If you're unfamiliar with the story of PopCap's relationship with young Owain Weinert then you should probably read our story about it from earlier this year. In short, Owain Weinert has leukemia, and made a wish through the Make-a-Wish Foundation to create his own video game. PopCap stepped up to the plate, made it happen, and now it's a free, universal app.

For giving us that incredible story alone, this game should warrant a download on every iOS device on the planet. However, charity doesn't need to be your only excuse for downloading Allied Star Police. It's also really fun.

Just click the unit you want, then the lane you want it to drive down and the AI will do the rest!

Allied Star Police has a lot in common with App Store favorite Trenches -- you create units to charge forward onto the battlefield against the enemy. The major difference is that in ASP you have to chose one of four lanes for your units, like in Plants vs Zombies' lanes. This leaves you with some strategic choices to make since you'll need to spread your strength across the four lanes while still dealing as much damage as possible to enemy units.

The mechanic itself would have been overly simplistic in most games, but it shines here, thanks to the impeccably polished learning curve. There are only three levels, but they'll all challenge you in just the right amount to keep things interesting as the battle ebbs and flows.

Fighting the Flamions on Insanified difficulty is both tough and rewarding.

The only significant flaw is the game's artificial intelligence: your units can be very brick-headed. For instance, your strongest units will often target the most insignificant enemies, even while much larger threats are pounding them with artillery shells. It doesn't ruin the fun completely, but it does get frustrating at times.

Thankfully, PopCap didn't polish up the game too much. It still bears some small indications that a 9-year-old was a major driving force on the project. The enemies in the game, for instance, are dubbed Flamions, a moniker so light-heartedly horrible/awesome it could only have come from the mind of child.

Your biggest units are expensive, but cause a ton of damage.

The bottom line. In short, you should download Allied Star Police because it honors the life of a really incredible kid. However, you should keep it on your iPhone because it's also a really fun light-strategy game as well.