It hasn’t been until recently that I’ve really begun to explore my iPhone’s capacity for online gaming. I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s certainly not the best platform for drawn-out battles, but it’s great for quick random matches. And it’s a good fit for a game like Wordy Findy.

There’s absolutely nothing to it: just download the app (for free), choose a name to play under and just wait for the next game to start. Matchmaking is handled automatically. Once a game starts, players have around two minutes to find as many words as possible by tracing a line between connecting letters. Completed words earn points based on the values of the letters used and handy information like total available words and points are shown after each game. A scoreboard with each participant’s name and score is also displayed between rounds, igniting those instinctual fires of competition while still providing the more humble with anonymity.

Wordy Findy is in the App Store right now, and it’s completely free. Ad-supported with banners displayed at the bottom of the screen (mercifully out of the way), but still free.

FREE!

Wordy Findy

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2011-07-28 :: Category: Games

Apple has launched its new Apple Store app for iPhone and iPod touch that allows users to browse Apple’s online store via their portable devices. Aimed to launch at the same time as iPhone 4 pre-orders, most users have had to put up with the Apple’s customary “We’ll be back soon” sticky note for much of the day with high demand for the next generation of iPhone bringing servers to a standstill.

The free app offers customers (in the US only for the time being) a convenient way to browse the Apple Store and even access Genius Bar support from within the app. Apple Store is sure to benefit those who take advantage of Apple’s in-store training and Personal Shopping services and, as you would expect, looks the part too. Oddly enough Apple hasn’t seen fit to provide an iPad version of the app presumably assuming that users would rather use the large screen to visit the Apple Store via Safari than through a dedicated application. For all you developers stung by the iPad’s dimensions, take heart from the fact that Apple’s own apps look awful at 2x zoom too.

FREE!

Apple Store

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-06-15 :: Category: Lifestyle

Another weekend, another great multiplayer game. This weekend, we’re designating the great strategy game Galcon as our weekend fun. Come join us.

Galcon is a game of conquest. Your goal is to fight against the other players and capture as many of the planets as possible. You do this by directing your ships (you have a specific number at each planet you control), from your planets to other players planets or uncontrolled planets. The planets that you control also produce new ships. So the more planets you control, the more ships you produce.

Once control of all of the planets has been achieved by a single player, that player wins. You can play many different variations as a single player game to get used to how the game is played. But when you are ready, hit the multiplayer version.

Besides the great strategic gameplay, Galcon also has a killer multiplayer version. The iPhone version, known as just Galcon, offers up to 4 player multiplayer games. You can play over the internet with others, or you can play locally over Wifi and Bluetooth. The online multiplayer is where it’s at. There’s never a time you can’t find a game to join.

The iPad version is an enhanced version of the game with many added features over the iPhone version. Not only are there more single player versions of the game to play, there are also 6 different multiplayer variations you can play. In addition, the multiplayer version on the iPad supports up to 12 players. And Galcon Fusion is the same as the desktop version. This means that you’ll be playing on your iPad against Windows and Mac users as well.

What other multiplayer games would you like to see us feature on Weekend Fun? Let us know in the comments.

$1.99

Galcon

iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2008-07-18 :: Category: Games

$1.99

Galcon Fusion

iPad Only App - Designed for the iPad
Released: 2010-04-01 :: Category: Games

If you’re one of those sociable types who has more friends than you can keep track of, your best chance of staying in touch is to use the power of social networking.

But what if you got caught up in the MySpace explosion and then jumped on the Facebook bandwagon only to be lured by Twitter and Buzz? You can’t just ignore one network and stick with the most popular one. Well… you could but that just wouldn’t be sociable now, would it.

No, your only hope is to let everyone you have ever met via social networking know what you’re doing by updating your status message on each service. But logging in to each site in turn and posting about how you had eggs for breakfast is probably going to keep you busy until it’s time to let your followers know about the contents of your lunchbox. This is where Hellotxt comes in.

The suitably text speak-titled service gathers all of your social networks into one place and allows you to update everything in one go. The aggregation idea is nothing new, but what sets Hellotxt apart from the pack is the sheer number of social networks it supports. Over fifty of them!

Scanning the list, the usual suspects are present but there are some that we have never heard of and some you don’t usually see in this type of app.

The interface is clean and simple and has a few nice details such as a character count (handy for Twitter’s 140 maximum) and link shortening and you can add photos from your iPhone’s Camera Roll to the updates you send out. You can also select which services your update goes to rather than fire out a message to all of them each time. Handy if you’re attempting to mix business with pleasure in the social network world.

You will need to use the Hellotxt.com website to attach your accounts to the Hellotxt service before using the app and you also have to register with Hellotxt which is free, but beyond that there’s no additional setup to worry about.

While we’re sure none of you out there will need to update every social network supported by Hellotxt, if your online updates are starting to wear you down and eat up your time, this free app will be an essential download.

FREE!

Hellotxt

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Released: 2010-04-15 :: Category: Social Networking