Silent Ops Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Silent Ops (£4.99/$6.99) by Gameloft is something of a contradiction: a game about slick gun-toting agents that’s clunky and rough around the edges. Not visually, of course – the game looks and sounds mostly stunning. No, the problems that riddle the game aren’t as simple as that. You play the part of 3 different agents from a secret organization as they fight against an organisation that is doing evil things

Connectrode Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Connectrode (69p/99 cents) by Deep Plaid is a refreshingly original puzzle game that relaxes as much as it frustrates. A little like yoga crossed with boxing, it stretches and eases your mind, then punches it into submission. And you know what? It works. Your goal is to place connector tiles on a board to clear it of differently coloured chips. Connecting two or more chips of the same colour clears

Shake-A-Phrase Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Shake-a-Phrase (normally £1.49/$1.99, currently on sale for 69p/99 cents) by Artgig Studio is a clever educational app for children or anyone whose vocabulary could benefit from expansion. It’s also a potentially useful tool for writers in need of inspiration. Essentially, the app is a sentence generator. It randomly produces child-friendly, quirky lines like “the enthusiastic monkey combed then measured the teeny hamster”. Handily, the app includes over 1700 word definitions,

Pix’n Love Rush Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Pix’n Love Rush (69p/$0.99) by Bulkypix may well be my favourite iOS game. I downloaded the retro platformer when it was first released, and I’m nowhere near bored of it more than a year later. You play as Pix’ the cat, the cheeky pixely mammal in the app’s icon. The game includes a massive amount of content in the form of three entirely different game modes, with another to be

Allied Star Police Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Allied Star Police (free!) is developed by the experimental 4th & Battery division of Popcap Games together with a very lucky Make-A-Wish Foundation recipient, 9-year-old Owain Weinert. The story of how the two forces came together is a sweet one that I don’t want to clumsily reword here, so I recommend that you read about it on Popcap’s Website. When I was younger, I loved imagining the rumble of tanks

Last Defense of our Time Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Last Defense of our Time (£1.49/$1.99) by Beauty of the Fall Productions is an odd mixture of the good, the bad and the somewhat ugly. If it was edible, I’d definitely chew on it – the question is how long I’d enjoy the taste for. Yes, this is a chewing gum game: fresh breathed at first, but the taste grows tired. But like chewing gum, the app is also surprisingly

SuperRope Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

SuperRope (free!) by Craneballs Studios involves ropes, pigs, pianos and helicopter hats. And if none of that appeals, it also includes octopi, aliens and a sausage who bites his lip with concentration as he climbs through space. If nothing else, the game should at least contain something for everyone. You’re tasked with ascending ropes by hopping between them as you encounter obstacles, which can either lurk in the environment, on

Pick a Piggy Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Pick a Piggy (69p/99 cents) by Dynamic Pixels is more polished than any of my shoes have ever been, but that isn’t all that’s needed to really make a game shine. Thankfully, the app comes with enough substance to make its style worthwhile. The game is all about navigating a rotund little piggy called Pong through a maze-like house by flinging her with your finger. Each level requires that you

Lane Splitter Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Lane Splitter (69p/99 cents) by fractiv surprised me. I thought it would be rubbish, though I can’t place why. Maybe it was the name; Lane Splitter sounds like an action game, where you bloodily slice monsters in half with nothing but your very sharp fingernails. I was let down on that front – it’s about dodging cars. Or perhaps it was the app icon – some idiot in a suit

Amazing Breaker Review

By Oliver Stockley | Reviews

Amazing Breaker (69p/99 cents) by Dekovir is outstanding, there’s no doubting it. Even if you don’t read the rest of this review, I’ll tell you right now: you should buy this game. No, you need to buy this game. The concept of the app is immediately accessible. You’re required to smash ice sculptures by flinging bombs at them. You have four different bomb types to play with. Spike bombs lodge