Each month, we bring you the best of the iOS gaming world – and April is no exception! In this month's selection you'll find challenging puzzles, exciting adventure and a little friendly world domination.
Ninja Boy Adventures
The Clash Soft
£1.49
Ninja Boy Adventures is a game I’ve been excited about ever since the developer started teasing it a few months ago. The premise is simple: the premise is Bomberman. Taking many design cues from the original classic series, this game is a great homage to an extremely fun franchise.
If you’ve never played a Bomberman game, the gameplay is pretty straightforward. Each level is like a small maze, and you generally have to eliminate all enemies or collect certain tokens to unlock a trapdoor to finish the level. Getting around the maze can be quite tricky, as most pathways will be blocked – but this is where your bombing skills come in. You simply drop a bomb next to a wall to destroy it, allowing you to continue down a certain route.
There are a variety of power-ups available, which can also be found by blowing up walls. These can give you the ability to drop extra bombs, move faster or extend the range of the bomb's explosion – but watch out, as the explosion can kill you too! You’ll also have to watch out for the aforementioned enemies as you make your across the maze, as one hit will also take you down.
Ninja Boy Adventures really is a must-have for anyone looking for a bit of a nostalgia blast – or just a genuinely enjoyable game that you can pick and have fun with with!
Doomsday Clicker
Prodigy Design Limited T/A Sidhe Interactive
Free
If you love a good 'clicker' game, such as Cookie Clickers or AdVenture Capitalist, then you’ll enjoy this just as much. Doomsday Clicker is a great take on the genre that takes the simple clicking (or tapping) elements and combines them with some underground base-building akin to Fallout Shelter.
The game throws you straight into the story: within seconds, you're introduced to your evil monkey sidekick who shows you a big red button that – as you can probably guess – drops a big nuclear bomb on the world. From there, you need to build an underground shelter that allows you to extort all the surviving humans for cash!
In addition to the main gameplay, there are a great deal of quirky characters to discover coming and going through your underground shelter. There are also a variety of different locations to unlock, and the developers more promise many more are coming soon!
Putting aside the maniacal earth-destroying aspects, the game is actually pretty fun – with plenty of options and upgrades available to keep you clicking, and a story (and evil monkey sidekick) with the perfect level of zaniness.
King Rabbit
RareSloth LLC
79p
This is game I've had a lot of trouble putting down! King Rabbit sees you take control of our furry hero as he attempts to rescue his Princess Rabbit from a cage at the end of each level. There are multiple traps and enemies you'll have to face, and as you get further through them you'll find they require a lot of thought to find the best way through.
Additionally, there are gold coins hidden throughout each level which you can collect to unlock items for King Rabbit. Each level has three hidden coins, and you'll have to move objects around or clear pathways in order to collect them all. These coins are exchanged for gems, which you can use to customise King Rabbit. You may also stumble across a hidden gem or two throughout the levels – or you can purchase some if you really want to.
In addition to the enjoyable gameplay, King Rabbit also has a pretty intense soundtrack that matches the fun and dangerous gameplay: one hit from an enemy or trap and you’ll become a dead rabbit. The developers clearly expect you to be dying a lot, as one of the main customisations you can do is to change the death animation!
Overall it’s a great game, with levels short enough for you to jump in and out with ease – perfect for a quick gaming session on the go!
Trapdoors
Appsolute Games LLC
Free
Trapdoors is just a mean game. A mean game that likes to kill you over and over again.
My first thought when I started playing was that it seemed a lot like the Impossible Game– which was likewise designed to give frustration as well a great sense of accomplishment when you do get through the challenging levels.
The concept of Trapdoors is simple: just move your character to the trapdoor, collecting the key to unlock it along the way. There are a variety of platforms in each level, along with a series of traps and obstacles you must avoid to get anywhere near the elusive trapdoor and end the level. There are 100 levels in total, accompanied by a pretty chilled-out soundtrack.
All in all, the game is equal parts frustrating and rewarding: the levels are short enough that a few tries should be enough to get through most of them, but some are devilishly tricky – so you may find youself rage-quitting before you reach the trapdoor!
Dream Machine: The Game
GameDigits Ltd
79p
Dream Machine: The Game is easily going on my Games of the Year list. It it takes the Escher-inspired level design of games like Monument Valleyand adds a variety of other, more traditional game mechanics that make it a lot of fun to play.
Unlike Monument Valley– which is as much about the artwork and beauty as it is about the game mechanics – Dream Machine tones down the looks but makes up for it it with more varied gameplay.
The story starts in a dystopian factory where a group of robots seems to be endlessly working. One robot suddenly stops and is immediately discarded to the trash. Then, however, it wakes up – and you then take it on an adventure across a variety of odd lands.
Each level is a series of floating geometric shapes that you can manipulate with in-game handles to create a path for the robot to follow. Because of the way the shapes are laid out, many of the paths use optical illusions and trickery – and figuring them out is a great part of each level's overall challenge.
There are also opportunities to upgrade your robot with gears collected from each level, and the faster you finish the more gears you get. This adds a welcome degree of replayability, as you can go back over levels to try and get further upgrades for your robot.
Overall, Dream Machine: The Game is overall really great: the puzzles and level design are really clever, and there's plenty to keep you coming back.
That's it for April's selection of the best iOS games – but we'll be back next month with another fantastic selection! And for more great articles from our Agents direct to your inbox each month, get your name down below for the Geek Squad newsletter!