The truest measure of how addictive a video game is comes from how much time you’ve unknowingly lost because of it. It’s one thing to comprehend the passage of time but still stay glued to the screen; it’s another to look up and go, “holy shit, I’ve been playing for 12 hours?”

Certain few games fall into the latter category. I’m here to tell you that Game Dev Story, the recently released iOS game from Kairosoft, is definitely one of them. A devilishly well-balanced RPG-slash-video game development sim, Game Dev Story is one of the few games I’ve played until my iPhone’s battery is almost gone — and then plugged it in to play some more.

Work, my minions, work! Catching fire is, much like in NBA Jam, a good thing in Game Dev Story. As your studio grows, you can expand to new offices that are nicer and allow for more staff.

The actual gameplay in Game Dev Story is simple: You manage a video game studio, including everything from hiring and firing employees and deciding the genre and theme of your next game to advertising the game before and after it’s released. You can also take contract jobs such as designing a new mascot for a town, producing sound for movies or building a game engine. Early in the game there is a balance between contracts and games as you build up your staff’s capabilities, buy new game console development licenses and become more and more profitable. Eventually, your staff will be churning out Game of the Year candidates, working on sequels to top-rated games, selling millions of copies, and even developing your own consoles.

“Well, that’s great,” you’re saying. “But how is that addictive?” Game Dev Story grabs hold and sucks your life away because deciding on a new game to develop and managing its development process takes maybe 5 minutes or so of real time — and, it so turns out, this is the perfect amount to move the game into that scary “just-one-more-round” level of addiction.

The graphics, sound and writing are all pitch-perfect for the title. The 16-bit sprites strike a balance between detail and simplicity, the sound effects act as good cues for development, and the writing…oh, the writing. Kairosoft is a Japanese developer, but whomever they hired to translate the game’s text did so perfectly. There are witty quips about each of the employees you can hire, the parody names of consoles and other video games are spot on, and the review quotes for every game you publish are exactly what you’d expect. There’s something about seeing one of your staff pop up a word bubble that says “Fight!” when each game development cycle starts that is downright charming. I know “charm” gets thrown around liberally in describing video games, but for hardcore gamers who remember consoles like the TurboGrafx, Neo-Geo, Nintendo Virtual Boy and know the history of gaming, there are plenty of references that will catch your eye — like the name of Intendro’s motion-based console, the Whoops. Employees go the same way, too — you can hire people whose names are clear parodies of Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Shigeru Miyamoto, Bill Gates, and more.

The reviewers were impressed with my motion-mini skirt game, We Skirt. The combinations you can make in this game range from obvious to downright hilarious.

There’s also a certain wackiness in the kinds of games you can create. Games are made by mixing genres and types, and while this can lead to some fairly straightforward ideas — golf simulators, ninja action games, and reversi puzzle games are all good, straightforward combinations — you can also get creative. As you level up and train your staff, you can unlock genres and types, which is where things get weird. Dating sims are as popular as you’d expect from a Japanese developer, but poncho? Swimsuit? Mushroom? Time travel? Some of the types are a bit weird, but once you’ve developed your game studio into a juggernaut, there’s little harm in trying some combinations out.

The depth of the game is also seen in the RPG elements. You can level staff up, and move them through a job system to unlock new roles that also bring new skills and expertise. As genres and types level up, you can add points to your game studio’s expertise in different aspects of game development, like the game world, polish, cuteness and niche appeal. Moreover, those direction points and genre and type levels are saved if you start a new game+ after finishing the initial 20-year career, allowing you to make the second time through that much easier and more successful.

A game about making games could have ended absolutely horribly. Despite there being a bunch of work simulating games available (everything from city planning in Sim City to the various Tycoon games), the only other game where you run a studio I can remember is Segagaga, a Japanese Sega Dreamcast game that tasked you with…running Sega and the Dreamcast. Really, this is uncharted territory. But with its addictiveness, catchy writing, and quick tempo, this is a game that I will keep coming back to for a while.

Recommended for:

• Hardcore gamers, who are guaranteed to love the various industry references spread throughout the game
• RPG fans who can appreciate a game where you can level up your game genres and types, and turn Shigeru Miyamoto into an awesome hacker
• People who want to sell 10 million poncho racing games
• Oh my god I’m still shaking this thing is addictive why can’t I quit you

Game Dev Story is available on iOS devices for $3.99. The reviewer purchased a copy for himself. He completed the game through its 20-year storyline twice, winning Game of the Year just once. His best-selling game, adventure game Sorrowwind 5, sold more than 39 million copies.

How can a story be told in a game?

I’ve heard the question come up more often in the last few months than I have in the previous decade. This year in particular has seen more narrative-driven blockbusters with a sophisticated approach to storytelling than ever before. Batman: Arkham Asylum and Uncharted 2: Among Thieves have both been lauded for their intricate (and wildly different) approaches to developing a narrative in tandem with a long-term experience.

The debate even manifested recently in the comments section of Doug Bonham’s recent editorial on storytelling in games. Does a story always improve a game? Does it ever improve a game?

I think the question is best answered by asking how we define storytelling. Is it the preliminary text explaining the player’s motivations and mission? Is it the thousands of lines of melodrama that fill each installment in the Metal Gear Solid saga to the brim? Is it as insignificant as being told the president has been kidnapped by ninjas, followed with a simple query: Are you a bad enough dude to rescue the president?

I sought to find a good example of how even the most minimal amount of overt storytelling can have a profound effect on how a player experiences a game. And I found it in Canabalt.

This suggestion from the developers flashes when the app is launched. They're not kidding — Canabalt's soundtrack is absolutely essential if the game is to be fully enjoyed.

What sets Canabalt apart from the myriad run-and-jump platformers is its subtle anticipation of the player’s psychology. It expects that initially the player will only focus on the path and hazards immediately awaiting your runner, but with each successive attempt new details will stick in one’s mind. You’ll sense the energy in the pumping electronic soundtrack, and the beautifully simplistic scrolling backgrounds — and then it’ll dawn on you that the music is not so much energizing as it is harrowing, and the backgrounds tell a story all their own. Then you’ll understand why you can’t stop running.

It sounds simple, and maybe even not that significant. But from a design standpoint, it’s almost a perfect example of merging a game’s mechanics with its premise.

The details begin to stand out more with each successive attempt at escape. The protagonist is surprisingly expressive in his animations, leaping wildly and landing with a quick tumble before picking up the pace. When he encounters an obstacle, he stumbles and loses his momentum, threatening to make the next leap his last.

The pace quickens, the music pounds, the leaps grow wider and less probable — and the sensation is palpable. Who ever imagined such an unassuming game would be capable of evoking an actual sense of exhilaration?

And that’s why Canabalt is such a significant case study. If almost any detail was changed — if the background was given color or the music was the music was removed — the game would have an entirely different tone. It’d fall apart. It would be just another platformer with nothing to say.

Utilizing Twitter to share high scores is a hallmark of most addictive iPhone games, and Canabalt is no exception.

Because of the App Store’s alluring nature — and because any app is a mere click away from ownership — I purchased the iPhone version before I did some basic research and learned that Canabalt originated as a free Flash game playable at Kongregate. Price-conscious players should grab the nearest pair of headphones and give the web version a whirl as it’s the exact same game, only with more social networking features (the iPhone version only enables score-sharing through Twitter).

Once you’ve given it a whirl, consider whether the $2.99 price tag is worth it to you on a platform with countless cheaper alternatives that are just as addictive. But if you carry a pair of ear buds with you and you’re willing to part with a few minutes of your time, Canabalt is more than willing to demonstrate how even a one-button game can have something substantial to say.

Canabalt was developed by Semi Secret Software and is currently available on the iPhone/iPod Touch App Store for $2.99. Review copy was purchased for $2.99 and played for a couple hours. (iTunes link)

Recommended for:

• Those with a pair of headphones and an appreciation for having one’s expectations denied
• Gamers who will pay a premium for style with substance

Not Recommended for:

• Budget-conscious gamers who will be content to stick with the free web version — it’s absolutely worth playing either way

Read our policy on reviews here.

The Sims is unlike any other game brand in existence. While most find success by focusing on delivering a fun, exciting experience, The Sims excels not by being fun — which it typically isn’t — but from its uncanny ability to be fascinating on a humanistic level.

Like most of Will Wright’s games (SimCity, Spore, etc.), The Sims eschews the traditional need for linear progression through a series of tasks in a static game world. Instead, players are given an impressive set of tools to create characters, objects and environments and watch as life unfolds. It’s a formula for resounding commercial and critical success, and it still works as well as it did twenty years ago. But almost all of Wright’s games were built for computers, which carry with them the expectation of a greater commitment of time and effort on the part of the player.

Adapting The Sims to the iPhone, then, was no easy feat from a technological or a design standpoint. On iPhone, The Sims 3 is an impressive example of shrinking a massive game down to phone-size proportions without losing most of the elements that gave the series its clout: the requisite customizable characters, charming set pieces and robust decision-making aspects are all retained from its flagship PC release. But it is the very fact that so much from the original release was crammed into such a minuscule and difficult interface that makes The Sims 3 almost impossible to recommend.

The game thrives on an abundance of opportunities to assert your Sim's personality.

Portable games are typically only successful if they are structured to accommodate short play sessions that can be interrupted by phone calls, texts, or a particularly aggressive bus driver. But ask anyone who’s sat down at a computer with a copy of The Sims, and — after some prodding — they’ll sheepishly recount that time they saw a half-hour play session turn into a six-hour marathon without even thinking to check the clock.

The payoff of watching your choices affect your Sims in both planned and unexpected ways fosters empathy and engagement, which is where the real enjoyment of The Sims has always come from. Recognizing such marathon sessions weren’t plausible for the average phone user, Electronic Arts instead streamlined Sim creation and implemented an overarching goals checklist, ranging from rudimentary (“befriend a Sim”) to lascivious (you can guess what “WooHoo eight times in one day” alludes to) and utterly bizarre (“Use everyone’s shower at least once”). These objectives allow for quick gratification and are well-tailored to the humor of the series.

Your Sim has his or her own cache of deep desires, largely dictated by the archetype you assigned to him/her.

These goals help guide players through an experience that’s digestible in small bursts on a mobile phone, but they also emphasize the lack of value for Sims fans hoping to take the more chaotic, open-town experience of The Sims 3 on the road with them. For better or worse, The Sims 3 is a much more rigid experience on iPhone.

Yet despite all that, The Sims 3 would have still been fairly easy to recommend if it weren’t utterly crippled by one of the most unfriendly camera control schemes in a major iPhone game. Attempting to pan, rotate and zoom the camera is stunningly counter-intuitive. When a game like The Sims relies so heavily on maintaining a good vantage point on the action, it quickly moves from being an annoyance to an absolute deal-breaker.

It’s a shame that such an impressively robust adaptation of a beloved PC game is hindered so thoroughly by a relatively minor grievance. With any luck EA will update the game with improved camera controls, but until then, everyone but the most dedicated of Sims fans should steer clear.

A copy of The Sims 3 was provided for review by Electronic Arts. As of publication, The Sims 3 is available for $6.99. (iTunes link)

Recommended for:

• Established Sims fans who can tolerate the frustrating controls and limited design

Not Recommended for:

• Newcomers to The Sims, who will be off-put by its limited scope and relatively unfulfilling goal-driven structure
• Its unacceptably haphazard and continually frustrating camera control scheme

Read our policy on reviews here.

Well, we’re all a little burned out here. I mean, you all saw the media deluge last week, didn’t you? The countless trailers, the hours of presentations, the Brütal Legend lawsuit . . . it’s just exhausting.

So, we failed to deliver on the E3 commentary we promised, and I wanted to personally apologize. We weren’t sure how we were going to discuss the event as it raced by, and thanks to each member of our bustling staff of three having something major come up, it just didn’t happen.

If you’re still with us, I want to thank you for your patience and understanding. All three of us have busy lives, and I know that it’s been a constant struggle for me at least to have a full-time job and keep up the quality and consistency in blogging that I aspire to.

We’ll be getting back on track shortly. In the meantime, excuse our flakiness.

Now, let’s talk about some games, shall we?

Nick:

I’ve been rounding up notes on about a dozen games to start discussing them on the site. And while there are a couple of standout titles among the bunch — InFamous and Red Faction: Guerrilla in particular — I’m eager for a nice, carefully structured linear experience. All this open-world exploration is great, but we all need some variety now and then.

And in about ten minutes, I’m going to be playing resent Apple for announcing something cooler than my iPhone 3G while I follow the Worldwide Developers Conference. It’s a little ridiculous of me, of course, but let’s be realistic. I play games on my iPhone more than any other platform at this point, and I’m gonna feel a little snubbed when people start buying something way cooler than the thing I’ve got. Oh well. That’s simply the way of things — especially when Apple is involved.

Aaron:

E3 slightly cut into my gaming capability for part of the week, but since Tuesday I’ve been enjoying Red Faction: Guerrilla. It’s really a slow start, but the destruction-based gameplay builds on you over the first few sectors in need of liberation. After awhile you’ll be bringing down buildings strategically by targeting their weak points (go for support beams!) and discovering your favorite combination of weapons (I’m fond of an upgraded rocket launcher, an upgraded nanomachine rifle and max demolition charge capacity). It’s really an amazing title overall, but I still see it being a sleeper hit despite THQ having saturated various media outlets with marketing for the game.

Oh, and multiplayer is ludicrously fun. More on that when we post our review sometime next week.

Doug:

It’s all Fallout 3, all the time. Hoo boy — time to go find a doctor and get injected with some pre-war stuff to clear out the addiction. I think I’m only about a third of the way through the game, but I’m still completely hooked. I’m to the point where I feel comfortable with the controls, how to get around the Wasteland, and how to fight. Not being at level 1 or 2 also helps — I’ve customized my character through weapons and skills. Unfortunately, though, the enemies don’t get any easier. I do look forward to kicking ass with the Brotherhood, though, as I’ve got the Broken Steel DLC installed too.

I got a bit of time to play a few other games, too — NCAA 09, FIFA 09, Mass Effect, Super Street Fighter II HD Remix — and hooked them up in HD, too. That was a situation I could get used to.

State-of-the-art entertainment, ca. 1992.

It was a simpler time in gaming. Of course, that was nearly twenty years ago, and now we’re playing the game that once required a sturdy personal computer on our mobile telephones. What a difference a few presidencies makes!

When a game has been ported countless times to every platform under the sun, purchasing it again has little to do with whether the game is fun to play start-to-finish. In terms of content, this is the exact same Wolfenstein 3D you remember; all six episodes arrived intact. But that’s not the reason Wolfenstein 3D was brought to iPhone.

Instead, it’s a proof of concept — an inquiry into the viability of taking a time-honored game and rebuilding it for a platform it was never intended to exist on: a mobile phone with an exclusively touch-based interface.

B.J. Blazkowicz, in all his shirtless glory.

If nothing else, Wolfenstein 3D on iPhone proves that a first-person shooter can function accurately and make for an enjoyable experience on a touch-driven device. John Carmack, co-founder of developer id Software, personally labored over the iPhone port of Wolfenstein 3D. He admits the game isn’t going to stand toe-to-toe with the latest innovations to spring forth from id, but Wolfenstein still has its moments:

The game is definitely simplistic by modern standards, but it still has its moments.  Getting the drop on a brown shirt just as he is pulling his pistol from the holster.  Making an SS do the “twitchy dance” with your machine gun.  Rounding a corner and unloading your weapon on … a potted plant.  Simplistic plays well on the iPhone.

– John Carmack, Wolfenstein 3D iPhone development notes

Realistically, you’re not going to play this game start-to-finish. Castle Wolfenstein is as treacherous and unforgiving as ever, even on easier difficulty settings. Fortunately, a newly-added map function helps compensate for the maze-like level construction, and being able to immediately jump into any level from the title screen is a blessing when frustration sets in after twenty minutes of scouring the same corridors looking for that damn gold key. Fully customizable controls allow for simplified or complex movement schemes, and they even allow players to arrange the virtual movement buttons as they wish. No one arrangement is perfect, but there’s fun to be had in exploring the flexibility of the iPhone’s touch screen.

But Wolfenstein is not the mind-expanding “three-dee” experience it once was. It’s a relic — a cherished piece of gaming history, and rightfully so. And thanks to the care and thoughtful decisions behind this latest iPhone adaptation, it’s a glimpse at greater things to come. Who better to bring an innovative approach to a radically different platform than the guys who practically invented the first-person shooter?

Wolfenstein 3D is available for iPhone and iPod Touch from the App Store for a discounted price of $1.99 as of this article’s publication (regular price: $4.99). A trial version is also available, which offers the first three levels of episode one for free. This review was written after playing the first episode to completion and skipping around to the more interesting levels in the later episodes.

Recommended for:

• The palpable, distinct brand of satisfaction that can only be obtained by gunning down Mecha-Hitler as one-man army B.J. Blazkowicz
• Long-time Wolfenstein 3D fans who will appreciate modern additions like the map, selectable levels and customizable control scheme

Not Recommended for:

• Endless hallways of homogeneous Nazis, Nazi dogs, Nazi treasure and the occasional bowl of dog food
• Sixty levels that all boil down to: Kill the bad guys, find the key, exit the level

Read our policy on reviews here.

Sure, you might’ve played a couple rounds here and there of Peggle, PopCap‘s fun little peg-shooting puzzler, but it’s easy to shrug it off and get back to being a productive member of society.

But sooner or later, it’s inevitable: You’ve got some free time! You glance around, shrug your shoulders, and decide to pay the Peggle Institute another visit. “What’s the harm in a few more levels?” you ask yourself.

What’s the harm, indeed.

The symptoms appear swiftly and without mercy. Whenever you close your eyes, you see balls launched with beautiful angles and perfect trajectory, knocking out those few remaining orange pegs and winning the round. You make up voices for the ridiculous menagerie that comprises the Peggle Institute, from Bjorn the unicorn to Jimmy Lightning, the obese, skateboarding beaver. And Beethoven’s Ode to Joy echoes in your head on loop, forever and ever, sunrise to sunset.

Sound terrible? Think again. Peggle addiction is one of the greatest joys that can be experienced in one’s life — or, at the very least, it’s the most fun you’ll probably ever have for under five bucks.

Colorful pegs come in all shapes and sizes. Green ones activate a Peggle Master's powers, while purple pegs act as score multipliers.

Like all great casual games, Peggle’s got a simple premise. Your mission is to clear each peg-filled screen of all its orange pegs. You’re given ten balls, a launcher, and a few tricks up your sleeve in the form of each Peggle Master’s magic powers. These range from the practical — more precise aiming, multiple balls — to the truly bizarre — pinball flippers and a “spooky ball” that comes back from the dead to drop down the screen a second time.

The game’s adventure mode introduces you to each of the ten Peggle Masters and lets you take their individual powers for a whirl. But the final five levels are a true challenge, requiring you to choose the master’s power you feel is best suited to the puzzle at hand. It’s a prelude to the game’s Challenge mode, which is unlocked after finishing the main adventure. Packed with all sorts of tricky levels and demanding requirements, it’ll test the prowess (and patience) of even the most seasoned Peggle player.

PopCap has an admirable reputation for making accessibility a top priority, and Peggle delivers with options to assist lefties and the colorblind.

Fortunately, the iPhone version features a few welcome tweaks to the original formula. You can aim anywhere on the screen by tapping, and fine-tuning is easy thanks to the new wheel located on the side of the screen. And although the iPhone’s 480×320 resolution is much smaller than that of the original PC version of Peggle, double-tapping anywhere on the screen zooms in to display a segment of the board in crisp detail — perfect for fine-tuning those particularly ludicrous shots.

This version of Peggle also features a pass-the-phone Duel mode and a trophy room that visualizes your accomplishments. There’s also the option to save a replay of any game, so you can immortalize your best and brightest moments (and brag to your friends.)

The only thing lacking is the original game’s in-level music, but frankly, you won’t miss it. It was highly repetitive (a common problem among PopCap games) and besides: You’re playing Peggle on an iPod! Surely you’ve got some music of your own that will better fit your needs until you hit that last peg and blast into a Beethoven-fueled Extreme Fever.

Give it a little while. You'll be lusting after those Extreme Fevers and humming Beethoven's Ninth in no time.

For $4.99, this is the least expensive version of Peggle available on any platform. Although it would have been nice for PopCap to include the Peggle Nights features, the next major iPhone firmware update will enable in-game downloadable content. Whether you’re a newcomer or a seasoned veteran of the Peggle Institute, this latest rendition of the modern classic is easy to recommend.

Peggle is currently available for iPhone and iPod Touch for $4.99 through the App Store. Windows, Mac OS X, Fifth-generation iPod (with video), mobile phone, Xbox Live Arcade, and Nintendo DS versions of the game are also available. Peggle is legion; resistance is futile.

Recommended for:

• Casual and hardcore puzzle gamers alike: It’s blissfully easy to pick up, but diabolical to master
• Peggle fans looking for a faithful, complete version of the original game while on the go

Not Recommended for:

• Puzzle fanatics with poor impulse control (for example: I played through Peggle and wrote this review just a few hours after it was released on the App Store)
• Peggle fans expecting a comprehensive Peggle package; for now, it’s just the original game, but new content is a distinct possibility down the road

Read our policy on reviews here.

Yep. Even the loading screen's progress bar is charming.

It’s a simple premise: You’re given a few cubes with letters on each side of them, and tasked with spelling as many different words with the letters you have until you run out of time.

Sound familiar? WordFu plays a lot like other word games (TextTwist, Bookworm) where you’re presented with a set of letters and tasked with building as many words as possible within a time limit. But thanks to some clever twists on a classic formula, a helping of snazzy graphics and some fantastic score-gloating mechanics courtesy of Facebook and Twitter, WordFu spins an old concept into an engaging and exciting iPhone app that’s sure to captivate the wordie in all of us.

WordFu is more than your average on-the-go puzzle game with a kung-fu motif tacked on for good measure. Before the actual game begins, you’re granted a few precious seconds to figure out which letters you want to keep and which you want to change. Simply flicking a cube sends it bouncing wildly around the screen, like a real-world physics demonstration of hitting a wooden die with a five-iron, until it lands with a new side facing up. And if your all-consonant selection left you feeling like you got a raw deal? Just shake the whole phone and try your luck at another set. And thanks to the game’s Scrabble-caliber dictionary, more than 200,000 words are recognized by the game, which leads to very few instances where you’re left cursing at the game for not counting that one word you’re completely sure is real.

Surprisingly, a great deal of the fun to be had in WordFu stems from its audiovisual presentation. Tilting the phone correspondingly shifts your viewpoint onto your letter cubes, giving a really impressive and surreal sense of perspective that can’t really be found on any other handheld. And every time a word is entered, the game emits a satisfying “wooaaahaa!” kung-fu exclamation. It’s good, cheesy fun, and it fits the game’s casual and inviting overtones perfectly.

Any game that’s this much fun and costs a mere $0.99 is hard to pass up, but thanks to some brilliant additional features it becomes a must-buy for any gamer on the go. WordFu features a simple leaderboard system that tracks your top games played on the phone, but it also offers a quick way to share your results with your friends through Facebook and Twitter. Simply enter your login information once, and after each game you can automatically publish your scores through the omniscient magic of social networking.

It’s worth noting that I first discovered WordFu after seeing former Newsweek videogame writer N’Gai Croal posting his scores to his Twitter account. It’s certainly some clever marketing on ngmoco’s part, and I’m guilty of uploading my best scores as well. But somehow, I think Mr. Croal’s mind-boggling score of 5,077 might be more than I could ever hope to achieve.

But hey, it’s an iPod too, so at least I can listen to “Eye of the Tiger” while I’m knee-deep in my WordFu training regimen.

Note: WordFu is currently available on the iPhone App Store for $2.99. It was purchased for review when it was temporarily priced at $0.99, but the author would like to assert that the game is still very much worth the current price of admission.

Recommended For:

• Word-game enthusiasts eager to embiggen the ol’ vocabulary with a perfectly cromulent app
• Fans of competitive social network word games like Lexulous who enjoy bragging about that one incredible nine-letter bingo they got
• Anyone looking for a fun pass-it-around game to share with friends in the car or at the coffee shop

Not Recommended For:

• People who aren’t Twitter or Facebook users; score-sharing is a big part of what makes WordFu so replayable
• Anyone who’s not comfortable with the English language — WordFu only supports an English dictionary so far

The de facto puzzle game of the Internet Age arrives on the iPhone at an unbeatable price

If you’ve surfed the Web in the last five years, I’m willing to wager you’ve also played Bejeweled. Since it first appeared as a Web-based application in 2001, Bejeweled has been downloaded more than 150 million times, according to developer PopCap. Known for its wildly popular and often brilliant casual games, such as the Pachinko-like Peggle, Bejeweled remains PopCap’s iconic flagship title. This latest iteration first arrived in a Web-based format in 2004, followed by releases on Xbox Live Arcade in 2005 and PSN in 2009. With the immense install base of the iPhone and the unparalleled accessibility of its native App Store, porting Bejeweled 2 to the phone was a no-brainer. And with the game priced at a paltry $2.99, it’s easily the best value for your money in iPhone gaming.

Part of the beauty of Bejeweled has always resided in its accessibility. Whether you prefer to spend your weekends mercilessly blowing people away on Xbox Live in Call of Duty, or if you play the occasional game of FreeCell during a lull at work, you’re going to have a good time with Bejeweled. The game sports a classic mode where you make matches and increase your score until no more moves can be made, but it also includes two new modes: Action and Endless.

While Endless Mode offers a casual (almost catatonic) mode of play where you never run out of moves, which is likely to appeal to newcomers, the real standout addition to Bejeweled 2 is Action Mode. Its premise is simple enough: Match gems in quicker and quicker succession in order to boost your meter to the top. The quicker you make matches, the faster the meter rises. When it hits 100%, you move on to the next stage, where you gain more points but the meter drops more rapidly. When it empties completely, it’s game over. The pace quickly ramps up into a frenetic action-puzzler that actually delivers some authentic thrills. My girlfriend and I spent the better part of a weekend contending for the highest score in Action Mode. (For the record: she currently h0lds the highest score by a ridiculous margin.)

While price is typically less of a consideration in reviewing a retail console or PC game, it takes on a greater significance in the realm of digital distribution. And with the iPhone App Store already flooded with thousands of free and for-pay games — and new ones arriving constantly — it almost goes without saying that money and time can easily be squandered. Consequently, I feel that, as a reviewer, it is important to establish whether an iPhone title is a good value or not.

Fortunately, Bejeweled 2 is a hell of a value. Since purchasing it about a week and a half ago, the game has been responsible for my phone running low on batteries by mid-afternoon more than once. The control scheme is intuitive — simply drag one gem in any direction with your finger to swap places, and if three or more match, they disappear. However, the game is remarkably astute when it comes to determining which gem you meant to move where. For example, it pays attention to which gems can be moved to match as opposed to which can’t, and any time you input a move with your finger it detects whichever valid move is closest to the one you made and executes it. This results in uninterrupted gameplay with no frustrating mistakes on the part of the computer. After nearly seven hours of gameplay, I’ve seen the game make maybe one or two matches I didn’t intend to make.

While it’s certainly not the newest puzzle game to hit the market, Bejeweled 2 really shines (graphically and gameplay-wise) on the iPhone’s brilliant screen. And for three bucks, you could certainly do a whole lot worse for yourself.

Recommended for:

• iPhone and iPod Touch owners looking for an enduring, high-quality game on the go
• Puzzle game enthusiasts who want the most bang for their buck
• Anyone looking for a quick, pick-up-and-play game that all their friends can enjoy

Our review policy: Games are completed by the reviewer in full (either in terms of a storyline or campaign in the case of traditional console, handheld and PC titles, or by attempting to reach the level cap in an MMO). Other features (i.e., multiplayer) are also explored, being viewed as an addition to the overall package. Downloadable content and expansions are considered separate from the original game and reviewed accordingly. Reviews are accompanied by a “Recommended” or “Not Recommended” designation that explains exactly why the title was given its rating and how the author’s personal tastes would reflect one option or the other. After all, criticisms and compliments are influenced by individual tastes. The overall aim of our reviews is to not only both steer the readership away from what we deem “bad” games and highlight for them the “good” ones, but to also make clear recommendations are based on our opinions and analysis.