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
Sit on the throne as a benevolent (or malevolent) medieval monarch of the modern age and swipe your royal fingers either left or right to impose your will upon the kingdom. Survive the seemingly never-ending gauntlet of requests from your advisors, peasants, allies, and enemies while maintaining balance between the influential factions of your kingdom. But beware; each decision you make might have implications and unfortunate consequences down the road that could put your reign and family’s dynasty at risk!
Reigns is pretty awesome. It's super simple to play, but there are a lot of events and the game adds new cards and events into the mix as you progress, so later playthroughs become more varied. Not only that, the developer cleverly takes the left-right card mechanic and uses it for a number of different mechanics and scenarios, from Sorcery-style dueling where you can learn new moves to use in future fights to dungeon crawling with different paths and loot to find
But the core card kingdom concept is solid too. There's enough connectivity between your choices that you do need to put thought into your choices, and crazy events and modifiers pop up that effect how you play and what choices are available
Reigns is really great, just completed a really long reign and it continues to be a surprisingly varied and somewhat complex experience given the simple mechanic of swiping left and right.
Hotly recommended.
Reigns is fantastic, played for one hour today, and it's super addictive.
When at the beginning you don't have much choices presented to you, soon you'll meet new characters and every decision will help you guess which of the four stats will go down or up... the management is tricky but not unfair - some of the choices are certainly random but most can be predicted. It's your responsibility to be a tyrant or not, and being overly good can sometimes cause your death.
(I bought the steam version, but this is perfect for a mobile game - great concept and execution.)
As a fan of Devolver I just bought Reigns today having heard or read nothing about it. I just adore this game. It's so impressive to me how the simplest of graphics and interaction can result in so much depth. Pondering every swipe trying to anticipate outcomes is so engaging. So far this is definitely my favorite Android game of 2016. Great stuff!
Reigns is SO GOOD.
Loving the persistency of certain things.
The more you play, the better it gets.
I have now played Reigns for a little, and been four different kings. And I'm loving it. It's so cool, how you discover new things even if you die, but continue on as a new king. And you get to see how past choices can influence your current reign. And that you unlock new cards by completing objectives just opens up the possibilities even more so. So far I'm glad I bought it, but I'll give it more time tomorrow.
I was just visited by the Devil. The scene had great atmosphere for such a simple game. Before going away, he said: "The next person you say 'yes' to will die". Then the Merchant showed up asking if we should trade with our neighbors. Poor guy 0_0
Amazing game. Very fun, with some simple strategy involved and a surprisingly interesting plot.
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Site | App Store
Solitairica takes RPG combat and challenging rogue-like progression to a fresh new place—the world of solitaire!
Gather your weapons and prepare to battle the armies of Stuck. In the land of Myriodd, all of the hearts have been stolen by the horrible Emperor Stuck, and you are the latest warrior brave enough to try to return them, saving the world from total heartless destruction!
Just wanted to jump in and give another glowing endorsement for Solitairica. Almost feels the way Puzzle Quest 1 did way back when where it felt so simple yet so novel at the same time. Made it to level 15 so far with the warrior and can't put it down.
Okay, Solitairica is legit. It's an RPG versus of Fairway Solitaire, one of my favorite iOS games ever made. Really lovely little game that's absolutely worth $3.
Solitairica is addicting. If you have ever played spider solitaire before this game is based around that but things like spells, Turn-based combat, rouge-like gameplay, magical items, and different deck types are thrown in to make it stand out above the crowd. It's probably my favorite rendition of the solitaire template that I've ever played. Definite recommend from me.
Solitairica is damn good.
Bought it on impulse before a flight and was glued to it.
Ok, Solitairica is the real deal. It's GLORIOUS.
I admit I was expecting mild disappointment, not sure why. But I was utterly wrong.
I should be sleeping. Like since one-two hours ago. Instead I'm charging the phone to play 'just one more run'. I know I'll regret this tomorrow. But resistance is futile.
I was already almost sold during the tutorial (the app is really slick) and I wished it went faster because I knew already how to play after years of solitaire and Puzzle Quest.
But what really sealed the deal was my second run...which turned out to be tactically different than previous one thanks to the different powers I bought. And the third one...and the forth...and so on.
The powers make all the difference, letting you to turn the odds and the rng to your favor. You can even combine them for powerful combos.
I can only imagine the sheer difference with different characters/decks (unlockable). And items too.
Great game, highly recommended.
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Site | App Store
From Night School Studio, the award-winning creators of Oxenfree, comes Mr. Robot:1.51exfiltrati0n.ipa. Taking place during the first season of USA Network’s Golden Globe Award-winning drama, you find a smart phone on the ground outside the Fun Society Arcade at Coney Island. Little do you know that the phone belongs to Darlene, a black hat hacker who’s about to commit the biggest cybercrime the world has ever seen… and she needs her phone back to do it.
So at its core, Mr Robot: exfiltrati0n is essentially another game in the vein of Lifeline. Interactive fiction doled out over time, through short messages and conversation with another person
But where Lifeline failed IMO, this definitely has been succeeding so far. The writing feels authentic down to the text message typos, compared to the writing in the Lifeline games. Your own responses as well. I thought the tone and writing of the Lifeline games were always too much like "prose" rather than the kinds of messages someone would actually send
Also you get messages and updates from different contacts and services, so there's a sense of a larger scope, because you're not just talking with one guy. This allows the game to go down routes that none of those Lifeline games and similar games have gone, such as having you reach out to other characters
There's a lot of polish here, from the opening cutscene to the UI design and the "glitches"
Wow. Just from the initial conversations in the Mr. Robot game, I'm already loving it. Never was real excited about the Lifeline games so I was initially still hesitant to get this despite being a huge fan of the show.
But the writing is so much more natural, feels more personal and lifelike. That is a quality of Oxenfree as well and it shows here.
Great first impressions anyway.
Finished Mr. Robot
Pretty damn great.
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Site | App Store
Deus Ex GO is a turn-based puzzle infiltration game set in a stylized interpretation of the Deus Ex Universe. As covert agent Adam Jensen, you’ll use hacking, combat, and augmentations to solve the most intricate puzzles of the entire GO series and unravel the conspiracy behind a terrorist plot.
Anyway at level 33, and so far it is pretty good. I with you about liking the music and environments more in Lara Croft GO, but Deus Ex still sounds and looks great, fitting with the series.
Echoing the praises, as I'm enjoying the hell out of this as well. Not sure what other Go titles they have planned, but I'm totally jumping in Day 1. A Thief Go would be pretty sweet. Using shadows and different arrows, a wait item so an enemy can pass as you hide for one turn, every level can be beaten with "clean stealth", pick pockets for keys and treasure, etc. I'd be down.
The board pieces were great to look at.
I've enjoyed this so far but the presentation could be better. It feels really bland so far compared to Lara Croft but that might have been a consequence of wanting to include a level editor. Though I'm looking forward to see where the puzzles go as there are a bunch of small intricacies with how different mechanics interact.
I'm now done the game, with the masteries, and I've finished the first two weeks of bonus puzzles... save the very most recent, which was released friday.
Even on puzzle difficulty, I think this falls a little short. I struggled with some of the stuff in the Lara Croft bonus chapter for aaaages per stage. I haven't had that much trouble with a single stage yet. Not even when trying to get the masteries. I will say, however, that that above mentioned most recent stage, which is called 'Short circuit' is currently kicking my ass. Might be the hardest one yet. Has anyone kept up with these weeklies, care to weigh in on what they've found challenging so far?
I definitely feel like Deus Ex GO was likely hampered by needing to be released around Mankind Divided, like the classic problems of movie tie-in games.
It feels like a noticeable step back. The animations are great, and the aesthetic is awesome, but gone are the multi-stage multi-tiered levels of Lara Craft GO, the moveable obstacles, the sense of a continuous narrative rather than separate puzzles. It even has less puzzle elements/items than Hitman GO. While this has hacking, cloaking, armor, etc., Hitman had disguises and distractions and different weapons and other mechanics. Lara Croft had collapsing tiles and environmental hazards that could be manipulated like the pillars or boulders and complex interplays between traps, enemies, switches and pressure plates, and items like the spear
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Site | App Store
The sci-fi wild west adventure in outer space continues with Space Marshals 2. This tactical top-down shooter puts you in the shoes of specialist Burton in his struggle against the criminal elements of the galaxy.
This isn’t your ordinary dual-stick shooter. The emphasis is on tactical combat and stealth, rather than just spraying bullets, and there’s a story!
It's the same structure but with more options, a worthwhile stealth approach that was missing, way more weapons and a faction system. It also has iCloud and MFi support so you can't complain at all. It might not have the same breadth of content as Space Marshals (which since had 3 major content updates) but it's well worth the asking price and I'm sure it'll get stellar support once again.
Pixelbite solidifies its reputation as one of the best indie mobile dev once again.
More_Badass said:Space Marshals 2 doesn't stray very far from that established formula. You're still crouching behind cover to avoid line of sight, still flanking patrols to get devastating critical shots from behind, still wielding a varied arsenal of weapons and gear.
What Space Marshals 2 does is polish that mix of action and stealth to a fine sheen, complete with new equipment and mechanics that expand the tactics at your disposal, especially for the stealth-inclined player.
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Leap of Fate is excellent. While the controls aren't tight as a Radiangames shooter (but how many are?), it excels in other ways. As a roguelite shooter, there's a constant drip feed of new unlocks, each character has their own unique skills, and there are myriad perks and abilities to unlock and equip. The world is a cool of blend of supernatural and mad science cyberpunk.
Definitely recommended
I bought both and I'd go for Leap of Faith. It's fantastic. If you like dual-stick shooters, it's a must buy. It has rogue like elements but is accessible while still challenging. Incredibly polished with voice overs, upgrades, additional characters to unlock and lots of cool effects.
I actually beta tested this a long time ago (2014) and it had a lot of issues (had to stop testing due to issues with Test Flight I was having at that time). But now it is top notch with excellent controls and runs beautifully on my iPad Mini 2.
Really liking Leap of Fate so far. I got pretty deep into Binding of Isaac, and have played a lot of rogue type games. I need more time to see if it really has legs, but so far it seems to. I like the card system eliminating the need to waste time backtracking.
Combat is fun so far, there're a good number of unlocks, and the powers/skills you can get seem varied and numerous enough to really change how each playthrough is played. Virtual controls work fine, but I've got this shiny new mfi controller here and this game seems like a perfect fit. Devs have said they're considering adding support.
Each level is a (small) deck of cards, face down. They're arranged so that whenever you defeat a card it will reveal one or two more, until you get to the bottom. Cards can be combat cards (a room of enemies to defeat), shops, upgrades, etc.
You always have two special abilities available, limited by charges that refill for every new card. You're main attack is a magical blast with unlimited ammo. Al of these can change quite a bit depending on the upgrades you choose. I've had two autoturret buddies helping me out as I ghost walked through enemies, setting them on fire, then turning and shooting them with twin revolvers.
I haven't put enough time in to really form a definitive opinion, but initial impressions are fantastic.
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Site | App Store
Dungeon Warfare is a challenging tower defense game where you become a dungeon lord to defend your dungeon against greedy adventurers.
As you successfully purify your dungeons throughout the world from the pesky invaders, you will gain access to more powerful traps and devious utilities.
Gain experience from killing the invaders to permanently upgrade your traps.
This is good. It's like Dungeon Keeper as a TD game with some RPG elements. A lot of heft strategy here, like being to block paths to funnel enemies or traps that push and pull enemies into hazards. There's a lot of traps and towers, a lot of enemy types, and it's pretty solid overall
Having quite a lot of fun with Dungeon Warfare. On paper at least it is a fairly routine tower defender but as you progress you unlocked a fair few displacement traps which make the game more about throwing the enemy into level hazards rather then just piling up stronger and stronger towers. And their is also a wonderful mad spectacle in the sheer number of foes that come at you and get obliterated every second.
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Site | App Store
In the year 2398, after a great war, a network of intelligent computers known as Nightgate, is the last remaining life form on Earth.
Step into the computer and make your way through 50 handcrafted levels. Avoid enemies as you interact with a dark digital world and explore what lies beyond the futuristic landscapes of Nightgate.