By Chris Kirby on February 6th, 2012 One of the very best iPhone board game translations just got better! I make no secret of the fact that I am seriously addicted to Ticket to Ride on iOS. Of all the designer board games currently rushing to the App Store, none is as polished in presentation and gameplay as TtR. Unbelievably, the translation from analogue to digital is seamless. Yet, something has been missing from the iPhone version of the game, Ticket to Ride Pocket. Until now, that is. Version 1.1 has just be released to the App Store and it contains what many fans (including me) have been waiting for: Multi Mode. Is Multi Mode true online play or something more akin to Words With Friends-style asynchronous play? From my experience, the answer is both. Multi Mode is designed primarily to be played in asynchronous mode, with players taking turns at their whim over the course of hours, days, or even weeks. However, my experience has shown that many online players prefer to simply play their game online in real time, and Multi Mode easily accommodates that choice. So, it’s the best of both worlds: head-to-head play when time permits, and asynchronous play for when it doesn’t. In fact, the straight-up multiplayer version of the game is preferable, as turns in Ticket to Ride can be very short indeed. While I don’t want to imply that there are no strategic choices to be made in the game (quite the opposite, actually), the time it takes to play a turn is miniscule compared to a turn in Scrabble or Words with Friends. Asynchronous play is a welcome addition, but you may find yourself playing more than one game in real time. If you’ve never heard of Ticket to Ride (gasp!) or never Read More
+ Universal App $0.99 Our Review By Rob Rich on February 6th, 2012 Rating: :: A MONSTER SCORNED There's nothing like a good rampage to clear the head when a love-struck monster gets rejected. Developer: Price: $0.99 Version: 1.0 App Reviewed on: iPhone 3GS Graphics / Sound User Interface Gameplay Re-use / Replay Value Overall Rating: It’s difficult to categorize My Little Monster. It’s something akin to a virtual pet, but also has some vague RPG elements. It could also double as a kind of hands-off fighting game. Then there are all of the absurdly surreal elements that make it feel like some oddball indie experiment. While I can’t comfortably place it in a specific genre, I can say this: It’s awesome. It all starts with an adorable green monster getting shot down by the other adorable green monster he has a thing for. Rather then wallow in self-pity he decides to destroy the world. An apt reaction, I suppose. Once all the exposition is out of the way, players are tasked with training the little green would-be harbinger of doom in order to climb the ranks. Or in this case, survive the days. Each win earns experience and cash to be spent on boosting stats, learning/upgrading one of three abilities and hat. Yup, hats. The road to revenge is an oddly compelling one. Each victory leads to more possible monster improvements, and more improvements lead to more victories (and larger dividends). Successfully besting the boss at the end of an area for the first time will boost the multiplier for experience and cash earnings, and this multiplier will remain even after that inevitable Game Over. My Little Monster is meant to be played over and over, with each successive attempt getting a little farther than the last. As much as Read More
+ Universal App $0.99 Our Review By Dan Lee on February 6th, 2012 Rating: :: ADDICTIVE Guide Blot across a sketchbook, avoiding giant pencils and thumbtacks! Developer: Price: $0.99 Version Reviewed: 1.0.0 Device Reviewed On: iPad Graphics / Sound Rating: Game Controls Rating: Gameplay Rating: Replay Value Rating: Overall Rating: Blot is a simple to control, fast paced high score game that will delight those who enjoy titles such as Jetpack Joyride. It’s wonderfully addictive and a perfect example of mobile gaming. The idea behind the game is simple; Blot is an ink blob, and at the start of every game he gets fired out from the nib of a pen. As he continuously flies across the screen, it’s down to the player to keep Blot from hitting any sharp pencils or nasty thumbtacks dotted about, because if he does then it’s game over. The further Blot manages to get the better grade the player will receive, with A+ being the goal. Occasionally the player will come across “Boost Buddies”, and every time one is collected Blot grows in size. After collecting several Boost Buddies Blot will have expanded too much, and releases air to return to normal size. The result of this is temporary invincibility and a huge speed boost. The game is also full to bursting with coins that need to be collected. These coins act as currency, and with it the player can purchase outfits for Blot to wear. For those who prefer something practical, the coins can be spent on items that have a special effect, such as a magnet that attracts coins when Blot is boosting. Paint also plays a part. Every now and again the player will see a paint pot, or streak of paint on the screen. Making Blot hit it produces different outcomes, Read More
iPhone App $0.99 Our Review By Sinan Kubba on February 6th, 2012 Rating: :: PRETTY EPIC A perpetual motion platformer that is unique and funny. No, really. Developer: Price: $1.99 Version: 1.1 App Reviewed on: iPhone 4 Graphics / Sound Rating: User Interface Rating: Gameplay Rating: Re-use / Replay Value Rating: Overall Rating: One Epic Game seems like an antithetical moniker for a PSP Mini game, but that’s where Grip Games’ perpetual motion platformer originally released last summer. While it was acclaimed by critics, like many Minis released onto the PlayStation Network it was rather neglected. Of course, the spiritual home for a -like game is undoubtedly on iOS, and now that OEG has made it home I hope it receives the grand reception it deserves because it is truly excellent. First off, the game is funny. While the humor is not always hilarious, in its story mode OEG strikes a chord with its one-of-us, self-deprecating jokes about the games industry. “Why can’t there be a single action game without zombies in it???” the square-jawed protagonist cries moments before pitting you against a line of zombies. All of gaming’s shooter clichés turn up like World War II, aliens, the BFG, and the shotgun. All of this is nodded to in the cut scene dialogue which is full of jibes at the immaturity that still pervades the media’s blockbuster titles. What’s ironic, though, is how the painfully familiar arsenal of shotguns, machine guns, lasers, and flamethrowers helps to give OEG a unique feel in its own overcrowded genre. Each weapon power-up feels distinctive, has clear pros and cons, and forces the player to adapt his strategy as he runs and jumps through the levels. This considered 2D shooter play complements platforming levels that, while randomly generated from constituent parts, never feel too Read More
By Chris Kirby on February 5th, 2012 This week at 148Apps, apps help improve the lives of those with special needs, Macbeth makes the jump to iOS and app costs may be on the rise for devs. It's all right here, so read on! This week at 148Apps.com we closed out the month of January, and thus our month of focusing on health-related apps, with a special article on iOS and special needs by Lisa Caplan. She writes, “In keeping with January’s health & fitness theme I’m taking a stab at some self-disclosure. I have a spinal cord injury with a host of related 14-karat diagnoses. I don’t use apps for the disabled, though, like those to help remind me to take my meds, find handicapped parking, get medical information or find online support communities. I don’t think anything on my iPad – including pictures – would hint that I have “special needs.” Nonetheless, iOS devices and apps have improved my health, both physical and mental.” Amy Solomon at GiggleApps.com reviewed Thumbnail Theater: Macbeth this week, and she had some very positive things to say about it: “Thumbnail Theater: Macbeth is an app that I greatly enjoyed, both on its own merits and also because apps for older children are not as common as I would like in iTunes. I highly recommend this app to any student who is reading Shakespeare as well as to adults who would like to know more about this time period in general.” $4.99 + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad Released: 2011-12-09 :: Category: Games Finally, 148Apps.biz site editor Rob LeFebvre reported on recent trends in app costs. He writes, “Fiksu, Inc. released their latest report today on the mobile app economy, and found all time highs for marketing costs as well as Read More
By Rob Rich on February 3rd, 2012 Bolt Creative unleashes a Pocket God Apocalypse. Pocket God is still going strong, blasting right through update number forty-three (43!). The newest episode, “Killing Time,” deals with the kind of stuff that turned Michael J. Fox, Christopher Lloyd, Deloreans and use of the word “paradox” into national phenomena. In other words, it has to do with futzing around with time. Like time, time. Not wasting a few minutes at the bus stop, time. Players will be able to visit the new Apocalypse Island, home of a multi-roomed temple that includes a time-shifting chamber. It also houses a creepy Aztec calendar that’s counting down to 11:11am, December 21st, 2012. This is just the first of many apocalypse-themed updates, according to Bolt. Each of the temple’s many rooms features some sort of Armageddon-like power, each to be opened with future updates, but at the moment no other specifics have been revealed. Bolt will be continuing to release more doomsday content over the course of the next 10 months. Hopefully they’ll be able to move on to a new theme after that, assuming the world still exists. Pocket God in all its dark-humored glory can, as usual, be downloaded from the App Store for $0.99. The other 95% of iOS users who already own it can simply update it like they normally would to get the new stuff. $0.99 Released: 2009-01-09 :: Category: Entertainment Read More
By Carter Dotson on February 3rd, 2012 Doodlecast Pro is an iPad app that can record drawings made on the iPad screen, along with audio to go along with it, with potential applications in education. Zinc Roe Design has released a new app for iPad that can help out with education. Entitled Doodlecast Pro, this is an app that allows users to draw on the screen, with various colored backgrounds, pointer options, and the ability to import backgrounds from the Camera Roll. The catch is that all of this can be recorded by the app. Users can doodle to their heart’s content, and have the drawings recorded and saved, with the ability to record audio from the mic along with the video. The video can then be saved to the Camera Roll, emailed, or uploaded directly to YouTube. This app could have amazing applications in the field of education. Teachers could use this to record math lessons, by drawing out problems, and providing detailed explanations of how they work, which the students can then rewatch at their convenience. Science teachers could use it to point out the features of atoms and molecules, or to point out specific features on diagrams, again with voice commentary included. Students could make use of the app, as well: they could use this to record their notes or homework, and go back to see not just the solutions to their work, but to see their thought process in doing it. Videos can be saved in their crisp high-resolution quality as drawn on the iPad, or in lower qualities to save space. This is an advanced version of Zinc Roe’s earlier Doodlecast for Kids app, and with some more of these advanced features, and design intended for serious usage, their technology can be used to everyone’s benefit. Read More
By Carter Dotson on February 3rd, 2012 The Super Bowl's this Sunday, and here are 5 ways to use the iPhone or iPad to enhance the experience. There’s a little sporting event happening this weekend: I believe it’s called the Super Bowl. Yes, the New England Patriots and New York Giants will square off in the middle American metropolis of Indianapolis this Sunday, and most of America will tune in. But for those with iPhones, iPods, and iPads, these devices need not go unused during the big game! Here are 5 ways to use that device to get analysis and information that the TV broadcasters just won’t provide. SportCaster: Providing a second screen experience during the game is this app from the developer of TweetCaster. The app aggregates tweets from various sources, and organizes them by topic, so following team-specific tweets is easy with this app. FREE! iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Released: 2011-08-31 :: Category: Sports NFL Mobile: What better way to follow the Super Bowl on an iPhone than, to, well, watch it on there? While streaming the Super Bowl will only be available for Verizon customers, this universal app should be perfect for when nature calls, if work won’t stop for the biggest football game of the year, or if a significant other who doesn’t know what this “super ball” is really needs something from the store, right now. FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad Released: 2011-04-25 :: Category: Sports Sportacular: Can’t watch the game, but need updates on the score and play-by-play updates? Sportacular is a great choice, allowing users to just check up on the game’s status, or to chat with fellow users about what’s going on in the game. By this, I mean “talk smack Read More
By Blake Grundman on February 3rd, 2012 A showdown at High Noon sure sounds like fun to us. Who doesn’t love a good shooter set in the days of a World War III tainted apocalypse? The wild west has risen again, and the multiplayer shooter Warm Gun will help figure out how it truly was won. A little birdie from the game’s developer over at Emotional Robots decided to chirp in our ear about a brand spankin’ new update that just moseyed its way into the App Store. Among the most prominent changes, players will immediately begin seeing a 40% increase in performance, no matter what iOS device they are using. Also, lets not lose sight of a newly introduced interface and an entirely new map: Coldshot. Probably the best part of the entire announcement is the fact that until the end of February Warm Gun will be marked down to a mere $1.99. So now looks to be as good a time as any to holster up and take a step into the past… or is it the future? Where is Marty McFly when you need him? $1.99 $4.99 Released: 2011-10-11 :: Category: Games Read More
By Rob Rich on February 3rd, 2012 What's better than a list of recently-released free iOS games? An even BIGGER list of recently-released free iOS games. Call me crazy, but I felt compelled to make this week’s list of freebies a little bigger than usual. Maybe it’s because there were more to pick from. Maybe there was a larger number of legitimately interesting titles. Or maybe I was just on a roll and went with it. No matter the reason, there’s a nice big list of iOS games down there that can all be acquired without the use of money. Why not take a look? GHOST TRICK: Phantom Detective – It seems like Capcom has started to compulsively port their DS games to iOS. Not that I mind, because most of their DS games are utterly fantastic. GHOST TRICK: Phantom Detective is most likely no exception. The dead private eye who continues to solve cases as a spirit while possessing various items in order to freak out nearby living folks might be a tad eccentric for some, but it’s right up my alley. I can only assume it’s right up other peoples’ alleys as well. FREE! + Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad Released: 2012-02-02 :: Category: Games Rock the Vegas for iPhone – People love to build their own cities in a virtual environment. A lot of people also love to gamble. Rock the Vegas offers both of those things. For free! With no broken thumbs! FREE! iPhone App - Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad Released: 2012-01-30 :: Category: Games Brand Name Space Game – Okay, so there’s no shortage of top-down SHMUPs on the App Store. But how many of them feature semi-satirical names? And look pretty? And are free? Yeah, okay. I kind Read More
