By now, if you read gaming articles on sites like Venture Beat, you’re already aware of the runaway success of Kim Kardashian’s mobile app game, whereby users get to pretend they are a personal pion to the reality TV star and work their way up from celebrity assistant to being the blessed soul that accompanies Kim on last-minute outings to fabulous parties and the like. And although it may seem like other stars are jumping on the bandwagon as a result of Kim’s fame, the true fact is that her game was released in June, while others mentioned below were released earlier. Only Tom Hanks’ app came out afterward.

Check them out:

Heads Up! with Ellen DeGeneres

Well, duh!

Since the first day I saw kids playing Heads Up! – a brilliant game that lets you record video of your friends’ reaction while trying to guess the words you’re holding against your forehead – I didn’t realize it was connected to Ellen DeGeneres until now.

Extra duh because I watch The Ellen Show all the time when the famous comedienne holds photos and words up to her head for her guests to guess. The highly rated and popular game breaks the mold for future app gaming creation, and has this journalist wondering what other talk show games might work well as apps. Hmmm…thank you notes a la Jimmy Fallon, anyone?

Shaquille O’Neal’s irrepressible games

While Snooki’s Bling Bling game appears to be gone, and Wesley Snipes’ Julius Styles: The International didn’t fare much better, the famous basketball star who need only be called Shaq has done better with his ShaqDown game, so much so that folks have thrown more than $470,000 at his Indiegogo campaign to get his Shaq-Fu: A Legend Reborn sequel made and available for play on their iPhones and other mobile devices, ASAP, please!

Tom Hanks’ app brings back old-time writing fun

Last but not least, there’s this nifty Hank Writer iPad app from Tom Hanks that turns your tablet into one of those old-time typewriters whilst keeping the modern-day ease of an iPad. Sure, technically it is listed as a productivity app, but with users falling in love with the “whoosh-whoosh” sounds of a manual typewriter, it seems to be more game-like than productivity enhancing, especially with in-app purchase prices like these:

Top In-App Purchases

1. Writer’s Block Bundle $4.99
2. Hanx 707 Bundle $2.99
3. Hanx Golden Touch $2.99

The nostalgia of the whole thing probably appeals to those old enough to have typed on manual typewriters. This writer, however, only goes back as far as IBM Selectric typewriters, therefore I hovered and hesitated over the “free” button on iTunes, not wanting to clutter my iPad with more apps.

Besides, that $10.66 monthly Microsoft Office mobile package that lets me take Microsoft Word on the go with me on my iPad and iPhone is working just fine, and maybe if Hanks and any other celebrities find that their acting roles are falling as fast as their CD rates, they could create a new gaming app that mirrors the characters they’ve played. Can’t you just see a Cast Away game that lets the first-person player get off a deserted island with their ball named Wilson?