1. Order & Chaos Online ($6.99) is the most popular massively multiplayer RPG on the iOS platform, and it beautifully fills out all 4-inches of the iPhone 5 screen. Not only that, but the iPhone 5’s LTE means you can now play World of Warcraft, oops, I mean Order & Chaos, practically anywhere. Quest, trade, and collect equipment, join guilds—explore the huge world and grind your way to a powerful character.
2. Galaxy on Fire 2 HD ($4.99) is a space-adventure game that beautifully fills out the iPhone 5’s screen like few others. The game is equal parts fast-paced flight combat and slow-paced strategy and spaceship building and management. A truly massive world to explore with deep gameplay, iCloud support, and professional voice-acting.
3. Phoenix HD (free) is a spaceship-on-rails bullet dodger that delivers 60 frames per second of beautiful chaos. I admit, I don’t know what the hell is going on half the time in this game. The object is not so much to avoid all bullets but to fly where there aren’t so many. Being free is a nice touch, although there are some in-app purchases as well.
4. Pinball Crystal Caliburn II ($3.99) is a realistic pinball machine with three dimensional ramps. It’s pinball at its finest—learn the board, hit the sweet spots, make love to the multi-ball. Rack up a high score on this beautiful pinball simulator.
5. The Dark Knight Rises’ ($6.99) storyline is based on the 3rd and final installment of Christopher Nolan’s excellent trilogy, but its gameplay style borrows heavily from the popular Batman Arkham console game (I guess you could say its developer, Gameloft, is the Samsung of iOS gaming). Beat up thugs, discover a vast array of Batman tool ands weapons, and utilize the dark of the night to sneak up on your enemies. A beautiful game that stays true to the modern Batman aesthetic.
6. Wild Blood ($6.99) uses the Unreal Engine to create a stunning medieval RPG/hack-and-slash game. The story revolves around a battle between Sir Lancelot and a jealous King Arthur. It seems ol’ Lancelot has been pimpin on Queen Guinevere. You control Lancelot as he hacks his way to save her. Collect gold and upgrade your weapons. This one even features online multiplayer. Push your iPhone 5’s graphics to the limits and watch it explode!
7. The Amazing Spider-Man ($6.99) is a fighting adventure game that follows the storyline of the 2012 hit movie. A combination of free roaming, structured quests, and RPG elements keep the game compelling from beginning to end. And the end is where you’ll meet the Lizard. Can you save that blonde hottie Gwen Stacy? I know I can, if you know what I mean. Bow wow wow!
8. Asphalt 7 ($0.99) is a racing game with stunning sharp graphics. Race on 15 tracks based in real-world locations like Hawaii, Paris, London, Miami and Rio. Unlock and race 60 brand-name cars. Go online for multiplayer that supports up to 5 racers at a time. Here’s another game that pushes the iPhone 5’s graphics to its limits.
9. Temple Run (free) is an endless running game that is quite addictive. And quite popular too. How long can you leap, slide, and juke your way along the neverending stone path? This game, with its pursuing apes, makes no sense to me, but it’s fun. And it’s free.
10. God of Blades ($2.99) is a hack-and-slash game with stunning visuals and themes that harken back to the covers of fantasy novels from the 70’s. Sword slashing is the name of the game here. Upgrade your blades to take on more powerful villains. Drink in the gorgeous world and the beautiful soundtrack.
11. Sky Gamblers ($2.99) is a air combat game with a realistic look but an arcade dogfighting style. Play through the campaign or test your skills in Dogfight Missions, Survival mode, Free for All, etc. There’s even online multiplayer to establish whether your Maverick, the Ice Man, or Kelly McGillis.
12. Slingshot Racing ($0.99) is a unique racing game designed exclusively for the iPhone’s touchscreen. Use your car’s grappling hook to swing around corners and pick up speed. Play through career mode and 80 different races, or go online to test out your driving skills against random strangers.
13. Final Freeway 2R ($0.99) is a homage to the classic arcade racer Outrun. Race your red convertible through 13 different environments. Just don’t crash, else you’ll flip the car and spill the hot blonde riding shotgun. An inexpensive yet addictive game that fills out the iPhone 5’s screen with retro racing goodness.
14. The Bard’s Tale ($4.99) is the classic humorous RPG game ported onto the iPhone platform. This game is huge, it weighs in at 1.3 GB in size! Bard’s Tale features a funny storyline that keeps things interesting throughout the entire game. It even features voice-acting from the actor who played Westley in Princess Bride (Cary Elwes).
15. Blast Away ($4.99) is a physics 3D puzzler. Guide your robots to the exits using various bombs as your tools. A clever and unique game.
16. Paper Monsters ($2.99) is one of the best platformers for the iPhone/iPad, unabashedly borrowing a lot from the world of Super Mario. And it’s a gorgeous game to boot.
17. Beast Boxing 3D ($0.99) is a boxing game with controls friendly to the iPhone platform. You play a human who sneaks into a beasts-only boxing league. Fight your way through 8 opponents, each with their own unique style (think classic Mike Tyson/Nintendo boxing style). This game’s got some really good graphics and animations as well.
18. Doodle Jump ($0.99) is the iPhone classic stretched to filled out the iPhone 5’s screen. Jump ever upward and use the various boosts to quicken your journey. How high can you go?
19. Vs. Racing 2 ($0.99) is a top-down racing game with a straightforward arcade racing style. Progress through 36 tracks and 3 different cars, each with unique handling, upgrades and pimping.
20. Squids Wild West ($1.99) is a unique game where you sling around squids and other various underwater creatures by their tentacles, taking out bad guys in a wild-west setting under the sea. Cute, relaxing, yet challenging. And it fills up the iPhone 5’s screen, and that’s the whole damn point of this list.
