AR Missile HD is a fresh iPad 2-only app that turns your shiny-new camera into an aperture of destruction, and it leads our Games of the Week round-up. Add in a ragdoll physics puzzler/shooter, a pipeline puzzle app that challenges you to connect things like gasoline sources to thirsty consumers, and a full-on strategy, hex-based board game and you’ve got yourself a solid set of fresh titles for your Apple tablet.
AR Missile HD ($0.99)
Smartphone users have been using their built-in cameras to augment reality (AR) for a few years now. AR apps let us find fast food locations, star clusters, live tweets, and more, just by pointing our cameras at the space around us. Now that the iPad 2 sports a pair of cameras, it only makes sense that games would start to emerge to take advantage of AR on the new tablet. In this instant classic, you can take a picture of anything – oppressive dictators, a broken-down car, your mother-in-law on the ninth day of her visit – and then shoot a hail of virtual missiles at the subject. The app’s AI does an excellent job of rendering “attack points” across your image, smartly locking into things like heads, sharp edges, even small animals in the frame, then letting you tap away to send up to 16 missiles at your target. The icing on the cake? You can take a picture of your most vicious attacks, then post them to your Twitter feed.
Nuclear Ragdoll for iPad ($0.99)
Boasting 30 levels, an unlimited supply of hand-drawn ragdolls, real-time physics, and absolutely no time limit, Nuclear Ragdoll for iPad will have you shooting hapless, cart-wheeling avatars at various targets for days to come. At a dollar-menu price, it’s hard to shoot any holes in this fun offering. Load your cannon with a ragdoll, drag your finger to aim and increase the power of your shot, then release to fire. Your avatar will hit objects and platforms as it flies across the screen, all in an effort to crash into the very large, shiny, red target. Hit the target, and it’s on to the next level. Miss, and it’s time to reload and re-think your trajectory. The hand-drawn levels, rendered on top of a crumpled up piece of graph paper, give the game a down-home feel that will keep you coming back for more.
Related: Great apps for work and play on the iPhone, iPad and Mac
Gas Tycoon 2 HD: Water World (Free)
Our ocean is filled with any number of natural resources. Lucky for you, a ready-made set of pipeline pieces have been arrayed between each resource and many containers, gasoline pumps, etc. Your job is to tap each pipeline piece and container so the resource flows from the ocean floor to all destinations simultaneously. Sound easy? On paper, sure. In reality, these extra-large play fields (over the other Gas Tycoon titles) can be frustratingly difficult to line up perfectly. But that’s what puzzle fans crave, right? You’ll spend hours working your way through this free set of puzzles, and will likely want to grab the full version to get all 10 skins of this popular series, including: Oil Tycoon, City Tycoon, Bamboo Tubes, Flying Land, RailRoad Tycoon, and more. New animations, bonuses for nailing each puzzle quickly, and the calming underwater theme is sure to please.
Neuroshima Hex Puzzle ($2.99)
It may be the end of the world, but who says you can’t go out with a bang? This strategy hex puzzler lets you blast away at raging mutants, bloodthirsty gangs, and evil machines. If you’re confused by the term “hex puzzler,” don’t worry. Here’s the jist: You’re presented with a post-apocalyptic game field of approximately 20 hexagonal tiles. Your headquarters takes up one spot, while your enemy fills a second. It’s your job to place attack tiles on the board near your opponent, then rotate their attack points so they inflict damage (reduce the hit-points of other tiles). The winner is the side who’s HQ has more hit-points than the enemy’s at the end of the battle. As you can imagine, there are a number of special tiles to place in very specific locations across all 100 levels of this monster, and rotating the tiles so their attack points line-up perfectly is a real challenge as the levels wear on. Plan your attack wisely, and you’ll be the next Mad Max blazing a path beyond the Thunderdome. Take too much damage and you’ll be scavenging for food with the rest what’s left of humanity. Serious strategy puzzle fans will revel in the artwork, gameplay, and uniqueness of this app.
Download the free Appolicious for iPad app
