10 Must-Have iPhone/iPod Touch Games
Despite the issues Apple had with product launches this past week, the launch of the App Store has been an overwhelming success, with over 10 million downloads in the first weekend.
The App Store is home to a plethora of applications in over a dozen different categories. Some applications do make you wonder how Apple ever approved them, but for the most part the selection really is top notch. The most entertaining category (and certainly the one that has wasted most of my time and money) is the Games category.
With over 40 different games currently in the store, it can be a bit overwhelming to know what is worth your money and what is not. I took a go at quite a few of the games and have put together my top 10 favorite ones (some free, some not). Check out the list and then let me know what games you have been enjoying.
Aurora Feint: The Beginning
Cost: Free | Game Link
There is so much more to this game than simple puzzles. With a complete system of level ups and in-game addons, this game will seriously keep you occupied for hours.
The sound effects and background music really help move the game along and keep you zoned in on the game and zoned out of anything productive.
Most amazing thing of all? The app won’t cost you a dime.
Break
Cost: Free | Game Link
Block-breaking games are probably one of the most basic games that just about any has played. Break is no different. Simply use your finger to move the paddle back and forth and break the blocks.
It won’t win awards for being the best block-breaking game you’ve ever played, but at a cost of zero bones you really can’t pass up this sort of fun.
Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D
Cost: $9.99 | Game Link
Out of the four racing games I tried out, Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D was my favorite. The way the accelerometer handles just feels more natural than the other games and thus you spend less time being frustrated and more time just having fun.
There are 12 different tracks as well as a number story line to follow, if you choose to do so.
I highly recommend this game if you’re looking for some racing fun.
Cro-Mag Rally
Cost: $9.99 | Game Link
Pangea’s Cro-Mag Rally will most likely be familiar to a lot of Apple computer owners as demo of the regular version of Cro-Mag Rally has been included in the past with some new computers.
The iPhone/iPod touch version of this game delivers quite well and certainly is the best Neanderthal fun you could ever hope to have. There are 9 tracks, 11 vehicles, and a slew of different power-ups to snag while racing.
The game handling came be a bit frustrating at times but overall it’s worth the time/money.
Cube Runner
Cost: Free | Game Link
A surprisingly addictive game that simulates flying/running through a maze of cubes. The flow of movement is quite soothing and a lot of fun.
If you’ve got this game, you were definitely an early adopter as the game creator pulled the game a few days after the App store launched. The game should hopefully be back in the store within a few days. This game is now back up in the App Store. Hooray!
Enigmo
Cost: $9.99 | Game Link
Oh my. This is easily the most loved and hated game on my iPod touch.
50 levels of bouncing, dropping, sliding, and shooting water, oil, and lava through a maze of walls and obstacles creates hours of fun and pure hatred for this thing. This is by no means something you could sit and finish in a couple of hours…so don’t even try.
Seriously though, this really is a fun and challenging game that is worth every penny.
Moto Racer
Cost: $9.99 | Game Link
This racing game handles quite well and is a lot of fun. With 10 tracks and 3 different characters, game play can stay fairly unique. Each stage has a series of check-points to pass and early on they make sure it isn’t super easy (a good thing).
The graphics feel a tad cheesy and this is probably one game I’m not convinced is worth $10 (demo’s would be great right now for this sort of thing), but overall if you’ve got the cash to spend, I would definitely suggest this one.
Super Monkey Ball
Cost: $9.99 | Game Link
Reviews for this game have been surprisingly negative. My guess is that there was so much hype for this that the final product sort of let some people down, but I love this game.
With 110 stages and the level of difficulty being pretty hard early on, this game won’t get old any time soon.
My only gripe is that the controls were quite hard to get a hold of. The “ball” is significantly harder to control than it should be so it can take quite a bit of time to warm up to the game.
Tap Tap Revenge
Cost: Free | Game Link
Certainly you’ve played (or at least heard of) Guitar Hero. Just imagine this as Guitar Hero for your iPhone.
Tap Tap Revenge throws a series of dots and arrows at you based on the beat of the song that you must tap or shake.
This is another game that you really can’t believe is free. I’d pay for this in a heartbeat. The only thing lacking is the ability to pull from your own music collection.
Trism
Cost: $4.99 | Game Link
For fans of games like Tetris and Bejeweled, Trism is a puzzle game where you line up series of triangles to game points and level ups.
Trism uses the iPhone/iPod touch tilt sensitivity to decide how to slide in rows of triangles (which has a significant impact on the game).
Some say this is the best game in the App Store. I say at $4.99, it’s worth at least trying.
Jake on July 16th, 2008 at 12:38 pm
I just wanted to say I got the Ipod Iphone 2.0 update (£6 less than half price!!)
I just love it!
The IPod touch can do things faster than my computer (Like looking for and downloading E-Mails)and sometimes even stuff my PC cant do (like opening PDFs without downloading them)
My fav’ apps are “Cube runner” and “Remote”
Thanks apple worth every Penny
mogosh on July 16th, 2008 at 12:56 pm
Haven’t tried the other racers but I’m enjoying the cheesy realism of Moto Racer. Works much better when I modulate the gas in the turns. Doh. Lost some sleep on Enigmo before finding a solution–but it wasn’t pretty. Cube Runner reminds me of the old Amiga game Vaxxine but they both just lack in action. iTiltpinball was a real disappoint even at $1.99. One of my faves right now is Chopper, and a real bargain at $7.99! Like having a Vertibird in your pocket.
Galley on July 16th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
MotionX-Poker is the coolest app I have played.
Umar on July 16th, 2008 at 3:37 pm
Awesome list!
I almost have all of em on my iphone
Colin Walker on July 16th, 2008 at 7:51 pm
My only beef with Aurora Feint is the text truncation on any directions on any power-ups. I’m able to complete levels fine and it’s still fun, but I imagine I’m missing out on half of the game without being able to tell how to use any of what I’ve been building.
Can anyone point me to a site somewhere that has either a way to fix this or even a reference to how to play?
pinchies on July 17th, 2008 at 5:17 am
Most of the apps you list are deservedly awesome, with a few exceptions.
I don’t see how an app that you describe as “The graphics feel a tad cheesy and this is probably one game I’m not convinced is worth $10″ as a Must-Have.
“Some say this is the best game in the App Store.” (Trism)
Also, please qualify who “some” people are, and describe how this game is “the best” as opposed to plain addictive.
Cheers.
Anonymous on July 18th, 2008 at 5:36 am
That Crash Bandicoot game looks awesome. I used to have a similar game on Playstation 1.
DenTPuzz on September 9th, 2008 at 6:50 pm
Enigmo is on sale this week for 5 bucks! Grab it!!!
Blaine on October 11th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Super moneky ball is my itouch game of choose. I just love it. I wrote a review of the ipod touch on my blog. Check it out sometime. http://postafterpost.com
Thanks
ryan Flanagan on October 11th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
I love how they stole tap tap revenge from the hackers. Leave it to apple to advertise a game that hackers created for jail broken ipods. PS those games are such a wast of money just another way apple jews you out of you money. Just jailbreak your ipod or iphone. Apple why waste your time!
ReaderX on October 23rd, 2008 at 9:03 am
How can anyone take seriously someone who uses the phrase “jews you out of money.” Join the 21st century (or the 20th for that matter), ryan Flanagan.
Chia-chen on November 5th, 2008 at 4:10 am
um, I have a problem, my uncle bought my ipod touch from Taiwan, and i downloaded a few of the free games =] theres a problem now.. which is that, i can’t sync them in, cause my ipod touch doesn’t have a games icon!!
infoweekly guy on November 26th, 2008 at 8:27 am
got to infoweekly.weebly.com
Maria Ale... on November 29th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
I dont understand!!…the price is incredible….please…FREE!!!..XD
haha you are a dam racsist ryan on December 4th, 2008 at 5:28 pm
you are a racsist ryan and i hate you
haha someones jewish on December 11th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Get over it. I say it all the time and if I were to choose a religion I choose to be jewish, out of all the religions its the one I can respect most.
russian-jewish girl on June 21st, 2009 at 9:00 am
ehh-em! are you saying that jewish people are good or bad? cause if you picked BAD then your an idiot cause look at my name* above!
Ian-in-tenerife on January 30th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
#12 Chia-chen says:
um, I have a problem, my uncle bought my ipod touch from Taiwan, and i downloaded a few of the free games =] theres a problem now.. which is that, i can’t sync them in, cause my ipod touch doesn’t have a games icon!!
Hi guy’s, anyone have a solution to Chia-chen’s prob? cos I have the same one?
GoldCoaster on February 5th, 2009 at 4:09 pm
My ten year old son is about to buy a touch with his saved up cash, thanks for this list so I can start checking what games etc are around.
$10 for a game seems a little high (I guess thats $15 in my country) looking at most they seem like rehashes of old games you could get for almost free on the playstation.
tap tap on February 10th, 2009 at 5:28 pm
dudes, dudes please tap tap revenge is the official best free game for the ipod touch. it’s very addicting.
Stranger on February 16th, 2009 at 9:26 am
This is so old, Cro-mag rally is like $1.99 now. :P
A lot of these games have better versions now or are a lot cheaper than this thread says they are.
your all stupid on February 18th, 2009 at 6:37 pm
now if you jailbreak your iphone/ipod touch you can get even the ten dollar games for free. look up “installous on youtube
haqu - ipod touch games on February 19th, 2009 at 10:20 pm
iPod Touch becomes new platform for games, it was fun to play Tower Defense, iShoot and LightBike (especially wifi mode).
Kennedy on February 21st, 2009 at 4:23 pm
Well the iPod touch is soo worth the money it’s zoo cool it is like my laptop and iPod it’s like my life line get one !!!!
Chill people on February 23rd, 2009 at 2:12 pm
hey, Gold Coaster, Chilax, almost all those games are either 99 Cents or free (exept for crash bandicoot which is 5.99)
jennifer on February 26th, 2009 at 12:35 am
i love tap tap revenge it is so cool!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
jennifer
kris on June 20th, 2009 at 10:38 pm
no one cares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
kris
me on June 22nd, 2009 at 1:21 pm
no one cares!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
me
Best ipod touch games on February 27th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
I personally thing Tower Defence is the best game out for the iTouch or iPhone. I now look forward to going to class so I have an excuse to play lol
kyle on March 2nd, 2009 at 5:53 pm
the very best game is touch grind, its amazing
unknown voice on March 2nd, 2009 at 7:37 pm
tap tap revenge is so cool and very addicting i absoulutly LOVE it
lair360 on March 6th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
What about Monopoly for ipod touch??
Lair360,
kid yo on March 8th, 2009 at 2:38 pm
my iTouch should be delivered on tues, does it already have games and can i use app store on it with wifi? its a 2nd gen. thanks
mily on March 8th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
eeeeeeeeeehhhhhhhhhh milky milky milky like
papa mario on March 8th, 2009 at 4:21 pm
Mario almighty leader of the underworld questions the likely hood of whether or not he will let the humans live with these bad rankings
kid yo on March 9th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
thanks ‘mily’ helpful
crazy dude on March 26th, 2009 at 7:34 pm
I think that jelly car is a good game for its price….FREE! bubble bash is a real good game too, it is like 1.99
Robbo on April 13th, 2009 at 10:24 am
hi Chia-chen and Ian-in-tenerife al u have to do is when you first plug it in to your computer and registered it (or not) it has a picture of an ipod touch and at the top it has tabs the first should be summary, then movies, then music etc.and then the last should be applications click on it then it should have a list of your apps you have downloaded tick all aplications then sync aplications then press sync or apply i cant remember what it is then it should start installing them if not its probably dogy or broken.hope it helps!
kayraaaaaaa on April 20th, 2009 at 4:17 pm
they updated tap tap revenge to tap tap revenge 2. its also free. tap tap revenge sucks compared to the new version! :)
ryan Flanagan is totally right on May 7th, 2009 at 11:23 pm
Ryan is totally right anyone who actually pays is retarded i have hundreds of dollars of games. All for the unbeatable price of free. Plus my ipod is way sick and customized.
JT on May 11th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
TOP GUN is another cool one you should check out. My ipod is also way sick and costomized.
THERE on May 11th, 2009 at 2:50 pm
hahaha tower defense is one of the most ADDICTING games EVER.
Seriously though who does pay for their apps?
Without a jailbroken ipod you’re really missing out.
who thought of the name for tap tap revenge it looks like they just had a five year old come up with it.
real creative.
I have a lot of trouble getting the controls with super monkey ball also.
if you slightly tilt it nothing happens and if you tilt it any more you fall off!!
and if you ever update this page you should add zombieville USA and Need for Speed Undercover.
liseli kizlar on May 13th, 2009 at 11:16 am
I remember the 7 year hiatus Aoike Yasuko pulled off with Eroica, wich she’s still writing today. CLAMP’s Legal Drug is supposedly ending it’s relatively SHORT hiatus of, what, 3 years? Gawd knows how long Yami no Matsuei 12 has been on hiatus. Bustling mangakas with staffs or manga software tend to spit out no more than 4 manga a year, the rest have to do at least one
Alex on June 21st, 2009 at 5:22 pm
It’s Moto CHASER, not Moto Racer!
Amit Pbx on June 22nd, 2009 at 8:37 am
My kids crazy about “Crash Bandicoot Nitro Kart 3D”
I can’t even use my new iphone anymore :(
Keith on June 25th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
I love my itouch. Jelly car is an amazing free app.
iPhone Gamer on July 2nd, 2009 at 4:12 pm
I love 3d games on iphone.
review for 3D Games
Best iPhone 3D Games Reviewed. Top 20 Must have Action, RPG, Sports, Racing, Strategy
http://www.taranfx.com/blog/?p=1313
I have bought allof them