My Favourite iPad Games

In the process of Apple’s plan to take over the universe, they released a device called the iPad. This book shaped wonder has also taken the world by storm. About a year ago an iPad was a rarity for me. I only saw a few in the hands random people. Nowadays, everyone and their cat has an iPad. I sincerely don’t know how it happened, but it happened. I also decided to join the “Apple Army” and got myself a shiny new iPad HD last year, and I have to say, it’s one of the best purchases I’ve made in my life.

I started out like any other and bought a lot of freemium games and free games with three billboards worth of advertisements, only to find myself craving more. I then decided to make a US Apple ID and buy some vouchers so that I can get some proper games. I always did research before buying something because I didn’t want to waste my money on stupid apps. There are a few great games I have found and I want to share them with you wonderful people.

 

The Room

I was a bit sceptical about this game at first and I thought it was some sort of Amnesia rip-off at first glance. I couldn’t be more far from the truth. The Room is a game where you open boxes. Yes, that’s all you do. Such a simplistic concept, but oh so many possibilities. These boxes are insanely intricate and well designed that you can’t help but marvel at them. The game is a puzzler so you have to find keys, make patterns, do weird things involving flames and all sorts of other creative things. It’s definitely fresh and it will no doubt have you hooked for the few hours that you play it. There’s also a rich backstory that’s never quite explained, but leaves a lot for the player to figure out. And don’t forget, there are some creepy as hell sound effects.

 

Little Inferno

I first saw this game at Rudolf’s house when he was playing it on his PC and I just loved the quirkiness that the game had. When it was finally available for iPad I couldn’t download it sooner. The game involves you, a fireplace, random shit and fire. All you do is put things in the fireplace and set it ablaze. Sounds simple? Well, it is. There isn’t much challenge to the game because all you is set random stuff on fire and collect coins from the ashes. When I say random I really mean random. You get all kinds of extremely strange things that you can set on fire and some of the things are insanely macabre. Let me give you some examples and you will know what I mean: a schoolbus with children in it that when ablaze has children scream in agony, a kitty doll that shits itself when fire touches it, a doll that spontaneously combusts, a gentleman with a teacup, a little boy that has his own gravitational pull, a retarded bear and the moon. Do you understand now?

Not only do you set things on fire, the game has a well fleshed out back story with its own depressive world and characters. As you progress you get letters from various people and each letter makes you understand more and more what’s happening. It’s really an excellent game even if you just want to mess around and set things on fire.

 

Magic Piano

I’ve always been a fan of rhythm games and I also love piano music. This game combines them into one simple to learn, hard to master rhythm game that’s just tons of fun if you’re a fan of piano music. It works like any other rhythm game does with buttons coming down the screen to a hit box and it’s your job to hit them in time. On the easy difficulty it’s only single buttons that you have to hit so you can essentially play the game with one finger if you want to. On medium and hard difficulties, things start to get interesting. You then have to hit chords that range from two buttons to four buttons. That all sounds easy, but once you play Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata Presto Agitato on hard difficulty you will shit yourself.

There are hundreds of songs available for download from pop to good old classical. The game is free which is good thing, but it has a heavy focus on microtransactions which is the only bad thing. There are always free songs available and you can build quite the sizable library if you take advantage of them. I have 48 songs in my library and I haven’t spent a cent.

 

Bard’s Tale

Bard’s Tale is a game that has been overlooked by so many gamers, it’s actually ridiculous. This classic game that released in the good old days of the PS2 was one the most fun and enjoyable RPG’s I’ve played in my life. There is so much humour in the game that it almost bubbles over with constant references, turn of phrase, forth wall breaking jokes and even banter with the narrator. It’s an isometric RPG at heart and a pretty good one at that. I picked it up one day when it was free and a massive wave of nostalgia washed over me when I played. It’s rather lengthy so you can expect hours worth of entertainment on your mobile device.

 

Osmos

Osmos is a game you play to relax. The only objective you have is to consume other orbs and make yourself the biggest. That simple premise is made great with the inclusion of great visuals and easy gameplay that only consists of you tapping the screen once. It’s extremely relaxing thanks to its stellar atmospheric soundtrack that’s probably one of the best I’ve ever heard. You can just play the game for hours at a time without realising it at all. Truly a game that every iPad owner should have on their device.

 

Conclusion

There are literally hundreds of thousands of apps on the App Store–and I have probably missed a few. These are only the games that I thought were really worthwhile and I have quite a sizable amount of games on my iPad. I of course have the traditional games such as Angry Birds and Plants vs. Zombies, but everyone and their cat knows about them already. More great games that are available include GTA: Vice City, Final Fantasy IV and Max Payne. All run beautifully on the iPad and are always a joy to play. So, to the other iPad out there, what do you have on yours? That also includes Samsung Tab owners as well. What Android games do you love?