Apps: Games
I've been on a gaming hiatus as of late but am back in the swing of it with two great casual gaming titles just in time for Memorial Day. Can Knockdown 3 is a recent release by Infinite Dreams, the latest in its ball-throwing puzzle genre. Hyper Breaker Turbo (projected late-May release date), is an indie brick-breaking game coming soon to the App Store. Without further adieu, let's dig into some block-busting, can-smashing goodness.
Can Knockdown 3 ($0.99)
Can Knockdown 3 adds to the already popular series, each of which offers some variation on the old carnival game of throwing a ball at a stack of cans. The experience is just as realistic as Can Knockdown 2, with spot-on ball flying and can bouncing physics. The concept is to "throw" by quickly finger swiping the ball toward the targeted cans, knocking as many down as possible in the fewest throws.
With more than three-quarters of a million apps in the Apple App Store, it takes something really special to make a splash in the mainstream today. While very few apps can stand up to the wild popularity of Angry Birds, Ellen DeGeneres' new game by the name of Heads Up! ($0.99) is on its way to that kind of international stardom, becoming the #1 app days after its release May 2. Of course, it doesn’t hurt to be backed by an Emmy-winning daytime talk show host. People have been using the idea behind this game at parties for years; Heads Up! just brings it into the 21st century. You can play the game with as little as two players, but it is much more fun in a group of people. The game is simple: players choose from a large selection of “decks,” which include categories like accents, singing, celebrities, movies, animals, characters, and more.
New apps are arriving in the App Store at such a rapid pace it can be a real challenge to find the stellar entries. This week we'll take a look at a handful of newly released, noteworthy apps worthy of special mention. 1. The Loop (Free) This new subscription-based magazine is the brainchild of longtime Apple journalist and reporter Jim Dalrymple. He will publish The Loop magazine twice a month, and it will cost $1.99 per month. The Loop magazine app is not just a spin-off of the Loop’s website online. This stand-alone app will feature articles written by some of the great authors in the field of Apple journalism, with all if the articles being written exclusively for the magazine. While Dalrymple doesn't officially work for Apple, it's safe to say he has his finger on the pulse of the company.
Sometimes a sequel to a sub-par game is so close to the original, you wonder why the game developers bothered. Other times, the sequel is so far removed from what made the first one popular that no one cares. Then there are games like G5 Entertainment's Youda Survivor 2 HD (Free, or $6.99 In-app purchase for full game). While mechanically it doesn’t seem much different than its predecessor, it’s so easy to get into and so hard to put down that you won’t care. I’m not sure what makes the style of game play so catchy, but whatever it is, the developers behind the Youda Survivor series have pretty much perfected it.
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