Five Free Games For App Store’s Fifth Birthday
By Nick Tylwalk
If the App Store is really five years old, it should be enjoying its time off right now, relaxing in its final summer before heading off to kindergarten in the fall.
Instead, Apple is throwing a fifth birthday for the App Store with some great party favors for the guests (that’d be you), making five apps and five games that usually cost money free for a limited time. We’re interested in the latter, seeing as this is a gaming site and all.
The mix is a good one, so there’s something for everyone. And you literally can’t beat the price. Here’s what you should considering downloading right now before the event runs its course:
Swipe to slash, press a button to block, and tap an arrow at just the right time to dodge. The first “Infinity Blade” showed how action could be optimized for a touchscreen, producing more clones than Jamie Madrox. This sequel is more of the same, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.
Lots of things end up “tiny” on the iPhone or iPad. This is one of the better ones, telling the story of a bird who really wants to fly. This is one of those titles that succeeds by not making the gameplay more complicated than it needs to be, and it’s suitable for all ages. Plus, it’s HD!
Gamers with children probably have this installed already. If not, consider getting it now, especially if you’d like to teach the young ones a non-preachy lesson about the importance of good hygiene. It’s a puzzle game that does a great job getting kids hooked, and since they have to use their brains to play, you won’t mind at all.
“BADLAND”
Don’t be mad at its pretentious all-caps title. “BADLAND” deserves to stand out from the crowd in print since it does the same thing to other iOS games with its visuals. The gameplay mechanics are simple but hold pleasant surprises, and it takes brains and timing to pass some of the levels. Did I mention that not many side-scrollers look this gorgeous?
“Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP”
Every batch of good games needs one that is hard to pin with a convenient genre label. “Superbrothers” is a point-and-click adventure with both puzzles and combat, all rendered with seriously blocky retro graphics. It’s hard to sum up in just a few sentences, so let’s just go with this: it’s a lot of fun.