The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim is a huge game. I’m talking massive. Vast, even. With a wealth of content and activities from procedurally generated quests to blacksmithing and enchanting, calling it a little complicated would be an understatement. Each of the side activities can be incredibly involved, but none so much as alchemy. There are a virtual ton of ingredients to combine, each one with four different effects, in order to craft all manner of helpful and hurtful concoctions.

It’s a huge list of items to keep track of, which is why we now have the Skyrim Alchemy App. It includes a complete reference guide of all the many, many ingredients as well as their numerous functions. It takes a lot of the guesswork out of it as most of an ingredient’s effects are unknown until they’re discovered through mixing or ingesting. This way, a player can simply check the app to see what works with what rather than expending precious resources. A recipe book which will allow users to save and load their favorite mixtures is already in the works and should be available in a future update.

With the biggest western RPG of the year (both literally and figuratively) still in its release infancy, having a little extra help with some of the more menial tasks is welcome. With that in mind, Skyrim Alchemy App can be had right now for $0.99.

Using the iPhone and iPad as a tool to quickly lookup something (often to settle a bet!) is an often under-appreciated and useful feature (it’s even the biggest folder on our homescreen for some of us!). While one can argue that a Wikipedia app or just using the browser is sufficient for looking up everything, a dedicated and specific reference app can’t be beat in its category. So this week lists our favorite four reference apps.

iBartender
This app (which is surprisingly the #7 top paid iPhone reference app) is the ultimate companion for a bartender. iBartender is a simple enough app to explain, it’s one of those books that can be found behind a bar listing all kinds of alcoholic drinks no one knew existed. iBartender trumps all of those bar books with an easily browsable encyclopedia of drinks, a search feature, and the ability to save specific drinks as favorites. This app is a must-have for anyone, not just bartenders, looking to find and try out new drinks.

Wikipanion
It would be a horrible list of reference apps without a good Wikipedia app. While some of the best reference apps are dedicated to specific topics, Wikipanion is the goto app for all other topics and therefore a must-have for anyone who frequently uses Wikipedia. While it’s nothing complicated, Wikipanion provides a clean, quick-loading interface for Wikipedia on the iPhone and iPad.


Qwiki (iPad only)
Qwiki is definitely the most unique reference app in the App Store. Qwiki pulls information, pictures, and videos from various sources to create a multimedia experience for almost any topic imaginable. Qwiki might not be optimal to quickly look anything up, but it’s definitely fun to browse the popular and daily Qwikis. It’s an awesome app to play around with and learn something in the process.

IMDB
The IMDB app is a clean and well-made app that provides an iOS experience for the popular movie database, IMDB.com. Get into an argument about a specific actor/actress in a specific movie or TV show? Whip out the iPhone and look it up on IMDB. The IMDB app is a great companion app to play around with while watching TV.

I’ve lost count of how many times a day I go to open an app just to search for something quickly. With apps devoted to Wikipedia, IMDb, Twitter, eBay and not forgetting Safari with the Google search bar, that’s a lot of apps to consult. Many other people also have apps for Flickr, Last.fm, Dictionary themed apps and Amazon. Search Ninja has arrived to consolidate all of that in one quick and easy app.

It’s an app entirely focused on speed (much like a ninja). As soon as it’s opened, the iOS device keyboard is unveiled for quick access. Users can search everything from numerous search engines like Google and Bing, to Twitter, Wikipedia, IMDb, Amazon, Flickr, Google Places and more, with the ability to add extras if they so wish. Smart filtering helps along the way while a search history function means it’s simple for users to check what they’ve done in the past.

Search Ninja is available now for $0.99 and could well be a great timesaver.

Zite is an iPad only app that reminds me just how desperately I need an iPad in my life. It’s not the only app that offers a personalised magazine style interface but it does offer some pretty cool looking features for the grand price of nothing.

Using a variety of different sources, both mainstream and niche, Zite collects everything up and provides a truly personalised experience for your reading needs. An added bonus is that you can sync both Twitter and Google Reader with Zite to give you even more to consult.

An auto-suggest tool intelligently recommends some great ideas, customising things to your interests.

Plus there’s the near obligatory ability to share content via Twitter, Facebook and email. Always handy if you want to let a friend know about something you’ve just read about.

Zite looks like a clean and useful app. One that’ll keep up to date with your ever changing interests and needs. The ability to simply tap if you want to see more about a certain genre, or to ‘like’ the particular article so Zite remembers in future is a great and simple touch.

Zite is available now for the iPad.