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This Week at 148Apps: February 3-7, 2014

Posted by Chris Kirby on February 8th, 2014

Your Source For The Latest App Reviews


Every single week, the 148Apps reviewers search through the new apps out there, find the good ones, and write about them in depth. 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. Want to see what we've been up to this week? Take a look below for a sampling of our latest reviews. And if you want more, be sure to hit our Reviews Archive.


Threes

Threes, from Puzzlejuice creator Asher Vollmer and Greg Wohlwend, artist of Ridiculous Fishing and Hundreds, is the first great mobile game of 2014. The goal of Threes is to match together tiles on a four-by-four board by sliding them around. 1 and 2 tiles can be matched together to make 3 tiles, a pair of 3 tiles can be matched together to make 6s, 6s make 12s, 12s make 24s, and so on. Each tile starting with the 3s has a point value that is three times as much as the previous tile, so the game rewards making larger numbers. --Carter Dotson


Toast Time

In Toast Time, players are in control of TERRY (Toast-Ejecting Recoil and Reload sYstem): an English toaster with an arsenal of bread-built projectiles. And, if they choose, a monocle and dapper hat. The bad guys are alien-like blobs determined to steal time by descending on TERRY’s clock in droves. Players tap where they want to shoot, and the bread bullets start flying. An added little twist has TERRY caroming off the ground and bouncing around the screen with each shot. Timing the shots with TERRY’s maneuvers can be the key to passing a level. Especially on levels like “Rabid Fan Base” or “Fannying Around.” Just saying. --Stacy Barnes


LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters

Presumably aimed at the younger market, LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters initially seems quite fun. It’s a shoot-em-up set across 18 different stages, each taken from important battles within Star Wars history, and looks like it would be ideal for twitchy gamers. Turning repetitive all too soon though, and proving really quite dull, it’s not so great after all. Immediately easy to learn, LEGO Star Wars: Microfighters lends itself well to touch screen play. With the player in control of the direction of the aircraft and its weaponry, with it propelling forward automatically, it’s a one or two-finger kind of game. Holding one finger to the screen not only aids in moving the ship around but also in firing at the enemies. Hold two fingers down and a special attack is unleashed, wiping out a large number of them at once. --Jennifer Allen


Orderly

Looking simple yet offering all the features that one could need, Orderly is a very handy To-Do list app. It fits into the stylings of iOS 7, retaining a clean interface throughout. Even better, it should help organize one’s life a little easier. The app starts out offering a fairly extensive tutorial. At first it might seem a little intimidating, which is fairly far from the truth. Orderly is intuitive enough; with regular iOS users sure to be able to understand what goes where. Using a choice of buttons or gestures, it’s simple to set up a variety of different reminders and notes. Rather than restricting users to one line of content, it’s possible to create lists within lists, proving particularly handy for a combination of similarly themed tasks. --Jennifer Allen


Marvel Run Jump Smash!

As a huge fan of superhero games and the world of Marvel, I jumped at the chance to try out Marvel Run Jump Smash!. Disappointment came all too quickly. It’s an Endless Runner in the vein of Jetpack Joyride and one that doesn’t really give players a sense of progression by any means. Players are initially given the choice of controlling either Nick Fury or Maria Hill, with more characters available to play as things tick along within the game. Captain America, Black Widow, Iron Man, and The Hulk are there for the grabbing, assuming one catches their shield shaped icon to switch out to them. --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

Arcade Ball

Arcade Ball takes the humble game of Skee Ball to the digital age. Arcade Ball is a pretty standard game of Skee Ball. Players bowl balls down a lane aiming at targets with different point values. Landing the ball in a cup awards that amount of points and the more points that are scored the more tickets are earned after the game. These tickets can be exchanged for prizes. Tokens can also be earned that power a few special moves like bowling three balls at once. --Allan Curtis


Circle Stop

It’s pretty difficult to come up with a game concept simpler than Circle Stop. There is a dot, “rolling” around in a circle in the middle of the screen. Other small dots of various colors are spawned on this circle, and the player needs to touch the screen just when the main dot’s trajectory overlaps with other dots, to get some points. Then the colored dots are removed, and the others are spawned, while the “player” dot keeps rolling and rolling, until the player three mistakes, tapping while the dot is not over anything. Then the game ends and the player gets a score and there’s nothing else. --Tony Kuzmin


Grandpa and the Zombies

Zombies mess with everybody. Why not the elderly? In Grandpa and the Zombies, we get to see what happens when a cranky, indefatigable wheelchair-bound gentleman named Willy decides not to be pushed around – or consumed – by the actively undead. Thankfully, the developer dispenses with convoluted backstory in setting up this saga. Via cutscenes, we get the most basic of zombie apocalypse stories: gramps wakes up in the hospital, with no memory but a sturdy cast. With zombies closing in, he commandeers a wheelchair and rolls rapidly to safety. --Tre Lawrence

And finally, this week Pocket Gamer looked into dodgy Dungeon Keeper ratings, found 11 games better than Flappy Bird (it wasn't hard), reviewed Threes and Final Fantasy VI, picked the best iOS and Android games of January, and told EA to keep its greasy mitts off Theme Hospital. All that, and loads more, here.

Skee Ball Arcade Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Jennifer Allen on November 25th, 2013
Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: TRADITIONAL YET MESSY
Offering a fairly entertaining adaptation of the popular game of Skee Ball, it's a shame this game's quite cluttered with money making opportunities.
Read The Full Review »

The Portable Podcast, Episode 201

Posted by Carter Dotson on September 17th, 2013

Free in-game taco!

On This Episode:

  • Graveck talks about its new game Strata, goes back in time to talk about the games that put them on the map, 10 Balls 7 Cups and Skee-Ball, and the future for the series, along with if they can live up to the greatest iOS trailer of all time.

  • Episode Cast:

  • Host: Carter Dotson
  • Guests: Matt Gravelle and Ty Burks, >Graveck

  • Music:

    How to Listen:

    Apps From This Episode:

    This Is Not A Ball Game. Review

    + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
    By Carter Dotson on May 15th, 2013
    Our rating: starstarstarhalfstarblankstar :: MUSTACHE ON MONA LISA
    This Is Not A Ball Game. has a great look and promising concept, but struggles with many of the game-like aspects that fill it out.
    Read The Full Review »

    This Week at 148Apps: August 8-12

    Posted by Chris Kirby on August 14th, 2011

    This week, August 8-12, 148Apps interviewed Matt Gravelle, co-founder of Graveck, the developer behind one of the most successful and addictive iPhone games - Skee-Ball. Interviewer Gianna LaPin writes, "Graveck has recently started developing for the Android platform; this, combined with all the recent advances in the iOS world, is enough to make Matt’s head spin. Looking forward, he sees steady, predictable advancements in the mobile computing field instead of major breakthroughs in the near future. Specifically he agrees with Apple’s move towards creating a more seamless, cohesive user experience between devices by leveraging cloud storage, and Graveck plans on adopting that same philosophy."

    Read the entire interview at 148Apps.com.

    Over on 148Apps.biz, founder Jeff Scott announced the upcoming App Developer's Conference in Santa Clara, CA: "The App Developers Conference is the essential event for everyone building and selling apps for emerging devices. From smart phones to smart cars, applications and connectivity are driving the consumer application market forward at warp speed. This event brings development professionals together with the platforms, tools, services, and brand marketers that are working to connect people, places and things."

    Read more details about the conference, and pick up a code good for $100 off your registration, at 148Apps.biz.

    The fine folks at GiggleApps reviewed an app designed to teach kids the basics of drawing, appropriately called How to Draw. Reviewer Amy Solomon writes, "How To Draw is a creative and fun application that explains, step by step, the elements used to draw simple pictures how and to re-create these drawings themselves. Although universal, this app best performs on the iPad when one is following along, drawing within this app, but this app also included is a very nice section which allows the viewer to just watch these images progress as well – something that can be enjoyed on either iPad or iPhone."

    Read the full review at GiggleApps.

    Finally, no weekly wrap-up would be complete without a visit to our 148Apps Lists. Stop by to see the newest 148 apps on the App Store, the Top 148 free apps and more. Plus, keep track of all the latest app developments by clicking "Like" on our Facebook page, or following us on Twitter.

    That's it for this week! Check in with us next week for a weekly round-up.

    500,000 Apps Interview Series: Matt Gravelle, Skee-Ball

    Posted by Gianna LaPin on August 12th, 2011

    Hailing from the days when Mac shareware was commonplace, hobbyist game developers Jonathan Czeck and Matt Gravelle decided to take their shared interest to the next level when they co-founded Graveck. Things really took off when they adopted the Unity engine in 2005, and since then they’ve established themselves as leaders in the Unity3D community as well as talented game design specialists.

    I had the opportunity to talk with Matt about how and why they made the transition to mobile app development. Matt explains that he and Jonathan were encouraged by rumors of small teams hitting it big with the then-young iTunes App Store. Their first game was an unbranded version of Skee-Ball called “10 Balls 7 Cups” which, as Matt put it, “was moderately successful for two guys building a quick game.” [Ed Note: It was also a fun stab at team-wars before there was an OpenFeint/GameCenter by the folks at ThePortableGamer, called Clan Wars]

    I’m always curious as to what the working environment is at an app develop company and Matt generously provided lots of details. Graveck is currently a team of eight people, with occasional collaboration from other companies and individuals met though community forums or IRC channels.

    They stick to smaller projects that generally don’t involve the entire company at once, so the mix of people changes regularly and colleagues get to interact with different team members. In groups that number three or more, development tends to loosely follow SCRUM methodologies.

    People are assigned to projects based on their strengths and interests. When adding new people to the company, Matt likes to look for self-learners with a wide variety of skills. “The thing that keeps game development interesting is that you can apply a huge variety of skills… a lot of creativity and artistry is needed even for a programmer who in other careers wouldn't need a creative hair in his/her body.”

    Education takes a backseat to practical skills and experience – the best indicator of future success is a finished game in a developer’s portfolio – but everyone at Graveck has some post-secondary education. Matt himself has a degree in Mathematics and is licensed to teach math and physics at the high school level.

    If you could look at a mobile app developer’s personal iOS device, what would you find? I asked Matt what mobile apps he used regularly and enjoyed. He claimed to be a developer’s “worst nightmare” due to his short attention span – an affliction I’ve discovered to be quite common among the developers I’ve talked to. Past favorites include Words with Friends and Angry Birds.

    Sitting at a desk can make a person restless, especially a person with a short attention span, so I asked Matt what he does in his free time. Home improvement projects, gardening, making furniture – anything that doesn’t involve a computer – are ideal ways to decompress. When struggling with a difficult programming or design problem he might take his Macbook Pro outside to work in the shade or heads down to a nearby coffee shop. When this doesn’t work, walking away for a day to focus on something else might do the trick, because the solution might appear unexpectedly. And very occasionally he simply needs some help: “Sometimes it's a good idea to let somebody else who's more qualified to handle the problem, or if nothing else just get another set of eyes on it.”

    He tries to keep the office a relaxing setting as well. Every Wednesday they order lunch from a local restaurant and try to keep the selections interesting. I asked Matt what his favorite food was. “A better question would be what type of food do I not like? Mushrooms. Sauerkraut. Head cheese. Other than that I love all forms of food and do not discriminate. Oh, and I was really disappointed with the jellyfish we ordered the other day.”

    Graveck has recently started developing for the Android platform; this, combined with all the recent advances in the iOS world, is enough to make Matt’s head spin. Looking forward, he sees steady, predictable advancements in the mobile computing field instead of major breakthroughs in the near future. Specifically he agrees with Apple’s move towards creating a more seamless, cohesive user experience between devices by leveraging cloud storage, and Graveck plans on adopting that same philosophy.

    Speaking of the future, there are some really exciting projects on the horizon for Matt and his company. Arcade Ball is coming to Android, which should really illuminate how the Android market compares to the iOS. There’s a golf game near completion as well, which has a fun multiplayer mode. Lastly, there’s a top-secret project about halfway done which Matt is really enthusiastic about, but declined further comment. “You’ll just have to stay tuned to learn more,” he says, and I could almost hear him grinning.

    Apple Lists 2010 Top Apps

    Posted by Brad Hilderbrand on December 9th, 2010

    As the year winds down and we look ahead to the next decade it's time for all those wonderful end-of-year lists we all get so excited about. Today we have some exciting news, as Apple has detailed all the top paid and free apps for the iPhone and iPad, as well as the top grossing apps on each platform. Here's the full rundown, for your edification.

    Top 10 Paid iPhone Apps

    1. Angry Birds
    2. Doodle Jump
    3. Skee-Ball
    4. Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
    5. Fruit Ninja
    6. Cut the Rope
    7. ALL-IN-1 GAMEBOX
    8. The Moron Test
    9. Plants vs. Zombies
    10. Pocket God

    Top 10 Free iPhone Apps

    1. Facebook
    2. Angry Birds Lite
    3. Words With Friends Free
    4. Skype
    5. Tap Tap Revenge 3
    6. The Weather Channel®
    7. Paper Toss
    8. Bing
    9. ROCK BAND FREE
    10. Talking Tom Cat

    Top 10 Grossing iPhone Apps

    1. MLB.com At Bat 2010
    2. Angry Birds
    3. Call of Duty: Zombies
    4. Bejeweled 2 + Blitz
    5. FriendCaller 3 Pro
    6. Zombie Farm
    7. TomTom U.S.A.
    8. TETRIS®
    9. Plants vs. Zombies
    10. Doodle Jump

    REad even MORE lists after the jump.

    Skee-Ball HD for iPad Review

    iPad App - Designed for iPad
    By Chris Kirby on October 13th, 2010
    Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: MORE OF THE SAME
    If it were a universal app, Skee-Ball HD would be fantastic. As it is, it's just extra money for basically the same game.
    Read The Full Review »

    Skee-Ball HD for the iPad Rolls Out

    Posted by Chantelle Joy Duxbury on October 4th, 2010

    Newly released to the App Store is Skee-Ball HD by Freeverse. If you like their iPhone game, you'll definitely want to check it out on the bigger screen, and more levels and prizes.

    Whether they played Skee-Ball on the boardwalk or at Chuck-e-Cheese as a kid, practically everyone remembers throwing those hard balls down the lane and hoping it'll go up the ramp to the highest points rung. Skee-Ball HD tries to emulate the physics of the game so that you have the same feeling now as you did back then. The graphics are HD quality and offer a 3D style background to offer a high quality overall experience.

    Not only will you have fun trying to reach and beat your own high scores, but as a part of the Plus+ network, you can try and beat other people's high scores for either ticket accumulation or points. If your friends are also a part of the network, challenge them to a duel, and may the best Skee-Baller win!

    It's easy to pick up and play for the first time - simply flick your ball up the ramp towards the scoring rings. For more experienced players, tilt your iPad for spin and try to do neat tricks or harder shots to impress your friends. They'll want to try it out, too; it's an addictive game.

    Just like the fun of the original, you can collect tickets to cash in for awesome prizes that include custom Skee-Balls like the Moo Ball, Sun Ball, Dinosaur Egg Ball, and must-have oddities like Vampire Teeth, Peruvian Flute Band CD, New Zealand, and more than 80 others items. Expansions and Upgrades are also available within the game!

    At only $1.99, this is one of the least expensive games on the iPad and certainly well worth trying out, especially if you're already a Freeverse Skee-Ball iPhone user, or just a Skee-Ball fan in general. The all-time classic arcade game has been enhanced for the iPad and should definitely be a fun new game to play.

    4Q Interview: Freeverse - Skee-Ball

    Posted by Chris Hall on September 30th, 2009
    iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
    Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: ADDICTIVE :: Read Review »

    As I sat back and thought about things last week, I realized that the site was missing something. Every news source worth their salt partakes in long form interviews, which are great, but for the most part aren't read all the way through due to their length. Being the busy guy that I am, I completely understand, and in my understanding I've decided that four questions (4Q) is the length that interviews should take. So with that, I'll leave you with the interview.
    _________________________________________________________

    Being a lifelong fan of skee-ball, I decided to reach out to Freeverse via e-mail to get some important questions answered about their new app, aptly named Skee-Ball (how was this not used already?). Fortunately, my desperate pleas for answers were answered by none other than Lydia Heitman, marketing director extraordinaire, and Justin D'Onofrio, senior producer/pizza guru.

    Check out the full four question interview after the break. Enjoy!

    Skee-Ball

    iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
    By Chris Hall on September 28th, 2009
    Our rating: starstarstarstarhalfstar :: ADDICTIVE
    Skee-Ball by Freeverse will, if you let it, eat away the vast majority of the time you have left in this world. If you are prone to getting addicted to simple games, be careful!
    Read The Full Review »

    Ramp Champ

    iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
    By Jeff Scott on August 25th, 2009
    Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar ::
    Ramp Champ, a reimagined skee ball game from DS Media Labs and Iconfactory finally showed up in the App Store today. Rarely have we seen such anticipation for a game from indie developers. Unfortunatly to me, the build up doesn't match the pay off.
    Read The Full Review »

    10 Balls, 7 Cups

    iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
    By Bonnie Eisenman on March 30th, 2009
    Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: RECOMMENDED
    10 Balls, 7 Cups presents an arcade skeeball experience with a flippant ticket system (pet dragon, anyone?). It's a polished, simple game with great graphics, and perfect for wasting time. Just don't expect anything complicated.
    Read The Full Review »