For the last few years, I've been going to Playcrafting's summer games conference called Play NYC. Last year was pretty lacking on the mobile front so I didn't cover it, but I wrote about my experience in 2017. This year had a pretty good turnout for mobile games, as well as games that seem like a great fit for the platform. I also checked out some PC games that looked interesting and…
SNIKS By: Shelly Alon There are few genres that are as perfect for touchscreens as relaxed puzzle games. My iPhone has given me a renewed appreciation for puzzles, and I always get excited when one is announced that offers both clever mechanics and an art style that's easy on the eyes. The latest one to grab my attention is Shelly Alon's SNIKS. I played a very early demo version of it a…
Unhatched By: Filip Loster Ever since the Tinder-inspired Reigns released, many developers have realized that binary choices make great one-handed mobile games. The high score-chasing dungeon crawler, Meteorfall, applies this concept to monster battles and is one of my all-time favorite games. I still check in every day to play the daily challenge. So when I heard of another contender entering the ring, called Unhatched, my ears perked up. Developed by Filip…
Sky: Children of the Light By: thatgamecompany Sky: Children of the Light is a breathtaking upcoming game from Journey and Flower developer, thatgamecompany. I'd signed up for beta access months ago but only got my invitation this past week. I've since spent about two hours in this gorgeous world and thought I'd share some of my early impressions. First off, the game is free. There is an in-game shop, but it's empty…
The Gardens Between By: The Voxel Agents Back in 2017 when The Voxel Agents announced their dreamlike adventure game, The Gardens Between, I desperately hoped it would come to iOS. But there was no plan to do so, and when it released in 2018 on PC and other platforms, I tried not to pay too close attention in order to keep my jealousy at bay. But it still seemed like it would…
Jumpgrid By: Ian MacLarty I absolutely adored Ian MacLarty's Dissembler, a chill but tricky puzzler with all the right quality-of-life features, such as an unlimited undo button and the ability to unlock all levels from the start. It was one of my favorite games of 2018 and for a good while the six daily puzzles were part of my morning ritual. But alas, it wasn't Ian's usual kind of game. He's better…
The Shapeshifting Detective By: Wales Interactive Ltd. Full Motion Video (FMV) games have been making quite the comeback over the last few years, with Her Story proving that the medium has a lot to offer. Contradiction provided a slightly cheesier experience, but one with also more active sleuthing. They both managed to make me hungry for more FMV games, but not all of them have been ported to iOS. Luckily, The Shapeshifting…
Meteorfall: Journey By: Eric Farraro (Slothwerks) The Reigns-inspired card-based dungeon crawler, Meteorfall, has to be near the top of the list of the premium games with the most free content updates. I already loved the game when it originally released, but found it lost its appeal once I got close to the absolute highest score possible. Beating the game with each character was fun in itself, as they each had their own…
