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Clear the calendar and kiss those loved ones goodbye, celebrated iOS MMO Pocket Legends is turning 2 years-old. But this isn't any old birthday party, no sir. Spacetime Studios is doing it backwards by giving gifts to the party-goers, not the guest of honor.

What this means is that the developer has made all premium areas free to access. Now anyone can quest, loot grind, or pointlessly emote in each of the six exclusive zones (Sandstone Caves, Skeller's Return, Croc Feud, Frozen Nightmares, Shadow Caves, and Wyldwood). Those who've dropped some cash to access these areas already have no need to fret. All players who have paid to unlock these environments will be getting a special in-game vanity helm (the Frozen Crown of Gratitude) to lord over all those plebeians who didn't show their support monetarily. Similarly, everyone will be able to purchase a special 2012 Anniversary hat during the event which can bestow tiny clones of itself atop the heads of those who wave to the original wearer.

Star Legends users haven't been forgotten either. Bird, Elf, and Bear "Bobble Head" masks will be available throughout the week-long celebration. Anyone curious to see what all the fuss is about, get back to a game they might have been absent from for a while, or might just be between marathon sessions can check out both MMOs for absolutely free. Just act fast if oddball hats are a priority. The festivities will only last through the end of next week.

Overkill, Craneballs' free target shooter, has gotten a major update bringing Game Center online head-to-head multiplayer to the proceedings. It operates in a similar fashion to Fruit Ninja’s online multiplayer. There are three sets of enemies: blue enemies that the player must shoot for points. These enemies, if not taken care of before they firing circle meter diminishes, will shoot at the player, which causes the player to lose points. The red enemies are the other player’s enemies; shooting them causes a point penalty to be assessed. The white enemies are worth a lot of points, but can be shot by either player, so getting to them before the other player is the goal. As well, there are powerups that can be shot, granting temporary upgrades or attacks to obscure the other player’s view. Lag does not appear to affect the player’s aiming, though the view of the opponent’s target may be delayed.

There are two tiers of gameplay: Novice, where everyone has the same weapon, and Elite where gun upgrades, flying bots, score bonuses, and Game Center leaderboards get involved. This mode costs 30 Overkill Medals to unlock. The free update is available now.

WonderCraft is a new iOS game coming soon in which players can lead large naval fleets into battle against other players or with other players against CPU controlled enemy fleets. In this game, players will be able to customize their futuristic fleets down to the types of boats that make up their flotilla and the types of weapons each boat wields.

The game controls with a simple touch control where players will touch enemy boats on the screen to direct their boats' weapons. Sometimes players will be fighting each other for victory, and other times CPU controlled boats will attack during PvP play and the players will have to fend of these attacks as well. The game will include lots of different items to use and equip to change the tide of battle. This game looks like it could be a great real-time strategy titles on the iOS platform.

The official release date and price for WonderCraft have not yet been announced, but developer NPC Interactive assures the game is on it's way.

Today, the internet is full of ways for users to connect and interact with each other and with the brands vying for their engagement. It can sometimes be overwhelming just trying to navigate this landscape. Engagement Media Technologies is making things a little easier with their new Stringfly app.

Stringfly features a whole suite of services designed to help users communicate through various online outlets. Engage.Me connects consumers directly to brands and advertisers. OneNews is a citizen journalism news portal that allows users to upload text, videos and photos for quick crowwdsourcing. Finally, Gevius is a database providing consumers with text, video, and photo information on everything from product security to product compliance. Stringfly even boasts that users can earn money by cooperating with these partners.

Stringfly is a hub for the latest forms of digital communication and interaction. Best of all, it is available now on the App Store for free.

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I make no secret of the fact that I am seriously addicted to Ticket to Ride on iOS. Of all the designer board games currently rushing to the App Store, none is as polished in presentation and gameplay as TtR. Unbelievably, the translation from analogue to digital is seamless.

Yet, something has been missing from the iPhone version of the game, Ticket to Ride Pocket.

Until now, that is.

Version 1.1 has just be released to the App Store and it contains what many fans (including me) have been waiting for: Multi Mode. Is Multi Mode true online play or something more akin to Words With Friends-style asynchronous play? From my experience, the answer is both.

Multi Mode is designed primarily to be played in asynchronous mode, with players taking turns at their whim over the course of hours, days, or even weeks. However, my experience has shown that many online players prefer to simply play their game online in real time, and Multi Mode easily accommodates that choice. So, it's the best of both worlds: head-to-head play when time permits, and asynchronous play for when it doesn't.

In fact, the straight-up multiplayer version of the game is preferable, as turns in Ticket to Ride can be very short indeed. While I don't want to imply that there are no strategic choices to be made in the game (quite the opposite, actually), the time it takes to play a turn is miniscule compared to a turn in Scrabble or Words with Friends. Asynchronous play is a welcome addition, but you may find yourself playing more than one game in real time.

If you've never heard of Ticket to Ride (gasp!) or never played TtR Pocket, I urge you to take a moment and read our glowing review of the game when it was released. Then, take the plunge and start building your railroad empire. I'll meet you online. My Gamecenter user name is Skinnerbox. Challenge me to a game anytime!

With not one but two popular MMORPGs under their belt already, one would think that Spacetime Studios might be interested in taking a little break. Nope. DroidGamers have discovered that, rather than simply being content with resounding success they've decided it's time to make yet another one. It's planned for mobile devices, it's going to be "... a bit of a departure from the formula that Pocket Legends established," and its called Dark Legends.

I wish I had more info to share about it, but after checking the initial forum announcement, their official Facebook page and the completely unhelpful teaser site (I know, what else could I expect from a teaser site?) I've come up with zip. Well okay, that's not entirely true. It's fair to assume that it'll probably have a somewhat darker theme than either of the developer's previous titles. It's also looking like Spacetime will be refining their Massively Multiplayer craft even further, and given the leap in quality from Pocket Legends to Star Legends it's certainly something to be excited about.

148apps will no doubt be keeping an eye out for further developments. In the meantime, I'd advise being patient. Or possibly keeping busy with one (or both) of those other mobile MMOs while waiting. Patiently.

[Via DroidGamers]

Robot Entertainment, developers of titles like Age of Empires Online and Orcs Must Die!, are making their debut on iOS with Hero Academy. Despite their name, this game appears to be attempting to entertain humans as well as machines. This is a turn-based strategy game, pitting teams like the good Council versus the evil Dark Elves. They look dark and evil, so they must be evil! Combat is grid-based, where players send units to attack enemy units head on, and use abilities and spells to attack across multiple squares. The ultimate goal is to destroy the opponent's crystal to win the game. Hero Academy will feature asynchronous online multiplayer, so players can take on their friends and frenemies whenever they darn well feel like. Robot Entertainment will be unveiling more teams, characters, and abilities, many of which will be available as in-app purchass, in the lead up to the game's release, set for this winter.

It hasn't been until recently that I've really begun to explore my iPhone's capacity for online gaming. I've come to the conclusion that it's certainly not the best platform for drawn-out battles, but it's great for quick random matches. And it's a good fit for a game like Wordy Findy.

There's absolutely nothing to it: just download the app (for free), choose a name to play under and just wait for the next game to start. Matchmaking is handled automatically. Once a game starts, players have around two minutes to find as many words as possible by tracing a line between connecting letters. Completed words earn points based on the values of the letters used and handy information like total available words and points are shown after each game. A scoreboard with each participant's name and score is also displayed between rounds, igniting those instinctual fires of competition while still providing the more humble with anonymity.

Wordy Findy is in the App Store right now, and it's completely free. Ad-supported with banners displayed at the bottom of the screen (mercifully out of the way), but still free.