Touch Arcade

Papers, Please may not be what you'd typically describe as a fun video game, but it's an incredibly clever experiment in storytelling that succeeds in what it sets out to do in ways you won't expect.

In terms of gameplay, Ancient Legacy has a distinct, carefully designed feel to it. As something fun and challenging to chew on over the course of a weekend or so, it does its job admirably, if not altogether surprisingly.

Proun+ is an interesting game for many reasons, and racing fans, as well as anyone who likes tube-racers, tube-runners, whatever you want to call them, ought to give it a a shot.

Still, even in its current state I really like Seabeard. It’s not going to work well for players that want to play for hours on end perpetually but for casual players it hits an adequate balance for progression. ...Seabeard isn’t the magically universal game that I wish it could be, but for those that can work within its system, the rewards have the potential to be truly great.

Two more passed over rereleases take us to the present day, where Dragon Quest 3 is finally releasing in English to hardware that is both active and not likely to be immediately rendered obsolete.

Oddworld: Stranger's Wrath is one of those wonderful little gems that too many people missed when it first came out. It was an amazing game then as a full-priced retail console game, and it's every bit as awesome now on a mobile device.

Even after reading up on this game, I have not seen much at all that touches on the strategic inter-workings and UI concerns I have. If I had a wish list for Wars and Battles, I would say the top item would be increased UI functionality. There is no reason a mobile app should include a syllabus of required reading in order to play.

I can't praise Checkpoint Champion enough. It's a fun game on its own, with plenty of challenge on its own. But the social features, gorgeous design, and clever features all push it to a level that should leave other developers jealous: this game is just plain sleek.

With the advance we've seen from E2D 1 to E2D 2, I think the future looks pretty bright for this game franchise, and there are some areas they could pretty smoothly transition into. In the mean time I'm gonna go back to mashing up some zombies(and boxes).

It's all a shame because the ideas here are top-notch, but they never quite come together to make a top-notch game. Given the brevity and lack of progression in the concept, this really does feel like half of a larger whole stretched out to fill one game, and it's sad because Framed oozes with promise but is ultimately a letdown.