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Towaga ($2.99) by Sunnyside Games is a fresh new take on the traditional 2-D arcade shooter game. If you love to test your reflex skills and are itching for a fast-paced game to pass some time with, then Towaga is definitely one that you should check out.

I’ve been going through a bit of stress lately, so the best way for me to take my mind off things is to play video games. While I like to play games on a variety of platforms, the one device that I have with me at all times is my iPhone, of course, so it usually ends up being my primary gaming handheld for the most part. Personally, I enjoy puzzle games the most on iOS, but I find arcade shooter games to be a great stress-reliever too, especially right now. While I’ve played my fair share of arcade shooters on iOS, Towaga caught my eye while browsing the App Store this week, and I had to give it a shot. Needless to say, Towaga is a refreshing new take on the genre that manages to keep things interesting.

Visually speaking, Towaga is downright gorgeous, especially on your Retina screens. The game features a beautifully detailed aesthetic that is both intricate and magical, which fits nicely with the theme of Towaga itself. The various ancient temples that act as the stages are packed with incredible detail that range from the textures and dynamic lighting effects, and Chimù has a distinctive appearance that makes him stand out atop the legendary temples of Towaga. There is also a nice variety of enemies that you will encounter on each level, and even the enemy character models have their own unique appearances and behaviors that you’ll learn the more you play. As I mentioned, the game makes great use of dynamic lighting as you fire off your giant lightbeam from Chimù’s palms, and all of the animations are smooth and fluid. Towaga also has a soothing, atmospheric soundtrack that is rather captivating and engaging, and fits the ancient legendary temple theme rather well. Overall, Sunnyside Games has done a great job with Towaga in terms of visuals and audio, though this should not be too surprising as they did create The Firm, which I was a fan of back in the day.

In Towaga, there is only one game mode, and that is essentially to survive for as long as you can. The game currently has six levels, but only the first stage is available to you from the get-go — the other five must be unlocked by meeting the point threshold of the previous level. Each stage features a different section of the legendary temple of Towaga, and with that brings different enemies that will be out to get you as you perform the exorcism ritual. The objective in each level is to illuminate the dark critters that come at you from all angles and then to exorcise them out of existence, which net you points for your final score.

Controls in Towaga are as simple as they come. Your primary virtual joystick for aiming and shooting Chimù’s lightbeam can be found in the bottom right, and you just move it around to aim and press it to fire. When the beam hits a creature, a ring of runic symbols will light up, and once it’s complete, the creature becomes frozen for a brief period of time, giving you a few seconds to do the same thing to another foe if possible. The more of them you stun at the same time, the more points you’ll earn due to the multiplier. The moment you lift your thumb from the laser stick, those stunned creatures will be exorcised away into nothingness. In the bottom left corner will be another joystick, and this activates your Overbeam, which is a stronger lightbeam that is more spread out and can hit multiple foes at once, weakening and stunning them, but it drains a bit of your life away. You’ll recover some health from exorcised foes, so it’s all about speed, timing, and balance. The Overbeam can’t be used if your health is too low, and when you run out of health on your bar, the round ends and your score gets tallied up.

The game keeps track of your highest score and number of deaths on each stage, in case you want to see your progression throughout the game. Even though the game starts off simple enough, things do get frantic when the quicker foes start flying in, or when the beefier critters start making their way to you in hordes. It does take a bit of practice to master, but once you do, the game is intensely satisfying.

I’m still trying to make my way through the first temple, but so far I’m enjoying Towaga. It’s different from other arcade shooters that I’ve played in the past, but that’s always a welcome change to a tried-and-true genre. On top of the uncommon gameplay, Towaga showcases an exquisite artwork style and the music and sounds are delightful. Controls are simple and intuitive, though it does require some practice to fully master if you want to get the best scores and unlock all stages. I do think that the game gets a bit repetitive in the first stage though, so perhaps lowering the target threshold to unlock the next stage is something the developer should consider. Or at least make it a bit more randomized in terms of enemy encounters.

I still recommend giving Towaga a try if you are looking for a game that sets itself apart from the typical fare. Towaga is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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Super Gridland ($1.99) by doublespeak games is a new match-three kingdom-building RPG that will put your strategic matching skills to the test. If you enjoyed games like You Must Build A Boat, 10000000, and Hero Emblems, then you will love what Super Gridland has to offer.

Even though a lot of my gaming is being done on my PS4 these days, I still love to turn to my iPhone for those rare moments of downtime between work and classes. On the mobile platform, one of my favorite game genres is puzzle, with the majority falling under the match-three category. However, with most match-threes being the same thing with a different skin, I am even more intrigued by the match-three RPGs because they add an entire new layer over a tried-and-true genre. While I’ve gone through my fair share of them, I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of them and am always looking out for new ones to try out. So naturally, when I saw Super Gridland on the App Store over the weekend, I knew that I had to try it out. It probably goes without saying, but I am not disappointed with Super Gridland.

Visually speaking, Super Gridland features a nice retro aesthetic with the pixelated art style. If you grew up with the old-school consoles back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, such as the SNES and Genesis, then you will feel right at home with the graphics in Super Gridland. And while the game sports the pixelated look, everything in the game is still fairly detailed, from the buildings that your character ends up creating to the enemies that come out at night for you. I do wish that the character sprites for your character and enemies were a little bigger, as it can be hard to see compared to everything else. The game has a nice variety for the color palette, as it features bright and vibrant hues during the day and dark, creepy tones at night. Animations are smooth and fluid, and there was no lag on my iPhone 7. Super Gridland also features a fantastic chiptune soundtrack that is a joy to listen to in the background, and the sound effects are top notch. It goes without saying that the developers have done a great job with Super Gridland in terms of the visual and audio department, though I still think that the character sprites could be a tad larger.

So what is Super Gridland, exactly? While it’s a match-three RPG game like YMBAB, it’s slightly different from what you may be used to, because it’s more of a turn-based strategy game than frantic match-three combo-fest. The game supports three save files so you can have multiple adventures going at once, but each slot will have it’s own player progression. In Super Gridland, you will help your nameless protagonist collect resources during the day in order to build up a village. But as time passes, night will come, and bloodthirsty monsters will begin to come in and attack you and your small village. As each day passes, new resources get introduced and night combat gets more difficult, but when you die, you’ll just pick up on the day that you left off on.

The gameplay of Super Gridland is simple enough: make matches of three or more in a vertical or horizontal line in order to collect resources or survive in battle (attack, shield, heal, or even bring out more monsters). Like all match-three type games, it’s best to create bigger matches, as they can also lead to chain combos. As you make progress in the days, your character will grow stronger, and you’ll eventually end up with more hearts so survival becomes a bit easier, though you still have to think about your moves carefully.

Controls in Super Gridland are simple and straightforward enough, especially if you’ve played these types of games before. Each game consists of a grid that has a random assortment of resource (day) and combat (night) tiles. In order to make a match of three or more, you’ll have to select the tile you want to swap, and then swipe it in the direction that you want it to move to, or just tap on an adjacent tile to switch them with each other. While the control scheme works alright, I did find that it was a bit clunky at times, where my swipes and taps weren’t being registered. Hopefully the developers can optimize the controls a bit in a future update to make it more streamlined, but still, it works if you’re just a bit careful with where you tap and swipe.

As a big fan of games like YMBAB, I just had to try Super Gridland. I’m pretty happy that the gameplay elements are slightly different from YMBAB, because in that game, it was all about being fast with the matches you were making, whereas Super Gridland requires a bit more thought and patience. It definitely takes a bit of getting used to, and if you like the mechanics of YMBAB and play Super Gridland the same way, chances are you will die fairly quickly when nightfall comes. I had to play a few rounds before I finally got the hang of things, but I can assure you that the result is worth the time required you need for some practice. The only problem is due to the size of the sprites, it can be hard to notice when you’re in danger of dying, especially since the game doesn’t give you any kind of audible warning when your hearts (located at the top of the screen) are about to be depleted.

Still, with the awesome graphics and fun music, Super Gridland is definitely one game I’ll continue playing for a while. I just hope to see larger character sprites and some kind of visual or audible warning regarding critical health levels. Another thing to note is the fact that the game kind of just throws you into the middle of things without any explanation, so it’s up to you to figure things out on your own. While this doesn’t bother me too much, it may be a bit more problematic for newbies to the match-three RPG genre, so perhaps the developer should add an optional tutorial mode.

I recommend giving Super Gridland a try if you are in the mood for a challenging turn-based match-three kingdom-building RPG. You can find Super Gridland on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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