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Don’t let the name fool you: the Humble Bundle 4 for Android also includes Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of each game.

(Credit: Humble Bundle)

Most game bundles have one thing in common: the games have been around awhile. They might be solid titles, sure, but many times they’re so old that most gamers already have them.

Not this time. The Humble Bundle 4 for Android comes with five games, four of which are making their Android debut. In fact, they’re not even available via Google Play yet, so you couldn’t purchase them separately if you wanted to.

Don’t have an Android device? Don’t sweat it: you also get licenses for the Windows, Mac, and Linux versions of each game.

As with other Humble Bundles, this one works like this: you decide what price you want to pay. A penny? Sold. A dollar? Sold. $ 65.09? Sold. Whatever amount you deem fair, you can divvy it up among the developers, a couple of worthy charities, and the Humble folks.

If you pay at least $ 1, you’ll get license keys for use with Steam, a convenient way to download and manage your games. And if you beat the average purchase price (currently $ 6.05), you’ll get a sixth game: the award-winning oldie-but-greatie, Machinarium.

All the titles are blissfully free of DRM. So, what does your name-your-own-price buy you? Here’s an overview in handy video form:

Good stuff, am I right? While you’re figuring out what to pay, keep in mind that Machinarium for Android normally sells for $ 4.99, and Crayon Physics Deluxe for desktops costs $ 19.95. Personally, I think you’d be crazy not to pony up at least the average.

Your thoughts? What are you willing to pay game developers for their hard work, worthy charities for their good doings, and the Humble bundlers for putting it all together?

Despite the realistic 3D graphics of today’s first person shooters, RPGs, and other games, platform games continue to thrive on iOS. There’s something about jumping through levels, solving puzzles, and collecting coins that keeps gamers entertained. Also, the ability to play through a single level while on the go makes platformers perfect for short bursts of play on your iOS device.

While a console controller is probably the ideal way to play these sometimes precise running and jumping games, iOS game developers have come up with unique ways to make them work.

This week’s collection of iOS apps is all about modern platform games. The first is the most traditional platformer, but adds an interesting twist for passing levels. The second has an uncommon control system, but a unique art style and fun, varied gameplay make it a great option. The third is the most polished of the collection, with challenging puzzles and a somewhat grotesque storyline.

Note: There are no Android versions for any of these games.

Mikey Shorts (99 cents|Free lite version) is a pure platformer, that has you collecting coins and setting frozen prisoners free as you race through levels.

Sometimes you’ll need to skip past coins in order to get the best time, but you can always replay the level for more cash.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

The control system for Mikey Shorts is super simple. You have a game pad on the left for moving left and right, and buttons for jumping and sliding under obstacles on the right. As you play, you’ll find prisoners that have been turned to stone, and you’ll need to pass through them to grab energy and to set them free. Each checkpoint gate in the game requires a certain amount of energy, which happens to be exactly the number of prisoners in that section, so you’ll need to save them all to move on. There are also coins you can grab to spend on an enormous number of outfits, eyewear, and hairstyles. The coins aren’t necessary like saving the prisoners is, but it’s still fun to try out new looks.

What makes this game especially fun, though, is the 3-star rating system. You’re not judged on grabbing everything in any of the 84 levels in the game. Instead, the main goal in Mikey Shorts is to get to the end as fast as possible. The requirements are especially challenging for a perfect 3-star score, and I often found myself repeating levels for the perfect run. But even though the game takes a little practice, once you get into the groove of performing speed runs, you’ll start getting the perfect scores more easily.

Mikey Shorts isn’t going to dazzle you with fancy graphics, but the need to fly through levels is the thing that will keep you coming back for one more run. If you like the idea of going for the best time, this game is excellent.

Totem Runner (99 cents) uses a slightly different control system, but once you get the hang of it, the unique art style and varying challenges make this a very compelling game.

This games unique artistic style is beautiful to look at while you navigate through obstacles.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

In Totem Runner, you have no control over running — the game does it for you. Instead, in this fantasy game, your hero has the ability to change into other forms to get past specific obstacles. As you play through the first level, you’ll learn how to use buttons on the right to turn into a rampaging rhino that rams through enemies, turn into an eagle to fly past obstacles, and, if you build up enough energy, turn into an indestructible flying dragon. A button on the left gives your hero the magical ability to breath new life into the desolate world, planting greenery behind you, and adding stars back into the sky.

Yes, the premise is pretty out there, but as you play, you’ll get into the rhythm of switching forms as you pass through various obstacles and battle enemies, all of which are beautifully designed with a unique artistic style. The hero, all of the enemies, the obstacles, and every animal you transform into is done with silhouettes using neon highlights to provide the details. It’s truly a great-looking game and the fantasy premise fits the gameplay nicely.

Totem Runner lets you run, ram, and fly through five chapters of levels. Once you complete in-game challenges later on, you’ll be able to play as the Sorcerer, the Lord of Stars, or the Great Shadow, each with their own special abilities.

Totem Runner is not your traditional platforming game, but the interesting storyline, uncommon controls, and shape-changing gameplay are fun to master. If you’re looking for a game that’s different than the usual fare, try this one.

Wimp: who stole my pants? (links below) is a platformer where you play as a cute little blob in search of his pants while solving puzzles in a sewer-like world filled with toxic goo and dangerous enemies and terrain. This iOS Universal game is optimized for specific devices and which version of the game you choose relies on which device you’re using.

Part of solving the puzzles is figuring out how to use the blob’s various skills to turn switches and move boxes.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

If you’re using the iPhone 4, iPhone 3gs, iPod touch 4, or the original iPad you should get this version (99 cents). If you have an iPhone 4S, iPhone 5, iPod touch 5, iPad 2, or iPad 3, you should download this HD version ($ 2.99). There are also free Lite versions of the game you can try out (regular|HD).

With that out of the way, Wimp: who stole my pants? is the most polished game in this collection, with smooth visuals, excellent physics, and a tight control system as you solve puzzles to finish levels. As you progress through this grotesque sewer-like world, you’ll need to collect three rolls of toilet paper and get to the finish to complete each level. Puzzles are the name of the game here, as you move boxes, touch switches, and maneuver your blob to get all three rolls.

The control system includes left-and-right movement buttons on the left, with buttons for jumping and sticking to surfaces on the right. As you progress, more skills come into play, requiring you to perform double-jumps, wall jumps, and teleportation. The game is designed so that each level requires certain steps to be performed in a specific order to complete the level with a 3-toilet paper rating. I often found myself restarting the level again and again as I figured out the trick to completing each level.

Wimp: who stole my pants comes with 50 platforming levels to challenge your hand-eye coordination and puzzle-solving skills, with different world themes as you progress. You’ll also be challenged with boss fights at certain points that will put all your skills to the test.

If you’re looking for a game that pushes your device to the extreme with amazing graphics and fluid animations while requiring thought and experimentation to pass levels, Wimp: who stole my pants is an excellent option.

Most games on my iPhone keep my interest for awhile, but then they enter a state of sitting on my home screen until I remember to revisit them. If they sit long enough, I’ll delete them knowing I can always re-download if the urge strikes me. But there is one category of games I never stop playing.

When I get a moment, I’m always catching up with word games on my iPhone. I constantly have a Scrabble (iOS|Android) game going along with both Scramble with Friends (iOS|Android) and Words with Friends (iOS|Android). When I have a little time, I’ll also play SpellTower (iOS only) as well. But what I recently realized is, with all these active word games I’m playing, I haven’t looked at what the App Store has to offer in quite some time.

This week’s apps are quality word games that you may have never played. The first gives you a set number of letters in a stack and challenges you to use every letter to win. The second has you popping bubbles that contain letters to form words. The third lets you rearrange letters on a grid to make words with unique side challenges as you play.

Note: All of the games are available for both iOS and Android, except Bubble in Paradise.

Here, I have the top three words completed, but it will take some moves and changes to get the bottom two.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET )

Dabble (99 cents – iOS|Android) is a word game that challenges you to rearrange letters stacked in 5 rows to make five complete words. You get 20 mixed up letters and five minutes to form complete words on a graduated “bleacher” type of playing board.

The game immediately drew me in as I tried to find words from the available letters. The playing board has two letters at the top, then three below that, then four below that…all the way up to six letters at the bottom. You can move letters between levels or on the same level simply by touching and dragging them to swap places. When you complete a word on a row, it changes colors to show it’s an actual word, but you still have the ability to swap letters if you need them.

Where the real challenge comes is in making words out of your remaining rows of letters once you have some completed. What ends up happening is you’ll make some easy words at the top to complete those rows, then realize that you’ll need to make clever swaps to slightly change a word at the top to get a letter you can use for the bottom. It sounds confusing, but once you start playing, you’ll understand. When you complete all the rows, the game ends and tells you your score and how much time it took you to complete the board.

Dabble has Game Center support so you can check high scores and uses Facebook to let you challenge your friends. One problem I noticed when starting a multiplayer game is that the Facebook settings for Dabble don’t give you the option to opt out of posting on your behalf. This is a pet peeve of mine, but it’s more or less the same game in single player as it is multiplayer.

It’s also important to note there are no alternate game modes to keep your interest once you get bored of the gameplay.

Dabble is not terribly complex and that’s part of its charm, but it will still put your wordsmith skills to the test. If you want a challenging word game you can jump into without taking too much time, Dabble is a good choice.

I’m trying to avoid that letter “U” in the lower left because it will speed up the bubbles.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET )

Bubble in Paradise (99 cents – iOS only) is a little more involved than Dabble, challenging you to select letters inside of bubbles to make words, then submit a correct word to make the bubbles pop. You get a continuous stream of bubble letters from the bottom of the screen that float to the top, but if you’re screen fills up completely with bubbles, you’ll get a warning sound before your game ends.

Bubble in Paradise really makes you feel the pressure, especially later in the game when your screen is filling up. To add to the tension, when you don’t use a letter, its bubble grows bigger, taking up more space on the screen. This forces you to try to use the largest bubbles in words to get some wiggle room so you can keep playing.

Beyond the basic gameplay, Bubble in Paradise has powerups that can both help or hurt you as you make words. The freeze powerup will freeze the action for a short time so you can clear some space out when you use the letter in a word. The Deflate powerup will make nearby bubbles small again. There’s also a Plus bubble that temporarily gives you higher scores for each word submitted. On the other hand, you’ll need to watch out for the Faster powerup that speeds up the letters appearing at the bottom, and the Inflate powerup that makes nearby bubbles bigger. Sometimes it’s unavoidable to use these letters in words as you’re frantically trying to make more space.

There is some help, however. An in-game hint system lets you touch a button to show you where words are in the sea of bubbles. You get a limited number of hints, so don’t use them too quickly, but you also can earn more as you play. I haven’t needed more hints, but it’s possible to buy packages of hints for real money if you find yourself stuck in a lot of games.

Bubble in Paradise has been very addictive so far and I think you’ll agree. If you want a word game that challenges your abilities under pressure, I recommend this game.

The interface looks pretty busy, but once you get the hang of how the tiles work you’ll be hooked.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET )

W.E.L.D.E.R. ($ 2.99 – iOS|Android) has been in the App Store for awhile, but provides a different kind of tension as you try to swap letters on a grid to form words with a minimum of four letters. In this game, when you finish a word, more letters drop from top to replace them, and your job is to form words in as few letter swaps as possible.

In this game the challenge is not about how much time you have, but how many moves you have left before you’re awarded more. To form a word, you need to swap tiles until you form words either horizontally or vertically. You start off with a limited number of swaps you can make. But as you form words, a bar at the bottom fills up, and once it gets to the top, you receive more moves to keep playing.

There are a number of different tile types that you’ll need to contend with as you play. Hot molten tiles are too hot to touch, so you’ll have to swap letters around them to make a word and remove them from the board. Blank wooden tiles act as wild cards, but when you use them it uses up one of your limited supply of moves. Gold tiles give you double score for your words. As each new special tile is introduced, you can touch it to find out its properties.

There are also special moves to unlock. As you progress, you’ll earn more ways to form words. Moves called Group, Reverse, and Jump Swaps each make it easier to move groups of letters so you don’t have to waste valuable swaps. To successfully complete a game, you’ll need to go through 15 levels of 25 words each. When you move up a level, you’ll unlock new special moves and receive other bonuses that help you along. But as you go up in levels, the special tiles increase, making the game much more difficult.

W.E.L.D.E.R. has had some updates since it’s launch that add new game modes. Sandbox mode lets you play without a swap limit — a great way to get some practice in. Broken Challenge is particularly difficult, forcing you to play with several tiles that don’t move, which means you’ll need to move tiles around them to form words. There’s also a multiplayer component where you can challenge a friend or a random opponent.

Overall, W.E.L.D.E.R. is a very deep game with tons of variation across tile types and game modes. On the flip side, there are no quick games, so if you want a word game that’s more involved than the standard two-minute games, this one is an excellent choice.

Now that you have your iPhone 5, you’ve probably noticed that not all apps take advantage of the wider screen. I’ve been noticing that the updates have been pouring in fairly quickly, but unfortunately, I still have a lot of “letterboxed” apps and games that show black spaces on each side.

For this week’s collection I put together three games that look absolutely fantastic on the iPhone 5′s larger display. The first is the latest in a popular arcade-style racing franchise and gives you more viewing area as you blaze around the track. The second is an action RPG that pits you against demonic beasts as you hack and slash your way to saving a kidnapped queen. The last is the newest version of a popular soccer series that might be the best sports game available on iOS.

Asphalt 7: Heat is an excellent racing game that’s been upgraded for iPhone 5

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET )

Asphalt 7: Heat
Asphalt 7 has all the bells and whistles of a great arcade racing game and looks amazing on the iPhone 5. To start off, you get 60 licensed cars from manufacturers all over the world, including Ferrari, Lamborghini, and Aston Martin, all intricately detailed and great-looking on the Retina Display. There are six different game modes in which you’ll be challenged to race in 15 different leagues for a total of 150 different races. Tracks are set in real cities around the world, such as Paris, London, and Miami, with all the appropriate landmarks. You also have achievements (called Goals, in this game) for everything from finishing your first race to completing a league and everything in between. Read the full review.

Wild Blood uses the Unreal Engine, and I was surprised how good it looked.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET )

Wild Blood
Built with the Unreal Engine, Wild Blood features stunning 3D graphics as you hack and slash your way through hordes of enemies. The story is a little far-fetched, but makes for great fun. You play as Sir Lancelot in search of Queen Guinevere who is held captive by King Arthur and his sister, here called Morgana Le Fey. Apparently in his jealousy of his queen’s romance with Lancelot, King Arthur has enlisted the help of his evil sorceress sister to open a hellgate and, with the help of demonic monsters who…well, who really cares? Though the storyline doesn’t quite match up with the more usual King Arthur mythology, the game has amazingly beautiful 3D graphics and realistic ambient sounds, along with frenetic — though fairly linear — gameplay. Read the full review.

Possibly the best sports game on iOS, FIFA Soccer 13 has all the features you want as a soccer fan.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET )

FIFA Soccer 13
Having played many of the previous versions of the franchise on consoles and all of the various soccer games on mobile, I can say that FIFA 13 is the best soccer game on iOS, with 500 fully licensed teams to play with over 15,000 players, across 30 leagues. You can play as your favorite teams, pass to your favorite players with realistic attributes, and use new skill moves to get free and go for the goal. This game is so deep and so well-made that I can’t think of a single sports game that is better on iOS. The added screen space on the iPhone 5 really helps to see more of the field. Read the full review.

We’re now in the second week of the NFL football season, and if you’re a fan of the game you probably already know when and where you’re going to watch your favorite team play this weekend. But when it’s not game watching time in the middle of the week, or even at halftime, I found some great games that make you a part of the action without getting too involved.

There are full American football game options at the App Store like Madden NFL 12 and Gameloft’s NFL series, but neither are nearly as good as what you would find on a console and the touch-screen interfaces leave a lot to be desired. That’s why instead of talking about those games here, I went with easier to pick up and play arcade-like football games that won’t keep you glued to your iPhone for a long time.

This week’s collection of iOS apps let you focus on playing as specific players on a football team. The first focuses on running, letting you dodge tackles, and even showboat as you run into the end zone. The second lets you play as a kicker, sending the football through the goal posts or trying to get the perfect punt right by the goal line. The third puts you in the shoes of a quarterback as you swipe to make perfect passes to moving receivers.

As you dodge defenders, you’ll also want to run over the colored squares that add to your point total.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

NFL Rivals (99 cents) is the NFL licensed version of an older favorite of mine, BackBreaker 2: Vengeance, a game that put you in the shoes of a football player running and dodging tackles to get to the end zone. Just like the original, beautiful 3D graphics and solid animations give you the feeling of powering your way down the field. But in NFL Rivals, you now have the ability to play as your favorite team as you either run for touchdowns or prevent the other team from scoring. You start off customizing your player by picking your favorite team, and you can set the jersey number, and skin tone.

Once on the field, NFL Rivals adds new moves and features to keep the game exciting. In addition to the spin, juke, and sprint moves found in earlier iterations of the game, you can now jump over low tackles and objects by tapping on the middle of the screen. You also have a “trucking” move that turns your player into a power runner, bulldozing your way through high tackles and under props on the field. Having a low solid object to jump over or a low-hanging bar to “truck” under look a little out of place on the football field, but NFL Rivals is an arcade game, and the added obstacles definitely make for some complicated challenges. You also can’t help but feel a sense of accomplishment after a long line of jumping over objects, dodging tackles, and showboating into the end zone.

Don’t feel bad about Showboating, either — that’s how you get the most points. You get more points if you can showboat or high step into the end zone at the end of your run. The Showboating move slows you down, making it possible for tacklers to catch up to you, so you have to choose the right time to start showing off in order to make it to the end zone while racking up the most points. If you want to take your showboating a step further, there is an extra button that makes your showboating move even more exaggerated and quite a bit slower while doubling the points you’ll receive if you make it to the end zone. But don’t be surprised if you end up eating the turf 5 yards short of the end zone before you get the hang of it.

NFL Rivals is an excellent arcade football game that keeps things interesting with the ability to play on both sides of the ball. The game mechanic is very addictive, and as you progress, you’ll need to use every move at your disposal to reach the end zone or tackle your opponent. Anyone who played the BackBreaker games or likes the idea of an easy to pick-up-and-play football game will appreciate the challenge and polish of this title.

The key is to string together kicks that hit the golden zone for higher multipliers and more points.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

NFL Kicker (99 cents), from Full Fat games, lets you flick to kick a football through the goal posts using players from your favorite NFL teams, and offers tons of challenges and game modes to keep it interesting. The game gives you a brief tutorial called Basic Skills at the beginning to get you started, then it’s up to you to make precise flicks to score the most points.

NFL Kicker comes with a few game modes to cover the challenges of both place kickers and punters. The In The Zone game mode has you line up for your kick, check windspeed, then send the ball through the uprights. But there are also colored zones within the uprights that give you more points for being more precise. Coffin Corner is a punters paradise that challenges you to kick the ball with just the right amount of power and angle to land it as close to the goal line as possible. In Time Attack mode it’s all about speed and volume as you kick as many field goals as you can in the time allotted.

As you progress through the game you’ll earn coins you can spend on equipment and even upgrade your stadium. You don’t earn coins quickly, but by being precise you’ll earn more. I mentioned that there are zones within the uprights, but the golden zone gives you the most points, which later translates into coins at the end. It’s not easy to hit the golden zone every time, but fortunately the game has after touch controls that let you swipe to alter the football’s trajectory after it’s already in the air. Each time you successfully hit the golden zone, your score multiplier goes up, which means more points and more coins. But if you miss the zone, you’ll go back down to a zero multiplier. This setup makes you want to kick it just right every time so you’ll be checking wind speed and distance a lot as you try to line up the perfect kick.

Like Flick Quarterback from the same developer, NFL Kicker has an enormous amount of polish, with excellent graphics and detailed player models that make it feel realistic. If you like the idea of playing as a the Kicker on a football team, or just want a good challenging game that doesn’t get too deep into the rules of American football, this is a great choice.

Wait until the receiver turns green before flicking to throw the perfect pass.

(Credit: Screenshot by Jason Parker/CNET)

NFL Flick Quarterback (99 cents) is made by the same developer as NFL Kicker and is an excellent touch-screen game that manages to make you feel like a real quarterback as you connect with receivers. The game offers a Basic Skills level to get you started and explains how the game works: you must complete passes to open receivers while accounting for both defensive players and wind speed. Hitting an open receiver almost always results in a touchdown; there’s no defense after the catch. But you will need to make crisp passes in order to get high scores.

The game offers a few different game modes and all of them add to the experience of throwing good passes. The main mode is called Playmaker, where you’ll need to lead receivers with your passes for them to make clean catches. As the game progresses, more defenders are added, making it crucial that you flick the ball with just the right amount of force to get it to your receiver. You’ll have some help there–a circle under the receiver turns green when he gets into open space, but you’ll still need precision, because a defensive back is often not far behind. Scores are based on how well you lead the receiver and number of touchdowns after successful passes.

A Quick Fire game mode gives you 45 seconds to complete as many passes as possible. Completed passes add seconds on to your time and the quality of pass matters, too: with a good leading pass you can get 5 seconds added on, but with a close call catch, you’ll only get 3 seconds (and misses subtract 3 seconds). The feeling of urgency forces you to walk the fine line of getting the pass off while remaining precise.

A third game mode called Trick Shot tests your accuracy by having you throw passes into barrels. As you progress, the barrels get farther away and wind speed starts to play a role forcing you to make perfect passes to hit the target. All of the game modes are fun and different enough from each other that you’ll want to try each again and again.

NFL Flick Quarterback is an excellent game for football fans who want to make the perfect pass. With several game types and plenty of variation, this will be the perfect game to play as you wait to get through halftime.