App Review: BioSub by Origin8

I have long been a fan of the Sentinel games by Origin8.  These tower defense games are some of my favorites.  In creating BioSub, Origin8 explores a very different type of game.  BioSub combines physics and problem solving into one very challenging and unique game.  You are a mini sub and your goal is to destroy the canisters in the water around you.  This is done by bumping into the canisters to propel them into one another.  A canister is destroyed when you make it bump into another canister of the same color.  If you make two canisters of different colors bump into each other, instead of being destroyed, they will cause a third container of a different color to be formed.  The hardest part of the game is that you only have 30 seconds to destroy all of the canisters on the screen in each level.

There are two types of controls available to use.  I recommend trying both to see which one is more intuitive and easy for you.  The first is tilt controls that take advantage of the accelerometer.  Using these controls, you tilt your device to tell the sub which direction to move in.  The farther you tilt it, the faster the sub will move.  Controlling the sub by tilting alone is extremely difficult.  However, by touching the screen you can apply the brakes.   Thankfully, these brakes work very well and can be very helpful in controlling the sub.  You can calibrate the tilt controls as well as adjust the sensitivity of the controls in the options menu.  The second type of controls are touch controls.  Using these controls you tap and drag on the screen to direct your sub.  An arrow will appear on the screen in front of the sub indicating the direction that you have told it to go.  The length of the arrow indicates the speed that the sub will move at.

BioSub is a clever game.  As you move through the levels, the challenge gets harder and harder as obstacles are placed in your way or canisters are tethered together with different types of materials.  It takes some thinking to figure out some of the levels.  My only complaint with the game would be that I found the controls hard to master.  At first, I had a hard time controlling the sub.  With the two types of controls and the ability to calibrate them, you can find the controls that work best for you.

Tips and Tricks:

• Remember that if your sub or the canisters go off the screen on one side, they will appear again on the other side of the screen.  Everything wraps around.
• Moving your sub too quickly and hitting canisters too hard can often slow you down instead of making things faster.  Use your brakes if you have to.
• You may have to create another canister of another color in order to get rid of all the canisters on the screen.

Developer’s Website: http://www.origin8.com/

App Review: Elven Chronicles by Big Blue Bubble

Elven Chronicles, a game published by Big Blue Bubble originally for J2ME based phones, has been ported and released for the iPhone and iPod Touch.  Elven Chronicles is a classic role playing game (RPG). You are Rogan.  You wake from a fitful sleep in the town of Goralgho.  You are in the infirmary under the care of Jada, a resident healer.  The caravan that you were guarding was attacked on the road.  While you were unconscious, some soldiers came looking for you.  Luckily, Jada sent them off in the wrong direction.  You must move quickly to avoid being discovered.  Jada joins you on your journey.

When you leave the infirmary, you have little in the way of money, weapons, or armor.  You can buy more from the merchants there in town, but won’t get far with what you have.  As you move around the town and talk to people, you will run into some that need your help and will send you on quests.  To accomplish your quests, you must leave the town and explore other lands.  You will find treasures in chests, fight monsters, and win gold.  In completing these quests you and Jada will gain more experience and skill to help you along the way.  When you have completed your quest, return to the person that gave you the quest to receive your reward.

If you have ever played an RPG before, and even if you haven’t, Elven Chronicles is an easy game to pick up and start playing.  You move Rogan around the map by tapping on the screen.  Enemies, represented by tornadoes on the screen, are engaged by simply running into them.  You can talk to other people or open treasure chests in the same way.  When you run into an enemy, there are 4 choices of things that you can do.  You can attack, cast a spell, use an item, or run away.  Keep in mind that spells cost magic, whereas attacking costs you nothing.  However, spells are often more harmful to your enemy, and they can even be used to heal Rogan and Jada. Use magic wisely.

In playing Elven Chronicles, I found the game play to be smooth and easy to figure out.  The graphics are good, and the replay value was excellent.  The game is not quickly or easily conquered.  It is sure to keep you coming back for more.

Developer’s Website: http://www.bbbarcade.com/index.html

App Review: Squareball by Dromsynt

The first time that I saw Squareball, I was not impressed.  The graphics took me back to the old Atari that I played Pong and Space Invaders on as a kid. It had a few good reviews on it in the App Store.  So, I figured I would give it a chance.  When you launch the game, it presents you with a quick and somewhat odd storyline as the basis for the game.  The only thing you need to understand from it is that you are trying to collect the green squares in the game.  Once I got to playing the game, however, I was pleasantly surprised.  Squareball is unique, challenging, and strangly addicting.

The object of the game is to get your squareball through the obstacle course that each level presents.  Along the way, you encounter several different types of blocks.  The green ones, you must collect by bumping into them.  Others give you extra points and still others you want to avoid.  There is a color key in the Legend that can be accessed from the main menu that explains what each color represents.

The challenge in the game comes in the fact that your squareball is constantly moving.  It bounces up and down in the middle of the screen.  Instead of moving the ball to navigate the levels, you move the level by dragging your finger across the screen to make the ball bounce in the right spots.  If your squareball goes out of bounds on the top or bottom of the screen, you lose a life.  You only have three lives, and each time you die you have to start the level over unless you were lucky enough to reach a check point.

As if that were not enough to deal with, there are two meters at the top of the screen to keep your eye on.  The green one lets you know how many more green squares you have to collect in the level.  The other bar, lets you know how much more time you have to complete the level.  Unfortunately, this timer does not reset itself if you lose a life and have to start the level over.  The pressure is on to beat the clock.  Squareball is certainly not for the faint of heart.  Despite the simplicity of the graphics, it presents a serious challenge.

Developer’s Website: http://www.dromsynt.com/

App Review: Bear on a Wire by Dreamsocket, Inc.

Bear on a Wire is a very entertaining app featuring a bear riding a bike on telephone wires.  The picture of that huge bear on a bike is quite comical and is enough to bring a smile to your face.  The object of the game is to complete each course in the time allotted.  There is not much time to spare, so you will have to move quickly.  Just getting through the levels is not all that exciting, though.  For extra points, you can make the bear perform lots of different tricks on his bike.  Be careful not to let him hit the wire, though.  If he hits the wire, you lose a life.

The controls for the game are relatively simple.  There is a paw on the lower right corner of the screen.  Touch and hold this button to make the bear go forward.  On the left side of the screen there are three buttons; a square, a triangle, and a square.  These buttons are used to make the bear do tricks.  Each button by itself  or in combination with others makes the bear do something.  There are so many different possibilities that it took me quite a while to figure out which buttons did what and when they could safely be used without making the bear crash.

To keep the bear’s bike on its wheels, you can tip your iPhone or iPod left and right to balance him.  You can also use this tipping motion to make the bear perform flips when he is airborne.  Just make sure you have him right side up again by the time he lands on the wire again.  Bear on a Wire is entertaining and funny.  It is a fun, low-stress way to kill some time and have a good laugh.

Developer’s Website: http://bearonawire.com/

App Review: FluxTunes by Quokka Studios Pty Ltd

As cell phone and iPod use in the car becomes more and more prevalent, there is heightened concern over distracted drivers causing accidents.  What can you do, though?  I want to listen to your iPod, but you don’t want to divide your attention between the road and the screen on your iPod.  Quokka Studios has come out with an app called FluxTunes to help with this very problem.  Before I tell you about this app, I must urge you to read the Safety tab in the app.  It serves as a great reminder that safety and paying attention to the road are first and foremost, and that the laws of the road should always be observed.

FluxTunes allows you to quickly and easily control the music on your iPod or iPhone without having to look at the screen or search for buttons.  There are a few simple finger strokes that can be used to control the music.  There following commands are just examples of what you can do.

• A single tap on the screen will pause or play the music
• A swipe of a single finger right or left moves you to the next or previous track.
• Moving one finger up or down on the screen adjusts the volume.

The settings for the app can be adjusted in the Settings App on your device.  It allows you to change things like the time that the app waits before dimming the screen, whether or not to include podcasts in your playlists, or how you would like the music shuffled.

The only problem that I encountered with the app is that the app was not a responsive as I would have liked.  It didn’t always respond to the motion of my finger on the screen.  Overall, FluxTunes is a great idea and can fill a need for iPod and iPhone users.  Whether you are out jogging or driving a car, it is often hard or even dangerous to try to look at your iPod to adjust the music.

Developer’s Website: http://www.quokkastudios.com/

App Review: Enigmo 2 by Pangea Software, Inc.

If you liked the first Enigmo game, you are going to want to check out the new Enigmo 2 by Pangea Software, Inc.  The basics of the game are very similar.  The idea is to get the water droplets, plasma droplets, and laser beams into their corresponding containers using the few tools that are provided.  When all the containers in the puzzle reach 40, the puzzle is complete and you can move onto the next one.  The biggest difference in Enigmo 2 is that the game no longer operates in two dimensions.  It is now three dimensional.  The change makes the game look a whole lot cooler, but it also makes it a whole lot harder.

All of the controls for the game are touch controls.  Using one finger to touch and drag pans around the field of view.  The every popular two finger pinch zooms in.  Touching and dragging with two fingers rotates the view around the puzzle in 3D.  This two finger rotation took a little getting used to, but it is a vital tool in solving the 3D puzzles.  If you get yourself all turned around, you can always tap the reset view icon located on the right side of the screen.  It restores your view of the puzzle back to the original view.  The utility bar on the right side of the screen also contains other useful buttons including a undo/redo button, view reset button, rotation reset button, and a toggle grid button that aids in getting the right rotation on the pieces.

Available pieces to use to solve the puzzle are located at the bottom of the screen.  To place a piece on the puzzle, simply drag it to the desired location.  Once placed, the piece will have a rotation ring around it.  This rotation ring can be used to rotate the object in the plane that you are viewing it in.  Objects can be rotated in almost any direction by changing the view of the puzzle using the two finger touch and drag.  If you decide that a piece will not work as you anticipated, you can remove it from the screen by double tapping on it.

Playing Enigmo puzzles in 3D presents a whole new set of challenges and problems.  Lining up objects with lasers or water droplets can be hard.  To line things up easily, tap on the object that you want to line up your tool with before you drag the tool onto the screen.  Then, when you drag the object on, it will automatically line up with the object that you tapped.  This function works well and is extremely helpful.

Overall, I really enjoyed playing Enigmo 2.  The 3D graphics are amazing.  The puzzles do get quite difficult once you hit the 3D puzzles at level 8.  The only real drawback that I experienced is that I could not find a way to save my progress on a puzzle in the middle of it.  At the end of each puzzle, you are given the chance to save and exit, but if you exit the level suddenly, and then return to the puzzle, you have to start over.  Given that the levels are so challenging, it would be nice to be able to save your progress and come back to it later.  A minor problem for such a well made game.

Tips and Tricks:

• Laser beams reflect off shiny surfaces.  Sometimes the puzzle itself has shiny surfaces that you can use to reflect the lasers off of instead of using one of your tools.
• Remember that plasma is attracted to gravetoids the same way objects in space alter their path when they encounter another planets gravitational pull.  You can use this tool to alter the path that the plasma is taking.
• Sometimes you have to hit a button to activate a water dropper or plasma dropper before you can proceed to solve the puzzle.
• In some levels, there are shields around the container that you have to get things like water droplets into.  In this case, you must get the droplets to go through a ring to deactivate the shield before you can get the droplets into the container.

Developer’s Website: http://www.pangeasoft.net/iphone/enigmo2/

App Review: Stay by Anthropophagy

Stay by Anthropophagy is a challenging game of physics and balance.  In each level, there is a red shape on a wobbly beam.  Your job is to keep the shape on the beam while adding shapes on either side to keep it balanced.  See how long you can keep the shape on the beam.  Time does not start until you drop the first shape.  It sounds easy, but is actually much harder than you think.

There are three levels of game play.  They are all virtually the same.  The only difference that I could find is that the shape that you have to keep on the beam is different.  Easy mode features a triangle.  With the large, flat sides, it is relatively easy to keep in place.  In medium levels, you must keep a star on the beam, and in hard levels, it is a circle.  The circle begins to roll around with the slightest tip of the beam.  The hard levels are just that; hard.  These shapes are not the only variable in the game, though.

The shapes that you drop on the beam are different colors, and each color behaves differently.  Some blocks explode, expand, or shrink after they are dropped.  They can cause other blocks to move or even change the size of the blocks already in place.  The blocks come in a random order, but you can see the block that is coming next in the upper left corner and try to plan accordingly.  Most of the time, I found that I did not have time to worry about what was coming next.  The beam tips so quickly that I hardly had time to think about where to drop the next block.  To drop blocks, simply tap on the screen where you want to drop the block.

The last game play mode is survival mode.  Here you don’t have a red shape to try to keep on the beam.  You only have to keep the ends of the beam from hitting or going off the bottom of the screen.  If the ends do go off the screen, the meter at the top will quickly start running out.  When it runs out completely, the game is over.  Again, it is a matter of seeing how long you can last.

Overall, Stay is a fun game.  It was more challenging than I expected.  The only piece of advice I can give is this…you are trying to last as long as you can.  The timer starts after the first block is dropped.  If things are balanced, don’t rock the boat.  Once the beam gets moving around a lot, it is hard to get it back under control.

Developer’s Website: http://www.weeatpeople.com/stay/

App Review: MonsterKill by Origin8

With Halloween approaching at the end of October, we are bound to see more apps with ghouls, ghosts, and mummies.  MonsterKill, the newest game by Origin8, is a great new app in this genre.  MonsterKill is not a traditional tower defense game like the earlier Sentinel games also by Origin8, but it does borrow some elements from them.  Your job is to defend your gates against the waves of attacking monsters.  Don’t let them break them down. or the game is over.

There are three modes of game play.   Each one presents a different challenge.  In normal mode you have to last 20 rounds against the monsters.  You start with one spell to defend your gates.  Other spells are unlocked as you progress.  In endless mode, you must last as long as you can.  There are unlimited rounds of attacking monsters.  See how long you can last.  In onslaught mode, you have no gates to defend yourself.  You are given 20 tokens to buy upgrades.  Then, you have to defend yourself against 101 monsters.  See if you can get them all.

In order to cast spells on the monsters, you have to have magic available in your magic meter at the top of the screen.  Use the magic that is there wisely.  It is easy to run out.  At the end of each level, you are given the chance to buy upgrades using the money and tokens that you have earned.  Money is used to repair or upgrade your gates.  It is wise to save your money when you can.  Once it is spent, you cannot get it back.  Tokens are used to upgrade spells and the speed that your magic replenishes.  Unlike your money, you can get your tokens back if you change your mind and use them for something else.

Overall, MonsterKill is a great game that is fun and has great graphics.  However, I did run into one frustration in trying to cast the lightning spell.  To cast it, you have to draw a lightning bolt on the screen.  Although, the game provides a tutorial on each spell, showing you how to cast it, I could never seem to get it right.  After much practice, though, I finally got the hang of it and was able to enjoy the game.  Despite that flaw, I still highly recommend the game.

Developer’s Website: http://www.origin8.com/

App Review: Battle Bears by StoryBoy

Do cute and violent really go together?  Not usually.  Battle Bears by StoryBoy manages to mix the two seemingly contradictory terms.  You are Oliver, a bear stuck behind enemy lines.  The enemy, in this case, are cute cuddly teddy bears.  Their goal is to hug Oliver to death.  Oliver must shoot the bears to keep from getting attacked.  Sounds a little crazy, but the game is well made and quite addicting.

The controls are surprisingly simple and easy to use.  To aim your gun and scan the horizon for approaching bears tap and drag your thumb around the screen.  This control works similar to a D-Pad.  The advantage is that your finger does not have to stay within the confines of the D-Pad area on the screen.  You can place your finger anywhere on the screen and move it around to control the game.  With your other thumb tap somewhere else on the screen to shoot or hold down your finger to rapid fire.

Oliver starts with only a unicorn crossbow.  As the game progresses, he gets more weapons that include a bearzooka that shoots bear legs and arms and a swearaphone that stuns your attackers when you swear at them through it.  To switch weapons, tap on the icon in the upper left corner of the screen.  You don’t ever really run out of ammo, but you will need to reload from time to time.  You can force a reload by holding down the weapon change button in the upper left.  Otherwise, Oliver will reload when he needs to, but it may not happen at the best time and can keep you from shooting for a few seconds.

Battle Bears is a unique game that fights against all that is cuddly and cute in the world.

Developer’s Website: http://www.battlebears.com/

App Review: Lion Pride by Blue Fang Games

Time to live a little on the wild side of life.  Lion Pride by Blue Fang Games is a unique hunting game.  You are a member of a pride of lions.  You must hunt animals on the African savannah to keep the pride from starving.  Keep an eye on the food meter in the lower left of the screen.  If you run out of meat, the pride will die out and the game is over.

To fully understand how the game works, you should first understand a little about the way a lion pride works, as the game operates very similarly.  More information about lions can be found under the fun facts section of the menu.  The important thing to understand is that a lion pride consists mainly of a group of related lionesses, their cubs, and a few males.  The lionesses are responsible for the majority of the hunting, although the male lions will sometimes help out.  Thus, in the game lion pride, the lionesses do most of the hunting.  The male lions will help out if you attack an animal near them.  Quite often, though, they are asleep.  Simply double tap the sleeping lion to wake him up.

Hunting prey is a pretty difficult task, as many of the animals that you are hunting are either faster or stronger than a lioness.  Thus, you have to use some thought and skill to catch your food.  To make your lioness slowly creep up on another animal, draw a line slowly across the screen towards it.  When you are within striking range, use a quick flick of your finger to make the lion run and pounce on the prey.  Attacking the prey, will cause all the animals nearby to run away.  It is often helpful to hunt in teams or groups the way real lions do.  Use one lion to chase the animals towards other lions that are lying in wait, ready to attack.  A few animals such as zebras and cape buffalo must be attacked by more than one lioness.  One lion is not strong enough to over power the animal alone.

There is one tool at your disposal in this game that real lions don’t have.  You can double tap on animals to stun them.  Stunning prey slows them down for a second to give you a chance to attack.  The effects of the stun are very short-lived, though.  So, don’t use it too soon.  The prey will still get away.  You cannot attack hippos in the water, but you can stun them to receive a special bonus.  You can also use the stun on hyenas that invade your territory.  Hyenas can be big pests.  They scare away prey and can even kill and eat the very animals that your pride needs for survival.  Use your lionesses to chase them away before they make too much trouble for your pride.

Lion Pride is not an easy game, but it is unique and fun.  You must learn to use  patience, skill, and teamwork to keep your pride alive in a world where survival of the fittest is all too real.

Developer’s Website: http://www.bluefang.com/games/lionpride/

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