Cotrio By: Bartosz Bialek Bartosz Bialek' Cotrio is a surprisingly stylish game for a math puzzler. The developer tried to make it a relaxing but challenging experience, and I think he achieved that goal. The artwork and animations are minimalistic and remind me of Carl Burton's Islands with their monochromatic 3D landscapes. Together with a chill soundtrack, the game offers a calming experience despite its challenging puzzles. The way Cotrio works is…
The Bonfire: Forsaken Lands By: Xigma Games As someone who liked the idea of Raw Fury's Kingdom: New Lands more than actually playing it, I was still very much looking forward to Xigma Games' The Bonfire: Forsaken Lands. My biggest issue with Kingdom was having to start over from scratch every time I messed up. It's hard to even know you're not doing well until you get to a point where you're…
Read Only Memories: Type-M By: MidBoss, LLC. MidBoss' Read Only Memories has been around on several other platforms for a few years now, and I had heard good things about it, so I was excited to see it was coming to iOS. Lucky for us, that day is here and the game is available at a very generous free-to-try with a one-time in-app purchase to unlock the rest of the game. I've…
Rogue Hearts By: NINETAIL Co., Ltd These days, I tend to avoid games that have micro transactions for in-game currency or items, especially consumables. So I almost didn't buy NINETAILS' turn-based RPG, Rogue Hearts when I saw that you can buy gems with real cash. But I really liked the screenshots and description of the game, so I finally caved, figuring $0.99 isn't much to gamble on it. It turns out, I…
Art Club Challenge By: Polytundra LLC As someone who minored in art in college, the idea of a game that tries to mimic an art class appealed to me. I like the concept, and it's interesting how Polytundra's Art Club Challenge forces you to use a very limited palette of four colors and only squares and rectangles to make your art. Unfortuantely, the execution isn't quite as strong as the idea. It…
Alto's Odyssey By: Snowman Back when Snowman's endless snowboarder, Alto's Adventure released in 2015, I lamented that such gorgeous artwork was being used on a runner, and not something more like an adventure game. It's not that I don't appreciate runners, but they're not my first choice in games. Despite that, I gave Alto a chance and had a great time with it, though I never completed all the levels. It got…
Dissembler By: Ian MacLarty At first glance, Dissembler might not look like much. It's certainly not as shiny as most match-three games on the App Store. It's made up entirely of simple, minimalistic squares and would probably be easy to overlook. It's also the first puzzler from Ian MacLarty, who's known for fast-paced arcade games like Boson X and Jelly Juggle. So when I got an email about it, I was a…
Purrfect Date By: Bossa Studios Ltd I have mixed feelings about Bossa Studios' cat dating simulator, Purrfect Date. I was excited about it ever since I saw the announcement trailer, with its catchy tune and ridiculous premise. I also knew it was meant to come to iOS, so I had something to look forward to. Since it's mostly reading, it's a great a fit for an iPad that you can rest in…