Were you wowed by the photo-realistic streets and breathtaking vistas in Epic Citadel and Castlerama? Dazzled and delighted as you sliced n’ diced your way through the eyeball searingly gorgeous likes of Infinity Blade and Dungeon Defenders? Well, my fellow Unreal engine junkies, prepare for plenty more “Jebus, I can’t believe this thing is running on an iPhone!” moments in the coming months because a host of UE3-powered games are slinking their way onto iOS very soon!

While App Store heavy-hitters such as Gameloft and LucasArts are reported to have licensed the engine for use in future iPhone and iPad bound games, interestingly, quite a few lesser-known – but nonetheless brilliant – indie studios are also utilizing Epic Games’ toolset to craft their newest titles.

Surprisingly, there’s nary a picturesque medieval village to be seen in this eclectic bunch of upcoming games, which includes a 3D Angry Birds-alike, an über-mysterious shooter and a platformer so crazy and colorful it might just melt your brain.

Rainbow Star Girl (Nicholas Marks): “I wanted to make a game that is just @#$#@ exploding with happy and fun. I am going to throw every crazy, fun thing I can think of into this thing. Unicorns. Unicorns that have horns that are in the shape of unicorns. Crazy @#$@ like that”, says the developer of Rainbow Star Girl, a kooky, psychedelic 2.5D platformer that’s being hailed as the new Nyan Cat of gaming. “My 4 year old is helping me playtest and game design”, he continues.

Ahh, that explains it, 4 year olds simply adore unicorns that poop rainbows.

Bizango Blast: Angry Birds-esque physics-based fun gets a fully 3D makeover in this incredibly intriguing upcoming puzzle game. So far as I can tell from the teaser trailer, gameplay will involve firing rocks from a catapult to destroy strange wooden structures piece by piece while stratigically trying avoid breaking valuable eggs that are scattered around a diverse array of environments.

The developer promises Bizango Blast will boast a powerful physics engine, progressive gameplay with a challenging difficulty curve and come packing 50 levels set across five differently themed stages.

Interestingly, post-launch, he also has plans to release a series of video tutorials explaining the entire game making process from A-Z and detailing his experiences getting to grips with using UDK. Which should be of great interest to other devs considering jumping on the Unreal bandwagon, methinks.

Dead Block (CandyGun Games): Billed as a fresh, unique mix of arcade action, strategy gameplay and creative zombie-fighting combat with a rock and roll twist, Dead Block sounds like something iGamers would lap up. Unfortunately, the game’s official site shows this awesome looking title is set to shuffle onto just about every other downloadable games portal but the App Store!

A bit disappointed by this revelation, I put on my investigative journalists hat, and set about quizzing the folks at CandyGun on the possibility of Dead Block ever gracing iOS. The good news is that while they’re focused on getting the game out for PSN, XBLA and PC first and foremost, they did seem receptive to the idea of an iPhone incarnation at some point. Well, kinda. The long and short of my conversation with CandyGun was: “We are not sure (about iOS) yet, but who knows the future.”

Hardly conclusive, I know, but if this cutting-edge zombie game does eventually arrive on the iPlatform, remember folks, you heard it here first! In the meantime, feast your eyes on Dead Block’s gruesome new trailer.

Dream:Scape (Speedbump Studios): “Less a game, per-se, than an interactive experience, controlled by the user,” said George Lippert of his impending RPG-cum-creepfest, which seems to tally with Touchaholics.com’s recent hands-on experience with the title.

“It’s a dreamscape experience – you explore an environment whilst unlocking memories along the way, which all piece together a fine story. The storyline is the second most fascinating aspect (after the graphics, of course). You’ve been in an accident and must unravel parts of your life, guided by a scarecrow who just so happens to have the voice of your passed girlfriend – your true love.” Sounds like some spooky fun, eh?

Now, Speedbump Studios have run into, well, I guess what you could only call a speedbump during Dream:Scape’s development – namely, compatability issues with older devices – but are hard at work on a fix and still striving to release the game later this year.

The First Attempt: (Wish Game Studio): For the past few weeks I’ve been scouring the interwebs trying to find even the smallest nugget of information about this mysterious new game. Pretty much all I came up with was conjecture and speculation as, weirdly, Wish Game Studio remained incredibly tight-lipped in regard this project right up until the last moment.

Popular opinion had deemed The First Attempt to be a traditional first-person shooter, however, indiedb.com now lists it as “a top-down style iOS game in which the player controls a soldier at war in 2014.” A recent comment from the elusive Wish Game Studio on their YouTube channel also confirms the game will be a top-down isometric shoot ’em up. Further gameplay footage is due to be unveiled in the lead up to The First Attempt hitting the App Store.

Sources: ZBrushCentral, Polycount, Epic Games Forums, BizangoBlast.com, Touchaholics, indiedb.com & EpicGames.com.