Harry Potter: Spells isn’t much fun unless you have a fellow Potter fan who owns the app. But if you do…multiplayer dueling, with an iPhone in place of a wand? Harry Potter: Spells is much more than a piece of shovelware, though some fans will be disappointed by its lack of depth.
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Konami’s port of DDR for the iPhone works well, and it’s fun to play. However, awful iPhone integration and a limited song list keep it from being a must-have.
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SearchIt is a free app that streamlines searching on the iPhone. While it’s not for everyone, it’s one of the better search apps out there.
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Cash Cow takes money-counting and turns it into a fantastic puzzle that rivals Bejeweled in the addiction category. Absorbing and fun, this puzzle game is simple to learn but requires plenty of strategy to master.
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Potter fans, rejoice: the first official Harry Potter app has been released to the App Store. iDevice-owning Muggles can grab the app and be Sorted by the Sorting Hat, receive a wand at Olivander’s, and then be instructed in the basics of dueling whilst earning points for their House. If this sounds familiar…then, yes, it’s because it is similar to previous online offerings from Warner Bros. What makes this app so intriguing, however, is its focus on dueling…specifically, multiplayer duels over both Bluetooth and WiFi.
Yes, that’s right; dueling. While the app will allow you to challenge an AI opponent, whipping your friend in a digital duel is undoubtedly better, and I can’t wait to test this one out. Fledgling wizards can currently learn up to 14 spells, and the examples given are old favorites: Stupefy!, Expecto Patronum!, Expelliarmus!, and so on. Spells are unleashed with hand gestures and sent between devices. I can’t think of a better platform for a handheld duel, especially given the iPhone’s accelerometer.
Rounding out the offering are a slew of appreciated extras: Facebook Connect, player stats pages, House rankings, and Hogwarts-wide leaderboards. Warner Bros. is obviously attempting to foster some competitive spirit between friends.
It’s worth noting that Harry Potter: Spells isn’t targeted at the 99-cent crowd; the app is selling for $4.99. We’ll have a review up in a few days with our recommendation, but for now, more information can be found at http://harrypotterspellsapp.com/.
IUGO’s new game is a physics-puzzler crossed with a whopping amount of dynamite. If blowing up buildings sounds like fun, you’ll like Implode! There’s not much to complain about, and the game should satisfy your puzzle cravings.
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Touch Pets Dogs is a freemium pet sim that boasts a surprising amount of depth. It’s not meant to played constantly, and the need for an internet connection is annoying, but ngmoco has still created a solid game that should delight puppy-lovers…now if only food took longer to digest.
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Alice in Bomberland is a violent, whimsical take on the classic novel. Unfortunately, what could have been an outstanding game is marred by repetitive levels and bad controls.
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Pocket Tunes Radio is a brilliant radio streaming application that spots over 16,000 streams, a slick interface, and tons of features. It even includes support for Sirius and XM Radio.
Read More »Jailbreaking can give you access to some awesome things. I’ve been holding out—it’s such a hassle to do all the requisite research and retrieve my Sync cable from under the bed—but this latest announcement might push me over the edge. Developer ZodTTD is working on an N64 emulator for the iPhone 3GS and 3rd-gen iPod Touch!
ZodTTD has quite the resume: he’s already created a few App Store games as well as a number of ports for the iPhone, including original games like Quake and emulators for the GameBoy Advance, Sony PlayStation 1, and Super Nintendo. Porting the N64 seems like a logical next step. Apple needed to produce better hardware, however, before the programmer decided to tackle the system. Speaking of the iPhone 3GS and the 3rd-gen iPod Touch, he wrote, “They’re the fastest Apple handhelds in term of raw CPU performance.” There are also a few other technical details that make the 3rd-gen iPod Touch and iPhone 3GS superior to their cousins, and thus the emulator is designed to work for them alone. (Note that the current 8GB iPod Touch model is apparently equivalent to a 2nd-gen iTouch, while the 16GB and 32GB models sport the faster performance.)
Needless to say, there are plenty of iPhone users who’d love to get Mario or Link in the palm of their hand, but since Apple and Nintendo are nudging closer and closer to direct competition for the handheld gaming market, any official ports of Nintendo titles are highly unlikely. The reason why I talked about jailbreaking? The N64 emulator isn’t headed into the App Store, as both Nintendo and Apple are likely to frown upon it. Instead, it will likely be released through App Store competitor Cydia. Non-jailbroken iPhones can’t access the unofficial store.
Details on ZodTTD’s emulator are scarce—he says he wants to “balance the hype” and won’t promise top-notch game performance—but excitement is building nevertheless. “Things look good for this project,” he writes in his post, and “you may soon see N64 on your favorite Apple device.”
There are still some caveats to be worked out. Controls, for example, will be a tough nut to crack correctly—while the GameBoy’s controls make sense as on-screen overlays, the N64 had many more buttons, as well as the joystick. Check out the original post for more information or to suggest solutions to the problem of controls.
Star Paint is a well-implemented version of the classic “untangle” concept. However, there’s nothing to make it stand out from the crowd, and the absence of auto-save alone is enough to make me hesitate before recommending it.
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Words With Friends is streamlined and elegant, and the user pool is just as speedy as the app itself. This is a must-have for Scrabble fans. It might lack features, but the Push notifications and the speed of the app itself make it my new Scrabble app of choice.
Read More »Ryan posted earlier last week about Apple’s growing pains. Yes, Apple has approved over 100,000 apps, and we’re long since past the 2 billion download milestone, which is great. But alongside the explosive growth in the App Store has come explosive growth in another, not entirely unexpected direction: piracy.
I’m not going to pretend that piracy is a new or even an unusual phenomenon. Grabbing the latest album or movie off of the internet takes about as much effort as wiggling your pinky finger. But App Store piracy is a bit unique. First of all, we’re hearing a lot more indie developers speaking out about it. And secondly, those developers are extremely restricted in what preventative measures they can take, thanks in no small part to Apple.
The real power is in the numbers. Recently, Fishlabs reported that they experienced first-day piracy rates of 95% for Rally Master Pro. This is far from unusual; Smells Like Donkey claimed to experience rates as high as 90% in the week following the release of their newest game, Tap Fu, and ngmoco regularly experiences first-week rates of 50-90%. These rates decrease over time as pirates lose interests and more legitimate customers download the game, but indie developers are hit the hardest, with many enduring lasting piracy rates around 50%. Worst of all, hotly anticipated apps are cracked not within hours, but within moments of their release.
Needless to say, many are frustrated. Smells Like Donkey wrote that they felt “totally screwed over” after seeing just how rampant piracy was. And who can blame them? There aren’t many viable ways to protect applications.
Developers can attempt to check for pirated apps, but they often feel compelled to tread lightly. There’s nothing worse for PR than blocking a legitimate customer after a piracy check generates a “false positive.” (I.e., a genuine buyer gets mistaken for a pirate.) In the App Store, word of mouth is often what makes or breaks a game. Some insert pop-up notifications when a pirated app is detected, asking the user to buy a legal copy of the application, while others revert their games to a “lite” mode; most are loathe to permanently disable the apps.
Push News is a decent idea, but it needs more features to make it your one-stop way of reading the news. For now, I’d advise looking elsewhere if you want to stay up-to-date.
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Boxcar is a nearly-flawless notification app for Facebook, email, and Twitter, and I love. What else is there to say?
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QuickReader is a speed-reading tool that can produce remarkable results. I was shocked by the rate at which my speed improved. Your mileage may vary, but if you’re a frequent reader you owe it to yourself to give this one a go.
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ngmoco:)’s hotly anticipated titles, Touch Pets: Dogs and Eliminate, have finally made their way past Apple’s approval process. For those who don’t know, Touch Pets is a pet sim that focuses on raising and training “the ultimate puppy” and also includes a wide array of social features. Eliminate, meanwhile, is a multiplayer online first person shooter. Both games will be free (yes, you read that right!) but will feature In-App Purchases. Note that IAP’s won’t be necessary to play the game; you’ll just need them to unlock extras. With Eliminate, for example, you get to play a certain number of games per day before your “energy” runs out; you can play without energy but you won’t be able to earn any in-game credits.
While both apps are approved, don’t get too excited: ngmoco is doing a Canada-only release first, to make sure that “all Eliminate systems are online and all puppies are house broken before unleashing upon the world,” according to their tweet. It’s an interesting strategy that will have non-Canadian fans grumbling, but given that ngmoco is releasing two extremely hyped games with heavy online components at once, it makes sense. Once the games make their USA debut, we’ll post our reviews; for now, you can check out our preview coverage from earlier this month.
Update: Eliminate is now out worldwide. Make sure you grab it! It generally takes a few hours for new apps to show up in the App Store, so don’t worry if you can’t see it yet.
Canadians can get Touch Pets here, though the rest of the world is still waiting.
Controlling your PowerPoint presentations from the palm of your hand? Yes, please! Slideshow Remote is an excellent, easy-to-use application that should make presentations a bit less of a pain.
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Too many boring questions and an insane amount of repetition makes this app a no-go for me. I’m sure that some will love it simply because it’s Worst Case Scenario…but I’ll take the handbook, thanks.
Read More »Some of you probably know that I’m a word game fanatic. Sadly, sorting through the App Store can often be quite the hassle. I’ve been fortunate to discover quite a few gems, though, and I thought that I’d share my six favorite word games for the iPod Touch/iPhone. You probably have favorites of your own; feel free to share them in the comments! (I’m not doing any of that start-with-the-last-one nonsense, either; the first game on my list is really the one I love the most!)
1. Scrabble
This one was pretty much a given. Mother of all word games, Scrabble is still going strong. I have a few bones to pick with EA’s app (see the mysterious Push notifications), but it’s still an excellent one. Facebook Connect provides online games, but Pass ‘n’ Play gives you local multiplayer and there’s a built-in AI for solo games as well. There’s something about this classic game that just takes the cake.
As an alternative, you can always consider Lexulous, my favorite Scrabble clone. It lacks single-player modes or even local multi-player, but the online community is sometimes more active. It also features eight-tile racks with bingo bonuses available for both 7- and 8-letter words. It’s also much more lightweight than the Scrabble app, which is a boon if you’re trying to save your battery.
2. Moxie
Moxie is a sort of word-solitaire, and by that I don’t just mean that it’s a solo game. The board is composed of three rows of five spaces each, and you can place letters anywhere on the board; points are given for forming a word, and lost if you “break” a word. It rewards strategic thinking and pondering instead of lightning-quick actions. Moxie’s gameplay is hard to describe in full, but let’s just say that it’s refreshing, unique, and by far the most original word game I’ve played in years. This is definitely a gem worth seeing.
3. WordFu
For a more action-packed word game, Word Fu from ngmoco is definitely great. This fast-paced game has you forming words from the letters you roll. The kung-fu theme (complete with cheesy sound effects) will bring a smile to anyone’s face. Just be warned…addiction is a very serious danger. Better still: it’s free, and comes with ngmoco:)’s Plus+ network! Go ahead: challenge me! My Plus+ username is bonniee. (Our review is linked to the paid version of the app without the Plus+ network, but it’s the same game regardless.)
4. Word Ace
Mash an anagram game with Texas Hold’em, and you have Word Ace. It’s intuitive and easy to pick up, but make sure that you don’t go broke: you only get 1,000 free chips per day! However, the game is centered around online multiplayer, so you’ll need an internet connection to really enjoy this one. On the bright side, it’s multi-platform (for both the Palm Pre and iPhone OS) so there are usually enough players for you to compete with.
5. Textropolis
From Nimblebit, Textropolis is a play-as-you-feel-like-it anagram game. There are no time limits, no stress. Given the letters in a city name, you must use them to form words. As you form more words, additional cities are unlocked. While it’s simple and doesn’t come close to Moxie’s originality, it’s still worth a look. Plus, Textropolis is perfect for sneaking some fun during class or at the office (just don’t tell my teachers).
6. Word Flow
Describing word flow is hard. On the surface, it’s a typical word-finding game, but there’s an almost Rubik’s Cube-like element to the way the letters move. You see, the columns and the rows both slide. This introduces a novel element that is easy to understand, but extremely difficult to master; the twist should entertain fans of the regular word-hunt genre.
That’s it for now, folks! These six games should be more than enough to keep any word fan hooked for endless hours, but I certainly haven’t tried every game in the store…so suggest some more!
Word Ace is essentially a mash-up of Texas Hold ‘Em and Scrabble. It’s free, it’s fun, and the online play is great; all you could ask for is a better offline option and this game would be golden. Still, it’s definitely worth your time!
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iPuppy World has great graphics. That’s about it. Skip this boring, non-interactive pet sim, because once you’re staring at a black screen while your puppy “sleeps,” you’ll understand why real puppies are so much more fun.
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Both incredibly challenging and incredibly inventive, Invisible Links is a fun spin on a maze game that challenges you to make your way through invisible “golf courses” sketched out on crumpled sheets of notebook paper. It’s a little confusing at first, but you’ll soon be smiling as you progress from course to course.
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Moxie is a must-buy for any word game fan…period. It’s a brilliant, incredibly original game that’s simultaneously deceptively challenging and incredibly addicting, and it’s won a permanent spot on my home page.
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Ancient War combines offense and defense for an epic side-scrolling battle. With dinosaurs, shamans, good old-fashioned warriors, and more, there are plenty of entertainingly animated creations that will keep you entertained during the fights. Despite some flaws, it’s an easy recommendation.
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GeoMaster is a slick-looking, simple geography app. It could easily be great, but its lack of good iPhone integration, a blurry world map, and other problems stop me from recommending this one.
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While there’s nothing wrong with IMP: Surf the Music per se, I just couldn’t get hooked. There are plenty of other great music games in the App Store, and IMP just doesn’t cut it.
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For a long time now, I’ve been using the Lexulous app exclusively for my online Scrabble games. Why? Well, even if it had less features, Lexulous was just easier to use.
With Scrabble’s newest update, I decided to give the official EA app another shot. The menus are vastly improved: though some things still don’t make sense, it’s a lot easier to jump into a game. The game’s speed has apparently been given a small jolt, too, and you can now use your own music. But what had me most excited was the promise of “push notifications.”
Okay, EA, for the love of god: are you trying to torment me? These so-called “notifications” don’t exist, as far as I can tell. They certainly aren’t push notifications. And yet, despite this, I receive occasional “tips” telling me to turn Push Notifications on in the Settings app. I’ve checked. There’s no option to do so. I don’t think I’m the only one, either: the current version is being bombarded with angry 1-star reviews in the App Store. I’ve tried restarting my iPod and reinstalling the app; nothing changes in my Settings menu.
I’m not sure if EA submitted the wrong app version or if maybe there’s a bug on certain devices. (I’m running a 2G iPod Touch with 8GB of storage.) But either way, this is strange. Shame on you, EA. I got excited over nothing at all.
Grabl is essentially Scrabble solitaire. Despite some rough edges, the game itself should thrill word fanatics looking for a good solo game!
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Hybrid: Eternal Whisper is a hardcore action RPG with a killer combat system. It’s very dialogue-heavy, especially in the beginning, but the fighting makes it all worth it.
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]From the creators of the award-winning conversion app, Convert, comes the second of TapTapTap's iPhone titles. This time, voice morphing. But does it really live up to the studios previous titles?
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- MAGIC FOR MUGGLES
:: RECOMMENDED
