No Stick Shooter is Packed With Explosive Retro Fun
May 23, 2017 by RSS Feed
No Stick Shooter ($1.99) by Happy Robot Games is a retro arcade shooter that will take you back to the days of Missile Command. If you liked old-school arcade games like , but want something more challenging, then you will love what No Stick Shooter has to offer.
When I was a kid growing up, I remember having an old Windows PC with classic games already installed on it, such as Asteroids, Tempest, and Missile Command. I would spend hours on these types of games, because what else was I going to do with my time? Because of this, I grew a love for arcade games because they would prove to be challenging and I liked to see if I could beat my own previous score each and every time. With the iPhone and the introduction of the App Store almost a decade ago, I have been on the lookout for great new arcade games that I could take with me wherever I go, and one of my favorite genres of arcade games are shooters. But let’s face it — dual stick shooters are fun and all, but the concept gets a bit tiring after a while, and even I need a break from them every now and then. So when I saw No Stick Shooter on the App Store, I was intrigued by the idea of a Geometry Wars-like game that does not follow the standard formula of two virtual joysticks for controls. If you’re seeking a challenge, then No Stick Shooter doesn’t disappoint.
Visually, No Stick Shooter has an aesthetic style that strongly reminds me of Geometry Wars, and that’s because of the various geometric shapes that are used for the enemy ships that fast approach you. The game takes place in space, so you have a rich galactic backdrop that has vivid hues of blue, red, and even green, that are mixed in to a gradient coloring with pitch black darkness. The bright neon lines and shapes that make up the enemies that you’ll be facing off against contrast nicely with the dark backdrop, and there are plenty of nice particle effects when it comes to the explosions that you’ll be seeing on screen. Your ship sits alone at the bottom of the screen, in all of its bright white light glory. The icons that dictate the type of weapon you are equipped with are easy to recognize from a glance, and even when things get hectic in the game, at least all of the chaos looks beautiful. There is a adrenaline-pumping EDM soundtrack that is rather fitting for the pace of the game, and the sound effects are fun to hear.
Since No Stick Shooter is an arcade shooter at its core, it is level based and players must progress through the stages in a linear order. At the moment, the game has 30 levels of increasing difficulty, and there are three boss fights to go through, so there will be a boss after every 10 stages. While the main objective of each level is to get rid of all of the enemies before you die, there are also three side goals on each that you can see before you start. These missions involve getting a certain number of points, not taking any hits, and more. While 30 stages may not seem like a lot at first, the game is relatively hard and some stages will definitely take more than one attempt to complete. Plus, if you are a completionist, or just like to chase after high scores, then there is a lot of replay value in No Stick Shooter.
The controls in No Stick Shooter are what set it apart from other arcade shooters, which are usually dual stick. Instead, you control a stationary turret at the bottom of the screen that is protected by a few shields that are able to withstand a few hits if need be, but will have to recharge once the current supply is depleted. Your turret is unable to move around freely, so you are stuck at the bottom. However, you can tap anywhere to shoot, which also serves as your aiming mechanism. While you can shoot as often as you’d like, keep in mind that your turret only has a limited amount of energy, and if you fire off too many rounds in quick succession, your energy runs low. While you can still attack while low on energy, the damage you deal will be decreased significantly, so you have to manage your resources wisely in order to be successful. As you play, you’ll gain new weapon types, and you can switch between the weapons at any time by tapping on the one you want in the left sidebar. Some weapons, like the Lightning, require you to long-press on the screen in order to be effective.
If you want to do well in No Stick Shooter, then you’ll have to observe and learn the various behaviors of each enemy, as well as master the strengths and weaknesses of your weapons. And with the limited energy supply of your turret, your timing and precision matters. While your shields can protect you from a certain number of hits, once it is depleted, you do have to fend off enemy attacks long enough for it to recharge, which gets a little tricky once things get more hectic.
I’ve only just started playing No Stick Shooter recently, and despite the high difficulty of the game, I am finding it to be rather enjoyable. I love the retro aesthetic design, because it reminds me a lot of Geometry Wars, which happens to be one of my favorite dual-stick shooter arcade games. As a fan of EDM in general, I found the soundtrack to be delightful, and the sound effects and numerous explosions on screen are quite satisfying. And while the main objective is pretty straightforward, I like having the other three goals on each stage to keep things interesting, and it just means more replay value. I kind of wish that the game did offer different difficulty levels for players to choose from though, because it’s fairly difficult and definitely not something I’d recommend for casual players who may get frustrated easily.
If you’re looking for a challenging arcade shooter, then I recommend giving No Stick Shooter a try for yourself. You can find No Stick Shooter on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.
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Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 05/21/2017
May 21, 2017 by RSS Feed
Linia , Mathematical Run , SomaFM Radio Player and more
Universal:
Linia ( $0.99 → Free ) Yari D'areglia Linia’s gameplay is refreshingly unique. Your job is to recreate the color sequence at the top of the screen by tracing a line through colored shapes. The difficulty is that the shapes don’t just stand still; they’ll revolve around each other, change shape, slide behind each other, and more. It’s up to you to time your moves and catch the shapes in the right order. The game includes 80 levels.
Mathematical Run ( $0.99 → Free ) EagleTap Mathematical Run is an endless high score game with a mathematical twist. You control an arrow that rides on three different rails. Tap on the screen to jump from rail to rail in order to collect stars and avoid obstacles. You’ll also be presented with equations, and you must travel through the correct answer to keep the game going. Mathematical Run includes seven game modes.
SomaFM Radio Player ( $7.99 → Free ) SomaFM SomaFM doesn’t require any registration or additional purchases. Just launch the app, pick a station, and enjoy! Stations can be filtered by popularity or genre, and they can be marked as favorites for quick access. SomaFM offers high and low bandwidth streaming to help avoid data overages. It also includes background streaming support, the ability to share what you’re listening to, and Apple TV and AirPlay support.
Wardwell House ( $0.99 → Free ) Moolion Inc Lost at sea with no hope, you somehow drift onto the shores of a mysterious island. Exhausted and a bit unhinged from your travels, you stumble your way into the forest. Only now do you realize the situation you’re in, and it becomes more and more horrifying with each step you take. Explore the dark and mysterious environments simply by moving your iDevice through the air and uncover the secret of Wardwell House.
True Skate ( $1.99 → Free ) True Axis In True Skate, your fingers act as your feet. The flick controls work exactly as you would expect them to, allowing you to pump, ollie, flip, and grind with little effort. The tutorial at the beginning of the game will walk you through the basics to ensure you get the hang of things before taking on missions. The game includes realistic physics, the ability to challenge other players, replays, slow motion, and the ability to unlock loads of additional content.Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free
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How to shoot with zoom on iPhone 7 Plus (Apple Video)
May 21, 2017 by RSS Feed
Apple published another new video in its “Shoot with iPhone” series. This one is called “How to shoot with zoom on iPhone 7 Plus.” It offers two methods I don’t know you could use. The first is to single-tap your display for a 2x optical zoom. The second method is to touch and hold your display to scroll through your zoom until you get it where you want it. There are now 20 videos in this series, and they’re great resources for making the most of your iPhone’s camera.
Check It Out: How to shoot with zoom on iPhone 7 Plus (Apple Video)
Source link: https://www.macobserver.com/cool-stuff-found/shoot-zoom-iphone-7-plus-apple-video/credit : macobserver
Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 05/20/2017
May 20, 2017 by RSS Feed
iOrnament Crafter: Build Platonic Solids and more , Blox 3D World Creator , Essence — Breathing Relaxation and more
Universal:
iOrnament Crafter: Build Platonic Solids and more ( $1.99 → Free ) science-to-touch The iOrnament Crafter allows you to experiment with geometric patterns. It includes more than 130 sample ornaments to choose from, or you can import your own creations from iOrnament via in-app purchase. Once you have a pattern selected, you can create 3-D models, kinematic kaleidocycles, spirals, circle limit pictures, animated GIFs, videos that loop endlessly, and more. Your creations can be shared digitally, or you can choose to create paper cut models that can be assembled by hand.
Blox 3D World Creator ( $2.99 → Free ) Arjun Gupte Your child is able to start off with a blank canvas or they can choose from one of the six other pre-built worlds. Designing new structures and adding animated objects is as simple as tapping on an open spot within the world. Blox 3D World Creator includes everything from basic building blocks to animated wildlife. Your child can also change the time of day within their little world.
Essence — Breathing Relaxation ( $0.99 → Free ) Rudolf Adamkovic Essence helps you focus on relaxing by keeping things as simple as possible. The moment you launch the app you’ll see a blue circle begin to expand, telling you to inhale. Then hold your breath and exhale on cue. You’ll also hear guitar strings being strummed in the background as the circles go in and out of existence, indicating when you should be breathing in, holding your breath, and exhaling.
5K Trainer - 0 to 5K Runner. Couch Potato to 5K! ( $4.99 → Free ) Cloforce LLC This eight week program will help you safely and gradually work on your 5K time. All it requires is 30 to 50 minutes a day, three days a week to achieve a 5K run. The program alternates between running and walking, creating a unique workout each and every day. An audio coach will guide you through the entire process, so you’ll never have to fiddle with your iDevice while speeding along. Apple Watch support allows you to control the entire app from your wrist.
Blox 3D City Creator ( $2.99 → Free ) Arjun Gupte Based on the bestselling Blox 3D apps, this latest iteration opens a whole new world of creativity. Your child is able to start off with a blank canvas or they can choose from a variety of pre-built cities. Designing new structures and adding animated objects is as simple as tapping on an open spot within the world. Blox 3D City Creator includes everything from basic building blocks to animated vehicles. Your child can also change the time of day within their little world.Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free
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Not Hotdog, GiftHead, Stigma, and other apps to check out this weekend
May 20, 2017 by RSS Feed
This week’s edition of our Apps of the Week roundup includes a not-so-smart food identifying app, a personal shopper that is an expert at helping you pick out gifts, and a journaling app aimed at helping you improve your mood. And as usual, we have two great new games for you to check out this weekend.
Not Hotdog
If you’re a fan of HBO’s TV series Silicon Valley, you probably already know what this is. In last week’s episode, budding entrepreneur Jian-Yang demonstrated an app called Seefood, which was supposed to be able to identify different foods using your phone’s camera. Instead, all it was able to do was differentiate between hot dogs and non-hotdog items—thus, Not Hotdog was born. That’s literally all the app does, but I got a little kick out of taking pictures of random things and sharing them with friends using the ‘Not hotdog’ caption. And you could too. Not Hotdog is available for free.
GiftHead
Here’s a not-so-new app that you may not have known about. It’s called GiftHead and it just received a huge update with a major redesign and support for 500 new stores. The app works like this: tell it who you’re shopping for, what the occasion is and your preferred price range. Then pick a gift from the curated list of suggestions, and the app will point you to the right store. Rather shop online? The app can do that too. Other features include sale alerts, wish lists and gift reminders, so you’ll never miss a birthday or anniversary again. GiftHead is available for free.
Stigma
Stigma is another not-so-new app that could be useful for folks that don’t know about it. It’s described as a “mental health” app, with a built-in journal, mood calendar, reminders and a word cloud that allows you to see the types of words you’re using most in your journal entries. There’s also a support network aspect, with PenPals (supportive peers), Support Groups, and a community you can share your journal entries with. Now the app itself is free, but there is a Pro service that starts at $2.99 per month with premium features like advanced analytics and longer journal entries. Stigma is available for free.
Old Man’s Journey
Old Man's Journey is a soul-searching puzzle adventure game about life's precious moments, broken dreams, and changed plans. Immerse yourself in a visual narrative as you uncover stories of the old man's life told through beautiful vignettes of his memories. Interact with the serene, whimsical environment as you solve playful puzzles and shape the landscape around you, growing the hills to create the old man's path forward. Note that this game has won a ton of awards for its visuals and storytelling, but some of the iTunes reviews complain that the puzzles are too easy and the game is too short. We still think this is worth checking out. Old Man’s Journey is available for $4.99.
Timber Tennis
From the makers of the hit Timberman comes Timber Tennis, essentially a unique take on the game Pong with a lumberjack twist. Take part in the annual Timber Tennis World Championship—beat all your old rivals by upgrading your skills, using super-shots and staying clear of other players’ specials. Unlock a slew of characters and balls, and compete in local multiplayer against your friends. Note that this is a freemium title, with an in-app purchase to remove ads, and some of the early reviews complain that the ads are super intrusive. Even so, if this game is half as addictive as Timberman, it’s worth checking out. Timber Tennis is available for free.
More apps to check out
- Microsoft refreshes OneNote apps with new design and accessibility features
- Apple's free app of the week: Eggggg – The Platform Puker
- Things 3 is out with overhauled interface and multiple new features
- Hey Siri, make some room for Google Assistant on my iPhone
- Gmail for iOS now uses machine learning to provide smart replies
- Todoist gains 2-way Google Calendar integration, Dynamic Type support & more
- Instagram rolls out selfie filters, rewind option for videos, hashtag sticker & eraser brush
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