Take a Breather and Unwind With the Puzzling LVL
December 21, 2016 by macjeff
LVL ($1.99) by Ertan Unver of SquareCube is a minimal puzzle game that blends 3-D and 2-D into a seamless experience. If you’re the type of person who enjoys solving things like a Rubik’s Cube and need a bit of de-stress time from the hectic pre-holiday rush, then LVL is definitely one that you should add to your mobile game collection.
While the holidays are upon us and the year is coming to an end, I don’t think there’s ever a time that is as stressful as the pre-Christmas rush. It’s been a crazy past few months for me, but honestly I couldn’t be happier. After braving the crowds at the mall several times in the past week and completing my first semester back to school after five years, I’ve been diving into plenty of video games as a way to relax lately, especially on my PlayStation 4. However, because I can’t take my PS4 with me everywhere I go, I still enjoy having my iPhone and 3DS with me at all times. And as an iOS gamer, I mostly like to sit back with a good puzzle game every now and then to unwind. Even though I feel like I’ve played almost every puzzle game out on the App Store, I can’t help but check out what’s new, and LVL certainly is one that caught my attention in the past week. Needless to say, if you love a good, minimal puzzle game, then LVL is worth checking out.
Visually speaking, LVL is gorgeous with the minimalistic design aesthetic. The game is an exquisite blend of both 3-D and 2-D elements in one, and this unique mix brings a unique perspective to what you know about traditional puzzle games. In LVL, you’ll be welcomed with a grayish-white background that provides nice, stark contrast with the thick, inky black lines and the bright and vibrant hues of the puzzle pieces themselves. And if you’re into typography design at all, LVL uses a nice sans serif typeface that fits in well with the overall modern representation. Animations in LVL are smooth and fluid on my iPhone 7, so I had no lag or choppiness while playing. There is also an atmospheric and ambient soundtrack that I found rather soothing, and it should help players calm their minds and focus on the puzzles at hand. In the end, the developers have done an excellent job with LVL in terms of the graphics and audio department.
Like every other puzzle game, LVL is level-based. While there are no different “chapters” in the game, there are 50 levels that are available and players must go through them one-by-one in linear order. However, sometimes clearing one puzzle will reveal a path that splits up and opens up two more stages instead of one, so you get a little bit of leeway when it comes to choosing which puzzles to play first after you get going. The objective in LVL is simple: fill each side of the cube with color using the pieces, which are fittingly shaped liked tetrominos. However, since you are trying to fill a side (2-D) of the cube (3-D) with color, you will have to rotate the cube around in order to see the whole picture and each twist and moved piece can bring new complications to the puzzle itself. It sounds easy at first, but things do get much more intricate and complex as you get further along in the game.
Controls in LVL are a simple affair. To rotate the cube, just drag your finger across the screen in the direction that you want to spin it towards. As you twist the cube around, you will see the colored pieces on each side (like-colors are always opposite of each other), and ones that are available to move will have a white border around them and be a tad brighter than normal. To move these pieces, just drag-and-drop them where you want them to go. In order to fill a side, you’ll have to go back and forth between those two sides in order to fit all of the pieces together so that there are no empty spaces left. Once that is done, the game does a nice little animation that solidifies the color blocks on that side and they’ll become locked in place so you can’t mess it up further. When you’ve done that with all of the colors, then the stage is complete and you can move on to the next level or see what becomes available to you next.
While 50 levels may not seem like a lot, technically the game has about 150 puzzles to solve, since each stage features three colors that act as their own puzzle. In the App Store description, the developers have calculated that the game will provide more than five hours of gameplay if you go from start to finish, which I think is reasonable for the price of entry.
Even though I’m mostly on my PS4 these days, I still like to take a break every now and then and just chill out with a puzzle game on my phone. I’m glad that I discovered LVL on the App Store, because the game itself is downright beautiful with the minimalist look and feel, the music is calming, controls are simple and intuitive, and the combination of 2-D and 3-D into one brings a fresh new experience to the puzzle genre. This is certainly a game I’m going to be keeping on my iPhone for those moments when I just want to take it easy with my gaming time.
I highly recommend checking out LVL if you are looking for a distinctive, challenging, and relaxing puzzle game to pass some time with. You can find LVL 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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Mama Mia! Let’s-A-Go in Super Mario Run
December 16, 2016 by macjeff
Super Mario Run (Free) by Nintendo Co., Ltd. is the latest mobile craze to hit the App Store before the end of the year, and is the second major Nintendo franchise to officially have a mobile game, the other being Pokémon Go. If you’re a huge Nintendo and Mario fan, then it’s needless to say that this is a no-brainer.
As someone who grew up in the late ‘80s into the ‘90s, I have incredibly fond memories of having a Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) back in the day, and playing whatever Super Mario Bros. games I had been given to me by my parents. No matter which game it was that I played, I would spend a good chunk of my carefree childhood days on it, trying to get as far as I could and beating my previous records. To me, there was nothing better than hearing the original Super Mario Bros. chiptune theme song and hearing Mario with his classic “It’s a me, Mario!” line. As I got older and earned my own money to buy video games, I’ve always had a soft spot for Nintendo, getting their consoles whenever I can (though I skipped out on the Wii U but eager to get a Switch). Heck, I even managed to snag an NES Classic Edition this year to fulfill my nostalgia needs. Like everyone else on the planet, I’ve been wanting Nintendo to release mobile versions of their classic games, like Super Mario Bros., The Legend of Zelda, Pokémon, and many others. This year, so far we’ve gotten Miitomo (kind of dead at this point), Pokémon Go, and now Super Mario Run. If you were expecting a full-on port of Super Mario Bros., sorry to disappoint, but they won’t be doing that for certain reasons. Still, if you’ve been craving any kind of Mario game on mobile, then Super Mario Run will fulfill that yearning.
In terms of visuals, Super Mario Run is beautiful and truly feels like a Nintendo game. If you played Mario games before, then everything will feel right at home for you. The 3-D character models for Mario, Princess Peach, Bowser, the Goombas, Koopas, and everything else are delightful and bouncing with personality and charm, just as one would expect from Nintendo. The Mushroom Kingdom is as bright and colorful as ever, and the various environments that all of the stages take place in will bring back a sense of nostalgia for many, myself included. And if you could never get enough of the Mario font from more recent titles, then the typography here will delight you. While most of the graphics are incredibly sharp and crisp for Retina displays, I did notice that some parts of the levels, such as the green leaves on the ground, were a bit fuzzier than the rest, as if they were not optimized for Retina screens. Not a terribly big issue, but consistency would be nice. Still, it’s just a nitpicky detail. Animations in Super Mario Run are smooth and fluid, and I had no lag on my iPhone 7 while I was playing. The sound effects and music stay true to their roots and will bring a smile to all gamers.
There are two game modes in Super Mario Run: World Tour and Rally. The World Tour is essentially the story mode, and contains six worlds that have four stages each. You know how the story goes: everything is peachy in the Mushroom Kingdom until Princess Peach is taken away from Mario once again in the clutches of Bowser. You’ll have to help Mario navigate through all of the stages to eventually reach the goal pole at the end, while collecting coins (including pink and secret black coins) and avoiding or eliminating as many foes as you can along the way.
Rally mode is a battle mode that you need “Rally Tickets” for (not too hard to obtain) and you can compete with other players to impress Toads with style and flair as you run and jump to collect the most coins and squash more enemies. The more Toads that you impress, the more Toads you will gain for your kingdom that you’re trying to rebuild after Bowser’s wrath. When you want to customize your kingdom, just choose the “Build” option to purchase decorations, buildings, and special items. From there, you can customize the positions of each item in your collection or put them away if you don’t want to use them at the moment. I’m not too big of a fan of these kinds of building sims, so I don’t think I’m going to spend a lot of time with this aspect of Super Mario Run. However, a bonus to the Kingdom Builder is the fact that you can have buildings that provide extra bonus games, which are more opportunities to get Rally Tickets. The other method is by clearing worlds.
As I mentioned earlier, if you were wanting a Mario game that is like the originals, then you should stop reading. In Super Mario Run, Mario runs forward automatically, and the game even prevents him from running too far back too, so timing is everything in this game. Rather than have the players control the direction that Mario runs in, all players have to do is tap anywhere on the screen to have Mario jump. You can just do a light tap for a small jump, or hold your thumb down for a longer jump. He can also do a small jump automatically to avoid simple obstacles and enemies that are directly in front of him. Mario has different behaviors that occur depending on the timing of your jumps, so it’s important to learn what he does when and how, and take advantage of that during Rally trials especially, as it’s the best way to impress the Toads when you have some panache. Even though this is a Mario game that can technically be played with just one hand, there is actual skill involved if you want to be good at the game — I’m still trying to get the hang of it, honestly.
The only caveats to the Super Mario Run that I can think of right now is the fact that the game does require an always-on Internet connection to run, and the fact that you only get the first three levels in the free download. If you want to play stage 1–4 and beyond, then you’ll have to get the $9.99 in-app purchase. While I don’t have a problem with this (gamers pay $60 for most console games nowadays anyway), I can see why many others may have an issue with it. But to that I say — it’s a Mario game for mobile, what do you honestly expect?
I’ve been waiting a long time for a Mario game on iOS, and it still feels a bit weird that the day has finally arrived. Honestly though, it took me a bit of warming up to the fact that this is not the traditional Mario platformer where you have complete control over Mario, but the more I play it, the more I’m enjoying it for what it is: a one-handed Mario platformer for mobile. The modernized graphics are gorgeous on Retina screens (albeit have some minor flaws with textures), the sounds and music just make me smile, and the controls are intuitive and responsive. While this is not the classic Mario games that I remember growing up with, it’s not a problem — that’s what my NES Classic Edition is for.
I recommend giving Super Mario Run a try if you’re a Nintendo and Mario fan in any way, shape, or form. It’s not your traditional Mario game, but it’s a great option for getting your Mario fix on-the-go without a 3DS.
Super Mario Run is on the App Store as an initial free universal download for your iPhone and iPad. An in-app purchase of $9.99 unlocks all levels after the first three.
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Minimize is a Beautiful Puzzler About Simplification
December 15, 2016 by macjeff
minimize ($2.99) by BorderLeap, LLC is a relaxing puzzle game about matching tiles. If you’re looking for a simple puzzle game that will help you take some stress off from the pre-holidays, then Minimize has you covered. It is from the same guys who brought you the Harmony series, Drop Flip, and Alpha Omega, all of which were fine games themselves.
Even though the holidays are coming up in a little over a week, I’ve been feeling the stress this week with finals and last minute holiday shopping. When I am feeling the pressure, I like to just hide from reality for a bit and bury myself deep into video games, whether it’s my 3DS, PS4, or just my iPhone. But since my job is to cover iOS games, I spend a lot of time with them and one of my favorite genres are puzzles that keep my mind stimulated with a challenge while also being relaxing at the same time. Since Borderleap came out with the aforementioned games a while back, I’ve been fans of what they churn out onto the App Store. Naturally, when the news of Minimize hit my inbox a few weeks ago, I was eager to give the game a try. Now that it’s here for everyone, it surely doesn’t disappoint.
Visually, Minimize features a super minimal aesthetic that is sure to appeal to fans of simple design. The game consists of a 3-D isometric appearance that is made up of a flat game board with various colored tiles scattered on top of it. As you progress in the game, the board will build upon itself and expand on the previous level, and the colors will gradually change, while the game throws in more hues into the mix to make things a bit more complex. On top of the clean interface, Borderleap went with some nice soft colors that still provide good contrast with the pastel backgrounds and white game board, so it’s an overall pleasing look and feel. Animations are smooth and fluid with no lag on my iPhone 7, and the ambient soundtrack is soothing. I definitely recommend using a good pair of headphones while you play the game for a truly immersive relaxing session. Like their previous games, Borderleap has done an excellent job with Minimize in terms of visual and audio design.
Like many other puzzle games, Minimize is level-based and you’ll have to solve the puzzles in chronological order. At the moment, there are 100 levels to go through. However, since the game’s stages build on top of one another, this makes perfect sense here, and it’s fun to watch the game board grow to become more intricate and complex as you advance. There is also no level select screen, but you can navigate back to previous stages from the game menu when you’re on a puzzle. The goal in Minimize is pretty straightforward: match the colored tiles on the board in groups of at least two or more to clear them out until no tile remains. While this sounds easy, it gets trickier the further you get. Fortunately, the game does not have timers or move restrictions, so you can play at your own pace, which I love. There are also no hints of any kind, because when it comes down to it, every puzzle can be solved through simple trial-and-error.
Controls in Minimize are as simple as they come. To move all of the tiles at once, just swipe your finger on the screen in the direction you want them to go. It’s either all-or-nothing when it comes to tile movement here. The tiles will stop moving once they hit a dead end or the edge of the board. Since all of the tiles move together, you’ll have to plan your swipes strategically so that you can match all of the like-colored tiles together in groups of two or more. If a single tile gets left behind, then you’ll have to restart the level. Seeing as the game does not penalize you in any way, failure is completely acceptable and you can always just jump right back into it later if you’re feeling a bit flustered at a stage.
Even though there are no penalties for failure in this game, Borderleap has included some achievements and leaderboards. There is also full game save sync through iCloud so that you can pick up where you left off on any iPhone, iPad, or even Apple TV.
I’ve been playing Minimize whenever I have some spare downtime lately, and I’m in love with it so far. I’m a sucker for puzzle games and Minimize delivers flawlessly. The game is gorgeous to look at, the music is captivating, and the controls are intuitive and responsive. The game mechanic is not exactly new, but it’s still fun to play when you want to just unwind for a bit, and being able to play at your own pace and not be under pressure for anything is nice. It’s also fun to watch the levels grow from their predecessor, as it adds another layer of depth to the game.
I highly recommend checking out Minimize if you’re a fan of relaxing puzzlers. You can get Minimize on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.
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Find Your White Noise Zen in Wildfulness 2
December 14, 2016 by macjeff
Wildfulness 2 - Relaxing Nature Scenes & Sounds (Free) by Wild Ventures is a gorgeous white noise app for those who love the sounds of nature. If you need a simple app for helping you unwind and relax after stressful times, then this is a great way to do so. It joins the ranks of other fantastic white noise apps on the App Store, including Away and Sunny.
As someone who gets stressed out relatively easily, when I’m not taking my stress out in video games, I like to relax with white noise, especially before bed, where my mind always seems to be going full speed still. White noise is great because it is ambient and calming, and if you have a preferred set of noise, such as rainfall or the sound of the ocean’s waves, then you just think about relaxing there and it’s easy to fall asleep. I’ve gone through my fair share of white noise apps over the years, and while I have stuck with my all-time favorite, Thunderspace, that doesn’t mean I am not going to try out new options on the App Store. When I got a message in my inbox regarding Wildfulness 2, I was intrigued, despite never using the original Wildfulness. Needless to say, as a fan of white noise and minimalism, I am not disappointed with what Wildfulness 2 offers.
Visually, Wildfulness 2 is gorgeous and will definitely appeal to fans of minimal design. The app features several different nature scenes that are all hand-illustrated, featuring rich and vibrant colors in the background and dark silhouettes of trees and animals in the foreground. While most of them appear static at first, if you look closely enough, there will be some smooth and subtle animations for some of them, such as pounding rainfall or fluffy snow falling to the ground. The sans serif typography used throughout the app is also simple and clean, giving the app a completely refined look. Regardless, the scenes in Wildfulness 2 are stunningly beautiful and you’re sure to find a new favorite. Plus, Wildfulness 2 uses psychoacoustic 3-D sounds recorded from real life for a truly realistic experience.
Wildfulness 2 initially comes with one scene, the forest, there is an in-app purchase of $2.99 that will unlock all of the naturescapes, which means a total of 10 for every mood that you may be in. If you don’t mind the limitation of just having a forest scene, then the initial free download should be enough to suffice for those times you need white noise. But honestly, I checked out some of the other scenes that are available and they are both pretty and fairly realistic, and having the variety in a single app is fantastic.
To change scenes, just tap anywhere on the screen and then tap on the “Scenes” button. Optionally, you can just swipe from the left edge of the screen, which is much easier. The scenes list gives you a nice thumbnail of each scenario, along with the name, which reveals the kind of noise that you’ll be hearing. When you find one that piques your interest, just give it a tap and the app will take you away to zen.
Since white noise apps are best used before bedtime, it’s always good to have a sleep timer enabled. To access the sleep timer, just tap anywhere on the screen of the scene that you’ve selected. From here, you can tap on the stopwatch icon in the middle of the screen to bring up the sleep timer, and then choose how long until the app stops playing from the dial. It’s simple and intuitive, so you can make sure that the app doesn’t continue to run when you don’t need it to.
Another nice option that is included in Wildfulness 2 is the addition of guided breathing exercises. To get to this section of the app, just navigate to the scene list and then tap on the empty circle in the top right corner. Once you tap on the large, hard-to-miss “breathe” button, the app will tell you to breathe in and out for 60 seconds, but you can also quit at any time. It’s a nice extra that the developers have included in case you need more stress relief in your life and don’t have an Apple Watch to tell you to breathe a few times during the day.
I’ve only been using Wildfulness 2 for the past day, but so far I’m loving it so far. As a big fan of the trendy minimalist aesthetic, I appreciate the simplicity of the nature scenes in the app, and the animations are subtle and never too over-the-top. The 3-D sounds of each scene are lovely and immersive, making you feel as if you are truly there. I also enjoy the fact that a guided breathing exercise is included in the app, as it’s a perfect fit as you listen to white noise. If you enjoy a variety of natural scenes and sounds, then the $2.99 in-app purchase is also well worth getting.
I recommend giving Wildfulness 2 a try if you are in need of a minimal white noise app that gives you a lot of variety in a single app. You can find Wildfulness 2 on the App Store as a universal download for the iPhone and iPad for free with an in-app purchase for more scenes. Headphones are recommended for the best experience.
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iOS 10.2 Features and Updates: What’s New
December 12, 2016 by macjeff
For a point-one update, iOS 10.2 is jam packed with some interesting, some amusing and some very useful features. There’s the whole new TV app, 70+ new emojis and some much important UI and feature fixes to the Music app.
With Apple widely expected to release iOS 10.2 this week, check out everything that’s new in the iOS 10.2 update below.
1. Over 70 New Emojis
First, let’s talk about the most important thing that’s going to get you and all your friends to quickly update to iOS 10.2 – a buttload of new emojis (especially the shirt one).
iOS 10.2 embraces the Unicode 9 standard and adds over 70 new emojis while redesigning and updating a lot of old ones.
The wolf face has been redesigned to actually look more like a wolf face. There’s a clown face emoji (because everyone loves clowns). And there are new animal emojis like Fox, Duck, Squid and more. To view the entire list of new emojis, check out Emojipedia’s blog post.
2. New Wallpapers for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus
You might have seen new wallpapers used in iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus’s promotion material. These 3 new wallpapers are now available in iOS 10.2 (just for iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus though). Interestingly, the colors are based on the bodies of the first iMacs.
If you don’t have the new iPhones, you can of course download the wallpapers from other sources (like from here).
3. SOS Feature for iPhone
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});iOS 10.2 gets Apple Watch’s Emergency SOS feature that contacts local emergency services when you press a key combination. For the iPhone, you need to click the power button 5 times to engage the feature. You can turn off the feature from “Settings” -> “General“. The service is currently under testing and is only available in India.
4. New Now Playing Splash Screen
The Music app in iOS 10 was a big improvement, except for the Now Playing screen. Apple’s decision to hide the Shuffle and Repeat buttons below the fold and not providing any kind of visual cue that there’s any content down below, was met with universal outrage.
Apple’s solution to this isn’t to actually redesign the screen. But instead they’ve added a splash screen that a user will see the first time they open the Now Playing screen. This tells them they can swipe up to view the Shuffle button and Up Next queue.
5. Redesigned Shuffle and Repeat Buttons
Once you do scroll up, you’ll get redesigned Shuffle and Repeat buttons. They’re now actually designed like buttons, along with text, to make them more obvious.
6. TV App Replaces Video App
Apple showed off the new TV app for the Apple TV and iOS devices at the MacBook Pro event. While the Apple TV app is still far off, the iOS app is here. When you update to iOS 10.2 (and you’re in the region where the TV app is currently supported, the US), you’ll find the new TV app. You’ll also find that the Videos app is no more.
The new TV app lets you play all your purchases from iTunes. But the hot new feature is in the “Watch Now” section. This is where you’ll be able to connect all your media apps to the TV app and get a singular experience for watching all compatible content.
7. You Can Get Video App Back from the App Store
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});I don’t live in the US so I didn’t get the TV app and the Videos app was still there. But if you’re in the US and you’d rather keep using the Videos app (for things like Home sharing), you can re-download it from the App Store (just like a number of other stock apps).
8. New TV and Videos Widget
Depending on which app you have, you’ll find a new widget. Both TV and Videos app widget do a simple thing. They list the media you were most recently playing and give you a quick way to resume and start watching it.
9. Enable Single Sign-On
Sign Sign-On lets cable subscribers log into all the channel apps using only one login. Once you do this on your iPhone or iPad, the content from all available apps will be displayed in the TV app.
Open the Settings app and tap on “TV Provider“. Select your TV provider. Currently, Dish, GVTC, Hotwire and Sling TV are the available options. Then just login with your details.
10. Notification Center Remembers Where You Left Off
This is according to me, the second best feature in iOS 10.2. I find myself using widgets a lot, now that they’re a swipe away from literally anywhere in iOS. But one annoying thing was that I’d have to scroll down to my most used widget – the calculator – all to frequently. This has been solved in iOS 10.2.
iOS now remembers the last state in both Notification Center and Today View. So if you were using a widget from the Notification Center last, swipe down and boom, you’ll be there again.
11. Hiding Contact Photo in Messages Actually Works
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});When you turn off the “Show Contact Photos” option from the “Messages” section “Settings” app, all contact photos will actually disappear now. Previously, iOS 10 still showed contact photos in conversation, that’s no longer the case.
12. Quick Response Doesn’t Lose Text When Switching To App
In iOS 10.2, if you’re tying a response to a message in quick response, and you choose to open the app, the text you’ve already written will no longer be lost.
13. New Full Screen Effects: Celebration and Love
iMessage also get some love. First time since iOS 10 release, Apple is adding two new effects. Celebration and Love. Love effect is quite similar to Balloons. Here, it’s hearts.
14. Disable Press and Hold Home Button To Speak
You’ll find a new option in for “Home button” settings in “Accessibility“. From the “Press and Hold Home Button to Speak” section you can switch from Siri to plain old Voice Control or just turn the feature off altogether.
15. New Siri Splash Screen
If you turn off Siri, the next time you press and hold the Home button, you’ll get a new splash screen giving you information about Siri and giving you options to turn it back on again.
16. Sort Playlist
The updated Music app also adds the ability to sort items. From Library, when you tap on Playlists, you’ll find a Sort option in the top-right. Tap on it and you’ll find 3 sorting options – Playlist Type, Title and Recently added.
Albums and Songs categories also have the “Sort” option (Title and Artist). Artists option still doesn’t.
17. Star Ratings in Music App Are Back
iOS 10 replaced star ratings with the Heart button. But now, thanks to the revolt by Star rating fans, they’re back. You’ll find them in the options menu, when you tap the three dotted menu or when you 3D Touch a song item.
18. Preserve Camera Settings
You’ll now be able to preserve settings for the Camera mode, Photo Filter and Live Photo. So instead of being reset, they’ll carry on being the same every time you launch the Camera app.
Your Favorite New iOS 10.2 Feature
What’s your favorite new thing about iOS 10.2? Share with us in the comments below.
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