"If there is an app for that"

Ninja Boy Adventures

March 28, 2016 by macjeff

Ninja Boy Adventures ($1.99) by The Clash Soft is a nice homage to the original Bomberman franchise. If you were a fan of that franchise, or just love a good strategic maze-based game, then Ninja Boy Adventures is for you.

When I was growing up, I remember having a few of the original Bomberman video games for what I believe was a Game Boy system (I didn’t have a great memory of what I owned back then). I am not sure exactly why I liked the Bomberman games at the time, but I think it was my joy and glee watching enemies get blown up as they stupidly walked into the path of a bomb I had planted for them. I was an easily entertained kid back then, and I think that still holds true even more nowadays when I play video games. So of course, when I heard that Ninja Boy Adventures was coming out and played like Bomberman games, I just had to get my hands on it and check it out. How can I resist a solid piece of my childhood?

Visually, Ninja Boy Adventures has a modernized aesthetic, but it still serves as a nice tribute to the old-school Bomberman games of yore due to the simple style. The mazes are laid out in simplistic or complex layouts that definitely give you a challenge each time you play, and the colors are bright and vibrant, especially the squishy-looking menu buttons. I like the character sprites of Ninja Boy himself, as well as all of the various enemies and bosses, because the game is just bursting with personality and the characters feel like a blast from the past (Ninja Boy has a close resemblance to Bomberman, you can’t miss the similarities in character design). Animations are smooth and fluid, with no lag on my iPhone 6s Plus. The game also has an awesome, quirky chiptune soundtrack and fun sound effects that definitely give players a sense of nostalgia, so it’s a nice overall finishing touch to the game’s great visual and audio package.

There are two modes in Ninja Boy Adventures: Story Mode and Battle Internet. The Battle Mode allows you to play up with up to three other people in real-time over the Internet. If you have an Apple TV, the game also works on that, and everyone can play offline on one device, which is nice. The Story Mode is where you will probably spend most of your time though, and it includes a total of 30 levels that are distributed over 11 different zones and three worlds. This also has an optional collaborative mode where up to four players can play together to try and beat the game.

So what is the goal of Ninja Boy Adventures? Each stage puts you in a maze of walls and boxes that can be blown up to reveal some nice power-up items. You have to make your way around the maze and eliminate all of the enemies and bosses before the exit appears and you can move on to the next level. While it sounds easy, things get a bit more complicated as you encounter enemies that can freely roam around, fly over walls, and many other abilities. You’ll have to plan your exit strategy with precision, because sometimes you just never know if you’re going to be cornered. Plus, you have to watch out for those bombs you’re planting down as well — if you’re in the line of fire for the blast, you lose a life, and you only have so many of those (indicated at the top of the screen). To make things more challenging, each stage has a time limit as well, so you have to think quickly for your best plan of action within the allotted time frame.

The controls in Ninja Boy Adventures are simple and intuitive. In the bottom left corner, there is a virtual joystick for moving Ninja Boy left, right, up, and down in the labyrinth. Don’t worry if your thumb ends up straying from the corner, though — the joystick is not pinned to the corner, so it will follow your thumb around as you drag it to move Ninja Boy. To place a bomb down (you have an infinite number), just tap on the button located in the bottom right corner. But watch out — once a bomb is put down, it’s recommended to move at least a few squares away from it, as it takes a few seconds to detonate, and will kill you if you’re caught in the crossfire.

As I mentioned, there are power-up items to be found in the destroyable crates. These contain useful things like extending the range of the blast (be careful though), increasing the damage, land mines that trigger when stepped on, and more. But you’ll have to look at the power-ups carefully, because some are traps, such as instant-death or reducing your bomb power. Since you have to keep an eye on what drops from boxes as well as steering clear of enemy movement patterns, things can become pretty hectic as you make progress. It’s all about timing, accuracy, and most importantly, skill, in this game. I mean, that’s what the old Bomberman games were about, so why should this be any different?

Thanks to the co-op play and online multiplayer battles, there is plenty of replay value here even if you beat the game and obtain the best possible score for each stage. Plus, there is Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements, so there’s plenty of reason to keep coming back for more.

I grew up with the old Bomberman games and have missed them a lot, so it’s nice to have Ninja Boy Adventures on my iOS so I can get my Bomberman fix (as close as I’m going to get) while I’m on-the-go. The visual style in the game is beautiful, the retro music and sounds are a joy to the ears, and the controls are easy to pick up and rather intuitive. The difficulty of the game also ramps up gradually, so I think it’s friendly enough for anyone to enjoy.

I highly recommend giving Ninja Boy Adventures a try if you’re a fan of Bomberman or like challenging maze strategy games. Ninja Boy Adventures is available on the App Store as a universal app for the iPhone, iPad, and Apple TV for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases, so you pay once and get the game on every platform.

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

Blackbox - think outside the box

March 28, 2016 by macjeff

Blackbox - think outside the box (Free) by Ryan McLeod is a new kind of puzzle game that has you thinking of creative new ways to solve puzzles without ever touching the screen. If you’re tired of the same old puzzle games on iOS, then Blackbox is something refreshing and different.

If you have followed my work here at AppAdvice, then you will know that I can’t help but love a good puzzle game. However, over the years, it seems that puzzles have become a tried-and-true genre, where developers go with the same old gameplay concepts and challenges, just don’t in a slightly different way. None of them have brought something completely different to the table in terms of iOS gaming, so while I love the genre, sometimes it starts to feel a bit stale. So when I got a message in my inbox regarding a new puzzle game that makes you think outside of the box, I was intrigued — what could this possibly mean? Turns out that Blackbox is a puzzle game that is unlike anything you’ve ever played before. So take what you know about puzzles on iOS and throw it out the window, because none of that will help you with this unique twist to the genre.

Visually speaking, Blackbox is very simple and fairly barebones, to be honest. It goes along well with the clean and flat aesthetic of modern day iOS, and fans of minimal design will fall in love. Blackbox, as the name suggests, features a crisp, black background that fills the entire screen, and neon lines, shapes, and dots contrast nicely against the darkness. There isn’t much else to the game’s graphics other than that, but the animations are fluid and smooth, making for a seamless playing experience. The game has no sounds or music, but that doesn’t detract from the experience at all — in fact, it adds to it.

Blackbox has over 50 distinctive puzzles for players to solve. They are not split up into various chapters like other games. Instead, they are color-coded, and you unlock more available puzzles as you solve other ones. The colors each have a different meaning, but one thing is for certain: they all utilize some aspect of your iPhone’s hardware, so you’re going to have to really understand how your device works in order to solve the puzzles.

The controls in Blackbox are special, because you will never use the screen to solve anything. You can tap on the screen to pause and return to the level select screen, or perform a 3D Touch on a compatible device to quickly go back home. But for actually solving the puzzles, you will have to figure out what the puzzle is asking you to do, and make use of the component on your iPhone to solve it. This ranges from using the device gyroscope and accelerometer to get colors on the screen to go where you need them to, using the mirror to reverse what is on the screen, adjusting the brightness of your device, tinkering around with the buttons and headphone jack, blowing into the microphone, and much more. This is just a sample of what I’ve tried so far, and I’m just a few puzzles in.

While the game certainly has a new perspective on puzzles, be prepared — some of these can be rather maddening at first, so you’ll have to return to it at a later time to solve if you can’t figure it out immediately. The game also has some hints that you can use, though they should be kept as a last resort when you just can’t seem to figure out what to do. Blackbox is a challenging puzzle game that requires brainpower, time, patience, and perspective to solve.

I’m still fairly early on in Blackbox, but I am in love with it so far. As a big fan of puzzles, this is the most invigorating new game I’ve played in a while due to the exclusive gameplay concept and controls. Plus, the minimalist visuals and text look fantastic on the screen. The developer is also actively looking for user feedback, so if you find something broken or have ideas for new challenges, make sure to let the developer know.

I highly recommend giving Blackbox a try if you haven’t already. It’s great to see someone come up with something that has yet to be done in the iOS gaming world until now.

Blackbox – think outside the box is available on the App Store as a free download for your iPhone only. There are in-app purchases for hints and an all-level unlock.

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

YO-KAI WATCH Wibble Wobble

March 28, 2016 by macjeff

YO-KAI WATCH Wibble Wobble (Free) by Level-5 Inc. is a fresh new puzzle game from the Yo-Kai Watch universe. If you love puzzle games or just enjoy the Yo-Kai Watch franchise, then this game is a gem worth adding to your collection.

I consider myself a fairly big fan of Japan and all of the interesting things that come from over there, especially various anime series and certain games. However, while I have tried the Yo-Kai Watch demo on my 3DS, I didn’t invest in the full game, though it may be a consideration for the future. Despite that, I was still interested in Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble when I first heard of it, because hey, I am somewhat familiar with the premise of the franchise, and I love puzzle games. I had a chance to check out the game last week at the Game Developers Conference (GDC) in San Francisco, and after trying the demo out, I was eager to get my hands on the final release. Now that it’s out, it was definitely worth the wait.

In terms of visuals, Wibble Wobble remains true to the original Yo-Kai Watch video game. The game has a bright and cheerful cartoon aesthetic that makes it friendly enough for everyone, from kids to adults. While Wibble Wobble is not a fully 3-D game like the original, it does contain some 3-D visual elements, such as the animations of the yokai when they perform special attacks, as well as showing off the enemy yokai that you’ll be facing off against as you traverse through the world map. The graphics in Wibble Wobble are fairly polished, and the animations are smooth and fluid, especially when the physics come into play. The soundtrack is upbeat and quirky, and the sound effects of the yokai are a fun, finishing touch.

Like other puzzle games out there, Wibble Wobble is level-based, and each stage is a spot on the world map. With each level, you will face off against a new variety of yokai, which will have its own unique strengths, weaknesses, and attacks. Since the premise of the original game is to have you befriend and catch different yokai, you shouldn’t be surprised to find out that this also applies in Wibble Wobble. Each yokai that you encounter has a chance of befriending you after they’re defeated, and you can increase that chance by giving them a treat before starting a puzzle, though that is completely optional. While you may want to collect them all, the main objective of each stage is to defeat the enemy yokai and move on to the next level. At the end of each area will be a boss battle against a powerful yokai, so it is recommended to go back and replay levels in order to make your team stronger (each battle nets your yokai team experience points) and befriend yokai that you have not yet added to your army. The game also informs you of what recommended level your team should be before starting a puzzle, so you can see if you’re ready for the challenge or not.

The game mechanic in Wibble Wobble is to connect the same yokai pieces with a line that you trace with your finger. The more yokai you have in your chain, the larger the yokai becomes. To have that yokai attack the enemy, just tap on it — the larger the yokai is, the more damage it will do. If you can rack up large chains and pop them within just a few seconds, it will start a combo, which means more points and damage. If you’re fast enough, you can also enable the Fever Mode for bonus damage, and each of your yokai has a gauge that can be filled by making matches. Once you fill those gauges, that yokai can perform a “soultimate move” that can dish out some impressive damage or even heal you (your health is the bar above the bubbly game pieces and below the yokai). These soultimate moves can help you out a lot, so it’s important to remember to activate them (just tap on the yokai) when they’re available.

Since Wibble Wobble is a free-to-play game, you can expect the usual energy system (spirit) and in-app purchases for things like more energy, y-money (regular currency), and coins (premium currency). The currencies in the game can be used to purchase more spirit, or you can spend them in the “Crank-A-Kai” feature, which awards you with a random yokai capsule. You can keep track of all of the yokai that you’ve acquired by chekcing the “Medallium” in the game menu, along with other things like medals, settings, profile, friends, and more.

Even though I’m not usually a fan of energy systems in games, I found Wibble Wobble’s system to be pretty reasonable. It does not take too long to recharge your spirit, and the game will often award you a spirit for successfully completing a puzzle.

Even though I wasn’t fully invested in the original 3DS game, I’m finding Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble to be rather enjoyable. The cartoonish graphics are stunningly beautiful, especially on Retina screens, the music and sounds are fun, the controls are simple, the gameplay itself is challenging and refreshing due to the awesome physics engine, and the collecting aspect (over 200 yokai) means there is high replay value. I just wish that the game felt a bit smoother when transitioning between screens, as it does feel a bit choppy at times when I’m going through different sections of the menu.

I recommend checking out Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble if you are a fan of Yo-Kai Watch or just enjoy fun and charming puzzle games. You can find Yo-Kai Watch Wibble Wobble on the App Store on the iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.

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

Check out these five apps of the week

March 27, 2016 by macjeff

Looking for new apps to download? Pick from these top five of the week, ranging from one that will file your taxes, one that will add more security to the websites you visit, to one that can deliver some dinner tonight.

The post UberEats, Huthunt, Taxfyle, and more: Check out these apps of the week appeared first on Digital Trends.

Free Apps to Download TODAY ONLY 03/27/2016

March 27, 2016 by macjeff

Lines the Game , Blood Pressure Assistant - log, monitor and track your blood pressure measurements , Runtastic Squats PRO – Workouts, Trainer & Counter and more

iPhone:

Monogram Plus allows you to be you. It’s able to customize all five complications on your watch face with emojis, text, or images. Simply launch the app, choose whichever face you have set, and then fill in the blank. Make sure Monogram Plus is installed on your Apple Watch, and deep press on the watch’s face in order to customize the complications. Your chosen emoji, text, or image will then appear! You can also choose the color of your complication, and force the complication to refresh.

Universal:

At first glance, Lines may look like a very simple puzzle game due to its minimalist design. But the moment you complete the tutorial level you’ll get a sense of the ingenuity required to succeed. Your objective is to place or remove colored dots in order to fill in more of the line drawings than the other colors. All of the colors move at the same pace, and when they collide they will stop in their tracks, so cutting off paths is key. The game includes 250 puzzles, five different modes, and daily challenges.

Blood Pressure Assistant is simple and effective. It allows you to log your blood pressure readings, heart rate, and the date and time of the measurements and recall them at any time. Measurements are displayed in list form, and you can view charts along with seven-day and monthly averages. The data can be synced with the Apple Health app, and exported via email.

It's able to take you from zero to 150 squats by putting through three training plans. The app is able to count your squats automatically and notify you when to take breaks. It also records all of your personal stats and records, including calories burned. You're able to share your workouts and records via Facebook, Twitter, or email.

The app is loaded with fun and colorful items to count and match. Depending on their ability level, your child can either play with cards face down or face up to make things easier. Hints are also available if need be. The game includes professional narration for every included item, positive reinforcement, and parental controls.

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