"If there is an app for that"

Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden review

April 12, 2023 by RSS Feed

The Voice of Cards series is kind of odd in that it is based around a dedication to gimmicks that don't meaningfully change the core of the games all that much. These titles all want to emulate a grand fantasy adventure using nothing but tabletop game pieces, like cards, counters, and even a game master to narrate the whole tale to you. Outside of these things, the games are essentially a small scale role playing game, which is mostly a good fit for their arrival on iOS, though at least The Forsaken Maiden has a few issues that makes it less than ideal for mobile play.

A fetching quest

Voice of Cards: The Forsaken Maiden takes place in a fantasy world comprised of island villages that are each home to a maiden who is responsible for keeping these communities safe. There is some not-entirely-clear threat that the world is constantly defending itself against and the arcane rituals and ceremonial magic of these maidens keeps that threat at bay.

The Forsaken Maiden follows the journey of a silent maiden named Laty who finds herself having to journey with her attendant to the other islands to help other maidens perform their rituals. In meeting these characters, you build up a party of adventurers who fight in random battles, level up, and customize their ability sets as they uncover more about the evil forces perpetuating the need for maidens and their magic.

Card-based but conventional

The entire story of The Forsaken Maiden plays out through the use of cards and narration by a fully voiced storyteller. This doesn't mean that this game (or the other Voice of Cards titles, for that matter) are deck-builders or have any other card game mechanics or conventions. There's no card drawing or collection to speak of at all. The closest The Forsaken Maiden gets to being like a card game is how its ability cards cost a certain amount of tokens that you accumulate over the course of a fight (as opposed to having mana pools or anything).

Otherwise, The Forsaken Maiden plays almost exactly like a very conventional role-playing game. You explore an overworld to wander between locations, interact with key characters, and fight in random battles and boss fights. As a sort of smaller scale game, I will say I appreciate this game's sense of pace. Getting through The Forsaken Maiden should take less than 20 hours, and throughout there is no real need to grind out experience or money at all.

Onerous on-the-go

On paper, it makes total sense to bring a game like The Forsaken Maiden to mobile. With the streamlined storytelling and straightforward card combat, it feels like it should be exactly the thing you might want to bust out at a moment's notice while out to take a few steps toward the ending credits. Unfortunately, though, this isn't quite the case, and The Forsaken Maiden's relatively unwieldy mobile design only gets worse the longer you play it.

The first roadblock to making this game easy to whip out is a long inital load. You can bypass this if you can manage to keep the game suspended, but it still means every time you start it anew you've got to wait almost a minute to actually play it. As you play, there are also times where the game either hasn't optimized the touch areas of menus or certain buttons just don't work, to the point that late-stage abilities aren't even selectable. These things didn't put a huge damper on making me want to see the game to the end, but the long drawn-out sequences of fights with uneven difficulty and no ability to save between really did. I got through to the end and was satisfied by the conclusion, fortunately, but I can't see myself wanting to revisit the game for any of the side quests or other unlocks I received upon beating the game the first time.

The bottom line

If I had to sum it up, I'd say The Forsaken Maiden is a solid rpg up until around the last act of the game, where it simultaneously makes some design missteps and loses all sense of mobile friendliess. Before you reach that point, the problems with the game's mobile port are apparent but it's much easier to look past them and just enjoy the swift-moving rpg playing out via cards and narration.

Source link:https://www.148apps.com/reviews/voice-of-cards-the-forsaken-maiden-review/

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 04/11/2023

April 11, 2023 by RSS Feed

WordHex: 1 Secret, 6 Guesses , Achi - Strategy game , Timer Machine and more

WordHex: 1 Secret, 6 Guesses ( $4.99 → Free ) Actowise LLC The goal of WordHex is to guess the secret five-letter word in six tries or less. Each guess must be a valid five-letter word. It’s like the hit game Wordle, but with a twist and no daily limits. A green hexagon indicates the letter is in the correct spot. A purple hexagon indicates the letter is in the secret word but not in the correct spot. A gray hexagon indicates the letter isn’t in the secret word at all. You’re able to adjust the difficulty for easier or harder secret words.

Achi - Strategy game ( $0.99 → Free ) Grzegorz Surma Achi is a two player turn-based game. In each turn a selected player has to either put a new tile or swipe the existing one onto an empty slot. The first player to align three tiles in a line wins. Test your skills against the computer and compete with your friends on Game Center.

Timer Machine ( $0.99 → Free ) Montage App, Inc. This simple timer app lets you create multiple timers with a variety of time durations. You can use it as a timer to count down or as a stop watch to count up.

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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 04/10/2023

April 10, 2023 by RSS Feed

My Tiny Room , Triangle - Strategy Game , Leaf Identification and more

My Tiny Room ( $0.99 → Free ) Ines Gruhier Match pairs to collect coins and diamonds. Use your winnings to buy new furniture and decorate your room however you like. You can share your room with others, peek at their rooms, and vote for your favorite.

Triangle - Strategy Game ( $0.99 → Free ) Grzegorz Surma First invented in the 1950s, this timeless strategy game requires you to touch all sides of the board while blocking your opponent from doing the same. Take turns with your opponent filling in the grid of hexagons. You’re able to occupy any hexagon you like; your moves don’t have to be adjacent to one another. The game includes a total of eight levels.

Leaf Identification ( $2.99 → Free ) Le Giang Nam Leaf Identification can identify over 20,000 different species of plants. The app uses AI technology to give you quick and accurate results. All you have to do it snap a photo with your phone and let the plant identifier do the rest. The interface is very easy to use. You’re able to share your plant identification to any device and check your plant history to see what you’ve discovered at any time.

PXL - mosaic art ( $2.99 → Free ) Norikazu Muramoto PXL can take the photos from your camera roll and turn them into intricate collages in seconds. Choose any photo from your camera roll to act as the main image. With just a tap, PXL will utilize all of the other images from the camera roll to create the collage. The process may take a few seconds, but in no time you’ll be presented with a high resolution piece of art that can be saved or shared.

Kindergarten - Learning Games ( $24.99 → Free ) RayKindle LLP Kindergarten - Learning Games will help your child learn through real curriculum based lessons and activities. The activities are designed to let your little one’s creativity run wild while having fun. There are games and lessons for a variety of different subjects.

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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 04/09/2023

April 09, 2023 by RSS Feed

Railmap for Open Railway Map , File Explorer & Player [Pro] , Time & Motion Study and more

Railmap for Open Railway Map ( $1.99 → Free ) Florian Chrometz Whether you want to plan your next Amtrak or European vacation or are just curious about train routes this app has you covered. You can explore rail map layers for tracks across the entire world in standard, hybrid, or satellite views.

File Explorer & Player [Pro] ( $4.99 → Free ) Evgeny Cherpak File Explorer for Mac allows you to access your Mac from anywhere in your home. You’ll first need to download the free companion app from the developer’s website: https://cherpake.com/remote-for-mac. Then launch both apps and your devices will automatically sync up. Remote Drive provides full access to the files on your Mac, allowing you to view photos and documents, stream video, stream music, and transfer content with ease.

Time & Motion Study ( $0.99 → Free ) Montage App, Inc. Time & Motion Study is an automated time study tool designed to optimize your operation. It can help you and your employees get more work accomplished in less time without burning out. Its great for repetitive tasks such as in retail, manufacturing, or distribution.

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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 04/07/2023

April 07, 2023 by RSS Feed

Route Optimize , DrawTextPath , SPHAZE: Sci-fi puzzle game and more

iPhone:

DrawTextPath ( $1.99 → Free ) Jacky Wu DrawTextPath helps you quickly generate animated text video. It gives you the effect as if someone is writing text with a pen stroke by stroke. Input text, select the size and font, choose the color, and DrawTextPath will turn it into an animated video.

Route Optimize ( $0.99 → Free ) CHRIS HODGE Route Optimize lets you pre-plan your route and optimize by distance. You can add multiple stops and addresses. The app offers turn-by-turn directions and estimated travel time. The app includes location details with a street side view wherever it’s available. You can even share your route with others.

SPHAZE: Sci-fi puzzle game ( $0.99 → Free ) Mateusz Janczewski Help RoBeep get to the center of the maze in this relaxing exploration game. It is up to you to guide mysterious robots through different areas while solving arcade puzzles. Each area is unique and hand-crafted. SPHAZE is designed for everyone to pick up, enjoy, and complete.

Remote KeyPad and NumPad Pro ( $3.99 → Free ) Evgeny Cherpak Remote NumPad Keyboard turns any iPhone or iPad into a wireless extension of your Mac or PC keyboard. You’ll first need to download the free companion app from the developer’s website: https://cherpake.com/get. Then launch both apps and your devices will automatically sync up. Remote NumPad Keyboard includes dedicated number, arrow, and action keys, allowing you to work more efficiently. You’re also able to edit existing keypads and create custom keypads that match your workflow. Remote NumPad Keyboard for Mac works with Numbers, Excel, Keynote, PowerPoint, and many more applications.

CalmusPlay ( $1.99 → Free ) ErkiTonlist sf CalmusPlay can compose original and royalty free music just for you. Select things like your geographical position, interests, zodiac sign, speed of your music, and favorite color and let the AI do its magic.

Earplug ( $4.99 → Free ) Confusion Studios LLC Earplug is distraction-free in every way possible. Its interface is dead simple. All you need to do is unlock your device and launch the app. Earplug doesn’t have any unnecessary settings or buttons. It just plays its custom pink and white noise blend until you fall asleep.

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