"If there is an app for that"

Make Squares, Not Lines in Eklips, a New Tetris-Inspired Puzzler

June 01, 2016 by macjeff

Eklips ($1.99) by Umut Dervis is a completely different take on the classic Tetris game. If you grew up on Tetris and still love the gameplay, but want something that’s new and refreshing, then Eklips is certainly worth taking a look at, especially if you’re a puzzle game fan.

I was born in the ‘80s, and one of my earliest memories is playing Tetris for hours on my first computer, which was an IBM that ran MS DOS. I remember that whenever I was bored at home or just given some computer time, Tetris was one of the first things I went to (that or Solitaire). I grew up with the game, and I even purchased several new versions of it for my handheld systems when I was younger. However, as time went on, even though Tetris is a classic, the overall gameplay is the same, despite different modes being added to new versions and whatnot. But when I saw Eklips on the App Store last night, I was intrigued, because it had the familiar tetromino shapes. I downloaded it quickly and so far am loving what the game offers, although there is some room for improvement.

Visually, Eklips is rather simple and clean, carrying a minimalistic aesthetic that is still gorgeous to behold. The game features a dark-toned purple background that is dotted with white to symbolize stars, and there are even some slim clouds and a thin, crescent-shaped moon up towards the top. It’s rather soothing, which is fitting considering that this is a puzzle game. The game pieces themselves are colored blue when they first appear, but as you set them on the board, they solidify and become hues of pink and purple to match the backdrop. And while there is an overall sense of flatness to the graphics, you can even access a toggle during games to change it from showing one chunk to multiple chunks or give everything a top-of-the-pyramid style look. Animations are pretty smooth and fluid, and the game has a relaxing white-noise soundtrack that will definitely help you unwind as you rack up as many points as you can. Overall, the developer has done an excellent job in the visual and audio department for Eklips.

There are two game modes in Eklips: Normal and Hard. Regardless of the mode you choose, you play endlessly until there is no more space on the board. The goal is to drop the game pieces on the board so that they create a square around the center tile. So if you’re familiar with Tetris, think of it like you’re creating squares rather than lines, because that is what the game is all about. You score points for completing a full square around the center, though more points are awarded as the square is larger. You can also get more points if you get consecutive squares with one move, so it’s a good idea to plan strategically. Each time you complete a square and it’s cleared out, the rest of the blocks gravitate towards the center.

Controls in Eklips are simple enough to understand, but I found that it could be too sensitive and hard to control at times. When each game piece shows up on the board, you drag it around the perimeter of the board with your finger. The position of the piece will change depending on the side of the board that it is on, but you cannot rotate it manually like in Tetris. Because of this limitation, things can get pretty tricky during the game, since you have to line it up to where you want to go. To make things a bit easier, the piece has a shadow that tells you where it will end up, so the chances of wrong placement are reduced. If you notice a mistake, you can undo one move with the button in the bottom left corner.

While the controls work, I found that it can be frustrating at times. This is because the sensitivity cannot be adjusted, and sometimes I found it hard to get the piece in the spot that I wanted, as it would be one square off or something like that. I’m also not a fan of how the game does not give you the option to have a preview of the next piece, as Tetris would provide, and only reveals the next piece after you’re out of space on the grid. I’d prefer it to not tell me what the next piece was going to be if I can’t get a preview during the game, or at least have it as an option. Perhaps the developer can consider that in the future.

I’ve only been playing Eklips for a short while, but so far, despite the flaws in control scheme, I find the game to be rather enjoyable. The game looks beautiful and the music is perfect for unwinding after a long day, and the unique gameplay makes it stand out from the rest. It should be familiar to anyone who plays Tetris, but it is different enough to be its own thing. I just hope that the controls get optimized in a future update, and options to show piece preview or just not show you what the next piece would have been after you lose would be nice to contemplate. Still, Eklips is a fun puzzle game that you’ll keep coming back to.

I recommend giving Eklips a try for yourself, especially if you enjoy Tetris or strategy puzzle games in general. Eklips is 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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 06/01/2016

June 01, 2016 by macjeff

Fish Out Of Water! , Speed Distance Time Calculator , DUBSTEP / Loops / Keyboard / Drums and more

iPhone:

DUBSTEP / Loops / Keyboard / Drums ( $0.99 → FREE )

You're able to create your own dubstep beats by triggering loops, sound effects, and bass drops. You can also tap away on the drum pads or blast melodies on the keyboard. The app includes 40 MPC style loops and sound effects pads, and six drum pads.

The Island: Castaway 2® (Full) ( $4.99 → FREE )

The Island: Castaway 2 takes place before the original castaways landed on the island. This time around it’s just you that has been stranded on the picturesque island, or at least so you thought. Your task is to unlock its secrets and become the “New Man” of the tribe. You’ll have to learn to fish, harvest, cook, craft arrows, cut trees, and even practice sorcery to survive. The game includes 300 quests to solve, 16 engaging characters to interact with, 28 rarities to collect, and 11 recipes to master.

Universal:

Fish Out Of Water! ( $0.99 → FREE )

Fish Out Of Water is easy to learn but impossible to master. The panel of judging crustaceans will score you based on the number of skips, distance traveled, and overall performance. Your team of fishy friends have a wide range of skills, but only you can utilize them correctly to score the most points in three attempts. Beyond mastering each fish, it’s important to try to complete side goals and collect charm gems in order to construct new power-ups.

Speed Distance Time Calculator ( $3.99 → FREE )

The name of the app says it all. Speed Distance Time Calculator allows you to calculate any one of its units of measurement simply by entering the other two. You’re able to switch between a whole bunch of different units of speed and distance even after your measurement is complete. The app also allows you to copy the results to your clipboard.

Jigsaw Wonder Kittens Puzzles for Kids ( $2.99 → FREE )

You won’t be able to resist the charm of this jigsaw puzzle game. Each of the 36 jigsaw puzzles features an adorable kitten photo to reconstruct. The jigsaw puzzles can be broken up into as few as four pieces and as many as 24. You’re also able to choose whether or not you want a colored background and outline hints. What more could you ask for?

Sago Mini Road Trip ( $2.99 → FREE )

Your child gets to participate in every part of the journey. They must pick a destination, pack their bags, choose a vehicle, and hit the road. Along the way they’ll be able to fuel up, wash their car, and interact with other environmental objects. You won’t find any timers or rules here. Just a place to explore.

The Island: Castaway 2® HD (Full) ( $6.99 → FREE )

The Island: Castaway 2 takes place before the original castaways landed on the island. This time around it’s just you that has been stranded on the picturesque island, or at least so you thought. Your task is to unlock its secrets and become the “New Man” of the tribe. You’ll have to learn to fish, harvest, cook, craft arrows, cut trees, and even practice sorcery to survive. The game includes 300 quests to solve, 16 engaging characters to interact with, 28 rarities to collect, and 11 recipes to master.

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

Report: Apple to Offer iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus with 256GB Storage

June 01, 2016 by macjeff

Analyst firm TrendForce claims in its latest report that the steep drop in NAND prices will allow Apple to offer the iPhone 7 Plus with 256GB of storage space. The increasing app sizes, increased demand from consumers, and the dual-camera setup on the iPhone 7 Plus means that there will likely be a higher demand for the increased storage capacity this time around. Interestingly, despite the iPhone 7 not coming with a dual-camera setup, Apple will offer the 256GB storage option for the handset as well.

The report also indicates that the iPhone 7 Plus will come with 3GB LPDDR4 RAM, so as to allow it to process photos that will be taken from its dual-lens camera. Since the iPhone 7 will only feature a single camera lens at its rear, it will continue to feature 2GB RAM. While an increase in RAM is always a welcome addition, it also leads to an increase in power consumption. To offset that, Apple will be using LPDDR4 RAM modules that are more energy efficient.

Inline with what other reports have suggested so far, TrendForce claims that the iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus will offer minor upgrades over their predecessors, with major highlights being the increased storage capacity and improved camera performance. The design of the handsets will be slightly changed from the iPhone 6s and will not feature any major display upgrade. The minor refresh will impact iPhone sales this year, with the report claiming that iPhone’s production will drop by more than 8% this year.

There is already enough evidence that point towards Apple switching to an OLED display for the iPhone in 2017. The report notes that since Apple does not have the same level of control over AMOLED display production as LCD, it will have to deal with various challenges in supply chain for a consistent supply of the panels.

The iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus are still just over 3 months away from their official unveiling, but leaks already provide us with a good idea of what to expect from them. The handsets will feature a slightly designed back to better hide the antenna lines, with the larger iPhone 7 Plus also feature a second camera module at its rear. Otherwise, the handsets are going to look similar to the existing iPhone 6/s.

Earlier this year, Apple announced a 256GB storage option for the 9.7″ and 12.9″ iPad Pro making them the first iOS devices in its lineup to come with such high capacity storage.

[Via TrendForce]

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Best app deals of the day! 8 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

June 01, 2016 by macjeff

Everyone likes free apps, but sometimes the best ones are a bit expensive. Now and then, developers put paid apps on sale for a limited time, but you have to snatch them up fast. Here are the latest and greatest apps on sale in the iOS App Store.

The post Best app deals of the day! 8 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time appeared first on Digital Trends.

Source link: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/daily-app-deals-ios-06-01-2016/

Tap Towards Your Dreams in VOEZ, a New Music Rhythm Game

May 31, 2016 by macjeff

VOEZ (Free) by Rayark International Limited is a gorgeous rhythm music game that puts the spotlight on J-pop. If you’re a fan of games like Dance Dance Revolution or the classic Tap Tap Revenge, and enjoy a bit of catchy J-pop tunes, then VOEZ is one to check out. It’s an fine addition to the other fine games from Rayark, including Cytus, Deemo, and Implosion – Never Lose Hope.

Back when I was in high school, I hung out with a group of friends who were super into Japanese culture and anime, which rubbed off on me. Even though I haven’t kept up with animes in the past few years, I still love Japanese culture and the anime and manga art style. I also remember listening to my fair share of J-pop back in the day, and that was when those music games with plastic peripherals were all the rage. While I definitely wasn’t the best with music games back then, I still enjoyed them a lot since they were challenging and just downright fun. I’m not too familiar with Cytus or Deemo since I haven’t had the chance to check them out, but with VOEZ featured on the App Store, I couldn’t pass it up, especially since I liked Implosion a lot.

Visually, VOEZ is stunning. It features beautiful hand-painted anime-style art and visuals, which will appeal to anyone who is even the least bit interested in Japanese culture. The art for each of the characters is rendered gorgeously, and all of the colors are soft but still vibrant enough to stand out. The musical notes are simple shapes and lines that fall down onto the screen in brightly colored sections, so while it looks simple enough, things still get pretty tricky as you up the difficulty levels for each track. All animations in VOEZ are smooth and fluid, which is necessary for a musical rhythm game, but be prepared for somewhat long wait times as the game loads up all of the data needed for each track. It reminds me of those times I play on my PlayStation 4 and have to load up the next section in a game — yeah, the wait between tracks can be that long. Hopefully they can make it a bit quicker in the future.

Since this is a rhythm game, the meat of VOEZ is all about the musical tracks that are included. The initial download includes a good amount of different tracks that you can play and unlock as you make progress, and the developers are planning to add more each month. If you’re looking for American music, then you should turn back now — there is nothing but dynamic J-pop songs that will sound a bit differently depending on how you perform. But if you’re a fan of the music genre, then you’ll find yourself in a slice of heaven with VOEZ. I found the songs to be soothing and catchy, and once you get some practice with tapping to the beat, things get pretty addictive.

Like other music games, VOEZ has a lot of songs that are available with the initial download, but you’ll have to clear songs in order before you can unlock them all. Or, if you’re impatient and want to get a later song now, you can unlock them by using “keys” that are earned from playing, or you can pay to unlock it through in-app purchase. There are also in-app purchases to get more keys too. I’m not that big of a fan of this system, since it doesn’t seem like unlocking new songs requires too much skill. At least you get a good variety of songs to start with, though.

VOEZ is rather interesting since it’s a music game but there is a storyline to it. In VOEZ, players will meet Chelsea and her high school classmates, who come together and make their mutual dream come true by forming a band together, which is called VOEZ. They will face hardships together, but their end goal is to make sure that the world knows their music. It’s a pretty cliché plot, in my opinion, but it works for the game, art, and music. And it does add another layer of depth to the game’s journey, which is nice to have.

Controls in VOEZ are simple enough. With single notes, you will want to tap on them as they hit the line. The longer notes require you to tap-and-hold the screen, even slowly moving your finger in the direction that the lines are going toward. Then there are single notes that require a swipe in the direction they’re pointing at. While this all may sound easy enough, like with any other rhythm game, things can get pretty fast and hectic, especially in the higher difficulty levels, so you’ll need good hand-and-eye coordination to keep up with the beat. To make things more complicated, each track has dynamic notes, meaning that the lines for the notes can move around on the screen, so you’ll have to make sure you keep a close eye on them. These small additions to the gameplay make VOEZ stand out from the competition, and it makes things much more interesting than the status quo for music games.

I’ve only started on VOEZ a bit over the weekend, but so far I’m finding the game to be fun and enjoyable, despite the weird system for unlocking songs. The art is superb, the tunes are fun and memorable if you’re into J-pop at all, and the controls are simple enough to learn even for music game novices. However, the dynamic gameplay for each song makes the game refreshing and challenging, so if you’re looking for a test of your rhythm, then VOEZ will do rather nicely. I just want to see shorter load times for each track and a better unlock system in the future, but I am looking forward to checking out monthly new tunes.

I recommend VOEZ to anyone who is into music rhythm games, or just enjoy J-pop and anime-style art in general. VOEZ can be found on the App Store as a free universal download with in-app purchases.

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