Above: Don’t let the floating paddles distract you; avatars would just get in the way.
Table Tennis Touch $4
Table Tennis Touch is a virtual Ping-Pong game with spot-on physics and plenty of stuff to do. You can face off against one of its A.I. characters, each of whom has a unique play style and strategy. Or you can perfect your paddle skills in one of the 12 minigames.
I don’t even like table tennis, and I love this one.
Above: If you do well, the entire game world takes on a trippy, Día de los Muertos look that isn’t distracting at all.
Record Run (Free)
If you’re planning on carrying a lot of music around in your phone, here’s a way to make it even more fun.
Record Run comes to us courtesy of developer Harmonix, makers of Rock Band and Dance Central. And surprise: It’s a rhythm game. This one has you running down the a city sidewalk picking up records and dodging obstacles to the beat. As you complete missions in the game (e.g.,earning four stars on a song), you earn Backstage Passes that you can use to open additional song slots. It’s quick and easy to add your music to the playlist, and it renders fun and challenging levels within seconds.
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Above: Now you can keep working on your Cubist dream house wherever you are.
Minecraft: Pocket Edition $7
If you have yet to start slinging boxes around in developer Mojang’s blockbuster, this might be your chance.
This pared-down port doesn’t have all of the gadgets and features of the PC version, but you can still dive in and start building away. You can even play multiplayer if both you and your partner are on the same Wi-Fi network. So when you jump into your buddy’s world and burn down the house they spent weeks building, they’ll be right there to punch you in the face.
Above: Stunts!
Trials Frontier (Free)
The first mobile installment of developer RedLynx’s physics-based, motorbike racing series captures all of the flipping and seconds-shaving fun of its console and PC counterparts. And it’s free, so that isn’t bad, either.
Some annoying free-to-wait business sets in eventually when you can’t play the game for hours while one of your bikes receives an upgrade. But you’ll usually be able to find something else to do in the meantime, even if it is “find something else to play.”
Your time with Frontier, however, will be worth the wait. It’s a solid and addictive game.
Above: This one comes from the Bureau of Super-Obvious Titles.
Smash Hit (Free)
While we’re talking about games with cool physics, here’s Smash Hit. It’s a conceptual title where you float on rails through a series of music-inspired environments while throwing pinballs at the glass structures that block your path (or the ones you just want to break).
You can play all you want for free, but a $2 purchase unlocks iCloud syncing and restarts from checkpoints. And it’s worth the buy because this is a great-looking game, and it has a lot of cool stuff to show you.