Ludis Futurum — Apple Edition

I called this blog “The Apple Edition” but I think that’s a bit of a misnomer, only because I’m going to blog about Apple more than this one time. I’m not a raging Apple fanboy, but I am indeed a fan of Apple’s products. I mean, they look nice, they’re easy to use, and developer support for them is fantastic.

But I digress. This isn’t a post about how my favourite billion dollar company could beat up your favourite company, because those are stupid and never end well, particularly on the the internet. This is about games, iOS games, to be specific. As Nintendo continues to become less and less relevant in the handheld space, I think it’s worth looking at what could very easily be their successor to the portable gaming throne.

Of course, it wasn’t market forces that brought me to the App Store, it was the variety and the value. Not only was there a whole gamut of games to try, they were surprisingly affordable, and many of them were actually free for one reason or another.

So what did I find that interested me so much? Well, I’ll list off a couple hits:

Battleheart - Mika Mobile

(iPh, iPa, An) (2.99, 2.85)

My current favourite, and with good reason. This game takes various tropes from Dungeons and Dragons-style RPGs and turns them into a surprisingly light, surprisingly fun little game. While at first glance the game might look like it has something beyond fighting, loot and experience, it really doesn’t, and for that reason, it makes a good game to play in short bursts.

Tiny Tower - NimbleBit

(iPh, iPa) (Free)

Holy. Shit. This game is a freemium title, but you almost wouldn’t know from playing it. Unlike games like FarmVille, nothing spoils if you leave your game for weeks on end, the paywall is very fair, and the game itself is super charming. Pixel people run around your tower buying froyo, movie tickets, books and social networking every chance they get. Money comes in the form of rent and sales, and it’s your job to keep the later coming.

I feel like I can’t quite do this game justice, so I’m just going to say this: if you have an iOS device, give this game a chance. It’s really, really fun.

Game Dev Story - Kairosoft

(iPh, An) (.99, 2.83)

You might know this game from Ryan’s editorial review. Like me, he was charmed by its simple but rewarding gameplay and cute graphics. Beyond that, there’s a charming quality to the game’s parody game platforms, some of which you have to be a gamer to fully understand. Definitely worth your time to play this one.

Zenonia - Gamevil

(iPh, An) (.99)

Zenonia is basically an App Store classic at this point, and with good reason. Zenonia plays a lot like Legend of Zelda Link to the Past, maybe without a lot of the light puzzle aspects, and is priced to move besides. There are three classes to play, but the differences are fairly negligible, enough that you wouldn’t want to play the game as each. The game is good for hours of entertainment, but the end got too grindy for my tastes. Other than that, great game for a buck.

Oh, and GTA Chinatown Wars is less than three bucks today. Might want to get on that.