Kill the Fly is an arcade style game for the iPhone/iPod Touch. The goal of the game is to kill the flies as they fly towards the poop. There is a little pile of poop in the corner of the screen and the poop must be protected at all costs.

Players can touch the flies causing them to splatter their innards all over the screen and not be able to get to the poop. The more accurate players are at killing the flies the more points they can rack up. If the player misses the fly on the first attempt, they lose points. The smaller flies are worth less points and there for the player loses less points if they miss the smaller flies.

The flies are all different types and speeds. The majority of the flies move at a decent pace and players can easily tap them and kill them. As the levels get harder the flies get faster and bigger. The bigger flies take a few hits to kill and the fast flies speed across the screen at a really good pace and can easily be missed. The fast flies give the player a lot of points when killed, but also take away a lot of points if the player misses the bug. If the flies make it to the poop they will take some poop with them. If the poop disappears the level is lost and the player has to start over again.

The touch mechanisms work as expected. There was never a time that the touch didn’t register.

Over all, Kill the Fly is a great way to pass the time. The game is entertaining and can get challenging at the later levels. Players have the option of playing the free version or getting the full version. Players can try it out with out it costing them anything. If you are looking for an arcade style game to pass the time, check out Kill the Fly in the Apple App Store.

Circus Marcus is a collection of mini-games for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Marcus joined the circus as a janitor to earn some cash, but then he fell in love with the ring master, Ruby. Marcus wanted to get close to Ruby and would do anything Ruby asked. Marcus ended up performing in the circus.

Each circus act is a mini-game to master. Marcus starts out fairly easy by being shot out of a cannon at bowling pins. Players get two chances to get all of the pins down. The cannon has to be aimed at the pins by touching the screen and moving the cannon in the direction that will hit most of the pins. When the player is ready, the cannon is fired and hopefully pins are knocked down.

There are other mini-games that involve balance, which use the accelerometer in the iPhone/iPod Touch. Players have to tilt the iPhone/iPod Touch to keep Marcus’ balance. Marcus will attempt hand stands and the player has to help him balance by tilting the device. If the device is tilted too far in one direction, Marcus will fall and the game will start over. Marcus has to balance for a certain amount of time to pass the level.

All of the different multi-tap features are used through out the games. There are games that use the pinch feature to cause Marcus to do a flip in the air.  All of the touch controls work as expected and there was never a problem getting Marcus to do what he was suppose to do.

Over all, Circus Marcus is an entertaining collection of mini-games. The games are short and can be played within a minute or two, which is the perfect length for waiting in line. If you are a fan of games that contain short style mini games, check out Circus Marcus in the Apple App Store.

Valet Hustle is an arcade style game or the iPhone/iPod Touch. The game is a cross between a time management style game and a puzzle game. Players have to park cars as fast as possible and then retrieve the cars when the customers show back up for the cars. Players have to manage the customers, manage parking the cars and retrieving the cars.

The cars won’t drive in until there is a spot for them to pull into. There is one spot to drop off the car and if that spot is full the cars will start lining up and eventually get mad and start honking their horns. As soon as the front car is moved to a spot, another car will fill the drop off spot. The cars are moved by tapping on the car and then tapping on the spot where you want to park the car. The cars will drive themselves to the spot the player clicked on unless there is another car in the way. There can only be one car driving on the path at a time.

When the cars are ready to be picked up, the player will see a customer appear and their car will get a number above the car that is theirs. The numbers are in order and the cars need to leave in that order. In other words, player can’t click on the number 2 car before bringing back the number 1 car. The player taps on the car with the number on it and then taps on the drop off space to return the car to the customer.

The story surrounding the game is a bit different. The story focuses on a lesbian theme and the main character gets kicked out of school for kissing another girl. This was not the first school she got kicked out of and her father had had enough and made her go to work as a valet and that is how the valet career began. If you would rather not play a game with a lesbian/gay theme, you may want to consider another game.

Over all, Valet Hustle is fast moving and will pass the time. There are levels, but the game doesn’t really stop until you lose, sort of like Tetris.  Eventually, you get a helpers along the way that will make things a bit easier, but the game is not easy by any means. The game gets fast and hectic and will keep players challenged. If you are into puzzle/arcade style games, check out Valet Hustle in the iTunes App Store.

Few gamers are not aware of Popcap’s fun tower defense game Plants Vs. Zombies; you can check out our review of the original game here. As expected with a runaway smash hit by Popcap, the game will be seeing new platforms such as Xbox Live Arcade. However, the game was just released for the iPhone and iPod Touch for $2.99, albeit a more stripped down version.

How does it translate?

The answer is: exceedingly well, and the touch screen format actually enhances the game quite a bit. Picking up sunbeams and coins is far easier, since all you need to do is tap them rather than drag the mouse across the screen; it will be interesting to see how the game deals with a gamepad when it comes to the Xbox 360. Placing plants is surprisingly accurate as well; in the hours that I’ve played, I never placed a plant in the wrong place with my finger. The only real change to gameplay is that the plant “cards” are moved to the left side of the screen, which is ergonomically the right choice for the wide touch screen; it felt much more natural.

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Tumbles is a match three game for the iPhone/iPod Touch. There is one feature that sets this match three game apart from other match three games and that is the use of the accelerometer. Players can tilt the iPhone/iPod touch in any direction to get the balls to roll from side to side to make matching the same color easier, but more challenging at the same time.

The goal of the game is to clear the bubbles off the screen. Players clear the bubbles by tapping on three or more of the same color. The bubbles disappear and players have to clear the entire screen before time runs out to get points. If players can not manage to clear a bubble and it is the only color on the screen there is a “zap” ability that can take care of the bubble. There are only a certain amount of zaps that can be used, though, so gamers can’t count on the zaps to save them.

As each level increases it gets harder and harder to match all of the bubbles. There are bubbles that change color when you click on them. These bubbles are marked by a line. Tapping on a lined bubble will change the color of the bubble, which makes it more difficult to match. Players should try to get rid of the striped bubbles first.

Players can change the dynamic of the game by tilting the iPhone/iPod Touch. Tilting the device will cause the bubbles to fall and move in the direction the device was tilted. The bubbles shift around according to physics and can be moved into matching colors that way. The player can tip the device in any direction to cause the bubbles to move.

Over all, Tumbles is a fun game and a good way to pass the time. The tilting feature makes the match three play different than other match three games and keeps the game play style interesting. If you are a fan of match three games, check out Tumbles in the Apple App Store.