Holy cow, spending Monday fully engrossed in 4th of July festivities, Wednesday snuck up on me by surprise. But really, what surprise is better than a ton of new games being released?

Anyway, this week works like all previous weeks on the App Store. Developers can set specific future release dates for their games, and since the App Store is a global market broken up into regions, things are released incrementally. Thanks to New Zealand's proximity to the International Date Line, their App Store gets updated with new releases first. These releases then propagate out to the rest of the world until finally reaching the US App Store at 11:00 PM Eastern.

Here's an alphabetical listing of things coming out tonight that has caught our eye. Since there's been some confusion, keep in mind the screenshots come before the game link and description:

Block Breaker 3 Unlimited, 99� / HD � Forum Thread � I imagine the creation of this game involving a brain storming session where Gameloft just threw every idea everyone shouted for things that could be in a block breaking game onto a whiteboard… Then used that whiteboard as the feature list. There's tons of power-ups, multi-screen levels, boss battles, and so much more.

Deathsmiles, $4.99 / Lite � Forum ThreadIf bullet hell bullet curtain games are your cup of tea, there's no finer purveyor of said games on the App Store than Cave. Deathsmiles is of the horizontal variety, and instead of a traditional lives system has a "life point" system where you won't always be penalized by death depending on what you run into.

Finger Shoes, 99� / HD � Forum Thread � The object of this game seems to be fairly simple, you just walk with your fingers through the game world, tapping on all the star tiles as you go.

Flick Golf Extreme HD, $4.99 � Forum Thread � Joining the existing iPhone-specific version of Flick Golf Extreme [$2.99] comes its HD counterpart. We liked the original Flick Golf, and thought the Extreme redo was just as much fun. If you've been holding out for an iPad-specific version, now is your chance.

Jules � Unboxing the World, 99� � Forum Thread � This game has been available for the iPad for quite some time, and is only now getting re-released on the iPhone. Gameplay is a little on the simple side, and hinges entirely on you rolling Jules around smashing boxes. The graphics look great on the iPad, and tilt-based games always seem to work well on the iPhone.

Magnetic Baby, 99� / HD � Forum Thread � Magnetic Baby appears to be the love child of both Soosiz [$1.99] and Tiny Wings [99�] and I'm totally OK with that. I've become a total sucker for colorful physics-centric games, and look forward to giving this one a try.

Ninjammin Beat-Jitsu, 99� � Forum Thread � This insane looking game is a hybrid between an action platformer and a rhythm game. Oh, and it takes place in a dystopian future and it's universal. What more do you need?

One Man Army, 99� � Forum Thread � It's a little hard to categorize this game, as it includes elements from shooters, tower defense, and castle defense. Regardless, you're a one man army and from your pile of sandbags you mow down seemingly endless waves of enemies.

Puzzle Family, Free / Star Pack � Forum Thread � This free to play collection of puzzle games has a delightfully weird trailer, and tons of things to unlock both between the 8 unlockable games and the 20 unlockable family members. (Each with their own outfits and things to unlock.) The entirely optional "Star Pack" gives you a head start with a bundle of stars to go hog wild unlocking things.

Swords and Soldiers, $2.99 / HD � Forum Thread � I'm all for these kinds of castle battle games, especially when they have art this good. (Seriously, check out the trailer.) This game is high up on our list of things to check out tonight.

The King of Fighters-i, $7.99 � Forum Thread � Many days of my youth were dedicated to arguing in support of either Street Fighter and/or King of Fighters compared to other fighting games, and now finally both franchises are available on the App Store. Sadly, with the recent release of SF4: Volt and the implementation of online Street Fighter multiplayer, King of Fighters has some catching up to do.

Torture Bunny, 99� / HD � Forum Thread � In the early days of the App Store, ragdoll punishment games were shockingly popular. I'll be interested to see how Torture Bunny does, as admittedly being able to design your own torture chambers does sound intriguing.

We Are Hungry, Free � Forum Thread � This free game seems to be a very simple take on line drawing. It's unclear how entertaining it will be for adults, but I could see something like this going over great with kids… That is, if you trust your child with your iPhone and/or iPad.

Westward 2 for iPad, $2.99 � This sequel to the original Westward [$2.99] is (at this point) exclusive to the iPad and features similar realtime strategy centric gameplay as you settle your home in the west. Think of it as a much more complicated version of Oregon Trail.

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Trouble Brothers' Cargo Runners [$4.99] is a digital board game with basic issues that should have been ironed out prior to its release. Its tutorial is bad. It does a decent job in communicating major goals, but it fails in speaking to flow and strategy, which are constituent parts of the Ticket to Ride-meets-the-ocean-trading experience that Cargo Runners shoots for. Worse, it doesn't feature a single-player mode � an option that would have made the learning curve a more bearable ordeal and also would have given you something to do with the game when by yourself and network-less. As it is, you're expected to play and fumble exclusively�in live environments. That's not… ideal. And what's killer is that�Cargo Runners has all the makings of a good game, but it's being held back by these odd shortcomings.

Cargo Runners revolves around making the most money in the shortest time frame. In a typical game, which supports up to four human players, you're tasked with collecting four pieces of cargo that matches up with a need in a port on the world map. When a ticket is turned in, you receive the cash stated on the port's contract. The not-so-subtle push and shove here is that other players might be vying for the same contract as you. If they collect it, you're out of luck.

You roll dice to collect moves and cards, the latter of which adds a bit of spice. With cards, you can steal opponents' cargo, as well as pick up extra pieces of cargo and even complete certain objectives. Each card has a different color differentiating its use. The blue and green ones, from what I gather, should be used every turn. The yellow ones are sort of the rough equivalent of a Wild Card in UNO. You want to hold on to it for a clip and use their trade route-blocking or contract-gathering powers at the right moment.

Figuring out when that right moment is, however, is an issue. This game dearly needs a better, more comprehensive, and an interactive tutorial that teaches you when to do things and how to think about the game. It's hard to soak in game logic via live play. As with any board game, Lady Luck has a huge hand in a lot of game-side affairs, which can be especially trying when you're flying blind.

What kills me about Cargo Runners is that it looks great and has legitimate entertainment value. It's one of the sharpest, most cohesive digital board games in general, though I suppose that says more about the fact that Trouble Brothers' created this version without a physical one to look at; the actual board game hasn't materialized.

Most of our problems might be addressed in the future, provided enough people buy into this version of the game.

In a recent message board post, Trouble Bothers' Jeff McCord said,�"And yes, absolutely we too would love to have found a way to launch Cargo Runners with AI, but to do so would have been at the expense of one or more of the other critical priorities listed above.�As soon as we start seeing income from the game it will help us to add other great new features, included AI (and or) solitaire play, as soon as we can."

The studio is also sharing other thoughts with our community, so check out that thread if you're into where the game might be going and what's going to be addressed in the future. There is also a hefty amount of Wizard Hex [$2.99] talk, which, oddly enough was another Trouble Brothers' pseudo-board game title that lacked a solid tutorial.

Cargo Runners' shortcomings are too big for us to give it an official recommendation, but we'll happily follow this title as it morphs into something that represents a value and makes good on the promise that we've seen flashes of while playing with this version. That's not to say there isn't a shred of value in this specific version. If you've got a solid group of board game pals, for example, this is almost perfect for you.

Just as a little technical note here, the matchmaking system is slow, and worst case, doesn't work. We've been getting server errors quite a bit, lately.

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Monster Hunter: Dynamic Hunting [$4.99]�received an update earlier this month that rewards its most invested players with harder content. In version 1.01, "Real Hunt" was added. It's a masochists' take on the "New Game Plus" model that allows anyone who beat the game to enter into it and experience the title all over again with stronger monsters, less item drops, no way to see monster health gauges or attack predicators, and zero continues. So, if you like fretting about lost progression or item enhancement, this seems like the mode just for you!

In other update news, Capcom notes that several bug fixes have been addressed in this version of the game. The studio gets no more specific beyond "minor."

Video by AppBank

Dynamic Hunting doesn't rank too high on our "games we like" list, but it is a solid romp for fans of the series and people who really get into Infinity Blade-style [$4.99] over-the-shoulder�fight / swipe fests. If you'd like to learn more about it, check out our day zero impressions piece. If you're more into chatting with people about the game make sure to hit up the message board.

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Just as they did about a year ago, Donut Games is throwing a "Crazy Summer" sale and offering up 3 of their titles for free for a limited time. What is especially cool about this deal is that all 3 of these games are among the back catalog of Donut games that have recently been updated with universal iPad support, Retina Display graphics, and Game Center integration with leaderboards and achievements.

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Cave Bowling, Free - [Review] � [Forum Thread] -�Released back in January, Cave Bowling offers up a fun brand of physics puzzler wrapped in the guise of a wacky game of stone age bowling. Set the angle and power of your shot and try to knock down all the pins set up in each of the 60 stages. Just knocking down all the pins can be tricky enough, but to earn a 3 star grade you'll need to collect out of the way bonus items too. It's so quick and simple to retry that it's almost impossible not to try over and over until discovering the best solution.

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Paracute, Free - [Forum Thread] -�Not one of Donut Games' more prominent titles, Paracute is nevertheless a really fun "fall down" style game. You control a little teddy who is floating down a cave in a parachute and must avoid enemies and the hazards of the terrain on your way to the soft pillow landing pad waiting for you at the bottom. The game is played in landscape orientation and navigating your teddy left and right is handled by touching either side of the screen. There are hearts spread throughout the cave which can be collected for an increased score, but often you're risking a crash by trying to snag hard to reach hearts. There are 30 levels each with the signature Donut Games 3-star grading system.

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Icy Escort, Free - [Forum Thread] -�Similar to another Donut game Rat On The Run [99�], Icy Escort is a platforming game with a puzzle twist. You control a mother penguin as she collects her missing penguin children who have been blown all over the game's 30 levels. The catch is that your penguin moves on her own, so you must choose the right path through each level in order to collect all of your children and any bonus items with a fast time. There's even a bonus mode included called Penguin in a Bathtub that's a really fun side-scrolling avoidance game that adds nicely to the overall package.

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If you have yet to add any of these titles to your Donut collection, then don't even hesitate to grab them while they're free. Especially Cave Bowling, which is not only the game I think is strongest out of the 3 but it's also never been free before. I also might add that it's always a good idea to keep an eye on Donut Games in the App Store as they have a habit of having random sales on their titles. Whether free or for their standard price of 99�, pretty much any of the games from Donut Games is a safe bet to download.

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