Top 10 Best iPhone Games of all time

It used to be that mobile gaming was either done on a game-specific device, such as a DS, PSP, or (back in the dark ages) a Game Boy. Most games that were available on mobile phones tended to be disappointing knock-offs or overly simple affairs made difficult by lack of good controls. This also tended to have negative effects on keypads, which rather defeated the purpose of having a mobile phone. 

However, those days are gone. In a few short years, the iPhone has become a valid handheld gaming platform in and of itself, with more game options becoming available as each week passes. Most of these are quite reasonably priced for the amount of entertainment value, and some of them are even free. It is near impossible to calculate which are the absolute top ten, so I've chosen ten of the best iPhone games, and tried to include both free and paid options for iPhone users of all budgets. Because let's face it: Data plans aren't cheap.  

Here are my top ten best games for iPhone in no particular order: 

Angry Birds 

It's a dark day on the farm. The pigs, in an act of flagrant disrespect, have stolen the birds' eggs, and are proceeding to hold them hostage in a complicated, but rudimentary fort, made of flimsy wood, stone, glass, and other random junkyard items. Normally, if one were to need to gain access to a house that a pig built, one would call in a Big Bad Wolf. Not these birds, though. These birds are angry. And they have a slingshot. 

Each bird has a special ability when launched from the slingshot. Some accelerate forward very quickly, some split apart like shrapnel, but all of the birds have the same goal: Take out the fort, and the pigs in the process. When all the linkers have been hit, the birds have won. For now. 

Plants Vs. Zombies 

You have to have been living in a cave if you've not heard of this game by now, so any description I give will probably fall short of the critical acclaim which has been awarded this title. A fun twist on tower defense, Plants Vs. Zombies sees the player attempt to defend his or her lawn from an onslaught of shamblers by planting various types of crops. Some of the plants are passive defenders that wear down zombies who step on them. Some are more proactive and shoot seeds at the zombies. When sunlight pops out of the ground, the player must grab it in order to earn points which can then be exchanged for more plants. And that's really all there is to it, aside from eye-catching artwork and a great soundtrack.  

i Love Katamari 

When I saw this title was available for iPhone, my heart skipped a beat, because I'm a huge fan of all the Katamari-related console titles. For those who are not familiar, this game involves rolling around a giant ball called a "katamari", which picks up objects relative to its size. The larger the katamari becomes, the bigger the objects it can pick up. There is a minimum that must be met with each level, and the King of the Cosmos, who is in charge of putting stars back in the sky after knocking them out during a night of hard partying, makes it very clear that the minimum, while acceptable, is not necessarily to his liking. The mobile version certainly doesn't disappoint, but be warned: It can seem a lot more difficult at certain points. The game mechanisms are obviously different on a mobile phone, and so all rolling and steering is done by tilting. This is particularly amusing to play while on an airplane, as it involves a fair amount of movement, and potentially swearing, as the King can be downright infuriating at times. 

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