"If there is an app for that"

Unravel Dark Secrets As You Go Into Mirror, a Cyberpunk Action Platformer

June 27, 2016 by macjeff

Into Mirror ($0.99) by ZHIPENG WANG and Lemon Jam Studio is a new cyberpunk-style action platformer that truly pulls you in to an immersive, dystopian world. If you enjoyed other games like Shadow Bug, Shadow Blade: Reload, and Goblin Sword, but wished there was a splash of cyberpunk flair, then Into Mirror is the game for you.

Since I’m an ‘80s kid, I grew up with platformers for most of my childhood. I had the classics like Super Mario Bros., Sonic the Hedgehog, and even other games like the X-Men one I remember on Sega Genesis. The point is I have rather fond memories of platformer games in general, so I am always intrigued whenever a new one hits the market. And in recent years, I’ve taken an interest in sci-fi and cyberpunk themes, so when the news of Into Mirror hit my inbox, I was definitely interested.

Into Mirror has a unique art style that reminds me of graphic novels and comic books. Considering the cyberpunk and futuristic setting, I think it’s rather fitting. The world of Mirror is rather dark and gloomy, which means that the bright and flashy colors of the characters, street signs, and attacks stand out just that much more. Despite the shady tone of the world, the developers made sure to include a ton of detail for everything, from the environment to character outfits to weapons and bosses. Animations are pretty smooth and fluid, though the movements of enemies felt a bit jerky at times due to weird, glitchy positioning. There can also be serious lag when notifications come in, so I hope that the developer can optimize it a bit in future updates. The game also has an atmospheric soundtrack that pulls you in, and the sound effects are a nice finishing touch.

So what exactly is Into Mirror? The game is definitely much more than “looking cool,” as they say. The plot of the game takes place in 2076 and involves a virtual world with the Mirror Device that has concluded with beta stages and has moved on to the commercial phase, meaning mass market and Mirror Group, the company behind it, becoming hugely successful and now the world’s largest company. While everyone thinks that the virtual reality world of the Mirror Device is great, they fail to see the dangers and secrets behind it all — who are you in Mirror World? Players will control a character named Allen in Mirror World, who is working with another character to uncover the dark secrets of the virtual reality world. But in typical game fashion, every being in the game is trying to stop you, so you won’t be going down without a fight.

Like other platformer games, Into Mirror is level-based, and there are 20 stages for you to tackle your way through. While that does not sound like a lot, the game is rather difficult, so you will spend a lot of time on later stages as you progress. The goal in each level is to make it from the starting point to the endpoint, which is marked with a floating screen-like icon. Reaching the endpoint is easier said than done, as you’ll have to eliminate a ton of different types of foes along the way, while avoiding dangerous hazards like spikes and acid, and also making sure to find keycards to get past locked doors. There is a huge variety of enemies that you’ll encounter, including challenging boss battles, so you have to take them out using your wits and strength.

The controls in Into Mirror are simple enough, though I feel that they could be better optimized for touch screens. In the bottom left corner will be two directional buttons for moving left and right. You can fall through certain sections of floor by swiping down on the screen. In the bottom right corner, there will be buttons for jumping (double tap for double jump), melee, and ranged attack. Due to limited ammo, you’ll probably be doing more hacking-and-slashing than shooting, but keep an eye out for breakable crates, as they can contain more ammo refills and health packs.

While the controls are decent enough, I feel that they could have been done much better. I had issues with movement at times due to the spacing between the two directional buttons, and feel that a virtual joystick would have been better anyways since you need to have pretty quick reflexes to survive in this game. And the action buttons could have had a better layout, as I constantly found myself accidentally shooting instead of jumping, or something along those lines. Hopefully the developers can look into fixing the controls a bit, as it is tarnishing the overall experience when you die because you’re stuck or move in the wrong direction or waste limited bullets.

Even though the game only has 20 stages, there is plenty of replay value. This is because you gain experience points from killing enemies, which means you level up and become stronger. For each level you gain, you’ll be able to choose to upgrade your attack, health, or critical attack chance. You’ll also find tons of green credits from breaking crates and slaying enemies, and these credits can be used for several things. You can upgrade Allen’s equipped gear with better swords, guns, helms, armor, gloves, and pills for health or attack. Another option is to use credits to refill your health or ammo in a pinch. You can also find some hidden collectible chips through various boxes located in the game.

If you’re low on credits, the game does give you the opportunity for free 100 free credits by watching a video, or you can buy more through in-app purchases. I’m a bit disappointed in this decision, though, since the game is a paid game and not free, so I don’t like that it includes IAPs and video ads at all. But this appears to be the trend in mobile games, unfortunately.

So far, I’ve spent a good few hours with Into Mirror, even though I’m only on level six (the game is damn hard). I am in love with the gorgeous cyberpunk visual art style, the soundtrack is impressive, and the action platformer gameplay itself is incredibly challenging. I enjoy the level up and upgrade system, though I do wish that it was possible to find equipment in the breakable crates as well, since the only way to get better gear is to spend credits in the menu’s shop. And if the developers can improve the control scheme so that it results in less deaths and glitchy positioning, then the experience would be much better.

I highly recommend giving Into Mirror a try though, especially if you’re into sci-fi, cyberpunk, or action platformer games. Into Mirror can be found on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $0.99 (50 percent off for a limited time). There are in-app purchases for more credits.

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

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 06/27/2016

June 27, 2016 by macjeff

Spite & Malice , Wheel of Fortune PUZZLE POP - [OFFICIAL] New spin on bubble shooters from America’s favorite game show , Hidden Wonders of the Depths HD (Full) and more

iPhone:

Swipe to match three or more underwater items to complete different objectives before time expires. Mahjong-style mini-games are also thrown into the mix to break up the gameplay. Each completed stage will award you with a new piece of an item for your mermaids home. The game includes 204 stages, 25 levels, bonus content to unlock, and achievements via Game Center.

Universal:

Unleash your inner demon with the fiendishly fun Spite & Malice. Your goal is to be the first person to play all of the cards from your own pile by placing them on the middle piles in numerical order. Don’t worry about the suits of the cards because in Spite & Malice they don’t mean a thing. Just remember that the best way to beat your opponent is to block them from ever playing their cards. The game includes a single player mode, and online real-time and turn-based multiplayer.

It’s time to get popping with Vanna White and her puppy. Hold your finger to the screen and slide it to see where your shot will go. Release at just the right moment to fire. You must create matches of three or more to pop the bubbles and free the letters trapped within. Try to dig deep within the bubble collection and break off large swaths to earn bonus points. Spin the wheel between levels to earn power-ups and bonuses.

Flewn is simply breathtaking. It follows an old whale who is walking on stilts through a desert in search of a lost ocean. The story is told through beautifully illustrated and animated scenes complemented by rhyming couplets. You’re also able to experience the story from the perspective of a flying frog who needs to eat bugs to keep her energy level up.

Tired of wasting data, speed, and battery life on unwanted content? Then install and enable Handblock today. The process is really simple. Just launch the Settings app, tap on Safari, tap on Content Blockers, and then enable Handblock. There’s nothing left for you to do but enjoy the Web as it was intended. It just works. Handblock also allows you to whitelist and blacklist sites for a more tailored experience.

Swipe to match three or more underwater items to complete different objectives before time expires. Mahjong-style mini-games are also thrown into the mix to break up the gameplay. Each completed stage will award you with a new piece of an item for your mermaids home. The game includes 204 stages, 25 levels, bonus content to unlock, and achievements via Game Center.

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

Best app deals of the day! 6 paid iPhone apps for free for a limited time

June 27, 2016 by macjeff

Source link: http://www.digitaltrends.com/mobile/daily-app-deals-ios-06-27-2016/

Enjoy the new Unicode 9.0 emojis on iOS right now with a simple workaround

June 26, 2016 by macjeff

Many of you probably already heard the news that Unicode 9.0 became official this week and that there were going to be 72 new emojis coming soon.

Although Apple is likely to add support for these new emojis in iOS 10 in a future beta or release update, they’re not yet available in iOS whatsoever, but in this tutorial, we’ll show you how you can still use them without a jailbreak on a completely stock device.

Getting the new Emojis on iOS

It doesn’t matter whether you’re on iOS 9 or even if you’re in the latest iOS 10 beta. Apple hasn’t added support for the new Emojis that are a part of Unicode 9.0 just yet. With that being said, anyone can benefit from adding these new emojis manually.

If you want to get them, you could certainly wait until Apple is good and ready to implement them, or you could follow these steps to get them right now:

1) Launch Safari on your iOS device and visit the following link to load the website with all the new emojis:

http://emojipedia.org/emojipedia/

2) Scroll down until you see the line starting with the word “emojis” just above the actual emoji images.

3) Highlight all of the Emojis by tapping and holding on the word “emojis” and then dragging the selector all the way down, then tap on the Copy button.

4) Next, you’ll open the Notes app on your iOS device and you’ll create a new note.

5) Paste everything into the new note.

6) Now to test it out, tap and hold on one of the emojis you see and then tap on the Copy button.

7) Go ahead and start a new conversation with someone in the Messages app and Paste the emoji into the text field of the app.

8) Tap the Send button and the emoji should send to that person.

They will be able to see it no matter what version of iOS they’re running because it was sent as a tiny image file. Both iMessage and SMS are compatible with sending images so long as your phone and carrier support it.

Wrapping up

You may not be adding a slew of new emojis to iOS’ built-in Emoji keyboard itself, but with this method, you can at least still enjoy sending the new emojis to people before Apple actually implements it.

They can be shared across a variety of platforms, including Facebook Messenger and other messaging platforms that support sending image files.

Are you excited to see if Apple adopts the new emojis in a future version of iOS 10? Share in the comments!

Source: iDeviceHelp

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 06/26/2016

June 26, 2016 by macjeff

Zenge , Gravitations - Player Made Missions , Mind the Gap! Learn English Language – not just Grammar and Vocabulary and more

iPhone:

It's able to track all of your most critical performance metrics like calories, distance, time, speed, altitude, and pace. It also provides you with real-time map data, voice feedback, and even the local weather. The app includes history, automatic pause detection, and the ability to share your results via your favorite social networks.

Universal:

Zenge is void of points, timers, tutorials, move counters, and rating systems. They’re just a distraction from the art and sound. The idea is to slide puzzle pieces together in order to complete the image. The only thing stopping you are the puzzle pieces themselves since they can block each other out if put into place too soon. Take your time. Relax. Enjoy.

Guide your ship through space and around obstacles by dragging points along its path. Your goal is to not only successfully make it from one station to the other, but also recuse every last astronaut along the way. Keep in mind that you have a limited amount of fuel to complete your mission, so you must create the most efficient path. The game includes more than 4,500 user-created missions to complete, more than 30 spaceships to utilize, and the ability to create your own missions using a library of interstellar objects.

Mind the Gap takes authentic English text and cuts out words. It’s up to you to reconstruct the missing fragments by trying to understand the context of each sentence. After you’ve done your best, allow Mind the Gap to go over your answers and provide feedback. You can look up unfamiliar words in the dictionary so you don’t make the same mistake twice and go over your personal stats. Mind the Gap includes 15 subject areas and more than 500 pieces of text to work through.

Brain Wave Zen Meditation offers advanced brainwave entrainment therapy. You’re able to select from morning, afternoon, and evening programs, and choose a soothing background sound to accompany them. Then hit play and allow the app to sync your brainwaves to the deeply relaxing low frequency alpha, theta, and beta waves. The app also allows you to adjust the signal intensity and save your settings for later use.

Facie allows you to import any photo from your library or capture a new one from within the app. It will then automatically detect the outline and contours of your face. You’re able to mix and match a variety of selfie-improving filters like pure skin, lean face, bright smile, and divine light. The intensity of each filter can be adjusted as well.

Division Flashcard Match Games is loaded with positive reinforcement. It will help your child learn to divide by having them play a variety of memory matching games. You’re able to choose the best number range for your child’s skill level, but no matter which you choose your child will be able to hear the numbers and equations as they are touched. After each round, they’ll receive positive feedback and balloon popping rewards. Hints are available along the way, and “Show Me” and “Peek” features make it even easier for young learners to enjoy.

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