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

Grabbing scores and opinions from all corners of the web, including from 148Apps, AppGamer, and IGN, Qi answers all your iPad-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 iPad. Both are worthy, but do they have what it takes to win your head, your heart, and your wallet?

A hero's quest

Crawling out of the dungeon and onto the top of the iPad Qi chart this week is old skool RPG Avernum: Escape From the Pit HD.

The cruel Emperor Hawthorne has taken to casting anyone who dares defy his rule into Avernum, a subterranean prison filled with outcasts and ne'er-do-wells.

Controlling a band of four warriors, you must journey through this dangerous realm and find a way back into the light.

Critics have praised this retro adventure for its epic scope (the game boasts over 30 hours of story-driven gameplay); excellent writing; and richly textured world.

Indeed, Slide To Play's reviewer believes Avernum: Escape From the Pit HD is a welcome return to the RPGs of old, promising that "Avernum will remind you why you love these type of games in the first place".

A mouthful

Slotting its way into this week's iPad Qi Top 10, meanwhile, comes orally fixated match-three puzzler Cubis Creatures.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to awaken a menagerie of sleeping creatures by matching coloured blocks in their open mouths.

Hey, I never said it would make any sense.

To make things a little more exciting, FreshGames has added an extra dimension to the standard genre formula - this allows you to slide wedges underneath the cubes and stack vertically as well as horizontally.

The game's cute characters, daily tournaments, and solid single-player campaign caught Gamezebo's attention, with the site calling it "a fun puzzler with plenty of personality and polish".

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