Yoku-Gami is a pretty simple, straightforward board game, adapted from the work of game designer Reiner Knizia .  Here is the premise.  You have a board of 36 space. arranged in a 6×6 square.  Each square contains a number.  Your job is to draw a line connecting adjacent numbers (it does not need to be a straight line as long as the next number is adjacent to the previous one).  Here is the catch, all of the numbers in your line must add up to total the highest number in your grouping.  Sounds pretty easy, but watch out.  The further you progress in the game, the higher the numbers will be, making it more difficult to find moves.  Once you have completely run out of moves, the game will end.

Sitting on top of the board is Yoki.  He is your friend, and a sort of mascot of the game.  If you get stuck, just tap Yoki and he will show you a group of numbers to select (though you will not earn points for this).

There are three game playing modes in the game.  In Endless Mode, your goal is simply to rack up as many points as possible.  Play will continue until you run out of moves.  In Arcade Mode, your goal is to remove entire columns at a time.  Once a column is cleared, the rest of the blocks on the screen will shift to fill the gap.  Finally, in Level Mode, the game will take place over a series of independent grids, or levels.  Depending upon the moves you make on each grid, you can lose one or more of your 24 lives, or even gain additional lives, as you progress from one level to the next.

I have to say I really enjoyed this game.  It is deceptively simple.  The three game modes really add a level of complexity to this.  I used Endless Mode to get a feel for the game, and then moved on to the more challenging Arcade and Level Modes.  While the concept behind the game may not have been the most original. Meritum software did a fantastic job, as they have in the past, of putting their own unique spin on it. 

Additionally, with its reliance upon addition, this is the perfect game for young children just learning their way in the world of math.  With that in mind, I would love to see them add negative numbers into the mix so that you can use the game to strengthen both addition and subtraction skills. 

Yoku-Gami is available for the iPad for $1.99.  It can be purchased for only $0.99 on the iPod Touch and iPhone.

OK, SOLDIER!  LISTEN UP!  YOUR UNIT HAS BEEN DECIMATED.  YOU ARE THE ONLY ONE LEFT, AND YOUR POSITION HAS BEEN COMPRIMISED…BEHIND ENEMY LINES.  TIME TO BUCKLE DOWN AND GET READY TO START SHOOTING.  YOU HAVE A GUN AT YOUR DISPOSAL, HOPE THAT IS ENOUGH TO PROTECT YOU FROM THE ONSLAUGHT…GOOD LUCK!

In Artillery Brigade, you are the sole remaining survivor in your camp, and you are surrounded by enemies.  At first they will come on foot, but soon they will come at you using any means at their disposal…jeeps, tanks, troop transports, and even planes.  Survive the early rounds, and you will be assigned to defend more difficult positions against larger and more deadly attacks.  There are a total of 16 different missions in the campaign mode, including the tutorial, which did a fantastic job of teaching you about the the enemies in the game, your weapons, and the controls.

To defend your position, you will have an assortment of guns, falling into three categories: machine guns, antiaircraft cannons, and rockets.   Within each category, you can also advance to bigger and better guns.  You will be awarded these guns as you progress through the game, or you can jump start the process by purchasing them with in-app purchases.  I am not a real fan of using real money to purchase in-game advancement.  But that is just me.

OK, so let’s take a look at how the game actually works.  In the past, these survival games used to involve a lot of running around.  I really enjoyed that because the ability to move and escape the onslaught (or at least try) added an extra element to the game.  This latest generation of the genre, however, has changed that.  Now, you are in a fixed position.  Sure, you can swivel your view in order to defend a complete 360 degrees.  This works well enough, but I still prefer the ability to run and evade the onslaught.  Speaking of that onslaught, unlike many games in this genre, there is no indication of how far along you are in a particular level.  It would be nice if they would add some kind of indicator on the screen showing how many more enemies you need to kill in order to complete the level.

Your view in the game is looking over the barrel of your gun.  A radar in the upper right corner will show you the oncoming enemies.  Just swipe your finger across the screen in order to aim at the oncoming enemies (the blue line under your funs will show how far the enemies have advanced toward your position).  Tap the big gray button on the left to start firing.  To quickly aim at the nearest enemy, tap the red button on the bottom of the screen to swivel your gun and instantly aim it at the advancing enemies.  Next to that is the zoom.  Slide the zoom in order to adjust your sights to a greater or lesser magnification.  This allows you to fire on enemies who may still be further away, before they can hit you.  If you are in a level with multiple weapons, those buttons on the left hand side will allow you to switch between them.

This game also connects with both Game Center and the Aurora Feint community, meaning there are plenty on achievements to attempt and online high scores.

I was really impressed by this game.  It had fantastic graphics and animation, and served as a unique addition to the survival genre.  The difficulty level of the game started on the easy end, but quickly increased as more powerful and skilled enemies were introduced.  I found this progress to be appropriate as the game maintained a challenge without becoming frustrating.   Simply put, using your guns to blow away some fairly realistic looking oncoming enemies, is just a perfect way to blow off some pent up hostility.   I have been a pretty big fan of Bulkypix games, but I have not seen them offer anything like this before.  You will waste countless hours decimating wave after wave of enemies with this one.

OK, SOLDIER!  YOU HAVE BEEN BRIEFED.  YOU KNOW YOUR MISSION.  NOW, GRAB A GUN, GET OUT THERE, AND START SLAGGING SOME ENEMIES!

Artillary Brigade is available from Bulkypix for the low, introductory price of $0.99.  It is a universal app, which will work on all iOS devices.

Not long ago, the folks at Epic Games unveiled their Unreal gaming engine, and its promise of true three dimensional gameplay.  As proof of their concept, they unleashed the amazing looking Epic Citadel on the iOS world.  This is a medieval town…or ghost town more likely.  You can take a complete walking tour of the town, viewing the various structures from complete 360 degrees.  The problem was that was all you could do.  The citadel looked great, but it did not actually do anything more than leave you panting for more as it displayed a literal world of potential.

Earlier this weekend, at long last, Epic released their first game relying on the Unreal gaming engine.  Like the Citadel, Infinity Blade drops you into the middle of a gritty, three dimensional world, which you do not just pass through, but truly experience as you explore the grounds and structures of this world.  Unlike the Citadel, this game is populated…and much of this population is going to try to decapitate you violently (yet surprisingly bloodlessly).

The thing that impressed me the most about this game was how smooth the graphics and animation were.  I have played many games like this on iOS devices.  Often, they are extremely herky-jerky, with constant lags, jerks, and generally just rough animation.  This was not the case with Infinity Blade, which was so smooth, my boys asked repeatedly whether we were watching a video instead of playing a game.  This is, by far, the best graphics and animation I have ever seen on a mobile device.

OK.  So, what is Infinity Blade?  In short, it is an action game, in which you must battle your way through the horrific minions of the God-King as you pursue your birthright of defeating the God-King himself.  Now, I have to admit that I figured out this backstory pretty much from reading the description in iTunes.  It is a pretty flimsy backstory and is not well told at all in the game.  Hopefully, as the developers continue to add to this game, they will develop the story more, in order to give the game more purpose, beyond just defeating the baddies.

As you progress through the game, you will gain experience by mastering different weapons and equipment.  There was a really unique approach in this one, where each piece of equipment you were using in the battle earns experience until it is fully mastered.  After that, while you can continue using the weapon or equipment, you will not earn experience points from it.  This adds an extra level of planning to the game, as you must pay attention to which weapons will serve best in a particular situation, and save your more powerful weapons for later in the game.  Also, along the way, you will find treasure and other bonuses.  Collect this treasure in order to shop at the store, which you can visit at any time.

Which brings us to the failing of the game.  The world of Infinity Blade is actually infinitely small.  There is only one path along which to travel, and no real exploration to be done.  Essentially, those amazing graphics serve only to guide you from one battle to the next.  This game would be significantly better if there was truly a completely developed world or maze for you to explore, like the Citadel offered. 

Additionally, without spoiling any surprises, this is a game which takes place over the course of numerous generations.  If you fail to defeat the God-King, your powers and equipment will be transferred to your heirs, becoming their birthright (it is never quite explained how this actually happens).  The game then sends you back to the beginning of the same castle, roughly 20 years later.  Your heirs now stand in your place, prepared to storm the Dark Castle and the same legions of the God-King.  This all gave the game a Groundhog Day type feel as you stormed the same castle time and again (fortunately, the enemies do grow along with you, becoming more powerful and slightly more difficult to defeat).

With that out of the way, let’s get back to talking about what you do get for your money, and that is some truly incredible battles.  I absolutely loved the controls in these battles, which take full advantage of the iPad’s touchscreen and flexible multi-touch capabilities.  You will use a combination of taps and swipes in order to defend yourself against your enemies and even go on the offensive. 

I also loved the variety of weapons and equipment, with well over a dozen different swords, as well as armor, helmets, shields, and even magic rings to master.  Many of these items will also give you magic powers, such as draining extra energy, lightning strikes, or even healing.  I was also happy to see that Epic has already promised that more weapons and equipment will be coming in the next update (along with a whole new level to explore). 

I wanted to love this game.  I really did.  The graphics, animation, and controls are simply unmatched by any other game I have played on any mobile device.  I am just as excited by the potential of Epic’s Unreal gaming engine today as I was after exploring the world of Citadel.  Unfortunately, the limited storyline, and lack of any ability to really explore, along with the Groundhog Day repetition made this game feel like every bit a demonstration as the Citadel.   Whereas Citadel was a demonstration of the worlds they could create, Infinity Blade felt too much like a demonstration of the battles which could be conducted and controls which could be used with the Unreal gaming engine.  As such, I really did not feel Epic had quite reached a game which warranted the $5.99 price tag.  Still, Epic is really onto something with the Unreal gaming engine, and hopefully soon they will find a way to conduct the unlimited exploration of new worlds available in the Citadel with the battle sequences and controls of Infinity Blade.  Until then, I am perfectly happy to simply say that Epic has clearly developed a unique gaming experience with an incredible amount of potential, and I am really looking forward to seeing what they will be able to do with that potential as they continue to develop this engine in the future.   

I have always loved playing poker.  I may not win very often, but I enjoy my semi-irregular games with my friends.  While we are not all able to sit around a table and play together very often, that does not mean we are completely without options for practicing in between games.  Especially now that we are deep within the age of mobile devices.  I first played the World Series of Poker app on my iPod Touch, and found it to be even better than Apple’s own Texas Hold’Em game.  So, I was pretty excited when this fantastic take on the game finally arrived on the iPad.

Now, this review is not going to include a complete tutorial of the game of Poker.  I will simply assume that if you are reading this, you have a general idea of how Texas Hold’Em Poker is played,  If not, here is a handy link which may be able to help you learn quicker.   Once you are familiar with things, come back and we will continue with the review.

The main gaming interface is extremely important to poker games.  If the app is not intuitive, then you will not get anywhere trying to play, and will likely soon give up from frustration.  So, this was among the most important features to me, and I must say that I was quite pleased by what I found.  The screen depicts a bird’s eye view of the table, with nine players arranged around it.  Each player has an avatar, name, and total value of their chips.  A box beneath that will also show their last action (call, fold, bet, raise, etc…)  You can even use the player profile menu to change your avatar, though I was a bit disappointed to find that you could only choose from a number of preset images, and cannot add your own photo as a character avatar.

Additionally, not only is this a fun game to play, but it can also be an effective learning tool for those new to the game.  A meter next to your hand shows the strength of your hand, and often other players will show tells (an exclamation point over their cards indicates a strong hand, while a question mark indicates a weaker hand).  These signals can help with your strategy.  You can also replay any hand when it is over to see whether you missed any clues along the way.

The only thing I did not really like was the betting interface.  Taking a page out of Apple’s Texas Hold’em app, there is a betting dial.  Spin it to the right to increase your bet, left to decrease.  I found this system to be terribly imprecise, which is really unfortunate since betting can require quite a bit of precision when you are in the middle of a hot hand.  Surely, there must be a better way to control this critical part of the game.

The game itself is based upon a tournament style of play.  You will start off in a local, low level game, and work your way into the more competitive, higher stakes games.  Since it is tournament style, you do not necessarily need to win in order to advance.  The top three players in most games will leave with money.  You can also increase your bank roll by simply starting the game.  This is a pretty cool feature, the more you play, the more bonuses you can receive.  On the other hand, I was not a fan of the idea of using real money to purchase chips.  Not only does this strike me as a way to line the developer’s pockets, it also gives you an opportunity to create an unfair and unrealistic advantage by simply purchasing thousands of chips.  Likewise, I did not like the second chance option, which allows you to pay real money to get back into the game after busting.

Additionally, when playing in Legend Career Mode, the seven locations feature a variety of different playing modes,including winner take all, sit and go, and various circuit events…all of which leads up to the World Series of Poker Main Event and its $450,000 grand prize.  If these tournaments are not quite for you yet, you can jump into any of the available cash games.  Again, the different casinos each have increasing buy-ins, but also correspondingly high prizes if you in.  Additionally, if you prefer to test your mettle against real world players instead of the artificial intelligence, you can log into multiplayer mode and play against real players from around the world (all for points and bragging rights, no actual money is at stake)…or just play head to head against a friend in Heads-Up Bluetooth mode.  I really loved the variety this all offered, with numerous playing modes and options, the game will satisfy both beginning players and experienced gamblers alike. 

Finally, and perhaps most importantly, is the artificial intelligence.  There are several complaints you here repeated time and again when games have poor artificial intelligences.  This such as, the computer always knows exactly how much to bet, or always bets big on a hand that will ultimately win.  Pay close enough attention to these betting patterns, and you can zip right through the game.  Other complaints are that the computer always seems to get exactly the card it needs to win, and the player never does.   I was pleased to find that none of these problems were apparent with this game.  Sometimes the computer got a break, but not always.  The artificial intelligence worked extremely well.  If I did not know better, I might have thought I was playing against real players…minus the drunken brawls, of course.

I have to say that I was really impressed by this game.  It features smooth gameplay and animation, as well as a fantastic artificial intelligence.   I also really appreciated the wide variety of locations and styles of play, meaning you will always find a game to suit your skill level and needs.  Toss in daily bonuses, allowing you to earn chips just for pulling up to the table, and I am not afraid to say that this is the best Texas Hold’em game I have played on the iPad.

I am a huge fan of hidden object games. I have been enjoying them on my mobile devices ever since my early days with Windows Mobile and the Dell Axim.  I always felt, however, that the small screens on most mobile devices limited these games.  A larger screen, it seemed, would allow for a more complex level of difficulty due to the increased detail available to developers.  As such, I was pretty excited to dive into this genre an the iPad.  Unfortunately, the waters of this genre turned out to run much deeper than expected.  Every time I sat down to start writing this article, another entry was added.  So, I will go ahead and apologize in advance for the length and scope of this one, as well as the myriad of games which I was not able to include.  You can blame the developers for that.   So, without taking up anymore of your time, let’s get to the games.

Alice in Wonderland Hidden Objects: This was the first hidden objects game I tested out on the iPad, and I have to say I found this game from the developers at Warelex to be a bit of a mixed bag.  Unlike many of these games, there is not a plot tying the levels together, just a map tracing your route through 15 different levels (there are a few other secrets in there, which I have yet to find).  Although arrows guide you from one level to the next, there is no requirement that you complete them in any particular order.  I thought the graphics in the introductory screens and map were terrific, offering a slightly twisted take on the Alice in Wonderland characters and locations.

Once you get into each of the levels, however, the Alice in Wonderland theme dissolves into a series of more or less unrelated garden scenes, each of which (obviously) contains a list of items for you to discover within the image.  Again, however, while the graphics were outstanding, these items bore no little to no connection to the Alice in Wonderland theme suggested by the title.  As I understand it, however, some of the secret games did relate to the Alice in Wonderland theme, though they were simply too difficult to find within the game.

If you are not familiar with hidden object games, this one offers a nice place to get acquainted with the genre, as it allows you to focus exclusively on finding objects, without getting distracted by other forms of mini-games or plots.  We will save those complexities for a bit later.

Alice in Wonderland Hidden Objects is a universal app available for all iOS devices from Waralex and costs $0.99, or a Lite version is available for free.

Cassandra’s Journey: The Legacy of Nostradamus: This hidden object game started with an interesting story line.  You play Cassandra, the granddaughter of a fortune teller, yearning to take over the “family business.”  To do that, however, you will need to enlist the help of the ghost of Nostradamus and find your grandmother’s lost ring.

Although the game features a variety of different puzzles and mini-games, I did not find that it held my attention in the same way as many of the other games in this genre.  For one thing, the games were all just too easy, allowing you to complete the game extremely quickly.  Unlike many hidden object/puzzle games, the complexity and difficulty level did not increase significantly as you progressed through the game.  Additionally, there was a real disconnect between the plot and the mini games.  The plot seemed to exist as a mean to shove you along from one game to the next; and other than unlocking new levels, the mini games did not seems to relate to or significantly advance the plot.  Finally, with respect to the plot, I found the writing to be simply sub-standard.  While the idea behind the story was sound, it was simply not well told throughout the game.  This game would have been better had the developers abandoned the idea of a plot, and released this game as a simple collection of unrelated puzzles.

Cassandra’s Journey is a universal app available for all iOS devices from Avallon Alliance for $3.99. 

Mumbo Jumbo Premium Casual Games: To paraphrase (badly), they developed the best of apps, they developed the worst of apps.  The first game I played from Mumbo Jumbo was Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials.  This quickly became one of my favorite hidden object games.  For starters, the plot is fantastic, a time bending mystery in which you must unravel the events leading up to the death of Nathanial Hawthorne (the famous writer).  I have to say that Mumbo Jumbo really impressed me with this one. 

Not only were the graphics exceptional, but the plot was also original and engaging.  Even the mini-games did a remarkable job of working with and furthering the plot, rather than simply existing despite the plot.  This was a really impressive game.

In fact, I liked Salem Witch Trials so much, I immediately set out to review Mumbo Jumbo’s other hidden object game Samantha Swift and the Fountains of Fate.  Shockingly, for two games released by the same developer within weeks of one another, I could not have had a more completely opposite reaction.  Although I did enjoy the similar quality of graphics, the plot on this one was as flimsy as an invertebrate’s spine.  As near as I could tell, it involved the search for immortality…and relics for a museum. 

The whole plot really just felt like a cheap excuse to string you from one puzzle to the next.  Ultimately, I got stuck when it wanted me to use an object which I had not yet found…and could not go back to get.  This one is pretty much as bad as Salem Witch Trials was good.

The other problem I had with these games, regardless of how good or bad they were was the pricing.  Both cost $9.99, which is incredibly expensive in a world of games which typically cost under $5.  To top it off, there are a number of extras in each game, which will also cost you a pretty penny.  Additional content, strategy guides, and even hints will all cost extra.  I found it to be a bit annoying that this content (with the exception of hints) could not be unlocked by progressing through the games.   This pricing structure is severely out of sync with the rest of the games in this genre.

Midnight Mysteries: Salem Witch Trials and Samantha Swift and the Fountains of Fate are both developed by MumboJumbo, and are each available from the iTunes app store for $9.99 (plus the additional cost of in-game purchases).

G5 Entertainment: What impressed me the most about G5’s catalog of games in this genre was the way they effectively maintained diversity throughout their games without sacrificing quality.   So far, they have four games in the hidden object genre: Mushroom Age, Paranormal Agency, The Mystery of the Crystal Portal, and Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold.  While these games all featured a similar goal (finding hidden objects and solving the puzzles), they featured a variety of approaches to the genre. 

Paranormal Agency, for example, is the only game which features a timer, along with penalties for taking too many missed guesses (there is an untimed mode for more relaxed play). 

The Mystery of the Crystal Portal and Treasure Seekers (above), on the other hand, feature a unique approach to the genre.  Rather than simply searching for a list of objects, you must first find a receptacle.  Each receptacle will show you the objects which must be placed within it.  Not only do you have to find the objects in question, but drag them to the correct receptacle. 

In addition to the variety of approaches to gameplay, I was also impressed by the different plots featured in the games.  From the mind-bending, time traveling adventures of Mushroom Age (above) to the Ghostbusters-esque Paranormal Agency, I think G5 Entertainment has done a spectacular job of publishing only the best written games, which really makes an incredible difference in this (and any) genre of games.

Overall, I found that the games published by G5 for the iPad were really consistently superior.  I have played dozens of hidden object games on numerous platforms, and those published by G5 rank among my all time favorites…especially Mushroom Age, which has been enthralling my children for months.

All four games cost $4.99 for the iPad and $2.99 on the iPhone or iPod Touch.  A free version of each is also available.  I thought this was a bit on the expensive side for the iPad version, especially since there was no significant difference between the iPhone and iPad versions to justify the difference in price, along with the fact that games in this genre really do not have any replay value once you have finished the story.  Still, the games are engaging enough that even with a $4.99 price tag, you will never really feel like you overpaid for any of these games.

Laura Jones Series: If the Laura Jones duology from Astar-Nevosoft looks familiar, well, that is because they are familiar.  Nevosoft, one of the companies behind this series is also the same company behind G5’s Mushroom Age game.  So, you can imagine that the graphics are of the same quality, although I found the plot to be a bit less consistent on these than on Mushroom Age and some of the other G5 games.  That is not to say, however, that the Laura Jones games lack for creativity.    Both Laura Jones and the Gates of Good and Evil and its recent follow-up, Laura Jones and the Secret Legacy of Nikola Tesla offer  fantastic gameplay with extremely creative and varied puzzles. 

How many other games in this genre feature a puzzle in which you must correctly replace one character’s piercings after they were accidentally knocked off.   While I thought the sequel was a bit better than the original, both were solid and enjoyable games, which held my interest and provided challenging mini-games along the way, even if the mini games did not always mesh seamlessly with the plot of the games.   Most importantly, both games allow you to go back and replay any levels or mini-games which you have already completed.  This feature was noticeably absent in many of the games reviewed for this article.

Both games are available in the iTunes App store for $4.99 ($2.99 on the iPhone or iPod Touch).  Again, I did not really understand the difference in pricing since there is no significant difference between the two versions other than the screen resolution.  So, it would have been nice if these had been universal apps.  There is also a free version of each, which guides you through the first few levels of each game, giving you a good taste of what is yet to come.

Little Things: This is the point in the roundup where we take a complete 360.  With Little Things, developer KlickTock has eschewed everything which is extraneous to the gameplay itself.  No fancy graphics, no plots, no variety of puzzles.  Just you and a screen full of objects.  Well…not quite.  You see, the point of Little Things is that the objects filling your screen or composed of, well, smaller objects (hence, Little Things).  Each puzzle consists of a selection of Little Things, formed into the shape of one of the object puzzles.   Of course, as you progress through the game, you will unlock new and more complicated object puzzles to solve. 

Little Things costs $4.99, though a free version is also available.  It is not currently available for the iPad.

I was thoroughly impressed by many of the games available in this genre for the iPad.  across the board, they featured exceptional graphics, and a myriad of creative mini-games.  I did find some of the writing was a bit inconsistent, but most of the games featured very good plots and stories, even if the execution was not always as good as expected.   I was a bit disappointed by the pricing structure of some of the games in this genre, particularly those which cost almost double the price of their iPhone counterparts.  Nonetheless, if you are looking for a great distraction with a some significant entertainment value, then the games in this genre will certainly deliver.