69 Comments

  1. real racing 3
    i have tried to play racing games for decades and have always hated them. until the iphone and its sensors.

    and playing plants vs zombies as well

    Reply

    1. RR3 is good, but I’d love to see some of the big arcade racing games. Wouldn’t it be great if Mario Kart came to the platform?

      On another vein, Fifa 13 is fantastic.
      Civilization Revolutions was great when it came out.

      Reply

      1. After I read your list, I had the same thought about The World Ends With You (playing the 2nd week now). I mean, IGN voted it DS game of the year 2008, and they gave the iOS Solo Remix their Editor’s Choice and a 9.5/10 rating!

        Reply

  14. My favorite iOS game is the iCloud Sync game, where you try to get your contacts and stuff to sync to the cloud and not duplicate all the entries or lose calendar events. Haven’t been able to beat that one yet.

    Reply

  15. I spend a small fortune on quality iOS games and these are my favorites:

    Final Fantasy III & IV
    the Walking Dead (episodic)
    Eufloria (which desperately needs multiplayer)
    Galaxy on Fire
    Kometen
    the Room
    Orc

    And the best:

    The World Ends With You

    With the exception of the Room and Kometen, most of these games could last you several days of play time! Well worth the asking price!

    Also Good:

    Anything by Kairosoft
    Bastion
    Anomaly Warzone
    Wolfenstein RPG
    Year Walk
    Machinarium
    Waking Mars

    Reply

    1. A little disappointed to see so many of you listing casual games, which devalue the platform as a whole. If any of you play console quality titles you should look into some of the App Store’s more core games.

      With freemium titles like the heinously corrupt Candy Crush and Simpsons collecting all the cash, the iOS platform grows more shallow by the day.

      I understand why these casual games are successful on a mobile platform, but there are many great experiences that can still be enjoyed on the fly while offering a well rounded and deep experience.

      Apple’s plans in the living room will rely heavily on core games, so let’s encourage these developers with our dollars, they’ve certainly earned them so far!

      Keep iOS the premiere developer destination!

      Reply

      1. There’s a difference between casual and mobile. TWEWY is one of the best examples (you get rewards while you’re not playing the game! genius!).

        But there are casual games that really deserve the mention because of their high production values and solid, engaging gameplay like the Angry Birds series, Cut The Rope, Where’s My Water and You Don’t Know Jack.

        Reply

      2. Yoho – the opening quest was to post ones favourite iOS game. Its my opinion that all portable devices even PSP are designed for casual games… to be played as time fillers.

        Reply

        1. You’re absolutely right and I do not begrudge casual games. Many of those you listed I play frequently. And of course the mobile format lends itself well to such fare.

          And of course people find these games to be their favorite, I was just disappointed to see it as the majority.

          My hope remains that high concept games in the App Store will thrive. I thought I’d see a lot of great titles get representation in this list (and some did!) so that others could spend time and investment in maintaining iOS as the best place to put out games as consoles continue to lose their relevance.

  19. Scrabble. excepting the latest version.

    EA has FUBARed the latest version and broke a whole list of features while turning the original into a lame retread of Words with Friends- a thinly veiled ripoff of Scrabble.

    Reply

      1. The new Scrabble brings a whole lot of improvements, including an actual use for Origin, as a capable alternative to Facebook game play. Scrabble now sparkles and the CPU opponent is much stronger. Still, the letdown for many fans was enormous with the loss of beloved features and the junkification of the UI.

        Hasbro going to the expense of a complete redesign seems like nothing less than an overzealous competitive response to Words with Friends—but at the risk of neglecting longtime customers in favor of younger, more casual users.

        Reply

  21. I love Fairway Solitaire, which is a card solitaire game played like golf – win by clearing enough cards to get under par. Many courses with excellent graphics and sound effects – the birds are particularly realistic. The best part is the running commentary by two golf announcers that gets extremely funny. Many levels, many ways to win trophies.

    Reply

    1. Or Kyrandia! Willy Beamish!

      Where’s SimAnt & SimEarth?

      Journey Man Project would suit well.

      We got Marathon but it’d also be great to dive back into Myth: the Fallen Lords

      And rumor has it Halo: CE is on its way to iOS

      We should start a thread on what classic games we think should be ported to iOS

      Reply

      1. Yoho, you share my tastes. Revolution has remastered Beneath a Steel Sky and the Broken Sword trilogy for iOS, and they made a great job. I’ve never been a fan of the Dynamix games because they way game events happen at certain times and places, makes them very frustrating (haven’t got around playing The Last Express because of it)
        Although I’d love to play more classic games on iOS, I’d prefer to see wonderful new IP being created instead of old classics milked for all they’re worth (Capcom, I’m looking at you!)

        Reply

        1. So true, new properties like Horn, Dark Meadow, Chaos Rings, and Infinity Blade have been great examples of successful iOS exclusives. New IP is great and leads to platform sellers — getting the game community to back a platform is a great endorsement as they’re as loyal as Apple users have always been so getting the core gamer is key and new IP will do that.

          But I love getting the classics ported because I get to play nostalgic games on a portable device. And because iOS has such penetration studios are more likely to release old Mac games for iOS rather than port them to the Mac itself. As a huge gamer and an even huger Apple fan the iOS has finally made my platform of choice the gaming markets platform of choice, and I love it!

          Now if we could just continue to keep Droid users from buying apps then everything will go splendidly 😉

  34. For mentally unchallenging quick fun while listening to talk podcasts, Bejeweled and Klondike Forever (Solitaire) are long time favourites.

    For a highly addictive series of mini-games based around the calculating of trajectories, Angry Birds is rightfully legendary.

    For heart-racing fun, eternal runners / side scrollers like Canabalt and Ski Safari, or the modern forward running 3D ones like Temple Run and Pitfall.

    Draw Some is a good multi-player Pictionary style game where you can choose to play against friends and family.

    Reply

  35. Loved the first Sentinel game, but haven’t connected with their follow ups.

    Sure wish Killer Bee S/W would release Empire (EIED) on iOS. Would kill for that….(or, well, at least try and trip someone walking y for it…)

    Reply

  42. Me:
    1) Carmageddon: I am ever a fanatic of ‘Carmageddon’ mayhem, released for iOS last fall. I even joined the ‘Carmageddon: Reincarnation’ Kickstarter campaign. One of the perks was a free copy of Carmageddon for iOS. YEAH! Death to all pedestrians! It’s a hilarious and gory way to vent one’s frustration with life, the universe and everything.

    2) Pocket Frogs: Great for quiet relaxation. I enjoy the mindless calm of frog racing, fly eating, and incessant breeding. It’s easily my favorite free iOS app.

    Reply

    1. Hahaha. I can’t stand Angry Birds, but I do think the game was well made and smartly marketed.

      Hopefully IGN’s iPlay April Fool’s announcement is not clairvoyant.

      Reply

  49. The old “Scarab of Ra” from the early Mac days would be a perfect iPad game, even better than the original with the new capabilities. A missed opportunity for sure.

    Reply

  51. “Street Food Carts” is all time my favorite game on iOS platform. It is a one of the best business simulation game where you can choose your favorite cart and start you business on your favorite high traffic public point. I recommend to all of you that try this game atleast a single time. I dam sure you will recommend this to all your friends. Here are the link of this game.

    https://itunes.apple.com/pk/app/street-food-carts/id585545545?mt=8

    Reply

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