Touch Arcade

What it all really comes back to is that Wall Kickers just feels good to play, something that will come as zero surprise to anyone who has played any previous games from Kumobius. It can fill short periods of time quite well, but you’ll also find it up to the challenge of making you procrastinate on more important matters for longer sessions as well. The core mechanics ride the line between simplicity and depth the way any genuinely satisfying arcade experience needs to, and the difficulty scales up nicely. Throw in that usual Kumobius quality on the presentation, and you’ve got yourself a winner.

Valleys Between offers a remarkably calming experience despite the dangers that can appear. Being mindful about the environment you control with the touch of a finger allows you to also reflect on your physical world. The level difficulty is balanced compared to current progress through the game. The graphics, music, and sound effects combine to create a thoroughly awe-inspiring experience. But perhaps mostly importantly, Valleys Between is a well-needed reminder that life, the universe, everything is about finding the right balance.

It’s a great quick reprieve from the stresses of daily life, with reason to return time after time and a great reason to share your progress on social media with the photo booth. The paid No Ad option does seem expensive to still have to wait for honey, but that’s absolutely no deterrent from the title.

By now it’s probably abundantly clear that I’m a fan of Golfing Around. There is something about being able to play a golf game that takes itself seriously, but not too seriously on an iPhone, one-handed, any time I want that I think makes this a great addition to any gaming arsenal. And when you’ve done that, maybe check out some of Colin Lane’s other work? There’s plenty to choose from.

There’s something about the way the game feels that is hard to put into words, but there’s just a lag behind the controls that constantly made me feel like I was doing everything a split second too slow, and in a game where twitch reactions are the be-all and end-all of survival, that gets pretty annoying, pretty fast.

If you dig on platforming challenges in the classic style, you’ll want to check out SlimeRoom. I feel like there’s been a recent trend to make games like this stupidly hard or unfair, a style which certainly carries its own pleasures. As a consequence of that trend, it’s become harder to find a platforming game on mobile that tests players without running them into doorknobs all day. SlimeRoom may have old bones, but in the current landscape, it’s a welcome sight indeed. That it doesn’t cost a thing makes it even more remarkable.

If you dig strategic puzzle games, make sure you pick Summit Way up. It’s fresh and enjoyable, teases the brain in just the right ways, and is somehow oddly relaxing to boot.

Ultimately you can customize how tough the game is and no matter how rough it gets, Barbearian will look gorgeous throughout and will feel amazing whether you use a MFi controller or the touch controls. It feels completely different when the difficulty is adjusted so there is value in getting into the options and fiddling around. When people ask where the good premium games are, Barbearian is one I will point to, with gusto.

If you’re looking for a straightforward, one-handed, one-time-payment puzzle game, Zero Escape may very well be it. The retro sounds and graphics delighted the kid (and teenager) in me. The difficulty curve was never insurmountable, and you’re never asked to spend more actual cash to get hints. The hourly mission is a great way to keep those stuck on a level motivated to keep revisiting it

KataKoto isn’t going to last you a very long time, but it’s engaging enough to keep you busy for a couple of hours at least. There’s no real reason to come back to the game after you’ve cleared all of the stages, which is perhaps the biggest weak point in the whole affair. The sometimes-fussy controls can be a bit of a bummer, and you’ll have to deal with the semi-frequent video ads, too. If you can cope with all of that, you might want to tumble KataKoto around in your brain for a bit. As puzzle games go, it’s a bit on the breezy side, but that might just be what the mood calls for sometimes.