If you read this blog often you will know that I am a sucker a polished puzzle game. Aqueduct is one of those games. The animations are smooth as silk, the art is color penciled perfection, and the game play is simple to understand but heard to master. Yes, it’s really is the perfect game for iDevices.

The developer Kieffer Bros, who design a lot of other top notch puzzlers on the platform, call the game a world of jumbled waterways and mixed-up pipelines. Which I feel sums it up nicely but they missed a few key items. For instances the games also includes red buttons, locked gates, conveyor belts, warp portals, and floating platforms.

This may sound like a lot to handle but the game dose it with such grace. Watch the trailer bellow to get a taste of what I am talking about.

OMG play this game if you’re a puzzle junkie like me. The puzzles start to get difficult on chapter 4. So far I haven’t found one I couldn’t bet after a few tries.

OMG don’t play this game is you are not a fan of thinking and getting stuck. If you give up on puzzle games easily this is not the game for you.

Overall this is one of the great puzzle games on the platform. I would also go as far to say any platform. The level of detail and polish found in this game is amazing. Also, since the levels are challenging when you do beat one you have a feeling of accomplishment. If you looking for a new brain challenge you can’t go wrong with Aqueduct, I guarantee you will enjoy every minute of it.

App Store Link: Aqueduct 2.99

There are a few action RPG’s for the iPhone but for some reason Solomon’s Keeps by Raptisoft is the only one I can’t put down. The games story is kind dumb but the gameplay makes up for it. It reminds me of a simpler Diablo, Blizzards action RPG for the PC, which I use to play in High School.

In Solomon’s Keep you move around and shoot using the popular dual stick control scheme. As you kill enemies you gain experiences points, which you use to gain levels and learn new skills. Gold and magic items are found throughout the game. Gold is useful for buying health and manna potions or buying skill upgrades. Items are rare but give you an edge in the game when the going gets tough.

There are ton of different baddies that try to kill you in this game like skeletons, zombies, and imps, just to name a few. There are also 21 skills to master and 50 weapons to wield. So killing them only gets easier the longer you stay alive.

The point of the game is to reach the top of Solomon tower and kill Solomon himself. This never gets boring since the game creates random dungeons and monsters, each time you start a new game.

OMG play this game if you love to play action RPGs. This is one of the good ones and the developers are consistently listening to feedback and improving the game.

OMG don’t play this game if you’re expecting a great story to take you thought the game. This game is about killing your way to the top and nothing else. For me this is a good thing, for others they may find it lacking.

Overall this is a great action RPG that keeps getting better with each update. I am really impressed with how fast the developers are updating this game with new content. For only 1.99 you’re getting a lot of game for your cost of admission. I have had this game for months and I still play it. If you are on the fence, I would suggest you try out the lite version.

App Store Link: Solomon’s Keep 1.99 | Solomon’s Keep Lite Free

Thanks to the iPhone, I get to find games I missed the first time around on the Mac, and enjoy them like they were new. Crystal Cave is just one of those games. Apparently it’s been out on computer for years but I never got around to playing it. One old game I did play was Chips Challenge on the PC and this game reminded me why I loved that game so much.

Crystal Cave, like Chips Challenge, is a top down logic game were you have to avoid traps, figure out puzzles, and collect gems. Each level gives your new obstacles to overcome. There are no lives so once you’re dead you have to restart to level (or puzzle). Watch this trailer to get an idea of game play.

The controls are simple and you can customize them to fit your style. The only thing that I had to get used to was the strange perspective. Your character walks around like it’s a top down camera view but everything else acts like it’s a side view. If you watched the trailer you will know what I am talking about.

OMG play this if you love solving logic puzzles or enjoyed playing Chips Challenge a 100 years ago when 16MBs of RAM was all you needed.

OMG don’t play this game if you hate to think and be challenged. You will fail at a some of the levels and will have to replay those 250 times to finally figure them out.

Overall, Crystal Cave Classic is a great puzzle game. It has over 170 levels which should keep your busy for a long time. I like being able to launch this game, beat a level, and then putting it away. This makes it a great pickup and play game. Also, if you not sure about the game you can try out the free lite version.

App Store Link: Crystal Cave Classic Lite Free | Crystal Cave Classic 1.99

I have played a lot of match 3 games since I got my iPhone and there all pretty much the same. A few like Trism (2.99) and the recently updated Puzzle Quest (4.99) change the formula a little but there still just another match 3. Well PlayBrain released a game called, Babo Crash which doesn’t change the formula, but it does add a whole lot of insane power ups and gem busting heroes.

Babo Crash uses the cast from PlayBrain’s Madballs: Babo Invasion game for the PC and Xbox Arcade. The object of the game is to collect enough gems in a set time limit to pass to the next level. This part of the game plays just like Bejeweled Blitz, but with a twist.

When you match more than three gems you create a hero gem. Each color of gem creates a different hero, when you use them in a match you activate their special ability. This is where the game gets good. One of the abilities creates a ball on the screen that you control by tilting you iPhone which destroys every gem it touches. There is something very satisfying about destroying gems in this manor.

There was so much going on while I was playing this game that I forgot I was playing a simple match 3 game. Also, when I went back to other match 3 games, they seemed slow and uneventful. This game totally refreshed how I look at games like this. And to think, I almost didn’t even give it a chance because it was “yet another match 3 game”.

OMG play this game if you are bored of other match three games but don’t want to give up on the genre.

OMG don’t play this game if you don’t have ADD. You will just find yourself confused by the amount of stuff going on at one time.

Overall, this is a great game to pickup for 0.99 if you like these kinds of games. Like is said before it did refresh the way I look at match three games. Just because you have simple game play doesn’t meant you cant create a visual stunning game. Bebo Crash proves that.

App Store Link: Bebo Crash HD

I am a really big fan of games that have great artwork and style. I would even go as far to say sometimes great artwork can make up for a bad game. Well a few weeks ago a game came out that has great artwork and great gameplay, it is called Super Turbo Action Pig.

Super Turbo Action Pig is a single button avoidance game. The object of the game is to avoided obstacles that want to turn you into sausage. Check out the games trailer to see what I am talking about.

OMG play this if you love games that take you seconds to learn but years to master and also have great looking eye candy.

OMG don’t play this if you think every game that cost the same as a can of pop should have just as much detail and depth as a xbox game that cost $59.99.

Overall if you are a fan of pickup and play games and a lover of pork, than I would suggest you check out this game. For me it’s taken the place of Doodle Jump (0.99) when I only have a few minutes to kill. Also the artwork alone is worth the price of admission.

App Store Link: Super Turbo Action Pig (0.99)

Guess what! There is a new tower defense game coming to the iPhone, its called Cowboys vs Zombies. I know what your thinking, “Really. Your excited for a game that is base on one of the most over played game types in the app store?”

Well the real reason I am excited about this games is I want to see more cowboys in the app store. After playing Red Dead Redemption on my 360 I need a Wild West fix on my iPhone. I hope this game will inspire other app devs to embrace these classic American heroes.

Check out the trailer below to see what the game is about.

As you can see the game is going to be your basic tower defense game but with a different perspective. Zombies will come to attack your town and its up to you to tell your cowboys what buildings to protect and when to fall back and cut your losses. It sounds like from the description of the game, that there will be boss battles and cowboy upgrades. Which is all standard for any good tower defense game.

This game may surprise me and get me excited about tower games again. I guess we will have to wait and see. I’m Not sure if I will buy this one right off the bat but I will keep my eye on it. I really just hope this is the first of many new cowboy themed games.

Ngmoco, famous for making freemium games, and Newtoy, famous for making Words with friends, teamed up and relased “We Rule”. The game is a Farmville clone; you know the game all the people at your office play on the clock, but instead of just farming your “ruling” a kingdom.

The game features over 20 varieties of crops to grow, 50 unique structures to build, and a few other bells and whiles to manage. The game connects with Ngmoco’s Plus+ network so you can connect with your friends (which is an important part of the game). Also since is a freemium game there is plenty of mojo to spend real sash on. Mojo is a magical potion that makes your crops grow faster.

Like Farmville, We Rule is nothing more than a time management game. The only real motivation to keep playing is to make money to create the coolest looking kingdom. Don’t get me wrong, the interface is very well done which does make it enjoyable to play. But if you don’t have a network of friends to play it with expect to get bored with the game in a few weeks.

OMG play this game if you like time management games or the office got wise and blocked Facebook and/or Flash to increase work productively.

OMG don’t play this is you don’t have other friends with iPhones. It’s a lonely game without friends and you may slip in to a deep depression.

Overall I think the game is one of the best time management games on the iPhone. The graphics, interface, and animation really add a lot to this game. I am going to continue playing this game for now but I can’t see me sticking with it for much longer. They say they’re going to be adding more updates soon so I will keep you posted if they add more game play.

App Store Link: We Rule (Free)

Earlier this week Apple added a feature to allow you to send an App to another person as a gift. This is great news because now I can send my friends games that I enjoy for their birthday. This way I know there getting the game and not the new Taylor Swift single. The old way of gift apps was an iTunes gift card, but they could really buy anything they want.

To send an app as a gift all you have to do is click the Buy App drop down and select the option “Gift This App”. You are then sent to a page were you enter their email and name, then type out a personal message to them.

Another cool feature is that you have the option of printing out the card and handing it to them in person. This way you know your present didn’t get lost in there inbox. The only thing you will not be able to gift is in-app purchases and upgrades to the OS.

[via Apple Insider]

Does anyone remember the show “Super Dave”? It was a fictional show about a Stuntman that had a verity show. At the end of each show he would do an outrageous daredevil stunt and would always end up nearly killing himself doing it. M-Digital Media’s soon to be release game, Daredevil Dave: Motorcycle Stuntman reminds me of that show, which isn’t a bad thing.

From what I can tell form the trailer, the game is based on a stuntman going on a career of progressively harder jumps. If he fails, he must come up with the money to pay for a hospital visit.

Features:

• Career Mode with 10 unique and challenging jumps
• Injury Mode: See how high of a hospital bill you can
• Ragdoll physics, as well as shark attacks, deadly helicopter blades, and fire
• Jumps have random elements so you never play the same game twice
• Global leaderboards
• Multiple views including TV cameras, and an on-the bike camera
• Adjust your ramp-tilt and speed to land each jump successfully

The developer say the game should be out sometime this month. We will keep you posted.

Treehouse Ltd. just released some early screenshots of their forthcoming game, 1951, a top down dogfight game set in WWI. The game will use both tilt and gesture controls to help keep the interface clean and you in the action.

From what I can tell from the screenshots this is going to be a great looking game. The game will also have 3d graphics with changing weather conditions.

It reminds me of Mini Squadron [itunes link="http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/minisquadron/id339514220?mt=8&uo=4" title="2.99" text="(2.99)"] with better graphics and a different camera view. Since that game is a blast to play I am sure this one could be too.

The developer says the game will feature advanced AI and some light RPG elements. The game will have two different single play modes, wave and survivor. It will also have two-player mode via Wi-Fi.

There is no word on a releases date and from what I can tell this is an early announcement. We will let you know as soon as more information become available.