Geek Galaxy

Lou Hattersley reveals the best games of 2014

If you got a new iPad, iPhone or iPod touch for 
Christmas, then you’ll want to know what the 
best games on the App Store are. This guide 
to the best games for iPad and iPhone has all the 
entertainment you need.
Last year was a bumper year for iOS gaming. 
It saw iOS gaming move up a gear and iPad and 
iPhone owners have a range of high quality games 
to choose from. In recent years iOS gaming has 
been mostly puzzle and indie games designed 

for the touchscreen, or console classics using on 
screen buttons and controls. Some of these have
been amazing games, but in the last year we’ve
seen superb games with high production values and
impressive graphics designed specifically for the
iPad and iPhone. These games are even better than
those costing 10 times as much on other consoles.

Republique

Price £2.99
Republique has only just been released on the App
Store, but is such a good game we had to sneak
it. This is a great example of a world-leading game
that has been designed from the ground up for iOS.
This Metal-Gear Solid-esque stealth game sees you
viewing a complex through the CCTV cameras, and
guiding a mysterious girl as she escapes. You guide
her through the levels, tapping to tell her where to
hide while tapping to control and hack the security
systems. It has world-class visuals and a control
scheme custom built for the iPad and iPhone’s

touchscreen interface.

XCom: Enemy Unknown

Price: £6.99
This tactical war game sees you controlling a squad
of soldiers hunting, capturing and fighting aliens.
It’s an almost perfect recreation of the console
classic, and its controls work just as well on the
iPad as on the big screen. In-between battles
you can research and develop new weapons,
armour and upgrade your squad. Decisions are all
permanent too, so if you lose a member of your
team in battle they’re gone forever. It’s a visual
feast and the perfect game for armchair generals.
One of the best games to arrive in 2013.

The Room Two

Price: £2.99
The Room is a fantastic 3D puzzle game where you
can pick up, examine and manipulate objects in a
room. All with a view to escaping. It’s a good looking
game but it’s the tactile nature of the experience that
makes it special. You really get the feel that you can pick up and use the items in the room. The Room
Two is a truly immersive game that tests your mental
and spatial abilities.

Star Wars: Knights Of The Old Republic

Price: £2.99
BioWare creates some of the most amazing roleplaying
games in existence. Its Star Wars Knights
Of The Old Republic is one of the best that it’s ever
made, and also one of the best Star Wars games.
It’s set in the Star Wars universe, but you don’t play
Luke or Han or any of the usual characters. The
storyline is fantastic, you get a real sense that you
choices have consequences, and the combat is
surprisingly in-depth.

Deus Ex: The Fall

Price: 99p
Deus Ex is another console classic that has become
a great iOS game in its own right. With huge
environments this first-person sci-fi shooter blends
action with role-playing gameplay. While it features
console controls translated to iOS it manages to
do so with a level of quality beyond most other
conversions (and even most games on any platform).
More than anything this is an amazing game for the
price. Well worth downloading.

Stealth Inc.

Price: £2.99
Most of the our favourite games from 2013 are
bombastic console classics with high quality visuals.
But Stealth Inc is an indie classic developed for
both the iPad, iphone and console machines at the
same time. It’s a platform game, but has detailed
stealth gameplay with you jumping around 80 levels.
It’s sublimely easy to start out, but soon becomes
devilishly challenging. It lacks the visual aplomb
of other games here (apart from Papa Sangre, of
course) but we love the cutesy visuals and fastpaced
gameplay on display here.