For the little ones we have Toca Pet Doctor, the latest game from Toca Boca. Your kids get to be little Vets, helping out 15 different ailing animals by feeding them and curing them of their various afflictions. It looks adorable and given Toca Boca’s stellar track record, if you have little ones between the ages of 2 and 6, you probably can’t go wrong with this one.

Next up are a couple of atmospheric games which play with the concept of light. First is God of Light, a physics puzzle game in which players are trying to control rays of light energy using mirrors, prisms, splitters, collectors, black holes and filters. The other is Primal Flame, a really unique game where you first strike a match and drag your lit match around a dark, creepy world, collecting luminous seeds to stay lit, while avoiding falling leaves and raindrops, and burning the stems of evil flowers which try to reach out of the darkness and grab you to extinguish your flame. It’s a really cool concept that looks amazing on a Retina iPad.

Bulkypix tries their hand at the 3D space shooter with Beyond Space. The game features an original storyline complete with professional voice-acting, unlockable ships and dozens of different weapons. Fans of the genre may want to check this one out.

out-there_799471892_ipad_03More space-themed fun. It is the 22nd century and mankind desperately tries to find resources beyond its tapped planet. Out There is an artistic, deep space exploration sim and the debut iOS title from Mi Clos Studio. You play an astronaut, cryogenically frozen for the trip aboard the Nomad, a passenger line that connects the Earth to a moon of Jupiter. However when you wake up, you find that something strange has happened and you aren’t even in the correct solar system. Now you must explore the universe, collect resources and maintain your ship. The game features a very unique pulp comics graphical style and a haunting atmospheric score. This is an interesting one that I’m excited to explore some more of.

Finally, that brings us to the utterly massive 4X-RTS game, Autumn Dynasty Warlords. Touch Dimensions boasts that this game contains a whopping 100+ hours of gameplay in its non-linear campaign. If you are looking for a feudal RTS, at just $6.99, this looks like it could entertain you for a good long while.

And that’ll certainly do it for tonight.






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

RELATED ARTICLESMORE FROM AUTHOR