More_Badass
Member
Each month, the iOS GAF community hosts a thread for new game releases, rumors and discussion that define the fast-moving world of iOS gaming.
The OP will contain recommended games that released during the previous month. All the games listed will have been highlighted by the GAF community in one way or another. This way you can keep tabs on the best games and at the same time curate an excellent resource to look back on to find games you may have missed.
If you're a developer who wishes to have your game featured, please talk about your game in the thread and if the GAF community at large likes the game then your wish just might be granted. Please note that there's a difference between posting about a game you made and just advertising your game with no further interaction with the community, this thread is not for the latter and such advertising behavior is frowned upon.
Directory
1) Introduction & Recommended Games
2) Recommended Games continued
3) Upcoming Releases, Past Threads & Other Links
Site | App Store: Hexcells | Hexcells Plus | Hexcells Infinite
Hexcells is an ambient logic puzzle game.
Mark or clear all the orange hexes to solve the puzzle. The number in a black hex tells you how many adjacent hexes need to be marked.
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Hexcells Plus is the second game in the Hexcells trilogy and features 36 new and more challenging puzzles.
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Hexcells Infinite is the third game in the Hexcells trilogy and features 36 new and more challenging puzzles as well as a random puzzle generator.
YES! Love his puzzle design. Fits perfectly on the iPad, although it is a bummer it's not iPhone compatible...
Basically you're just trying to fill in all the hexes! Whether they're blue or grey the numbers and symbols give you clues and you get to logically figure it out.
The other thing about them is they're so calming. You get into this total zen state where you just start clicking and you don't stop and you're brain just knows what to do. The music is ripped straight out of Brian Eno's head and the sound effects just compliment it perfectly.
Since the game doesn't require any guessing, you should always try for 1 or less mistakes. It took me over 10 hours to perfect Hexcells Plus, and I'm already at 9 hours with Infinite. I have about 3 or so more puzzles to do, and they are kicking my ass.
These games are insanely good. Managed to perfect the 2nd game and now I've just bought the 1st and 3rd games. Again trying to do them perfectly without any help, and because I know they are logic based, I know they have to be completable. As much as I hate getting stuck for 10s of minutes at a time, it's so satisfying to actually solve the things
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Ok, imbroglio is kinda addictive. Took a few minutes to get what was going on but once I got into the swing of things it became a very tactical and fun experience. Buy it guys!
Thoughts on Imbroglio - I'm liking it and it's obvious that there's layers and layers of strategic depth. You attack using the weapons on the tile you're standing on, and the weapon levels up as you kill more enemies with it, giving it more attack power, a new perk or something else. And since you can edit the tiles and choose from a whole range of weapons, there's an appeal in tweaking your "deck" and seeing what permutation works for you.
The one concern I have is a lack of options in what you can actually do. In 868-HACK, once you'd siphoned up a few programs, you had plenty of ways to deal with threats. Here, not so much - you seem to have only your attack, your character's special skill and the effect of any perks the weapon you're using has. This has led to this situation plenty of times - being one tile away from an enemy, wanting to kill it but having no way of getting close enough without taking a hit. You regain health very easily but it just feels a bit odd that there seemingly is no way of avoiding this (in 868-HACK, you could WAIT or PUSH, among many other options).
Taking a hit and choosing when to refill your health is part of the strategy, since you get some health and mana every gem you collect. Do you go for the gem now or use the current layout to your advantage? And since you know how much damage any enemy will inflict, you have to pick your battles and when to go for the gem. Think of it less as health and more of a resource you have to manage.
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Leap Day is very entertaining and I really like the levels offered each day. I also like the achievements, collect all fruit for 10 days and gold medal in the same days trophies, you will be mine. The level variety is great and gives all kinds of challenges, controls are perfect, only can blame yourself for a missed tap and for not seeing through the mace in time. There are a ton of ads but there is an option to turn it paid and premium. Well done, maybe their best game since Gunbrick
Leap Day is really good. The one-touch platforming feels just right, varied enemies and hazards, the perfect distances between checkpoints, no limited lives or anything like that, and the levels are surprisingly lengthy.
And a gameplay incentive that will actually make me play daily, that's not the usual "daily reward" variety
Leap Day is a really good idea for a game. I think I'm going to spring for the no ads upgrade.
Leap Day is sooooooooooo fun! Picked it up yesterday and I've gotten two golds (today and yesterday). Damn do they sometimes get tricky!
I wish there was a leaderboard so I could see how I'm doing in relation to my friends though.
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I was lucky enough to be beta tester and this game is just brilliant. A steady stream of 50 great puzzles.
Thanks for making me aware of that, that game is a rather top little puzzler.
Great little game. And absolutely amazing that it's like 6 MB.
Mekorama is ADORABLE and totally worth it.
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Site | App Store
Rush Rally 2 is the most authentic and thrilling rally simulation on your mobile, all running at an astounding 60fps.
Race at night or day in rain or snow! Rally through 7 Countries, over 72 unique stages each with different surface types including snow, gravel, tarmac and sand. Even take on the legendary 12.42 Miles Pikes Peak Hill Climb!
Rush Rally 2 is astonishingly good. Best racer I've played on iOS... ever! Truly amazing.
What a time to be alive, when lonely solo developers can crank out games of this calibre. Brilliant.
Picked up Rush Rally 2 and it is fantastic. Actually, should say I got it on my Shield Tablet for controller support (which they're fixing a bug on currently).
But man, amazing that it's less than 75 MB, looks beautiful with weather and lighting effects and runs at a full 60 FPS on my Shield. Absolutely incredible that one man made this game.
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It is beautiful
This and Mekorama are works of art. Absolutely fabulous.
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Site | App Store
From the makers of BAFTA-winning Lumino City comes INKS.
INKS updates pinball for a new generation. It combines the joy of pinball with skilful tactical challenges, and allows you to create wondrous works of art as the ball smashes around the canvas.
Blocks of colour burst like beautiful fireworks across the surface, building up in vivid layers and recording a visual history of your game as you perfect your score.
I would say more like Pinball FX and not that realistic. A little slower. I'm still having fun with it. Very unique take on the genre, having to hit all the colors and watching the ink splatter. Starts out easy but gets pretty challenging to hit all the colors to get gold with just one ball.
But if you're looking for serious pinball physics, I don't think you'll find it here.
Picked up Inks. If you're looking for a straight-up pinball game, you won't find it here. This is an artistic minimalist puzzler first and foremost, with a pinball mechanic.
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Site | App Store
Romancing SaGa 2 takes the varied gameplay of other entries in the series and combines it with an open-ended free-form scenario system whose story is as vast as the world in which it plays out. The player takes the role of a succession of emperors, painting the history of the world with each and every action.
Finally managed to put in about an hour into the game today. Good stuff. The localization is definitely unpolished, and the writing in general could do with a bit more flavor and punch. But goddamnit, it's Romancing SaGa 2 in English on a modern platform, purchased legally. Still feels surreal!
Wow, the visuals in this game are awesome. Reminds me of what they did with Pier Solar HD. They should have given the FF iOS ports the same treatment.
I'm really enjoying it. It's not as overwhelming as Romancing SaGa 1 was as far as having this huge open world that you can go practically anywhere in. It's slightly more linear so far (though you can still decide which order you want to tackle some things in).
And it's obtuse as ever, though I suppose that's part of the charm. The area I went to had a boss that is insanely hard for my character's "levels," so I'll have to come back later.
It's good so far. It takes a minute to get used to the touch controls. But I'm enjoying the game. It has the right balance of challenge and exploration so far. Although, I'm not that far in the game.
I'm really interested to see more generational leaps in the game. The large generational progression of the story is something that I found interesting in SaGa Frontier 2, so it will be nice to see that style again.
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Site | App Store
One of the best hack-and-slash games of all time now fits in your pocket!
Originally released on PC in 2006, Titan Quest is an action RPG set against a mythological backdrop. The Titans have escaped from prison and are hell-bent on destroying the Earth. The Gods alone can’t stop them -- a hero is needed to lead this epic struggle. Victory or defeat will determine humanity’s fate and that of the Olympians.
Just got through playing. And for those 10-15 minutes I actually forgot I was playing on a moble device. I was that immersed. I was taken back to the days of playing an oldschool hack n slash rpg on my PC. I'm glad they included a pinch to zoom feature for those of us on phones.
Disappointed with Titan Quest's performance on my iPhone 6. Crappy frame rate and some weird stuttering. Kind of unacceptable for a 10 years old game. Titan Quest was never a very well optimized game in the first place, but still.
I haven't experienced the constant crashes that other users have had with Titan Quest (6+ user here) but the frame rate drops are definitely apparent from time to time. Really hope Dotemu can get that fixed soon.