30 best iPad games

At this point, any version of Angry Birds is a good purchase. A few months ago we swapped out the original Angry Birds with the more recent Angry Birds Rio. We can't say Rio is better than the original but it does have new characters, more-detailed backgrounds, and plenty of levels.

Price: $2.99

Anomaly Warzone Earth HD

Take tower defense games and turn them on their head, and you get Chillingo's clever Anomaly Warzone Earth. Instead of manning towers, this future-set warfare game has you man your convoy and plan a route through various level maps. A story unfolds about an alien invasion, but that's not why you'll keep playing: it's the console-crisp graphics, clean interface, and addictive weapon-upgrade gameplay that will suck you in.

Price: $3.99

Carcassone

Already a classic board game in its own right, the iPhone adaptation of this tile-based strategy game was one of the most beautifully executed in the App Store. A new update has added native iPad compatibility, thus it's earned a spot on our list. Online and local multiplayer and a weekly solitaire puzzle challenge add up to a ton of replay value. If you're board game apprehensive, don't worry: while Carcassone can take a little getting used to, it's a more worthwhile iPad game to own than Catan--and it's great for pass-and-play multiplayer.

Price: $9.99

Civilization Revolution

Sid Meier's classic Civilization strategy series got a face-lift a few years ago when it moved over to consoles and handheld game systems as Civilization Revolution. CivRev played well on the Nintendo DS and iPhone, but its screen got too small for comfort. The iPad's expansive room for larger maps is a good fit for this turn-based, complex experience, and it makes CivRev feel a little more like a computer game again. Unfortunately, at $12.99, it's priced like one--but it's worth it for strategy fans.

Price: $12.99

Contre Jour

Yes, there's a pattern emerging in puzzle games: solve a level, try to three-star it, and repeat. Contre Jour, however, has spectacular art design and music, along with creative imagination, making it feel like an Xbox or PlayStation 3 downloadable game. It's cheap at $2.99, and continually added extra level packs pay the value forward, much like Angry Birds.

Price: $2.99

DrawRace 2

Those who played the original DrawRace game know this isn't your traditional racing game where you steer a vehicle around a course. Rather this is a line-drawing game where you draw a path for your car to follow around the track for a couple of laps. That line you draw--as well as the speed with which you drew it--is recorded. You then sit back and watch your car take the path you've drawn and see how well it fares against other cars in the race (you can press the turbo button to give your car a little boost, but that's the extent of the in-game controls).

Along with a career mode that unlocks various tracks and cars, you can race against other players locally (on your device against friends) or online with players from around the world.

DrawRace 2 has much-improved 3D graphics and the game, while simple to play on the surface, is challenging and addicting. It's also available for the iPhone, but sadly this isn't a universal app.

Price: $2.99

FIFA 11 HD

We've been disappointed by a lot of the sports games on the iPad, but FIFA is one that actually came out really well. True, the virtual joystick control is less than ideal and we would have liked to have seen more statistics, as well as a franchise (you can only play through a single season at this point). But the game really has the look and feel of the FIFA franchise and comes with all the players, leagues, and teams from around the world.

If you think $10.99 is too much to spend, EA regularly has sales, so just wait (we picked it up for $4.99).

Price: $10.99

Gesundheit HD

Konami's beautiful little puzzler is both odd and full of charming art design. The idea's simple: complete maze puzzles by tossing your little critter's nasal globs at booger-hungry monsters. Stealth and clever patience pay off in increasingly challenging levels. The execution feels as well-wrought as a full console downloadable game on Xbox Live Arcade or PSN. It's cute enough for kids, provided they aren't too young to be scared by cartoonish monsters that gobble green protagonists. And, the price can't be beat.

Price: $2.99

Great Little War Game HD

If you're a fan of Nintendo's Advance Wars series, this is going to be right up your alley. It's not a total knockoff, but it is a turn-based strategy game with various types of soldiers, weapons, vehicles, and modes of play to keep you glued to your iPad screen for hours (yes, it's addicting).

Note: This is a universal app, so you can play it on your iPhone or iPod Touch as well.

Price: $2.99

Groove Coaster HD

If weird, trancelike music rhythm games with a Japanese flair excite you, then look no further. The brainchild of Reisuke Ishida, the creator of Taito's cult hit Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, Groove Coaster is a rail-based rhythm game set to dozens of tracks from Taito video games. All you have to do is tap with the right timing, but the game succeeds in feeling fresh and original thanks to throwback vector-style graphics and a variety of power-ups that make this game much deeper than you'd expect. All told, it's a portable experience just as strange and compelling as music cult games like Elite Beat Agents and Rez. The app is universal, so it also plays on the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Price: $2.99

Infinity Blade

OK, we caved: we didn't have Infinity Blade in our Top Games list--until a free content update made the game's appeal impossible to ignore. A gorgeous 3D world built on the Unreal Engine and a series of tap-and-swipe battles with behemoths can get a little repetitive, but its addictive leveling system and weapon upgrades add a lot of replay value. And, it's one of the best show-off games on the iPad, with graphic bonuses for iPad 2 owners.

Price: $5.99

Jetpack Joyride

Jetpack Joyride is a retro-style arcade game where you try to survive as long as you can while avoiding treacherous obstacles and picking up coins and various power-ups. Yes, there are missions to tackle that level you up and a store to trade your coins in for clothing, vehicle, and jet pack upgrades.

The "rides" are fairly short, lasting anywhere from a few seconds to a few minutes, depending on your skill level, but there's lots of joy--this one's simple to play and highly addicting. It's also only 99 cents and is a universal app (it plays very well on the iPhone and iPod Touch).

Price: 99 cents

Machinarium

Fans of point-and-click adventures, hand-drawn graphics, and artistically adventurous indie games, look no further: Machinarium is a gorgeously rendered journey through various screens where the answers to the puzzles presented aren't immediately obvious. Previously a PC/Mac game, it's also being ported to game consoles--but it's making a stop on the iPad first.

Fans of games like Limbo will be in love with the slightly ominous universe. Surprisingly, Machinarium only runs on the iPad 2. We don't really understand why, but iPad 2 owners should leap on the opportunity for a show-off exclusive.

Price: $4.99

Mad Skills Motocross

Some complain that Mad Skills Motocross is too hard--and it is--but it's also fun to play and addictive. The physics model is very solid, and though it can get frustrating to watch your racer continually crash while trying to simultaneously get through the course quickly and pull off big tricks, those crashes can have a spectacular quality to them.

At 99 cents, this is a relative bargain and it's also a universal app, so you can play it on your iPhone as well.

Price: 99 cents

Monopoly

We've wondered where the iPad version of Monopoly has been all this time; luckily, EA's version does not disappoint. We'd like a slightly less graphics-intensive mode for speed-playing, but otherwise this is exactly what you'd expect out of an iPad-ified board game--tabletop mode included, of course.

Price: $9.99

NBA Jam

Throwback over-the-top, 2-on-2 arcade basketball makes its way onto the iPad and looks just as good as the console versions that came out for the Xbox 360 and PS3. The virtual onscreen joystick works fine, but this is one of those iPad games that you wish you could fire up with the PS3's Bluetooth game controller to really get your jam on. But it's still pretty darn good. Price: $4.99

Osmos

Photos_5.12.10_008_1.png — Screenshot by Scott Stein/CNET

A mesmerizing kinetic action game featuring spherical cell-like balls, the goal of Osmos is simply to jet around using momentum to glom with smaller objects and become the largest object in your micro-universe. Big eats small, and the more you move, the more mass you cast off. It's a fascinating miniature arcade experience with plenty of levels.

Price: $4.99

Peggle HD

We've been anticipating PopCap's incredibly addictive Peggle on the iPad since 2010, and the HD version doesn't disappoint. The pinball-meets-pachinko-meets-Breakout puzzler is kinectically perfect, and the larger screen of the iPad suits the ball-aiming action to a T. Peggle Nights, a complete second game, is unlockable within the app for a few extra dollars. Grab it now while it's still on sale. We can't even tell you how many times we've played through this game and its dozens of challenges.

Price: $2.99

Plants vs. Zombies

We loved Popcap's game on the iPhone. Is it worth the extra cash for the upgrade? If you want a spot-on version of the PC/Mac version at a price that's still affordable, then absolutely. New mini games and modes round out the standard levels. For those who haven't been keeping tabs, this gateway drug to tower-defense strategy games is quite a bit of fun for beginners or the more hard-core.

Price: $6.99

Puerto Rico HD

It's something we keep repeating again and again, but the iPad is simply a fantastic platform for digital board games. Puerto Rico is the latest port of a classic, expensive board game many people are likely unfamiliar with. The farm-raising, colony-developing structure of Ravensburger's game lends itself pretty well to the iPad, where it's not all that different in spirit from games in the App Store. Turn-based play and the complex rules take getting used to, but an impressive tutorial and hints will help newcomers get on their feet before taking on online challengers. Don't be afraid to take the plunge, especially if you like games like Settlers of Catan.

Price: $7.99

Reckless Getaway

Ah, the joys of weaving in and out of traffic, forcing cars off the road, creating spectacular explosions, and gathering gold tokens while being pursued by the police. That's what Reckless Getaway is all about, and it's an enjoyable rush while it lasts. The game could be longer, but hopefully we'll get an update with more levels in the future.

Price: $2.99

Real Racing 2 HD

Firemint, the company better known for Flight Control, has made the iOS version of Gran Turismo for two years running. Real Racing 2's graphics enhancements and physics, along with its stable of cars, racetracks, events, and online play, put it in a league that nearly equals consoles. As an added bonus, the game works with HDMI-out, turning the iPad into a steering wheel while racing at 1080p resolution on a TV screen. It's an expensive game, but well worth it for racing fans--just remember the enhanced graphics work best on an iPad 2 (consider the original Real Racing if you have a first-gen iPad).

Price: $6.99

Scrabble

Everyone has been chirping about the iPad version of the classic Scrabble board game, mainly because it allows you to use iPhones and iPod Touches as tile racks for multiplayer games in the same room, recreating the old game completely for the Apple gadget crowd. Board games make a lot more sense on a larger screen like the iPad's. Words With Friends, a knockoff of Scrabble, is less expensive and also well-designed. Choose as you will.

Price: $9.99

Sid Meier's Pirates! for iPad

Those hungering for either pirate-themed strategy games or excellent PC gaming ports on the iPad will celebrate the arrival of Sid Meier's Pirates!, a port-exploring, ship-managing, booty-collecting game that's excellently adapted for touch. It's not only the best pirate simulation of all time, it's a triple-A PC game that's easily worth twice what the App Store's charging, and then some. This is a great example of the App Store economy in action.

Price: $3.99

Super Stickman Golf

Graphically speaking, this is about as far away from EA's Tiger Woods franchise as you can get, but don't let the crudely drawn "courses" fool you. The gameplay here is simple yet shockingly challenging and it's quite possible that you may find yourself playing this one more than the Tiger Woods game.

Price: $2.99

Superbrothers: Sword and Sworcery EP

Do you like your games weird? Mysterious? Pixelated? Filled with indie music? If you answered "yes" to more than two of the above, you'd better run and pick up the latest hot game in the App Store. An ode to point-and-click graphic PC adventures of the '80s, the minimal feel, lush atmospheric sound effects, and puzzle-solving oddities add up to an experience worth having, especially if you dig the indie scene.

Price: $4.99

Ticket to Ride

Yes, we love board games on the iPad. In the tradition of Settlers of Catan and Carcassone, Ticket to Ride is an award-winning board game that's actually easier to learn but offers endless replay value. Online multiplayer is fast and a breeze to set up, and additional board game expansion packs are available for when you tire of the main game, which will likely be never. There's no local pass-and-play multiplayer yet--our one gripe--but it's otherwise a perfect game.

Price: $6.99

Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six: Shadow Vanguard HD

The Rainbow Six franchise comes to the iPad, and this tactical first-person shooter plays smoothly and looks great. No, its graphics don't live up to Xbox 360 or PS3 standards, but it feels like a solid Xbox version of the game. Alas, we've never loved the virtual touch joystick controls for FPS games on the iPad, but the touch-screen interface does work well for quickly positioning and moving around your squad onscreen.

Price: $6.99

War Pinball HD

Gameprom's Pinball HD was our favorite pinball game on the iPad; the sequel, War Pinball, ups the ante in several key ways. One: better graphics and physics. Two: the addition of motion-controlled tilting. Three: three movie-themed tables based on "Platoon," "Missing in Action," and "Navy Seals." Four: Charlie Sheen and Chuck Norris. Need we say more?

Price: $2.99

World of Goo

Either you've played World of Goo before, or you haven't. If you're in the latter category, it's time to pony up and join the club. An indie Game of the Year candidate when it first debuted as a downloadable game on the Nintendo Wii and PC, the iPad version is actually an improvement thanks to a shift to intuitive touch controls, as opposed to Wii remote-based gestures. A combination of construction toolkit and puzzle-platformer, World of Goo instantly rises to the top of our App Store must-buys.

Price: $4.99