Every week, Pocket Gamer sister site Quality Index (Qi) highlights the newest games to make a critical splash in the cool, seductive waters of the iOS pool.

Grabbing scores and opinions from all corners of the web, including from 148Apps, AppGamer, and Slide To Play, Qi answers all your iPhone-related questions before you've even asked them.

Today, we're going to focus on two new contenders vying to be crowned king of your iPhone. Both are worthy, but do they have what it takes to win your head, your heart, and your wallet?

Is there life on Mars?

Taking root at #3 on the Quality Index's chart this week is the scientifically minded gardening puzzler Waking Mars.

An idiosyncratic offering from Tiger Style, this thoughtful sci-fi exploration game tasks you with cultivating your own off-world Eden on the infamous red planet.

Research the life cycles of alien species while gathering and planting seeds, and you'll soon find yourself surrounded by a vibrant, self-sustaining ecosystem.
Pocket Gamer's reviewer gave it two (green) thumbs-up, describing Waking Mars as "captivating, elegant, and fiendishly clever".

Falling in love

Dropping in from a dizzying height at #8, meanwhile, is the Google SEO-unfriendly falling simulator AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! (Force = Mass x Acceleration).

The premise is simple: jump off the top of a building and navigate your way through the floating city to a landing pad below.

As you fall, you can increase your score by flying perilously close to bone-shattering surfaces, and you can grab power-ups and multipliers to boost your rankings.

This tilt-controlled time sink has critics falling off their chairs in glee, with 148Apps labelling it "comical, addictive, and just all-round fun".

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