The iOS is notable for being the operating system on all of Apple’s latest handheld gadgets–the iPod Touch, iPhone and iPad. Here are the 25 best games you can play on the platform.
25. ZombieSmash
With your fingers alone, you can smash the zombies on your screen. You can even call forth mighty weapons to slice and dice the undead menaces before they reach your house and eat you alive. With so much animated violence, the game is great for stress relief.
24. SteamBirds
A turn-based game at heart, you take turns controlling your squadron of planes and watching as both your moves and those of your enemy's play out in real time. With superior tactics, you can take out an enemy equipped with superior firepower.
23. Highborn
"Highborn" has been the only serious attempt of bringing a turn-based strategy game to the iOS that isn't also a direct port of some preexisting game. Not only does it feature decent strategy, it also comes with a humorous storyline with sarcastically-written characters to keep your adventure interesting.
22. Tetris
The original title for the PC has been remade for the iOS with new graphics, a new interface that makes use of the touch-screen, and all the qualities that made the original a classic. Timeless, ageless, or whatever you want to call it, playing Tetris never gets old.
21. The Greedy Sponge
A relative newcomer and underdog on a platform bustling with games both original and not-so-original, "The Greedy Sponge" is a simple yet satisfying puzzle game that has you matching up various colors of bacteria and eating them in a piecemeal fashion before they overwhelm your sponge.
20. Peggle
"Peggle" is a new take on the old Japanese arcade game of Pachinko. The object of the game is simple: drop a ball and see how many points you can score as it falls to the bottom. It's much more addictive than it sounds.
19. Canabalt
You run across rooftops, jumping over obstacles, and dodging alien death machines for as long as you can. It's a simple game, but what makes the game special is its visual style and catchy soundtrack.
18. Flight Control
In "Flight Control," you manage a flight control tower to direct traffic to your little airport, determining their trajectories and velocities to prevent them from slamming into each other. As you progress through the game, you're given larger airports to handle and more aircraft to micromanage.
17. Puzzle Quest
If "Bejeweled" and a Final Fantasy story had a romantic tryst, "Puzzle Quest" would be their lovechild. It is a puzzle game at heart, with RPG fixtures like an overarching storyline, spells and items.
16. Bejeweled 2
Fewer games have stolen as much time from humanity's cognitive surplus as "Bejeweled 2." You match up colored gems to earn points–it's really that simple.
15. Yoot's Tower
This Japanese masterpiece has finally found a true home on the iOS. As the manager of a tenement, you slowly construct what is to eventually become a mega tower–a home to businesses, apartments, hotels, shopping malls, and if you manage it successfully enough, a cathedral within the clouds.
14. Drawn: The Painted Tower
With some of the most detailed 2D visuals ever seen on the iOS, Drawn could be regarded as the Myst of this generation. An adventure game at heart, the player must ascend the Painted Tower and rescue Iris from her prison.
13. Fruit Ninja
Just as the name implies, you're a ninja who slices fruit. The more creative your slicing, the higher your points. Who knew that slicing an apple or spraying the juice of a blood orange everywhere could be so satisfying?
12. World of Goo
The gooey, oily things that make up the game's main characters have to find a way home, and you're the only one who can help them through the myriad of locations that serve as the game's puzzles. You have to take full advantage of their distinct properties to navigate them through the world's terrain, making this one of the most creative puzzle games to date.
11. Words With Friends
It's like Scrabble, only instead of playing it on a board, you play it on a digital one that runs on a wide variety of mobile platforms. With slightly revised rules and a smaller board, the game takes on a much quicker aspect and encourages you to play multiple games at a time.
10. Broken Sword
"Broken Sword" brings to the iOS a story of intrigues and ancient conspiracies–the same ones made popular by novelist Dan Brown. The player is plunged into a world where history as we know it is a complete lie. Originally designed for the PC, this new iOS version is enhanced with high resolution graphics and controls for Apple's new systems.
9. Broken Sword 2: The Smoking Mirror
The sequel to "Broken Sword" revolves around the mystery of the ancient Aztecs and the return of an ancient evil. The player adventures from France to tropical South America and learns quite a few things about real history on the way, making this game a lot more intelligent than most.
8. Dead Space
One of the better chapters in the Dead Space franchise, this title exclusive to the iOS introduces us to parts of the universe briefly mentioned in the other games, and features some genuine scares.
7. The Secret of Monkey Island
The classic adventure game for the PC has been remade as one of the best adventure games on the iOS. With new graphics and an all new interface, players both old and new shouldn't be surprised to spend dozens of their precious hours on this timeless work of art.
6. Monkey Island 2: LeChuck's Revenge
The sequel to what may be the best adventure game ever created is also available on the iOS, featuring even better graphics than its predecessor and with the same great control scheme. The revenge of the undead pirate LeChuck is worth braving for this experience.
5. Game Dev Story
Experience what it's like to be a small-time game developer as you climb up the ranks of the game industry, earning both a reputation and a fanbase with the titles you create, and eventually producing a string of games you only wish existed in real life.
4. Cut the Rope
The objective of the game is simple: cut the rope holding a piece of candy and feed the hungry monster. It sounds easy, but every mission provides a host of challenges that you have to counter in order to keep the little guy happy and well-fed. It's a casual puzzle game that may see you spending anywhere from a minute to an hour within it.
3. Infinity Blade
Uncontested as the sharpest looking game on the iOS to date, "Infinity Blade" makes full use of the touch screen controls and allows you to assume the role of a lineage of knights who are forever cursed to face the Deathless Kings in mortal combat.
2. Plants vs Zombies
There are very few platforms that PvZ has yet to touch, yet the version for the iOS is arguably the best, thanks to the touch-based interface and the additional modes. PvZ is basically an original take on the classic "Tower Defense" style of game. With plants at your disposal, you have to stop a horde of zombies from breaking into your home and eating you.
1. Angry Birds
You control a pack of birds, angered by the pigs for their theft of the birds' precious eggs (and presumably offspring). At your disposal is a slingshot to launch each of the birds at the pigs' and their ramshackle homes. Let them taste your feathered fury.
