Welcome to the weekly iPhone Quality index (Qi) games roundup, giving you the LOWdown on the HIGH scorers every Friday on these illustrious pages.

Launched in beta by Steel Media, publisher of PocketGamer.biz, Qi trawls the web for game and app reviews from the world’s most respected online and print sources.
Qi then applies its own magic formula to each site (such as 148Apps, Macworld, IGN, Gamezebo, and TiPB) to establish a single definitive Qi score for each iPhone app and game.

Protecting its lead

Cannoning onto the Qi charts this week in the #1 seat blasts Sentinel 3: Homeworld, the latest tower defence sensation from Origin8, which has unlocked four rave reviews for an ace 9.4 Qi score.

Within hours of release on the App Store last Friday, Origin8’s follow up to the well received Sentinel 2: Earth Defense held a lofty position on Qi, thanks in no small part to the game’s immediacy, intensity, and depth.

While OpenFeint and Game Center support fortifies its appeal, the title’s inherent beauty was commended by AppSpy: “Homeworld's visuals are also simply amazing and while it can be hard to see the visual separation between available terrain and the creep path, the game doesn't suffer at all for this confusion and runs flawlessly even with its many special effects.”

Wham, bam, thank you, ma’am

At the other end of the temporal scale, Bam Bam Dash’s prehistoric hijinks plundered a pair of positive critiques from around the iPhone world, including a maximum vote from the French judge Application iPhone.

Cartoony visuals, cuddly dinosaurs, and strategic use of speed provide the – ahem – platform for Tintash’s hard fought Qi success, with Facebook integration serving as the cherry on top.

Feeding time

And returning to the evidently popular theme of tower defence, Day Go By Entertainment’s monstrous title picks up from where LEGO Harry Potter left off last week, casting three spells over the iPhone reviewing elite.

Trying to prevent the assortment of spiders, ghosts, and slimebags from munching on your delicate animal pals in Monster Feed is no mean feat, though invoking the gnasher hound at regular intervals won’t harm your trials.

Haste is at the heart of this mesmeric action, according to 148Apps, which proclaims that “What Monster Feed does different than the rest of the genre is add some needed tempo, forcing you to stay alert rather than doze off between waves 14 and 25.”

You can get the up-to-date information about which games are reviewing best over at the Quality index.