Holy crap. No, seriously, holy crap. Pixowl Inc, in collaboration with Bulkypix, are poised to unleash something major on the App Store. It might look like a simple toy at first, but make no mistake: The SandBox is packing some seriously intense concepts behind that cute facade.

When The SandBox first caught my attention, I thought it looked like a nifty little pixelated world-building game. In a way, it kind of is. However, I was thoroughly unprepared for just how many different aspects of this created world could be manipulated. Water will flow down hills, erode stone into sand, turn dirt into fertile soil, evaporate in extreme heat and freeze in extreme cold. Flowers and trees can grow. Weather will develop based largely on the environment. Players can even make rudimentary circuits to do anything from heating to creating light.

The SandBox is still very much in beta at the moment, but that’s no reason not to get excited. What’s already implemented is pretty amazing, actually. A lot of specifics are still up in the air, such as the final number of “story” levels (currently around 20), price and release date. It’s kind of a shame because this is all so cool, but then again it’s probably best not to rush things. Although the super-curious or anxious can try to get in to the beta. No guarantees, though. Regardless, be sure to keep an eye out for The SandBox whenever it does hit the App Store.

We all know that we need to do our bit to help the environment and reduce carbon emissions but it’s not always as easy as we’d like it to be. Carsharing is a great way of doing this. The amount of cars on the road with only one person in them is massive and goes a long way to damaging the environment as well as causing more traffic congestion. A website by the name of Zebigo has been making it easier to arrange carshares and now there’s an app devoted to that same purpose.

The whole service allows users to be matched up with others going to the same place. It’s ideal for commuting, going to events or one way trips. It could even potentially help people find new friends. Cautious types will appreciate that a free background check can be arranged which increases the likelihood of being matched and also makes the whole thing much safer. Users can also choose to travel with the same gender or only with other employees at their company. There’s even a ratings system so that riders and drivers can check out past comments before accepting a match.

The app is free while riders can pay the driver through their PayPal account just to cover transportation costs as well as Zebigo’s small fee for using the service.

FREE!

Zebigo

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-06-28 :: Category: Travel

We all know that recycling is great for the planet but how often do we actually remember to recycle? I know I’m pretty terrible for it especially when in the midst of a busy week. So how about a way of being rewarded for doing so? There’s a new app on the horizon that promises to do exactly that.

It’s called RecyclePix and it allows users to snap and share their photos of their recycling actions at any time and anywhere. Once taken, such photos can then be used to earn Greenopolis Rewards Points which can then be redeemed for real rewards such as discounts at places like Domino’s Pizza and exclusive deals with Marriott Hotels. More offers are planned such as discount cinema tickets once the app is launched next week.

It looks like a pretty neat idea, offering a genuine reason to recycle as well as being a fun and social way of saving the planet. There’s even a form of community set with users able to vote on photos submitted by others thus gaining extra points.

RecyclePix is set to be released August 4th. It’ll be interesting to see how it takes off. I for one will certainly be checking it out.

Currently free for a limited time only is Eco Mania, an arcade style sorting game that hopes to add excitement to recycling.

Now I’ll admit to being no great fan of sorting out my recycling and splitting everything up into the relevant containers, however Eco Mania does add a bit of fun to the concept. Players do exactly what they do with their recycling: divide things up according to type. The difference here is that in Eco Mania speeds things up courtesy of the conveyor belt.

The game gets increasingly challenging as time goes on with the developers’ hope that this will make people think twice about simply throwing things into the garbage instead of recycling everything.

There’s a Launch Trailer out now which offers a similarly strong recycling message by giving personality to each recycling bin. Gameplay is simple yet addictive with a classic and time trial style mode in the form of frenzy available.

Eco Mania is out now and it’s free for a limited time only.

$0.99

Eco Mania

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-06-02 :: Category: Games