Tag: App store »

We've already had a look at the ways we've seen mobile gaming change in the first six months of 2018, so now it's time to have a look forward, into our digital crystal balls, and ponder what we'd like to see more of in the next six months of the year. After all, that's the sort of thing we love to do here at 148Apps.

These are suggestions rather than predictions, but if they happen to accidentally become accurate predictions, then we're going to be just as happy as everyone else. Obviously if you've got your own suggestions, stick them in the comments section all the way down at the bottom of the article. Before you do though, let's get on with our list.

Can you believe it? The App Store turns ten years old today. Ten years of amazing apps, games, and experiences. There's a collective tear in our eye here at 148Apps. Our little App Store, all grown up and getting ready to head out to big school next year.

So we thought it was high time to look back at the past decade and see how much has changed in the world of mobile gaming, and how far we've all come since the App Store's inception back in 2008. Lordy, that was a long time ago. If you've got your own suggestions about how the ravages of time have deformed us all, stick them in the comments at the bottom of the article.

Snow Roll is a devilish endless runner very much in the vein of Flappy Bird. It revels in its dastardly level of difficulty, and doesn’t really care how angry you get at it as it knows you’ll keep coming back for more.

You may be a sucker for punishment, but you don’t have to make things needlessly difficult. Follow these tips to take the edge off!

StormBorn: War of Legendsarrived in the App Store this week to bring us a fresh twist on the veteranClash of Clansformula as you try and save the land of Eraine which has fallen from glory.

You'll build your own base, recruit heroes, attack enemy players, and complete a lengthy storyline as you try and wrest Eraine from the darkness that has taken over it.

But enough of this talk. We're here to give you a few tips and tricks to help you win every single battle against enemy players.

Endless Treadmill is a new endless runner out right now on iOS and Android with a unique and hilarious premise.

You play as a variety of different gym-goers who struggle to remain steady when running on the treadmill, so you have to tilt your device to prevent them from toppling over.

There are a number of different challenges to complete which earn you coins to purchase new characters and locations to run in, but the real focus is on beating your own and other's high scores.

We spoke to David Saf, Sales Director at Heartmade Entertainment, about what sets Endless Treadmill apart from all of the other endless runners, the challenges faced during development, and the plans for future updates.

Lila is trying to get fit but needs a little help from you in Endless Treadmill, an endless runner which challenges you to ensure Lila and a variety of other characters don't fall off the treadmill while working out.

Leap Into Fall With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Kubiko

Kubiko is a fun little game. It’s slightly reminiscent of logic puzzles used to test your intelligence, but that’s not a bad thing at all. Across 40 different puzzles, you’ll find yourself having to piece back together various creatures and objects by rotating groups of pixels to turn the work into a recognizable shape.It’s simply done. While you’re restricted in terms of how many moves you must do this in, there’s no timer or anything particularly stressful going on. Instead, the worst that happens is you run out of moves and the stage immediately restarts. That relaxing nature immediately makes Kubiko more endearing. It’s so easy to just dip in and work towards solving something, any time you have a few minutes spare.--Jennifer Allen

Timecrest

Rob was right when he said we’d see more games like Lifeline. One such game is Timecrest - a tale of time traveling wizards who are trying to save their world. It’s a kind of adventure game book app with you having to make multiple decisions to see how things work out, with different endings encouraging you to try out different paths. There’s an almighty catch though, that soon puts you off.That catch is time. Timecrest is a free game that is utterly littered with timers. As the story unfolds you regularly find yourself having to wait. A few lines, maybe a whole paragraph or two, of story are provided to you, along with a couple of choices as to what to do next. Hit one of those choices and invariably you’re left having to wait to see how things pan out.--Jennifer Allen

Hotel Transylvania 2

If there’s one thing that Hotel Transylvania 2 offers, it’s an abundance of cute but spooky characters - much like the film the game is based around. Unfortunately, while the creatures might seem imaginative the actual game is fairly tired. It’s your usual run-of-the-mill settlement building game, only with a hotel instead. Starting out, you’re gradually introduced to all the elements of Hotel Transylvania 2. That mostly involves placing buildings down exactly where the game wants you to place them. It soon opens up a little though. You then find yourself completing various quests offered by the characters within Hotel Transylvania 2. These sound quite quirky, such as playing a guitar or video game, in order to lure someone in. Unfortunately, all you do to enact this is press the relevant button and leave the character to it. --Jennifer Allen

Lifeline 2

The launch of the first Lifeline… coincided with the release of the Apple Watch. There were a couple of hangups but it was a decent enough take on what I’m starting to refer to as the “timed adventure game genre.” Now we’ve got a sequel with Lifeline 2. It’s ditched the sci-fi in favor of a more modern fantasy setting, and it feels like it might be a bit longer in terms of the amount of story, but some of the hangups are still there.
For the unfamiliar, Lifeline 2 (and games like it) is a sort of choose-your-own adventure with a real time twist where the protagonist will go silent for minutes to hours at a time while they’re performing various tasks. In this instance you share a connection with a woman named Arika (pronounced kind of like “Erica) as she sets out to gather magical items to help her on her quest for revenge against whoever (or whatever) murdered her parents. She’ll fill you in on the details of her current situation, then you get to pick from one of two responses that could lead to a different line of dialog or even change the outcome of the story. --Rob Rich

Call of Champions

Call of Champions, by Spacetime Studios, is a distilled multiplayer online battle arena (MOBA) that's reminiscent to Blizzard's Heroes of the Storm in that your team of 3 champions must cross a battlefield to destroy the enemy's base. Each match is timed so you only get 5 minutes to score, and capturing your enemy's base is no easy task. Each team has four towers guarding their base, as well as a wall as their last line of defense. You'll need to guide an orb along a path between the two bases to disable those towers and bring down the wall before you can attack the base proper. All along the way your enemy will be attacking and trying to steal away the orb. If either side fails to destroy the other's base, then the winner will be decided by whomever destroyed the most towers. --Jessica Fisher

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

Downton Abbey

Yep, it’s Downton Abbey. Enough said.The game starts in such a way that series fans should find familiar: clan cornerstone Carson eagerly welcomes an agent to the Earl of Grantham’s residence. Early on, the idea is to solve stuff by finding stuff in “plain” site.Completing sessions (by finding items) earns one valuable XP and items. There is also an upgrade/crafting element which comes into play and adds some complexity to an otherwise simple game.When it’s all said and done, it is, at its core, a constructed hidden object game. The core competency sought is the ability to pick out selected items from a series of still images, and to do so as quickly as possible with as few helpers as possible. The artwork utilized reflects the time period adequately — at least, in my mind it did — and the scrolling feature that allows for more hidden objects allows the game to feel a bit more mysterious.--Tre Lawrence

The Lost Treasure

It all starts out with a cryptic letter from Uncle Henry, letting the player know that after studying the map that he (the player) found; Uncle Henry’s recommended course of action is to go on and find the pirates hidden treasure both suspect the map points to.With this modest beginning, our adventure is launched, and one gets to be immersed in the digital caper known as The Lost Treasure.
Right from the onset, the game is fairly easy to navigate. It uses still images to advance the gameplay, and the imagery does reflect the jungle environment one expects from the opening letter. The perspective is first person, and to move around, one simply touches the screen intuitively in the rough direction one wants to go; in this way, one can move from scene to scene, or get a closer look at an area within the scene. Thus, this also how ones investigates objects, which makes up a pretty big part of the game.--Tre Lawrence

Door Kickers

As a child of the 80s, I grew up loving some of the iconic shows of the time. The cop shows were the best; CHiPs was a staple, and for me T.J. Hooker — and not Star Trek — was my first introduction to William Shatner. One show I loved was from the preceding decade, and I got to enjoy it via reruns: S.W.A.T. From the opening score to the credits to the uniforms to, well everything, the show defined cool. Yep, the cops that “regular” cops called when stuff got tough.Boyhood fantasies aside, there’s plenty of room for special tactics sims for mobile devices, and Door Kickers, one of the more notable PC ports, has made its way to Android.The game is a full-fledged planning and action adventures. There isn’t much back story, no; this one gets right down to it.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides, and even more reviews than we can share here.

Celebrate September With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Order & Chaos 2: Redemption

Order & Chaos 2: Redemption is a rather gorgeous looking MMORPG. Building upon what worked well for the original, it’s a substantial MMO that doesn’t push you into in-app purchases (although the option is always there). There’s a plethora of content to sink your teeth into. One thing to note very early on is that if, like me, you’re still lumbered with an iPhone 5, Order & Chaos 2: Redemption is going to seem a little creaky. A bit of stuttering and a little lag is a sharp reminder that the iPhone 5 isn’t as powerful as it once was. Given how fancy Order & Chaos 2: Redemption looks, that makes sense but it might infuriate after a time. It also made my iPhone impressively hot to the touch which was unusual. --Jennifer Allen

Devastator

There’s never been a laid back twin-stick shooter, has there? They’re consistently frantic affairs, requiring you to have fantastic reflexes and to be able to keep an eye on many things at once. Devastator continues that trend by being impressively difficult but really rather well made, too. Those of us who are prone to throwing things when we screw up might feel a little despondent after a time, however. Learning Devastator is very simple. Your left side is used for changing direction while your right side affects the trajectory of the constantly firing weaponry. There’s a virtual button for activating a special attack too, something that you should only ever do when you’re in dire need. The button isn’t far from the right stick so it’s relatively easily activated. --Jennifer Allen

Puzzle Craft 2

Bigger and better is precisely what you want from any sequel and that’s exactly what you’re getting from Puzzle Craft 2. It’s a little trickier than before but its potent mix of settlement developing and line drawing based match-3 ensures it’s compelling stuff for fans of well made freemium experiences. As before, your time is evenly split between your settlement and collecting resources. There’s a steady supply of missions to complete, in order to give you some structure in your development. It’s a reasonably cheery affair with cartoon style characters wandering around once you’ve hired them. --Jennifer Allen

Alien Robot Monsters

Deeply entrenched in the traditional tower-defense genre, Alien Robot Monsters might not offer anything exceptionally original but it’s a solidly dependable entry to the popular genre. In a predictable twist, aliens are out to get us. To be fair to them, it’s our fault this time round. Humans have landed on an earth-like planet and it’s inhabited by a bunch of hostile robotic life forms keen to wipe out humanity. Fortunately, they pursue our bases by following deliberate lanes that happen to go alongside various tower placements. --Jennifer Allen

Explore Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood

On the surface, Explore Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood is immediately appealing and cute. It’s hard not to be cute when you’re dealing with cuddly looking tigers. While the app promises to be an open-ended and imaginative game, it’s actually a little restrictive. That won’t bother some children but the more adventurous user is going to wish that they could do more. It’s all based around the layout of a regular town street. You can visit the grocery store, music shop, bakery, and doctor’s office. Each place is quite cute. You can interact with certain objects too, such as ringing the cash register in the store or playing different musical instruments in the music shop. It’s a little basic because you can’t do too much here, but it’s a fun way to explore. --Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

UNKILLED

No matter where we go in mobile gaming, there will always be a place for the undead.UNKILLED highlights this, and helps underscore the civic responsibility of ridding the world of zombies.Yes, it’s another zombie apocalypse trip, but this one puts the player in the professor’s seat as part of an elite team that takes the undead out. Completely, that is. If feels a bit like Dead Trigger, which isn’t too unexpected, given its pedigree. --Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides, and even more reviews than we can share here.

Slide Into September With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Zen Brush2

Zen Brush 2 takes what worked so well for the original app and improves upon it. It’s not like regular drawing software, lacking the variety of a more powerful artistry app, but it’s really quite delightful for evoking a particular theme.That theme is through the use of an East Asian ink brush. Looking a little like a more artistic interpretation of calligraphy, you can use your finger to sweep across the screen, drawing lines from a number of different brush strokes. If you hold your finger to the screen for a time, you can see the ink pool where your finger is resting, ensuring it feels more tactile than most drawing apps.--Jennifer Allen

Legendary Warriors

Looking really rather gorgeous, Legendary Warriors will catch your attention quite quickly. In reality, it’s a fairly hands-off experience that means it’s not going to be for everyone, but it’ll certainly stick in your mind through its beauty. An RPG of sorts, you’re helping a party of characters go from place to place, taking out monsters in their wake, and getting stronger too. How this is conducted is fairly hands-off though. You hit the ‘go’ button to send your character to battle then your only interaction is through activating a special skill as and when it becomes available. When that happens, the game stutters a bit, adding insult to injury. --Jennifer Allen

Dead Synchronicity

Dead Synchronicity is dark. Really, really dark. Set in a world that has been mostly wiped out by a mysterious thing called The Great Wave, leading to martial law and some terrible suffering, it’s a bleak existence. You’re a man suffering from amnesia, but unlike other games you’re not here to liberate the world - you just want to survive. This is done through exploring the land and solving various puzzles. At times, it’s a little sick, suck as when you’re mutilating a corpse in order to set the man up in the case of a murder. It’s consistently well written though, and really quite enticing. This doesn’t feel like a by the numbers tale, instead sticking in your memory for a while to come. --Jennifer Allen

Chrono Space

The reasons why are unimportant. All you need to know is that some badguys are gunning for you and the only way you can fend them off is by creating, placing, and upgrading defensive towers - in space. But despite the familiar setup, Chrono Space (to its benefit) does things a little differently.There are no paths or anything to worry about here; since you’re in space enemies can approach from any direction. Fortunately they’ll stop to attack your towers, so while you can’t block them in you can at least delay them. Unfortunately you never really get a proper heads-up about which section of the screen they might be attacking from but it ultimately doesn’t put you at much of a disadvantage because the game is pretty brutal either way. --Rob Rich

Power Ping Pong

Once upon a time, I used to play table tennis for a team. I was supposedly pretty good at it and nearly participated in a few tournaments. I was young though, and therefore foolish, and gave up because, well, I don’t know. While real table tennis doesn’t offer special moves or power-ups, Power Ping Pong does bring back some fun memories. It’s table tennis with a Kung Fu style twist. Throughout the arcade mode, you take on various competitors, showing them just what you’ve got, with an option to delve into a survival mode or multiplayer. Controls are simple to pick up but require some mastering. They mostly involve performing gestures, such as a sweep upwards at speed invoking a fast hit, with the opposite providing more of a kind of lob. Side swipes can also prove useful at the right time. It takes some practice but it's reasonably rewarding, much like the real sport. --Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

Speedy Ninja

Speedy Ninja packs a lot.On the surface, it’s an endless runner. The main job is to get our hero — a sassy, excitable ninja with just a hint of stickman sensibilities — to go as far as possible. Running occurs in an intuitive left-to-right fashion, and once a run commences, the ninja moves forward continuously… until an obstacle of some sort says otherwise.The obstacles will be somewhat familiar to ninja aficionados, and have a touch of the fantastic: bamboo stakes, spinning blades, homing spears and more. To navigate these, there is a handy jump button that allows one to vault and double-vault such run enders.--Tre Lawrence

TYLT FLYP-DUO Reversible USB Cable

We are a mobile society.Or, to be fair, we are getting there. In any case, some thing seem to be becoming more commonplace, such as households with multiple mobile devices, and households with devices from multiple platforms.Hey, I should know… this one has units from all major platforms, and then some.
Still, now, with the joy of multiple devices comes the challenge of keeping them charged. Since Apple uses proprietary cables, it does add an extra cable to be carried when an iDevice. Since I like to be prepared, it pays to have a lightning cable, and even if not for me, I do get a weird sense of accomplishment when I can provide a cable to a needy friend or colleague.Ah, enter the TYLT FLYP-DUO Reversible USB Cable.--Tre Lawrence

Stick Squad 4-Sniper's Eye

If truth be told, I am not the biggest fan of sniper games. Call me a wuss, but there is just something so… well… final about them. Yes, some find it silly, but talking about it frees me.I think…But then there’s Stick Squad 4 – Sniper’s Eye, the fourth installment in Stick Squad series. It’s the sequel to the sequel to the original sequel, and looks to bring the best of stick figures and sniping to handheld gaming.For folks vested in this particular gaming series, the general look will be familiar. One gets the expected stick figures, and they’re moving, relaxing and otherwise living in the lfe. the motions are mostly natural looking, and the visuals work well, even if perspective takes a weird turn a time or two. The gameplay is presented in first person format, through a scope for vision. Moving said scope is a matter of holding/dragging it around till one gets a target in one’s sights. There is a simple shooting button, and it is very reactive.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides, and even more reviews than we can share here!

Slide Into September With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

I Am Bread

The world of gaming means you can inhabit the lives of so much. You can become a hero saving the universe, a soldier at war, an orc exploring a new world, or you can be a slice of bread. You read me right - bread. The latest in a string of quirky simulations (hi there, Goat Simulator), I am Bread has you inhabit the soul of a slice of bread as it desperately makes its way from the rest of the loaf to the toaster. Because toast is the best use of bread, obviously! It’s obtuse a lot of the time but the novelty value makes it worth checking out if you’ve got money to spare. Each level is a day of the week, starting out with a psychiatrist’s report into the actions of a man convinced that his loaf of bread is alive. Then you find yourself on your perilous mission to get to the toaster. --Jennifer Allen

Tiny Empire

Angry Birds 2 disappointed you a little, right? Fun but too full of freemium stuff to really keep you fully happy, yes? Tiny Empire is almost an antidote to that. It’s not as finely tuned, but being an entirely premium experience with just the one price ensures that you can simply enjoy the game rather than feel gouged for money. The first thing you’ll notice and love (if you’re my age) is the visual style. Tiny Empire looks like a 16-bit game that wouldn’t be out of place on the Sega Genesis or SNES. The map layout for choosing each level also looks just like a JRPG from days gone by. This is distinctly appealing and immediately puts Tiny Empire on the right footing. --Jennifer Allen

Fitness Avatar

Strength exercises are an unsurprisingly perfect way to get stronger and fitter. They’re also the ideal way to completely wreck your back and other vital limbs, all through performing such activities incorrectly. While you can get a trainer or spotter to assist you, that’s not always convenient. Instead, I’d suggest giving Fitness Avatar a shot.The app works by offering you advice on how to perform a particular move, before then filming you as you complete one repetition so you can see exactly what you’re doing rightly or wrongly. You’re restricted to squats, deadliest, and bench presses, but as these are three popular moves and ones that demand you perform them correctly, this is a pretty good starting point. In each case, a brief intro is provided along with a description of why you should take advantage of such a movement. Then you can go to work. Fitness Avatar will keep an eye on how your back is adjusting and whether you’re putting too much pressure on your knees or other joints. You can then watch it back and see how you did. --Jennifer Allen

Top Camera 2

Top Camera 2 is the kind of app that’s going to fit on your phone quite nicely. Besides being very useful and small in size, it looks stylish, matching the general aesthetic tone of iOS.In that mere 8mb of size, Top Camera 2 packs in comprehensive photo and video modes, a selection of filters, and plenty of adjustment options. In each case, it’s simple to use too. Taking a photo or video for instance can take mere seconds, with sliding bars allowing you to adjust the focus or exposure, while another sliding panel gives you options such as HDR, slow shutter, or time lapse. It’s all intuitive and takes seconds to figure out. --Jennifer Allen

Sage Solitaire

Solitaire is all well and good, but all too often it’s kind of samey. Sage Solitaire takes that concept, throws in some Poker elements and soon proves to be pretty compelling.Across three different modes, the format is roughly the same. A three by three grid of cards are offered to you and you have to make hands from them. These hands can be many thing from Poker such as pairs, three of a kind, a full house, and so on. Two pairs aren’t allowed though, which is a little annoying. One of the game modes also allows you to make hands of 15. --Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

Walking Dead: Road to Survival

Here’s to Walking Dead: Road to Survival. It’s based on the original The Walking Dead comics, it definitely pays homage with the grim feeling and apocalyptic look, with stills and gritty transitions.One major part of the game is the building and crafting. The home compound serves as an enclave of sorts which protects the untainted inhabitants against the undead and other human enemies. Part of the game involves learning how to craft, using materials made on site. One can upgrade and add more resources like farms and living quarters, some upgrades depend on the level of other units. Thus, a bit of strategy is involved to grow.A good portion of this combat segment has to do with turn-based action. It usually consists of the player’s crew facing (or surrounded by) a set of zombies or other human opponents.--Tre Lawrence

ZAGG Auto-Fit Folio 10 Keyboard

Bottom line? If I am going to use a tablet, I might as well get the accessories and peripherals that will make it work for me. I like the comfort of being able to use one as a laptop at least some of the time, so a portfolio-type of accessory is just what the doctor ordered.One problem: not all tablets get the same treatment from accessory makers — which is somewhat understandable. What happens if you get a hardware piece that doesn’t have an iPad-like stable of third-party accessories to choose from? What if you have multiple devices with slightly different dimensions?--Tre Lawrence

FRAMED

Every now and then, one comes across an atypical game.FRAMED is just that. It is an interesting comic-puzzle hybrid that manages to surprise every step of the way.It’s about time it got to Android.In this one, the game gets to the going quickly. To understand if to play it; it feels like an animated comic book of you will, with paneled cards sewing the action together. A scene starts, and then is replaced by another scene, which is basically a continuation of the prior screen. It pops off so quickly that the storyline, which involves a person on the run-type deal, becomes a sideshow… in a great way.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides, and even more reviews than we can share here!

Amped Up for August With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Prune

Prune is a beautifully minimal puzzle game in which players prune trees. For those unfamiliar with tree pruning, this mainly just involves players trimming branches off of a tree so that it grows in a very specific way. Despite not being terribly long, Prune's gorgeous look and novel gameplay make it definitely worth checking out. Players encounter the same basic setup for each individual stage across any of Prune's five chapters: they must grow a tree in a certain way in order to get enough flowers to blossom and to move on to the next. This starts off easily enough to introduce the basic mechanics, but soon there will be instances where the constant slashing of branches becomes necessary to avoid obstacles like buzzsaws and more ominous red orbs that work as a sort of poison for trees. --Campbell Bird

Koi - Journey of Purity

My first glimpse of Koi - Journey of Purity came from the trailer, and I immediately picked up a Flower vibe from it. I wasn’t wrong, either.Each level in Koi has you swimming around fairly large, almost maze-like bodies of water while trying to help flowers bloom - and the way you do this is by finding like-colored fish and guiding them to the right buds. Of course things quickly get more complicated when you have to clear paths by playing Simon-like mini-games, or avoid very large and aggressive fish. It’s all very pretty and quite interesting, but it’s not perfect. --Rob Rich

Farming Simulator 2016

It wasn’t until recently that I managed to dip a toe into the Farming Simulator waters - the Playstation 4 version of Farming Simulator 2015, specifically - but pretty much as soon as I did I could tell why it was such a beloved (and obviously niche) series. The bug bit me pretty hard, to the point where I was pretty excited to check out Farming Simulator 2016 for iOS. You begin the game with a couple of fields (one ready to harvest and another ready to sow), a harvester, a tractor, a few important tools to attach to that tractor, and a little bit of money. It’s up to you to turn all of that into a sprawling farm with over a dozen fields, multiple vehicles, and a somewhat ridiculous profit margin. It basically boils down to collecting crops, planting new crops, and selling crops to buy better stuff. --Rob Rich

Five Nights at Freddy's 4

Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 is an incredibly creepy, atmospheric, and downright terrifying game. Virtually every moment spent trying to survive each of its five nights (give or take a couple extras) is incredibly tense as you play cat-and-mouse with nightmarish renditions of the original cast - Bonnie, Chica, Foxy, and Freddy (plus one or two surprise guests). Problem is I’m actually talking about the PC version. The core of Five Nights at Freddy’s 4 is still the same on iOS. You’re still running back and forth between two bedroom doors, a closet, and a bed while trying to use your flashlight to drive away the horrific monsters that are stalking you. And you’ll still get grabbed if you don’t flashlight enough (or if you flashlight too soon). What’s disappointing is that the animations have been stripped down so much it’s practically like watching a slideshow. This doesn’t spoil the tension, but it does lessen it a fair bit. --Rob Rich

Angry Birds 2

It was inevitable that we’d see a true sequel to Angry Birds one day and, really, who could complain? There’s a reason why people love the franchise - it’s annoyingly compelling. There’s a lot of pressure on Angry Birds 2 to be just as great as the first time then and, well, it doesn’t quite do it. It’s still pretty great but some monetization decisions mean that you’re going to be quite frustrated at times. The key theme of Angry Birds 2 remains the same. You’re still flinging birds at structures containing pigs. I’ve forgotten by this point why the two sides hate each other so much but who really cares? This time round, each level is made up of multiple sections and structures, meaning it’s a meatier affair, as well as looks positively gorgeous. Also, you won’t be able to look up guides to figure things out, as each time you hit ‘retry’, the layout changes around. --Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

K300 Premium 4K 3-Port HDMI Switch

Yep, it’s a wireless world.Nothing really beats the convenience of hooking up a mobile source to a bigger target and being able to stream and consume content. It’s just awesome.
I’m old school though, in that I still appreciate the fidelity of wired connections. No muss, no fuss. No need for wi-fi (as is necessary in some wireless connectivity set-ups). HDMI connections are especially noted; these are universal standards, and have the ability to provide input options for a veritable host of peripherals, from smartdevices to whole computers and everything in-between. And, if truth be told (and being the gadget collecting generation that we are), TV manufacturers, for instance, may need to start allocating most of the back panel space to more and more — and more — HDMI input space.--Tre Lawrence

Deadlock: Online

Folks play mobile games for a variety of reasons.Hang time with the friends. Bragging rights with family. Down time at school. Reviewing apps for a living (hello!).One thing is for sure, we all come upon those days when taking on a game like Deadlock: Online is needed by of stress relief, and maybe even profound enjoyment beyond that.It opens up easily enough, and feels like virtual battle of attrition; the player mans a combatant in an urban landscape, and the basic premise is to knock out your enemies and stay alive. To achieve this feel, the developer uses a top-down perspective. The control system is dual in nature, and, as noted, involved moving around and shooting enemy fighters.--Tre Lawrence

Bracketron Mi-T Grip Smartphone Mount

When it comes to mobile accessories, few names resonate like Bracketron; its Mi-T Grip Smartphone Mount is just the type of tool one would love to add to one’s accessory arsenal.The review unit that Bracketron sent highlights the product in retail form; getting it out of the packet unveils the two pieces that make up the mount: a ball joint fused with suction-sticky attachment surface, and then an adjustable clip that fits intuitively onto the ball joint with the help of a tightening screw. When the latter is snapped onto the former, one gets a homogeneous solution, made of hard plastic and coming in all black. It is almost diminutive and feels solidly built.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides and even more reviews than we can share here!

Winding Down July With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

NINE

NINE is an appealing and convenient twist on the typical To-Do list format. Focused on providing visual reminders rather than text based ones, you simply snap a photo of something then tag it and you have an instant reminder to do or buy something. It’s a nice idea.Much of NINE’s convenience comes from its flexibility. Rather than being tied into dull lists reminding you of what you need to do, you can use it to remember things you want to buy come pay day, or simply as a visual list of things/people you love. Recipe ideas can be formulated through taking snaps of foo that inspires you. It’s all pretty varied in terms of what can be accomplished. --Jennifer Allen

To-Fu Fury

Somehow making an incredibly boring kind of food fun, To-Fu Fury isn’t the most original of physics puzzle games, but it is solidly dependable. You control a sentient piece of Tofu as he has to leap around various platforms, dodging spikes, collecting gems, and even fending off aggressive enemies. Each level is relatively brief but it’s quite challenging. You can drag the Tofu around, fling it across the screen in an Angry Birds style manner, or you can crawl along the ground with a pinch of two fingers. Various challenges arise, such as the need to carefully get around spikes, learn to ricochet off metal plates, and also negotiate tricky moving platforms. --Jennifer Allen

Baffles Classic Puzzles

Baffles Classic Puzzles reminds me a little of the puzzle books that my parents would give to me on a long journey to keep me busy. They’d be simple-looking logic puzzles but often they’d take a while to figure out. This game is just full of those, and that’s a good thing. Offering 76 puzzles in all, with a further 24 coming soon, there’s no shortage of challenge here. Each puzzle is offered to you with a description of what needs to be accomplished, along with some historical context, explaining the origins of the puzzle. Baffles Classic Puzzles takes its inspiration from many different eras, including ancient Rome and China. --Jennifer Allen

In Churning Seas

In Churning Seas is a physics-based puzzler in which players attempt to assemble randomly-shaped crags into an island that successfully persists above a constantly rising sea level. The difficulty in making high quality physics-based puzzle games is in balancing the inherent challenge of the mechanics and tools with the physics. In Churning Seas makes an interesting, though perhaps not entirely successful, attempt at striking this balance while providing a really excellent atmosphere and general aesthetic.Controlling In Churning Seas is easy enough. At the start of any game players have a randmoized base island to start from, a rising sea below, and random shapes appearing above for them to tap to drop into their desired place. The goal is to piece together enough shapes and have them hold together long enough to reach new heights. Along the way players may hit a specific height goal, which provides the benefit of locking the other pieces in place to create a more stable structure to continue building off of. In the event that players need some stability when a height goal is out of reach, they can double-tap a limited amount of blocks to lock them in place as well. --Campbell Bird

Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition

There’s a reasonable argument against the need for HD remakes as it is. Do we really need to return to so many old games, all for the sake of some shinier graphics? Gabriel Knight: Sins of the Fathers 20th Anniversary Edition really reinforces that concept by somehow disrupting some of the key visual and audio flourishes of the original. Throw in the fact that the game is often quite obtuse, and the past doesn’t seem so great any more. The foundations are pretty solid, at least. Ritualistic killings are occurring in New Orleans, and it’s down to struggling author, Gabriel Knight, to figure things out. True Detective fans are going to like this. At least they will until they realise that Gabriel is a fairly obnoxious womaniser. Arrogance is fair enough at times, but this character takes it too far. --Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

inStream SeptimusB 7 Port USB Charging Station

As we like to say, more mobile devices, more problems… power problems to be specific. Even as batteries get better, there is always a need to keep our power units powered.Yeah, one can plug in a charging peripheral to every outlet at work or at home, but then, one needs to walk all over the place to retrieve them. It’s just better to have all of them in one place, especially for those of us with a healthy helping of OCD.And then, here comes the wordy inStream SeptimusB 7 Port USB Charging Station.Alrighty.--Tre Lawrence

Zero Punctuation: Hatfall

If one must know, Zero Punctuation: Hatfall is a story of loss and redemption. Sometimes, folks get really attached to headgear, and this game tells the tale of a dude driven mad by loss.Oh dear.At first glance, one might be a bit dazzled by the sharp yellow background; we don’t get a lot of colors, but that is okay, as the game works with the color contrasts within. Visually, it works.--Tre Lawrence

NU2S Smartphone

There are many reasons folks dabble into Android.Love of the OS, appreciation for the extended Google ecosystem… even a hyper anti-Apple sentiment get cited as reasons. Critically, one can enjoy the diversity of product as well as as apps availability across carriers.One element that increasingly becomes part of the device ownership narrative is price; the ability to get a device at just about any price point is, well, priceless. And, to be fair, we are not talking about just anything at any price; we expect quality, even when we pay what might be considered a good price for an Android smartphone. Now, obviously, the ability to have OEMs battle to bring the best devices to market at the lowest cost is a function of the Android landscape, but we’re not complaining.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides and even more reviews than we can share here!

July is Heating Up With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Cally's Caves 3

Cally's Caves 3 is a free-to-play platformer inspired by games like Metriod and Castlevaniawhere players take control of Cally as she tries to rescue her parents from the Nefarious Herbert. From a content perspective there's a lot to like about this entry in the Cally's Caves series, even without making any in-app purchases. Although it feels like a bit of a hamstrung version of Castlevania, it's still pretty enjoyable and challenging.Cally's Caves 3 starts with a very straightfoward intro in which Herbert takes Cally's family (again), and from there it's up to players to jump, shoot, and melee their way through stages to get ever closer to rescuing them. Like the previous titles, Cally's Caves 3 is controlled using on-screen buttons that work just fine, though they can occasionally obscure the action or be hard to hit.--Campbell Bird

Dexter: Hidden Darkness

If you’ve played games such as Criminal Case or CSI: Hidden Crimes, you’ve played Dexter: Hidden Darkness. It’s effectively a reskin of these titles. As any Hidden Object gaming enthusiast will be able to tell you though, that’s not necessarily a bad thing.What works so well for these games are their trickle feeding of content. No one really wants to spend hours seeking out objects. These games are made for short sessions and accomplishing something in that brief period of time. Dexter: Hidden Darkness scratches that casual gaming itch as well as the others within the field. --Jennifer Allen

Crayola DJ

Music creation is a lot of fun and an ideal way for your children to express themselves, but all too often it can be a little tricky to do well. Crayola DJ circumvents any such difficulties, being the kind of DJing app that you can learn within a couple of minutes. It’s great fun, too. You’re presented with two turntables and a variety of different options. You can add tracks covering various different genres, such as dance, pop, hip hop, and fusion, before manipulating their tempo and prominence within the track. --Jennifer Allen

Age of Empires: Castle Siege

I’ve got a friend who regularly asks me if there are any games quite like the majesty of the Age of Empires series. Every time, I can refer him to something that’s a little like it but not quite up to par. Every time, we both feel a little disappointed, remembering just how wonderful those games were once upon a time. Age of Empires: Castle Siege might have the name and the license, but it’s no replacement for those great titles. Instead, Age of Empires: Castle Siege is a Clash of Clans style take on the popular RTS. Feel free to sigh at any time. It’s not a bad freemium strategy game but it will disappoint those wanting the full Age of Empires experience. --Jennifer Allen

nvNotes

Given its price tag, no one could blame you for expecting nvNotes to be a bit more garish or a bit more ‘in your face’ when it comes to showing off why it’s worth $9.99. In reality though, its strength lay in its understated wonder. It’s a note taking app that offers you exactly what you could want in a clear and concise manner. For those who regularly take notes on their iOS device, it’ll soon be an essential tool.A quick tutorial guides you through the paces, but it’s all pretty intuitive. Hit the pencil icon to create a new note then get typing. You can choose to just type in plain text or you can start applying things such as bold or underline, all through the markdown options available. nvNotes also offers an URL scheme, saving you effort and adding a form of hyperlinking to the mix. It’s not needed for some users, but it’s handy that it’s there.--Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

Nebulous

So, what is up with Nebulous?It’s all about cell-eating; the player gets to control a circular blob in an amorphous area that has blobs of different sizes that float around. Now it seems each blob, including the player’s, have an insatiable need to consume stuff, in this case smaller blobs. So, using the virtual controller at the bottom right, one can guide one’s blob through the black landscape.As noted, the basic concept is to absorb smaller blobs; this is done by contact. At first, it might take a bit to cotton to the virtual control, because one’s small blob is pretty jumpy, and not so easy to control. In any case, as one picks up smaller organisms, one’s own blob starts to get bigger and bigger, and, for me, easier to move around adeptly.--Tre Lawrence

Mission Impossible RogueNation

Now, now… before you get mad and start ranting at the proliferation of endless sequels to action movies — Terminator, Rocky, Die Hard, and yes, Mission Impossible — remember one thing: in today’s age, we tend to get at least one possibly great byproduct in companion games.They tend to be simple, and may or may not follow the franchise canon very closely. In any case, such games can be fun to get into, even for casual fans of said movies.Hopefully, such is the case with Mission Impossible RogueNation… a Glu joint.--Tre Lawrence

Arkon Universal Tablet Headrest Mount

Summertime is travel time for my family. We love going places, and almost always enjoy ourselves.Still, it’s the going that can be troublesome. Boredom is young person’s kryptonite, and backseat bickering is mine. Thus, for all concerned, having mobile technology is such a blessing, and the Arkon Universal Tablet Headrest Mount helps harness that blessing.The review package arrived in clear cellophane, just as it does in retail form; it contained 6 pieces, and involved a lit bit of onsite prep t get together. I wasn’t a fan of the diagrams, but to be fair, I was able to cobble it together in an intuitive manner. When set to go, it uses the 2-post system available on the headrest of most cars to attach itself, and then physically extends towards the middle, such that the tablet is held in a central position mostly between the two front seats. It works great for two heads, but can be effective with three in our hands-on testing.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides and even more reviews than we can share here!

July is Heating Up With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Heroki

It’s the visuals of Heroki that will first catch your attention - it’s really quite gorgeous. Its palette is as attractive as many of Sega’s past console hits, immediately capturing the imagination. Fortunately, Heroki isn’t all looks either, being a fairly entertaining action adventure game. While the control methods are never quite perfect, no matter what you settle on, it’s still endearing stuff. Your aim is to save the world from the dastardly Dr N. Forchin. It’s the kind of story that’s been around as long as gaming, so I wouldn’t dwell on it too much. While owing much to platformers in terms of design, Heroki is more about flying than anything. --Jennifer Allen

Infection: Humanity's Last Gasp

Infection: Humanity’s Last Gasp is a digital port of a solitaire board game from Victory Point Games and designer John Gibson that puts you in charge of what is essentially the CDC and tasks you with stopping the end of the world. No pressure, right? I’ve been a pretty big fan of the physical game ever since I first got my hands on it last year. It’s a very brutal and surprisingly intense puzzle that will punish mistakes like spreading your proteins too thin or wasting all of your funding on lab equipment you never use in short order. It’s not so difficult if you have enough time to study the virus and prepare a vaccine, but you won’t have time. You never have enough time. Because the virus can and will spread, eventually wiping out all human life if you can’t stop it fast enough. --Rob Rich

Alphabear

Where so many word games are fun but a little soulless, Alphabear crams in plenty of personality thanks to its focus on teddy bears. It’s an unusual mixture of things, but it works really well for Alphabear. Throw in some varied rulesets and you’ve got a word game that’s going to keep you hooked for quite some time.It seems simple enough. You spell words from a selection of letter tiles on a grid. Each tile starts out with a number that gradually ticks down for each turn that you don’t use it. Once that number hits zero, the tile turns to stone and you can’t use it any more. It also blocks your bears because, oh yeah, bears grow bigger on this grid. For every time you use letters next to a bear, that animal grows a little bigger and so forth. The bigger the bear, the more points you earn. The more points, the more likely you are to gain a new bear with additional powers.--Jennifer Allen

This War of Mine

Due to hardware limitations that eventually gave way to time limitations, I was never able to dip more than a toe into This War of Mine’s murky waters. Just enough to know it’s not the sort of thing you play if you want to feel happy. That’s changed now that I can play it on the iPad.
I was right: it’s not happy. But it is impressive. Unlike most other war-themed games out there (on any platform), This War of Mine covers the horrors of mass conflict from the perspective of the civilians who spend their days cowering in abandoned houses - or get caught in the crossfire. It’s about as pleasant as “Grave of the Fireflies.” But that’s what makes it so compelling. --Rob Rich

FilterBaker

FilterBaker is a photo filtering app with a difference. Rather than offering a series of instant results, it gives you plenty of options to manipulate things exactly how you want them, before allowing you to save your own filter options. It’s pretty useful.Each step of the way is clearly laid out. You can apply a form of photo filter initially before adjusting brightness, contrast, and saturation. You can then move onto more complex tweaks, such as the shadows and highlights, RGB color distribution, and sharpening. By the end, you can have completely transformed your picture. More importantly, it won’t look like you’ve put it through the same process as everyone else as FilterBaker is more individual.--Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

MyScript Stylus

We’ve been working on write ups pertaining to smartpens, and looking at what they bring to the mobile productivity table. For the most part, we’ve found them to be great tools, but only as good as the add-ons that allow them to be harnessed by the platforms they are being used on.One of the names that continually cropped up during reviews and research was MyScript. MyScript is a name that should resonate with smartpen users; it powers a lot of the image recognition software that some smartpen device makers bundle with their products. The premise is fairly simple: one “writes” with a stylus (or finger) on compatible surfaces with compatible peripherals, and MyScript helps translate the script to formal text.--Tre Lawrence

TYLY RIBBN

As our use of mobile devices increases, so does the need to keep them powered. Portable chargers do the the trick, but one key concept is the ability to charge in vehicles.TYLT has established a name in the power accessory segment, and with good reason. The units it puts out tend to straddle the fence between form and function quite admirably; it’s nice to have a piece that looks good, and, well, works. We recently had an opportunity to review its RIBBN 4.8A Car Charger.We didn’t hesitate.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides and even more reviews than we can share here!

July is Heating Up With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Don't Starve: Pocket Edition

It didn’t take long to confirm the rumors of an iOS version of Don’t Starve, and it didn’t take long after that for the game to pop up on the App Store. But pop up it did, and now you can play the stylish and brutal survival game on your iPad. You start out in control of Wilson: a well-meaning inventor who gets in over his head and is tricked into creating a sort of inter-dimensional gateway that pulls him into another world. Now he’s trapped in a bizarre wilderness with nothing to show for it. What’s worse is he’ll probably die horribly if you can’t keep him sane, healthy, and (obviously) full. --Rob Rich

LEGO Batman: Beyond Gotham

LEGO Batman: Beyond Gotham is the latest LEGO game to come to iOS, and of course it has a quirky humor and easy to learn play style that mean fun for all ages. This time around, Brainiac (one of Superman’s super-intelligent villains) has decided to shrink the entire earth into a collectible plaything. So Batman, Robin, and a plethora of other Justice League characters join forces with their nemesis to fight the alien threat. There are 45 missions packed with puzzles and, despite what Batman might say, he needs some help to take down Brainiac. Good thing there are over 100 characters to play with and unlock like Black Canary, Solomon Grundy, Cyborg, and The Joker. Each character comes with different suits that provide them with powers, such as Robin's elite hacker Techno Suit for hacking computers. --Jessica Fisher

Fews

Consolidating your news, Fews is a handy app for when you want to quickly see what’s going on in the world.Loading it up, you’re immediately taken to a screen that offers all the news in your country. You can choose to divide things up according to news, sport, economy, technology, or lifestyle, or you can view everything at once. Filtering options are also available for news sources, meaning you can dodge certain outlets. You can also view things, depending on what’s trending around the world, as well as set up notifications for specific subjects, further enhancing your ability to keep on top of things. --Jennifer Allen

Formula Cartoon All-Stars

With its cart racing rather than ‘kart’ racing, Formula Cartoon All-Stars seems a little like it’s trying to be a top-down version of Mario Kart. While it doesn’t have that title’s level of depth, it’s still quite fun to play, assuming you don’t expect too much of it. Formula Cartoon All-Stars offers up two different game modes in the form of adventure and tournament. Tournament is a matter of racing in specific tracks, aiming for a faster time than anyone else, while adventure takes you through a kind of story mode, unlocking new tracks as you gain stars in earlier ones. Ultimately though, the idea is the same - outrace the competition. --Jennifer Allen

Stick Tennis Tour

It’s Wimbledon season, which means it’s the ideal time to lose yourself in a Tennis game. Stick Tennis Tour is a casual interpretation of the sport that'sreminiscent of its predecessor, Stick Tennis, but with a few extra features.This time around, you can create and customize your own character, before heading off on tour. An extensive training system, as well as a series of Challenges, which change frequently, ensure there’s always something for you to do. That’s considerable content for a game that’s free to download too, with in-app purchases that are far from obtrusive.--Jennifer Allen

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

Deliveries Package Tracker

I love me some Google Now.It’s one of those anchor apps I use on a daily basis, almost without thinking. Multitasking, hands-free operations, news… you name it. Still, one of the key ways I rely on it is to track packages. This is key in this line of work; we get review items in and out almost every day, going and coming from literally all parts of the globe. Google Now is a (sometimes) seamless bridge between information and access. Since we handle expensive equipment and devices, it really helps to when what arrives where.--Tre Lawrence

TMNT: Rooftop Run

TMNT: ROOFTOP RUN brings us our favorite mutant amphibians… running. At the risk of name-dropping, the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles franchise is worth having a look at in almost any form.After picking a particular turtle to unlock, one gets to start the game; it starts off as a sidescrolling platformer. The selected character runs from right or left, and, as to be expected, there are a lot of obstacles to overcome. A major one is makes sense, based on the location of this initial challenge (rooftops); there are gaps in the running area, and to navigate these, one has to tap to invoke a jump, while double-tapping creates a double jumping move that helps with greater height and distance.--Tre Lawrence

Xenowerk

Here’s to Pixelbite’s Xenowerks.Well, it feels a bit like hit game Space Marshals, that’s okay and very much allowed; sharing DNA with that game ensures that at the very least, we should get of sprinkling of good stuff. And we do, starting from the top-down nature of the view that allows the player to survey and control the action from “above.” The developer uses virtual light as an in-game tool quite effectively, and the overall sense of foreboding is well rendered. The sounds are also sufficiently creepy, seesawing from the eerie to the straight dangerous.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides and even more reviews than we can share here!