iOS Games of the Year 2011

As we reach the end of 2011, the ever-divisive iOS market feels increasingly important to the troubled but talented UK development scene, with promising studios like Hogrocket, Spilt Milk and Shortround Games all making their debuts this year. There are plenty of detractors out there who believe, perhaps correctly, that the cheap-and-cheerful approach to iOS development and the cut-price frenzy of the iTunes Store does the medium no good – but like it or loathe it, Apple’s accidental phenomenon is undeniably a gaming scene that feels like a modern gold rush, with developers scrambling to claim their share of a bountiful marketplace in constant flux.

It’s particularly interesting to see that the free market conditions of the iTunes marketplace are recreating Nintendo’s evergreen dream, where the best-selling games of 2011 are the same games that were doing well in 2010; Angry Birds, Cut the Rope, Infinity Blade and so on. But there have been plenty of new hits released on iOS this year, and we’d like to reward the titles that have ticked our fancy this year. Here we’ve rooted through the endless procession of comedy fart apps to highlight the mobile pearls that are actually worth your time:

Jetpack Joyride

There’s something incredibly pleasing about the way Jetpack Joyride comes together, and that, we’d wager, is why it’s gone down so well with us. It takes most of its cues from the same homogenous procession of endless running-man games that normally blight the iOS marketplace, adding a dash of the helicopter Flash game many of us probably used to play at school. The end result stands above the competition for offering that gentle but devious mix of all the right elements.

Where our ennui with many iOS games derives from weary repetition and endless familiarity, Halfbrick’s delightful little title has managed to make the familiar fresh. Drawn in by the charming presentation, you’re quickly spurred on with the social competition of climbing the leaderboards by inching forward with a combination of skill and the odd bit of luck.

It is both delightful and disheartening, perhaps, that our favourite iOS game of the year just so happens to be one that, on paper at least, seems so unimaginative and routine. But Halfbrick has perfected a formula many others have failed at, and Jetpack Joyride comes alive as you play it.

Draw Race 2

One of the biggest problems we see in the iOS marketplace is that developers obsess over bringing traditional genres to a platform that doesn’t effectively support them. Firemint’s excellent Real Racing 2 HD is the pinnacle of traditional racing on iOS, using the device’s gyros to make a virtual steering wheel, but Draw Race 2 excels by trying something different: the touchscreen is used to have you draw the racing line.

It’s the best kind of idea, one that feels so natural it’s a surprise we’ve never seen it used before. How was this never a game on the DS, and why hasn’t the rest of the iOS market tried to shamelessly rip it off endlessly by now?

Anomaly: Warzone Earth

Anomaly: Warzone Earth’s forte is that it’s tower offense – you guide a small procession of assaulting units through giant routes of static enemy placements. It’s also a crash course in leadership, with your screen bursting into a kaleidoscopic medley of colour and noise as your small fleet anxiously pushes forward with threadbare resources and dwindling supplies. That’s one of the reasons it works so deliciously well; after all, who doesn’t love a good underdog story?

This is a brutal strategy game which plunges you into the heat of the moment, where overwhelming odds grind you down before you’re half-way through the level, and your only hope of victory against this overwhelming horde of alien sods is the occasional and fleeting spark of human ingenuity.

Dead Space

When an iOS developer tries to spin-off a console series, the end results are usually shonky nightmares of crude 3D graphics and awful controls. Somehow the iOS version of Dead Space, released to coincide with Dead Space 2 on the 360/PS3/PC earlier in 2011, managed to raise itself above all that.

There’s still the odd teething problem – we’re not completely sold on the unnecessary addition of having to swipe the screen to use the chainsaw – but Australian developer IronMonkey Studios has put together a smart control scheme and entertaining (but brief) campaign that makes it one of the most technically impressive titles to grace the iOS marketplace.

Zombie Gunship

Cynics, start your engines: Zombie Gunship is the AC-130 level from Modern Warfare, but with zombies. That’s right, zombies! I reckon if every games developer who’d ever made a game with zombies in it actually got turned into a zombie, you’d have more zombies than in every single zombie film ever made squared. Probably.

Still – Zombie Gunship excels in its execution, ramping up its enemy waves with a particularly agreeable tempo. As you thin down the herds of attackers you’ll rack up money, spent in-between games to upgrade your airship with better and faster weaponry, encouraging you to quickly jump back into the action and have another pop. It’s a vicious cycle, but a compelling one – more than enough to forgive the use of gaming’s most beloved undead trope.

Tiny Wings

Tiny Wings caught the office at just the right moment in spring, as a gaming lull left everyone scrambling for something to play, and it’s a testament to the of potential iOS that within a day it had galvanised the entire office – along with most of the world, if Twitter was anything to go by.

It’s hardly the most technical game in the world – you use momentum in an attempt to fling your bird forward – but its gentle blend of calm music and cheerful graphics is oddly therapeutic. Its 69p price tag was low enough that it could spread like wildfire, and it’s one of the few games where people were actually keen to post their scores on social networks.

Zookeeper DX Touch Edition

There’s no shortage of match-three games on the iTunes Marketplace, so why would you bother playing Zookeeper? Just take a peek at its alluring looks. Drink in those eye-catching icons, crisp with minimalist detail and perfect in their choice of bold, striking colour; play on the iPad and the simple intelligence of its design is even more pronounced. It’s hard not to admire the elegance of its controls, either, pitched perfectly so that you never end up accidentally trying to flick the wrong animal. How many of its contemporaries can claim that?

While we would prefer to see many of the DS version’s additional modes make their way across to this iOS version, Zookeeper DX Touch Edition’s threadbare selection still presents an irresistible amount of content wrapped in a delightfully competent package – even if the game was completely broken at launch.

Quarrel Deluxe

It’s rare that a video game makes a major selling point out of the fact it uses the Collins Scrabble dictionary, but then it’s rare to see a game like Quarrel in the first place – a bonkers mash-up between Risk and Scrabble, with a humongous and daunting tutorial. To put it briefly, players attempt to control and hold territories while doing battle with high-scoring anagrams. It’s a neat spin on Scrabble’s fundamental core, and it’s got whizzy graphics to boot.

There’s an interesting daily challenge option, which chucks every player into an identical gauntlet, but what Quarrel is absolutely crying out for is an asynchronous multiplayer mode. If Words with Friends can do it magnificently, then why can’t Quarrel?

Sword & Sworcery EP

Sword & Sworcery EP is a modern game absolutely enthralled by vintage old-school adventures. This rare collaboration between Toronto-based independent studio Capy, art duo Superbrothers and musician Jim Guthrie feels as familiar as it does distinct.

It’s a good old-fashioned adventure at heart, mixed up with a quirky reliance on 140-character messages and some beautiful sweeping visuals. Where it can grind people down, however, is with its self-assured swagger and overwrought dialogue. This is a clever little game, but everyone involved in its creation is plentifully aware of it. It’s an interesting boutique experience, and iOS’ most notable arthouse title.

Cordy

Platformers on iOS are hit and miss, but to be honest, mostly miss due to the awkward touch screen controls. Cordy excels thanks to incredibly tight handling and a wonderful art style that makes the most out of the mechanical world on which Cordy lives.

You’ll get so lost in the dazzling visuals that you’ll probably breeze through the 27 levels in an afternoon, but stage has three stars to earn, and simply finishing a level will only reward you with one. For the other two you’ll need to collect all the pick-ups and finish the stage under a certain time – something that’s not easy at all. Cordy delivers console-quality platforming to iOS devices.