Tag: Lara Croft GO »

With new consoles coming out soon, it's inevitable for folks to want to look back and determine what were the best games that came out across the current console's lifecycle. This process is commonly referred to as picking the best games of the generation, but that terminology is making less and less sense as the games industry expands beyond console hardware and the systems themselves see half-step upgrades.

As silly as it may be as an exercise, I thought it would be fun to go back and look at "this generation" of mobile titles and pick and rank the ten best. In terms of time period, this takes us back to November 2013, which is actually interesting timing for mobile games. It's a world where Flappy Bird already released but hadn't yet become a cultural phenomenon, and the latest and greatest iPhone was the 5S.

Anyway, enough preambling, let's get to the list. See below for the best mobile games of the generation:

In the world of mobile gaming, truly well-made games can often be something of a rarity. Well-made games that feature female protagonists are even rarer, and while many games give you the option to choose between a male or female avatar, it's not often that the star of a game is a woman.

With that in mind, here's a few high-quality games that feature a woman not just as an avatar, but as the main character.

It's that time again. Time to round up the best games that are currently on sale on the App Store. We've survived another week. Well done everyone. I hope it hasn't been too difficult and you've got some awesome plans for the weekend that involve spending time with the people who mean the most to you in the whole world.

There are some real winners in the list this week, and I've included links to the App Store and our reviews. There's even some sick videos for you to watch. Make sure you keep your eye on 148Apps next week too. We'll have even more exciting things to share with you, promise.

Tako Bubble is a pretty simple and fun puzzler, but the game can get downright devious with its puzzle design. If you insist on not paying for the game and want to manage your lives appropriately, check out these tips so you can avoid getting stuck watching ads.

Look before you leap

One of the greatest things about Tako Bubble is its visual design. Not only is everything cute and colorful, but it is also remarkably communicative. Be on the lookout for x’s that appear in spaces nearby or cracks in certain tiles before you start swiping around and collecting bubbles. Take your time, look things over, and plot out a course of action. This will make sure you don’t trap yourself in an unwinnable situation.

Don’t let the perfect be the enemy of the good

In Tako Bubble, you want to collect as many bubbles as possible, but it’s not necessary to collect everything to reach the next level. All you have to do is collect the colorful bubbles in order to proceed. All of the other bubbles on a level might be tempting to go after, but they also present opportunities for you to die, so focus on getting through a level rather than perfecting it. You’ll last longer that way.

When all else fails, restart

If saving lives if your priority, then never die! You can do this easily by using Tako Bubble’s restart button. Pressing this button might make you have to retrace some of your steps, but at least using it doesn’t consume any of your precious lives. Use it as often as you need!

Get the hint

Certain levels of Tako Bubble bring up a little lightbulb icon at the top of the screen. This icon exists to give you hints on how to solve the level, so make sure you use it whenever you can. Any additional amount of information can be the difference between surviving a level and wasting a life.

Thanksgiving is a time to reconnect with loved ones, eat lots of food, and all of that jazz, but once the festivities start to wind down, folks tend to head to the couch to watch whatever football is happening for Turkey Day.

If you find this particular Thanksgiving ritual to be something of a snoozer, or if you prefer to multitask with your post-feast entertainment, we have a few games that are perfect to play so you can look like you're participating in the family bonding while secretly tuning out. These games are addictive, but light enough that you can pop into conversation and play without sound.

The summer is drawing quickly to a close, but luckily there's a game for every season. It's an excellent week for some bargain shopping if that's what you're after. There are some big names and indie darlings in this week's roundup. It's a great time to branch out and try a game you might not have bought otherwise. Here are our favorite discounts this week.

Rise of the Tomb Raider is out (yay!), but it's only available on one platform right now (boo!).

In light of the situation, check out these games so you can get more tomb raiding on your iOS device.

The Apps of August With 148Apps

How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. 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. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.

Lara Croft GO

When you start playing Lara Croft GO, you’ll feel this urge to go quickly. After all, it’s Lara Croft. You’ve spent years rushing through tombs with her, right? That’s probably the worst thing you could do while playing Lara Croft GO. It’s a turn-based puzzle game where you need to carefully plan each move and, often, many moves ahead. It works remarkably well. Each level offers a grid based layout. You swipe to move Lara around, with her automatically climbing up things as and when an opportunity arises. In turn, if there are moving obstacles such as a circular saw, they move every time that she moves. The trick here is timing and planning ahead in a way that means you don’t get trapped or killed. Early levels introduce this concept relatively gradually, but you’ll soon find yourself having to scout ahead with a level before truly committing to something. --Jennifer Allen

PAC-MAN 256

PAC-MAN 256 isn’t anything like other Pac-Man games. From the makers of Crossy Road, it’s an endless take on the usual Pac-Man format. Instead of running around a maze you’re running upwards, collecting dots, munching up power pellets, and dodging ghosts. It’s a format that works but could do with offering you some more reasons to keep on playing.Dispensing with virtual buttons, PAC-MAN 256’s control scheme is centered around swipes. At first, this might seem a little inaccurate but it soon proves quite straight forward and feeling a lot more natural than a virtual d-pad. As you progress, the maze grows in front of you, keeping you on your toes. Ghosts are easy enough to spot but you have to plan ahead in order to dodge their trajectory. Each type has their own personality too, meaning that some might follow a set path, while others home in on you, making things much trickier. --Jennifer Allen

Galactic Keep

Galactic Keep is easily one of the strangest role-playing games I've played in a long time, mainly due to its strange art style, deep sense of exploration, and unapologetic dedication to the experience of tabletop gaming. As it was developed over the course of six years, Galactic Keep is a labor of love that's both profoundly fun and interesting despite sporting its fair share of peculiarities and flaws. Playing Galactic Keep is closest to what it's like to play a Dungeons & Dragons campaign but with more dice, one character, and a completely unfamiliar set of rules and lore. At the outset, everything is overwhelming to the point that it would be off-putting if it weren't all so intriguing and mysterious. Keeping that in mind, players can expect to die early and often in the game's current module. Over time though, they can upgrade their characters, find loot, and start wrapping their mind around everything. --Campbell Bird

Green Eggs and Ham - Read & Learn

The follow up to The Cat in the Hat, Green Eggs and Ham - Read & Learn continues that charming trend, being immensely appealing to young and old. In no time, you’ll want to read through this with your child and odds are you're both going to enjoy that time a lot. As before, Green Eggs and Ham - Read & Learn offers up a mixture of reading, interaction, and simple gaming. Following the beloved story of Dr Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham, it’s a lovely tale full of rhymes and charm. You can choose to read via the highlighted narration or go at your own pace, ensuring it’s useful for kids of any age and reading ability. --Jennifer Allen

RollerCoaster Tycoon 3

It's been a while since I've experienced a management sim like RollerCoaster Tycoon 3, which recently emerged on the App Store as a "pay once and play" port of the PC original. This version is largely the same as it was in 2004, albeit with touch controls. This may stir up feelings of nostalgia for some, but that doesn't mean it isn't a bit clunky in its transition to iOS. Like every RollerCoaster Tycoon game, this is all about building and managing a profitable and fun amusement or theme park - whether that be from one of the 18 Career Mode scenarios or in the more free-form sandbox mode. This involves everything from hiring staff to setting the price of foodstuffs in the park and, of course, building roller coasters. All of this is largely handled via menus, but the main screen is almost always displaying the park and its attendees as they go from ride to ride. --Campbell Bird

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

Anomaly Defenders

And now, we get to Anomaly Defenders....About time…While the series got us going on “tower offense” as a gameplay constant, this one takes it back to more of a tower defense scenario. More pertinently, alien invaders are on the ropes in this one, and humans are the aggressors. Thus, the player takes on the job of saving the home planet of the aliens.Graphically, it is an interesting projection, clearly futuristic, with a Terminator feel to the dark landscapes. The view is top-down in nature, and the play area generally consists of stretches of land interspersed with defined roads on which enemy (human) attack vehicles travel. The animations sizzle, and it looks pretty good overall.--Tre Lawrence

Q*bert Rebooted Free

I first encountered Q*bert years ago; I rocked the heck out of that game on the trusty BlackBerry 8320. Tech eons later, I get to try it out again, this time on Android, presented as Q*bert Rebooted.Definitely worth a look.The game is dual-natured, in that the game presents two versions: the classic version, replete with retro graphics and true to the original gameplay. There is also the “rebooted” version, which is a slick, more modern refresh.--Tre Lawrence

Zipbuds SLIDE Earbuds

The more mobile I get, the more I appreciate a good set of headphones.As the kids get older, there’s only so much Taylor Swift I can listen to; the house sometimes feels like one crazy karaoke machine.So, retiring to the quietest part of the house can be quite rewarding. The pure joy of it makes me smile. Get me an e-book (or mind-bending game), some sweet tea and some headphones with which to listen to accompanying music, and that quiet spot becomes mine.Y’all feel me? That’s why cool stuff like the Zipbuds No-tangle Slide Earbuds are just what the doctor ordered.--Tre Lawrence

All this, plus news, game guides, and even more reviews than we can share here!