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Concrete Jungle ($4.99) by ColePowered is the mobile port of the popular Steam game that came out in 2015. Think of Hearthstone meets Sim City meets puzzle game, as it is a mashup of various genres that works out pretty well. If you’ve never played it before, then there’s no better time to jump in than now.

Life has been fairly hectic for me lately, which is expected as I’ve returned to school for a completely different subject matter than what I studied five years ago. So when I have some time to relax nowadays, there’s nothing more I like to do than just sit down and kick back with a good game on my iPhone 7. I’ve gone through many game titles before, but the ones that stick out the most are the genre mashup ones, like Solitairica and Severed. I like these games because they combine familiar elements to create something entirely new, and they’re usually fairly addictive. I had not heard of Concrete Jungle before, but I noticed it featured on the App Store this week and had to give it a try. Needless to say, it’s going to be one of those games I’ll just keep coming back to when I need to unwind.

One of the things that caught my attention with Concrete Jungle were the graphics. Since I haven’t heard of the game before this week, I was intrigued because the game board is packed with an incredible amount of detail, even on the smaller screen of my iPhone 7. The board is composed of an isometric block of earth, and you can even see the various textured layers of the Earth’s crust from the sides. Each square holds various building structures, which appear miniature in the grand scheme of things, but the game doesn’t skimp out on the features of each individual property. The colors used are fairly realistic of how things are in reality, and I found everything to be laid out in an organized fashion — you shouldn’t be too lost after going through the tutorial and playing a few games on your own. I also love the art style of the characters, as they all appear hand-drawn and painted, and are bursting with their own unique charm and personalities. On the audio side, the game has a soothing soundtrack, realistic sound effects, and some pretty great voice acting.

There are two modes in Concrete Jungle: Campaign (story) Mode and Custom Game, which includes Solo, Versus, Classic — any of these can be saved and loaded with the “Load Game” option until they’re complete. If you’re a newbie like me, then I recommend going through the Campaign, since it will show you the ropes, and the game itself can be rather difficult. The Custom Games let you play solo or versus AI or local players, and you can tweak the game length and other settings to your liking, including an endless option. Regardless of how you choose to play, the goal remains the same: clear city blocks by gathering up the required amount of points from residents on that block. However, you’ll end up building your own puzzles as you get further in the game, as you’ll realize that you’ve created zoning issues depending on earlier actions.

So how do you play? As you start each game, you’ll have about 12 cards in your deck, with your starting hand appearing on the left side of the screen. The highlighted cards are what you can play right now, and if it’s multiple options, just tap on the one you want to play. Each card consists of a building, such as a house, business (shop, restaurant, brewery, etc.), or even negative-but-necessary-for-economy structures, like factories. With each card, you’ll see that it may have a positive (blue) or negative (red) impact on adjacent or nearby squares, so you have to observe these and take them into consideration as you plan out the city. You must clear out the first line (closest to you) by meeting the required number of residents for the block, which ends up getting trickier as you go. When you clear out a specific number of blocks (watch the population gauge in the top right), you’ve completed the stage and can move on to the next level or game. If you need to force clear a column, just tap on the button in the top left — but watch out, it costs one life to do so, and you only get three hearts.

Also, each card has a level, which is indicated by the number in the colored diamonds in the top right of each card. The orange number represents the expenditure cost, which affects the target goal for each column that you need to clear out. The yellow number is the card’s economy point distribution, so once the gauge fills up in the top right of the screen, you get a “purchase” that can nab you a new card for your deck. But you can only choose one out of four random cards, so pick wisely.

You gain experience points whether you are successful with a level or not (more are awarded if you are, though), and once you reach the next rank, you get to add a new building card to your deck. The game also has a total of eight available characters that you can play as, though they must be unlocked, and each one has their own kind of play style that affects the game. Up to three stars can be earned for each stage as well, depending on how many points you manage to rack up by the time you complete it.

I’m a bit late to the Concrete Jungle party, so I’m still trying to get the hang of things, but so far I’m enjoying the game a lot. I love the amount of detail that the developers have put into the game, and it looks great even on my iPhone 7 (it’s recommended for larger device screens). The mashup of deck building, city planning simulation, and puzzle is interesting, challenging, and rather addictive, as I can’t help but keep trying after I have failed numerous times already. I found the controls to be pretty simple, and while it takes some time to understand the rules and objectives, Concrete Jungle is a very fun game once you know the basics. It’s definitely a challenge, so expect this one to last you a while.

I recommend checking out Concrete Jungle if you haven’t done so already. You can find Concrete Jungle on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $4.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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Treasure Buster ($0.99) by FDG Mobile Games GbR is a unique roguelike dungeon crawling experience that mixes in bubble-shooting and pinball-like elements into the recipe. If you enjoy dungeon crawlers and collecting loot, but want something fresh and exciting, then Treasure Buster is one you shouldn’t miss.

When I have time to spare, I like to sit down and play a video game to unwind and relax, as well as pass the time. While I mostly like to keep busy with puzzles, I do love to play dungeon crawler games every now and then. That’s because of the awesome hack-n-slash action and all of the awesome loot that you can collect along the way that make your own characters stronger. I mean, what’s not to like about that? But I did notice that most of the games in the genre are usually the same thing, just with a different skin. So when I saw the news of Treasure Buster hit my inbox, I was intrigued — it’s a completely new take on dungeon crawlers that works incredibly well. In fact, once you get started with Treasure Buster, you’ll have a hard time putting it down.

Visually, Treasure Buster is gorgeous with the retro pixel art style that was everywhere back in the ‘80s and ‘90s, and has been making a modern comeback. If you grew up with the games back then, you’ll feel right at home in Treasure Buster. The dungeons are full of detail and feature fantastic use of textures and shadows to give everything a bit more depth than just looking flat and 2-D. The character sprites are nicely done, as the game showcases great diversity in the heroes that you can choose. They all have their own unique appearances and strengths and weaknesses, and are bouncy with bubbly personalities. The colors used in Treasure Buster range from bright and vivid for the treasure, to more dark and rich hues for the dungeon environments and enemies. And despite the pixelated aesthetic, you can clearly tell what everything is supposed to be, so FDG did a great job with how everything looks and feels here. The chiptune soundtrack is upbeat, quirky, and definitely helps get you in the mood for some pinball dungeon crawling action. The sound effects as you bounce all over the room are delightful to hear, and will bring a smile to your face.

There are two game modes in Treasure Buster: Arcade and Endless. Arcade lets you go through a kind of single-player campaign mode, where you must navigate from room-to-room and eventually reach (and defeat) the boss of the area before proceeding to the next dungeon. You’ll have the opportunity to allocate skill points on your selected character’s attributes before moving on, so there are chances to improve your hero. In Endless, you clear out a room and then choose between two different coin tosses that will determine what the next room will hold. If you’re more into high score chasing, then Endless will be perfect, but if you like to see some kind of progression in a roguelike game, then Arcade is the way to go.

The controls in Treasure Buster are super simple and allow players to play the game with one hand. Since each room holds you, some enemies, and sometimes randomized obstacles like walls and blocks, movement is limited. To fling your hero into action, just touch-and-drag anywhere on the screen to reveal an arrow on your character. The further you pull back, the stronger the fling will be, similar to games like Angry Birds. When you have your arrow aiming where you want to go (make use of physics and angles to get hard to reach spots), just release your finger from the screen and your hero will be on their way. They’ll bounce around the room, hitting enemies and chipping away at their health bars along the way. Sometimes you may have a power-up item, like the Lance, that lets you pierce through enemies instead of bouncing off of them. These power-ups can be activated with a tap on the button in the bottom right corner.

Each hero has their own attributes, which will affect the speed, damage, and even health that they have. The numbers on opponents indicate how many moves you can make before they’ll move or unleash an attack, which may or may not hit you depending on where you stop. It’s important to note the attack patterns of enemies, because when they attack, it’s like dodging in a bullet hell game, except you can’t move. So getting into the best position ahead of time is important so you don’t get hit as much, which means less health you lose and more loot you can get before the run ends. When you’re on a hot streak during your turn, you’ll activate your hero’s “Treasure Aura,” which will get your better, more valuable loot drops from foes, which mean a higher score in the end.

I haven’t played the game too much yet, but in the short time I’ve spent with it, Treasure Buster is a new favorite. I am in love with the pixel-perfect vintage visuals, the chiptune soundtrack is a joy to my ears, and the controls are top-notch and what a mobile game is all about. While the controls are easy to learn, it’s difficult to master since you have to take into account positioning after the fling for maximum survivability. But it’s satisfying to watch your hero bounce and knock out all of the foes, while seeing the screen get showered with shiny loot. This is one game that I know I will be returning to often when I need to relieve some stress, which seems to be a lot as of late.

I highly recommend checking out Treasure Buster if you’re a fan of roguelike dungeon crawlers and pinball. You can get Treasure Buster on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $0.99.

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