It’s Friday — how about some free stuff? We’ve got a couple of games for today’s Download Discounts, and in addition to not costing anything, both are slow-speed and a bit relaxing, while maintaining their challenge. Check out all the details for The Greedy Sponge and Moxie, and more, on our list below.
The Greedy Sponge (iPhone, iPad) Free (was $0.99)
There are a lot of match three puzzle games out there — the kind that require you to slip shapes around until you can get a few of the same color together to clear them — but they’re rarely as easy going or goofy as The Greedy Sponge. In each level, you’ll move colored characters around on the top of the screen, a giant hungry creature below. Instead of just matching objects and scoring points, your goal is to break them loose and have them feed the sponge by clearing out batches that will unhook others from the main group.
Greedy Sponge doesn’t have much in the way of intense pressure, and the only thing driving you will be your own score. That’s kind of nice, as are the game’s Retina graphics and iPad support — both additions in a recent update.
Moxie (iPhone, iPad) Free (was $0.99)
Word game Moxie is a challenging and addictive concept, in which you’re given an individual letter and three five-letter word slots on the screen. You place the letters in the slots as you receive them, and the goal is to make words. The catch is, letters can replace other letters, so you want to try to keep forming words in a row with the existing letters to create “word chains.”
In addition to just making regular words, there are also special “Moxie words,” which give you bonus points. Keeping the chain going is key to a high score, but if you mess up and spell something that’s not real, you’ll get a point deduction. There’s no timer, so you’re only challenged by your wits and your need to score higher.
MovieScanner (iPhone) Free (was $2.99)
Marked down to free for the day, MovieScanner is meant to help you keep track of your movie library. But you don’t need to input all your movie titles or information manually: instead, the app uses your iPhone’s camera. Just like a bar code scanner you take shopping, MovieScanner finds the information that goes with each box and attaches it to your list.
In addition to just building a video list so you can keep track of what you have, MovieScanner provides you with information on each title that you can read from within the app. You’ll see the cover, synopsis and other details when you find your videos in the app. MovieScanner pulls info down from its own database, and its developers say they’re constantly updating it.
