iPad Games That Will Drive You Nuts

I have always had a proclivity for video games. When I was younger, we didn't have the luxury of owning a game console, but we were fortunate enough to enjoy playing video games at our cousin's place. I think that's when my love affair with video games started. I am not a hardcore gamer - far from it - but I do tend to become totally engaged in a game.

Enter the iPad.

The iPad can be touted as whatever magical device by everyone in the world, but I will have to be honest and say that I use it mainly to play games. Sure, it does have tons of other uses, and I do use the device for other purposes, but when it comes to the point, I say that the iPad is a brilliant gaming device.

From word games to drawing games to strategy games to racing games - you can find whatever kind of game tickles your fancy. And boy, have I found out just how easily I can get immersed in an iPad game!

Before going through my short list of iPad games that really get me going, I thought I'd share this informative graphic with you.

I have always thought of myself as a casual gamer, but this has made me see things from a different perspective. The infographic is mainly about the culture of freemium apps - which so many people seem to love - but it does place a special focus on mobile games.

My epiphany of the day: I am an avid gamer! As described in the graphic, an avid gamer is someone who plays daily, or even multiple times a day. This is opposed to the casual gamer who plays only a few times a week, or even a few times a month. So which category do you fall under?

W.E.L.D.E.R. is a "recent" discovery for me, and I use the quotation marks because I have had it on the iPad for a while now, but I never really got into it. My sister was telling me months ago how addicted she was to the game, and that I should try it as well. (She knows very well how much I like word games.) I finally tried it last weekend, and boy, was I hooked!

The idea behind this iPad game (it also works on the iPhone by the way) is to form words by moving letters around the board. You can move letters in any direction, one tile at a time, but you can only form words horizontally, left to right, or vertically, going down. As you progress, you get different kinds of tiles and additional moves.

The beauty of the game is also its downfall - it gets really hard! The different kinds of tiles increase the level of difficulty, and so does the limited number of moves given to you at each level.

One thing that I really like about W.E.L.D.E.R. is that you get to learn a lot of new words. And I mean a LOT! Even better, you simply have to click on the word after you've formed it, and the definition will be displayed.

At the moment, this is the game which is driving me nuts the most. The bad thing is that I can see it going on for quite some time.

W.E.L.D.E.R. is developed by Ayopa Games and is available at the App Store for $0.99.

Who has not heard of Draw Something??? To be honest, the first time that I heard about "the drawing game", I was totally uninterested. I suck at drawing. I will be the first to say that. So I stayed away.

I don't remember anymore how I got suckered into trying it out, but I did at some point, and now, a day will not go by without me drawing at least once. If you already are on Draw Something, you will probably know what I mean.

If you are still holding out against peer pressure, good for you! But just so you know, while the game does require players to draw and guess, it does not mean that you can't do it if you do not have an artistic bone in your body. Who cares if a six-year-old can draw better than you do? The fun is in thinking of creative ways to portray a word with a drawing. The fun is in interacting with people - friends or strangers - and making them go through your excruciating sketches, and vice versa! ;)

Draw Something is by OMGPOP and is available at the App Store for $0.99. Alternatively, there is the free version (with all the downsides that come with free games).

Tower defense games like TowerMadness give a different sort of satisfaction. In general, this kind of game is always a danger for me in terms of getting addicted, but TowerMadness is a different level altogether. It is a wonderful mix of tower defense and aliens and something so mundane as sheep.

The idea is to keep your sheep, of which you are given 10, safe till you have killed the last wave of aliens. If you lose all your sheep, you die. The game is for free, but you get upgrades to weapons via in-app purchases. You can also purchase new maps.

Just how much does TowerMadness drive me nuts? Let's say that I have been playing and re-playing it for almost a year now!

Kingdom Rush is another recent discovery of mine, and it is not surprising that I fell for it immediately. It is a tower defense game, with the additional elements of fantasy. The premise is to make sure you build enough towers to kill the enemies so that your kingdom will not be overrun. The characters are straight out of a fantasy story - with mages, archers, demons, and the like.

No need to highlight its addictive properties, but you also have to know that this is a very difficult game. At least for a "casual" gamer like me. Here's a confession: I have had to check YouTube tutorials and guides several times just to get out of a level alive!