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Newly Available On iOS : Asphalt Overdrive, Anomaly Defenders, Turbo Dismount, Air Race Speed and More

Bent iPhones and bad iOS updates aside, this has been another great week for iOS gamers with loads of new releases to choose from.

On the free side of things we have a very different style of Asphalt game from Gameloft. A quick, mission-based three-lane race, played in portrait mode, at first glance, Asphalt Overdrive hardly resembles previous games bearing the ‘Asphalt’ name. However, this one is still a pretty enjoyable (and destructive) little free to play game that lets you pull off stunts, smash other cars and try to outrun the police.

Secret Exit is back with more rag doll wanton destruction in Turbo Dismount™. This is the successor to their 2010 ‘personal impact simulator’, Stair Dismount. This time you trade in the stairs for a car, various locations and obstacles. Try to cause as much bodily harm as you can to your crash test dummy as he drives off buildings, crashes into oncoming traffic and more.. This is en enjoyable little stress reliever.

EightyEight Games follows up its smash hit 10000000 with a social dueling game called Smarter Than You. It is pretty much a slightly different take on rock-paper-scissors, except you are asynchronously firing arrows, attacking with a sword or dodging on your turn, while taunting your opponent with wordplay.

Free-to-play adventure RPG, Epic Island is Backflip Studios’ latest offering. Players enlist and upgrade a group of heroes on a quest to vanquish evil monsters. Craft a plan and manage each of your five heroes'(the Dashing Male, Daring Huntress, Wise Man, Nimble Elf, and Stout Dwarf) unique skill sets to wage war in against other players from around the globe in the Battle Arena.

Electronic Arts takes us to the pitch once more in FIFA 15 Ultimate Team by EA SPORTS. The game features over 30 real leagues and stadiums to choose from as you build and manage your dream squad of footballers (soccer players for us in the US) from a selection of over 10,000 players from over 500 licensed teams. See how your team does in either quick simulations or put your own arcade soccer skills to the test as you control the players and try to get the ball into the net. Just a word of warning, this one is pretty hefty (needs 1.35 GB to install) and has a fair amount of IAP.

Onto the paid apps…

Bulkypix had a couple of new releases this week, one of which was Nimble Squiggles. It is a casual puzzle game that has players trying to guide colorful squiggles to freedom by leading them to a funnel. You only have direct control over one of the squiggles and utilize special gravity points to affect the others and get them where you want them to go, as well as manipulate obstacles to provide safe passage. The game is currently available at a special launch price of 99¢.

The first of two new tower defense games I’ll be featuring this week, Cursed Treasure 2 comes to us from the folks at Armor Games. Hordes of good heroes are on the hunt for gems for the King’s private collection and you must “gather dark forces and build towers to defend your treasure from those thieving goody-goody heroes”. It sounds like a like a fun bit of narrative role reversal with “hours of gameplay, including Night Mode – where the darkness is against you”.

RGB Express – Mini Truck Puzzle looks like an interesting little casual puzzle path drawing game in a similar vein as Trainyard where you draw routes for trucks so that drivers deliver packages to their correctly colored recipients. There are currently 240 levels with the promise of more in future free updates.

Splode’n’die is a fast-paced action/agility game where you must quickly destroy weaving lines of approaching monsters using appropriately colored pieces of weaponry. The game features a cool Zuma-like aspect where the line of oncoming monsters snaps back to fill in gaps left by their destroyed brethren, possibly resulting in an explosive chain reaction. The game is fast and fun, and fans of marble poppers may want to consider checking this one out.

Cosmophony is a music-based tunnel shooter “designed for demanding gamers seeking an original and intense mobile experience”. This one looks tough. For a taste of the game’s heart thumbing soundtrack, check out the trailer on page 2 of the post.

Previously released for the Nintendo 3DS, Air Race Speed is a good 3D speed running game where you take the throttle of a futuristic jet and try to pilot it safely by quickly through winding obstacle-filled pathways. This was one of the nice surprises for me this week. I’ve never played the 3DS version, but this looks awesome and plays really well on my iPhone 6 Plus , plus it has some pretty forgiving collision detection.

Oceanhouse Media has some more Dr. Seuss storybook fun for the little ones. Would You Rather Be a Pollywog? is the latest release in the studio’s Cat in the Hat’s Learning Library series. This iOS-exclusive storybook app teaches kids about different plants and animals found in ponds (algae, snails, turtles, ducks, etc), the metamorphosis of frogs, and more. It is available at an introductory price of $3.99 (reg $5.99).

The Secret of Raven Rock, a new point and click adventure game from freshmen studio, Raven Rock Games. You’ve arrived home after weeks of travel, but something isn’t quite right with the town of Raven Rock. It has been abandoned and there is a “strange, haunting vibration hanging in the air”. You must explore the town, solve over 25 puzzles and figure out what happened.

Finally, last but not least, 11bit studios and Chillingo are back with some more gorgeous looking Anomaly tower defense action in Anomaly Defenders. Known for their innovative flipping of the Tower Defense genre on its head, Anomaly has always been a Tower Offense series…until now. “Humans have resisted the invasion and launched a counter attack. Now it’s time for aliens to defend.Anomaly Defenders puts you in charge of alien machines defending their home planet from ruthless human invaders”. Do you have what it takes to protect your species?