Adventures in brine

A blog about code, beer, and bread.

Casual gaming

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To say I am a casual gamer is probably overstating my position, but I do like a bit of inflight entertainment during a "comfort break". This is a list of games I enjoy playing on the iPhone.

{% img centre /images/games/shades.png 175 175 Shades iOS Game Icon %}

##Shades This is a new find for me and I love it. On first appearances, it's a Tetris clone. Actually though, that is not a fair assessment. The game's clever use of shades of colour and how they merge together, makes for an addictive game, that is harder than it looks! I think I've managed to get to level 9 so far.

{% img centre /images/games/monument.jpg 175 233 Monument Valley iOS Game Screenshot %}

##Monument Valley Probably the best puzzle game I've ever played, certainly the most beautiful (of any genre). The game plays on the complexity of Escher style architecture. I completed the game and the two expansions without too much difficulty, that shouldn't put you off though. It's a game that can replayed over and over and the experience is absorbing.

##Osmos It's the longest standing (memorable) iOS game I have, actually on my iPad, but it is also available for iPhone. Also the first game that I installed that actively encourages the use of headphones to enhance the experience. I love Osmos; it's an incredibly relaxing game to play. The difficulty of levels varies greatly. I've not managed to complete the game so far, but I play it more out relaxation than out of a need to push through to the upper levels.

{% img centre /images/games/badland.jpg 248 175 Badland iOS Game Screenshot %}

##Badland It seems to me that when everyone was getting excited about Flappy Bird, what they should have been playing is Badland. The idea of keeping the main character up by tapping isn't a new one. I remember playing games of a similar vein on the Commodore 64 (struggling to remember the name though). Badland is this sort of game, but the obstacles can be tricky and timing is key. The graphics and soundtrack really work for me in playfully steampunk-y sort of way.

{% img centre /images/games/crossy-road.png 175 310 Crossy Road iOS Game Screenshot %}

##Crossy Road My kids introduced me to this one. Cue yet another eye-roll of something that the kids thought they had found, that our generation owned. "It's Frogger!" I exclaimed. "I played this when I was your age", with a smug curl to my lip. I received blank expressions to this reaction, as I usually do when I attempt some sort of generational dominance. The point of Crossy Road, is that it is completely gorgeous to look at. I loved Frogger, now I get to play it on my iPhone with sensational graphics.

##Mirror's Edge I can't believe that this game is no longer available on the App Store! What the eff! This game has single handedly taken more hours of my life than any other game. The multiplayer modes are brilliant, I love playing against my kids on them. The purpose of the game is to get from A to B using the Parkour style. I can only hope that a new one is not far off.

##Honourable Mentions Oh man, I really want to get this post wrapped up, but I can't without mentioning two (well, three) more games.

###N.O.V.A 2&3 I don't own a console capable of playing Halo. I'm not a big console sort of person, but I do love Halo. N.O.V.A 2 was the closest I could find to the experience on an iPhone. It's a great game that my kids and I regularly team up on. Well, we used too, until N.O.V.A 3 came out. #3 was initially quite frustrating, because the multiplayer maps are just so vast, we'd spend the whole game just trying to find each other. We're better now and the game can be a great afternoon of destruction.

###Modern Combat 5 A sort of progression on from N.O.V.A. I hope N.O.V.A isn't dropped because of the popularity of games like Modern Combat, but even so, MC5 is aces. I've completed the solo missions. I'm an absolute disaster at the multiplayer missions though.

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