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Real Racing 3 Recap and a Contest with Prizes!

Posted by Rob Rich on March 1st, 2013
+ Universal & Apple Watch App - Designed for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch

Wow, what a month it’s been for racing fans. Specifically Real Racing fans! You might recall how we kicked things off with our three-part series documenting the history of the Real Racing series, Firemint’s (now Firemonkeys’) approach to designing the first two games, and a peek at Real Racing 3’s Time Shifted Multiplayer that everyone’s been talking about. If you don’t recall you should give them a read. You know, for science or something. Not because I wrote them and am proud of my work or anything.

Of course that was just the beginning. There was also our look at Real Racing 3’s first true hands-on demo. And of course that whole free-to-play business that turned into something of a debacle. Let’s not forget the seething jealousy that was undoubtedly felt when we all found out both New Zealand and Australia were getting the game a couple weeks earlier than the rest of the world!

Before we knew it, Real Racing 3 was only a week away. Our lord and master, Jeff Scott, really dug into the mathematics at play and analyzed the in-game economic structure, for better or for worse. Blake Grundman followed with a look at the top 5 drool-inducing rides players can get their hands on (thus far), and soon after that Carter Dotson stepped up with a look at the 5 most alluring real-world racetracks on offer. Finally, the week was capped off with Carter’s in-depth look at Time Shifted Multiplayer while Jeff hopped back in the driver’s seat (sorry, I’m only human) one last time to bestow his Real Racing wisdom with an impressive number of tips and tricks. We also reviewed it, of course.


Get Racing - we've got prizes!

Since it’s been something of a non-stop Real Racing 3 party here at 148Apps we wanted to draw things to a close with a bit of style. Which is why we’re going to capitalize on all the spirit of Time Shifted competition and challenge you, our readers, to a race. Specifically the Pure Stock Challenge, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Nissan Silvia (S15) Showcase Cup race pictured above. I think I’ve typed that out correctly. Why this event? Because it requires one of the first cars new players will have access to and doesn’t allow for any other; providing as even and easily accessible a playing field as we could find.

All you have to do is drive your heart out. Snap a screen shot (hit the Power and Home buttons on your iOS device at the same time) of your best time and post it in the comments below along with your Game Center username. We’ll pick random winners from all of the entries and post the results here on Monday (3/4) afternoon.

The prizes? We'll give away three $10 iTunes gift cards to spend how you see fit. Although in the spirit of the contest we’d suggest something like, oh, maybe the Race Car Booster Pack that includes 65 gold and a 2010 Dodge Viper SRT10 ACR-X?

Update: We'll contact our three winners via email. Thanks for playing and look for more Real Racing 3 contests coming up soon.

Monster Warlord Review

+ Universal & Apple Watch App - Designed for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
By Rob Rich on November 1st, 2012
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: SEEMS FAMILIAR
Monster Warlord looks cute and colorful, and offers up a decent amount of free-to-play goodness, but it feels a little too familiar at times.
Read The Full Review »

Monster Life Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
By Rob Rich on August 6th, 2012
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: PAPERMON
Manage a ranch, raise and train adorable monsters, then make them fight each other in a vibrant papercraft world.
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Knightly Adventure Wants to Make Social Gaming a Bit More Interactive

Posted by Rob Rich on July 23rd, 2012

Freemium social games are all well and good, but a number of them are decidedly lacking in certain places. Namely in action. That’s probably why it’s so easy to take notice when companies like Pangalore announce a game like Knightly Adventure.

Knightly Adventure is indeed a social game, and it does indeed possess a bunch of typical fantasy RPG elements; stuff like medieval kingdoms, quests, hostile monsters, colorful storybook-like graphics, and so on. But while it adheres to many freemium norms, it also attempts to deviate in that one key area. Amidst all the kingdom building, character customizing, friend gathering, and so on is a much more interactive action RPG approach to the quests. With the option of choosing between four character classes (swordsman, wizard, bowman, or knight) available to further sweeten the deal.

This free-to-play cross-platform (mobile, tablet, or Facebook) super-hyphenated fantasy adventure will be setting up shop in the App Store sometime next month. Presumably and preferably soon.

Save Adorable Ocean Critters at the Aptly-Named Rescue Reef

Posted by Rob Rich on June 22nd, 2012

SGN, creators of the freemium animal shelter sim Fluff Friends Rescue, are back with a new project. It’s not exactly a radical departure as Rescue Reef still involves rescuing wayward animals, but this time it’s all about the sea life. And I’ve never seen more adorable fish.

Rescue Reef is indeed another free to play animal shelter (of a sort) sim, only this time the goal is to nurture and release as opposed to nurture and adopt. Players will have the chance to save and tend to multiple sea creatures including various crustaceans, seagoing mammals, and all kinds of fish. Even sharks. Cute sharks. It also features daily deals, regular updates with new items and such (Orca whales being the latest addition), and even teaches players a bit about sea life.

Rescue Reef is available on the App Store right now for free. If anyone out there has even wanted to play the part of an oceanic conservationist but doesn’t have the sea-legs for it, now is the time.


Mafia Planet Review

iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
By Rob Rich on May 30th, 2012
Our rating: starstarstarstarblankstar :: GET MADE
Settle in, expand the turf, and squash any rivals who get in the way.
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Upcoming From ngmoco:), Eliminate and Touch Pets: Dogs

Posted by Jeff Scott on October 1st, 2009

We got invited, by ngmoco:) in to their San Francisco offices to take a look at the nearly final versions of Eliminate and Touch Pets: Dogs. While we were there we got to talk to CEO Neil Young a little bit about the Plus+ Network progress, what it takes to host a multiplayer game, and a little bit about what ngmoco:) has in the pipes for the rest of 2009.

Plus+ Network, ngmoco:)'s entry into the now very crowded social gaming networks for the iPhone field has had a rather slow start. Except for signing one high profile third party company, Freeverse, and the ngmoco:) titles, there are only 3 third party games that are part of Plus+. Well, that's about to change. Neil Young commented that there will be over 50 Plus+ enabled games by end of year. They've been getting a great response from developers wanting to integrate with the system or switch from other networks to Plus+.

It's been a quiet summer for ngmoco:) releases. Except for the amazing release Rolando 2, we haven't heard much from them. That too will change. They have a total of 6-7 games that will be out by the end of the year. This includes Eliminate and Touch Pets: Dogs and 4-5 others we don't know about yet. I don't expect sequels to be part of that though and am hoping for some new and exciting games.