Seasonal Fun! iOS Edition!

Happy Halloween, everybody! I just spent 20 hours of the past three days on a train to and from Boston (love you Boston!) and I had a lot of time to play some of the seasonally-themed games that are cluttering up iTunes this week. There are some really good ones, and a few favorites that received a spooky coat of paint for the holiday.

If you haven’t played the GGG! recommended Helsing’s Fire then just stop reading this post and go do so now. Do it before the bell tolls midnight and you turn back into a toad. It is one of the best-looking and innovative puzzle games on the platform, and a must have for Apple gadget owners. It’s also perfect for the season.

The developer’s of the perennial favorite Doodle Jump put out a free update that added a delightful Halloween skin. It’s still just the same, horribly-addictive, Doodle Jump, but now you’re riding brooms, bouncing off eyeballs and flying around with a bat-wing propellor pumpkin cap.

Another Halloween-skinned favorite, though this one you have to pay for a stand-alone version, is the recently released holiday version of Angry Birds. I didn’t play the original — it seemed like just another overly-hyped, physics-based game — but after playing the Halloween version I understand why its popular.

And this list wouldn’t be complete without mentioning Plants Vs. Zombies, especially since the game is deeply discounted this weekend! This is one of those games I feel plays better on a larger screen, but you can’t beat the current price.

Finally, I would like to finish with one of my favorite iOS games. Though not really Halloween-themed, Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor weaves a particularly engrossing and creepy mood, and provides some of the best and most platform-appropriate game mechanics for the swipe-friendly devices. This was the first iPhone game to keep me up late and, returning to it, I found it as engaging as ever.

- Andy