Everyone likes big monsters, whether it be Godzilla-like beasts or Katamari balls. There’s just some kind of macho fascination with giant, indestructible things that are hell-bent on terrorizing the Earth. Flowers, though – flowers are tough. The idea to have a big killer flower has existed, and has been successful, in the past with the Little Shop of Horrors, but game developers tend to stay away altogether.

Without a degree in psychology or any kind of research, I will attempt to accurately predict people’s thoughts on flowers. Flowers are soft, pretty, smell good, and are loved by girls (and guys, but the stereotype is that they are primarily liked by girls) all over the world for one reason or another. Because of this, many guys don’t want anything to do with flowers in their video games.

BIG BAD Brush sidesteps the gender stereotype by adding BIG and BAD (in caps) to the flower, creating a gender boundary breaking game that is sure to please macho world dominators and little girls alike (not that they can’t be one and the same — Ed.). The game starts with you, a living sunflower that plans on taking over the world. The problem is that every being in the universe wants to stop you.

Each level in the decidedly simple game starts with you, as the big sunflower, at the bottom of the screen with a bunch of things overhead for people or things to appear on. For example, the first levels have the sunflower in a backyard being ravaged by all of nature’s little creatures. Birds and squirrels throw things at you, mushrooms grow and cut off your health, and little critters come parachuting down from the sky to attack.

In your arsenal is a single weapon: bubbles. Again, BIG BAD Brush skirts the gender boundary by adding cutesy bubbles as weapons. To use a bubble, you have to draw a circle around the creature that you want to capture. After the creature is captured, you must swipe your finger on the sunflower and it blows the bubble away.

I know, playing as a sunflower that blows all the planetary domination “haters” away sounds like kids stuff, but the artwork is decidedly testosterone injected. The flower looks mean – real mean. So do the military units and giant creatures that come after you in later levels. Even the icon, complete with crazy eyes, looks mean.

Aside from all the flower talk, BIG BAD Flower is an excellent game that thrives off its sense of style. The game is fun, although slightly repetitive after some time, but the total package is a complete win. I would love to see some other attacks available, like a thorny vine arm or even some fire breath, but there’s really nothing wrong with the bubble system. If you like fast paced games with a sense of humor, be sure to check out BIG BAD Flower. You won’t be disappointed.

[ BIG BAD Flower Review is a post from 148Apps ]

I have seen a lot of iPhone games with “Tap” in the title, such as Tap Tap Revenge or Tickle Taps Apps.

This is TapDisc for iOS, and it is a little complicated. It also has some weird backstory about discs and orbs, not to mention defending the Earth. My Source says that it takes only a few games to get the hang of it, and it is a whole lot of fun after that.

You can get TapDisc for about $0.99 on the App Store.

When most of us were kids, science projects consisted of making fake volcanoes and using potatoes to power light bulbs. That wasn’t enough for a Brooklyn father and son though, as they decided to attach an iPhone to some balloons and send it to space. The two basically stuck an iPhone and an HD video camera into a takeout container, attached it to some weather balloons and then sent the device to boldly go where no phone has gone before. The result is an impressive flight into the darkness of near-space and an incredible video.

The resulting flight sees the phone travel roughly 19 miles above the surface of the Earth before the balloons pop and send the iPhone hurtling back toward the planet. Thankfully the father/son duo had the foresight to attach a parachute, so the phone gently touches down and its data recovered for all of us to enjoy.

The whole experiment is truly incredible, and a testament to just far modern technology has brought us. The “Brooklyn Space Program,” as they call themselves, has successfully sent an unmanned spacecraft into Earth’s upper atmosphere using tools anyone can purchase. Well done gentleman: if this doesn’t win every science fair from now until that kid graduates from high school then the world is truly an unfair place.

[via BSP]

[ Father and Son Send iPhone to Space is a post from 148Apps ]

Take an adventure with the American Museum of Natural History as they present Cosmic Discoveries, a new free iPhone app that offers a host of beautiful images, interesting stories and fascinating information about the world around us.

This app is presented as a part of an ongoing celebration for the tenth anniversary of the opening of the Museum’s Rose Center for Earth and Space, in New York City. As one of the most popular and revered Science Institutions in America, you can rest assured that they have put a worthy amount of energy into creating an app that will appeal to students, scientists and everyday space enthusiasts alike.

Offering over a thousand images of impressive quality, gathered from a host of different sources, space agencies, the Museum’s own collection and observatories worldwide. Each photo offers information about its subject, including astronauts, planets, stars, and nebulae. Also, it features photos from here on earth – our history, our technology and so much more to do with our discovery of outer space. All of this is presented as a mosaic with a familiar shape – Saturn. You can also share each photo with a friend right from within the app!

There are also 9 different ‘Stories’ included in the app. Learn about Comets, Pulsars, Galaxy Clusters and more! With illustrations, these stories offer detailed and educational information to anyone wanting to know more about the space around our planet, and to help understand the complexities of our universe. This would be a wonderful addition to any astronomy or cosmology class at any level. This app can function as a handy reference or as an interesting introduction to the topic of Space.

The American Museum of Natural History is no stranger to the App Store — if you liked their Dinosaur’s App, then you should definitely check this one out!

[ Discover the Stars with The American Museum of Natural History App is a post from 148Apps ]