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The iPhone platform, with its integrated app store and low barrier to entry development program, can be a boon for independent game developers. Many small or one man operations have found great success creating fantastic games that break the mold and offer something gamers are not use to. It reminds me of the halcyon days of shareware/freeware when DOS and Apple games where written by people in their homes and became huge hits by word of mouth. Osmos, by Hemisphere Games, certainly looks to be one of those underground hits with its particular blend of contemplative game play that mixes arcade action with puzzle solving to give a new spin on familiar game mechanics.

The question is: can Osmos really capture the action loving gamers with such a slow paced game? Lets take a look at the game to see what makes this game of cellular life and death such a provocative experience.

Osmos's recipe is one part space physics and two parts micro biology. Now don't let that those words scare you into thinking you are stepping into your high school science class. In Osmos you control a single cell organism they call a Mote. Your mote must survive by absorbing smaller motes around you. This absorption causes your mote to increase in size. This is all fine and good, but there are larger motes that are also absorbing smaller motes and one of those might be you if you are not careful.

To make things even worse, moving your mote around the screen requires you to fire off a tiny piece of yourself. This is fine for slow careful movements, but if you become to aggressive with your control of your mote, you will find yourself shrinking fast. This is mainly why Osmos is such a slow paced game. Careful movements are almost always the more prudent move, while hasty actions will land you on a collision course with a larger mote.

Beyond these basics, Osmos throws a variety of different motes your way, which gives you eight different game types to add variety. Some of these are sentient and will either run or chase your. Others have their own gravity and must be used to catapult yourself across the level. All of this is wrapped in ambient sounds that, as the opening screen states, sound "best with headphones."

My general impression of this game reminds me a lot of games like Zen Bound, where half the fun is the experience of the game as much as playing it. The campaign is very short and serves mainly as a primmer for playing the arcade modes, which are randomized each time you play them. It would love to see more game types in time, but the game as is ranks among the best in quality and style. Do yourself a favor. Sit down in a quiet room, put your headphones on, and prepare yourself to be absorbed into the world of Osmos.

Gravity: it can be your friend, or it can be a "fall to your death" enemy. In Semi Secret's newest iPhone game Gravity Hook HD, it is mostly the later. In this new arcade game, you take on the effects of gravity with a robotic hook which you use to latch on to floating mines that will propel you upwards. This game has all the attention to detail and charm that we have come to enjoy with Semi Secret's previous entry in the app store, Canabalt.

Much like Canabalt, there isn't much story, but lots of detail to say otherwise. The music is pounding and as the first screen suggests, the game is best enjoyed with headphones. The environment is beautifully rendered, and as you progress higher the ledges you relied upon for a moment reprieve, will fall away from under you. At certain intervals there are floors that close below you to allow a rest, but as you climb higher you will find that stopping can be more of a detriment that keeping your current momentum.

The initial mines are really more floating orbs, but life does not remain so easy. The green "safe" orbs soon disappear and are replaced with blue mines that will quickly explode if you remain attached to them as well as the evil red mines that will explode if you run into them. There are also the occasional line of grey mines that while unsuitable for attaching to (unless you want a quick death at the bottom of the screen), are great for bumping into to help propel you upwards. One must also be careful not to grab a mine too far away as the force to pull you up is lessened by the distance from the mine.

It would not be an exaggeration to say this game is quite challenging and will take time to master the rhythm of the game. For those that do find this game to be a walk in the park. The game unlocks a classic mode which is the original version of this game. This is pixel art style and contains only the blue type mines. The timing of this version is much faster and is even more challenging that the updated version. Semi Secrets high score boards and twitter announcements are built in just like their previous game. This is another example of the high quality gaming we have come to expect from Semi Secret, and is not to be missed.

Your race has been run, and your soul is finally ready to shuffle off this mortal coil. In the deviant minds at Kydos Studio, death is just the beginning with their indie game Soul. This game has made quite a splash in the xbox live realm and now is is poised to win the hearts of the iPhone gaming public. With hand drawn artwork and horrifiying style, this is one title you wont want to play in the dark.

The game takes place in a building that looks like it would fit as a scene in the movie Saw. You exit your body and from then on out, everything you see is hostile to your mission of escaping the building to reach heaven. Not only must you avoid all walls, elevators, and even stalagmites, but you must also be ever vigilant to avoid the evil creatures that will lunge from the walls to put an end to your journey.

Each level holds its own challenges, from dark caves where you can barely see in front of you, to air currents and rising water that chases you through the tunnels. Touching anything will cause you to die, but you can re-attempt each screen without any penalty. There are three levels of difficulty, and the only control is the accelerometer. The game offers an option to calibrate the accelerometer, but I found that any other position beside the default suffers from difficulty in moving either up or down. This bug does make playing the game more difficulty since the device must be held facing up. This one annoyance is not enough to detract from the wonderful artistic vision that the developers have created, and is certainly something that can be resolved in short order with an update. If you enjoy immersive atmosphere and great indie games, you will certainly enjoy everything Soul has to offer.

Maintaining a car can be a costly and frustrating experience. For those of us that must make use of a motor vehicle, and are not blessed with the mystical ability to maintain and repair our own vehicles, we must struggle with finding a reputable dealer. This requires a good deal of research to make sure we are not being over charged. Repairpal aims to help with this research by giving you "ballpark" figures for the cost of repairs and maintenance for your specific vehicle.

The first step is to select your vehicle from a list of makes and models. Once that is completed, you are given a long list of maintenance schedules and repairs that can be completed for your vehicle. You can then enter a location, (or let the iPhone find your location) and Repairpal will give you a rough estimate for the cost of the repair. Scrolling down with give you a break down of parts and labor costs as well as some advice about the particular repair you are looking up.

Repairpal also has a tab for finding shops in your area. The shops have user ratings and reviews from Repairpal's site. You can call shops right from the app and use the price estimate to determine if the price they quote is reasonable. While there are many other factors when it comes to selecting a shop for service, this tool gives you a good base line for the costs you should expect.

Repairpal could have stopped right there, and they would have had a decent app to interface with their website, but they must have looked at those lonely tabs at the bottom and felt they could take it one step beyond. Repairpal also features a roadside assistance button that puts you in touch with a roadside assistance rep that will dispatch a tow truck or other service for lockouts or when you run out of fuel. Repairpal utilizes a third party company called Cross Country Roadside Assistance that finds and contacts the closest service to pick you up, or get you back on the road. Repairpal's app also has a list of dealer warranty numbers that makes calling for service easier.

Repairpal has a nice feature set that gives you valuable information when shopping for repair service. This addition of a roadside assistance button could be a great feature for those that don't already have a roadside service company. If you have a car, truck, or SUV, this app is definitely worth a look.

Some apps are so simple in their function, that we hardly a need to explain what it actually does. Flashlight by More Blu Sky is one of these apps. Flashlight is one of a group of apps that have popped up recently that make use of the LED flash on the iPhone 4 as a flashlight. Many were worried that Apple would reject this unconventional use of its hardware, but for the time being, Apple appears to be giving its blessing to these apps.

In a niche that is so basic it can be hard to differentiate one's self from the pack of other apps out there. Flashlight does a fair job of this by keeping the their app simple and easy to use, while incorporating the features that users request. There app consists of a large round button in the middle of the screen to turn the light on and off. For early versions of this app, that was the extent of this one trick pony. More Blu Sky wasn't content to release such a simple app and just walk away. They have recently made an update that apart from bug fixes, added a strobe feature to the mix. The strobe can be accessed with a left swipe and the rate of the strobe can be adjusted with a slider.

This app shows that even a simple app can have a lot of thought put into its design and that the end result will be a superior app that pulls ahead from the crowds of similar apps. If you have an iPhone 4, and would like to use your LED as a flashlight from time to time, Flashlight app is the go to app.

Vector art and dual stick shooters are two genres that have received more than their share of love on the app store. Every time I think we have seen everything we possibly could from these types of games, a new one comes along and shows how it can create something fresh and exciting from a familiar formula. Pew Pew 2 by Jean-Francois Gevelin is a great example of a game that can take a mechanic that has been done before and turn into a more polished expirence.

Pew Pew 2 starts with your standard dual sticks; one to move with and the other to fire. The graphics consist of vector line art reminiscent of asteroids. Fans of the original Pew Pew will be glad to see all the original game types are intact. Pew Pew 2 has the usual arena style game types as well as special games like highway where you must collect spheres as quickly as possible. The frantic gameplay will keep you glued to your screen and with online leader boards and replays which let you can see how others performed against the onslaught.

Pew Pew 2 isn't just content to extend what the original has done so well. It takes thing one step further with a level based game. Each level offers elements you see on the infinite challenge in a dungeon type setting. These levels are incredibly challenging and you should not expect to beat them quickly. As a matter of fact, the difficulty level of the entire game is quite steep. Casual gamers should be warned that this is not an easy game to master and will take quite of bit of practice to even become proficent. Serious gamers will find this game refreshing and an excellent challenge that won't become stale quickly. More episodes are slated for release which will increase the value of this already inexpensive title.

If these types of game appeal to you and you have grown tired of the same old ride with other dual stick shooters, give the first Pew Pew game a try (Pew Pew 1 is free) and see if you might want to pick up the sequel. I think you will be pleased with what you find.

Those that have played Rocket Cat's Hook Champ know what a high quality game it is. So it is no surprise that it's sequel, Super Quickhook, takes the grappling hook fun of it's predesessor to a new level. What could Super Quickhook have to offer that Hook Champ hasn't already done? Let's take a look at this new title, and see why it should be in everybody's homescreen.

The best way to think about these two hook games is compare them to the Mario Bros. games on the Nintendo, and the Super Nintendo.  This too is a scrolling platformer style game. Hook Champ has that classic 8-bit look and feel, while Quickhook has a crisp 16-bit appearance. Where Hook Champ had a more straight forward level design with few places to explore, Quick Hook opens up the world with secrets and coins to find in hidden crevices through every level. In virtually every way Quick Hook has expanded and improved on the foundation of Hook Champ.

This adventure tales place on an exspansive mountain range with caves, ruins, snowcaps, and volcanos. The diversity and the detail in each environment is amazing. As you play each level you must seek out all the coins and secret areas in each map. The levels are not just a race to the finish, since all the normal levels lack a cursed demon, or in this case an avalanche, to keep you from dawdling. This gives you the freedom to explore the mountain sides looking for secrets and treasure. If the fast paced action of hook champ is more of your thing, there is an endless mode that features a wall of snows threatening to bury you if your hooking skills are not up to par.

Fancy tricks with a grappling hook and a meal of hard tack won't be all you need to make it in this wilderness. The local shop offers a huge number of upgrades from slick pants, to snorkels. As expected, there is also a large collection of hats to collect and wear. And you progress you can also purchase two new characters; a treasure loving lady, and a hardened mountain hermit. Those gamers that like to unlock everything will find plenty to do in Super Quickhook.

Super Quickhook supports OpenFeint and allows you to send challenges to friends to see if they can beat your score. Qucikhook also has the usual achievement lists. The only thing Super Quickhook seems to be lacking is more of the fast paced "run from death" style levels. Super Quickhook is more laid back and made for exploring. If a hectic run through a level is more of your cup of tea, then take a look at Rocket Cat's earlier title, Hook Champ, for more of a speed challenge. I can't say Quickhook is bad, in fact, it is a terrific game that has hours of replayability. Quickhook is simply a different take on a familiar game mechanic, and is definetly worth taking a look.

My first Macintosh was a Performa 475. With its 25mhz 68040LC, and 8MB of RAM it wasn't much to look at, but it was mine. One game that came bundled with my Mac was a great 3-D tank game called Spectre. I would play this game for hours and even when I eventually moved up to an iMac, this game was still in regular use. I would later get Spectre VR but never played it as much as I did the original. So you can imagine my elation when I saw the Spectre game coming to the iPhone. Can this port deliver as great an experience, both single and multiplayer, on the iPhone as it did so many years ago on my old Mac?

Spectre, for those who missed this bit of gaming history, is a three dimensional tank battle in which you attempt to capture all the flags on the map without being destroyed by the enemy tanks guarding them. There are blocks, windmills,  and walls to use for cover.

You can play Spectre from three view points: first person, third person, and top view. Each have their advantages and disadvantages so everyone has their preference and some will even switch between views during combat to gain an edge. In the original Spectre, you are limited to a tank with a simple cannon. In Spectre VR, not only do you have an array of different weapons to get such as grenades and smart shells, but your tank can fly for short periods allowing you to jump over enemies or obstacles. Spectre VR also has four game types from Base Raid to Capture the Flag. Multiplayer supports four players via bluetooth and 16 online over Wifi or 3G. Not only can you play online with the dedicated servers, but you can also download the server software and run a server yourself. This is almost unheard of in the gaming world these days and it is amazing to see such a large range of options for playing multiplayer.

The controls are the standard virtual analog stick with fire and other controls on the right. Lefties can switch the controls and there is an option to make the analog stick smaller. The graphics are spot on and run seamlessly even when playing online. While this should be expected from a game made in the early 90's, it is still great to see how well this game performs even on my aging first generation iPhone. The game even offers a 3D anaglyph option for real 3D play. While the multiplayer is pretty empty right now, you can pad the game with bots that will actually attempt to accomplish the goal of whatever game type you are playing. The single player levels also offer plenty of challenge with both the original Spectre and VR levels, there will be plenty to help sharpen your skills for online.

Games like Spectre are timeless and it is good to see a game like this come to the iPhone platform. With such a great foundation there wasn't much Brilliant Bytes Software had to do to deliver a superior game. As I have been playing Spectre 3D, it is hard to find an area where it is lacking. If I had to put down some weak spot I would have to say the analog stick could use an adjustment for sensitivity. The lack of online players at this time take away from the multiplayer fun somewhat, but I am sure that in time more people will rediscover this great classic form days when LAN multiplayer games were unheard off, especially in 3D.
 

Duck in the Truck is the first among HarperCollins's adaptations of children's author Jez Alborough's "Duck" tales. Optimized for the iPhone's screen and touch controls, Duck in the Truck is a vibrant storybook improved with bits of animation and sound effects, elements that are exclusive to this version of the storybook.

In the storybook's journey from physical to electronic, the quirky story of Duck and his bright red truck remains intact. "This is the Duck driving home in a truck. This is the track which is taking him back," begins the story. And with that, a delightfully rhythmic little tale about kindheartedness, teamwork, and perseverance is set up. The Duck later gets his truck stuck in a muck, and he is soon joined by Frog, Sheep, and Goat, who try to help him get out of his sticky, or should I say, muddy, situation.

From Alborough's wonderful rhymes and colorful illustrations to the pitch-perfect narration by Harry Enfield (which you can turn off if you want to read it aloud yourself), it's obvious that a lot of work was put into making this app squeaky clean, quite unlike how the Duck's truck becomes after it gets stuck in the muck. Every page is enhanced with animation and sound effects that are tap-activated. For instance, when the Duck's truck hits a bump in the road, the page is animated to show the vehicle and its feathered driver flying across the track, and the Duck's panicked quacks can be heard every time the page is tapped.

Truly, every element of this interactive storybook is clean and well refined.

One day when I was seven, I climbed a tree to look at a bird's nest. As I approached the nest out on that branch, I hadn't got within 4 feet of that nest when I heard what sounded like a banshee coming straight for me. Sparrows may look cute, but mother sparrows are vicious, and a beak to the head at full speed will leave a knot for days. I know first hand what birds are capable of when you get on their bad side. The folks at Rovio must have had a similar experience, because their latest game, Angry Birds, is all about the wrath of our avian friends.

The plot of Angry Birds is simply; a bunch of birds trying to get their eggs back from a bunch of green pigs. What Angry Birds lacks in story, it makes up for in game play. the basics of the game consist of launching your birds into a structure build by the pigs in order to destroy the building as well as the pigs. You have a limited supply of birds, and all of the pigs must be destroyed to finish the level. At the end of each level you are judged with one to three stars based on the number of birds and the amount of destruction you have caused. While early levels can easily be finished with the provided birds, later levels require multiple shots with increasingly better accuracy in order to defeat the pigs.

As you progress you are provided with more than your basic winged munitions. There are six different birds, most of which, have a triggered ability that is activated when you tap the screen while the bird is in flight. Each level only provides you with certain birds and in a certain order which increases the puzzle elements to the game. For those of you that are perfectionists there are a multitude of achievements to obtain.

Angry Birds uses Rovio's own social game network called Crystal that tracks achievements and high scores, as well as allows for challenges. The sign up for Crystal is quick, but it is yet another in a long line of social game networks.

The best feature about this game is that it has a lot to offer, both for the casual gamer, as well as the hardcore gamer. Most levels are given adequate ammo to finish the level without too much problem. Those that enjoy the gameplay and don't care about the achievements or the challenge of getting perfect scores on every level, will find a lot to enjoy. On the other hand, getting three stars on some levels requires expert placement of your shots and even figuring out where to place them in the first place can be quite a challenge. The music, graphics, and sound effects are high quality and really set the mood. Every bird and pig has their own subtle personality on the screen, and it drives you crazy when the pigs jeer at you with those smug grins when you fail to destroy them. As if that weren't enough, the game has enjoyed multiple updates with additional levels which further increases the value of this already inexpensive title. With the game still at $.99 I can't think of any reason not to give this game a shot if you are even remotely interested.