A Monster's Expedition (Through Puzzling Exhibitions) By: Draknek Limited I didn't realize there was an open world puzzler-shaped hole in my life until I played Hello Games' The Last Campfire. The sense of discovery with each puzzle solved and each new area uncovered was just the kind of experience that I'd been craving without even knowing it. Lucky for me, not long after I finished it, Draknek's bigger and more impressive open…
Kavel By: Jerry Verhoeven Followers of this site might know by now that I always like to have a high score chaser on my phone to play during down time between other games. Often this ends up being a match-three game, whether it's Six Match or High Rise or Swap Sword or a number of others that have no IAPs or ads. There's something meditative about them, so I'm always looking for…
Circulous By: Chain Reaction Games / gary gogis Two years ago, then-14-year-old developer Brayden Gogis of Chain Reaction Games made all of us feel very inadequate by releasing his narrative puzzler called The Company Game. Since then he made Solisquare, a unique take on the classic Solitaire, which has been getting regular updates with new themes. Now he's back with what is perhaps his most ambitious project yet, a puzzle adventure called…
Creaks By: Amanita Design Over the last few years, Amanita Design has become one of my favorite developers, from whom I know I can expect a game with tons of personality. They first won me over with Samorost 3, but then I went back to catch up with Botanicula, an equally charming point-and-click adventure. I've since had the pleasure to play through CHUCHEL and Pilgrims, both of which are more playful than…
Beyond a Steel Sky By: Revolution Software I'm a big fan of the classic point-and-click adventure series, Broken Sword, and even still have my copy of the original on Game Boy Advance. But for some reason, I never played Revolution Software's earlier game, Beneath a Steel Sky, which released 26 years ago. It's been on iOS for while now, but as a spoiled modern gamer, it always looked a bit dated to…
The Almost Gone By: Happy Volcano / Playdigious There are some games you know are made for you just from a couple of screenshots or GIFs. That's how it was with The Almost Gone from Happy Volcano and Playdigious. I'd been eagerly awaiting its release since I first caught glimpse of it, with its single-screen dioramas and low-poly art style. After playing through it, I can tell you it was certainly worth…
Little Orpheus By: Sumo Digital / The Chinese Room Sumo Digital and The Chinese Room somehow managed to keep a tight lid on their latest Apple Arcade title, Little Orpheus, until the very last moment, so I hadn't the slightest clue what to expect from it. Their teasers in the days leading to its release included cryptic quotes and two-dimensional artwork that turned out to be from the game's opening theme, but…
Slay the Spire By: MegaCrit / Humble Bundle One of the genres I've really gotten into in the last few years is the card-based roguelike. If designed well, they can be the perfect fit for iOS, since they focus on strategy rather than reflexes and therefore should be playable just about anywhere. Slothwerks' Meteorfall is a superb mobile-centric version that I still play every day. So it was hard to ignore all…
