Kingdom Rush tops iPad app chart

Devotees of the strategy defence game genre have helped Kingdom Rush emerge as the most popular paid-for app for the iPad this week.

The app, by Armor Games, involves gamers defending their kingdom against orcs, trolls, wizards and other fiends using an arsenal of towers and spells.

Competitors fight on forests, mountains and wastelands, and can adapt their defence strategy with different tower upgrades and specialisations.

The heavily discounted app, currently on sale for 69p, has received favourable reviews from customers who have described it as "addictive" and the "best tower defence game out there".

The game toppled Inspire Pro - Paint, Draw & Sketch from the number one position. The creative tool, which simulates wet oil paint on a canvas and offers users five kinds of brush to create their own masterpieces, is in second place in this week's paid-for iPad app chart.

Fans of Sunday's Super Bowl helped the NFL Flick Quarterback HD app rise two places to number three, while the Pages word processor app occupies fourth place.

Meanwhile, treasure hunting game Temple Run maintained the number one position in the free app charts for the iPad and iPhone.

The top paid-for iPhone app was WhatsApp Messenger, an instant messenger for smartphones which also secured prime position last week.

The Lost City, said to be inspired by classic point and click adventure games, was in second place. In third place was Celebalike, which uses facial recognition and scans a database of more than 250 celebrities before returning the closest matches.