SteamWorld Heist 9+

I wound up picking this up the minute I saw it, blindly, because of the developers previous RTS/TD game, Anthill. It was one of the first games I purchased all of the IAP for, and have been hoping they'd bring more titles over to the AppStore eventually. I'm just incredibly lucky it happened to be a title on many a gamer's GOTY lists a few years back. And all of the praise is very deserved.
5 difficulty levels, no IAP (ATM, dunno if the expansion will be free or not, either way, this is a PREMIUM title), redesigned for controller-less touch screens... The graphics and production values are outstanding, and there's tons of attention paid to little details everywhere throughout the game. Loads of loot to collect, quite a few pirates to hire, replay able levels, difficulty that can be changed before every stage...
And once you get about an hour in, the difficulty hits a nice spot and keeps good pace (so long as you don't go back and grind too much), and the NG+ is always a nice addition.

I really can not recommend this game enough. It's not gonna knock anything off my own GOTY list, but I try to keep any ports over a year old off my lists. But I can definitely see why it wound up on so many game of the year lists...

Taking cues from games like XCom and Borderlands, Steamworld Heist is a sure winner. The developers were able to take what we love from from these influences and simplified the gameplay. Beloved characters who die in missions come back when you return to your ship, weapons have special abilities (which provides for more angles on strategy), and there is loot, loot, and more loot in the form of treasure, hats, and perk-like items that gives your favorite character an edge on baddies. Missions become evermore challenging and when the game is completed, you are offered another go around with the plus mode (allowing you to keep what you've earned on your previous journey). The game is flawless, which makes it absurd for me to possibly ask for more without feeling guilty. However, I would GLADLY pay more money to see the DLC's ported to IOS! Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! PS- I would also purchase Steamworld Dig in a heartbeat if was available on this platform. If you love games, strategy, or just a fan of developers who will actually listen, you'll want to follow Image and Form Games. Check out Steam if you're like me and just CANNOT wait for more!

This game definitely is one of the best games in App Store. The experience is great, I judge that by if I would play a game through nonstop. I spent seven hours to finish the game, nonstop.
It reminds me Jagged Alliance a lot. They are all great turn based tactical games. But compare to JA, Steamworld Heist’s system is much less sophisticated. For one thing the dev chose side view, it makes the game completely 2 dimensional. And since units can not stay at ladders, the game space is shrunken too much. But JA uses 30 degree view, and units can go up to roofs, that makes JA 3 dimensional. So strategy part is much wider.
JA also uses a well designed motion point system. In this system, shooting costs motion points just like walking and other actions. Spending more points makes aiming more accurate. This is greatest system I’ve ever seen. But STeamworld Heist uses an oversimplified system, which makes the strategy much less variable.
I don’t know if there are certain reasons why iOS games could not reach the same height of PC games. I just don’t want to give any iOS game 5 stars. They are not worth it yet.