AppAdvice game of the week for Aug. 22, 2014

Every week, our staff will handpick a game from the past two weeks that we believe is a must-have download for your iPhone or iPad. These games will always be from a wide variety of genres, but they are chosen because our own staff members love it and can’t quite put it down. So here are this week’s picks! Enjoy, and happy gaming!

Put your special talents to use in the courtroom and be the best attorney there is in our Game of the Week!

Want to become the best attorney there is? Then it’s time to pick up the latest Ace Attorney port on iOS, which happens to be our Game of the Week. That’s right, the fifth game of the main series, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies is now available on your iOS device, and the first episode is free.

While there are many references to the previous games in this title, even a newbie can enter the world of Ace Attorney with this game, which is considered by many to be the best game so far. And even if you played the game before on your 3DS, Dual Destinies has been perfectly optimized on the way to iOS, with even sharper graphics and intuitive menus. The soundtrack is quite a delight to listen to and the voice acting is superb in the beautifully animated anime cutscenes.

If you’ve never played any of the Ace Attorney games before, be warned: it’s very dialogue heavy. Players will need to go through every bit of dialogue exchanged between characters and make careful observations of every little detail to make their case in court. If you’ve ever wondered what it is like to be a lawyer, Dual Destinies will give you a great taste of that life.

To make things even more interesting in Dual Destinies, you will be working with two protégés of Phoenix Wright: Apollo Justice and Athena Cykes. These characters will have their own special talents to help you on cases, such as being able to detect emotional inconsistencies in witness testimonies.

We’re fans of the Ace Attorney games, so we are very happy to finally have this excellent port in our hands. You can get Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies in the App Store as a universal download for free for the first episode. Episodes 2–5 can be purchased for $4.99 a pop or you can get the entire game for $14.99. There is also a special bonus episode that is available separately for the individual price or in the bundle.

For more information on Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney – Dual Destinies, check out my full review.

Stimulate your mind with the challenging rules in our Honorable Mention for the week.

In the mood for a memory puzzle game instead? Then we’ve got you covered with Rules!, our Honorable Mention for the week.

The visuals in Rules! are minimal and elegant, featuring a unique art style that really pops out on the screen. The characters that you’ll find on the cards in this game are all unique and special. While the game looks flat, there is depth to the graphics because of the shading. The use of color and characters will train your brain too, as they become more recognizable over time. The soundtrack is soothing too, helping get you in the mode of flexing your brain muscles.

There’s only one game mode in Rules!, and that’s basically to follow the set of rules in each level. However, as you clear the level and move on to the next, you will have to use the new set of rules, but then remember the old rules as well. You start with 20 seconds, and get a few seconds added on after each successful level, so as you advance, you have less time for following more rules. The rules will be things like “Tap all greens,” “Tap numbers in descending order,” “Tap odd numbers,” and more. Simple stuff, but can be overwhelming later on. You also get bonuses for being flawless and fast, which mean a higher final score for the leaderboards.

Rules! has become a favorite here at AppAdvice, and if you enjoy memory puzzle games, this is worth checking out. Grab it on the App Store for the iPhone for $1.99.

For a closer look, don’t miss my original review.

Mentioned apps