I like casual games. I’ve said that before here on Gear Diary and I’m sure I will say it again. I recently got to review Montezuma 2 from Alawar Games and now I’m back to review another Alawar title – Hotel Mogul.
Agile Partners, creators of some wonderful music apps, have just significantly updated their beat mixing application Star6. I recently reviewed two of their apps for guitarists that have become some of my most use apps. Check out the reviews for Guitar ToolKit and Tab ToolKit. Star6 is a music mixer that utilizes the accelerometer and touch interface to create a truly unique musical experience. I am a musician, but have never done hip hop style beat mixes, so I was unsure if the app would even work in my hands. As you will see, it is quite easy to use!
We are all feeling the financial pinch! Blue Plate Special is a weekly review of bargain apps for the iPhone and iPod Touch. Nothing over $.99. Anyone who drives in the city knows the frustrations of a busy intersection. How great would it be to get rid of the stop light and control the traffic on your own? Take control over a busy intersection from above with the addictive game Traffic Rush. The game is currently the top ranked free app in iTunes and will provide some traffic relieving fun for the passing gamer. The object of Traffic Rush is…
Mail Tones from Electric Pocket is a nifty iPhone application that allows you to assign different ringtone alerts to each of the contacts in your address book. This way you’ll know who’s emailing you without ever having to turn the phone on. Dan reviewed the application here, and I’ve been using it faithfully ever since. Since the iPhone lacks any sort of real repeating notification system, I rely on Mail Tones quite heavily. I know, from the sound of the alert, if an e-mail that’s arrived is important or not. For the holiday season, Electric Pocket has released a Christmas…
I love to play Sudoku. There’s something about the challenge of getting all those pieces of the puzzle into the right combination that appeals to my inner geek. Keeping with the season (if you celebrate Christmas, that is), I felt compelled to check out the release of Christmas Sudoku from 99 Games. 99 Games was nice enough to give me a copy to check out!
I’ll admit it. I really like playing games on the iPhone. This time around, Alawar Games sent me a copy of Montezuma 2 to take a look at. So again, I’ll make an a small admission and mention that I never played the original Montezuma, but I have played many of these match-three type of games like “Bejeweled” or “Alchemize”. So let’s take a look at this one!
Oh don’t be shocked; we’ve all read it for the articles, and now you can do so from the privacy of your iPhone. You won’t find full nudity (although it is still rated 17+), but you will find “iconic monthly features” including the Playboy Interview, Playboy Advisor, 20 Questions, Party Jokes, Celebrities Hangin’ with Hef, and Fashion. Along with those items, you’ll also get some extra goodies… The new Playboy iphone app gives fans of the magazine a glimpse of the latest issue, along with exclusive content such as free Rabbit Head and Playmate wallpapers, and a Playmate video clip….
I’ve been using my GorillaPod flexible tripod more and more. It works great with my iPhone and came in super-handy when I was using a number of iPhone camera apps while on vacation last week. Well Joby, the company behind the GorillaPod has released a free iPhone camera app. It is free, offers some nice features, works great and… did I mention… it is free!
While it’s true the iPod which is bundled on the iPhone and iPod Touch is pretty slick, sometimes you just have to break it down “old scho0l.” Check out my video demo of “iClassic” for jailbroken iPhones, which emulates the iPod Classic in every which way right on your iPhone. It’s just amazing.
I have begun to like playing puzzle games, especially word games. Maybe I am getting old, but games that require thought have become more fun for me. I have reviewed many different types of puzzle games, including several word games but iAchieve has turned out to be not only fun and addictive but very unique. One of my Sophomore students showed me iAchieve Lite and told me I must try it because she thought I would love it. She was correct! I was instantly addicted.
AT&T has released a new program for the iPhone called “AT&T Mark the Spot”. The purpose of the program is to help you, as an AT&T customer, report network outages, issues, and dead spots. In this release AT&T makes it really simple to report problems. It will capture your GPS location or you can submit about a location not specifically where you are at. The app has some basic things it wants to know: Is it a dropped call, failed call, no coverage, data failure, or poor voice quality problem? Does it happen once, seldom, often, or always? You can…
When I first downloaded and played with Questia, I thought, “I don’t get it.” I understood that it offered access to loads of academic humanities texts, and had a free public domain section, but what was the value in it? You could hit up your university library if you needed to do research, and public domain books are available in loads of places. Then I had the chance to talk with Tim Harris, CEO of Questia, and that’s where I learned the true value of this application. “We are a research library, for people who want to access as much…
As a youngster I can remember watching various NFL quarterbacks compete in challenge events during the off season. Often times the events took place in Hawaii or some other tropical paradise and I had dreams of being my favorite signal caller competing in the various challenge events. The NFL and ProAppSports recently announced the immediate availability of NFL Quarterback Challenge game for the iPhone OS. The game allows you to test your QB skills and accuracy as you navigate the QB of your favorite NFL team through a series of challenges just like those old TV specials. NFL Quarterback Challenge…
Attention Farmville and FarmTown fans! Many of us spend way too much time on Facebook. If much of that time is spent on one of these farm simulation games, do I have an app for you! This summer I did fall into the Farm Town trap and spent (wasted) a lot of time harvesting and planting crops in hopes to buy more stuff and a larger piece of land. Yes, there is no point, but for some reason it is extremely addicting. So, how about taking this addicting waste of time mobile!?! iFarm will give you the chance!
If you like movies, this is one app you definitely need to check out. It is easy to use, chock full of movie info and will make it easier than ever to find movies by your favorite director or actor. Is it worth the $1.99 price? Judie and I decided to give it a try and see …
My gaming tastes are either changing, or I have become a simple person in my older age. It seems the flurry of simple puzzle games not only entertain me, but also keep me addicted to the small bursts of gaming time I have. Orba is a simple screen clearing game. The premise is simple and has been seen in several games. Tap chains of three or more orbs in an attempt to clear the board.
I like puzzle games quite a bit. I travel a lot, and so even though I enjoy things like Dark Nebula, Earthworm Jim (yay!), and Cro-Mag Rally, puzzle games like Myst or Beneath a Steel Sky or Bookworm or Glyph are better for me, as they are easy to stop in the middle, the time pressure isn’t a big issue, and I don’t have to worry about being jostled or hitting air-pockets and losing a life as a result. Thumb-twitch games are tough on the heavy traveler. So I’m big on puzzle games. (Also card games, but that’s another review.)…
For those of you who are running jail-broken iPhones take note. We’ve seen some really amazing releases over the last few days. I’ve chose to highlight two of them in the video below. Overboard, which is essentially a version of the Mac utility Expose, makes it really easy to jump around your iPhone’s various springboard pages. Overboard is available for $1.99 via the modmyi source. And Snappy allows you to quickly access the camera application from any screen including the lock screen allowing you to be able to quickly snap pictures when you choose. What’s really great about it you…
Sunstorm Interactive is at it again with a new game for the iPhone OS. The company is quickly becoming one of my favorite game developers for the iPhone OS. With titles at only 99 cents a piece many of them are finding a permanent place on my phone. Rescue Razzle is a brainteasing, puzzle game where you are charged with rescuing a helpless rat named Razzle. Razzle is stuck inside a cage at the top of pyramid of wooden crates and other cages. The goal is to remove all the surrounding items allowing Razzle to safely to the ground. It’s…
I love classic games of all sorts. I still occasionally replay my copy of the original 1981 Castle Wolfenstein through an emulator and have always loved playing arcade games when the arcade collections are released. So when I heard that a Commodore 64 game emulation system was coming to the iTunes App Store, I was thrilled. Of course, that joy was short-lived as the app was approved but quickly pulled due to an exploit that allowed BASIC to run and potentially allow harmful code to execute (I know, I know, but still …). Anyway, recently Manomio have announced that a…
Before deciding this is not an interesting gaming option because it is the Lite version, read this review. You may be surprised on what you find! I have to admit I am usually not a fan of lite versions of paid apps, but this game is different. One reason is Firemint has teamed up with Volkswagen to bring this game as an introduction of the new 2010 GTI. Yes, the game is basically a commercial for the new GTI, but this also means it is a really nice version of the $4.99 Real Racing game for free!