iPhone games keep a comin'

— -- Many students heading back to the classroom this week are toting around a new smart phone — and if they enjoy playing games on the go, the Apple iPhone (from $99 with two-year AT&T plan) is likely the one they picked. It offers tens of thousands of downloadable games from the popular App Store, which is part of Apple's iTunes.

But with so many games available it can be difficult to know which ones are worth your time and money. You don't have to be a budget-conscious student, though, to enjoy the following suggestions for your iPhone or iPod Touch.

Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor (Tiger Style Games; $2.99; 4 stars out of 4)

In this unique adventure, you play as a spider that crawls into an abandoned mansion.

It might seem like a basic task at the beginning of the game, as you explore hand-drawn environments and spin webs to catch prey, but you'll soon discover a few secrets hidden in these rooms. To complete the main story, you'll need to figure out who lived here and why they left.

Controlling your agile arachnid is a breeze. Use your fingertip to draw webs in a variety of shapes, crawl onto furniture and down drainpipes, and swipe to jump across large areas.

Along with earning two dozen "achievements" for playing well, you can tackle four different modes, depending on what kind of creepy, crawly experience you're in the mood for.

Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution (2K Games; $4.99; 3.5 stars out of 4)

Conquer the world with your fingertip in this portable version of Sid Meier's Civilization Revolution.

Yielding hundreds of hours of play, this turn-based strategy game lets you choose from 16 playable civilizations (each of which is led by an iconic historical figure, such as Cleopatra for the Egyptians and Napoleon for the French) and tackle a randomly generated map or a challenging scenario, such as the naval-focused "Age of Imperialism" or the fictional "Beta Centauri," a race to colonize a new planet.