Android – Iphone – Applications

BubbleSnatch looks an awful lot like a match three puzzler. It’s actually not. Instead it’s a game where you have to drag sea creatures into pipes.

That sounds horribly cruel doesn’t it? It’s not really. You’re meant to be evacuating them through suction pipes in order to save them from nasty foes. Each sea creature is a different colour, which means they need to go through a different pipe. There are all manners of nasty things out to get them first though, such as a plethora of sea urchins, crabs and eels. It’s down to you to hold your finger down on the creature and drag it around the nasty things, before depositing it in the correct pipe, all within a fairly relaxed time limit.

Oh and there are some power ups too such as extra time and strength, meaning you can push through the urchins a bit more easily. That truly is as complicated as it gets. There are 30 levels to complete and a high score based challenge mode, but throughout you’ll be doing the same thing over and over again. Oddly though, it’s quite calming to play. The simplicity of everything means you can relax quite easily with this game. This is enhanced even further when you can play your own music tracks alongside it. Stick a bit of trance music on and be soothed by the tranquillity of, well, saving cartoon-like sea creatures from death.

BubbleSnatch is quite cheap and quite cheerful. It might feel ultimately frivolous, and that’s because it is, but it still makes the daily commute go that bit more easily. Just don’t expect an epic of a game.

[ Bubblesnatch review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by nimajuni \\ tags: $0.99, based-challenge, doing-the-same, Game, iphone apps and games, puzzle, rating, sloth productions, through-suction

Vortex Dream is a sort of visualizer app with an interesting concept, decent graphics, and room to grow into a fun and useful app. However, as it stands it’s less than a one-trick pony. Since I do believe that there is decent potential for it, I will try to highlight what is great about this app before providing my ‘constructive’ feedback.

Firstly, the graphics are wonderful, and the methods of interaction with the ‘vortex’ are responsive. You can pinch or stretch, using multi-touch, and you can brush the vortex to speed up or spin around inside the vortex. You can also tap to change your color scheme; this is my favorite option as it flashes between colors – it’s quite pretty. Finally, you can shake your iPhone to quickly ‘zoom out,’ which offers a cool effect too. So, being honest, this technique of visualization is very appealing and well done. However, it doesn’t do anything. If you’re not playing with it, it just sits there. What this app is lacking is a function or purpose.

Here is what the developer should think about adding – and then it would be a more appealing and useful app. First, remove the top-bar from within the app – it’s distracting and useless. The second most logical step would be to build in the option to listen to your music while having the vortex affected by it, as a visualizer, while keeping the manual effects, too. I can see this perched in a cradle on desks everywhere spinning and pulsing along to Dance Music and Smooth Jazz alike. This would make this app infinitely cooler. Worst case option, include the ability to ’start up’ the motion at whatever speed you prefer, add a clock and call it “Vortex Dream Clock” – that, at least would be worth the $0.99. Until then, this app should be free.

As the photos don’t really show the animation very well, check out the video below to see this app in action.

[ Vortex Dream Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by Debra \\ tags: $0.99, animation, Application, christopher adams, dream, graphics, Iphone, iphone apps and games, music, overall-rating, photos, rating, visualization, vortex-dream

Red Ball of Goo is a game that was miraculously produced in a 24-hour period. Now, this may make some people skeptical of the game’s quality, but rest assured, this is not some bland fart app with a red ball. Red Ball of Goo is a simple puzzle game set to grab your addiction at full force.

There is one objective to this game, and that is collecting all the balls with your red goo circle without meeting an untimely demise by falling off the screen. This sounds easy at first, but the game quickly tests your abilities of stopping on a dime, nailing jumps, and calculating projectile paths. Once all the purple balls are gathered, you simply have to make it to the exit hoop. All of this is accomplished with two simple controls, left or right (input with on screen keys, or tilt mechanics). This may all sound like a walk in the park, but there is a fair amount of challenge that comes into play within just a few stages.

Read the Full Review on The Portable Gamer

[ Red Ball of Goo Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by zulu \\ tags: $0.99, Game, Games, Iphone, iphone apps and games, left-or-right, overall-rating, park, rating, review, untimely-demise, utopian-games

Buy low, sell high. It’s a mantra that’s formed the basis of so many success stories within business. It’s also caused a few downfalls over the years when – much like gambling on the wrong horse – you buy the wrong product and it all goes bad from there. The concept makes for an intriguing simulation game, though, and one which has admittedly been done before in a variety of guises such as the Lemonade Stand game, and my personal favourite – Dope Wars.

Trade Giant carries on with that trend with some success. It feels a little limited in terms of features but what is there is solid fun and an inexpensive pleasure.

It’s bizarre really. It’s a terribly unattractive looking game. Which is understandable, really, considering you’re basically spending numbers to make more numbers. It was never going to look revolutionary. The fun is in the way in which it draws you in. It’s a basic game but one that hooks you regardless of that part of your brain muttering how it’s bordering on pointless.

The story mode offers you the chance to complete various scenarios within a set time limit, so as to move onto the next stage. Each stage offers you new items in which you can trade. You start out with relatively basic items such as green tea and velvet. As you work your way up, you’re trading in expensive cars and Swiss watches. Ultimately it’s the same tactic throughout: buy low, sell high. Every now and then, a random event can occur which affects prices or your ability to travel. There’s not a huge level of strategy to it further than that. It’s still oddly compelling, though.

Maybe as a poor struggling writer, I appreciate the fact that it’s nice to profiteer in something, even if it is just a game. It was rather annoying, however, that if you fail an objective, you go right back to the beginning. I’d have much preferred for there to be save points to return to.

Challenge mode is much the same with the added impetus of Open-Feint based leaderboards to keep you keen. I found myself preferring the story mode with its objectives at the start of each stage however as it felt like there was more of a point.

That’s all there is to Trade Giant, so it is an extremely simple game. However, as a one time fan of Dope Wars, this fits the gap perfectly. Sure there’s no great purpose here but it’s a fun distraction, and for only 99c, what more can you ask for?

[ Trade Giant review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by zulu \\ tags: $0.99, device-reviewed, Games, iphone apps and games, lemonade, rating, replay-value, simulation, strategy, swiss, trading, uwingame

Sir Lovalot is a quirky little game reminiscient of the arcade classic, Nebulus. It’s an ideal game to play in short bursts even if it is clear that the Princess is doomed to never be rescued.

You play Sir Lovalot, a lovestruck knight, who must reach the top of the Tower in order to save the precious Princess. To do so, you have to jump higher and higher. This is done through tilting the iOS device – a control method that admittedly I’m not a huge fan of. This isn’t solely Sir Lovalot’s fault, it’s just that I play a lot of iPhone games while lying in bed before I go to sleep. Once I got used to the fact that I had to keep the iPhone steady though, I learnt that Sir Lovalot’s control system does suit the game really well. My dislike of tilt controls was quickly brushed away. It also makes it an ideal game to drop in on for short bursts as it’s so easy to get to grips with.

It’s a tumultuous path upwards for young Lovalot. Not all the platforms are as easy to leap on as you would think. Some break away as you climb on them, others are spring loaded. Even worse, some have spikes on which cause the poor Knight to lose a heart. Lose three hearts and it’s game over.

At times it’s not always clear as to where you need to go next, but this is a common flaw with the genre of vertical climbing. There’s a timer which also encourages you to keep on leaping, but it’s not too obtrusive. The entire manner of Sir Lovalot makes it so that you want to keep moving as fast as you can. The Open Feint leaderboards go a step further in encouraging you.

Sir Lovalot is far from a complicated game, but that is its charm. It’s purely a game that you jump (pun intended) into for 5-10 minutes just to see if you can boost your high score a tad further. It’s cheap, it’s cheerful, it’s worth a play.

[ Sir Lovalot Review is a post from 148Apps ]

written by simonivan \\ tags: $0.99, cause-the-poor, hungry game, Iphone, iphone apps and games, keep-on-leaping, keep-the-iphone, lovalot, overall-rating, platforms, princess, sir lovalot, spikes-on-which, vertical