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Dog Sled Saga ($3.99) by Dan FitzGerald is a dogsledding simulation game that will appeal to all dog lovers out there. If you liked games like Punch Club but wish you had something a bit colder and filled with more dogs, then Dog Sled Saga will be right up your alley.

As a person who lives in Southern California, I honestly don’t know what having a real winter is like, though I wish I did, because I can’t stand being in the heat. I yearn for rain and snow, or at least some overcast, but my only salvation these days has been places with precious air conditioning. I did manage to experience snow in the mountains as a kid, though, thanks to my brother taking me out on skiing trips when I was younger. Even though I have no experience with the dogsledding sport, that isn’t going to stop me from trying Dog Sled Saga, as it at least gives me some peace of mind with the cold setting — one can dream, right?

In terms of visuals, Dog Sled Saga is beautiful, as it features a retro pixelated aesthetic that is incredibly detailed for what it’s worth. If you grew up in the golden age of gaming with all of the classic 8-bit and 16-bit titles on home consoles, then you’ll feel right at home with Dog Sled Saga. The color palette in the game ranges from softer, slightly washed-out hues to simulate the cold wintery setting, but there are some vibrant bits that stand out more thanks to the contrast with the snowy environment. Animations are smooth and fluid, and each dog is filled with their own unique personality and charm that shows through their sprite’s movements. There is also a quirky chiptune soundtrack that goes well with the game, and realistic sound effects, especially for the dogs, that make it feel more real. The text is rather easy-to-read as well, though it feels a bit small at times. Overall, the developers have done a good job in terms of how the game looks and sounds.

Since Dog Sled Saga is a simulation game, there’s only one game mode that’s available, and that’s Career. You begin as a rookie dogsledder who is just starting out, and you can have up to two game saves at a time. As you start, you’ll be asked to pick between one of two different dogsledder character models, and then you can pick your first three dogs. In order to make money, you’ll have to participate in dogsled races and finish in a ranked position to get some cash, which you need to pay your league dues and other expenses in order to make a living. In the beginning of the game, things are pretty basic — race with your dogs, make some money, train and care for your dog team, and pay your dues. But as you advance in the game, you’ll be able to hire employees for multitasking purposes for your team, get sponsorships for your dog’s fame, breed puppies, hire more skilled dogs, and more. While the game looks like it’s just dogsled racing on the surface, there is a surprising amount of depth, strategy, and micromanagement behind Dog Sled Saga, so it should appeal to any simulation fan.

While the micromanaging part of the game is easy to control (just simple taps through menus), the dogsled racing part requires a bit more involvement. As your dogs run, you’ll have to pay attention to when they start panting — this means they’re exhausted and need a biscuit for some energy. To lob a biscuit, just do a long-press on the screen and you’ll see a trajectory line appear from your dogsledder that will move back and forth. Just let go when the line is aligned with the panting dog’s head so that they can catch the treat. Your food supply is limited, but you’ll come across a few refill stations during the race, so make sure to lob those biscuits carefully. You can make your dogs jump and avoid large rocks by tapping anywhere three times in quick succession (not always successful for me). If a dog gets tangled in the harness, just tap repeatedly on them to fix it, and if the dogs are too close to each other, you can swipe on a dog to make them drift further ahead.

The controls work for the most part, though I did have trouble with the jumping part often. It seemed that the game was not as responsive during real races instead of the tutorial, as my team crashed into rocks a few times. I also had some problems with the text in the tutorial, as part of the text got covered up by the dog card when you’re rearranging the positions before a race. The game also doesn’t seem to use confirmation boxes before you make decisions, which can lead to disasters like accidentally losing game save data. I hope that the developers can optimize the controls and menus in a future update, as it would definitely help out with my minor annoyances so far.

I just started my career as a dogsledder, and despite the quirks with the controls at the moment, I’m enjoying the game. I love dogs, so how can I resist a team of cute and fluffy pixelated dogs? The graphics are gorgeous and detailed, the music is fun to listen to, sound effects are delightful and charming, and the simulation aspect can get in-depth. The racing aspect is fun as well, making it feel like an arcade mini-game in the simulation. I just hope to see better optimization in the future for controls and game menus, as well as some minor text fixes.

I recommend giving Dog Sled Saga a try if you enjoy micromanagement simulation games with a bit of arcade racing action. It’s also a fantastic game if you just love dogs in general. Dog Sled Saga is available on the App Store as a universal download on your iPhone and iPad for just $3.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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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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