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Athenion might not have the pedigree of some other deck-building card games available for mobile, but that shouldn't put you off. This is a game that's packed full of bright ideas, fresh new gameplay modes and enough content that you can lose hours of your life to.

Battles take place on a 4×4 grid, and see you taking it in turns with your opponent to lay down cards. You draw up to five cards from your deck of forty at the start of every turn.

These are the units you're playing in the fight, and they range from hulking monsters to flighty fairies, from magical trees to fearsome undead dragons.

Your cards have arrows on them that you show you which direction they can attack. You'll also notice a bunch of other numbers on the cards. These let you know the hit points a card has, how powerful its attack is and how many soul points it grants you.

Those soul points let you attack your opponent and they're the key to victory. The first player to lose all of their own hit points is the loser.

There's a lot more going on than that though. For one thing you need to pick from one of six different factions before you even get to the fights.

These factions have different strengths and weaknesses and figuring out which of them best suits the way you want to play is the first step of a pretty long journey.

Different factions have different special moves as well. Some let you link together cards to make them more powerful, others are all about sacrificing weaker units to create pockets of dark magical energy. One lets you build giant rock walls that you can use to protect some of your units or power up others.

There are single-player challenges, regular events and much, much more as well. You're never short of something to do in Athenion, and the pace of the matches lets you get a lot of them in in a single setting.

The Good

There's a staggering amount of depth to Athenion. It's going to take you a good while to get to grips with the basics and once you've done that there are layers and layers to peel back. Every time you win you'll figure out a new strategy and every time you lose you'll be trying to find a way to right that wrong.

The game looks amazing too. The cards all sport a brilliant anime art-style and you'll want to collect all of them just so you can check them out. The speed of the fights is a massive plus too – they deliver huge chunks of tactical action in the sort of short-blast sessions that are perfect for mobile play.

On top of that there's a brilliant community to the game, and you never have to wait long to find an online battle. There are a number of different modes that let you practice with different decks, take part in intriguing events and fight it out in ranked and casual multiplayer matches.

The Bad

There's a pretty steep learning curve here, so if you're not in for the long haul then you might be better finding your card-based fun somewhere else. Even when you've got the basics down you've still got a lot to learn and it can be punishing to come up against an opponent who knows more than you do.

There are also a lot of currencies, crafting materials and other rewards to figure out. The game does tell you what they do, but the tutorials are pretty brief and you're left on your own for a lot of the time to try and get to the bottom of things.

Overall

Athenion might not be the easiest game to understand, but once things start clicking it becomes something really rather special. There are some brilliant ideas here and they're woven into a bright tapestry of gorgeous visuals and wonderfully paced mobile play.

It won't be to everyone's taste, and it's fair to say that some players are going to put it down before they've even got to the good bits, but this is one CCG that it's well worth sticking with.

8.2

OVERALL

Replayability 8.1

Game Controls 8.2

Graphics 8.7

Sound/Music 8.2

Gameplay 7.8

FREE

Athenion: Tactical CCG

ZERO-bit Company Limited

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Ava Airborne (Free) by PlayStack Ltd and Laser Dog Games is an infinite flyer full of traditional gliders and unorthodox contraptions, collectibles, dangers, and just a lot of cute fun. If you love games like Tiny Wings and Alto's Odyssey, then Ava Airborne is another fine addition to the collection.

I, like many others, have always dreamed of flying. And no, I don't mean by a plane either, but actual flying. The type that you only dream about, but it's one of those things you've been wanting since you were a child. While it's still on my bucket list one day, I doubt it's happening anytime soon because of other things — being an adult is hard. Fortunately, there's video games, and Ava Airborne is one that brings your dreams of flight to virtual reality. It's also partly made by Laser Dog, who brought us fantastic games like Hopiko. So I have high expectations for Ava Airborne, and they've been met.

$2.99

Tiny Wings

Andreas Illiger

$4.99

Alto's Odyssey

Snowman

Visually, Ava Airborne is gorgeous. The game features a minimalistic aesthetic that's rather beautiful, and everything is rendered in a 2D style. Ava Airborne has a unique and oneiric dreamscape environment that's full of interesting contraptions and obstacles. The protagonist is a little girl with stick-like limbs who just wants to fly, like the rest of us. The color palette is a fantastic mix of soft pastels, bold and vibrant hues, and muted shades, so everything is appealing to the eyes. The backdrops are blurred out slightly, but still have serene scenes that are peaceful to look at. Animations are buttery smooth and fluid, so there's no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. The game also has an upbeat and quirky soundtrack that's delightful to listen to, and the sound effects are excellent.

Since Ava Airborne is an infinite flyer-style game, there's only one game mode, and the goal is to cover as much air as you can. You start out with the basic glider, but as you fly and earn miles, you rank up and have the ability to purchase new contraptions. These contraptions change how you fly, and even allow you to move through the air faster. Some also change the music and visuals. However, you can only unlock a new contraption by ranking up, and having enough sweets (in-game currency) for it.

As you play, each contraption can be upgraded as well. Doing this makes them more effective, since they all have their own unique multipliers when it comes to earning experience to rank up as well as sweets gained. So as you level up, make sure to save up those sweets and get as many contraptions as you can to play around with.

Ava also has some flying companions that are able to help her out during her flights. You can unlock new companions and collectibles along the journey by obtaining them from flights, free gifts, or by ranking up. The companions can save Ava from crashes and other dangers, while collectibles give you cool trails and other fun stuff.

Controls in Ava Airborne are simple and intuitive. Just long press on the screen to glide (or tap to do it in spurts) and release to fall. It's all about timing when it comes to soaring through the air and avoiding the obstacles like explosive balloons and lasers.

One thing I'm not fond of with other infinite style games is the fact that when you hit something, it's usually game over from there. However, Ava Airborne does things a bit differently. If you hit something, you have an opportunity to recover by rapidly tapping both sides of the screen to recompose yourself and keep flying. However, the number of taps increases after each hit, so it does have diminishing returns.

There are also trampolines on the ground and cannons in the air that you can fall into and it helps you recover as well. Ava Airborne is rather forgiving when it comes to mistakes, making this a much more relaxed-feeling game.

After each flight, you get experience points based on how well you do. To obtain sweets, you must pop balloons while flying, as they seem to like hiding in them. The final amount can change depending on the contraption you have equipped. You can also double the amount of sweets you've earned by watching an optional video ad.

Since Ava Airborne is a free game, there are ads, as I just mentioned. But they're all optional, and non-intrusive.

Help Ava hang glide through the sky filled with obstacles.

The Good

Ava Airborne is a unique endless flyer that has a lot of style and personality. The visuals are cute, endearing, and just delightful on Retina screens. The music is fun and eccentric, and the sound effects are nice, especially when popping balloons. The controls are simple enough for anyone, and the gameplay is simple but challenging. Even if you aren't a fan of most endless games, this one is worth checking out because it's done so well.

The Bad

There's a lot of good stuff in Ava Airborne, so it's hard to find anything bad about it. Though the only thing I can think of is the rapid tapping to recover is a killer on my wrists, but I think that will vary for everyone.

The verdict

For a free game, Ava Airborne is pretty good. I love the fun visuals, the sound is awesome, and the gameplay is challenging but keeps you coming back for more. I'm a fan of endless games that do things differently from the rest, and Ava Airborne is one of them. The game is great for a free title, and even though there are ads, they're completely optional, which is nice. This is definitely one of those games I'll be coming back to whenever I have a spare moment throughout the day.

Ava Airborne is available on the App Store as a universal download for free. There are in-app purchases.

9.2

OVERALL

Replayability 9

Graphics 9.5

Sound/Music 9.5

Gameplay 9.5

Game Controls 8.5

FREE

Ava Airborne

PlayStack Ltd

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