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Today I saw a post over on the Adventure Gamers forums about a new indie adventure game for iOS that sounded like something I’d really enjoy, so I got all excited—until I remembered that I can’t play it because I don’t own any iOS devices except for an old iPod Nano that I barely use. Lately I’ve been hearing about more and more iOS-only games, many of them horror/adventure titles that, on any other platform, I’d have purchased and played in a heartbeat. Deflated, I began to wonder how many cool games I might be missing out on just because I don’t have an iPhone/iPad/iPod Touch/iWhatever. That’s when it dawned on me:

Could this be (gasp!) Mac envy?

I’ve never been much of a Mac fan (for many reasons that I won’t delve into here), even though I do have respect for Apple and its products. So, I’m going to consider this blog post a kind of experiment. What I want to do is make a list of all the iOS-exclusive games that really interest me, and see how long I can go before I break down and do something silly, like go out and purchase an iDevice just to play some friggin’ games on it.

So here goes:

The Secret of Chateau de Moreau

Secret of Chateau de Moreau

Description: In The Secret of Chateau de Moreau, you are Antoine, the stepson of the Rich Count Moro. Your Stepfather was killed by poisoning and now you are entitled to an enormous inheritance but have also been named as a suspect of his murder. Now you must prove your innocence and discover who murdered your Stepfather through this exciting adventure thriller. Every decision counts! Make game-changing decisions through bone-chilling questioning.

Infinity Blade

Infinity Blade

Description: In the world of Infinity Blade you take up the ancestral sword of your forefathers to fight foes threatening to destroy your home, and as a heroic knight, you rise up against the sinister God-King and his brutish Titans. Epic boss battles and dazzling weapons and armor all await you in this thrilling iOS gaming experience.

With just a few basic swiping commands, you can spar with a wide variety of challenging opponents, upgrade skills, and cast spells. Not to mention, there’s plenty of loot to be had. As you build your stats and unlock a variety of achievements, you can get more powerful items to help you in your quest to defeat the God-King and free the kingdom’s citizens from an endless legacy of darkness.

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

Superbrothers: Sword & Sorcery EP

Description: S:S&S EP is a 21st century interpretation of the archetypical old school videogame adventure, designed exclusively for Apple’s touchtronic machinery. It’s a mix of laid-back exploration, careful investigation & mysterious musical problem-solving occasionally punctuated by hard-hitting combat encounters. S:S&S EP is an unusual genre-bending effort with an emphasis on sound, music & audiovisual style that has been positioned as ‘a brave experiment in Input/Output Cinema.

The Dark Meadow

The Dark Meadow

Description: In The Dark Meadow, you wake in the bed of a hospital long ago fallen to stunning ruin, not knowing or understanding why you are here. You are greeted by the only normal looking person in this world, who sends you on a quest to gather what you need to track down and defeat the evil presence that has you trapped in this never-ending parallel world. The decaying hallways and rooms are haunted by creatures relentlessly hounding your every move. As you explore, you learn more and more about the mystery from the world and what you find in it, evidence to be gleaned from the environment, snippets of the past of this forsaken place, words and writings from others who have been trapped here, and you look for clues of how to get out.

Updates for 2/21/2012:

Found a bunch more games to add to this list. FML.

Pizza Vs. Skeletons

Pizza versus Skeletons

Description: A game that manages to make Plants vs. Zombies sound like a banal concept, Pizza Vs. Skeletons is a crazy mashup that pits a giant anthropomorphic pizza against armies of brittle skeletons. Players must try to roll over, crush, or otherwise destroy skeletons through tons of zany side-scrolling and underwater levels. You can even unlock bonuses like extra costumes for your pizza, like the badass pirate outfit pictured above (“Arrrrrgh!”).

The Secret of Grisly Manor

The Secret of Grisly Manor

Description: The Secret of Grisly Manor is a “lite” horror-themed adventure game that blends hidden objects, puzzles, detective work and bit of classic adventuring into one entertaining little package. I’m not really a fan of hidden object games, but this game seems to have enough of a mix of different elements to make me interested. From what I’ve read, one of the only complaints about the game is that it’s too short.

The Lost City

The Lost City

Description: From the same developer as The Secret of Grisly Manor comes another adventure game. The Lost City is described as a Myst clone with lots of exploration and puzzle-solving amidst beautiful graphics and scenery.

The Hacker

The Hacker

Description: In The Hacker, you assume the role of an elite programmer working for Glider Corp. and are presented with a series of computer hacking challenges (e.g. mini games) that guide you through the story, which is something of a corporate crime thriller. I like the game’s vintage monochrome aesthetics. This one sounds like a pretty neat concept, and the reviews look very favorable.

To Be Continued…

Do you know of any other great iOS-only games? Tell me about ’em in the comments. I’m especially interested in any adventure or horror titles, which I will gladly list here if they’re exclusive to iOS.