Remember how ChAIR promised continuous and free updates to Infinity Blade II? Well that’s still very much a thing. The gorgeous App Store juggernaut has just received yet another significant content update and includes all of the requisite stuff we’ve come to expect (i.e. more of practically everything), as well as a couple of surprises.

The Skycages update is adding 30+ new items to the game. This includes weapons, armor, rings, and so on. New achievements, enemies, and some special new Clashmob content is also available. However, there are two major aspects that really make the “+1” version number enticing: it adds even more story elements that finally bring this particular chapter of the saga to a close, and – perhaps even more exciting – there’s a new weapon type to learn and master. No, not a new sword, a new type of weapon. The “Solar Transport Energy Blades” is a class of weapon entirely separate from the sword/shield, dual blades, or two-handed weapon and allows players to “harness the power of the sun.”

As though all of this weren’t enough, seeing as I’ve barely scratched the surface of the first update, Infinity Blade II is also getting a celebratory price cut. So the six people who haven’t gotten their hands on it yet can do so now for a paltry $2.99. Then maybe we can figure out just what the heck Skycages are together.

$6.99

Infinity Blade II

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-12-01 :: Category: Games

It feels like it wasn’t all that long ago when Samurai Bloodshow (the rest of the title is too confusing so I’m leaving it off) managed to take me completely by surprise. The combination of strategy, card collecting, and over-the-top arterial spray brought a huge smile to my face. And now Sega is poised to do the same thing to me all over again. Albeit without the surprise since I know what’s coming this time around.

Alexandria Bloodshow is the official sequel to that other fantastic genre mash-up. This time players can take control of two separate armies – the Egyptians and the Greeks – as they attempt to collect, cut-up, and conquer. With the requisite art styles (Greek pottery, Egyptian hieroglyphics) to match of course. All the engrossing card gathering and deck building is still on offer, now with a whole new set of units to strategize with. Over 120 in all, actually. And with the two selectable armies, five difficulties, and seventeen stages it makes for a total of 170 campaign levels to conquer. And that’s not even taking the two player versus mode (via WiFi or Bluetooth) into account.

Alexandria Bloodshow is available on the App Store now, and it’s only $0.99. Okay, it’s actually free to download but it’s $0.99 to unlock the full game. Not a bad deal.

FREE!

Alexandria Bloodshow　

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2012-06-06 :: Category: Games

No doubt there will be plenty of couples out celebrating this Valentine’s Day. Lots of flowers, candy, romantic dinners and candlelight. No one really stops to think about the less glamorous side of the holiday; namely waiting in long lines to get into a restaurant for said romantic dinner, scrambling to find flowers and candy when at least half of the country is doing the same, and so on. Fortunately there’s a way for iOS users to lessen the irritation and have an easier time enjoying the moments that really matter. In this case, I’m referring to Gameloft’s Valentine’s Day sale.

Of course rescuing a space princess in Earthworm Jim, wreaking havoc in Gangstar Rio: City of Saints or running amok in Rayman 2: The Great Escape won’t substitute for making googly-eyes at each other from across the table. They will, however, make the wait for the table more bearable. And just in case finding “the right words” ends up being an issue, there’s also Gameloft’s Love Declaration Generator. Hey I’m just pointing out that it exists, I didn’t make the thing.

$4.99

Eternal Legacy

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-12-08 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Eternal Legacy HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-12-15 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-06-03 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Prince of Persia: Warrior Within HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-16 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Rayman 2: The Great Escape

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-03-01 :: Category: Games

$2.99

Driver™

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-12-07 :: Category: Games

$4.99

The Settlers

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-11-06 :: Category: Games

$4.99

The Settlers HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-09-02 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Gangstar Rio: City of Saints

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-11-10 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Earthworm Jim

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2009-10-21 :: Category: Games

$4.99

The Adventures of Tintin™ - The Game

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-12-14 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Hero of Sparta II

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-07-29 :: Category: Games

$6.99

Hero of Sparta 2 HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-08-19 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Brain Challenge™

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2008-07-11 :: Category: Games

$4.99

Brain Challenge® HD

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-06-07 :: Category: Games

$6.99

Warplanes: A History Of Aerial Combat

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2011-06-30 :: Category: Books

It feels like it’s been ages since I first set eyes upon Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds Minigame Adventure. Back then it consisted of a mere two games. Now the last of them have been added, bringing the total up to the initially promised twelve.

It makes for an extensive collection of mini-genres, from the “find the item” graphical adventure style of the Prequel through the old-school puzzle gameplay of The Red Weed (Part 1) and ultimately drawing to a close with the arcade-like viral infection of Dead London. It’s a collection that I’d easily recommend to fans of H.G. Wells’ classic tale for the typical going rate of $5. However, in celebration of Minigame Adventure‘s completion the price is getting a temporary 60% price cut for the weekend (2/3 – 2/5).

It should go without saying that being able to grab a collection of a dozen well-made, War of the Worlds-themed mini-games for $2 is significant. Even if it should, I feel the need to reiterate it. Both for dramatic purposes and because it would be foolish for fans of the novel/movies to pass this up. So here I go: Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of the War of the Worlds Minigame Adventure, a title which offers twelve mini-games, is currently on sale for $2. It’s a ridiculously good deal, and one that I’d recommend jumping on before it’s over.

$4.99

Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of The Worlds: Minigame Adventure

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-02-01 :: Category: Games

Ash was one of the first RPGs I downloaded when I was a new initiate to the wonders of iOS gaming. I recall being thoroughly impressed by the quality. Well, that quality just got a boost. The original game was released with graphics licensed from RPG Maker, but SRRN Games has replaced all of it with totally original artwork. The new style shares a few basic similarities with the older one, but overall it’s a huge visual change. Especially the character portraits.

Another less obvious but still notable change has to do with the random encounters. One of the game’s initial shortcomings was that there were just so freaking many of them it kind of made getting from point A to point B a pain. This has been rebalanced, so now random encounters are a bit less frequent. They’ll still happen, and they’re still essential to not being caught in a boss battle with one’s pants down, but the decrease will go a long way to making the game more accessible and overall more fun.

Last and most important, Ash is getting an 80% prince drop for the holidays. What was once a great RPG that could be had for $4.99 is now a great RPG made slightly greater and available for a buck. One dollar. $0.99. I’d gladly recommend this game to any RPG fans at $5, but $1? That’s, like, “don’t even think about it just buy it” pricing. So yeah; don’t even think about it, just buy it.

$0.99

Ash

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-07-19 :: Category: Games

It’s amazing how certain iOS games can just explode into our culture, isn’t it? It happened with Angry Birds, which spawned more than a few spin-offs, merchandise and even a cartoon. The sadistic little app from Bolt Creative about the lovably doomed island of pygmies has also been bitten by the success bug. Since its release, Pocket God has seen a ton of content updates, a follow-up with its own metric ton of additions, and a digital comic. Each of these three things have been incredibly popular, but it’s the success of the comic we’re talking about now.

On the heels of a major milestone achievement (500 thousand plus downloads) and a new update (issue #11) comes even better news. Pocket God Comics, in collaboration with Free App A Day (FAAD), is on sale for absolutely free for the next two days. Well technically FAAD is responsible for Thursday’s sale, while MonsterFreeApps is handling Friday. Anyway, from the 8th through the 9th, the now 11 issue strong digital comic app will be available for zilch. Nothing. Nada. Zip.

Great games, great reads, great regular prices and an even greater sale. Honestly, aside from a general discomfort derived from the violent demises of cartoon islanders, I can’t think of a legitimate reason for anyone to miss this sale. It’s looking to be one fantastic weekend.

$0.99

Pocket God Comics

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-08-02 :: Category: Books

So there’s this game about flying supines and home-wrecking avians that’s pretty fun. The reason I’m bringing it up again almost 3 months later should be fairly obvious. But for the sake of argument and thoroughness, I’ll elaborate.

For a limited time, Pigs in Trees is going to be absolutely free. It’s got something to do with the game being released on another platform. Something about robots I think. Obvious skirting of the issue aside, now there’s no better time to take to the skies and shoot down those pesky peckers. Not only is it one heck of a fun experience that can be had for zero cost, it’s also recently received a pretty decent update, with 15 more levels, the addition of the Ninja Pecker and a couple new power-ups.

So it’s free, it’s entertaining, it’s been recently beefed porked up. Why not go ahead and clear off 20 megs worth of space, hop on the App Store and give it a try? If nothing else, it should give my previous ramblings on the subject of pig-on-bird violence a bit more context.

$0.99

Pigs in Trees

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-08-11 :: Category: Games

Tower defense fans rejoice! Origin8, makers of the rather popular and critically acclaimed Sentinel 3: Homeworld have seen fit to drop the price for a limited time. Okay, it wasn’t entirely their doing but rather Openfeint’s FireSale promotion. Although technically it was the thousand Openfeint gamers who voted for the price drop, I suppose.

Regardless, Sentinel 3: Homeworld is temporarily marked down to a dollar. That’s right, for an indeterminate about of time it’s possible to get a hold of one of the App Store’s most celebrated tower defense titles for next to nothing. Even better, as special “Thank You” for all the love, Origin8 has also temporarily dropped the price of the Campaign 2 DLC. So that’s another dollar. Just in case anyone was wondering, that’s $5 worth of some of the most highly regarded TD goodness for a mere $2.

I’m sure there are a fair number of people reading this who already own the game, but I also imagine a fair number of them have yet to get the DLC. No time like the present, right? And everyone else who loves tower defense games but still doesn’t own it, wave those lame excuses bye-bye.

$2.99

Sentinel 3: Homeworld

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-11-26 :: Category: Games

MochiBits‘ SwipeTapTap is a surprisingly engrossing game despite its utter simplicity. Following on-screen prompts involving (what else?) swipes, taps and various combinations as quickly and accurately as possible is one of those things I’d never have expected to keep me entertained for very long, but it does just that. Not only that, it keeps things from getting stale by including a total of four game modes. And it’s free at the moment, did I forget to mention that? Nah, I’m pretty sure I did.

Each of the four modes uses the same basic mechanics in different ways. Classic is all about inputting the correct gestures as they scroll across the screen in a timely manner. Take too long or screw up too often and they’ll fill the screen and it’s Game Over. Memory is more like a classic game of Simon, only with a touch screen interface. Speed is a race against time, requiring almost super-human-like reflexes at the higher difficulties. Finally, Endurance is one big continuous level with no end in sight and steadily increasing speed. Losing isn’t so much a question of “if” but of “when.”

And yes, for a limited time (in conjunction with “OpenFeint’s Free Game of the Day”) this finger-flexing homage to Simon is completely and totally free. All of the games modes. No money down. Zero dollars. There’s absolutely no legitimate reason not to check it out.

$1.99

SwipeTapTap Pro - A fun and addictive gesture game

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2011-03-04 :: Category: Games