Five for Friday: Week of June 3, 2011

Posted by John Bardinelli on June 3rd, 2011

Monster Hunter Dynamic Hunting:
Got a bit of Monster Hunter on your brain? The immensely popular open world RPG/action game has finally made its way to the iTunes App Store, focusing on two things gamers love most: combat, and loot from combat. Take on gigantic beasts from the Monster Hunter universe in one-on-one battles, swiping and touching your way to victory. Grab the goods when the fight is over and use it to craft new items and armor, strengthening yourself for the battles to come. It's definitely one of those "just one more battle" sort of games, even if you haven't been bitten by the Monster Hunter bug yet!

Free-Time:
Why focus on meetings, appointments, and other time-eating activities when you can focus on what matters most: your free time? This slick-looking app is sort of the inverse of a calendar program, where instead of tracking actual events, it tracks and displays the time between them, pulling data from your local scheduling app to bring it all together. Enter your usual work day, factoring in meals, sleep, and average waking and going to bed times, then share your free times with friends. Surprisingly great for productivity, especially for those who consider free time more important than non-free time!

This V That:
Visually explore two seemingly unrelated things in a smart, stylish app that's all about comparing data for different parts of the world. For example: is there a relationship between coffee consumption and homicide rates? How about Olympic medalists versus number of Facebook users in different countries? There's an app for that, and it's This V That. Great for trivia enthusiasts and anyone who enjoys apps that raise as many questions as they ask.

How2Play:
Ever wanted to learn to play the guitar? Piano? How2Play is a universal app that contains a number of lessons, courses, background tracks and sheet music available to help you accomplish your musical goals. The download features a number of starter lessons, complete with instructional videos, and allows you to easily grab lessons from How2Play's website (around $6 per lesson) so you can hone your skills and learn to play specific songs.

OmmWriter:
The enemy of writing is the distraction, and with devices like portable gaming consoles and iPads floating around, an awesome game is never more than a few taps away. OmmWriter aims to help free your mind of the clutter by streamlining your writing experience with a simple layout and a keyboard designed for improved usability. Soothing sounds are available, or you can opt for silence, but the user-centric keyboard design is where the real strength lays.