Year Walk ($3.99) is unlike anything we've ever seen on the iPad, as this gripping adventure inspired by Swedish folklore delivers an atmospheric mystery within a tight, attractive package. You'll wander the winter wilderness using a unique first-person navigation system, all while solving puzzles, plus the game uses a free companion app to fill out the backstory and enhance the later moments.

How do you follow up one of the best iPad multiplayer games of all time? Super Stickman Golf 2 ($0.99) does it by adding yet another great competitive mode. In addition to the speed-based active online and local mode, the sequel also has a stellar turn-based asynchronous mode that lets you fit in rounds throughout the day. Side-scrolling golf is also excellent fun in single-player, though!

Each series entry has been a serious showcase title for the iPad, and Real Racing 3 (Free) is no different in that regard. It's unique in other ways, though, particularly as the first free-to-play core entry, but that doesn't diminish the incredible presentation and the slick racing action, plus there's a huge amount of content packed within. While distinct in approach, it remains an excellent iPad racer.

A minimalist marvel of touch screen design, Hundreds ($4.99) is a wondrous iPad experience that is notably improved by the larger screen, not to mention the possibility of enlisting help from a nearby hand or two. In this challenging puzzler, you'll tap moving balls on the screen to make them expand, with the goal of notching a grand total of 100. It's a real treat across its 100 stages and unlocked endless mode.

Who knew that a tablet could be the perfect destination for a harrowing, single-player adventure about surviving the zombie uprising? Set in the same universe as the comics and TV series, The Walking Dead (Free) takes the form of a classic tap-and-swipe adventure affair, but with horrifying scenarios and brutal decisions that span four additional episodes available within the app ($4.99 each). It's absolutely gripping stuff.

Even now, more than a year after release, Infinity Blade II ($2.99) is still the go-to game for showing off the power of your iPad. Of course, it's one heck of an entertaining experience, beyond its processor-pushing capabilities. Outfitting your warrior with earned gear and abilities, you'll enter a series of swipe-based duels against increasingly challenging foes. Fall and you'll start over, albeit stronger and smarter.

Locked in a dark room with a perplexing safe in the middle, you'll find yourself solving a series of curious puzzle-boxes in The Room ($1.99), a deeply involving and maddeningly challenging game that's best experienced on the larger iPad screen. As you solve each piece of the puzzle, the boxes transform and offer even more unexpected objectives, with gorgeous puzzle designs sucking you in for the long haul.

Super Crate Box ($1.99) is incredibly addictive on any platform, but among touch devices, it's notably best played on an iPad thanks to larger and more reliable virtual buttons. As ever, they're used to guide your little hero up and down platforms in search of randomly-appearing boxes, however the ever-flowing enemies aim to hamper your progress. It's one of the absolute best score-chasing games around.

There's nothing like hitting that last glowing orange peg and watching the ball crawl through the air in slow motion, finally sinking into a score pocket while "Ode to Joy" blares from the speaker. Then again, there are few gaming addictions as powerful as Peggle HD ($0.99), which serves up 55 stages of pegs to clear with a pachinko-inspired approach, plus you can add dozens more levels within for another buck.

Looking to get sucked into an ambient wonderland for an hour or two at a time? Osmos ($0.99) was one of the first truly brilliant iPad games, and it's still one of the best, as this inventive journey through petri dishes and solar systems is truly absorbing. As an organism, you'll aim to take in other smaller ones around you as you work through dozens of levels and even take part in multiplayer showdowns.

Among the many stellar tower defense-style games on iPad, our favorite is Kingdom Rush HD ($2.99), a lively and cartoonish take on the genre that finds you placing offensive towers along enemy-ridden paths to protect your fortress. Aside from the great visual aesthetic and variety of units and stages, we love the way you can pursue branching upgrade paths for towers, which adds an extra strategic twist.

It's rare for a decade-old 3D game to hold up well, especially on a very different kind of platform, but it's a testament to the quality of Grand Theft Auto: Vice City ($4.99) that the iPad edition is still entertaining after all this time. Romping around the neon-soaked Miami-like metropolis in the 1980s, you'll find dozens of hours of action while rising through the criminal underworld (and commanding motorboats).

While we've enjoyed all of the pull-and-fling Angry Birds entries to some extent, our current pick for the best of the bunch is Angry Birds Space HD ($2.99), which puts a fun twist on the classic formula by introducing gravitational pull and other intergalactic hazards. And unlike some other versions, Space has seen significant post-release gameplay variation via its myriad free and paid level packs.

Each new entry in Gameloft's first-person shooter series seems to upend its predecessor as the best such title on the iPad, and Modern Combat 4: Zero Hour ($6.99) is the current king of the genre. While derivative of a certain console series, Modern Combat delivers fantastic online multiplayer deathmatch thrills wherever you are, plus Zero Hour's single-player campaign offers solid cinematic shootouts.

Based on the popular collectible card game, Magic: The Gathering - Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 (free) makes it easy to launch a fantasy throwdown wherever you please, all without carrying around an actual deck. Playable via a solo campaign or online multiplayer (the latter by purchasing the full version within), Magic 2013 puts the the large iPad screen to great use for its digital showdowns.

One of the most mesmerizing games to appear on any system, Bastion ($4.99) is a beautifully presented action-RPG that follows The Kid, a young hero making his way through the enemy-filled wreckage of the unknown "Calamity." Hand-painted environments nearly steal the show here, but it's the active vocal narration that ultimately makes the strongest impression, detailing your quest as it unfolds.

Somehow, we doubt that escaping a real-world testing facility with an expensive gadget is quite as fun as Jetpack Joyride (free) makes it seems. Regardless, this iPad side-scrolling affair is a blast, as you'll hold and release your finger to make hero Barry Steakfries bob and weave between hazards like electric barriers and rockets. Notching the longest distance is made all the more enjoyable with amusing gear.

Looking for a fantastical escape without leaving your living room? Plug in some headphones and dive into Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP ($4.99), an oft-fascinating adventure that finds you exploring beautiful pixel art backdrops and interacting with odd characters, with occasional stops to solve puzzles and fight boss characters. Brilliant presentation makes it a game worth getting lost in for a while.

Point-and-click adventure games translate remarkably well to the iPad, and Machinarium ($4.99) is one of the absolute best such titles in recent years. The charmingly moody experience follows a hobbled robot as he attempts to foil an evil plot and recover his lady love, which sends you off on a quest through stunning hand-drawn terrain packed with head-scratching puzzles. It's dark, but dazzling.

Casual hit Plants vs. Zombies HD ($0.99) has been spun out to numerous different platforms, but it's at its best on the iPad, especially those with Retina displays. In this goofy gem, you'll drop plants into your backyard or roof to ward off the oncoming zombie invaders, and the large screen and clear visuals of the iPad make planing out and executing your strategies feel incredibly intuitive.

What's a board game without the board? Still pretty amazing in the case of Carcassonne ($9.99), a sparkling adaptation of the much-loved modern favorite about laying tiles and claiming land. What makes it especially great on iPad is the comfortable use of pass-and-play mode, in which five players can take part on the same device, though it also includes online and single-player options.

World of Goo HD ($4.99) may not have started its life on a touch screen, but this wonderfully offbeat indie puzzler is a perfect fit for iPad in nearly every way. It's a game about building wobbly structures using various types of sticky balls, which you can manipulate easily by dragging and dropping into place, plus the memorable aesthetic only makes the increasingly tough challenges all the more engaging.

Beat-tapping music games make perfect sense on a device where you can interact with your fingers, and Groove Coaster ($2.99) is both the smartest and most electrifying touch-based take we've ever played. You'll tap the screen to the pulse of numerous electronic tracks, but rather than keep a flat, unchanging interface, the trail darts around the screen, challenging you to stay alert as you groove along to the beat.

The produce-murdering hit is arguably at its best on iPad, as Fruit Ninja HD ($2.99) uses the ample screen real estate to deliver an even more precise and satisfying finger-blade experience. Varying play modes give you a few exciting ways to slice the flying fruit, and the iPad-exclusive split-screen two-player mode lets you take down a friend's score in real-time using the same device.

You've never seen or played a real-time strategy game quite like Eufloria HD ($4.99). Shunning the typical isometric view and myriad units common to the genre, this captivating and low-key affair finds you sending out little seedlings to explore unknown terrain and engage in battle on occupied asteroids. Claim one for your cause and you can plant gorgeous trees to spawn even more helpful flyers.