While major publishers work to port their blockbuster games to the iPhone, it’s the indie developers that are paving the way to the platform’s strong suits. Eliss brings innovation as well as targeted controls to the playing field, but how well does it actually deliver?

It was only a matter of time before we started getting some heavy hitters in the App Store. Did Konami deliver on what could have finally been the premium gaming experience we’ve been waiting for? Read our initial impressions and see for yourself!

Bracketcast brings Accuscore to your hand just in time for the 2009 NCAA Men’s Basketball tournament. Given its limited functionality, however, is it worth laying down even $0.99 for the software? Read on to find out!

Ngmoco:) strikes again from their vault of creativity – Topple 2 is here! Read on to find out if they managed to outdo the insanely popular original, or whether it crashed like a pile of poorly stacked blocks in our hands-on review.

While not the most robust ebook reader around, Amazon has just laid down the gauntlet in the iPhone / iPod Touch ebook war. Get instant access to over 240,000 books, even ones you’ve previously purchased for your Kindle!

Illusion Labs has released yet another innovative and gorgeous game for the iPhone, leveraging the platform’s multitouch and hardware strengths. The question is – will you be playing it to the end?

If you’re looking for a daily distraction, you can’t go wrong with WordJong. Taking the best of word puzzlers, mixing it with mahjong-style play, and then wrapping it up into a graphically beautiful package makes this port worth carrying around with you at all times.

Fantastic Contraption has survived its port from the online Flash game with exceptional grace. Its well-implemented puzzling system and expansive community portal for downloading and sharing levels make this one a no-brainer.

Colloquy began life as an excellent open source Internet Relay Chat (IRC) client for the Mac desktop, and now the fine folks at Colloquy Project have released a mobile version to the App Store. The iPhone / iPod Touch edition is an incredibly robust application, with an eye towards making mobile IRC a pleasing experience – as well as raising the bar for usability in general.

Hexile is a well-designed casual number puzzler that is a perfect fit for the iPhone. The addictive premise of tile elimination by time-trial makes this game a worthy entry in its field.

Every once in a while you run into an application on the iPhone that appears to have been designed by Apple themselves and included with the OS. Voxie is an audio recording application that leverages Bottle Rocket’s design ethic with fantastic results.

Hot Popcorn is a slick application that allows you to check theater showtimes, DVD releases, watch trailers, and its “killer app” feature – purchase tickets without leaving the software!

Overnight is a well-designed package tracking utility that throws in a few extra features to help it transcend some of the other bland applications in the App Store.

Poker Stacks is a matching game that manages to transcend the genre with a unique method of match play.

Orions is an addictive turn-based strategy game with collectible card game combat. If you’re a fan of Civilization-style games and Magic: The Gathering, this game will be right up your alley.

Stanza is one of the preeminent ebook readers on the iPhone / iPod Touch, with an intuitive interface, support for a wide variety of ebook formats, and an online store.