Traditionally speaking, Ankama Games' Dofus series is best known for two iterations: the Flash-based MMORPG that was launched in 2004 and the Wakfu series of games which has seen iterations on Xbox 360 and an upcoming version for browsers. Dofus: Battles [$2.99 / HD] takes the pre-existing world and art style from the browser games and drops it onto iOS as a curious little tower, uh, dragon defense game with a set of RPG elements.

Despite the pedigree, you don't actually have to be familiar with Dofus to enjoy Dofus: Battles. Nor do you have to like MMORPGs, because this isn't one. It probably helps a bit to understand the character classes and items, but the uninitiated can pick it up quickly and without too much trouble.

Right out of the gate, after touching the horrendously designed icon, you'll be rewarded with a lavish visual style. The game takes the same three-quarters perspective, grid-based combat as its MMO lineage and despite a curious lack of retina support, character animations, menus and the interface are all well crafted, simple to use and nice to look at.

The game itself operates similar to Plants vs. Zombies, but the added RPG layer and the manner of unit variety means there is a different kind of strategy at play here. Instead of having a system where each unit counters the enemy evenly, you have a collection of twelve different heroes, half of which are support, the other offensive and you can choose any of them any time you want. Each has their own strengths and weaknesses, level up over time, can be fully armored and outfitted, have gender options and varying areas of effect.

It's a bit complex, especially when you toss in an entire economy system where you can buy and upgrade armor, weapons and other trinkets. None of the units are remotely similar either � so choosing a unit type to use and when is integral to setting up your strategy.

At the beginning of each turn, you'll place your units on a grid. Enemies walk down the grid toward your side of the screen, where a dragon is hanging out � if they get there, it's game over. To stop the massive bestiary selection from infiltrating your personal space, your twelve heroes each have different abilities � from the grunt with a one-block range to chop with his sword, to the magician who can call down giant-teethed sheep, you'll have a huge diversity of tactical options and combos to choose from.

After you place your team on the grid, you'll push play and the first wave of enemies will come down for some automated real-time combat. There are two different modes, wave defense and timed defense. As your heroes kill off enemy units, you'll be rewarded with soul fragments � collect five and you can add another hero to the field.

There are 28 different levels in the game and before each match you can decide which of three difficulties you'd like tackle it on. Each difficulty will yield different amounts of experience points, monsters, soul points and rewards. It might seem like a cop-out, but the fact you can drop it down to an easier level in order to progress is incredibly helpful considering the game does seem to retain one facet from RPGs that people are likely going to love to hate: grinding.

It's not as bad as a traditional, fully-fledged adventure-RPG, but there are certain levels that are near impossible to get through without going back and cleaning up some of the earlier ones for a second or third time. That's not to say fans of knuckle biting strategy can't get through certain stages on lower levels, but for those looking to strategize less and use brute force instead, you can grind your characters up instead of overclocking your brain to get the strategy right. The difficulty levels change the gameplay enough to warrant these repeated attempts and you won't be able to use the same strategy on easy as you would on normal or high.

For fans of weird, tacked on mini-games, you won't be disappointed either. Almost without explanation the game also features an odd accelerometer mini-game where you dodge enemies and a rhythm/music game ala Simon Says. Thankfully you can skip those.

The only major complaint I have comes from the equipment screen. Throughout the game, you'll pick up weapons and items and you can buy them if you choose � but this is the only part of the game where the interface feels unhelpful. It's hard to properly compare items and their statistical difference is usually so slight it's hard to justify spending you money on a weapon that only adds one point to your attack score. To be blunt, it would be nice to have an auto-equip function for lazy people who don't feel like comparing stats for a hundred different items.

The high production values and ridiculously in-depth history, bestiary and other reading material alone is enough to make Dofus: Battles an easy recommendation, so it's nice the game itself is actually enjoyable. The difficulty spike can be frustrating at times, but as long as you enjoy experimenting with different strategies or grinding for XP, it won't be much of a bother. It's doesn't have the entry-level appeal of something like Plants vs. Zombies, but if you're looking for a bit more depth in strategy or slightly more open gameplay, you'll certainly get it here, even if it comes at the cost of a high bar of entry.

Eli and Jared are Hurdle Turtle [$.99] fanatics. It's a documented love affair beyond that of mortal bounds. And while the either of the duo would love to be the one to pen this blockbuster of a post, they can't. They're… unwell after a botched duel to the death over the rights of authorship. It's with a leaden heart and a rejuvenating tinge of anticipation that I bring you this Hurdle Turtle update news: competitive multiplayer is coming soon.

Version 2.1.0 of Hurdle Turtle will usher in real-time, actual competitive multiplayer to the core game using Game Center as its service. The creators of Hurdle Turtle tell us that you'll be able to play against friends, foes, or random dudes alike via the support, which should be coming very soon since the update is in Apple's hands right now.

As you'd expect, Hurdle Turtle multiplayer will support friends play as well as auto-matching, and it plans to make this easier on your end: after picking a match, the game will assign the match a random level where you'll be able to select your character before it begins in truth. No flashiness, just raw-dog Hurdle Turtle action.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I must tend to Fearless Leaders' wounds. Jared's Beard of Woe is a powerful weapon indeed.

Burrito Bison is one of the thousands and thousands � if not millions � of web-based games available on the Internet. You can try the popular "fling" game now with a mouse for $0, or soon you can give it a go on your favorite Apple handheld for a price.

My eyes gloss over when I peruse flash game libraries. There are a lot of games with great ideas, but rare is it when you stumble upon a title that has the mega important hallmarks of a solid game: coherent vision, polish, and sharp execution. I can count on my fingers the number of titles that fit this bill.

Burrito Bison is etched on fist. It's a solid, realized game that I'm excited to see come to a platform and a wider audience. I got into contact with game creator Juicy Beast late last week to talk about the inspiration behind the title, as well as some specifics about the iOS port, which is slated to come later this summer.

One nugget from our conversation in particular sticks out � Burrito Bison was once a side-scrolling action game similar to Monster Dash [$.99], one of its key inspirers.

"The game actually started out as a 'run & jump' type of game, similar to Monster Dash by Halfbrick," Juicy Beast told us in an e-mail. "We really wanted to give it an interesting twist, so we tweaked it over and over until we were happy with the results."

"The thing is that it took us around two months of prototyping before we felt like the game was really fun. As you can see, it changed a lot from its original 'run & jump' [vision]. "Most people probably think that it started out as a 'throwing' game, like Toss the Turtle or Berzerk Ball [$.99], but it didn't, even if the final results are far more similar to TTT than Monster Dash," the studio explained.

But where did the Mexican wrestler theme come from? I'd call it an accident. As for how gummy bears got involved… well, let's just say that candy doesn't make the same kind of mess that humans do when its squashed.

"As I mentioned, the game started out as a 'run & jump' type of game, and the theme was supposed to revolving around 'Heavy Metal.' We had our kickass metal head guy (kind of similar to the Brutal Legend dude) and the direction was pretty set at the beginning. While sketching some stances for our hero, J-P (our lead illustrator) started dressing our little guy as a Mexican wrestler (which was really funny)," Juicy Beast said.

"Later on in the development process, when the game wasn't a "run & jump" anymore, we decided to switch the theme to something that would fit the actual gameplay better. We then remembered the Mexican wrestler and decided to go with that instead.

"The gummy bear theme came from the idea of literally smashing people without having actual gore elements popping everywhere (blood/guts,etc). We then though of gummy bears, since they can be brought to life easily, and yet still die in explosion without any gore stuff! No need to mention that we usually end up with some pretty twisted stuff regardless of this kind of 'guidelines.' "

Juicy Beast says that Burrito Bison was built with iPhone in mind the entire way. Juicy made the fact that it would hit flash markets first a challenge: it wanted a game that could do well in both markets, despite the lead platform.

Mission accomplished.�Burrito Bison is simple enough to play in a browser, while still offering the depth that iOS users expect to have come this summer when the game hits virtual shelves. Much like Berzerk Ball, Burrito Bison offers a suite of upgrades that you can purchase with in-game cash earned from playing the title.

Summer 2011 is as close as we can get to a release date. Nothing is set in stone quite yet and that includes the price. Juicy Beast tells us that while it doesn't know what it wants to charge, it does plan, however, to make Burrito Bison a Universal game.

And there will be new "stuff" in the iOS version, however, you may not be able to get your hands on what will be added at launch:

"The current Flash version is currently being ported by Ravenous Games, but we're working on some potential new features at the same time (as well as finishing some other games we're working on). We're not sure yet if the new stuff will be available at launch, but there will definitely be some new content in the iOS version."

As for what's next for Juicy Beast, the studio wouldn't divulge. One foot before the other, though, right?

One of my favorite recent releases has been Mos Speedrun [$1.99/Lite] from developer Physmo. This retro-styled platforming game puts the emphasis on completing each of its levels in as quick a time as possible. Each of your failed attempts lives on as a ghost of your previous run, and many failed attempts in a row can lead to a screen full of little Mos characters all running and bouncing along at the same time. Mos Speedrun also controls exceptionally well on the touch screen, and there are goals beyond just speed running through levels like collecting coins, finding hidden skulls, and earning Game Center achievements.

A new update has hit that adds an additional 5 levels into the game. These levels also seem to be a notch above the rest difficulty-wise, so you'll be in for a challenge collect all items and beat them in a timely fashion. Another new addition is a total time leaderboard for every world in the game. There are 5 worlds in Mos Speedrun that each have 5 levels, and you can now compete for the best combined completion time of all 5 levels in each world.

Along with this new update is a free lite version of Mos Speedrun, which lets you play through all 5 levels of the first world in their entirety, though there is no Game Center integration. If you even remotely like platforming games, you shouldn't hesitate to give Mos Speedrun Lite a try. It will give you a perfect taste of how the game controls and what the gameplay is like, and you can even transfer your lite version progress over to the full if you decide to upgrade.

I've been having a great time with Mos Speedrun ever since we reviewed it in April, and the players in our forums have really been digging this one as well, so grab this latest update to check out the new levels or give the lite version a spin if you're on the fence.