"If there is an app for that"

Survive and Expand as Big as You Can in Evergrow

February 17, 2017 by RSS Feed

Evergrow ($2.99) by Imagility S.L. is a physics-based arcade game that is about survival and growth. If you liked games such as Tilt to Live 2: Redonkulous and Smash Hit, then there’s a good chance that you will enjoy what Evergrow brings to the table in terms of gameplay.

Life has been pretty hectic for me lately, with a lot going on in the world’s current events as well as my personal life, so I like to take a breather from reality by playing games these days. While I’ve been on my PlayStation 4 much more lately, I still like to check out what is new in the world of mobile gaming, especially when it comes to my favorite genres. Usually I like to relax with a stimulating puzzle game, but every now and then I like to give myself a challenge in the form of a survival arcade game, especially when there are cute things involved. So when I stumbled on Evergrow as it is being featured on the App Store this week, I knew that this was a game that I had to check out for myself. Needless to say, I’m not disappointed with this fantastic gem.

In terms of graphics, Evergrow features a wonderfully minimalistic aesthetic that is downright gorgeous. The game consists mostly of basic geometric shapes that are set against a colored background, but thanks to dynamic lighting effects, everything appears with a layer of depth to it because of the shadows and vignette effect around the screen edges. Evergrow makes use of a wide color palette that includes darker, more muted tones to bright and vibrant hues that contrast nicely with the dark backgrounds, and the colors you see depend on how far you get in the game.

Animations in Evergrow are smooth and fluid, so there was zero lag on my iPhone 7. And your Chromaroid (the cute life form that you grow) has the cutest facial expressions that reflect what is happening in the game — smiles when it grows and sad frowns when it gets hurt. Seriously, if you like adorable and endearing characters in games, then Evergrow is right up your alley. The game also features a soothing and ambient soundtrack that is immersive and engaging, and the sound effects are delightful. If you have a good pair of earbuds or headphones, then you’ll want to make sure you put them to use when playing this game. Imagility may be a new developer on the block, but they hit a home run with Evergrow’s visuals and music.

While Evergrow is a game about survival, it’s not infinite. Instead, it’s level-based with linear progression, so players must go through each stage one-by-one and acquire power-ups and new items in chronological order. The game also has a tutorial that explains the basics of the gameplay well, and new game elements are introduced with a clear and thorough explanation. No matter if you’re a veteran or casual gamer, no one will be lost in Evergrow. The game contains 40 stages, and each level has three objectives that you’ll want to strive for if you want to earn three stars (one star for each completed goal). But the main target for the game is to help your Chromaroid grow big enough to fill the designated area that is indicated on the screen with the white markings, which expand twice once the previous threshold is reached.

While there is no time limit, the game also throws obstacles at you, such as wrong-colored blocks and even bombs, so you have to watch out for those as they damage your Chromaroid. There are also power-up blocks that can help you out as well, and items later on.

The controls in Evergrow are as simple and intuitive as they come. While your Chromaroid sits in the center of the screen at the start, blocks come in from all sides of the screen. Your job is to drag like-colored blocks to your Chromaroid (you choose the color of your Chromaroid at the start of the game) while flicking away wrong-colored blocks and other dangers, such as the bombs. Evergrow prides itself on multitouch, so more than one finger can be used at once to control the movement of blocks on the screen.

The game’s physics engine is fairly realistic, so the bouncing effect when blocks are being dragged and reach your Chromaroid are fun to watch, plus the stretchy trail that guides the block is a nice touch. Different types of power-up blocks are introduced as you go, such as the wildcard block (can be any color), grow block (fills in your Chromaroid to help it grow faster), shields, coin magnets, and more. These activate as soon as they snap into place on your Chromaroid. If you have an iPhone 7 or 7 Plus, Imagility packed in quite a bit of haptic feedback, which I found to be lovely. There is also full 3D Touch support for iPhone 6s and 6s Plus and later.

Eventually, you will obtain the Dimensional Bucket item, which is a key part of the game. The Bucket allows players to store blocks to use later in the game, and you can even purchase power-up blocks in the shop to use in the Bucket. There are also upgrades available that you can purchase with the coins that your Chromaroid manages to collect while growing and surviving in the game, so it’s important to grab them when you can by having your Chromaroid move towards them through the game’s physics engine.

I’m still pretty early on in Evergrow, but I have found the game’s original gameplay mechanic to be rather challenging yet fun at the same time. It’s not your typical arcade game, and the Chromaroid is just oozing with personality and charm. The minimalist visuals are beautiful, the audio is amazing, and the controls feel natural and are intuitively designed for multitouch screens. While things start out simple enough, the game’s difficultly level gradually picks up as you go, but you’ll never feel overwhelmed because everything is explained along the way. All-in-all, Evergrow is a wonderfully cute arcade game that deserves a spot on your iOS device.

I highly recommend grabbing Evergrow if you’re a fan of cute things and want a fun little arcade game. Evergrow is on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases, and the developers have included a fun iMessage sticker pack.

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credit : appadvice

from : Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 02/17/2017

February 17, 2017 by RSS Feed

Cyclotron , Animal Pre-K Math and Early Learning Games for Kids in Preschool and Kindergarten Premium , Platforms Unlimited and more

iPhone:

LITMUS - Note This Moment ( $0.99 → Free ) Jeongmin Yoo Litmus provides a simple and effective way to note things that matter in your life. When you launch the app you’ll see the current date and time. Simply tap to add a new entry. All of your entries will be saved in chronological order. The app also allows you to adjust the font size and time format, and includes a night mode.

Universal:

Cyclotron ( $1.99 → Free ) PDJ Apps Cyclotron is pure eye candy, making it a great wallpaper creator. Just put your fingers to the screen and watch as the lights begin to shine. If you tilt your iDevice around, you can get different perspectives on the light show you’ve created. The app includes 10 interaction modes, AirPlay support, and the ability to snap pictures of your creations.

Animal Pre-K Math and Early Learning Games for Kids in Preschool and Kindergarten Premium ( $3.99 → Free ) Eggroll Games LLC Your little ones get to explore the farm with Lily and the cute animals. Each of the eight sections stars a cute farm animal, and your child must help them complete the task at hand. Games range from counting and classifying objects to comparing shapes and naming colors. A professional narrator will guide your child along the way and provide positive reinforcement.

Platforms Unlimited ( $0.99 → Free ) XperimentalZ Games Tap the screen to get your little blue dude to start sliding across the platform. Tap the screen again to perform a short jump, or tap and hold to jump farther. Do everything in your power to avoid the red enemies while collecting coins and bonuses to move up the leaderboards. The game includes two modes, procedurally generated levels, loads of missions to complete, and achievements and leaderboards via Game Center.

ReliCam ( $0.99 → Free ) Lee Searle ReliCam allows you to take the best possible photos. It provides you with manual control over focus, ISO, shutter speed, and zoom. Slide your finger left or right to adjust each parameter or use the fine tune controls. ReliCam also provides helpful grid lines when necessary. All captured photos and videos are directly saved to your library.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Pokémon GO Adding 80 New Monsters to Catch

February 16, 2017 by RSS Feed

Get ready for Pokémon GO Gen 2 and 80 new monsters because Niantic plans to give us more characters we gotta catch by this weekend. The new monsters come from the Pokémon Silver and Pokémon Gold video games, so if you’re tired of the gobs of characters already available you’ll have plenty more to keep you roaming around your neighborhood. Niantic also rolled in new evolutions and Evolution items to collect, new berries, new avatars, and more. The updates are free, unlike the time we’ll all spend hunting for Chikorita, Cyndaquil, Totodile.

Check It Out: Pokémon GO Adding 80 New Monsters to Catch

Source link: https://www.macobserver.com/cool-stuff-found/pokemon-go-80-new-monsters/

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 02/16/2017

February 16, 2017 by RSS Feed

Candy Blast Madness - Puzzle Game With Various Candy Themes , New York Travel Guide and Offline City Map , Tweetroot for Twitter - Word Clouds from Tweets! and more

Universal:

Candy Blast Madness - Puzzle Game With Various Candy Themes ( $1.99 → Free ) Volkan Kutlubay Today only: Remove ads free of charge! Simply tap the “Remove Ads” button on the main screen and confirm your action. Candy Blast Madness is pure candy matching insanity. Drag your finger over the top of three or more matching candies to connect and remove them from the board. Candies must be adjacent to each other in order to be connected. Move quickly and create large matches in order to keep the clock from hitting zero. You’re also able to utilize potions in order to free up candies. The game includes five total themes.

New York Travel Guide and Offline City Map ( $3.99 → Free ) eTips LTD Today only: Unlock the New York Travel Guide free of charge! Put down the huge book guides and pick up your iDevice. New York Travel Guide is here to help you find the best of what the city has to offer. The app provides zoomable regional maps, augmented reality, photos, interactive points of interest, safety tips, budget-based restaurants, and even daily itineraries. Everything is available offline, but make sure to download the data before heading out.

Tweetroot for Twitter - Word Clouds from Tweets! ( $0.99 → Free ) rubbleDev You’re able to analyze three types of Twitter feeds with Tweetroot. Enter any username to create a word cloud from their last 1,000 tweets, or you can view recent tweets mentioning that user. Tweetroot also allows you to enter a hashtag and create a word cloud from recent tweets using it. Your clouds can be customized in a wide variety of ways including the amount of words included, how they’re organized, the colors and fonts they can take on, and so much more. Word clouds can be shared via your favorite social networks.

Toca Kitchen ( $2.99 → Free ) Toca Boca AB They get to cook for four cute characters, each with their own favorite food. They’re able to grab 12 different items from the fridge and slice, boil, fry, cook, microwave, and mix them together. They can then feed morsels of scrumptious food to their guests and watch how they respond. There’s even a vegetarian mode!

Motorsport Manager ( $0.99 → Free ) Christian West In Motorsport Manager, strategy is key. Make the wrong move and your entire team will fail. As the boss, your job is to hire drivers, develop your car, invest in technology, and formulate a pitstop plan. Then put your car and driver on the track and watch the race play out in-real time. If you like, you can be even more hands-on during the race by jumping into the strategy screens to react to weather changes, crashes, and safety car periods.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/apps-gone-free

Manipulate Time in Causality, a Unique Puzzler

February 15, 2017 by RSS Feed

Causality ($1.99) by Loju is a puzzle game that has you manipulating time (but not space) in order to alter the sequence of events to change the final outcome. If you love mind-bending puzzle games like Splitter Critters and Mini Metro, then Causality is another fine puzzle game to add to your collection.

Lately, I’ve been playing more video games than usual to drown out the soul crushing burdens of what reality has become, and honestly, it’s been working out pretty well. A lot of my gaming is on my PlayStation 4 these days but every now and then I like to take a break and relax with a challenging puzzle game, because they’re one of my favorite genres. Even though I want to relax, I want to keep my mind stimulated in some manner, and what better way to do this than with puzzles? While it feels like I’ve played every kind of puzzle game there is on the App Store, every now and then something comes out that surprises me, and Causality is definitely the gem for me this week.

Visually speaking, Causality is downright stunning and gorgeous. The game features a minimalistic isometric aesthetic that is reminiscent of titles like Monument Valley and Minimize. No matter what device you’re playing this game on, everything just looks fantastic and crisp on the Retina screen. Despite the minimalism, Causality packs in plenty of fine details in the various alien environments that you’ll be playing in, and the character models for the astronauts are rendered nicely with smooth movement. Causality also uses a realistic “rewind” effect on the screen when you control time, which is fun to watch. The color palette ranges from soft pastels to brighter and more vibrant hues, and there are some lovely lighting and shadow effects that make everything pop out even more. Animations are fluid like velvet, so I experienced no lag on my iPhone 7. There is a soothing ambient soundtrack in the background that will help you focus on solving the puzzles, and the sound effects are delightful. It’s safe to say that Loju has done an excellent job with Causality’s visuals and audio, which I think alone make the game worth a purchase.

Like other puzzle games, Causality is level-based and has 60 puzzles for players to solve at the moment. These stages are split up across four different alien worlds, and even the level select screen is a sight to behold. The game does not have any stars to earn, but there is a limited time frame allotted,so keep that in mind. Completed stages appear in solid color on the map, whereas incomplete ones have an outline on them. Causality is also linear, as you’ll have to clear the current stage you’re on in order to gain access to the next one. The goal is simple: guide each astronaut to the exit square that matches their color. Once they have all reached their destination within the time frame, then you solved the puzzle. But time is complicated — you’ll need to work with your past selves and even deal with time paradoxes in order to reach your destination, and there are deadly aliens and other hazardous objects that stand in your way.

The controls in Causality are pretty straightforward and easy to understand. To make time move forward, just drag your finger down on the left hand side of the screen. To reverse time, drag upwards. Along the bottom of the screen is a line that represents the time frame for the stage, and upcoming hazards are indicated with an exclamation mark above the line at a certain point. The outlined circle shows you your progress when time is moving forward or backward. On each stage, you’ll find various obstacles along the square tile grids. These dangers include tiles that change your astronaut’s movement direction, dangerous alien tentacles that will break through loose floor tiles, electric boxes that need to be disabled by floor switches, and more. The tiles with arrows on them can be tapped on to change the direction they’ll be facing, which in turn alters the path of your astronauts who come across it. The key is to switch these tiles around while you’re in the middle of the time frame, because sometimes that’s the only way to solve the puzzle. That’s just one of the many challenges that await in the unique puzzles of Causality, and I’m absolutely loving it.

Since there are no movement limits or stars to earn in Causality, and just a time frame to worry about, it’s easy to rewind and undo a mistake you made. But if you prefer to restart from the beginning and try again, there is a restart button in the top right that lets you quickly restart the stage. The button above the restart option lets you access the game’s menu. And for those who like to strive for something in a game, there are 13 achievements available to unlock.

I’m still in the early stages of Causality, but this is certainly one of the most unique puzzle games I’ve found on the App Store. The game has a beautiful aesthetic that is calming, the music and sounds are pure bliss, and the controls are intuitive and responsive, indicating that this was a game that was optimized for touch screens. The puzzles themselves start off easy enough, but then things gradually pick up and become intricate and challenging. It’s just a perfect treat for puzzle lovers.

I highly recommend checking out Causality this week if you’re in the mood for a truly special puzzle game. You can find Causality on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

credit : appadvice

from : Mid Atlantic Consulting, Inc.