Pulse: Volume One [$4.99] is a new iPad-exclusive game by Cipher Prime, the developers who created the award-winning Auditorium [Free]. Like Auditorium, Pulse is a simple and elegant music game. This time around, Cipher Prime has moved away from puzzles and into the rhythm game genre.

Pulse is an immersive experience right from the start. Even in the tutorial, the game provides no external feedback. You can learn by experimentation, noting what works and what doesn't with the game's visuals to guide you. You're presented with a series of concentric circles and a musical beat. Glowing rings pulse outwards from the center in time with the music, and dots appear with the beat. Tap the dots as they're hit by the pulse and you'll be rewarded with explosive visuals and the next musical note.

Hit them too soon or too late, and that note is marred with dissonant noise, and the color and beauty leech out of the game. Played successfully, Pulse is a visually exciting experience. Birds and butterflies fly from under your fingertips with each successful tap, and colors light up the screen. It's a game that really shows off the elegance of the iPad's touch interface, an impressive feat for the developer's first time self-publishing on iOS.

Pulse includes eight levels that showcase original music composed by the Cipher Prime team. The music is atmospheric, and ranges from slow ambient tracks to upbeat electronica. As the music gets faster the game gets more difficult, and you'll need to use both your hands and have incredibly nimble fingers to keep up with some of the later tracks. Getting 100% on each level is a challenge, but the music is enjoyable enough to stay fresh through repeat plays.

Unfortunately, eight tracks are all that the game currently has to offer. In total, a single play-through of all the tracks makes up less than twenty minutes of play time. The game doesn't include leaderboards, achievements, or any other way to share your progress, so once you're satisfied with your performance, you're done. That's not great news, but Cipher Prime has at least six months of regular free updates planned, with original music that will showcase independent musicians from Philadelphia. It's also taking music submissions on its website. Upcoming content includes songs from an eclectic mix of genres, including chip-tune, nerdcore and death metal, so there should be plenty to look forward to if you decide to jump in now.

Ultimately, if you're looking for strong gameplay hooks and replayability, Pulse:Volume One won't hit those notes for you. But if you're interested in elegant rhythm gameplay and an immersive audio-visual experience, you'll find lots to enjoy.

They say the best things in life are free, and that's especially true if you enjoy comic books and you've also downloaded the latest offering from Squeenix. Imaginary Range [Free] is a graphic novel/game published by Square Enix, and developed by H.A.N.D., known for Final Fantasy: Chocobo Tales on the Nintendo DS.

Imaginary Range isn't your typical game, in fact it's not much of a game at all, it's more of a comic book with mini-games interspersed between the pages. While the main attraction here is the comic, the mini-games really help you feel like you're playing a part in progressing the story along, mainly because you can't read on until you finish whatever challenge comes up. The games range from your simple slide puzzles, to line drawing games like Flight Controlwhere you guide missiles towards your enemy. While the games are fairly simple, they are marvelously executed and really tie into the story well.

The real stand out here is the comic book itself. The art is simply beautiful, and the presentation of each scene is absolutely stunning. The story is a fantastic read, and all of the sound and music that accompanies Imaginary Range makes you realize just how much power iOS devices could have in advancing the graphic novel format.

Once you read through the comic's 53 pages you'll unlock the included mini-games to be played at your leisure. Also, you have the ability to use the coins you earned in the game to purchase some character art through scratch-off games.

Always skeptical of the free apps I was a little unsure of whether or not Imaginary Range would have much to offer, but I was pleasantly surprised. The mini-games could have had a little more variety, depth, and/or difficulty, but the plot and presentation is the focus here and it's great. If you're a comic fan, don't miss Imaginary Range. Even if you don't like comics, it's still interesting to check out Square pushing the format further.

It will be interesting to see what comes of Imaginary Range in the future. It's not much of a leap to speculate that Squeenix might be releasing this to give us a taste, then either sell additional "issues" either as separate apps or in-app purchase. I'm down for either.