#5 - Trace

Game: Trace

Price: £Free / $Free | App Store |
Genre: Action, Puzzle
Developer: Kevin Calderone
Rating: 4+

Design: 6/10
Sound: 8/10
Gameplay: 8/10
Overall: 7/10

Draw On Your Problem Solving Skills!
Take on various elements of the world and save your stick man from instant peril as you draw yourself a route through a vast series of challenging levels. This game will test your problem solving skills, but in a relaxing and enjoyable way. It's an odd experience really, so arm your drawing finger and take a closer look.

Design
It's probably one of the simplest designs of any game on the entire App Store, but that doesn't necessarily mean it's bad. The game has deliberately used the most basic of graphics to give it a quirky look and feel that will have you focusing more on the gameplay. There are a number of moments where you'll have to take a good few looks in order to figure out what the developer has attempted to draw, badly, but somehow that actually adds to the fun. The developer is in no way pretending to be an artist, but has comfortably proven that you don't necessarily need to be one in order to achieve a great game. It feels like you're playing something that has been knocked up really quickly, but thanks to the addictive, intuituve nature of the game, it's thoroughly enjoyable and feels very personal. There are a huge number of levels, all placed into fun themes that will keep you busy for weeks.

Sound
The soundtrack is thoroughly enjoyable throughout with a new tune for each of the 6 themed categories plus the homescreen song. The music is incredibly soothing and adds to the experience very well. There are only a couple of SFX, but that is all that was needed really and it is by no means a bad thing. The music adds to the games relaxed design and gameplay that will leave you feeling very content as opposed to frustrated.

Gameplay
The main part of the game is to draw the platforms that your stick man can travel across in order to reach the shining golden sun (the goal), tweaking routes with your eraser as you go. However, you also have the additional controls in the form of left and right and jump, meaning that you have complete control at all times. You will fail if your man falls off the screen or is hit by an obstacle, but everytime this happens you simply go straight back to the beginning of the level and can start again instantly. It's quick and painless and makes for a very pleasant gaming experience with no loading time between attempts. All levels have a completion time that you can try and beat (offering repeat gaming) and there is an overall completion percentage challenging you to beat every single one of the 120 levels. Needless to say, the game offers incredible value for money!

Conclusion
This is a very unique gaming experience that, despite it's simple design and gameplay, is actually incredibly good fun to play and can be very challenging. The fact that you can attempt to complete each level in any number of ways makes it a very liberating experience and gives a puzzle feel to the game as you try to figure out the best route. It's not going to win any awards for its design, but if you can see past that and accept it as fun and quirky, then you will discover an awesome game that cost you nothing at all and will entertain you for hours and hours. Give it a go, it's free!

#4 - Paracute

Game: Paracute

Price: £0.59 / $0.99 | App Store |
Genre: Action, Scroller
Developer: Donut Games
Rating: 4+

Design: 7/10
Sound: 5/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Overall: 6/10

Parachuting Bears With A Big Brave Heart!
A peculiar game, to say the least, involving teddy bears, pillows and hearts but not aimed at just girls! Starting at the top of the cave, you glide the parachuting teddy bear safely through the nooks and crannies to the relative safety of the big fluffy pillow at the bottom. You must gather hearts to score points, avoid enemies and protect your parachute during your descent. Yes, it sounds awful! However, like most crazy, creative ideas by this vastly experienced developer, somehow it not only works, but works really well.

Design
Donut Games have released 24 games to date and they all follow a very similar, neat and polished design theme. They have used their typical colourful cartoony graphics in this game and it all looks great. There is not too much variety in place though, which is a real shame, but I accept that a game set in a cave is going to be tricky. There are just about enough changes as you progress through the levels, but it's all just a little too exact in its execution, as if a strict template has been followed for the creation of every level. Whilst this maintains a consistantly pleasant experience, it falls short of generating any excitement as you progress through the game.

Sound
Perhaps my hearing is a little off after the delights of Bit Pilot, but to me, this game really lacks a soundtrack! The background music is very unobtrusive with the emphasis placed on regular SFX from collecting items and obstacles. It's probably a wise move, given the amount of times you need to play a level in order to complete it, but that doesn't mean there couldn't be a little more variety of the unobtrusive music, rather than just one endless muttering. The SFX are all crisp and blend into the experience perfectly.

Gameplay
The game is incredibly simple to play with left and right the only taps on the screen. As you make your descent you need to gather as many hearts as possible with small ones gaining 5 points and large ones 50 points. There are obstacles such as hooks and fans, bonus items such as replacement parachute and shield and a small variety of enemies that will send you into freefall if you hit one. Each of the 30 levels has a 1, 2 or 3 star completion target ensuring replay value as you seek to fully complete the game. The game is perhaps a little too simple to complete and could do with some extra levels, but it's certainly challenging enough to attempt 3 stars on them all. There is not much variety on offer, but portals and 'helpers' on some of the levels bring something different to the table.

Conclusion
The lack of variety in the gameplay is perhaps the reason it has been limited to just 30 levels. The developers seem to have explored every possible avenue, so you are getting the best possible experience from them and it makes for a relatively good game. There is no question that it's a very enjoyable game to play, but it's likely that you'll complete it fairly quickly and may be left wanting a little more. The £0.59 price is definitely fair but Donut Games regularly have special offers where they put some of their games up for free, so just search Donut Games if you want to try some of their stuff out before commiting to a purchase. Overall, it's well worth a go and boasts some of the nicest looking cartoon graphics on the iPhone.

#2 - Deep Deep Dungeon

Game: Deep Deep Dungeon

Price: £1.19 / $1.99 | App Store |
Genre: Action, RPG
Developer: iQubi Inc.
Rating: 9+

Design: 5/10
Sound: 4/10
Gameplay: 6/10
Overall: 5/10

I'm Going Deeper Underground!
A very structured and challenging action game that contains tiny traces of RPG. After selecting to be a guy or a girl warrior, you must make your way through countless dungeon floors eliminating enemies, levelling up on xp, gathering gold and finding the exit. After every 10 floors you will face a boss battle and upon their anhilation, advance to a new dungeon with a new theme and new enemies. Along your travels you are free to return to the safety of your camp where you can stock up on health potions as well as purchase weapon and armour upgrades. Sounds like fun, right? Let's see.

Design
The game gets off to a pretty good start with reasonably well drawn characters and a pleasant enough base camp. However, things rapidly become repeated and you soon find yourself labouring through the same old dungeons eliminating the same old enemies. Some of the enemies are particularly well drawn, but for the most part, there's nothing special. The whole game has a very cheap look and feel to it, and though this does keep things incredibly simple, it damages the experience and leaves you frustrated. The attack screen lacks animation and creativity in general with the only saving grace being the inclusion of the timed tap to attack, with the yellow bar resulting in a hit and the tiny red section getting a critical hit.

Sound
The soundtrack is terribly repetitive and it's unlikely you'll have the game out of mute more than once! The dungeon maps have no sound at all, not even the odd eery, atmospheric SFX which would have been very simple to do. The SFX in general are quite poor and there is a real lack of variety throughout the game.

Gameplay
The aim of the game is to level up your character and conquer the series of dungeons laid out before you. The game's one true saving grace is that it is quite challenging whilst being very quick and easy to pick up and play. It will definitely have you coming back to it regularly. In my experience, in order to progress with any real chance of success, you need to repeat dungeons to gather extra gold and xp to upgrade weapons and level up. This gets quite tiresome, but the Shop feature can be rewarding as you use your new upgrades to slay enemies more easily. The controls are perfect for the game. A single tap to move and a single timely tap to launch an attack. It's also refreshing to see a game of this style being played in portrait, allowing you to play with one hand - perfect for holding on when on the tube!

Conclusion
If you're looking for an easy, pick up and play RPG styled game, then this is pretty much the best I have come across so far. Anyone new to the RPG genre might like this as a starting point, as it utilises the key elements in their simplest form, although I must stress this really isn't a true RPG. Overall this game is dissapointing although the release in its current form could have been a great starting point. In my honest opinion, it should be free for now whilst they make developments. However, there are far worse games than this on the App Store and some of them charge significantly more, so I'd not write this off completely. I've been playing it for about a week now and I am intent on completing it. Whether I'm enjoying the experience though, is truly debatable!

#1 - Monster Dash

Game: Monster Dash

Price: £0.59 / $0.99 | App Store |
Genre: Action, Scroller
Developer: Halfbrick
Rating: 9+

Design: 7/10
Sound: 6/10
Gameplay: 7/10
Overall: 7/10

Do The Monster Dash!
A fast paced action scroller from the makers of Fruit Ninja and Age of Zombies promises to pack a punch. Armed and dangerous, you jump and shoot your way through the automatically scrolling levels in your bid to survive the longest possible distance. As you progress, the background themes change, new weapons become available and different monsters meet their match. Here's a quick review. Must dash...

Design
A colourful array of backgrounds, monster styles and themes keep a reasonable amount of interest and the random manner that levels and monsters appear promises a different game everytime. Levels include Transylvania, Great Wall of China and Tokyo Rooftops with monsters such as Vampires, Yetis and Zombies. Your arsenal of weapons start with the unlimited default shotgun which is then trumped by limited allocations of weapons you pick up on the go such as The Pacifier Magnum, Rocket Launcher and some creative inclusions like the Machine Gun Jet Pack.

Sound
The music is suitably catchy and each themed level triggers a remix of the ongoing song. There is certainly room for more variety, but the subtle changes are enough to stop you getting annoyed. The SFX are few and far between, but that's the nature of the game - you spend all your time jumping and shooting! Even if there were more monster and background sounds, I'm not sure you'd be able to appreciate them with the constant shooting and the soundtrack.

Gameplay
The aim of the game is to secure the highest possible score both locally amongst friends and through the use of Open Feint online scoring. There are no challenges or tasks to give an idea of progress, but this is mildly dealt with by the unlockable Achievements and playing Statistics. The controls are simple enough, with left taps jumping and right taps firing but you will find that it gets difficult very quickly with the pace of your running increasing all the time. Death is met by losing all your hearts through monster contact and obstacles or, most commonly, losing all your hearts in one go by failing to make a jump.

Conclusion
Overall this is a very addictive and catchy game, but only to a point. It's likely you'll play it endlessly for the first week and then it'll drop off your radar a little as the next distraction gets released. If the developers can add a new level, monster and weapon every so often, it'll spark a little more interest. However, some new playing styles are badly needed to keep this interesting such as challenges and tasks or just some form of completion other than endlessly chasing the highscore! At £0.59, it delivers some entertainment and it's well worth a look.