Explore deeply layered fantasy landscapes, encounter boss battles and intriguing characters, discover treasure chests and secret coves, upgrade armor and weapons, level up and and everything else you'd want to find in an epic RPG platforming adventure. The on screen controls make your journey all the more enjoyable for a classic gaming feel. Any nostalgic cravings you had for your favorite games of old will be satisfied as you are the hero and your quest is great. Keep that sword handy and your magic prepped; who knows what danger lurks beyond those gates? You'll soon find out!

Oh no! The king of the realm needs you to save the princess from the evil clutches of the Dark Knight! Go figure, right? Wind-up Knight is a mobile run and jump adventure very similar to Canabalt HD except you get a fancy sword and armor to fight enemies while dodging traps to make your way to the princess. Convenient items in adventuring, yes, but it won't save you when the Dark Knight starts getting really serious about stopping you. A knight's mettle will never be more tested and neither shall your timing skills as pits, enemies, and environmental dangers stand in your way.

Everybody wants to rule the world, and zombies are no exception. In Brainsss, a wild sort of mobile game by Lonely Few, you get to help the zombies start their plot for world domination. Part strategy, part action, part brains, you must lead and grow your zombie horde to complete the goal for each level. Humans just don't get it. Life is so much simpler if all you need are brainsss.

Though it's a scary (if distant) thought in real life, being stranded on an island where you have to fight for survival isn't high on anyone's to-do list. Place it in a casual game, though, and we're tripping over ourselves to start the download. Sahmon Games' simulation series The Island: Castaway has been perplexing players for a few years now with its superb blend of quest-based item hunting and character managing, spawning The Island: Castaway 2 not long after the original was released. Now there's the mobile version of The Island: Castaway, and it manages to bring every pixel of entertainment from its PC cousins to the portable touch screen. Be prepared for the addiction to begin all over again!

Natural disasters are at your fingertips in this simple but clever little physics puzzle from Anton Koshechkin. Unleash hurricanes, comets, bees, and more in order to destroy eggs housed in protective structures. It's weird, funny, and just the right dose of egg carnage to see you through the day.

Miley's got dreams of being a comedic superstar, and the first step is to follow in the footsteps of Cherry Tree High's greatest and start a comedy club. The only problem is the student council insists she needs a minimum of three more members, and she only has a month to find them! Are her ambitions on the rocks, or can she hunt down and convince a bunch of unlikely recruits to join her? A gorgeous, energetic, and light-hearted game that blends adventure with visual novel and simulation elements.

Of all of the creepy fairy tales we tell our kids — and there are some supremely creepy ones indeed — one that stands out is the Pied Piper of Hamelin, in which a town that doesn't like to pay its debts ends up losing all of its children to a dude who charms rats with music. This haunting tale seems ready made to become both a childhood nightmare and a casual adventure hybrid, so it's just as well that Blue Tea Games has taken up the challenge with Fabled Legends: The Dark Piper, a hidden object finding adventure that features lots and lots of rats, both in vermin and human form. Rats, why'd it have to be rats?

Up for a challenge? In BlockHopper, an innovative puzzle platformer from GreenPixel, you control an adorable little robot named Bit across 35 different levels and landscapes to ultimate victory. But here's the twist: this isn't just some run-of-the mill, jump over static platforms to victory kind of game. Instead, you control the placement of platforms in the form of many different and ingenious blocks, each with their own separate logic and mechanics. This game features some cute graphic and a great soundtrack by Starship Amazing, but don't kid yourself, this game is hard. VERY HARD. To win, you'll have to think outside the block.

Help Johnny through a level filled with hazards by buying upgrades for.... everything! From run speed to the game timer to double jumping, it's in the store. Collect coins, buy upgrades, and repeat until you're strong enough to take on the final boss. Simple but engaging, Johnny Upgrade is a little treat for platforming fans, or anyone who really likes upgrades.

Be afraid. Be very afraid of his scary love. In Bear of Love, a tongue-and-cheek action game from LeBrancher and rzafael, you play a bear who needs to hug people in order to breath, creating a form of photo-hug-synthesis that will have scientists baffled for decades. But there's a catch: you tend to come on too strong and end up killing those you hug when you don't pull away in time. Bear of Love features some great 8-bit pixel art and the funny upgrades and animations will have you chortling to yourself long after the five or ten minutes it takes to finish this game, making it a perfect antidote for the Monday morning blues.

A good story is great, but sometimes you just want to blow stuff up. In DN8: Pulse, a new shooter game from Squize, you are the commander of a puny little fighter who has to fight off swarms of enemy vessels if you want to survive. If you make it past the initial waves, you'll have the chance to upgrade your ship with extra shields, weapons, and even support pods and there are two upgrade paths, defensive and offensive. The clear selling point of DN8: Pulse are the graphics, done in Stage3D, which are unlike most anything you've seen in a flash game. The visuals are in a word, stunning. And it's a lot of fun to play a shoot-em-up that leaves the conventional retro pixelated setting and dares to take it to the farthest reaches of the universe for a truly immersive experience.

We are not alone. Life has been discovered on Mars, but it's nothing like we ever expected to encounter. In this gorgeous, one-of-a-kind moody action adventure game for iOS, you'll journey deep into the red planet and uncover the secrets buried within its soil. Discover new life forms and challenging puzzles that force you to use the environment to your advantage as you help the planet grow... and ultimately decide its fate.

Orbital Defender is a great looking planetary defense game from Addictive Zone that has been acutely tuned for ease of use on mobile devices. As a lone satellite orbiting a single planet, it's your job to keep the rock safe from asteroids, comets, UFOs, and more nefarious dangers as you orbit over and over again. You can't move, only shoot, and since firing at your planet is a very bad idea, you have to play a little game of strategy as you blast foes each time you swing by.

From Munsie Games comes an impressive collection of mobile arcade games packaged together in one robust release: Twitch Arcade! Featuring a dozen games for the price of a single app, Twitch Arcade has everything from avoidance games to puzzle, defense, and shooting games, all playable from a single interface with easy to learn controls. No matter when you buy this tablet-optimized app, you get every new game added in future updates for free. And what better feeling is there than getting tons of games for one tiny price?

Do you have what it takes to be a real Hero Mage? This turn-based, tactical strategy game brings the feel of tabletop RPG combat to your mobile device or browser. Take control of a small group of heroes on their battle-ridden path to victory over darkness in the realm of Papillion. It's like a tabletop game in your pocket!

Some people lie. Some people tell the truth. Others tell lies every other sentence, while still others tell things that are part truth, but part lie. Then there are robots, vampires, philosophers, and rabid sheep to contend with! Professor McLogic Saves the Day is a creative game of logic puzzles that is a rare gem in a sea of lookalike games. Play it, puzzle over it, and then figure out which part of the first paragraph of our review is a lie!

Much like the protagonists of today's game, Orneon has just sauntered into town with a thrilling sequel to Secrets of the Dark: Temple of Night, unleashing a stunning new adventure/hidden object hybrid with Secrets of the Dark: Eclipse Mountain. Once again light and dark clash in a suspiciously empty small town denuded by yet more demons. Are you sensing a theme here?

Who knew that crash test dummies were so...squishy? In Dummy Crusher, a sadistic little physics game from Alexandr Porubov and Ekaterina Saburova, you are a contestant on a Hunger Games-like TV program where you are given all the explosives and projectiles you can ask for and have to make the audience happy by knocking the stuffing out of poor, defenseless crash test dummies. The aim of the game is to cause the most destruction possible and to max out your points bar before moving forward. Take your time and be creative, or the audience won't be happy and you'll need to start again. At 20 levels, Dummy Crusher is a great way to spend a long lunch break.

Who else but Detarou could make a dancing man in a tree costume, an unquestionably evil panda, and curious uses for a pickle seem somehow normal? The king of kooky does not disappoint in this installment of bizarre puzzles and twisted logic with just the right amount of challenge all crammed into a neat escape game package. Now that you know what you're in for, think you can find a way out?

Imagine an entire game built around the opening scenes of Raiders of the Lost Arc and you'd have Rastatronics' Gem Cave Adventure, a bare-bones platformer that puts you in the role of a jewel seeking adventurer, exploring your way through 50 caves, dodging obstacles and finding treasure along the way. The only problem is that, once you've taken your treasure, ancient traps become activated and you'll have to make it past them all if you want to cash in your find. Gem Cave Adventure is a great little game that, while it doesn't do anything new, it takes an old idea and swings with it.

Frankenstein is a brand new work of interactive fiction written by Dave Morris and released using the inkle platform. Based on the original novel by Mary Shelley, this modern narrative weaves a captivating story that takes advantage the mobile platform to deliver a strong visual impact along with its interactive elements. You are both reader and player in this experience (though more the former than the latter), choosing directions for your character to take and shaping the narrative in ways that are both subtle and obvious. The end result is a visual and textual masterpiece that you will be both thrilled and intrigued to experience.

The cheese is the prize in this gloriously cartoonish and vibrant stealth mobile/tablet game from Electronic Arts. Guide a daring mouse hero through 70+ levels, drawing a path for him around his ferocious feline opponents. Contend with ghost cats and villainous constructs, outwit mouse traps, and drink in one of the most polished casual gaming experiences you could want in the process.

Kara returns for the climatic finale of her adventure in Covert Front 4: The Spark of Life, and the conclusion of her search of scientist Karl Von Toten. All the hallmarks of the series are back: gorgeously shady art, twisty plotting, challenging puzzles, and spooky atmosphere. Even if a little heavy on the hot-spot hunting, this is the ending fan of the series have clamored for.

Grab a buddy, turn them into a heavenly body, and then thwak them silly in Matt Thorson's goofy, groovy versus fighting game made for a recent Ludum Dare competition. As planets orbit the sun, hurl them at your opponent for victory and shameless gloating rights in this amusing little diversion.

The riddle of the sphinx has tested many peoples puzzle solving skills for centuries, and now it is testing your platformer skills. Made during the What Would Molydeux game jam, Andrew Brophy and his crew presents Old Man Baby where you jump and crawl as a man who must change in between stages of his life to solve puzzles. You have to take baby steps when starting out, but do not worry because your glory years will set in pretty quickly.

Well, would you look at that, another kingdom is in peril and you must defeat the king's power hungry son before it is too late. Nano Kingdoms puts you in charge of His Majesty's forces as you carve a path towards his evil son. Easy-to-figure out click controls make this realtime strategy defense game a nice choice for first time RTS players. The sounds are well-made, the art is wonderfully cartoonish, and the difficulty will leave you satisfied with your micro-managing skills.

In Tiny Wizard, an inventive new arcade shooter by Hannes Rahm, your lovely castle has been invaded by all manner of ghosts and ghouls and if you want to see peace again, you'll need to conjure up all your best magical powers (and your snazziest wizard hats) to beat them back.

Yo ho! Yo ho! A Pirateers life for me! A top down action adventure by Labu, Pirateers tasks all you rascals, scoundrel, villains and knaves out there with proving the rest of the world that you're the alpha and omega of swashbuckling. Reminiscent of Sid Meier's Pirates, Pirateers delivers fun, if grindy, high seas action.

Space... the final frontier. You never would have thought it was so pixelated out there though. Kairosoft takes a crack at a sci-fi simulation with its latest installment to the "Story" series of games. As some of the first intrepid humans to blast off and colonize a new planet, the actions you take help to expand your influence throughout the galaxy. The best way to influence these extraterrestrials is to attract them to your planet like its a tax-free shopping mall. Those aliens literally buy anything you can give them, especially chocolate cake and fine jewels. The aliens' spending habits, the exploration of your planet, and missions of peace to others are the best ways to help your colony prosper. You can't start a colony all by your lonesome so make sure your treat those octopians real well.

Hexage, creator of Evac and Everlands, pits your human military prowess against endless alien swarm in this mobile tower defense game, Radiant Defense. Defense of your spiral reactor (which looks oddly like a stove burner) is the number one priority since it keeps out those pesky invaders from, you know, destroying all humans. Radiant Defense definitely keeps elements that you would always expect from the tower defense genre, but you remove the predetermined path and get the ability to create the path they will follow to their doom (hopefully). Lasers will fly, aliens will die, and the entire time your fingers will be nimbly working to hold off a rather comically bad invasion story unfold.

It was supposed to be a quick and easy heist. Break in to the museum, snag the Lupine Twine Amulet, sneak out. Profit! But then, something unfortunate happened: Lucas MacGuffin put the amulet on. With the amulet permanently attached to him, Lucas now had the unfortunate ability to turn into a werewolf whenever he was exposed to moonlight. On top of that, the entire city went into lockdown as a result of his bungled theft. Making delicious lemonade out of those lemons, though, Lucas turned his misfortune into a boon, using his lupine skills to work his way through town in a sokoban-style adventure. MacGuffin's Curse is one of those light-hearted, funny, challenging and visually gorgeous games you won't be able to put down.

Based a decade-plus old arcade game called XKobo by Akira Higuchi, KoboDeluxe is an updated and enhanced version of the original arcade shooter, porting the concept and gameplay over to modern platforms while introducing better animations, high resolution visuals, additional control options, a difficulty selector, and more. Whether you want a nostalgic arcade fix or are looking for a sturdy action challenge, KoboDeluxe will absolutely satisfy your craving.

Life for Lily, like any other visual novel heroine, is fairly typical. She feels like she's adrift after college and is only working at her uncle's restaurant for the money. But is there more to the eclectic staff than anyone might suspect? A free game made in just a month by Cyanide Tea, packed with romance, restaurant hi-jinks, and more than a few surprises you may not see coming.

A lonely, lost robot wakes up to find itself floating towards a strange island. It has no memory of where it came from or what it's doing, but as the little raft touches stable ground, it does what any amnesiac creature might do: runs forward to see what's out there. Gear World may not be the most original concept this side of Cave Story, but the hyper-difficult platforming action and carefully designed levels more than make up for the conventional setting.

The living, walking, ne'er-do-gooding puppets are back in ERS Game Studio's latest hidden object adventure hybrid, PuppetShow: Return to Joyville. The latest in the PuppetShow series goes back to the beginning to visit what is possibly the most imprecisely named place since Greenland. As an unnamed detective, you are here to help the old and decrepit Felicia who has traveled back in time to save her father, the maker of living puppets, and her younger self from the terrible fire that started the whole mess. Armed with tomorrow's newspaper, you immediately set forth to fix what is broken so you can get yourself back to the (not-as dismal) future!

The kingdom is under attack!... not that Questy cares, of course. At least... not until his funds run out and he can't keep himself in the fat and complacent lifestyle he's become accustomed to. In this gorgeous upgrade of Sean Gailey's quirky, colourful fantasy puzzler, place loot bags and other helpful items to guide Our Hero Questy away from hazards and through mazes to ultimately defeat the evil wizard Boneyard.

You'll have to battle it out against spiders, scorpions, beetles, and all manner of creepy crawlies if you are going to survive this action-packed new tower defense game by Tofee Games. It pushes the limits of both casual and flash gaming in creating a stylish and professionally made free game that will have you playing and strategizing for days beyond that initial lunch break session.

When a deadly parasite infestation begins sweeping through a massive tree, crippling it and gradually killing off its inhabitants, heroes are found in the most unlikely of places. Five tiny friends band together to save one last seed and find the source of the monstrous parasites in this surreal point-and-click adventure from Amanita Design that is by turns stunning, otherworldly, engrossing, and even a little frightening.

John Cooney and Jimp are here to give you all the puzzle platforming you love, all the surprises you'd never expect, and 400 achievements to earn in Achievement Unlocked 3. Exponentially vaster in scope than its predecessors, Achievement Unlocked 3 is a game that's packed, even crowded, with content. Its busyness may be unexpected compared to previous entries in the series, but it's still a heck of a lot of fun.

It's tough going when the love of your life is a ravenous member of the walking dead. Clearly the two of you want to be together but for that to happen you'll have run, jump, shoot, and dodge your way around angry zombies as you help guide your zombie lover to her cage in this endearing storybook love story of a platformer.

Majesty: The Fantasy Kingdom Sim from HeroCraft is a mobile port of the fantasy strategy game first published in 2000, with a sequel following almost a decade later. Fans of the original will immediately fall in love with the mobile release, and anyone new to the series will find plenty to like about this portable-friendly title!

The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, right? Or, perhaps more accurately, the needs of the upper classes outweigh the needs of the plebs. No matter how you dice the words, the point is it's ok to sacrifice a few little guys so the bigger, more important ones can survive. The mobile port of the browser game Dibbles: For the Greater Good illustrates just that, providing a charming and intelligent Lemmings-like game that just might make you rethink this whole "needs of the many" business.

Don't you just hate it when a bunch of brutes, nerds, bullies, and ten feet tall Greeks show up at your party unannounced? Party Crashers Tower Defense plays on that most basic fear humans have shared since the invention of chips and dip. You've only got so much food, so it's your job to defend the party from invading party crashers!

Legend of Grimrock is a retro-styled first person dungeon crawling RPG that borrows liberally from the classic genre and updates everything for modern gamers to enjoy. From the visual overhaul to the lax but somehow intriguing storyline to the stripping of complex menu screens and stats, Legend of Grimrock will easily capture your attention and hold it for hours on end, whether you're an old school RPG master or a casual gamer looking for a little diversion.

In this massive, complex visual novel simulation, you're given a chance to change your life some people may dream of but most never get to experience. When a particularly fierce fever breaks, you awake to find yourself back in time at the beginning of high school, watched over by the excitable but well meaning angel Satsuko. Will you make something of yourself? Find the close friends you've always wanted? Have an impact on someone's life or maybe even find... love? If you have the time to invest in it, Shira-Oka has the engrossing experience and production values to deliver.

To have loved and lost is better than never to have loved at all. Or so the saying goes. But what if some loss is simply too unbearable? Would you go to Hell and back to return the one you love to the world of the living? You may not but the character you play in My Life is Yours does. Try it out and see if you'd ever willingly go toe to toe with the Underworld.

Zaga-33 is a minimalist roguelike created by Michael Brough in one week but later refined into a more polished product for Windows, Mac, and iOS devices. It ditches almost all of the traditional roguelike customs in favor of focusing on just a few gameplay elements for an ultra-refined experience. No stats to track, enemy lists to memorize, or equipment to manage, just pure and simple power-ups and combat!

Bam! Caught ya! Being stealthy is something we all do when creeping around the kitchen at night, going for that last piece of cake before anyone else in the house gets a crack at it. In Stealth Bastard, a stealth platform game from Curve Studios, moving around unseen is what it's all about. Instead of getting busted and forfeiting half a slice of cake, though, you get blasted to pieces by a robot laser the size of your torso. Ouch!

In a land that doesn't seem to mind sending innocent people to hang it's up to you and your trusty archery skills to save lives. No, you won't be getting any fanfare or damsels tossing you their kerchiefs but who really needs that anyway? You've got justice and freedom on your side, and I'm not just saying the names you gave your biceps. In this delightful physics shooter kick back and prepare to let loose your arrows!

In Super Villainy, the mightiest villains have grown bored after destroying the earth, and decide to have one final battle royale, arena shooter style, to determine who is the baddest. A solid release by Rob Almighty, with a little more freedom than what is usually seen in the genre.

Billy is the last man left on the earth after super-evolved apes have taken over, and to defend himself against the hordes of flying monkeys and angry gorillas, he has to spawn children and turn them into defense units, apparently without the aid of a single female. Makes no sense? It doesn't matter, because the game features some great twists on the tower defense genre.

In Louissi's latest action simulation game, it's a farmer's life for you. But, when the sun goes down, the nasties come out and you'll need to trade your shovel for a shotgun or other heavy weapon to stay alive, picking up coins from your fallen enemies as you go.

Looking for a lovely way to relax or a unique way to get the kids to bed? Difference Games brings their Twisted Fairytales series to Nook and Kindle Fire in this stunning matching game based on the classic story of Snow White, though it isn't really so twisted as you might think. Light on gameplay but heavy on beautiful artwork, it's the perfect way to kick back and sink into a fantasy world for a while.

A puzzle platform game where your goal is to carry a heavy key to the keyhole by jumping and tossing it across the stage. Thrown keys travel in a horizontal line until hitting a solid object, then they fall straight down. Unburdened by the key, you can jump a little higher, allowing you to work your way through each stage using a combination of platforming and careful key tossing. A very well-designed game with some great levels to complete! (Note: You need to click the link marked 'Keylugger' after visiting the link above to download the game.)

Revealing a few more of the 1000 doors offered in the title of the series, House of 1000 Doors: The Palm of Zoroaster drops you back in said house to put you through another series of puzzles and adventure quests as the indomitable author/spirit soother, Kate. Offering the same quality of product as the previous installment, Alawar has brought us another great hidden object/adventure hybrid, just in a more sinister, unsettled portrayal of the house.

Ominous music and well crafted visuals set the stage for this surprisingly engrossing stealth action title. You play as an unnamed agent that has tracked stolen nuclear materials to a heavily armed fortress. If you're hungering for the feel of creeping past trained arm guards and dodging the watchful eye of security cameras from the comfort of your own browser, Stealth Hunter 2 is definitely something you'll want to check out.

Come to Siquijor, Philippines, and stay at our lovely inn! Yes, we have a bit of a reputation for aswangs, a kind of vampiric beastie, but who would go to Loch Ness without Nessie, right? Besides, no one seems to stay here at night, anyway... A delightful tropical hotel simulation sprinkled with creepiness, Innkeeper balances local color and global appeal.

From the bizarre and intriguing world of Detarou, this escape-the-room game manages to balance between offensively outlandish and laugh-out-loud wacky. Easier than most of Detarou's offerings, Gatiko's puzzles offer the perfect level of challenge. There's multiple endings, as well. If you have shied away from Detarou before, here's your chance to dip your toes into a cult favorite and find out what all the fuss is about.

Eggstinction, an action run-and-gun shooter by Michael Chen, stars a proto-dinosaur fighting back against the laser-happy aliens who wish to poach him. Quality visuals, hardcore survival gameplay and aggressively silliness make for a game quite reminiscent of the Heli Attack series. Except, you know. With dinosaurs fighting aliens.

Remember Pipe Dream (or Pipe Mania)? That old game where you put the pieces of pipe in the grid to make a really long chain? In Slipe, the pipework has already been put down for you, you've just got to slide it all into place. Unlike most sliding puzzles where you're just sliding one tile at a time. Slipe forces you to slide entire rows and columns, putting a tricky spin on an old classic.

It's a dark and stormy night. Wait, no, it's pretty sunny outside, so neither of those. You take the leaflet from the mailbox... gahh, no, not that, either. You know what? It doesn't matter. It's time to play. Time to play JayIsPonies, an "epic" choose your own adventure sort of game where you collect pizza and probably do a bunch of other halfway crazy stuff!

An early-release demo of a game that's been in production for several years and is still a work in progress, Vertex is on track to be the next massive-hit metroidvania. Inspired by the likes of Cave Story, Chrono Trigger, Spelunky and Super Metroid, Vertex drops you in a world that encourages exploration with multiple branching non-linear paths, upgrades, an RPG-like equipment menu, item shop, and much more. The game already looks and sounds fantastic, and the demo is nice and meaty, so you won't feel sleighted when it ends. You will, however, want more, and with any luck, that dream will come true soon enough!

"Take down the good guys!" That's what the title tells you in Nerdook's tower defense venture, Kill the Heroes. Place your tower units along or around the path as the little soldiers cycle around the level, taking their shots at you when they can. Earn cash for purchasing units and upgrades (why do heroes carry so much on them anyway?). It's not everyday you get to be a sinister, big-brained alien, so take what satisfaction you can from it before you take over the world and life becomes too easy.

Theo's been working in the slave mines for years, and has finally saved up enough to buy a cruiser. Now, if he can just shoot his way through this orbiting traffic, he'll be ready to start his new life. Originally conceived by Christopher T. Rock, with later additional development by Bryson Whiteman, Rush Hour Plus is a short but solid arcade game. It's bifurcated development is apparent in the differing styles of cut-scenes and game action, but it has a nice dose of humor and is the perfect length for a coffee break.

The number of defense games out there is as massive as the hordes of enemies you fight in them, but Bright Sight Team's side view strategy game stands out in the horde's ranks. Epic Stand pins you down at your castle and magic is your only weapon. To defend your castle walls, click on the screen to where you want the spell to be cast and let it work its magic. The level is over when there are no enemies left standing and none of them reach your wizard's final floor.

Sandlot's much-loved strategic trading simulation comes to your mobile devices in this port of one of the first Tradewinds titles. Start off as the lowly captain of an itty-bitty ship as you sail around the sea, performing tasks and earning favours from governors in between buying low and selling high, and even tracking down a notorious candy-gram pirate or two. Cheeky, silly, and easy to pick up, it's not as complex as other titles but is a great way to get introduced to the series or the genre gently.

Upon awakening in a run-down motel room, you hear a beeping sound. It seems to be coming from a tablet on the table across the room. A creepy message tells you the police are after you, to wash your face and get out. How did you get to the back end of nowhere, and what did you do to set the police on your trail? That's the set-up for a great new point-and-click adventure title, The Cross Formula from KatGames, developers of the popular Dream Chronicles series.

When your beloved Edward vanishes for the remote town of Rosemont, you're worried, especially since the few inhabitants who haven't fled from the terrible blizzard that claimed the village have all entered a sort of magical frozen slumber. The police have given up, but if you're willing to brave some dangerous and chilly ancient magic, you may yet save Edward and the world in this familiar but beautiful hidden-object adventure.

NinjaDoodle brightens your day with more weird but wonderful puzzling mini-games in this latest installment in the ClickPLAY series. Try to find and click the play button on each level by figuring out what you need to do in order to reveal it. Monkeys? Pirates? BOOGERS? Sounds like your typical set of problems to me!

Jonas Kyratzes has brought us many enjoyable, thoughtful games in bizarre, surreal settings. Well, now he's developed a top-down space shooter, Traitor. Don't get scared, he's still able to cast his powers of storytelling, it's just in a different yummy, gooey, science fiction package. Take on missions to earn credits for upgrades as well as the trust of the rebels. Your ultimate goal: to take down the Augustan Hegemony. Viva la People's Council!

A physics-arcade game from Pastel Games, Mission to Uranus plays like a mouse-driven, one-button version of Lunar Lander. Touchy controls test the patience, but Mission to Uranus is a beautiful game. Just be sure to stock up on fuel in early levels, so you don't crash down the line. Uranus has enough debris as it is.

Crime never sleeps, and Harry Quantum, the star of TurboNUKE's point-and-click sleuthing adventure series is back on the case! This time he's trying to clear the name of a pro-wrestler who was wrongfully implicated in a museum heist. With FBI agents, ancient artifacts, dinosaurs, and poo-mints aplenty, it's a quirky little title packed with puns and goofy humour.

Control an army of monsters and overthrow the evil King in this action strategy game by NTFusion. Discover up to 28 creature evolutions, each with their own unique stats and abilities, and build a squad tailored to your fighting style in order to conquer your way across the map. With a steady difficulty curve and a brutal bonus gauntlet round, Pocket Creature delivers your daily dose of addictive challenge and spooky quirkiness in one tidy package.

Games don't get much simpler than this; just hit a key to jump over an obstacle. Easy, right? Well, Chris Jeffrey's reflex-demanding one-button arcade game might just prove you wrong across twenty sadistic levels. With its snappy presentation and straight-forward gameplay, Space is Key 2 is hardly innovative, but it is a well polished little torture device for your reflexes. More than anything, it's a great illustration of how hard you can force players to push themselves at a simple concept just by implying it should be easy.

When you hear the phrase "the best things come in small packages", you should mentally amend that to "the best things come in small cube packages". Cubemen is a no-bloat tower defense game that tries to do one thing and do that one thing well: strategy. Forget mini-games, artificially inflated campaigns, and storylines that make about as much sense as a koala flight attendant. Cubemen delivers pure, raw tower defense strategy, and it does it so well, you'll lose yourself each time you play.

"The sins of the fathers shall be visited upon the children." Of all of the misquotes from the bible (and it is a misquote), this is one of the most hotly debated. Do sons deserve to suffer for what their fathers have done? And if not, would someone please explain that to Emily Thorne on "Revenge"? Leaving aside the most addictive show on television today, Alawar Games (creators of such classics as Sacra Terra: Angelic Night) has come up with a fabulous adventure hybrid based upon this theme, visiting the (supposed) sins of a father upon a hapless son in Dark Strokes: Sins of the Fathers.

Who said plants are harmless? In this gorgeous and cheesy hidden-object adventure from Alawar Games, a storm strands you and a bunch of your friends on a seemingly deserted island. Awakening to find yourself alone, you strike out to rescue the others, only to find that the flora on this isle might be more dangerous than the fauna.

A quirky off-kilter adventure puzzle platformer from PixelWelders, starring a Killbot who isn't too sold on the whole "killing" thing. Interesting Gravity Gun telekinesis mechanics and snarky writing is weakened by glitches and loose controls, but there are a lot of cool ideas displayed in this debut release.

Ever wanted to run rampant through hordes of squishy spider bots, monsters, and malevolent steampunk beasties? This simple but chaotic top-down shooter provides some truly frantic action that, while repetitive, delivers a nice dose of KAPOW KAPOW KAPOW to your day.

A fun expansion of the original swinging Hanger 2 by A Small Game, this Endless Level Pack keeps the great physics action, while featuring a lot of cool new architecture, along with the anticipated Endless Mode. Go out on a limb and try it!

A high-difficulty minimalist platformer by Noxious Hamster, Spikes Tend To Kill You 2 makes no bones about its brutal difficulty. However tough it is though, the challenges are mostly fair, and clever level design and dialogue will keep players interested, even after the 500th impalement.

An arcade game of raw survival! Standing on a cloud-piercing mountain, it's you versus evil alien robot things who really want to be kind of this here hill! Armed with a single-shot gun, you must lob shots at the foes to keep them away from the pinnacle. Two control schemes let you customize how you play, but beyond that, it's up to your skill with this simple weapon to see how long you can survive. Bonus 16-bit visuals give it an extra epic feel!

Most of us have been craving a game that pits skeletons against pizza. Obviously, pizza is going to be the winner, which is why this crazy hodgepodge sort of arcade game puts you in control of a giant, customizable pizza. Skeletons rise from the soil every thousand years, but a doughy arch nemesis arises this time around, and it's your job to roll, jump, and crush the boney bad guys with your supreme skills. Not only that, but you'll participate in over 100 neat-o levels with dozens of themes, including skiing down long snowy slopes, finding and rescuing puppies, balancing, swimming, taking out skulls in a very Crush the Castle sort of manner, and even customize your pizza with all sorts of accessories. You're a Renaissance pizza, that's for sure. A very creative game that's worth its weight in laughs and sheer awesomeness. Pizza vs. Skeletons Free is also available.

Playing a secret agent is always fun, even when it's pared down to a simple one-button game, like in Agent Turnright by Pencilkids. 16 levels of mini-games await you and your right pointer finger as you help Turnright work his way to defeating the boss and winning the girl. In how many clicks can you complete this adventure?

Hidden object games are all over the place for the Mac/Windows downloadable scene. Take a look at the mobile market, though, and you'll find the pickings a bit more slim. Narrow that search to just the good hidden object games, and the selection is even smaller. Pirate Mysteries: A Tale of Monkeys, Masks and Hidden Objects is one of the successful hidden object games on mobile devices. It manages to keep its intrigue along with a healthy amount of content while shrinking everything down to fit on smaller hardware.

The enthusiasm of "Alice is Dead" developer Hyptosis branches out into the turn-based RPG genre in his new game Relic, where the titular object might destroy the world in the wrong hands and it's up to your ragtag group of sexy and/or adorable adventurers to get it back. Featuring an array of imaginatively designed beasties for enemies and some lovely maps, this is a quick romp you can beat in a few hours. Saving the world needn't take all day.

You, are the hunter. The yeti, is your prey. In this snowy world of trees and, well, more snow and trees, it's just you and your gun versus the ever-elusive hairy beast. Trudge through the land in this 3D game as you scour the distant background for signs of the yeti. When you see him, aim and shoot, and hope you're good with a gun. A surprisingly haunting and chilling game from Vlambeer (with a great musical score from Kozilek), especially when it turns into night.

Although it's little more than a stunning map to walk around in, Andrew Yoder's Hubris is a surprisingly atmospheric experience that attempts to invoke emotion and set your imagination running around in a world void of conflict or interaction. Simply put, all you do in Hubris is march around and take in the view. There's a staircase, a small tower, plenty of intricate wall work with shadows and small openings, and a door waiting at the top. Despite (or, more likely, because of) the emptiness, you'll quickly become enamored with this small little game.

Grave Mania: Undead Fever is a humor-filled, zombie-infested time management game from Team Loca and Anino Games. Kicking stuffy food-related themes to the side, Grave Mania focuses on intelligent time management skills interspersed with mini- and micro-games, providing enough action to keep you completely engrossed (and grinning) from beginning to end.

Monsters never seem to have altruistic agendas. Whether it's scarfing down brains, scaring children, or mucking about with your spreadsheets so you think you did your taxes wrong (the horror!), if a monster comes near, you should probably ready your defenses. Such is the case with Monster TD, a well-illustrated side view tower defense game from Booblyc, the same team behind the physics puzzle game Steampunk.

TeraLumina makes a reappearance in Weekday Escape with this gem-tastic selection. Once again you're locked inside an upscale, decorously furnished apartment. Besides searching for clues to exit, you'll also be on the lookout for eighteen sapphires furtively lurking in every nook and cranny. The changing cursor and well-organized inventory helps with that as you put your deductive reasoning skills to the test. While perhaps not enough to make us forget our favorite room escape designers, Sapphire Room Escape still manages to sparkle with escaping fun.

If you've ever dreamed of being a daredevil (even if it's in a stolen shopping cart), then try out Monkey Want Banana's latest installment in their launch game series, Shopping Cart Hero 3. Learn different stunts, add groupies and pimp your cart as you fly through three worlds with a few boss battles. Just remember to turn your cart upright after a trick... a dead groupie is no groupie at all.

The emphasis is on exploration, discovery and puzzle-solving in this Jules Verne-worthy hidden-object/adventure hybrid from GameInvest. An eccentric inventor thinks he's found a way to live forever by building a House of Brass, sealed off from the rest of the world, fully-mechanical and powered by steam. After your curiosity and amazement results in being trapped inside, you're tasked with fixing contraptions and making your way back outside. Your steps are dogged by an adversarial robot as well as the overly-complicated contraptions of the house's builder.

What happens when you give Mario a portal gun? A mish-mash of two extraordinarily recognizable games — Super Mario Bros. and Portal — with a whole lot of extras. Mari0 puts you in control of our favorite pixellated plumber as he goes on his famous adventure from the mid-1980s, only this time, he's got the power of portals on his side!

A giant robot with super strength, a grudge, and the know-how to create more of itself? Sounds like a great idea to me! Answering an old colleague's letter, you arrive in town to find the place apparently under attack by mechanical monstrosities and your friend nowhere to be found. Can you unravel the mystery before winding up a victim yourself? Artogon Games delivers a gorgeous adventure that takes a unique approach to hidden-object hunting that's worth checking out.

When a reporter vanishes while she and her cameraman are investigating the notorious though supposedly deserted Black Isle, as a member of the detective agency Mystery Trackers, you find yourself called in to find her. But before long you'll discover this is more than just a simple missing persons case, and you'll get wrapped up in a big paranormal conspiracy that might just be the death of you unless you can get to the bottom of the mystery. A stellar hidden-object adventure that delivers campy drama and originality, lots of cinematics, and one big, enjoyable game.

When your world's about to end, is there any better goal than to become a god? Point and click your way out of whatever fate has in store for this place. It's your task to put together the missing pieces of the magical seal that'll transport you to your final destination where you can finally transcend a mortal's life and live in your dream. Buck up, young soul, godhood awaits!

Blast aliens on Planet Blirp, an sidescrolling action shooter from Helmet Games. A very familiar kind of game, though its variety of mission objectives and humorous storyline separate it from the pack. An emphasis on grinding and a steep learning curve mar the experience, but overall it is a solid time-waster.

A flight of fancy makes young Nelly venture out of her house alone one night, and she winds up stumbling straight into trouble of the "deep, dark, deadly" variety. Will she survive her journey through this melancholy yet oddly beautiful realm? Only your puzzle-solving and platforming skills will tell in this short but striking little adventure.

Detarou delivers once again in this challenging yet surreal escape game that also holds a weird sort of logic if you know how to look at it. With five endings to uncover, a depressed man stuck in a wall, accusatory children, and an ineffective superhero, it's every bit as strange as you might expect, and a welcome bit of escaping for your brain.