Jake's Guide to Awesome iOS Apps: November-December 2010

I'm surrounded by iOS devices, it seems. The last time I had dinner with friends, all four of us either had an iPhone or iPad. The last party I was at, something like 50-60% of the people there had an iPhone, iPad, or iPod Touch. The presence of Apple's devices, at least around me, is pretty intense.


Many people are picking up new iDevices now, too. The iPad was a pretty popular Christmas present. The Verizon iPhone was just announced and is coming out February 10th. The newest iPod Touch is incredibly popular. All of these people are discovering the app store and wondering what to get.


Are you one of them?


I made a post at the end of October about some great apps that I'd discovered and wanted to share, so you should start there. Since then, the holidays have come and gone and my iPad has been absolutely flooded with new games and programs with the plethora of sales that happened. I spent way more on apps than I should have, but as a result I have a whole bunch of new stuff to talk about. Here's what I discovered on the app store in November and December:

Age of Zombies: Universal - $2.99 / Lite - Free

Even Barry Steakfries gets festive.

Twin sticks, zombies, a snarky protagonist, and smooth, simple, addictive action are what make Age of Zombies a hilarious, one-more-play action game. It's a top-down shooter in the vein of those levels from Contra: The Alien Wars or Smash TV and you're pitted against ever-increasing hordes of zombies throughout levels that span various times in history (prehistoric with dinosaurs, ancient Egypt with mummies, the future with robots...you get the idea). There's a decent variety of weapons and gameplay is fast enough that you can pick up and play for just a few minutes at a time. The learning curve is also fairly shallow, so it's friendly to those who might be new to action games.

Monster Dash: Universal - $0.99

This one stars the same protagonist from Age of Zombies, Barry Steakfries, and it's essentially Canabalt with guns and monsters. With Game Center leaderboard support, this is one that will keep you coming back to beat your friends' high scores over and over again. One play lasts for maybe 1-5 minutes, but I've spent a few hours on this one since I've had it. At just under $1, I'd classify this one as a must-have game.

Ninjump: iPad - $1.99 / iPad Lite - Free / iPhone - $0.99 / iPhone Lite - Free

This is the free version with ads at the top, FYI.

Just to get the quick play games out of the way, here's one last app: Ninjump. You play as a ninja ascending the space between two buildings and there are a number of different creatures, foes, and obstacles getting in your way as you go. It takes the same one-button minimalist approach made popular by Canabalt and throws in enemies, a combo system, special powers, and a ninja motif. There's a free version, too, which might make more people want to try this over Monster Dash.

Infinity Blade: Universal - $5.99

I just had to include multiple screens for this one.

This is absolutely the app to own if you want to show your friends just what kind of graphics an iDevice can pump out. Infinity Blade is the child of Epic Games and marks the debut of the Unreal engine on iOS. It's a straightforward, sword and shield, timing-based slasher with a healthy dose of RPG elements like leveling, loot gathering, and stat boosting. It's light on story, but shines on the whole. For the skeptics out there, Infinity Blade is living proof, not just a proof of concept, that iOS gaming is both incredibly viable and here to stay.

Doodle Fit: Universal - $0.99 / Universal Halloween - $0.99 / Universal Lite - Free

I picked this one up on a whim and my brain loved/hated me for it. Doodle Fit is a puzzle game similar to the tangrams you might've played with as a kid. You get various shapes and an outline and all you have to do is fit all of the pieces into the silhouette, to which there is only one solution to each puzzle. It moves quickly and rapidly gets more and more challenging. The overall interface is great and there's plenty of color, too, so it's easy on the eyes and tough on your brain.

Cut the Rope: iPad - $1.99 / iPad Holiday Gift - Free / iPhone - $0.99 / iPhone Holiday Gift - Free

If you haven't played this one yet, you really owe it to yourself to check it out. The premise is that you have to feed candy to an adorable monster-in-a-box named Om Nom. The catch is that the candy is suspended by various ropes and impeded by an assortment of traps, so you have to figure out how to cut the ropes (and pop the bubbles and use the portals and and and...) in order to get it to him. It's very well designed, appropriately challenging without being too frustrating, and a welcome addition to the arsenal of iOS puzzle games out there. For the bargain hunters, Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift is free and gives you 25 levels that aren't in the full game. If you like those, the full version has a boatload of levels, free updates, and will certainly keep you entertained for just a couple bucks.

Carcassonne: Universal - $9.99

I know it was in my last post, but this one bears repeating because it both got an iPad update and because it was one of the iTunes featured apps for a few weeks. I just saw Carcassonne in the store for $35, so this one is a steal even at $9.99 especially because it plays, in my opinion, better than the vanilla version of the board game. I'll be overjoyed if/when they add any of the expansion packs even if they come out as paid DLC. For the uninitiated, Carcassonne is a strategic, map-making board game playable with up to five people on the same device, online, or against the (brutal) computer AI. It's awesome and easily one of my favorite iOS apps.

Edge: Universal - $2.99

This was another one of those, "Hey, it's on sale! Let's try this one out," applications and I don't regret it one bit. It isn't the easiest thing to Google and I had never heard of it before, but it's clear that this is one of those indie gems that everyone needs to try at least once. You play as a cube in this 8-bit graphics action puzzler and the only goal is to reach the end of the level, picking up prisms along the way for bonus points. The audio/visuals are delightfully retro and the gameplay, with numerous control schemes to fit your liking, is both addictive and challenging. I was very impressed with just how compelling a game with a main character that was nothing more than a block, environments that are just 3D planes, and a complete lack of a storyline could be. This is one of those games where you'd expect it to come out on Steam, XBLA, and PSN and it's very much a top tier indie production. Check it out.

Reckless Racing: iPad HD - $4.99 / iPhone - $0.99 / iPhone Free - Free

I picked this one up on sale, too, but it was more impressive than most so it warrants mentioning. Until I played Reckless Racing, I wasn't sure that the iPad could actually handle a racing game well. However, this one pulls it off with graphics that shine, an interface that's rock solid, and an assortment of control schemes that are almost guaranteed to suit your preferences one way or another. I played the Need for Speed games, the Shrek racing game that's out there, and a few others, but Reckless Racing is the only one that I've consistently come back to. Disclaimer: I haven't tried playing this on the smaller iPhone/iPod Touch.

Speculative Mentions

While I haven't actually had a chance to play these two, I've been salivating over them for weeks now and I had to share. They're on my near-future games radar (just as soon as I work through my console backlog. I'm looking at you, Fallout and Dragon Age).

World of Goo: iPad - $9.99

I played the goo out of this one on my laptop, so I was overjoyed to hear it was coming to the iPad. I can only imagine how awesome it is with multi-touch controls and being completely portable. This is almost certainly a safe bet.

Puzzle Quest 2: Universal - $9.99

I've already espoused the laurels of Puzzle Quest on here and I can say that it's easily taken up a huge chunk of my iPad gaming time, so it's probably safe to say that Puzzle Quest 2 is equally or more entertaining.


That's all for this installation. Check back next time for some iOS essentials to outfit that new iDevice with more functionality than you thought possible!


The usual disclaimers apply:
-This post is original content, written by me exclusively for Aletheia's Herald (asherald.blogspot.com). Contact me before reposting in part or in full.
-I don't get paid for this.
-All App Store prices are indicative of prices at the time of publishing (1/11/11).