Each level has lots of platforms, obstacles, spring boards and coins to collect that unlock characters and enable you to buy continues. Dying comes fast and often and once dead you have the option to watch an advert or pay 50 coins for a continue (this goes up the more continues you need). To play, you tap and hold the screen to slam down your pole and hopefully vault over the gaps and obstacles. Achievments can be earned by collecting a certain amount of coins, landing on particularly thin three trunks and upgrading your character.

Nitrome’s particular style of characters are all present from the purple jellybean with a sweatband (the enemies in Green Ninja – Year of the frog), a fish with the bounciest run you have ever seen and even a baby grim reaper

The game hit the App Store in late July and more recently arrived on Google Play. It’s free to download so there really is no excuse to try it out. Should you want to remove the ads, you can pay a small fee.

Overall, the visuals and sounds are oozing retro style and the gameplay is fun and addictive. Its the kind of game that is fun to play in small bursts and offers a refreshing new angle on the endless runner genre. This has to be my new favourite Nitrome game and I look forward to seeing what other weird and wonderful games and characters come out of the Nitrome universe.

The post Review: Vault | iOS appeared first on AppTrawler.

In AFDL you play Officer Robert Campbell, aka Vengeance, an armour suited, super soldier trying to keep the peace in a world collapsing into the zombie apocalypse.

The game is reminiscent of Halo: Spartan Assault with a sprinklings of Resident Evil. It balances frantic twin stick zombie shooting action in a psuedo-top down viewpoint with an array of different puzzle elements. One minute you will be cutting your way through an onslaught of charging zombies with your assault rifle and the next you are playing a memory game with a psychotic Prison Director.

The game has a decent budget with scripted ‘in-engine’ cutscenes and passable voice work but it would benefit from some final polish. This action packed shooter works hard to cram in as many options as possible. A swipe control is used to change weapons and sporadic shop keepers offer a slew of different weapon types and upgrades. All of which are a little too expensive to get on a ‘free’ play through. A jump button creates some verticality and allows the protagonist to navigate over small obstructions and access higher levels. The melee button comes in very handy when swamped by the undead and become invaluable when reloading. Finally, the gadgets functionality means you can drop mines, release drones and throw smoke bombs. This mass of options does make you feel like you are getting a lot of game for your money, and it is pretty cool to have a drone fly around the screen taking out your enemies. However, all of these buttons do make the GUI a touch overcrowded and if you have fat fingers you might press shoot, melee and jump at the same time (on my iPhone 6, not on iPad).

The story moves along at a fast pace with twists and turns throughout introducing additional characters such as the sword wielding ninja and a maniacal scientist.

Overall, the game deserves its ‘app store’ featured status as it looks great and has responsive controls. The game feels cinematic, with an engaging narrative despite some dodgy voice acting. The gadgets are a exciting addition and there is plenty of game to keep to busy. The additional weapons and upgrades are a bit on the pricey side and many will not want to spend more than a couple of dollars on upgrades. However, the game is fun and congratulations has to go out to the team at Fedeen Games For translating this third-person twin stick shooter to mobile devices. It’s well worth a play.

ITUNES LINK: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/a-few-days-left/id908844751?mt=8

The post Review: A Few Days Left | iOS appeared first on AppTrawler.

The app acts as a hub of various games that are categorised into ‘table games’ such as Blackjack and Texas Hold’em, ‘Slots’ such as Iron Man 2 and Football Carnival and ‘Roulette’ with both Royal Roulette and European Roulette. Additional games are added and changed regularly, so you can be sure to see other games from Vegas Craps to the  highly addictive X-men Slots.

The sounds and graphics are top notch across all the different game types. The graphics and animations on the slots look like they have been taken from the original Playtech machines. The card games feel extremely slick with smooth animations that are quick and don’t deter from the gameplay. The realistic sound effects add to the experience and the excellent voice over work and ambient Jazz piano (playing in the background) add to the overall ambience. I really must congratulate Casino.com for reducing down the Casino experience for the mobile market. I have various apps dedicated to card games, craps, and roulette but this is the first that have aggregated all the games into one complete package.

For new players the amount of choice could be a little overwhelming at first. However, each and every game is only downloaded on request so you do not need to worry about long download times as you only download the games you are interested in. Each game also has a demo mode so you can practice all you like using ‘demo cash’ before hitting the big leagues and earning some real money.

The banking side of Casino.com is simple, with a host of deposit and withdrawal methods to suit your preference. Casino.com is fully licensed and regulated to offer online casino gaming services under the jurisdiction of Gibraltar and also provides a friendly and professional support service 24/7 giving you piece of mind when it comes to entering you payment details.

Overall, this is a highly polished app that looks and feels professional. The games are fun for both the non-gambler and those that like a flutter. The wealth of content available for free is fantastic and getting your winning is quick and easy. Casino.com have done a remarkable job of distilling the casino experience into a slick set of handheld games.

Click here to download Casino App.

(Available to users from UK, Sweden and Ireland)

The post Casino.com App Review | iPhone appeared first on AppTrawler.

I began online shopping with Tesco and as with many thousands of others have stuck with them not because of loyalty but because of ease. I knew my way around their website and all my address details were stored with them. They capitalised on my laziness by offering a reduction in the delivery charge if I paid 6 months in advance.

I now use their Tesco App on my iPad every week and as I know it so well feel that I should use this knowledge to go through the pros and pitfalls of this as a way of shopping. The App is very simple to use, you log in and up comes your own list of options. This has grown over the years to now accommodate shopping with Tesco Direct and being able to browse recipes for inspiration.  The list of options is a little unnecessary but easily averted by simply choosing groceries and away you go.

A simple choice when shopping is available, either you opt for a search whereby you type in the product you want or you can browse for the item you need. The option to search has never been satisfactory as the items presented are contrived and far less than you would see if you browsed yourself.

The browsing option, for example, looking in household items for kitchen roll, is also problematic. on occasion the items are in the wrong place and kitchen roll is under the heading ‘tissues’ by mistake making the shopping experience a frustrating one.

I am more frequently finding myself using the website as I am unable to book a slot for delivery and complete my order as I am told the servers are busy, when in fact the App is simply not working properly.

The recipe section is also something I have used and is very useful for inspiration and being able to add the necessary ingredients to your basket. All the items are not always needed though and further there is no evident way of bookmarking the recipient that you have chosen for future reference, when you come to making the meal.

The Tesco App has the same limitations as many others I am sure, and although it has it’s problems it certainly beats shopping for real with two toddlers! It seems to get updated quite regularly which is great but I think that more effort should be put into the search and categorisation than adding new features for Tesco Direct.

The post Review: Tesco Shopping App | iPhone | iPad appeared first on AppTrawler.

It’s back with a vengeance

Hairbrained Schemes wanted to stay loyal to the original and the screenshots in the Kickstarter campaign really sold it. The project raised nearly 2 million in funding after only asking for $400k and the IP returned to the original creator.

but what about the game

The first thing that will put you off is the price. £7 / $10 is a lot to pay for a mobile game in this day in age, especially one by a small development company. As the game was originally built for PC you can expect more depth than the average mobile title.

The graphic mix detailed 2D backdrops with 3D character models and whilst both are good in their own right, the merging of the two is a little jarred. Personally I would have preferred one or the other. The team have tried the best to merge the two using subtle animations and the ability to walk behind the 2D backgrounds but its not without fault. I think the optimization done on the graphics in order to bring the file size down has give some of the visuals a slight grainy texture that might not be present on the PC version.

Sounds and music are limited but solid and the music fits the grungy and tired future it portrays. Weapon Sounds are spot on and whilst I understand why there is no voice acting I think the odd street vector call or ‘hello’ here and there would not have gone a miss.

The story and dialogue is where it really shines. There is a lot of text, a lot of story and decision trees aplenty. This is why voice acting was never on the cards as the audio files alone would have filled up a standard iPad’s memory. The film Noir style story mixes seamlessly with the crime thriller narrative and you feel like a futuristic Humphrey Bogarde after the next lead in your hot case.

The game-play is mainly point and click with turn based fighting. These work well and stay true to the original game.

Many on the App Store complained of problems and sections not loading. I did suffer some issues after downloading but once I had rebooted my tablet I did not have any further issues.

Overall, this is a big game so you get your money’s worth and if you liked the original then this trip down memory lane will be a lot of fun. If you are new to Shadowrun you might find it different to more recent titles, as it requires a lot of reading and remembering, as there is little hand holding so you will have to concentrate. This is not a game you can dip in and out of in 10 minute intervals as there is a lot to take in so i would recommend tackling it is large 2-3 hour sittings. The game plays well but the mix of graphics is slightly off putting at times but if you are a fan of the cyber punk genre then you will find a lot here to keep you busy.

The post Review: Shadowrun Returns | Android Tablet appeared first on AppTrawler.

As we know, the android app market is flourishing. Though, there are various app development platforms in the market, yet android has occupied the top position with maximum number of users downloading apps made for android devices. Besides, even developers are preferring android the platform for developing the apps, as it is an open source platform and free, developers don’t need to buy software licenses during android app development.

Whether you belong to a business or a non-business community having an app has become the quintessential requirement for all. Android app development helps in creating several type of apps, be it an entrepreneur app or a game app etc. One highly useful app that can be used by individuals as well as business firms is Cal Calendar.  Let’s review what’ll does this app offers.

What is Cal Calendar

Cal calendar is a new app added to Google Play. Brought by Any.do this app is one of the best looking calendar apps till date. Without a doubt, things that are pretty appeal more to the consumers but what actually matters is the working of the application – whether or not it works the way we expected.

Functionality of Cal Calendar

Well, you might be looking to have answer to what does this app actually do? It’s really not that difficult to figure out, as it name itself clears that it’s a calendar app. This app comes with all the functionality that you’d find in any regular calendar. Also, like any calendar app it has all the same features like adding and editing events, syncing your calendars, and there is even a to-do list plugin that you can download from the Play Store.

That’s it! This is just another calendar app that has some really nice widgets available for phones as well as tablets and exactly does what you’ll expect from any other calendar app. What makes Cal Calendar different from the others is its good look and feel.

Pros and Cons

Going by the saying that “there are two sides to every coin”, same is what we can say about the Cal Calendar app.

Positives about the App

• The bright, colorful images add a nice look and feel to the app. Additionally, the modular GUI of the app makes navigating throughout the app easy and pleasurable.
• The subtleness of the app is the main highlight. It’s undoubtedly the most simple calendar app, wherein adding events requires you to simply select the boxes with almost no or little typing.

Negatives about the App

A lot of people have complained about the app slow performance, which sometimes requires to “force close” the app. These are the bugs that still need to be worked upon.

A Final Word

After going through aforesaid points, we can say that this app is justly good. It has few bugs, but leaving them aside there is nothing bad in this app. In fact, it’s a really beautiful calendar app and very simple to use. So, folks this app is definitely worth the download.

Related articles

• 12 of the best calendar apps available for your Android smartphone today
• iCal calendars
• Cal, the Calendar App from the Team Behind Any.DO, Is Out for Android
• Sync Ical With Google Calendar
• Any.do’s Cal smart calendar app lands on Android

The post Review: Cal Calendar App | Android appeared first on AppTrawler.

A Great New Mobile Game

Players experience movie thrills along with Batman, the Joker, and several other classic characters. Exciting bonuses are coupled with several exciting movie scenes. Batman continues to lead players on shadowy and audacious adventures paralleling segments from the blockbuster movie. Caught up in escalating action and captivating confrontations, the Dark Knight Rises is one of the new mobile games that combine convincing auditory effects designed to enhance play and produce power-punching twists at every turn.

The most exciting scene-stealer involves the virtual fight progression that incorporates the Free-Spins Accumulator. This revolutionary feature randomly occurs in the basic game where Batman and Bane battle against one another, ultimately resulting in Free Spins and exciting Multipliers. As entries are made into this new feature, players accumulate chances to win. The video is an ideal mix of lifelike photographic imagery and adrenaline pumping wins. A free-play option is an added bonus!

Technical Specs

The Dark Knight Rises centers on one of the most famous characters on the silver screen. Superb visuals combine the five-reel slot with awesome pay-lines, wild scatter symbols, free spins, and some of the greatest wins around. Cash bonus, free spins, prizes, and bonus features provide hundreds of winning combinations and thrilling adventures in this action-packed video slot!

The Dark Knight Slot Machine

The Dark Knight Rises Slots has countless automatic play features with betting panels that accelerate game options. The pay-line makes this a wallet friendly betting game that allows for potential wins without destroying your bank account. Realistic symbols and Black Knight Wilds trigger the free-spins. Lock into position to increase your winning potential. Bonuses ignite player anticipation while accelerating the heart rate. This impressive Dark Knight Slot Game makes for great winning combinations. Character rewards provide cool prizes and superior features.

Playing Dark Knight Rises

During free spin play, characters appear at random, increasing the multipliers and allowing opportunities for more free-spins. Individual scatters trigger free-spins with double multipliers. This hugely popular slot creates an adrenaline rush comparable to the other Dark Knight Slot Video games, triggering random bonuses on the wheel. All of the superior game versions bring you along on Dark Knight Escapades so that you can participate in action packed bends and curves while experiencing incredible opportunities to win big!

The post Review: The Dark Knight Rises™ Slots appeared first on AppTrawler.

To start up, a few minutes are required to set up permanent safety information and the rest is filled based on your location (in times of crisis), and extensive database of national and international emergency service details. Once added, your information remains safe and ready for use as and when you need, regardless of the presence of an internet connection at that place. The application provides the local telephone numbers of the emergency services anywhere in the world. This also facilitates personalization- personal contacts like friends and families, vital country specific numbers for instance the local Embassy, Hotel or Hospital.

The Best thing about this application is that emergency calls and texts can be sent anywhere in the world to your closest family members, your doctor or your friend in seconds. The app is specially made for use by travelers of all ages at home or on travel abroad. Concerned parents, the elderly, and anyone who is in need to contact agencies quickly in case of an emergency can benefit from this as in such crisis it is important to reach out to the information you want quickly. And what more can you ask for-all this can be done from a single screen and with just one finger-tap. Wow! I love it! What are waiting for, then? Go and install it right now and stay safe forever.

The post A Safe App for All: Travel Safe appeared first on AppTrawler.

The story revolves around Ittle Dew, an adventurous young girl who washes up on an island and has to complete a number of quests before the mad shop keeper will give her a boat to sail off on.  Ittle Dew sets off with her trusty drunken flying fox companion and tackles castles, dungeons, caves and a slew of weird  and wonderful enemies.

Swedish indie studio Ludosity has done a great job of bringing back the look and feel of the classic Zelda whilst offering a fresh and funny spin on it.

I have added the trailer below to give you a taste of the game before I hit you with the negatives…

OK, now the downside…

I really enjoyed playing this game in the beginning  and I was happy to over look the slow load times and periodic stutter but I had to stop playing when I had to hit four diamonds to open a door. This is a relatively simple puzzle about 30 minutes into the game and has four diamonds that are timed to turn off after a certain time. Using the on screen joypad I found it very difficult to move my character fast enough and after 20 attempts I was still struggling. Frustrated I downloaded the Steam version of the game and found that the same puzzle was infinitely easier on a joypad and keyboard.

So whilst I would recommend the game ‘as a game’ I would probably avoid the iPhone version and try the PC, Tablet or even OUYA version in order to avoid the troubles of an onscreen joypad.

Related articles

• Why do I like grinding?
• Ittle Dew
• The Top 15 Best iOS Games of 2013 That You Must Play
• Booyah for Ouya?
• [Bonus Round] Ittle Dew, Promised Lands, Monster Loves You, And Sketchman

The post Review: Ittle Dew | iPhone appeared first on AppTrawler.

So when my friend Dave won a couple of thousand playing online poker my ears pricked up and I thought I would delve into the world of online gambling. There are so many to choose from that offer so many different features; some have 3D rendered avatars, others are full of glitz and glamor and other are straightforward and simple. With my eyes on the prize I decided to go for the latter as the less distraction on the app the more likely I am to concentrate.

I decided to try the android app from 888poker.com as the name and brand was reputable and the interface looked pretty clean. The three step sign up process was easy and having a £12 welcome bonus is always nice. The color scheme is dark but clean and the interface is uncluttered. Each player has a circle around their name that acts as a timer for their turn. This keeps the game fast but engaging and keeps the sound effects to a minimum giving the whole experience a serious touch. There are various buttons that allow automatic betting such as ‘post blinds’, ‘call/check’ and ‘fold’ so you can just watch the action unfold with little or no effort. I lost my first $20 within a hour but was able to win back my stake and more before the night was through giving me the impression that the other players are of mixed skill level giving this an advantage over the more ‘well known’ apps. Being on both Android and iPhone I was able to play on a table at home or stuck on the commute.

There are three different game types that include ‘Cash Games’, ‘Sit and Go Tournaments’ and if you eager to win the big bucks then there are ‘Scheduled Tournaments’ The Tournaments range sizes, buy-in cost and and prize money (that ranges from $2000 to $500,000).

The game is as addictive as you would expect a Texas Hold Em to be but reviewing a poker app is not really about the game but more the presentation and the overall package and 888 Poker is clean, simple and easy to use, whilst being serious at the same time. 888 Poker is definitely a poker players app and not a gamers app, as it’s less about the razzle dazzle of the big league tables and its celebrities and more about the pure essence of poker. Its easy to play on its own or whilst doing other things so if you are looking for either a great starter app or something for the discerning poker player then head over to 888 Poker.

Related articles

• Managing (Sport) Career: Professional Poker Player – MTVDeuem
• Free Poker Tournaments-Making Extra Money While Having Fun
• 888poker’s $2,500,000 SUPER XL Series Starts November 3rd
• Today’s Best Poker Apps
• Team 888poker Jackie Glazier Wins the 1st Bracelet at 2013 WSOPE

The post Review: 888 Poker | Android | iPhone appeared first on AppTrawler.

For those unfamiliar with the Tiny Tower mechanic, the game revolves around building a tower floor by floor that includes residential, retail, food, recreation, services, and special, or in this case Imperial. Each floor has a theme so it might be the Mos Isley Catina for the food, Watto’s toys for retail or a workout center for services. Imperial levels are basement levels and include floors such as the interrogation room and the hangar bay.

The gameplay revolves around you operating the elevator and dropping of the slew of both well known characters and aliens races you will recognize. Each level needs to be stocked with stuff from Whomp Rat burgers to wedding licenses. The more stock you sell, the more credits you earn. These credits can buy you additional floors, people, goodies and even a faster lift.

Whilst the game is highly addictive it does has its flaws. It is highly addictive and you will find yourself constantly checking on your creation thanks to its floor of push messages. After turning off this feature you will check it periodically and increase your stock levels, deliver Bitziens (people) to their required floor and build new levels. Every so often you be granted a ‘scene’ where a main character acts out a comedy version of mixed up Star Wars scene. For example, Jar Jar eats a snack dangling down from a rope, and subsequently pulls the ceiling down squashing himself under Jabba the hut. Whilst this is amusing, they are not very frequent.

What dawned on me after a few days (and 20+ levels) is the payment function. Being a free game, there are lots of opportunities to buy credits with real world money. The most expensive in-app purchase is £69 / $100 which would get you enough credits to pretty much unlock everything and buy about 50 levels. This made me think about the long hard slog ahead of me. If having 50 levels and unlocking all the characters and scenes is my goal then how long would it take in slow mode to do it. I calculated around three weeks and a lot of phone checking.

After this I had to weight up the idea of stocking shelves in Tiny Tower or playing a real game. I don’t know if everyone will come to the same realisation as I but at some point most people will stop playing when they see the near endless slog to unlock the different goodies. If that kind of thing floats your boat then you will get hours of fun from Tiny Death Star, however if you want more game for your hard earned hours then this will get boring quickly. I will keep my Death Star ticking over nicely (I am still partly addicted) but when memory is needed for my next title I will have to say goodbye to my busy little space station.

Overall, it’s a lovely looking game with great Star Wars themed chip tunes. It does so many things right in the presentation stakes and you’ll be addicted for hours but ultimately the game mechanic can be a boring after a while. If you spare $100 the get it, spend four hours to complete it and enjoy all the cut scenes then move on to a real game that requires more than just making an elevator go up and down!

Check out the first 20 levels of my Tiny Death Star Below:

PLEASE ADD IT TO PINTEREST!

Related articles

• LucasArts and Nimblebit announce ‘Star Wars: Tiny Death Star’
• Star Wars: Tiny Death Star review: there’s good in this, I’ve felt it.
• Disney and NimbleBit’s ‘Tiny Death Star’ Hits the App Store

The post Review: Tiny Death Star | iPhone appeared first on AppTrawler.

This 70 level action platformer seems to have distilled down its console based parent into three simple actions, tap one side to jump, the other to hit and hold to fly. The four areas (with ten stages in each) are broken into actions so you learn how to jump in the first ten, fly in the second, wall run in the third and finally hit in the forth. Once you have nailed these skills then the final 30 levels see you running for your life away from what looks like angry old men and spikey plan life.

On each level you will be driven to collect navi-like ‘oms’ which are similar to glowing fairies. The amount you collect, coupled by the speed at which you complete the level is all totted up to give you a score at the end. It will ultimately be this score that will drive you to redo levels in order to improve on your last run and gain unlockables. Each of the wonderfully designed levels feel alive as platforms fall, plants weave and helping hands swing you across chasms. As you run around like a headless chicken you will notice little alleys, or alternative routes that, should you be inclined you can memorize for next time.

The graphics are lush with smooth and amusing animations coupled with an array of ditties and tunes that will make you smile. All of which culminate to create a heart pounding action platformer that will make you smile every time you play it. At first I was a little hesitate to pay the $2.99 price tag but I am happy that I did as I have well and truly got my moneys worth. This is a great game that is easy to pick and play in small bouts, but do not be surprised if you find yourself tackling some if the more difficult levels for longer than you planned.

The polish and amusement of this game has definitely spurred me on to try out its console counterparts.

Related articles

• Rayman Fiesta Run Gets a Release Date
• Rayman Jungle Run gets 20 new levels
• Raymen Legends’ Review and Trailer
• Rayman Legends puts the ‘form’ into platformer
• Ubisoft Unleashing Rayman Fiesta Run on Google Play on November 7

The post Review: Rayman: Jungle Run | Android appeared first on AppTrawler.

More to the point, most of these games require a lot of time to enjoy and are the sorts of games you would only really play while relaxing at home. With that in mind, it makes far more sense to just play them on a PC or games console as they were intended. I soon realised that the sort of games that become fun and addictive to play on a phone are fairly simple in nature, use lots of quick levels, and have some sort of points system that are used to unlock later levels. They don’t necessarily have flashy graphics, but what they lack in visuals they more than make up for in playability.

I have found these to be the elements that make a smartphone game enjoyable and all of these elements are present in one of my favourite smartphone games available for Android and iOS: Blast Monkeys.

The concept is quite simple, even if it doesn’t really make much sense. You have a cannon which you use to fire a monkey called Moki up in the air. Once fired from the cannon you have no control over the monkey and have to rely on bouncing him off walls or platforms. Your objective is to capture three bananas on each level and then make your way to the finish point. Getting one or two bananas and reaching the end of the level is often fairly straightforward, while collecting all three bananas and making it to the finish point can very often be quite a challenge. Bananas are then used to unlock later levels, so if you don’t collect all of the bananas on each level you cannot fully complete that world.

The game is split into various worlds, each containing 25 levels and 5 “expert” levels which are more difficult. The worlds offer different themes, different graphics, and different challenges. For example, the snow world features levels that contain icicles which fall from above onto Moki and kill him, while the space world has strange vortexes that can transport you around the level in unpredictable ways.

Because of the short and quick nature of the levels and the fact that is can be so easy to almost complete a level perfectly and then cock the whole thing up, I have found this game to be extremely addictive and sometimes quite frustrating at the same time.

The short nature of the levels means this is the sort of game you can whip out and enjoy at any time. You could just have a minute or two spare while you are waiting for a bus, or for your drink at a coffee shop, but it is equally well suited to long stints while relaxing at home.

Levels often require you to act in stages. After firing Moki from the initial cannon to get the first banana you can often end up in a new cannon, a floating bubble (which you are able to pop at a desired altitude), or a block of ice that will move you to a new part of the level. It is this splitting of the levels into a few separate stages that makes the game addictive. The first stage may be quite difficult and require many attempts, but once you have managed to get the hang of it you are still not able to complete the level because the second or third stage results in your monkey dying. Not since playing Goldeneye on the N64 have I so much wanted to throw a game controller (in this case my phone) at a wall and sit in a corner rocking and back and forth.

This game is a couple of years old now and has already been enjoyed by over 12 million people on Android and iOS. Based on this success the developer behind Blast Monkeys, Yobonja, has released a sequel called Blast Monkeys Forever which comes with even more features and a new game concept called “infinite runner”.

Simon writes for UK money saving community Suppose.com

Related articles

• 7 New Interesting Android Games Made by Indonesian Developers
• 20 best apps for kids to help stave off summer holiday boredom
• Modern platform games for iOS
• 25 best FREE app games for Apple iOS and Android – and get Need For Speed Most Wanted for nothing too

The post Blast Monkeys for iPhone and Android | Guest Review appeared first on AppTrawler.

Grav is a gravity based puzzle game by 2DM based on the Unity engine. You take control of a small ship whose task it is to collect spheres from around four galaxies imaginatively named Alpha, Beta, Gamma and Delta. Each galaxy has ten levels to complete and whilst short for a puzzle game it ramps up the difficulty quickly to ensure that the completion of each level is truly satisfying.

So what do you do?

The gameplay is based around using the gravity of various planetoids to circle your ship towards the sphere. Once collected you are rewarded with one to three stars. There is however, various obstacles which get in the way in the form of black floating barriers (who put them there we will never know). Black obstacles on top of the blackness of space does make it hard to see when in bright light but I can understand why they did it as they didn’t want these floating walls to detract from the ‘space-ness’ of the game. By pressing the screen you activate your thrust which can change the nature of your orbit putting you in a better position to thrust to your next target. when you have the right position you effectively ‘swing’ your way to your objective.

Is it any good?

The games simplicity makes it instantly playable and highly enjoyable and you can fly through the first few levels with some ease. Once familiar the levels get decided hard and they add a reversal block which effectively changes the direction of your orbit. You need to use these wisely in order to navigate to tricky ‘blocked off’ areas in order to retrieve the sphere. As an added pressure point, there are many levels which instantly put you in harms way and you have little time to strategize before you are smashed with a meteorite or oncoming planet. And did I mention the meteors chase you… well they do!

The graphics are a pretty standard affair of generic space background, simply rendered ships and obstacles and a futuristic GUI (graphical user interface) giving the game a simple polish. The music is fitting with the theme, if a little to too relaxing considering you are being chased by two flaming meteors intent of your destruction.

Any extra stuff?

Aside from the ‘Campaign’ mode there is a ‘Free Play’ mode where you play a side scrolling distance game. This mode sees you swing from planet to planet collecting multipliers and avoiding barriers. The idea is to get as far as you can and collect as many multipliers as you can in order to get the highest score. Along the way to have to avoid the meteorites and make sure you are not left behind by the scrolling screen. This is fun addition to the game and although it lacks in Game Centre integration (it would be nice to see how you compare with the rest of the world) it is still satisfying to know that you are improving.

Final word

At the time of writing I was in the penultimate level about to face the big ‘forth’ galaxy and I had tackled some pretty difficult levels. In many ways the game is short but I spent A LOT of time tackling single levels of the game being frustrated but not put off which is indication of great game making. This is a great game that you can complete with a bit of effort and its fun whilst it lasts. I’m not sure if I will return to it once complete but I know that when I played it I had fun. If you are after a fun, throwaway puzzle game that’s simple, solid and satisying then I would recommend Grav. Just make sure you get the right game though as there are two games of the same name… This is the one you have to pay for

Related articles

• Today’s Best Apps: Grav, Minesweeper Infinite Battle And UniColor Video
• [iOS] Satisfy your inner puzzle game fan with Escape the Titanic
• Grav v1.0 APK Free Download
• Liquid physics games for iOS
• Six iOS apps you’ll thank me for (you’re welcome)

The post Review: Grav | iPhone | iOS appeared first on AppTrawler.

When your son, daughter, niece, nephew, or grandchild comes home with his or her first finger paint, you do not need to worry about letting it piling on your fridge with ArtKive. Simply take a picture of the work of art, select the child, grade of the child, and date created from a pull down menus, then input the title of the piece before clicking the artkive button to store it.

Signing-up for ArtKive is fast and simple, requiring your name and email address.

After creating the account, the name of your children can be added. You can add as many children as you want.

There is also the option to add contacts to a shared circle that will allow you to share artwork with close friends and family. There are no limits with regards to how many people can be added to these circles.

Some may ask, besides allowing parents to take photos of their kids’ arts what’ exactly is the cool factor  of this app? Well, the key to this app is organization. Think of how many children get their paintings or drawings thrown out by their parents everyday.  ArtKive allows  parents to declutter their home  and keep their kids happy. It also keep childhood memories alive.

Let’s be honest, few parents keep their children’s drawings  two or three years after the fact. ArtKive not only allows you to do keep long lasting memories, but it also gives you the liberty to print out the photo of the paintings at any point in time which opens the door for T-Shirts, mugs, and other accessories inspired by your little Picasso or little Frida.

If you want to get creative, you don’t have to simply use  ArtKive to keep photos of  only your children’s art.  Perhaps users can use the app to  take snapshots with their children and other family members  and use the share feature of the app to share these photos only with those closest to the family. Like any app that allows users to integrate captured photographs, the only limit is imagination.

ArtKive is a very nifty app that provides a personal experience for parents who want to treasure their children’s achievements or artwork. But, it can also be useful for those who are looking for a personal way to share memories with close friends or family without the bothersome eye of social media.

Lovingly written by the editorial team at Fueled, NYC’s premier iPhone app design agency.

DUT6QS48934K

Related articles

• Artkive Turns Your Kids’ Artwork (And More) Into Printed Books
• Tech Talk: ArtKive app lets users save childrens’ artwork
• Artkive Turns Your Kids’ Artwork (And More) Into Printed Books
• New iOS Medical Learning Apps from Demos Medical Publishing to Feature Interactive Video and Q&A for “Anytime, Anywhere” Study
• Tech Tuesday: Use an app to save kid art

The post Review: ArtKive | iOS | iPhone appeared first on AppTrawler.

This game is one of the best android games I have played in a long time. It’s as simple as anyone could ask for and it’s addictive like you would never believe. I mean what’s not to love about a baseball throwing granny… Oh did I mention she is wearing roller skates.

Okay then let’s get into what this game is about. You play Granny Smith an OAP on roller skates and the objective is to get to the end of each level collecting as many coins as possible and all the apples before this little kid with a dodgy Lone Ranger mask. To do this you have two button control, The left thumb is to whip your cane so as to move quicker and grab onto any over head zip lines (When on zip line hold button down or you will fall), The right thumb is to jump cracks, cars, boxes and do 720 mid air spins while breaking through some glass windows and trying to land back on your skates…. Because if you don’t you lose your footing, fall over and the little kid catches up. Sounds simple enough right. After progressing through some of the levels you unlock up to three worlds, in the second of which you can start to collect baseballs that you can throw ahead of you to break glass making things slightly easier for yourself.
Upon collecting the apples and coins you finish the level and rewarded with gold coins and a shiny gold medal then you are brought back to a Super Mario Bros 1 type world map. Actually this little game is basically a Mario game but instead of a plumber you are a granny, it’s your simple 2d side scroller where completing the last level unlocks the next and as you unlock the worlds you can earn coins to unlock new playable characters like Scruffy the dog and Stanley the old man but the same rules apply.

I honestly think the good people at Mediocre have made a superb well rounded addictive frustrating game. I especially like how when you complete the level the replay is played back in an old vintage styleee for your enjoyment and the jazz music on the main menu is just a touch of genius. My eldest daughter loved this game and I couldn’t put it down. At 79p on Android I would seriously recommend this game to anyone.

Related articles

• Study break – Granny Smith
• Six Most Addictive Games of All Time
• Hot new action games for iOS
• granny smith apple
• Nintendo’s summer showcase comes to Toronto

The post Review: Granny Smith For Android appeared first on AppTrawler.

Combo crew takes a lot of elements of these classic titles and you see the main protagonists having to scale the Boss Inc tower floor by floor beating up minions as you go. They story won’t win any awards but its all about the action. There are 4 players to choose from,two of which will be locked until you have played through a sufficient amount of the game. Each battle earns points and in game currency (that looks like controllers) that can be used to upgrade your characters moves as well as buy more stuff.

The gameplay mechanic is like nothing I have ever seen and it looks specially developed for small touch screens. You tap the enemy you want to attack to select him then you gesture a one touch or two touch swipe in different directions (meaning there is a maximum of eight possible actions) and the animated attack ensues whilst you sit back and plot your next move (only for a second however).

The attack animations are smooth and imaginative and later purchased attacks have their nods to the retro beat-em-ups such as the Chun Li kick.

There is also various counter moves that can be initiated when the attacker has a symbol above his head. This is a nice touch but useful when you are in a full flow combo.

So far, so good

It has the moves, it has the controls and it has the retro nod to those legendary beat-em-ups. It even has a shop to get extra moves and power ups. So why have I found myself playing it so in frequently?

Sadly, when you play it and you are doing well it’s great, but if you get stuck and replay the same level more than five times it’s easy to put down and forget about. The power ups are pretty pricey but why is GREAT is the fact you have to play to earn the credit and their is NO in-app purchase which I find awesome.

Overall this game has so many good points I would definitely recommend it to a friend. The only caveat being that when it gets hard you might find yourself leaving it on proverbial shelf for quite a while. If you do get into the beat-em-up action however you will find it a challenge but very rewarding.

I am keeping a close eye on The Game Bakers in future as you can see they are creating games for gamers and not for a quick buck.

iTunes link: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/combo-crew/id599516631?mt=8

Play Link: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.thegamebakers.combocrew

Related articles

• Combo Crew review
• Daily iPhone App: Combo Crew does beat-em-up on a touchscreen
• Combo Crew Review
• ‘Combo Crew’ Review – A Fully Baked Touchscreen Brawler
• Combo Crew hands-on

The post Review: The Combo Crew | iOS appeared first on AppTrawler.

Candy Crush Saga is a variation on games like Bejewled, where you have to match three like pieces to make them disappear and move forward. There are five different types of levels; Moves, which limits the number of moves you have to complete a puzzle, Jelly, which encases pieces in jelly that you have to chip away, Ingredients, where special unmatchable pieces are needed to score points, Time Limited, which is obvious, and Candy Order, where players must collect a specific number of candies using a set number of moves.

If a lot of that sounds difficult, well, it is. The higher the level, the greater the difficulty, and there are 350 levels in total. That’s a lot of candy matching. The game can become frustrating at points, the kind of frustrating that makes you want to give up, not actually try to get better. That’s the problem with Candy Crush; as easy as it is to pick up, once you hit a wall, it’s just as easy to toss away and never want to look at again.

Still, a free game is a free game, and for that, it might be worth a few hours of gameplay until you get fed up. If you love that kind of challenge, though, this might be the kind of game you’ve been looking for.

Related articles

• Candy Crush My Soul
• What Candy Crush taught ME
• Candy Crush Saga Craze-y
• The life sucking evil that is Candy Crush Saga
• Candy Crush Levels 35, 70, 76, 82 and 97

The post Review: Candy Crush Saga appeared first on AppTrawler.

Temple Run 2 takes you from inside the dark temple of the first to an outdoor run, with a much more open environment and different obstacles. You can now freely slide down rope, jump over streams, ride through a mine tunnel and with even more recent updates, avoid razor sharp saws and run along very thin and easily breakable wooden boards. That’s what makes the game fun; with each update there’s been more added to make your runs interesting and some other little extras here and there.

It also lets you upgrade as per usual by both buying power up upgrades and purchasing new runners, that start off with better stats. What does get annoying is the constant trying to upsell you on coins and gems (which let you continue your run when you’ve fallen). I get the same is free to play, but it seems more in your face than the original Temple Run. It’s there between every game as well as when you try to use gem you don’t own.

The challenge level is higher than the original, with so many extra obstacles in the way. But overall it makes it more fun, not more aggravating. It’s a welcome boost to the original.

For a free game, if you can manage to ignore the constant prompts to buy (unless you’re interested, then buy away), it wouldn’t hurt to download and try. You won’t be losing anything for it!

Related articles

• Temple Run: Brave Now Available For Windows 8/RT Devices
• The 6 most underrated games for Android: May 2013 edition
• Temple Run Franchise Surpasses 300M Downloads; Temple Run 2 Update Incoming
• Atari classic Pitfall reborn for iOS
• The best Temple Run clones

The post Review: Temple Run 2 for iPhone appeared first on AppTrawler.

There are 3 tables you can choose from, all based on 3 different war movies; Platoon, Missing In Action (with a Chuck Norris model and everything) and Navy Seals. Each board has its own style, some with multiple flippers, some with just the classic two. They all have their own goals and special bonus points and each takes some time to master. They feature music and sound effects from the movies themselves, which if you’ve seen any of them, adds to the fun.

The game plays smoothly and the more you play, the more you’ll get a feel for each board. The Platoon board seems to be the most difficult; Navy Seals is easy to get a high score on and Missing in Action is somewhere in between.

The only downfall is that there does seem to be a split second lag when tapping the screen to flip your flippers; it doesn’t change no matter how well my phone was running, which meant I had to compensate for it to hit the ball exactly where I wanted. Also, it is a bit gimmicky, linking you to the Amazon.com pages of the movies so you can buy the DVDs. Easily avoidable, but still kind of off putting.

Still, overall, it’s the most fun pinball game I’ve experienced on a smart phone and I find myself going back to it on commutes and even just sitting at home. for $1.99, it’s totally worth the purchase.

The post War Pinball HD appeared first on AppTrawler.