It’s easy to get lost in the iPad gaming market. More than any other type of app, there are tons and tons of games, and even more of them coming out every day. We all know and have played the usual games that everybody buys: Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja and Cut The Rope. But what about the more immersive, time-consuming games? All of the games I mentioned are great, but what about the other great games that are out there?

This roundup is of games that are a little deeper than those – 15 awesome games for your iPad!

Grand Theft Auto 3

Celebrating its ten year anniversary, Rockstar made GTA3 available in some new platforms, including the iOS. It has only been out for a few days, but it has gotten some great reviews and from what I have played, they really made the controls work out and everything from the old games like the radio stations and the missions are kept intact. Also, there are some great features that make the game more mobile-friendly, like a “Resume” and a “Mission Retry” that didn’t used to be in the original game.

If you haven’t played this games before, they are open-world “crime” games where you can do anything from steal cars to kill innocent civilians. If you are old enough to play this game and haven’t done it yet, then now you really don’t have any excuse not to check it out.

Price: $4.99
Developer: Rockstar Games

Worms

Worms is a pretty old PC franchise that has recently seen its way around newer platforms like the Playstation devices and of course, the iOS platform. It’s a turn-based strategy game with some wacky and funny elements like the over-the-top guns and the cheesy dialogues. There are a couple of iPad adaptations of the game, the only one I’ve played is “Worms 2: Armageddon”. From what I hear, it’s the one worth playing, and I agree.

Price: $2.99
Developer: Team 17

Dead Space

Dead Space is a third person shooter with some thriller elements that’s based around the story of a spaceship filled with alien-like enemies, where you are the only survivor – equipped with futuristic weapons and armour for the fight. The game made a debut on the 360 and PS3 a few years ago, and has since seen a bunch of re-releases on a few other mobile platforms and even a sequel on the big ones.

Price: $0.99
Developer: EA

Infinity Blade 2

Infinity Blade 2 is a very popular and fantastically reviewed game that brings you back to a world of knights, quests and mythic creatures. It is powered by the Unreal Engine, which is famous for being the brain behind popular games like Unreal Tournament and Gears of War, and that makes this game look as pretty as it is fun to play, although very resource-heavy. Just take a look at its review score in the App Store.

Price: $5.99
Developer: Chair Entertainment

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation

Modern Combat is a first-person-shooter franchise that brings the thrill of platform games like Modern Warfare and Battlefield to the mobile platforms. Its third release includes a campaign of 13 missions, but the most exciting part about this game is the multiplayer, where you can play in a variety of maps with up to 12 players.

Price: $6.99
Developer: Gameloft

Machinarium

Machinarium is a beautiful puzzle-like game that has seen the light on many platforms, and is now available for us iPad owners. You play a robot living in a post-apocalyptic world where you have to uncover a conspiracy while making your way through a series of scenarios that involve puzzle-solving. The game has no spoken dialogues, which makes it quite an amazing experience, as the soundtrack is really great.

Unfortunately it’s currently only available for the iPad 2.

Price: $4.99
Developer: Amanita Design

Words With Friends HD/Scrabble HD

Words With Friends has been around for quite a while, and gained some reputation as a mobile Scrabble-like game made by Zynga. Lately it has been getting worse as they have added an in-game purchase system that hasn’t made people very happy.

Scrabble is the official app for the Hasbro table game, and it is made by developer EA. It also has online functionality, but it isn’t exactly bug-free. If you are thinking about going with any of these, I’d go with Words With Friends just because that is the one that more people seem to play.

Price: Scrabble: $0.99.
Words With Friends: $0.99
Developer: Scrabble: EA
Words With Friends: Zynga

FIFA/Madden

I am a big fan of games like FIFA on the consoles. When I heard that they were available (and made by the same developer, EA) on the iPad, I bought them immediately. The controls for the iPad versions are not quite there, but they still provide a great experience, that is similar to the console versions. Especially if you are a sports game fan, I’d say you can’t go wrong with the iPad versions of these games.

Price: $0.99
Developer: EA

Contre Jour HD

Named as the iPad game of the year, Contre Jour is a fantastic puzzle, level-based game with beautiful graphics and animations, coupled with a great soundtrack. Each level, you have to deform the ground and use a bunch of the world’s elements to get your little one-eyed buddy across the world. It’s very immersive and tons of fun, it wasn’t “Game of the year” for nothing!

Price: $2.99
Developer: Chillingo

Zombieville USA 2

Zombieville is a wacky linear arcade shooter, where you play the part of the only survivor in a zombie apocalypse, and you’re supposed to survive hordes of the undead! The game is made interesting by the limited ammo, cash and the variety of guns that you have at your disposal.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Mika Mobile

Plants vs. Zombies

Plants vs. Zombies is a very popular tower-defense game that has seen releases on many platforms. The iPad version brings all the features and the fun of the other versions to the mobility of the iPad, with a well-done adaptation of the touch controls which make the game even more enjoyable here than on the other platforms. The game has everything you would expect from a tower-defense game, with the twist of you fighting zombies while having an arsenal of crazy assassin plants. It’s not exactly cheap, but many people argue that it’s the best tower-defense game out there.

Price: $6.99
Developer: Popcap

Monster Dash

I have to admit, Monster Dash is one of my favorite games on my iPad because it is super simple and you can play it for only a few minutes and then leave it just like that. It’s an arcade game where you control a running armed man, and you have to defend him from a variety of monsters and avoid deadly cliffs; all while picking up a bunch of new weapons and vehicles.

Price: $0.99
Developer: Halfbrick

Jetpack Joyride

Jetpack Joyride is one of the first games I got on my iPad, and I was completely addicted to it for a few days until I finally beat it. It’s an arcade game where you control a guy with a jetpack, and help him fly without hitting any of the dozens of obstacles on your way. The game is made addicting by the series of completely offbeat challenges that you are given to advance through the rankings. It’s simple, and easy to pick up and leave, just like any good mobile game should be.

Price: Free
Developer: Halfbrick

Conclusion

The market for games for the iPad is huge. There are hundreds of games that are worth playing, and dozens of new ones coming out each day. Hopefully in this roundup you discovered at least one game that caught your eye and that will entertain you for days to come.

We hope to have given you a few options past games like Fruit Ninja and Angry Birds. But surely you have a few more that we didn’t include. What would your best suggestions be? What are your favorite games? Share them in the comments, and perhaps we’ll include them in another roundup of great game selections for the iPad!