Just because I spent the second half of the week making my first visit to Kotaku's headquarters in five years doesn't mean I had time to play a dozen gaming apps this week. All the drinking does.
I did my best to look at a diverse selection of games this week, but when Tina Amini commented on how I probably shouldn't be playing Monster Crew in the middle of the closest thing we've had to a full staff dinner in years I realized that I should probably tone things down a bit.
So know that the games on this list were powerful enough to distract me from Owen's piercing gaze, Tina's rifles, Evan's wondrous pants, Kirk's humming, Jason's being Jason, Chris's eating all the Chinese food ever and Stephen's habit of changing his mood in mid mood-change. Congratulations!
iOS
Allods Adventure HD
A monster strategy companion to Allods Online. Gets wonderful deep and it's so very pretty.
Into the DeadAn endless run into a field of shambling undead, with weapons and upgrades — incredibly moody and satisfying.
Skee-Ball 2
Yeah, I was surprised I had fun with skee-ball myself.
Deepworld
A very deep exploration, mining and crafting game that I will explore more in the near future. For now, play it.
Knights and Dragons: Rise of the Dark Prince
Gree's epic role-playing game / fantasy management game with a social twist. Definitely worth checking out.
Android
Sleepwalker's Journey (also on iOS)
A gorgeous little stumble through a fantastic dream world.
Monster Crew (also on iOS)
How far can you get in this card-powered platforming adventure?
Gaming App of the Day — December 10 -14, 2012
These Belles Are Shooting Up the Sky and Dropping Bombs
When an air combat game seems based on females painted on World War II bombers, you should know what you are getting into. Ditto for a game named Bombshells: Hell's Belles that stars female pilots. Bombshells, geddit? But Bombshells is more than it first appears to be. More ?
Sometimes You Just Have to Hit a Guy With a Goat
I've been playing some rather complicated mobile games lately, deep titles requiring strategic planning and inventory management to navigate epic tales of adventure. I've been managing cities, maintaining farms and gathering massive armies to vanquish my foes. It's nice to kick back with a game that only demands I tap the screen to jump. Something simple. Something goat-y. More ?
Remember Back When Kids Fought Off Alien Invasions? This iPhone Action Game Does.
Lots of retro-styled platformers can be found in the Games section of Apple's App Store. Most of them play like crap. Developers can ape the look and sound of old-school jump-and-shoot games, but that amounts to nothing if control doesn't feel right. More ?
You'll Have a Large Farva and a Liter o' Fun with Smash Cops Heat
At first I didn't really get how to drive in Smash Cops Heat. Then Fahey showed me. The gist of it is, you have the authority to drive really stupid. Once you realize that prerogative, the game reveals itself as a chortle-inducing demolition derby going lights-and-sirens through every fire hydrant and phone booth in town. More ?
Match-Three Puzzles and Word Games Collide in One Phenomenal iOS Title
There's a new match-three puzzle or word game on iTunes every week. App stores across all mobile platforms are flooded by games from these two genres, and it doesn't feel like there's much any developer could do to innovate in either. But what if we combine the two? More ?