DeVuego

Asphalt 8: Airborne's numerous features and modes, including multiplayer, help round out this package. It's an easy recommendation for anyone who likes their racers a little more realistic than a cartoon kart racer, but with a healthy dose of over-the-top arcade action.

Asphalt 9: Legends offers a lot to like both for devoted fans of the series — of which there are undoubtedly many, given its longevity — and for people simply looking for a new free-to-play game with outstanding production values. While we don’t want to get ahead of ourselves or put any pressure on Gameloft after they just released this one, you get the impression that this franchise will definitely see its tenth game, and probably many more beyond that too.

Blitz Brigade has almost all of the basic elements it needs to be a great multiplayer FPS on iOS devices. It looks great, plays great, and has a fair number of unlockables and the like to keep players motivated. Unfortunately it’s missing the most important one: server stability. With a little time and an update or two, I have every confidence that this could be one of the iPhone’s biggest online shooters. But at the moment, it’s a total dud.

This lack of ambition is no real surprise considering this is a budget title though. With a price-tag of £5.39/$5.99/€5.99 BodyQuest is aware of its limitations, and is probably worth a punt if you happen to have a child who needs to learn more about the human body.

Dracula Twins is a hoot. A batty diversion, it will keep you busy while the kids rot their teeth on all the candy they scored. Better yet, maybe you can play it together (and snatch something yummy when they're not looking). It's a guaranteed treat you can "Count" on to spice up the holiday.

Dungeon Legends is an epic free-to-play dungeon crawler and while it straps players in as a single character, it gives you a fun enough time doing so that the game’s few hiccups are easily overlooked.

With its decent puzzles and wonderful presentation, Hidden Runaway has a lot of potential as both a nostalgia trip and a means to revive adventure games on a new platform. Unfortunately, the wretched hidden object component makes it a hard game to recommend. Newcomers will quickly get frustrated, and the series’ fans will wind up on the couch alongside Gina and Brian as one more victim of a broken heart. 

So it’s safe to say there are some very rough edges present – some of the character models are quite frankly terrifying, and there’s a glut of typos – but Mail Mole still ends up being quite the charmer. It’s breezy no nonsense comfort food platforming.

If you’re hating the world so much that you “can’t even,” Nika understands and your adventure with her will certainly help you through. Spend the weekend playing MechaNika and be assured you’ll get back your teen spirit. (Cue Nirvana)

Any gamer who enjoys platformers should not miss this one.  Anyone who appreciates a good story should play as well.  Despite the few nicks in Nihilumbra’s armor, I’m happy to give it five stars.  It is an earnest experience.  It might not be perfect, but it’s a fine example of artists using a medium to tell a story.  And it’s tons of fun too.