It has been another week where the only games I have been playing are on my iPod Touch. There are some that I would like to play on my Xbox and PC, but the time just hasn’t been there. My lack of time and the portability of my iOS device have made it evident to me why apps have had such an impact on mobile gaming. For those of us that really enjoy gaming but find ourselves consumed with non-gaming priorities, having one of these mobile devices can provide just enough entertainment to curb that urge. This week’s app selection is mostly for a younger audience, but I still found them enjoyable and suitable for short gaming sessions. I was also included on some beta testing for what is shaping up to be one of my favorite apps – Zen Wars. While it hasn’t been released yet, it’s worth mentioning early on so that it can find it’s way onto everyone’s radar.

Zen Wars

Using the classic strategy game Rampart as its primary influence, Zen Wars combines elements of the puzzle, action, and strategy genres. During each round you have the chance to build a perimeter around castles in an attempt to increase your number of cannons. In order to place cannons you must connect Tetris-like shapes (in a limited amount of time) in a way that completely encloses said castles. Once the clock runs down for building, you’ll be given the chance to place cannons. When it’s time to fight, you tap the screen around enemies and your cannons will fire in that direction.

I realize my description in no way makes this game sound as fun and addicting as it is, but there is a decent amount of strategy required as the levels advance. Not only are enemy cannons destroying the walls you build, but enemy engineers release mobile units called grunts that block your wall repairs and destroy your bases from up close. This game is best suited for the large screen on an iPad but it is still crazy fun on the iPhone. Zen Wars releases soon and should be a game that every mobile gamer purchases.

Quiz Climber

Quiz Climber is a socially-based app that blends elements of Who Wants to be A Millionaire with multiplayer games like Words with Friends. In the game, you’re asked questions that become increasingly more difficult with every correct answer. The goal is to answer more questions than your friends, and reach the highest branch of the question tree. There are bonuses that can be earned based on how well you perform, and offering bonuses based on your interaction with other players encourages getting friends to play.

I’m tempted to call this a kids game, but the truth is I didn’t perform that well, so it might be of value to us older kids as well. The questions are ridiculously easy at first, but by question 10 they reach a reasonable level of difficulty. I found myself laughing at the multiple-choice answers to some of the easier questions, but at times found the later questions interesting, and even learned a few new facts (I previously did not know that a fox’s tail is called a brush). If you like simple entertainment and testing your knowledge, grab this game and buy some codes for your friends.

Hungry Chicks

Hungry Chicks is a cool little puzzle game that puts a new twist on the bird puzzle genre. In an attempt to bring worms to your chicks, you must navigate through obstacles and hazards to feed your them in as few taps as possible. The game is simple and limits controls to tapping-only. Each tap creates an air explosion that propels your bird in the opposite direction of your finger.

Difficulty is increased by adding hazards (e.g. electricity zappers) and adding additional birds for you to control. As you control more birds you will have to make sure each bird collects a number of worms that reflects how many chicks that bird must feed. Hungry Chicks isn’t a ground-breaking game, but for the puzzle-lover, it’s a nice alternative to a match-3 game or physics based object-launchers (a la Angry Birds).