"If there is an app for that"

Apple’s free app of the week: Mimpi Dreams

July 01, 2016 by macjeff

Apple on Thursday updated its App of the Week promotion with the game Mimpi Dreams. This means that for the next 7 days, you’ll be able to download the critically-acclaimed puzzle-platformer for free on both iPhone and iPad—a solid savings of $2.

Mimpi is a lazy dog who likes to take naps and dream about being a super hero. Players are tasked with helping him save his friends by solving puzzles and manipulating environmental objects as they work their way through originally-illustrated levels.

From the App Store Editors’ Notes:

They say don’t wake sleeping dogs, but poor Mimpi has been having some very weird dreams. From laboratories to forests to dangerous, debris-strewn waters, the only similarity between Mimpi’s dreamscapes is how fun they are to navigate. Each stage is filled with puzzles to solve and environmental objects to fiddle with. You’ll knock down power lines, steer clouds, push suitcases, and (of course!) collect bones on your exhilarating journey through dreamlands.

And here’s a video of the game in action:

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MyWwNjaxbGI?feature=oembed&w=500&h=375]

Mimpi Dreams is available in the App Store for free.

Ancient Trees Will Protect the Land from Darkness in Nanuleu

June 30, 2016 by macjeff

Nanuleu ($2.99) by Selva Interactive is a minimalistic strategy game that showcases the never-ending war between ancient magical trees and the dark forces that try to consume them. If you enjoyed games like Rymdkapsel, then you will enjoy Nanuleu.

Even though I don’t think I’m particularly great at strategy games as a whole, I definitely will try my hand at them because hey, playing games is supposed to be fun, right? When Rymdkapsel first came out, it was all the rage among the iOS gaming community, and I dove in to it anyway. I thoroughly enjoyed it, despite not being so great compared to other folks. So when I heard of Nanuleu, I was intrigued since it reminded me of Rymdkapsel, and hey, I dig the whole isometric projection art style. Needless to say, Nanuleu doesn’t disappoint, especially if you’re into the strategic tower-defense type of game.

Visually, Nanuleu is gorgeous and impressive if you’re into the minimalist isometric style. Nanuleu is similar to Rymdkapsel, in the fact that most of the game is flat but appears at an angle, giving off a 2.5-D perspective. The colors in Nanuleu are bright and vibrant, with different colors and shapes to represent all of the unique trees that serve a different purpose, and the hues change to indicate your progress. The dark invaders have their own distinctive appearances and abilities, so they keep things fresh and interesting as you play. Animations are smooth and fluid as you expand your land, plant and grow trees, and defend the harmony of nature. There is also a soothing, atmospheric soundtrack in the background that is a pleasure to listen to, so I recommend playing the game with a good pair of headphones to truly immerse yourself in the experience. Overall, the developers did a great job with the game in terms of visual and audio.

Nanuleu has three game modes: Apprentice, Warrior, and Sage, though the last one must be unlocked by proving yourself as a Warrior first. These modes also represent the game’s difficulty levels, and each time you play, the map is procedurally generated, so you never get the same thing twice. Despite the three different modes, the main objective of the game remains the same: expand the land and repel the dark forces with the power of ancient, magical trees. While it may sound simple enough, you have to manage resources, plant your defenses in the correct spots, and make sure no enemies get through. In short, Nanuleu is a strategic tower-defense like game.

The controls in the game are simple enough for anyone to understand. At the beginning of a game, you start out with one Life Tree. In order to expand the land that the Life Tree can control, you have to extend the roots. To do this, just tap on the adjacent ground squares and a circular popup menu appears with different types of trees that you can plant, but to get anywhere, you need roots first, which are the brown diamond. The roots will expand the land one square forward and two on the side.

You’ll also see squares with yellow dots, blue swirls, and white stars. When you reach these particular squares, you can plant the appropriate tree (yellow is Mineral, blue is Water, and white is Life) on it as long as you have the necessary amount of resources, which is shown in the top right corner. As you plant more mineral and water trees, your resource supply fills up faster, allowing you to plant more trees at a quicker pace. Eventually, invaders will start to come in, and you’ll have to defend yourself. You’ll be able to plant pink Defender trees on any part of the land that you control, and these defenders will attack any enemies that are within range. As you awaken more Life trees, you’ll also gain access to stronger trees, such as War trees (sends out your own warriors to attack). The Life trees can also plant more seeds for mineral and water trees, and it also sends out a blast that can kill any nearby invaders instantly.

When the invaders begin to encroach on your territory, the land you control will recede back until you eliminate the threat. If they end up taking out your trees, you’ll have to replant them as well, which means wasted resources. The good thing about Nanuleu is the fact that you’ll get a visual warning of what direction the invaders are coming in from, so you can prepare for the waves well ahead of time.

The round ends once you fend off all invaders or if they have breached your defenses and got to the central Life Tree. At the end of the game, you’re awarded points based on your performance, which are tallied up for a total score. Each mode has three objectives: defeat the invaders, protect the four altars (the white cubes), and defeat win in less than 20 minutes. The more objectives you meet, the more points you get.

I only started with the game this morning, but be warned — each game you play will last quite a while. My first game in the Apprentice mode took about 20 minutes, so this is a pretty lengthy game that will provide you with a lot of entertainment. But it is definitely not something you can just play and complete in line, though you can pause the game and come back to it later. The graphics are beautiful, the music is tranquil, and the gameplay is challenging enough for everyone to enjoy. This is definitely a game that you’ll keep wanting to come back to time and time again.

I highly recommend giving Nanuleu a try, especially if you like strategic tower-defense style games. Nanuleu is available on the App Store as a universal app for your iPhone and iPad for just $2.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 06/30/2016

June 30, 2016 by macjeff

Winery Passport - Wine Tasting, Trail & Wineries Tour Guide , Bizarre Holiday Calendar - Celebrate when every day is a holiday , Tin Pan Rhythm and more

iPhone:

Today only: Everyone who signs up for a new Winery Passport account will receive the full, ad-free experience free of charge. That’s a $2.99 value! You're able to search for wineries near your current location or you can browse through state lists. Tap on a listing to view details like directions, contact information, a website link, and social media links. You're able to stamp your passport for each visit to track where you've been. Winery Passport includes more than 6,000 wineries across the United States and Canada, so you better get a move on! The app also allows you to add photos from your visit, store your favorite wines, add tasting notes, and rate wineries.

Today only: Everyone who signs up for a new Brewery Passport account will receive the full, ad-free experience free of charge. That’s a $2.99 value! You're able to search for breweries near your current location or you can browse through state lists. Tap on a listing to view details like directions, contact information, a website link, and social media links. You're able to stamp your passport for each visit to track where you've been. Brewery Passport includes more than 5,000 breweries across the U.S., so you have your work cut out for you. The app also allows you to add photos from your visit, store your favorite brews, create wish lists, earn badges, and rate breweries.

Universal:

Here’s a fun fact: there’s a holiday every single day of the year. Some days even have multiple random holidays to celebrate. With Bizarre Holidays, you’ll find a reason to celebrate things like beans, bubble baths, sisters, left handers, and even sneaking zucchini onto your neighbor’s porch. Seriously. It’s a real thing. Bizarre Holidays allows you to share your favorite holidays, and even add them to your calendar.

Notes.xls is like having Excel in your pocket. You’re able to use it to calculate daily expenses, track bank accounts, construct budgets, or deal with any other numbers you come across. If you already use Excel on a daily basis, you’ll be happy to know that the syntax formulas work exactly the same. The app also includes two columns, gesture controls, the ability to insert and delete rows, and the ability to share spreadsheets via email.

Take a good look at the board while it is lit up because the lights will go out! You must then match elements to create electrical currents that will briefly illuminate the board, disintegrate the elements, and turn them into gold. While the board is briefly illuminated from creating a match, you will have another chance at seeing where elements are located and how they’re aligned. If you wind up not getting a good enough look, you can use a hint. The game includes three modes, loads of ways to upgrade your gold producing machine, and achievements and leaderboards via Game Center.

Tin Pan Rhythm is as much a music creation app as it is a teaching tool. It allows you to compose and arrange short musical phrases through interactive elements. You’re able to create a chord progression just by dragging and dropping various chords into place. Then complete your work by adding different guitar and percussion sounds. You’re able to record and share anything you create, and you can even use it inside of your other favorite music apps.

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

Dungeon Tiles is an Addictive Mashup of Threes! and RPGs

June 29, 2016 by macjeff

Dungeon Tiles (Free) by Iyoda is a minimalistic puzzle game that combines strategy and RPG aspects. Think of Threes! but with match-three RPG elements like Good Knight Story, and that is pretty much Dungeon Tiles. And boy, let me tell you, it’s a great combination.

I do a lot of gaming on my mobile device, despite having a New Nintendo 3DS and a PlayStation 4 on hand. This is because my iPhone is with me pretty much everywhere I go, and it’s easy and fast to launch up a game whenever I have some spare time throughout the day. For me, puzzle games are the best on-the-go, since I can keep my mind stimulated and games last a few minutes at a time. About two years ago, Threes! erupted on the market, and is still one of my all-time favorite puzzle games, despite my terrible scores compared to others. While I still love Threes!, I’m always up for something fresh and interesting with existing game concepts, which is why Dungeon Tiles caught my eye. When I saw it hit the App Store last night, I downloaded it immediately and I’ll be honest, I’m finding it very hard to put down.

As mentioned already, Dungeon Tiles carries a minimalistic aesthetic that I enjoy. The background is a dark purple most of the time, which means that the vibrant colored tiles on the board stand out nicely against it. Simple icons are used to represent life (heart), attack (sword), gold (bars of gold), and enemy dragons. Animations are smooth and fluid as all of the game pieces slide along as you move them, and there are some fun, flashy effects that happen when you make matches and add to the cumulative totals. The game also has an ambient soundtrack that I found rather soothing, and definitely adds to the overall game.

So what is Dungeon Tiles? If you’ve played Threes!, then the gameplay should be familiar to you. In Dungeon Tiles, you will have a board that is full of colored tiles that represent swords, dragons, lives, and gold. You collect these by matching two or more of the same tile, and to move them, you swipe on the screen in the direction you want the tiles to move. Each swipe will move all of the tiles at once, and a new tile comes in after you swipe as well. To better plan your strategy, pay attention to the upcoming tile, which is shown in the preview in the upper right corner. The total combined value of tile matches gets added to the cumulative totals at the top, and this is when things get tricky. And when you match three or four tiles at once, you get more points for the combo and the tiles get cleared from the board.

The gameplay is more than just making matches, since you have to survive too. The numbers at the top represent the power of your attack to eliminate the dragons, and the dragons indicate how much health they will take away from your life score when the next match is made. Your swords total will decrease as it is used to eliminate dragons, but as long as you continue to match sword tiles, it will accumulate again. Don’t let the dragon value get too high, because it is super easy to not notice and then you match dragons and get destroyed. Replenish your health constantly by matching up heart tiles to recover from the dragons. The game ends when you are either out of moves on the board or you run out of lives.

As you slay dragons, you’ll gain “experience points,” which is gauged by the bar on the left side of the grid. When you “level up,” the game gets more difficult, but eventually you’ll find stronger tiles that have special attacks or abilities to help you get even further and rack up the points. The gold tiles let you obtain coins that can be spent on power-up items, like doubling your life or getting rid of all dragons from the arena. However, be warned — these items can only be used once per game, so if you are going to use them, make sure they count.

Another thing that makes Dungeon Tiles interesting is the Two-Player Mode. With this, two people can play against each other on the same device, and the rules are changed a bit. Since it’s based on turns, when one player slides all of their tiles, the opponent’s tiles are moved in that direction as well. And when three sword tiles get combined, one dragon tile is sent to the opponent. Both of these additions mean it is possible to ruin your opponent’s arena layout, and it’s a unique twist to the game. The only problem is that the two-player mode is local-only, so there is no multiplayer option online. I can understand why, since online asynchronous turn-based games can take forever to complete.

I’ve been playing Dungeon Tiles a lot since I downloaded it to my iPhone last night, and it’s definitely going to stay on my device for a long time. I enjoy the minimalist look and feel, the atmospheric music is relaxing to listen to and helps you focus, and the gameplay itself is challenging and refreshing. It truly is a mashup of Threes! and match-three RPG games, which ends up being an awesome combination. Plus, the local two-player mode is great for passing time in line (think Disneyland) or when you want to best your friends in another game. I love this game so much I did not hesitate at all to get the in-app purchase to remove the occasional video ads between rounds.

I highly recommend checking out Dungeon Tiles, especially if you like strategic puzzle games. You can find Dungeon Tiles on the App Store as a universal app for your iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for free with in-app purchases.

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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 06/29/2016

June 29, 2016 by macjeff

Animal Puzzles for Kids with Skills: The Best Activity Preschool Shape Games for Toddlers, Boys and Girls , The Math Keyboard , Stand O’Food® (Full) and more

iPhone:

Stand O’Food is the quintessential time management game. You’re required to feed a variety of hungry patrons before they get up from their tables in pure rage. It may sound easy, but you will be tasked with making more than 80 different types of scrumptious sandwiches across 100 levels.

Universal:

After choosing a scene, cork board cutouts will begin to appear. Your child must drag and drop the pieces into place to fill each cutout. Once complete, the scene will become animated and they can tap on different items and characters to see what happens. The game includes 11 scenes to enjoy, and a new baby play time mode.

The Math Keyboard allows you to quickly write equations and share them however you wish. After adding The Math Keyboard, just tap the globe button to bring it up. The keyboard's seven different character categories can be accessed via the row at the top. Some categories have multiple pages, which can be accessed with a right to left swipe. The Math Keyboard works great in all native and third-party apps.

The app is able to provide you with an hourly UV forecast for your current location. The UV index is represented on a color-coded and numbered meter. You’re also able to view the type of protection required to head outside, sunblock information, and the amount of time it will take to burn. All of the information is provided by Weather Underground, so you can be sure it’s accurate and up to date.

This fantastic educational app from the team at Toca Boca allows your child to utilize six different builders to create their own unique worlds. Each builder offers a different way to drop, paint, lift, and smash blocks. The intuitive gesture controls and on-screen buttons are easy enough to handle for children ages five and up. After seeing Toca Builders in action, you're most likely going to want to join in on the fun yourself! The app also includes a huge collection of colors to choose from, autosave, and the ability to take snapshots of your child's creations.

Stand O’Food HD is the quintessential time management game. You’re required to feed a variety of hungry patrons before they get up from their tables in pure rage. It may sound easy, but you will be tasked with making more than 80 different types of scrumptious sandwiches across 100 levels.

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