Touch Arcade

If you're into the idea of playing a driving game solo that isn't about perfecting your run to get first place, Highway Runners might be for you. It's the kind of game you can turn on and go for a quick coin run in, or get lost for an hour trying to acquire a new level. It's aesthetics are retro enough to draw in a crowd, but not overly cloying to the point where it feels like it's a knockoff. It definitely has room for improvement, but it hits a sweet spot for sure (it even has scanlines and a monitor overlay effect!). A lot of love was poured into the creation of this project, and it shows.

It’s an excellent compilation of a classic simulation title with nothing lost in its transition to iOS. If you’re a simulation fan there’s really no reason not to pick this amazing game.

Snowball! is just a solid pinball table, and considering $1.99 seems to be the going rate for pinball tables on mobile, it's a fair price for a charming and entertaining round of pinball. Give this one a shot.

Island Delta thus winds up being one of those games where the experience oscillates wildly between two extremes. The core idea is really good, and there's fun to be had with it. But the actual execution leaves something to be missed. The combat is entirely mismanaged. The design shows a lot of good ideas, but having to deal with enemies shooting at you the whole time that you're trying to solve the puzzles is absolutely suboptimal.

It's a little on the shorter side, and its board design leans a bit heavily on the same particularly type of skill shot, but overall, it's still a solid experience that is greatly elevated by its excellent presentation. Given that it's basically free, it's hard to come up with reasons why you shouldn't at least give it a try.

Mini Metro is a terrific arcade puzzle game with satisfying depth to its mechanics. It's got a good pace to its action and a stylish presentation that fits perfectly with its theme.

Colt Express is a great port of a fun game, and it's one that's very easy to recommend both to those who enjoy board games and to mobile gamers in general. The art is fantastic, the gameplay mechanics work great, and there's plenty of content to keep you playing the game for a long time to come.

Le Parker: Sous Chef Extraordinaire seems like a really out there game based on the trippy visuals and the odd premise alone, but it's actually a safe bet if you grew up with retro platformers. It marries that '90s aesthetic with its own voxel-like art, and manages to maintain a tight control scheme that relies on simple directions and a lone action button. Oh, and the low price and lack of hidden catches don't hurt.

If you want Mario on your iPhone, Super Mario Run does its best to approximate the trappings. On the other hand, if you're looking for a top-shelf auto-runner to play, it's-a not him.

While there isn't a whole lot there for people outside of character grinding in Don't Grind (ha), I'm confident that a lot of people are going to fall in love with it, and decide to pull the trigger on the relatively reasonable IAP asking price. Potential future updates can only bring it up from there.