OVIVO By: Alex Vilassak (IZHARD) I love when I see a game in the App Store that I never heard of before, but it looks really interesting and is reasonably priced, so I give it a shot and it turns out to be one of the best experiences I've had. Such is the case with IZHARD's OVIVO, one of the few platformers I've played through to the end. The black-and-white minimalistic…
Umiro By: Devolver Digital & Diceroll Studios From the moment I saw some GIFs and screenshots of Diceroll Studios' Umiro, I knew I needed to play it. I didn't know much about the gameplay itself other than that it's a puzzle game with unique mechanics. But, besides the artwork, I liked that everything appeared to take place on one screen in portrait mode, and it looked like the perfect one-handed iPhone game.…
Urban Legend: Shin Hayarigami (Blindman) By: I-Play.Co.,Ltd. I admittedly knew very little about Urban Legend: Blindman before trying it, but the premise sounded interesting to me. It's a murder mystery horror game in the form of a visual novel, with the murderer apparently being an urban legend called Blindman. It starts off promising, with a disturbing image of a man tied up and begging for his life before someone uses scissors to…
Death Coming By: Sixjoy Hong Kong Limited The Next Studio's Death Coming has a really clever premise and I was enjoying it for a while. The idea is, you died and now have to become a reaper (yes, kind of like Dead Like Me). But instead of just reaping specific people, your goal is to kill everyone in a scene. You don't have to do so in order to pass a level,…
Fortnite By: Epic Games If you've been following me for a while, you probably know that I'm not a fan of free-to-play (F2P) monetization that change the nature of a game by penalizing you for failing and/or give a leg up to those who spend real cash. The App Store is filled with games like this, whether it's paying for extra lives or moves in a game like Candy Crush Saga, consumable…
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…