Martian Miner Puts New Spin On Classic Game, Plus Win A Copy!

The two controls you'll learn in the introduction are moving the ship (swiping it in the direction you want), and firing (tapping what you want to smite). Even though you're firing missiles, the ship makes a chirpy "pew pew" sound.

Getting used to moving your ship does require a steep learning curve. The ship moves fine, but coming to a complete stop is another thing. You can enable bumpers in the settings menu, which will sling you back if you stray too far into the border, but this is only slightly helpful because you don’t know how far you’ll go until you're flung back.

Another difference between this game and Asteroids is that you can upgrade your ship after earning credits. Such upgrades include: nukes, tractor beam, speed boost, and shields. There is also a survival mode for those that are not the faint of heart.

I had some initial trouble after first downloading the app. Once opened, it would load the developer's intro page and then crash when it finished. Force closing the app didn't work, but restarting my iPad did (I'm working with a first gen iPad, but the app's page said that would work for its requirements).

I didn't encounter that trouble again, so just a heads-up if you experience the same issue. Overall, this is a fun take on the classic arcade game. Getting to the fun part may take a little patience, but it’s worth the effort.

GIVEAWAY: We have five codes for Martian Miner to giveaway to readers! Just leave a comment on this post (with a valid email address so we can contact the winners) by Wednesday November 2, 4 p.m. PDT. We'll pick winners randomly. Good luck!

Here’s the trailer, in case you want to see more.