Five for Friday: Week of May 27, 2011

Posted by John Bardinelli on May 27th, 2011

Current:
They are the ARC. You are the pilot. Current flows through the ARC, and it's your job to keep it moving to fend off the Hexog. This stylish puzzle game is a lot like Puzzle Bobble if it took place in the Tron universe, featuring hip visuals, a fast soundtrack, and some seriously cranial moves across its 56 levels. Enemy AI kicks in after a few levels, turning this puzzle game into a mobile strategy fest.

Arno the Hunter:
It's archery time! Starring the armadillo-like protagonist Arno, roll back and forth in a series of lushly-drawn world, each filled with bugs and other enemies just waiting to get a piece of your health bar. Tap the screen to fire your weapon, and nab power-ups to earn temporary special abilities of the "bigger, badder, more deadly guns" type. A great arcade game that looks as good as it plays.

House of Mice:
Mice love one thing: cheese. Mice hate one thing: cats. This game's got both, and its blend of puzzle and action elements makes it too fun to pass up. Roll each mouse by swiping on the screen, aiming to collect all of the cheese pieces scattered about the level. Grab what you can, deal with obstacles in the way, and crash into the cat to move on. Just one question: since when were mice explosive?

Comics Creator:
Sick of not being a famous comic book creator? This handy little app lets you turn your photos into a full-length comic book! Simply choose the photos you want to use and place them on the template of your choice. Add speech bubbles, write your prose, and like magic, you've got a comic!

Opera Mini Web Browser:
Opera Mini is back and it's gone universal, adding support for iPad devices in addition to the already-supported iPhone and iPod Touch platforms. Opera boasts data compression that can cut your bandwidth usage up to 90%, perfect for anyone with a capped data plan, and the speed of the browser is well-known to anyone who has tried an Opera product before. Lots of user-friendly features make browsing the internet even easier than before!