54 - My 10 favourite iPhone games (Part 2)

Cogs (59p - iTunes Link)

I played this back on PC and was amazed then - a sort of 3D tile-sliding puzzler that is simply astounding - almost entirely because of the shit that the creators come up with. There’s one where you solve the puzzle, only to turn the entire game board over and realise your moves mucked up the tiles on the back. Its made the transition to iPhone completely unharmed. (You get 30 levels in the game, and more can be bought through premium DLC)

Cross Fingers (59p - iTunes Link) (Lite)

Mobigame is probably best known for Edge, although almost entirely because of hefty legal troubles concerning its name. Their previous game though, Cross Fingers, is actually the much better app. It’s more sliding tiles but requires the iPhone’s multi-touch as some stages see you holding at least four pinkies on the screen at once. I bet every single stage in a couple of days, entirely addicted.

I Dig It (59p - iTunes Link)

You know when a game says “you’ve got 24 hours!” and they really mean about 20 minutes in their distorted videogame chronology where the sun zips around the earth like a god damn humming bird? Well when I Dig It says you’ve got four hours to scavenge a million bucks worth of treasure, they aren’t joking.

In an awesome little expression of risk vs reward; you pilot a tiny mining digger that drills through the earth looking for shiny loot. Run out of fuel though, and you’re up shit creek sans paddle. Its a constant juggle of resources, money and upgrading your vehicle. A lot of fun, but the sequel is pants.

Plants vs Zombies (£1.79 - iTunes Link)

I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: Popcap must have a pretty incredible iPhone-porting team. Both Peggle and PvZ come to the platform in exceptional style, feeling very much like the PC classics in the palm of your hand. Ok, there’s some slowdown in Zombies, and a few bits of content missing, but its an amazing feat and its just as addictive as ever. Perfect for annoyingly long tube rides. Peggle’s great too.

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manner (£1.79 - iTunes Link)

This game has been bandied about as a sort of Braid on iPhone, a thinking man’s puzzler with a heavy emphasis on story. I’m not really seeing it myself - I guess you could piece together a narrative from the background images, but I’m lazy and stupid. Regardless, its still a fun puzzler that sees you trapping different insects in carefully crafted webs. The best are the hornets, which you must mid-air tackle to defeat. Squishy.

Also: Auditorium, Aztec Quest, Blockoan, Canabalt, Civilization Revolution, Flight Control, Grand Theft Auto: Chinatown Wars, iDracula, Scrabble, Tiki Totems and Tiki Towers. Phew!