(They didn't: Players have made it into the 60,000s.)Īnd yet, despite its strange premise and execution, I keep coming back to Desert Golfing. And those aforementioned procedurally-generated holes? They're often exceedingly difficult - so much so that the developer himself never built a proper ending, trusting that two nigh-impossible holes in the 2000s and 3000s would stop all but the craziest players. The reality is a bit more complex: The game has no way to restart (save for deleting the entire app), no par requirements on holes, and no way to fail.
The premise is simple: Knock a golf ball into a procedurally-generated hole using the same sort of physics drag-and-swipe present in the Angry Birds franchise. One stroke of meditative reflection on the golfing genre, three strokes puzzle game, and 3287 strokes of digital trolling make up Desert Golfing, a title that's both genius and endlessly frustrating. The game's minimalist styling belies the complexity and delight of its many route options like many of the other options on this list, it's provided hours of head-scratching fun - and the occasional power-trip - sometimes even while riding my town's real-life metro.įind Mini Metro on the App Store Desert Golfing With sequel Alto's Odyssey on the horizon, now is the perfect time to hit the slopes.įind Alto's Adventure on the App Store Mini Metroĭing ding! If you've ever dreamed of redesigning your city's train lines, Mini Metro provides the perfect puzzler solution. The gorgeous backgrounds and meditative music alone catapult Alto's Adventure up the indie game ranks, but it's the game's sweet and witty premise - a herder-turned-snowboarder flies down the alps while rounding up llamas and angering local elders - combined with a great challenge system and an array of delightful unlockable characters that make it one of my favorite iOS games.
Best of all, you can always find new paths to pursue, new tricks to test, and new methods for matching the game is always different, though the numbers remain the same.