App Review: Sevens by Nigel Hanbury

Puzzles lovers everywhere are going to love the new puzzle app, Sevens by Nigel Hanbury.  This Sudoku inspired game will hone your logic and problem solving skills and then push them to their limits.  In Sudoku, you must place the numbers 1-9 in columns and rows such that the numbers only appear once in each row and column.  Sevens takes this idea one step further.  You must place the numbers 1-7 in rows and columns.  However, the squares that you place the numbers in are now color-coded too.  Each number must appear only once in each row, column, and color group.  This third criteria for placing numbers seemed to make the game much easier at first by providing more information to use in determining the placement of each number.  However, because you do have this added help, the harder levels seemed to be that much harder.  The app can get away with giving you a very few numbers on the board to begin with.

There are three levels of gameplay (easy, intermediate, and professional).  Each one of these levels contains 200 different puzzles.  Let’s just say you won’t run out of puzzles to solve anytime soon, which is a big bonus in my mind.  As soon as the app pulls up a puzzle, the timer is started.  The pressure is on to complete the puzzle in the shortest time possible.  The app has a stats section that keeps track of the fastest time for completing a puzzle at each difficulty level.  I was surprised by how long some of the levels took me to solve.  If you do have to exit the game before you complete the puzzle, the app will save it just where you left off and pause the timer.  Time resumes when you pull the puzzle up again.

To place a number on the board, tap on the square that you want to place it in.  That will place a question mark in the square.  Then, tap the number at the bottom of the screen that you want in the square.  To remove numbers that may be wrong, simply tap on them and the square will revert back to a question mark.  When you tap on another square, the question mark will disappear, leaving the square blank again.  If you fill all the squares, but have a mistake somewhere, the app will tell you that your solution is not correct.  It is then up to you to find the problem.

The only flaw that I found with the game is that I could not find a way to go back an replay levels that you have played before.  There is a button that allows you to skip to the next level if you are frustrated with the one that you are on.  Likewise, I could not figure out how to go back and play the ones that I skipped.  Maybe if you cycle through all 200 puzzles, you can end up back at the beginning.  Regardless, Sevens is a great puzzle app, that works well and has great replay value.

Developer’s Website: http://www.hanburyapps.co.uk/

App Review: Diamond Breaker by mAPPn, Inc.

Diamond Breaker is a challenging and unique physics game by Mobile App Network.  You are mining for diamonds deep in the Earth.  The diamonds are located throughout the mine and your job is to get the diamonds onto your boat without letting them fall into the lava below.  The trick is that you cannot move your boat.  You can only try to make the diamonds fall onto the boat by adjusting the way that you cut them out of the rock.

In the upper left hand side of the screen is a small map of the cave that you are mining in.  The diamonds show up as small dots on the screen.  This map gives you a good overview of the situation and can help you visualize what needs to happen to get the diamonds in the boat.  The bottom left corner of the screen contains a directional controller that allows you to pan around using the full viewing screen.  I had to get used to the fact that you cannot pan around in this game by simply touching the screen and dragging it.  You must use the controller.  Not all the rocks in the mine can be cut.  Those that can be cut are displayed in purple on the screen.  To cut them, tap and drag your finger across the rock.  This motion will draw a line along which the rock will be cut.  The cuts must go all the way through the rock or a piece of it.  You cannot cut halfway through anything.  Also, you have a limited number of cuts that you can make in each level.  So, keep an eye on the meter at the right side of the screen and use your cuts wisely.

The first couple of levels are easy.  After that, you have to really start thinking hard to get the job done.  Many of the levels took me more than one try.  Luckily, if your diamonds do fall into the lava, the app will tell you that you failed the level but will give you the option to try it again.  You get as many tries as it takes.  You can’t move on to the next level until you complete the one before it, though.  One little quirk in the game is that the game does not save your place if you just exit and come back to it.  To save your place in the game, you must tap the “end game” button when you complete or fail a level.  If you exit the game at this point, then you can return to where you left off and replay any of the levels that you have already played.

Diamond Breaker is sure to keep you coming back again and again trying to solve the puzzles.  The only problem may be running out of puzzles too soon, as there are only 25 levels.  Hopefully, more will come soon in future updates.

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

App Review: Ragdoll Blaster - A Physics Puzzler by Backflip Studios

Ragdoll Blaster – A Physics Puzzler by Backflip Studios is a great puzzle that feels like a game. The goal of the game is to use the least amount of ragdolls that you can to launch one of them into a red target. You shoot the ragdolls out of a cannon. Some blocks are breakable, and others are firm. The cool thing about this game is that, in some levels, the target moves. You have to really use your brain to setup the levels just right to win.

To shoot your cannon, tap on the screen in the direction you wish to shoot. The farther your finger taps away from the cannon, the more power that the blast will have. You can shoot as many ragdolls as you want, but you may not be able to beat your friends’ scores. Some levels require you to break down large structures, or use catapults.

Ragdoll Blaster is a great physics puzzler that will keep you entertained for a long time. This game has great replay value and requires some brain power. Ragdoll Blaster is one of the best puzzlers I have played, and it’s a game! This is a great buy with over 70 challenging levels with a smooth learning curve.

Ragdoll Blaster – A Physics Puzzler is $1.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Developer’s Website: http://www.backflipstudios.com/ragdollblaster/

App Review: NineGaps by Quadion Technologies

NineGaps by Quadion Technologies is a challenging number game.  Your job is to fit the nine numbers from 1 to 9 in the squares so that the mathematical operations from left to right and top to bottom have the correct end result in each row and column.  There are three levels of game play; easy, medium, and hard.  The only difference between the three levels is how much information you are given at the beginning of the level.  On an easy level, you start with two of the numbers already on the board.  These numbers are very helpful in figuring out the placement of the others.  Medium levels only give you one number to start with, and hard levels leave you completely on your own. To fill in the spaces on the board, simply grab the numbers at the top of the screen and drag them into place on the board.

When you place numbers in a row or column that reach the correct answer in the end, the number at the end of the row or column will turn green.  Be careful not to interpret this change of color to mean that the numbers are correct.  You may still have a number incorrectly placed.  It only means that the numbers reach the correct answer.  There is also a timer running to put the pressure on to complete the level as fast as you can.  The app keeps track of the fastest time for each difficulty level.  NineGaps is fun and challenging for those who like number puzzles.

NineGaps is $0.99 in the iTunes App Store.

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

App Review: Crazy Machines by dtp Entertainment AG

Crazy Machines by dtp Entertainment AG is a wonderfully creative problem solving game.  The professor presents you with experiments that are not quite complete.  He tells you the goal of the experiment and the tools that you need to make it reach its goal.  You must figure out how to use the tools at your disposal to make things work the way they should.  This app has a similar premise to that of Fantastic Contraption.  I found this app to be much easier to play and therefore much less frustrating.  It was, however, still challenging enough to make solving the puzzles rewarding.  Crazy Machines also makes use of many more tools to accomplish the goals of the experiments, which I thought gave the game much more variety and interest.

While the game is easier to approach than other games like it, I would still highly recommend beginning with the tutorial.  It only takes a few minutes and will walk you through all of the basics of the game.  After you complete the tutorial, you can easily move on to the first experiment.  At the beginning of each experiment, the professor will explain the goal of the experiment and may even give you some hints about how the tools should or can be used.  You can see these instructions again if you need to at any time by tapping on the blue button with the exclamation point on it.

To run the experiment, tap the green play button.  Sometimes when I didn’t know what to do, I found that the best way to start was to run the experiment and see where it went wrong.  Each time you run the experiment, you must press the red stop button to stop the experiment.  Only after the experiment has been stopped can you work on it and make changes to the components.  The components that are on the screen when you start the level are not adjustable.  For the most part, the only components that you can make changes to are the ones that you add to the experiment.  These adjustable pieces blink on the screen to indicate that they are adjustable.

When you tap on a component in the experiment it brings up a circular menu that gives you many tools including ones that move, turn, delete, activate, and provide more information about the component.  One thing that took some getting used for me was that you cannot move the components by dragging them around.  You have to touch on the the tool that moves the component and drag the component by dragging the tool button.  In the end, this method is easier because you can see the placement of the component better when you finger in not right on top of it.

For each experiment, you have a limited number of components that you can use.  These components can be found in your component inventory, which is accessed by tapping the yellow gear button.  Sometimes you may not recognize a component or know what it can do.  You can easily find out by placing the component on the screen and then tapping on it and tapping again on the question mark button.  This button will bring up a brief description of the item and it’s properties.  There seems to be an endless list of objects and tools that are used in Crazy Machines.  Everything from ropes to ping pong balls and motors with drive belts that need power supplies.  The variety of the materials and the challenge of the puzzles will keep you interested and coming back time and time again.  The app stores up to three profiles, allowing you to save multiple games concurrently.  I highly recommend Crazy Machines to anyone who likes solving puzzles.

Crazy Machines is $2.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Developer’s Website: http://www.dtp-entertainment.com/

App Review: The World Factbook ‘09 by jDictionary Mobile

The World Factbook ‘09 by jDictionary Mobile is a wonderful encyclopedia app.  Now you can have information on just about every country in the world at your fingertips without having to go to the library or buy expensive encyclopedias for your home.  When you launch the app, you can tap the magnifying glass to search for the country that you wish to learn about.  When you pull up a country, you can view all different types of information in several different categaories.  Tapping on a category brings up the information.

If you find information that you want to save to view again later, you can touch the plus sign at the bottom of the screen to add the page to your bookmarks.  The bookmarks can then be viewed by tapping the open book at the bottom of the screen.  Also, this icon allows you to browse your search history.  The World Factbook ‘09 contains lots of interesting information in a very easy to use format.  It is a great app for the price.

The World Factbook ‘09 is $0.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Developer’s Website: http://jdictionary-mobile.com/index.php

App Review: Trivial Pursuit by Electronic Arts

Trivial Pursuit fans, your favorite trivia game is now available for your iPhone and iPod Touch.  Electronic Arts has recently released Trivial Pursuit in the iTunes App Store.  Now you can test your knowledge by yourself or with your friends wherever you are.

There are four different types of game play; Classic Mode, Pursuit Mode, Pass’n Play, and Wi-Fi Multiplayer Mode.  In Classic Mode you can play alone or against the app’s opponent.  In starting the game, you can choose the number of wedges needed to win, whether you can earn the wedges on any square or just the larger tiles, the difficulty of your opponent, and the time limit for answering questions.  You can also customize your player by changing your name, mascot, and color.  Once you have determined the particulars of the game, you proceed straight into the game.  To play the game, you roll the dice and then move your playing piece.  Each time you move your piece, you must answer a question.  If you answer the question correctly, you roll again.  Answer incorrectly, and it is your opponent’s turn (assuming you have one, of course).

Pursuit Mode provides another single player game.  In this mode there is a shorter game board.  However, instead of rolling the dice and then moving, you answer the question first.  The faster you answer the question the higher the number of spaces you will get to move.  The goal is to make it to the other end of the board as quickly as possible.

Pass’n Play mode allows you to play a game with multiple players on the same device.  The game play is the same as in the Classic mode.  See which one of your friends can earn all 6 of their wedges first to win the game.  You can also play a multi-player game over a Wi-Fi network using the Wi-Fi Multiplayer mode.

The only trouble I had with this game was figuring out the answers to many of the questions.  They can by quite difficult.  Trivial Pursuit by Electronic Arts is a great version of the classic game that you can play anywhere, anytime.

Trivial Pursuit is $4.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Developer’s Website: http://www.eamobile.com/Web/ipod-game/IpodReskinView

App Review: 3000 Awesome Facts by Nikolay Nachev

3000 Awesome Facts is a very interesting app that will keep you coming back for more.  It is packed with tidbits of information.  While not always very relevant to everyday life, the facts are all very interesting.  They could be used as conversation starters or just interesting facts to surprise your friends with.  With 3000 facts, you will never run out of things to say.

Currently when you open the app, one fact is displayed at a time.  Each time you tap the screen, you get a new fact.  The only thing I would like to see changed about the app is that I wish there were a way of searching the facts by topic or keyword.  I know I will never remember everything I read and without a way to look them up again, I am at a loss.  3000 Awesome Facts is an ingenious app that is fun for all ages.

3000 Awesome Facts is $0.99 in the iTunes App Store.

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

App Review: Who Has The Biggest Brain? by Playfish

Who Has The Biggest Brain? by Playfish is a cool app that allows you to compare your brain to that of your friends. It tests four different areas of your brain: Calculation, Memory, Logic, and Visual. Each of these areas is tested by playing mini games. There are 3 different types of mini games for each section making 12 mini games in all. To figure out your brain size, you are required to take a test that evaluates you by giving you one game in each of the 4 areas. You have 1 minute to complete each section.

Following the test, the app will tell you your brain size and will rank you according to that size. If you get and extremely low score, you will be ranked as an amoeba. If you get an extremely high score, you can get ranked as a Neuronian. There are 27 different types of ranks. Some more of these are: Caveman, Average Joe, Goat, Cyborg, and Alien. Each of these ranks are represented by a cool picture.

You can win medals by getting higher scores and completing different challenges. If you want to compete against your friends, you can to sign into your Facebook account from the app. This will allow you to see all of your friends who have this app, as well as their high scores. You and your friends will be displayed on a high scores list in the high scores section. This will tell you who out of your friends truly has the biggest brain. If you want to find out who has the biggest brain in the world, you can view the Global High scores in this same section. When you receive a medal or get a high score, you can brag about it by uploading a story to Facebook.

The Profile section gives you lots of different stats about your own score. You can see your high score for each mini game. It will also show you your rank and your brain size, as well as all of the trophies you have received.  On your calendar you can view how your stats have changed over time on a line graph. If you are unhappy with your stats or you just want to improve them to beat a friend, you can go into practice mode and work on any mini games that you aren’t good at. This mode will give you an exact simulation of the real game play, but it will not count towards any scores.

Who Has The Biggest Brain? is an entertaining way to prove to your friends how smart you really are. You can even try to see if you can get your name to show up on the Global High Scores list. Who Has The Biggest Brain? will keep you coming back to play it again and again.

Who Has The Biggest Brain is $0.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Developer’s Website: www.playfish.com

App Review: Classics Brings the Books to You

There are lots of ways to read books on your iPhone or iPod.  I have always enjoyed the app Stanza, which is free, but doesn’t have all the latest books.  Then, there is Amazon’s Kindle, which was recently released in the App Store.  Kindle is also free, but you have to buy the books for it.  With the iPhone commmercials spotlighting it and its position in the top 100, Classics has caught my attention.  I decided to try it out.

When you launch the app, there is a book shelf with several books on it.  Simply tap on the book that you want to read to start reading it.  Simple enough, right?  The reader interface in the app is beautiful.  The pages of the books are an off white color, which makes the pages less bright, while the words are still easy to read.  You do not have pages that turn and then scroll either.  The text on each page fits on the screen.  At the end of the page, you turn the page either by swiping your finger right to left or tapping the corner of the page.  The page turns look remarkably real.

If you return to the menu after starting to read a book, the app will place a bookmark where you left off to mark your place.  Bookmarks can be seen hanging out of books in the bookcase.  My only complaint with this app is that the book selection is limited.  Having said that, there have been, and I am sure there will be, updates that add more and more books to the app.  Right now, there is a good starting selection of classic books.

Classics is on sale for $0.99 in the iTunes App Store.

Developer’s Website: www.classicsapp.com

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