Europress, a leading producer of family-orientated video games, launched their third iOS endeavor onto the App Store. Compatible with the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad, Doodle Tales allows children to unleash their imaginations. Best of all, it’s completely [mostly] free. Doodle Tales allows children to organize their thoughts and concentrate them into making fully-functional storybooks. Many tools are provided for composing doodles. These include brushes (pencils, crayons, etc.), stamps, borders, backgrounds and more. While some are available for free, Europress has consolidated their large variety of supplies into optional in-app purchases that can be downloaded and later restored to users’ devices, which include people, animals, houses and other things accordingly grouped. After completing the artwork for a storybook, text and even recorded audio can be added to individual pages to give each significant meaning and personality – this aids in the overall creation of a full-fledged storybook. Upon the completion of a storybook, you can share your creations to the large database of other users. Stories can be rated, and using this social feature you can also discover other well-created stories, which can be viewed and played. Although the interface of the application is evidently meant to be used by younger children, it takes some time to get a grip on Doodle Tale’s features. It comes packed with over 20 tutorials representative of its large interface that will require time to get accustomed to. While it’s a good thing that Europress have packed so much into one free app, no young child will be able to utilize every one of Doodle Tale’s functions. Europress have redefined the educational category of the App Store with Doodle Tales. Not only does it boast an intuitive user-interface with easily navigable menus, the application is equipped with enough content to whet any child’s creativity. You’ll Read More
Many, if not most, of the abundant amount of casual endless running games on the App Store are simply variations of one another varying solely in graphical theme. There have been a few titles that have spun the genre wildly like the popular Jetpack Joyride and now most recently On the Wind ($1.99) that puts you in control of leaves with hopes of blowing in the wind throughout the course of all four seasons – it sounds different, and it truly is. Your finger is the wind so long as you’re making contact with the screen. This is the driving force that directs the direction of the flying leaves. As you progress, you’ll have to collect leaves from appearing trees to replace the leaves that will imminently fall to the ground and quickly dissolve. If all leaves are lost to the ground or if you’re chased out of the left side of the screen due to the increasing variety of design within the gameplay, it’s game over. The whole thing isn’t a new idea in truth, but the execution has been mastered artfully with the gameplay having a calming effect on the player. The art in coalescence with the humble background music creates a mood that would otherwise not be present within the game. Developer David Buttress’ focus on creating a relaxing experience outweighs the attention paid to creating a seamless game with tons of features and fun to boast. The actual gameplay is hindered greatly because of the inclusion of flawed controls. Your finger on the screen controls the movement of leaves, which often causes you to be blind with direction especially with the various areas of land strewn all around in the randomly generated game world that could potentially end your game if crashed into. It’s recommended to play Read More
The name is probably the first thing that you notice about an application before all of the screenshots, the description and all that other jazz of the same sort. There are pros and cons to having a funky name: enticing potential customers who are simply intrigued and turning off others. Although Super Lemonade Factory ($0.99) isn’t the most coherent title, it doesn’t take away from the pure excitement that the recently released mix of platforming and puzzles boasts. Using the economic downfall proceeding the Civil War as a general time period, Super Lemonade Factory puts you in control of a couple who are in the process of taking over their family-owned lemonade factory. You’ll navigate through a multitude of levels, which are frustrating in the exact opposite way than desired, as you attempt to grasp the basics needed to become manager of the factory. Playing as Liselot and Andre, levels need to be conquered using both of their perks. Somehow, at the beginning of each of the 72 levels, the pair find themselves separated. You’ll need to get them to the exit simultaneously by switching control of either by simply swiping the screen accordingly. Using Liselot’s extremely high double jump, her conversational skills and crate pushing ability alongside Andre’s crate smashing power and strength enabling him to lift Liselot on his bare back, you’ll strategically guide them to a level’s finish. For those who want that little extra feeling of excitement upon completing a level, items have been littered throughout each level at locations that would otherwise be off track. They demand a bit more on the player’s part. Like many of the platformers that iOS has to offer, Super Lemonade Factory works with a set of on-screen controls. Left and right arrows will control left and right movement, respectively, a Read More
When the App Store was first founded a few years ago, it was overcrowded by a population of casual, enjoyable games with no other basis but to get the highest score possible; there really was no storyline, no development of characters or anything, but the fun lied rather within the actual gameplay itself. One of the games that existed and thrived in this former market, is Flight Control – becoming an instant hit and also a classic game that every iOS device owner undoubtedly owns, Firemint, the developers, have finally released a sequel to the acclaimed title that is every bit as worthwhile as its predecessor. Available for only $0.99, Flight Control Rocket took off just a few days ago, and it’s rightfully rocketing up the charts. What Flight Control Rock does is simply expand on the common formula that was seen in its prequel. Your main mission is to guide rockets, of various color, to their specific runways – the premise is augmented greatly with the inclusion of upgrades that can be purchased, multiple game modes, and a whole onslaught of ships that are simply waiting to be discovered. For the rare case that doesn’t know how to play, we’ll help you out. Your job is direct aircraft to their color-specific runway as they enter the screen from all four sides. As you progress and land more and more ships, you’ll be challenged by hoards of ships that will appear together; crashing two or more ships results in a loss of life which will eventually lead to a game over once your three lives have been depleted. The same formula is just as fun as it was, if not more, back when the original Flight Control was released. A sessions starts out being a piece of cake and rapidly becomes Read More
As we’ve seen from the success of Clear by Realmac Software, the craving for a simple UI with no complexity is massive among the ranks of people who serve as fans of the indomitable App Store. Attempting to replicate the fame, Steps ($1.99) recently became available in the App Store. In the works for about a month, Steps has launched irrefutably superior to what Clear had to offer, and we’ve got a glowing review. Steps shares a lot of similar functions with the aforementioned Clear; firstly, it strives on the bare bones of a strong, yet utterly simplistic user-interface that takes almost no effort to successfully use. I did have a chance to check out Clear after its strong debut on the App Store and after using Steps as well, I tended to slowly shift to using the latter more often. They both aim to offer seamless task management, and they both have undoubtedly done a wonderful job in doing so. As soon as you start up Steps for the first time, you’ll be taken through a few steps to introduce you to the application’s minimal, though highly sophisticated, functionality. Rather than a few menus like in Clear, Steps simply has a folder management system much like that of Windows Explorer’s or Finder for the Mac. Clicking on the folder name will reveal the contents of that folder. Personally, I preferred this substantially over Clear’s navigational system which has multiple pages; with Steps, everything was on one page and easily able to be viewed. With so many priorities in life, Steps targets those who need a solid task-management, to-do application. The main purpose of the application is to allow you to prioritize your hobbies (folders) and attribute different tasks to each. Steps doesn’t have as many gesture-based controls as Clear does, Read More
I’m still surprised that Apple has yet to add a list to their category of games dubbed “Platformers” considering the host of such titles that flood the App Store everyday. The much overdue genre has been expanded further with the release of Bulkypix’s newest title Kung Fu Panda ($0.99) which makes the idea that rabbits can attain the serious skills of martial arts very plausible. The story is explained by usual means: a storyboard. You’re shown that all of your pupils have been kidnapped by the wicked forces of evil, and it’s your duty to recover them one by one in each of the 70 levels. You’ll traverse through a variety of constantly changing environments, navigate past a plentitude of fatal foes, gracefully jump from wall to wall and will avoid the slime that lines the depths of every level. Kung Fu Rabbit hardly lacks in the aspects of content and detail. There are sixty levels split up into three iterations of twenty with the additional ten unlocked as you go along as optional levels. The main mechanics of the gameplay are explained through the first few levels. There are a ton of different elements that will make their appearance throughout the game, and levels have evidently been designed to challenge the player with the clever placement of hazards and platforms alike. Additionally, three carrots are littered throughout the levels which are each worth one form of currency to be spent on an in-game dojo which houses upgrades and powerups that are both for one time use and also permanent perks. This adds incentive to collect the carrots as well as another larger carrot that presents more of a challenge to be collected but is worth more. Optional in app purchases will allow users to purchase currency for use in the Read More
SKOROAPPS has launched an intuitive way to keep track of sales for small business managers. Orders ($4.99) for iPhone allows users to easily input information about various product orders and sales, organize them via various algorithms, and it presents them in a crisp, great-looking template. Though pricey, Orders is a juicy manager that’s all worth the steep buy-in price. You can easily input information regarding orders if you’re a sales manager or small business owner. If you own a small organization, an application of this breed is essential. Orders allows you to easily enter a customer name, a product name, a due date, a logo or any other relevant picture, unit price and enter count for the application to instantaneously return with a total price. With the great application interface, navigation has been simplified. You can sort orders based on different things and can organize similar orders together in catalogs that can be renamed and created at ease. The graphical aspect of Orders has been executed fairly well. It’s not the most eye-catching utilities among the ranks of others that the App Store currently boasts, but it also doesn’t seem like its assets were lazily and messily compiled using MS Paint. It’s a simple application, but it’s powerful and performs reliably at the blink of an eye. If you want to win a copy, we’re giving away five copies in this week’s giveaway, which has a total value of over $20 considering the $4.99 price tag. With the use for an application with alike functionality, you should pick up Orders as soon as possible. Read More
By now, ‘Fancy Pants Adventure’ has become quite a prodigy among the top flash gaming websites on the web. If you haven’t heard of the title and its sequels, there’s really no excuse the amount of evident time poured into the large adventurous environments, so many well-executed character functions and tight controls have made it one of the most marvellous platformers available for free on the internet. That absolutely amazing, sensational title has made its way into your pocket and is available for $0.99 on the App Store. Fancy Pants is iOS publisher Chillingo’s newest title, hitting the stores late last night. Truth is, it’s also one of their bests. You’ll play as Fancy Pants who is out on an adventure to traverse through many doodled environments in hopes of recovering his sister from the wrath a group of pirates. To do this, you’ll navigate through an arsenal of different level structures including Sonic-esque loops that are conquered in a similar style, long jumps and a whole lot more. There’s so much to do in the levels that make up the game that you’ll often be lost in regards on what you should be doing next. Each environment seemingly stretches on forever holding surprises everywhere along its [multiple] paths. Various side challenges will present themselves to you keeping the gameplay fresh at all times, and you’ll usually have to watch out for enemies that can be a hassle to deal with otherwise. Without actual, physical buttons, Fancy Pants does a great job in providing an optimum gaming experience with its on-screen controls. The basics are, of course, the usual left and right movement and the jump buttons. There is also a down button that will mainly function as a way to duck, while all of the others can be used in Read More
Tapbots have been the instigators of a multitude of clever utilities on the App Store. Paying a high attention to every minute detail, Pastebot ($3.99) brings the functionality of an intuitive clipboard manager to the iOS device. Allowing you to easily access your past copied or cut photos, links, snippets and text, the application is quite a must for anyone that has been exposed to the company’s past works of genius as well as any other iPhone and iPod Touch user. Even with the cut and copy commands added to iOS after the release of Pastebot, the latter remains to be a relevant and useful application among the ranks of others on the App Store. Rather than staying simple, Tapbots’ third born enables users to utilize every one of its features to its respective utmost potential. Behind the name, Pastbot is a powerful clipboard manager that stores multiple previous items that you’ve copied or cut from somewhere. Regardless of where you get your snippets from, the application will load them up once you open the application. Unfortunately, due to Apple’s limitations for iOS, Pastebot has been hindered a bit; instead of constantly running in the background, Pastebot only runs for about 10 minutes after you close the application. Within this period, the application will store anything that you copy or cut without you having to open the application, which is the case after the ten minute period. You can choose to receive push notifications when the time runs out. If you wanted to bypass the limitation, you’d have to jailbreak. Tapbots have executed the application seamlessly. Once you open the app, you’ll be presented with its crisp, sleek interface which every one of the developer’s applications so satisfyingly boast. Everything has been designed to have an optimal impression on the eye, Read More
In this week's iteration of our weekly giveaways, we've got a few special applications to distribute among out great readers and fans. Among the 30 promotional codes we've got, applications such as Billr, Delivery Status, Buzz Contacts and most prominently the top-selling strategy game from Crescent Moon Games Raid Leader are being given away. Come see what all the fuss is about! Gas has gotten quite expensive these days with various affairs that create influxes in prices, so those of us residing in the US want the optimum prices to refuel their vehicles. With Tank - A Snazzy Gas Finder (Free/$0.99), finding the best prices is a breeze - and it's pretty too. One of our readers pointed out his own video just the other day showing us the process of creating quite a catchy ringtone. The significance? Starring in the audio of the tone is none other than the virtual assistant that made her (its?) appearance with the introduction of the iPhone 4S: Siri. After what seemed to be a millennium of constant updates for the chart-dominant hit from Rovio, Angry Birds ($0.99), you've probably got a lifetime supply of slinging angry, flightless fowl at defenseless pigs. The news is that the developing outfit based on Finland may be moving onto new things. If you haven't seen already, PDF conversion applications have been pretty popular among the Top 25 in the App Store. With the various types, it's difficult to pick out which one you should purchase. With experience in business applications, Penpower Technology LTD has released Snap2PDF ($1.99) that makes it easy to scan, share and convert pictures into a PDF format. It's (maybe) time to officially bid farewell to the 30-pin connector that we've all grown to be so accustomed to in the past years of Apple's portable Read More
