best of 2012: apps

I’ve been asked about my favourites, and since I don’t *really* want to clean the house or think about work tomorrow, here are my picks for favourite apps of 2012:

Waking Mars

Release Date: 02/19/12
Universal
Genre: Plants – in space!
Price: $4.99

Waking Mars topped a lot of people’s “Best of ’12” lists, and for good reason: it’s awesome. It’s a very different kind of game brought to you by the fine folks who created the beautiful and haunting Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor, and has you exploring the vast caves of Mars in what starts out as a mission to locate your missing data bot, and turns into something else entirely. I don’t quite know how to genre this game, but it’s highly enjoyable and one of my favourites.

Devil’s Attorney

Release Date: 10/02/12
Universal
Genre: Turn-based lawyer RPG!
Price: $2.99

Devil’s Attorney was a complete surprise, and I loved it. You play Max, a sleazy lawyer who uses sneaky tactics of questionable legality to defend your clearly-guilty clients. Work your way to the top by taking out witnesses, evidence, and prosecuting attorneys by any means necessary. Add in great voice work, a wholly original idea, and the sleek dazzling veneer of the 1980s and you have a fantastic sleeper hit that deserves all the praise it’s been getting. Also: pimp hat. Can’t lose!

Jack Lumber

Release Date: 08/15/12
Universal
Genre: Canadian Fruit Ninja where the fruit is wood and the ninja is a lumberjack
Price: $1.99

The only thing that could make this game better is if the developers were actually from Canada, instead of desperately wishing they were. Jack Lumber is a blast, and if you haven’t checked it out yet you are doing yourself a disservice.

QatQi

Release Date: 11/14/12
Universal
Genre: DIY Crosswords
Price: Free

I love word games of all kinds, and the more interesting the better. QatQi is a beautiful DIY crossword style game (there are no clues – build words any way you like) featuring a puzzle for every day of the year, broken out into weeks that get progressively harder from Sunday to Saturday. There’s very little in the way of instruction in QatQi, so it can be pretty confusing at first – but the more I played, the more I wanted to play. It’s definitely worth a look if you’re any kind of word nerd, and it’s free so really you have no excuses.

Spaceteam

Release Date: 11/29/12
Universal
Genre: CHAOS AND YELLING
Price: Free

Oh my god, Spaceteam. The most fun I’ve ever had yelling nonsensical randoms at a group of people, all of whom are yelling equally random things back at me. Spaceteam is a multiplayer game (great with 4 people; fantastic with multiple groups of four people) in which you – the Spaceteam – must successfully navigate your way through the perils of space. You each have a console with different buttons and levers, and you are given a command that must be executed .. but the action that needs to be done could appear on anyone’s console. At the same time, the rest of your team are also getting their own commands that could be on anyone’s screen – and everything has to be done quickly, lest your ship fall apart. Spaceteam is an absolute party riot, and I can’t recommend it enough. SO FUN!

Honourable Mentions:

Puzzle Craft (Universal; Free)
Squids Wild West (Universal, $1.99)
Robbery Bob (Universal; Free)
Harris Camera (not a game, needs a camera, $0.99) (the app used to take these photos)
Triple Town (damn you Triple Town; Free)
Extreme Skater (Universal; $0.99)
Punch Quest (Universal; Free)
The World Ends With You (iPhone $12.99/iPad $13.99; both versions currently on sale until 01/04)
Jet Set Radio (Universal; $1.99)