About

Mindfeud is a game very similar to Scrabble however the main difference is that it uses colours and symbols instead of words. This results in unique gameplay with friends and against the computer.

Positives

I really liked the idea and whilst it does hold familiarity to Scrabble making it easy to pick up, it also brings a unique style to the game. Using colours and symbols means that you can only have a row or column of that colour or symbol and it can’t be duplicated. You can play against the computer which is a great feature but also against friends on the MindFeud network.

Negatives

This brings me onto the issue with MindFeud, it requires you sign up even if you just want to play against the computer. This is extremely frustrating and I also found the sign up annoying in the fact it emailed a password out to you instead of you choosing one.

Final Verdict

Mindfeud is a great board game that has the familiarity of Scrabble mixed with new concepts including colours and symbols. I really enjoyed playing the game even against the computer. Despite the login issues I can recommend this game as it is entirely free.

*MindFeud is a sponsor of App-Score that has been reviewed using our ratings system*

About

The Sandbox is a powder game that is extremely unique. In ‘The Sandbox’ you can create any design you can imagine using your god like powers. Design the Statue of Liberty, Sydney Opera house or maybe your own custom tropical getaway. See how creative you can be or you can complete the game challenges. Either way you are sure to have some creative fun.

Positives

There are a huge amount of positives for The Sandbox. It’s so easy to design anything you want and it allows for a huge amount of creativity that I have never seen in a game before. The challenges aren’t exactly a challenge but they aren’t meant to be too hard and are a nice addition. They’re there to give the players an idea of what they can create. The controls are very easy to customize to your own playing style. All the sound effects are great and match the game superbly.

Negatives

I do not have any negatives for The Sandbox.

Final Verdict

I had heard of The Sandbox quite a while back. I can certainly say that it has not disappointed and has become one of my favorite games on my device. Make sure you pick this creative title up because it is free after all.

About

Sonic 4 : Episode II is the second instalment (possibly last) to Sonic’s revival since it was released on Sega consoles all those years ago. The new edition brings similar styles with brand new levels, bosses, mechanics and graphic system. This time the release is happening at the same time as console releases.

Positives

The main new feature for this game is the new graphics engine that allows for lush environments and details on the characters of Tails and Sonic that previously weren’t seen in the last title. The graphics do look great for what is essentially a side scroller and although they aren’t quite 2.5D they definitely have depth. There is also new concepts in this title such as Tails being used to pass certain areas by bashing through walls and climbing up cliffs as well as using spin to activate moveable objects. The style of Sonic is still very recognisable and this is a definite compared to some of the earlier 3D games that Sonic has featured in. The app is completely universal, the first time in this series and supports iCloud so you can pick up where you left off on either device.

Negatives

There are a few issues with Sonic 4 such as that you can’t turn the screen as for some bizarre reason orientation is locked (particularly annoying on the iPad). I also was disappointed that the game wasn’t retina on the new iPad although it is on the iPhone and even so the game looks sharp. My main disappointment is the controls, I always feel that Sonic suffers on these devices simply because of the fast pace of the game. You are given a rather clumsy thumb stick that sometimes doesn’t let you go down as well as two buttons that are difficult to see. It definitely can be frustrating at times to use the controls.

Final Verdict

Although controls are an issue here I still enjoyed the game and really appreciated features like iCloud support and the new engine. Sonic has never looked better as a side scroller and still stands the test of time today by launching on new download platforms like iOS. I can recommend the game though thanks to the great new environments with new techniques.

About

Non Flying Soldiers is an interesting game in which you are tasked with manipulating certain objects on the playing field to aid your squadron of small flightless birds to safety.

Positives

The game is downright hilarious, for whatever reason I had great fun intentionally misleading the birds into rings of fire and spikes for no other reason than to watch them explode in a puff of feathers. On a serious note though, the game looks amazing, the graphics, animations and cut-scenes are all simple phenomenal. The same is true for the sound however that isn’t as noticeable. Gameplay itself also feels really smooth and responsive, it was really easy to flip, grab and rotate various different objects around the field.

Negatives

I could only really find tiny issues with Non Flying Soldiers such as the initial confusion with having a “Restart” button and the “Edit” button looking like what is usually associated with restarting a level.

Final Verdict

Non Flying Soldiers is a game that I have truly fallen in love with, both visually and due to gameplay. Excluding a few tiny things that are really just me being picky the game is perfect, one that almost everyone will enjoy and something that I can whole heartedly recommend.

About

Sleep Box is essentially an alarm app with fancy features built in. The built in features include weather, ambient sounds and music player. The display reminds me of the HTC sense clock widget. The interface it easy enough to navigate around with buttons along the bottom of the screen.

Positives

It’s very customisable as you can change the background, alarm sounds, ambient noises and music to have in the background. You have instant flashlight access which is good for people who get up at night.

Negatives

The weather part of the app didn’t work for me at all even after making sure location services was on as recommended. The stock backgrounds were a bit plain and boring and it’d be good if you could use your own pictures. The buttons sometimes felt cramped and with more space available I’m unsure why it wasn’t used.

Final Verdict

Even taking into account that iOS has limitations this is a poor app because it doesn’t deliver all it offered. I think it needs a bit of work.

About

Everyme is a social network with a difference. Sometimes you want to just share things with the people closest to you and not have the eyes of the world seeing what you’re sharing. With Everyme that’s exactly what you can expect. Set up special ‘circles’ of people you want to see specific content and away you go.

Positives

‘Circles’ aren’t a unique thing, infact we’ve seen it appear on many different social networks but it’s nice to see them included as it’s a different way to control your privacy. If you don’t want to create your own circles then the app can do this for you. Not all of your friends need to be registered on the app, infact your stories can be replied to via email or texts and still have the same privacy as you’d want. The app itself is fairly basic and easy to navigate around, it’s not too complex and runs very quickly without a hitch.

Negatives

The design and layout of your posts looks similar to another app – which I won’t mention – but it would have been nice to see it done in a different way, it just feels like I’m using said app with a different name and colour scheme.

Final Verdict

Everyme is another app to add to your social networking folder. Whether or not you’ll use it depends on how active you are on other social networks. I’d definitely give it a whirl though, it may just be what you’re looking for.

About

Wavii allows you to keep track of news with instant feeds based on what you want to see. Get status updates for status updates for your favorite politicians, celebrities, gadgets, and much more. Even react to them with a variety of ‘emoticons’. The more the follow, the more personalised your experience will be.

Positives

I like this idea, I really do. It’s a great way to see updates from a particular person or gadget all in the one place without anything else surrounding it and it’s great to see that these updates are all – what you want to read and not what people are just saying. The app is gorgeous and runs like you’d hope. There really isn’t much more to say, it is what it is.

Negatives

The biggest downside for me was that the app requires you to link your Facebook account before being able to use it. Surely it’d be easier and more appealing to get people interested and signed up.

Final Verdict

The idea behind Wavii is great but the fact they want me to link my Facebook account is the main reason why it won’t be staying on my iPhone. I’ll look for something else or just do without.

About

Raise your own virtual pet called a Kozmos to 1 of over 45 different species whilst looking after all their needs. Feed them, play with them and clean them whilst keeping them alive and having fun yourself.

Positives

The ability to see all the stats of your Kozmos is nice and helps you know what you need to do to help them. The games (when you unlock them all) for the most are fun but lack a bit of creativity. As for the Kozmos themselves they look unique and some are cute.

Negatives

Sadly though there isn’t a huge amount of things you can do without forking money (A huge amount) out of your pocket making evolving your Kozmos very, very boring an unrewarding. The other thing I don’t like are the menu’s which feel bland and uncreative.

Final Verdict

I think that the game is another example of what would be a good game without the freemium features placed on it. I don’t understand why the developers would like to ruin the game like they have instead of making it paid from the start with full features. Anyhow I wouldn’t waste your time on this.

About

Beat the competition in a fierce longboard ride to the finish in Downhill Extreme the worlds first longboard racing game. Compete against your friends on the leaderboards or compete in winner gets all events. Most of all make sure that you win.

Positives

The environments which vary quite a bit are nice in appearance and all have different style tracks. The controls work really well thanks to the required tutorial. There are a huge amount of environments to go through with lot’s of races to compete in.

Negatives

The characters are very ugly and have almost no difference between each other with your only choice of rider being a bold man or a typical woman. The gameplay is very dull and not very exciting no matter how good the controls and environment may be. The game also has issues such as being able to ride straight through opponents when you should really be able to knock into them and nudge them. The game lacks due to the IAP’s which after a while become necessary as it becomes impossible to win the race without buying new boards.

Final Verdict

Downhill Extreme could have been a nice game if it wasn’t freemium and had a little more work done to it. Sadly it hasn’t and that’s why it lacks. I would skip this game because your effort early on comes to no reward.

About

Overnight Buses Magazine is a travel magazine inspired by the author’s journey though Kenya on a bus rather than a train. Featuring stories from different writers about their differing journeys around the globe.

Positives

The app is beautifully designed, the layout look amazing and the photography accompanying each article in the magazine is simply stunning. Some articles are designed to look handwritten on paper in the style of letters; others look completely different but still an amazing view to behold. Every article in the magazine is of a reasonable length and to read each one will take a good 10 minutes or so, not too long or too short. The way in which you navigate the app is really smooth as well, never does it jump around, everything flows together really smoothly.

Negatives

I was disappointed at the lack of a ‘Back to Top’ button and the bottom of articles as there can be a lot of scrolling so this would’ve made things easier, another thing that would be nice to have is a ‘Back to Content Page’ button as again that can involve a lot of scrolling. The app also isn’t on the iOS 5 Newsstand.

Final Verdict

Visually amazing and a great read, Overnight Buses Magazine really is something that I enjoyed reading. It is interesting to read about other areas of the world that I wouldn’t normal have the opportunity to travel to.

About

The Goofy Gallerist is a game that reminds me of those little flash puzzles that have you sliding the pieces round in anger and a Rubix cube at the same time. In the game you are required to slide semi transparent tiles around to complete an image.

Positives

The game is surprisingly challenging, the first tutorial levels take about 2 seconds each to complete, but gets hard; quickly by the 10th level I was extremely frustrated at the game. This is something which is great for this style of game. Each puzzle is something different usually being a famous scene or person from history who or what the scene is all about is explained to you once you complete the level and are presented with your rating out of 5 stars.

Negatives

The Goofy Gallersist has what seems to be a ghosted image behind the tiles that you are sliding around to aid you in lining the images up. I don’t have a problem with that idea, but it was mind bogglingly confusing and made some levels, particularly the later ones incredibly hard to play.

Final Verdict

The Goofy Gallerist is an interesting game that takes a interesting spin on a very old classic game that everyone will be able to relate to. It is fun and frustrating to play but not at all in a bad way.

About

Train your eyes throughout 120 difficult puzzles in Moskeez. Think carefully before you make your next move as you aim to clear the board clean by matching numbers. It sounds easy but it isn’t.

Positives

The app’s presentation is nice and very unique. I like the uniqueness of the game because it plays very differently to any other game I have played. The sound effects and music are very tranquil and match the gameplay really well. There is also a good amount of levels.

Negatives

The gameplay itself sadly isn’t very enjoyable and thanks to there no being a detailed tutorial other than a paragraph is difficult to play first up. After a while it becomes very boring and feels the same. It also becomes too difficult way too early.

Final Verdict

I liked the appearance and sounds in Moskeez bug sadly the gameplay didn’t match the experience and does not make it worth while playing. Hopefully the developers work on another game which has better gameplay.

About

N.O.V.A. 3 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance to give the game its full title is the third game released by developer Gameloft. In this space game you must fight for mankind’s survival. Can you work your way through 10 levels which range from Earth to planets in space. If the storyline is beginning to get a bit boring then try out the multiplayer mode with 11 other players in 6 different modes.

Positives

The graphics are fantastic, possible some of the best on the platform and they even support the retina iPad. Controls are extremely easy to use and the sound effects and music all work well with the theme of the game. Loading times on my iPad were pretty impressive, I was surprised how fast everything loaded considering how the graphics are and how fast everything moves around the screen. The levels range in difficulty with each one having different challenges to take to progress. The game features a great blockbuster story that could possibly rival consoles.

Negatives

The only negative comments I’d have for N.O.V.A. 3 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance are the in app purchases, though not required these could still be free, especially when you’re paying for the game anyway – and it’s not cheap in mobile games terms.

Final Verdict

Excluding the in-app purchases I’d have to highly recommend N.O.V.A. 3 – Near Orbit Vanguard Alliance to anyone who is a fan of these types of games. It’ll be sure to keep you busy for hours and from what I can see the multiplayer mode is extremely in depth also. Give it a try. I’d say it’s worth every penny.

About

Punch Hero is a boxing game in which you have to fight a large range of enemies and fight in a wide variety of matches to earn success in the game. Along the way unlocking and purchases new items that will aid your journey.

Positives

The mechanics in the game are really good, relating in a semi realistic way to how an actual boxing match may pan out. Fighting is easy to do and well explained during your first fight. It is actually pretty fun to do as well as the reaction of your opponent when they get knocked out can produce a few laughs.

Negatives

I mentioned that you can purchase new items and the costs of these are literally sky high, if you want them to actually be worthwhile that is. The first new gloves you unlock for example are 10,000 coins and you earn about 25 in the first match. To “balance” this there are in app purchases however which are again madly over powered and are basically pay to win.

Final Verdict

I did have great fun playing Punch Hero but because of the nature of the game I doubt that I will return to play it too often, if you have the time to dedicate to the game then I really do encourage you to play it however.

About

Take command of your own fleet of navy ships and help in the fight against alien invaders. Choose your possession and defend, conquer and protect the planet Earth.

Positives

I love being able to choose if you want to fight for the aliens or humans, it really adds a twist to the normal Battleship game. The first thing you notice is the amount of detail put into the game from the amazing action soundtrack, to the waves and explosions during gameplay. At the start there is an in depth yet quite fun tutorial to help you learn the ranks of the game. The controls feel very native to the device and work extremely well. There are great animations for when the shots are fired and hit yours and the enemies ships.

Negatives

My only complaint is that there are ads so often. If only it had a fully paid version or in app to remove them.

Final Verdict

Battleship is a great twist on the original gaming origin and a game that I would say is extremely worth buying considering it is free. I do somewhat wish it was paid and didn’t have ads.

About

This Could Hurt is a guided obstacle platformer by Orange Agenda and published by Chillingo. It follows the story of a young lad who is constantly bombarded by perilous obstacles and tries his best to overcome them. The game is presented from an isometric view which is most commonly seen in tactical RPGs.

Positives

This Could Hurt has great 3D graphics which are complemented by the isometric view. The controls are very simple but they work very well. By tapping and holding the screen you tell your character to stop and by releasing it they move. The obstacles are quite varied with many ways available to perish such as falling off a cliff, being punctured by spikes or being mauled by a hammer. And this is only in the Forest World, the other worlds each have ten levels giving a total of 40 levels in all

Negatives

While there is a powerup system I do not find it very useful, especially since the powerups are perishable and therefore can be bought with IAP. Also it is not as fun when the character moves himself. I would have preferred if we had full control over the boy.

Final Verdict

This Could Hurt is a very simple and fun platformer that can be enjoyed by almost anyone. However if you are looking for a more hardcore title this may not be the game for you. Despite it’s flawed powerup system ‘This Could Hurt’ is still a very solid platformer and you would only be hurting yourself if you did not pick up the game now.

About

Astronomica is a simple game in which you play the role of a highly skilled team of miners sent out into asteroid fields and other planets to collect a rare, energy rich mineral by the name of ‘Myron’ but you are not the only life forms who have eyes set on this commodity.

Positives

During the game you are required to visit different areas, these all have different ships to control, different obstacles to avoid and differing gravity to get used to in a randomly generated area so never are two games alike. Throughout your journey to collect Myron you will be able to purchase and collect small perks such as shields or gravity changing devices that can assist you in collection, or even hinder you. These perks are seemingly randomly generated when picked up during a level so you will never know what to expect. Astronomica also features 2 game modes, a simple level based progression and a free play mode in which the aim is to hold out as long as possible in the wilderness of space.

Negatives

I only had one issue with Astronomica and that was the inability to actually upgrade my ship, weather that be the default speed or range that the ship could collect Myron from. It was slightly annoying to have the exact same ship for each mission only varying on visual appearance when I visit another area.

Final Verdict

Overall I really enjoyed playing Astronomica and will continue to do so for a while. It is great as a pick up and play game not requiring you to commit hours to completing each level only a few minutes maximum.

*MYRiX are an advertiser of App-Score and this has been reviewed using our fair rating system*

About

RobotGladi8tor is an Unreal Engine game where you must fight your way through robots using similar mechanics to Infinity Blade.

Positives

Of course the most obvious positive with this title is the great graphics and environments in space. The Unreal Engine is definitely put to work here with detailed textures and characters. The game uses simple swipes and taps to defeat the enemy by striking them with weapons, hitting weak spots and dodging their attacks. The story is also pretty good as you fight your way through the different robots.

Negatives

My only issue with RobotGladi8tor is that the game is just too similar to Infinity Blade. It has pretty much the exact same control scheme. Moving from character to character to fight is also very similar. The fact it uses the Unreal Engine too also draws similarities.

Final Verdict

RobotGladi8tor is definitely a fun fighter that will keep you entertained for a few hours. The graphics are great and controls also work well. The similarities to Infinity Blade are there however, it is best to think of this as a robot themed Infinity Blade that is still worth checking out.

About

This is a game full of bulls and destruction. In Bullistic Unleashed you have to cause as much mayhem and destruction as is possible In your arsonal. You have many different bulls to choose from as well as the option to add more as you only get a set number of bulls. You have to smash everything in your way and kill as the case may be.

Positives

This game is just a pleasure to play with all the little touches like throwing around the bulls and the damn right rudness of it and other parts of the game. The fun graphic parts of meat and bodies hitting the screen adds to the fun and atmosphere of the entire game.

Negatives

Sometimes everything seemed a bit zoomed out and small which is quite annoying. Sometimes you don’t know what everything your seeing on screen means; you can work it out eventually but seems something big that was over looked.

Final Verdict

This game feels a bit like the rude grown up version of angry birds but doesn’t seem as simple and easy to use which is a shame because I like the bold rudeness of it.

About

Created by the fantastic BulkyPix team comes Aby Escape. You must help Aby the racoon escape the bad guys across 30 levels spread across 3 very different universes. Run, jump and slide through each avoiding enemies and collecting coins.

Positives

From first glance you’ll notice some similarities between this and Temple Run. However, after playing for a short time the game appears very different. With Aby Escape you have two modes to play with. “Unlimited” mode which is essentially an endless running mode where you must achieve the highest score possible and “Story Mode” where you’ll take Aby across those 30 levels. The graphics, sounds and music all work extremely well together and fit in perfectly with the game itself.

Negatives

I had a few negatives regarding Aby Escape, the main one was the amount of coins required to unlock certain things. Seemed quite high and would require a lot of playing. The second was those in app purchases. The game itself looks more directed towards children, they will see these as sort of “cheats” to get the content the want quicker, the main issue with this is they may not actually realise they’re spending real money to unlock the fake coins and run up a huge bill.

Final Verdict

Aby Escape however is a fantastic little game that deserves to be on the device of any gamer who loves this time of game. Its fun, quirky and would be great for people of any age.

About

Pocket, formerly known as Read It Later is available on all your favourite iOS devices. If you’ve never heard of or used Read It Later before then the concept is simple. Pocket allows you to save things you want to read later in their little app for easy viewing when you have the time. Pocket will lay this out like a magazine (sort of like Flipboard) for you to read at your leisure. Many apps nowadays have the “read it later” option to setup so it’s extremely easy to setup and Pocket will still recognise these even if they’re from “read it later”.

Positives

Gorgeous, gorgeous gorgeous is all I can say. The colour scheme, the layout and even using the app is like a breeze. It all works. I’d never used Read it Later before and the Pocket icon actually caught my attention. Before even reading what the app was about I downloaded and began messing around and realised within a few minutes the power of Pocket. It’s not just news though, you can add photos, videos and pretty much anything you find on your internet travels. Pocket will save it for later and sync it across devices so add an article on your iPhone and read it later on your iPad. It’s that simple.

Negatives

I have no negatives for Pocket. I tried to find some but I failed. It’s great.

Final Verdict

Pocket really is the app you need to have on your iOS device. We all find things that we want to read later but always forget to go back too. Now you’ll never have that problem again. Download pocket and never forget to read or watch anything again.

About

Snapheal developed by Macphun is a photo editing app for your Mac. With Snapheal you’ll be able to correct photos from a basic to an advanced level. You can also adjust saturation, gamma, exposure and more. The app is able to handle various file types including TIFF, RAW images, JPG, PNG and probably any other you can think of.

Positives

Like many photo editors it’s important that you get the real deal, you want something you can use again and again, whether it be for family pictures or professional shots. I think with Snapheal you’ll be able to achieve some pretty great photos. You can remove unwanted objects with ease, sharpen images, add blur and remove unwanted watermarks. All the tools you’d expect to find are there and the app is easy to use – expert or not.

Negatives

I tried two different sized images and with the larger one the app seemed to slow up and freeze when using different tools. The app also doesn’t seem to have an option for exporting to other apps developed by Macphun for further editing.

Final Verdict

All in all, I was very impressed with Snapheal. I’m no photo editor or photographer but I felt instantly at ease when I opened the app. It’s colour scheme and layout is easy on the eyes and it’s a good stepping stone to get used to editing photos on your Mac, wherever you are. A trial version is available which is great for those who aren’t sure if it’s something for them.

About

National Geographic Today provides you with gorgeous photos, videos, and up to date news on your iPad every day.You can see the daily highlights or catch up from what’s been happening over the past seven days.

Positives

As always National Geographic don’t fail to deliver top quality content on a fantastic little app. It all looks great on the iPad screen and videos and photos all appeared – for me at least – in high quality. Which was brilliant.

Negatives

Several times when using National Geographic Today I found issues with sound not playing on videos. This only happened intermittently as when the video was closed and reopened the sound would begin without any problems.

Final Verdict

National Geographic Today is a fantastic little app that will keep you in the know with its fantastic images, videos and news updates. You can also share this content with Facebook friends or your Twitter followers so they too can be kept up to date. I’d definitely check it out if you own an iPad. You won’t be let down.

About

As the name suggests you play as Bob who is a robber. You have broken out of prison and have to repay the debt you owe. You repay the debt by breaking in and stealing money from innocent people in their own homes. You can creep around or you can go for an all out sprint for the less sly burglars.

Positives

The controls are great, a simple joystick and a sprint button. They are fairly large which makes it comfortable to play for smaller devices. I also liked the graphics as they are bright and colourful. The characters also have been given a 3D effect which is fun to play with.

Negatives

Although the graphics are nice there are bugs such as if you get too close to a wall your arm would appear on the other side. Also colour switching when showing field of vision took a while.

Final Verdict

This game is genuinely a joy to play and an interesting take on the robbing genre. It is great practice for all you wannabe burglars and ex-burglars who want to reminisce.

About

Floozled is a game where you have to follow the pattern that the game gives to you. As you move through the levels it gradually gets harder by speeding up the sequences, adding in more flashes and adding in more blocks. This game similar to the american electronic game simon which as you can probably guess it’s based on Simon Says.

Positives

The game progressively gets harder at a comfortably steady rate meaning that you can get wrapped up in the game for long periods of time.

Negatives

The graphics on it are pretty poor compared to most of the other games available right now, there are better games that have much better graphics.

Final Verdict

This game is pretty good at the basics, the game works and it works well but the graphics are the biggest let down especially with many games being retina grade graphics this is nothing in comparison graphically.

About

Dreamtopia is ngmoco’s sequel to the ever popular We Rule. They have taken everything learnt from their first freemium title to develop a similar game with new game mechanics, characters and images. In Dreamtopia you must complete your citizens goals of building certain items to fulfil their dream such as a superhero.

Positives

I really liked the new goals system it has a purpose to be there and their is a wide range of characters with different goals such as being evil, earning lots of money, going to Japan, being a rockstar and many more. New challenges occur when you level up and more people come to your town in the cloud. Initially there is a wide range of items to place with their unique style and most of the prices are fairly cheap using in game coins. I feel there is less reliance in Dreamtopia for in app purchases, most buildings appear straight away which never happened before and items take longer to expire.

Negatives

The in apps are still there however and fairly expensive, there is no option below £2.99/$4.99 which is a shame. Another issue is that items don’t fit well together they seem to have awkward placement areas and I found it very difficult to place a wooden bridge next to a river for example. On the iPad the game really doesn’t feel customised, it isn’t retina ready and there isn’t any pop up windows for buildings which the previous games have, instead this loads up an entirely new window. Loading seems to take an awfully long time as well as though the dreams, buildings and other pages are webpages instead of in game. I also found that at times the game became unresponsive and wouldn’t let me touch anything or drag.

Final Verdict

Dreamtopia is a good freemium game, I like the style and the fact it relies less on in app purchases than before. The dream system works very well and means you explore most of the items in game. Unfortunately the game was just too buggy and not optimised for the devices it was on, this was a big disappointment on the iPad. If you did enjoy the We Rule titles expect it to be much more difficult to move items but I think you will enjoy it as well.

About

Oh no! The zombies have taken over and are slowly making their way towards you and your delicious tiny brain. Protect yourself the only way you know how by slashing and shooting their heads off! See how much you can kill and try and survive the Tossing Dead.

Positives

The games graphics are good and I really like the creativity of being a gory slash em’ up.

Negatives

Although the game has 3 game modes they all play and feel exactly the same. The gameplay itself has faults too. The “bombs” are extremely annoying and their game mechanics are terrible. It’s almost impossible to avoid them as they have no warning system. The controls are also annoying because instead of holding the handle of the saw you are forced to hold the saw itself.

Final Verdict

I was very excited about this game, but all it has ended up being is a very bland, uninventive and boring Fruit Ninja clone that is with out a doubt not worth buying. The developers need to go back to the writing board and come up with a new game.

About

Luxor Evolved is a new spin on the classic game of Luxor with new neon style graphics, loads of upgrades and new improved play systems over various different difficulty levels.

Positives

The game does stay true to its roots very well; it is easy to see the original game hidden under the great new neon style graphics. The animations on the different screens such as pause, main menu or just in the background on each level look really cool and fit perfectly with the game and art style throughout the game. Luxor Evolved has 4 different difficulty levels which all offer a unique challenge and will really entice you into playing more.

Negatives

The game almost has too much content for a new release with 21 different power ups to learn and unlock along with 3 ‘super powerups’. It is possible to learn these of course but many casual gamers that pick up the game once a week or so will have issues with remembering what everything does.

Final Verdict

Anyone who remembers the classic game will love this game, it’s great to play, very fast paced and addictive but isn’t at all a game that everyone and anyone can get into and play.

About

Secrets for iPhone is another book style application that aims to show you tricks about iOS that you didn’t know before.

Positives

There is over 180 secrets that progress in difficulty from taking screenshots to managing iCloud storage which will be useful for beginners. The app includes simple screenshots that demonstrate the secret shown and these are clear and to the point. You can also search through the long list to find details on features you may not know of.

Negatives

The app is just a long list that isn’t sorted in any way except for difficulty. I would have liked to see sections such as iCloud, basics, photos and more but unfortunately the only way to access this is to search. One major annoyance is that you can’t swipe between secrets and have to go to the top and press the next button, this just seems baffling for a tips book style app. I also found that the tips are just too basic for the majority of users especially those who will have found this app.

Final Verdict

Secrets for iPhone doesn’t really add much to your iPhone experience, the secrets aren’t sorted, aren’t difficult and the fact you can’t swipe between will just annoy you as you tap between 180 secrets. I can’t recommend this app.

*Secrets for iPhone is a sponsored review*

About

Speed 2 is exclusively available on the iPad and is designed to replace a dashboard if you have an iPad holder in your car. It can display your trip mileage, current speed and location using Google Maps.

Positives

The obvious positive with Speed is the user interface, it is simply stunning. The background is black leather that would be used in a car, the maps have folds on top that makes it look like a paper app and the three dials are also well designed. There were quite a few options such as analog or digital display, speed limiter, compass settings and more. The app also tracked the location really well.

Negatives

I would have liked to be able to set a destination and perhaps get directions but at least how much longer the trip would last.

Final Verdict

Speed 2 is a gorgeous looking app that is perfect for owners of cars where you can put an iPad, this will limit the market compared to the iPhone app but would be a stunning addition to your car. Passengers could also use this app as it tracks in the background. Speed 2 only works on GPS enabled iPad’s that are 3G or 4G.