Check out the latest behind the scenes footage from Wellington-based Sidhe's Rugby Challenge. Regan and Dave go "behind the rugby scenes" and witness the organised chaos of an OB van firsthand.

Rugby Challenge is set to release "sometime before the rugby world cup" and is in keeping with a long tradition of Sidhe sports titles.

Check out the official Rugby Challenge page here.

Check out Sidhe's homepage here.

Dunedin-based Runaway have recently released Puzzle Planets to the App Store for iPad and iPhone. According to their blog, the game was a co-production with National Geographic, inspired by some of the core concepts in their show Clash of the Continents.

Some comments I've seen liken it to a "casual-fied" version of Spore but that's an overly simplistic view. In Puzzle Planets you can visit various planets and bring them out of their primeval age by placing tectonic plates (a kind of puzzly section where you rotate the planet until you find the right shaped hole to put down the current piece) and then manipulating the plates in various ways - pulling them apart in places (by pinching) to create continents, double-tapping to set off volcanoes and pushing them together to raise mountain ranges. You then move on to spreading water over the resultant land masses to help grow the plant life.

Finishing a world within a certain time limit will get you one to three stars (three for the quicker times). Your reward for this is access to the different stages of evolution for that planet's dominant lifeform. It looks like the team at Runaway got to really exercise their creative muscles in coming up with the various creatures!

Overall Puzzle Planets is a well-presented, well-made little game. It's very easy to play which makes it nicely accessible and likely well suited to the audience that National Geographic are going for.

Lexaloffle is the development vehicle for the talented Mr. Joseph White. He's been on the scene for a long time but the recent announcement for his new title in development - Voxatron - has garnered a lot of interest due to its captivating visual approach (click here for the latest video of wonderfully 3D pixel-y goodness!).

Recently, Wellington collaborators Pik Pok Games also released an iPad version of an earlier game of his - Zen Puzzle Garden. As shown in this trailer (complete with half-clothed woman - sex sells iOS games too! ;), the team at Pik Pok have created some very beautiful visuals and talented local musician Jeramiah Ross aka Module of Shatter fame has created a great ambient soundtrack to go with them. You can even download an EP with four of the tracks for free - definitely worth checking out!

Lexaloffle makes games that indie celeb Derek Yu says are "so endearing, from the cute graphics and music to the easy-to-understand (but hard to master) gameplay. The games are just so earnest and polished." If you want to check them out there are demos available for download on the Lexaloffle site.

Ironshod are an iOS developer based in Hamilton, just south of Auckland. They have a history in homebrew PSP with a game called Defense Station Portable (now released on iOS as Defense Station Touchable) that was recognised as one of the greatest PSP homebrew games released at the time.

Their first iOS title, Reverse Maze, is a polished puzzler with a simple, yet captivating core mechanic. The controls are reversed and you have to make your way through the infuriatingly "simple" mazes to the exit. Over time various complexities are introduced and the ante is upped with moving parts, control modifiers and more.

As with all good casual games, the concept of Reverse Maze is easy to pickup but the successful execution of the 48 levels takes time and skill to achieve. I found the ambient soundtrack engaging and the visual presentation is clean and clear.

The game is a blast and is currently FREE over Easter so if you have an iPhone grab a copy now!