Plague Inc.

Apple on Tuesday released its annual "Best of 2014" list for the App Store's most-downloaded and highest-grossing titles, revealing so-called "freemium" games as the year's biggest money-makers.

Two popular iOS titles released notable updates Thursday as the weekend approaches, with Minecraft adding a number of new features -- including infinite worlds -- while Plague, Inc. takes advantage of a new 20th Century Fox partnership to let players control colonies of apes.

Game creator James Vaughan has been working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to bring the agency’s work to the attention of gamers and educate people about the spread of disease.

Sometimes, you play games to build something, like being the architect of your own simulated city. Sometimes, though, it’s more fun to wreck stuff, like being the architect of your own sandcastle’s destruction. In Plague Inc. by Ndemic Creations, you get to have the appeal of strategic creation and the subversive glee of wanton destruction as you craft a pandemic to destroy all of humanity.