I picked up some games recently thanks to impressions here & elsewhere.
CubedRRacer - fun lil' racer, similar in aesthetic to RC Pro Am. Strictly solo racing action though. Controls consist of a left button, a right button, and an accelerator. Somehow, that basic set up works really well.
Eliss - wow just wow! Some brand new yet retro type shit right here! Kinda reminds me of a very little known game by Atari called "Quantum". The object is to move colored balls (planets) on top of circles ("squeesars") without letting different colored planets touch each other. All done with your fingers! Super duper fresh.
Game of Life - my lady friend wanted to play this, so I got it while it was on sale over the Labor Day weekend for .99. Ugh, this game sucks. I didn't play it much as a kid and now I remember why. The interface is nice and the graphics are pretty, but the game can totally blow me.
Osmos - this blows me away as much as Eliss, but whereas Eliss is all retro vector based goodness, this is that gorgeous, beautiful, taking full advantage of the retina display type shit. You're a cell-based type of organism that slowly, verrry slowly, digests other smaller organisms while avoiding bigger ones. As you get bigger, you get to swallow up enemies, similar to Katamari. Annon of OA of all people recommended this game to me, and whadya know, that douche is good for something (unlike abrader).
Trees of Doom - silly lil' diversion based on the Ninjatown duder. Climb as high as you can without getting knocked off. Not something you want to play for hours on end but if you're just waiting in line at the grocery store to buy laxatives or booze or whatever, it's second to none.
Sway - another brilliant fucking game! A ragdoll platformer where you use your thumbs to control your character's left and right hand. Swing around to gain velocity, then go flying and hope to god you stick to something instead of falling to your doom, which you will be doing a LOT of. Harder than fuck but soooo satisfying when you get the hang of things.
Shibuya - interesting puzzle game, sort of a really simplified version of Klax. You only have to deal with one row of colored rows dropping down. Match two of the same color and tap them to make them disappear. You have a really limited playing field though so you have to think ahead and pay close attention to the upcoming pieces. It feels like something you'd only want to play for a minute or two but then next thing you know you've been paying it for two hours! Be sure to turn off the music though because that shit sucks.
Tilt to Live - like a slower version of Geometry Wars 2 Pacifism mode. Definitely truth in advertising - tilt the iPhone to survive the onslaught of baddies! I was a little apprehensive about a game that relies strictly on the accelerometer since, ya know, that shit can be a little dodgy - but it controls like a dream. When you die, you don't feel like you got gypped from shitty controls, you feel like you suck and should play ONE MORE ROUND
and finally, while it's not a game, it may be the coolest thing I've purchased thus far...
Beatmaker - oh my fucking GOD this thing is the BUSINESS. A feature rich sampler / sequencer / FX program that you can take ANYWHERE? YES PLEASE! I really loved my Korg DS cart but I have a feeling I'm never going to touch it again after fucking with this. The learning curve is tremendous and the online support is, well... there's a 40 page manual that isn't exactly helpful, but then again I learn better from hands-on than reading and I was able to knock out a pretty dope beat in my first day of owning the software, so... I can't complain. For $10, this is the best fucking thing EVER.