Seamless Food Delivery (iPad) Free
Food delivery service Seamless comes to your iPad with the release of its new app, and that can make ordering and receiving dinner a whole lot easier for people in quite a few urban areas. The app allows you to browse supported restaurants, check their menus, place your order and pay by credit card, all from a Wi-Fi or 3G connection. It’ll also save your old orders so you can just re-order quickly and easily next time.
Seamless also lets you get tons of information about restaurants to help you figure out what you might like and what you should offer. Users can rate restaurants and leave feedback, so you can let others know what you think of your favorite places (and why they’re your favorite) while checking ratings before you order.
Folder Secret (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Add additional security to things you don’t want others to see that are stored on your iOS devices. Folder Secret lets you hide folders and add several layers of security, like PIN codes and screen “pattern locks” similar to those seen on Android devices. You can add security to your entire iPhone or iPad, as well as hide sensitive information inside the Folder Secret app.
Folder Secret includes a lot of nifty security features, like a “decoy” mode that catches people trying to access your device, the ability to snap photos and videos from within the app, and an “autolock” timer that seals everything up when you’re away. If you should find you want to share a little content from within Folder Secret though, you can via Twitter and Facebook integration.
CodeRunner (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
You’ve been recruited by a clandestine agency that needs you to help prevent crimes and spy on lawbreakers in CodeRunner. Plug in headphones and you’ll receive messages from your handlers, allowing you to accept missions that have you pursuing objectives and surveilling targets, but in real places. CodeRunner’s goals and objectives are a game, but the app makes use of real GPS data and satellite maps to construct its game world.
As you accept missions in CodeRunner that require you to move to different locations in your area, you’ll receive dispatches from your handler, information from other “agents” and other tidbits to draw you into the game’s world. CodeRunner is a pretty cool take on augmented reality, and is best played in populated areas like parks.
Ironworm (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Not too long ago, developer 10tons Ltd. released Swingworm, a side-scrolling physics puzzler in which players control a worm that swings from ledge to ledge using its teeth and spiky tail. Well, Ironworm is quite literally Swingworm’s heavy metal brother. Taking the physics-style puzzle gameplay of its predecessor, Ironworm is all about body count, throwing players into the midst of a war between worms and bugs in which you need to smash as many flying enemies as possible.
You’ll move around Ironworm’s levels by swinging your worm’s head and tail end over end to hit different ledges, positioning yourself to use your tail to take out monsters. The goal is to clear out enemies on your path to each level’s exit; the more enemies you take down, the better your score in each stage. You’ll also get a bonus if you manage to come through each level unharmed.
Adobe Photoshop Touch (iPad) $9.99
The well-known graphical editing software formally reserved for more powerful computers has finally found its way to the iPad 2, with a version optimized for Apple’s tablet. Adobe Photoshop Touch allows users to do quite a bit of graphical editing just about anywhere, using just touch controls; but the app also includes the well-known features of Photoshop, like filters and layers.
Photoshop Touch also includes a few tablet-specific features to make editing while out in the world even easier. Projects can be uploaded to Adobe’s “Creative Cloud” service using an Internet connection and accessed later, and you can also search for images using a Google Image search to pull them into the program. Photoshop also supports AirPrint, making it easier to print your projects when you’re finished.
StyleTag – Fashion SNS (iPhone, iPad) Free
Fashonistas, StyleTag is an app you need to check out. A social network that’s all about sharing your fashions with others keen on clothes and accessories, StyleTag lets you snap photos of your outfits to show off online, while also giving you the ability to check out and comment on the looks of others as well.
In addition to seeing what your friends are wearing and sharing, StyleTag also lets you customize your social network feed to pipe in updates from your favorite brands, designers, styles and trends. The apps ports a community of better than 300,000 users, which can show you what’s hot in fashion before it even takes off. Plus, the app lets you share what you find and what you wear on Facebook and Twitter as well.
Lume (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Lume is a point-and-click adventure title that has players working to help Lumi fix her grandfather’s house after his power goes out. To do that, players have to solve a number of puzzles, since apparently Grandad likes to make every lock in his house a brain teaser for Lumi to solve. Like other adventure titles, you’ll sometimes find clues in the environment or tools you’ll carry until you need them later.
Art style is one of the more notable things about Lume. It’s presented in a 2.5-D style, which is to say not-quite two-dimensional, and has a pop-up book look and feel that helps to draw players into its somewhat fantastical world. It’s challenging without being too extremely difficult, although the game could use a hint system for when you find yourself stuck. That said, Lume is definitely worth a look for adventure fans.
Elf Defense Eng (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
Sure, there are tons of tower defense games in the iTunes App Store, but how many of them are cute? Elf Defense certainly fits that bill. The game’s graphical style has you controlling goofy little elf towers and fighting off encroaching human enemies by keeping them from reaching your tree base. There are 100 types of enemies in all. It’s standard tower defense fare, but Elf Defense manages to make tried and true mechanics feel new again with its style.
There’s a wide variety of units and towers you can employ against your enemies, and Elf Defense also employs an in-game item store, where you can buy things that will change the way your towers react and fight. Elf Defense also includes Game Center support, which provide achievements to let you gauge your defensive strategy skills.
Ban.jo update (iPhone, iPad) Free
Ban.jo isn’t just one social network: it’s actually an aggregation of several networks that use check-in features. The idea is that the app lets you see what’s going on around you by seeing which of your friends from Facebook, foursquare, Instagram and other services are at each event. Then, you can use your friends to find out what’s going on wherever you think you might want to go.
A big update just went through for Ban.jo, which contributed to making it Apple’s pick for App of the Week. You can now search for events near you in real time using your interests, and Ban.jo added Instagram to its group of social networks that it can check through. There also have been improvements to the app’s design to make it work better in general.
Womzit (iPhone, iPad) Free
Another interesting social networking app to hit the App Store is Womzit, which is designed to take the mouth out of “word of mouth.” It also keys into lots of different social networks, allowing users to make recommendations about just about anything to their friends and family with one button. Had a great dinner at a local restaurant? Use Womzit to tell everyone, and see their recommendations as well.
Womzit works by letting you snap pictures of places, objects, or whatever, and then adding a recommendation and some information to it. You can search and organize experiences by category, see what your friends are recommending, and check out lots of curated recommendations straight from Womzit’s developers.
Circadia (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Puzzler Circadia presents a very minimalist take on its gameplay, which makes it surprisingly visually-engaging. In each of its stages, you’re presented with a white dot and a number of colored circles. Tapping the colored circles presents a tone and send a shockwave flowing off the circle. The speed of the wave is determined by the tone and the color (like light waves, waves that are more red move more slowly than colors shifted toward the blue end of the spectrum), with the goal to make all the waves touch the white dot simultaneously.
Things get more complex over time, with multiple color circles being added and the white dot adopting some movement and or multiplying. You’ll never get a score, but constant progress is marked by achievements thanks to Game Center. And Circadia’s minimalist presentation makes it pretty to watch as you learn the timing of each ring and carefully tap to solve each puzzle.
Four Hats (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
The Four Hats are a band with a huge following that’s so ravenous, the performers are worried for their physical safety when a mob of crazed listeners gets together. It’s not unlike The Beatles’ movie A Hard Day’s Night, in which the band was constantly fleeing rabid fans. In Four Hats, you play as each of the band members in a side-scrolling platformer, in which you have to jump over obstacles, dodge photographers and escape to the tour van before you get mauled.
The longer you play in The Four Hats, the more involved the levels become, requiring you to switch between each of the four band members (each with a different power lent by their special hats) to clear them. You can smash through boxes with one character and float over gaps and obstacles with another, for example. There are 36 levels to play through and you can collect a ton of different hats along the way, as well.
Popcornflix (iPhone, iPad) Free
The Oscars are this weekend, which means plenty of people have movies on the brain. Popcornflix helps deal with your obsession by allowing you to stream films from a pretty decent selection straight to your iOS device for free. The app is ad supported, dropping pop-ups on its menus and ads in front of features before you stream them, but a few seconds is a small price to pay for free films on your phone.
Popcornflix gets at least one new video uploaded every day, and includes the ability to share them with your friends through Facebook and Twitter. The app also allows you to stream over both a Wi-Fi connection and 3G, although if you opt for 3G, be sure to keep an eye on your data usage so you don’t get charged by your carrier.
Awards Hero: Oscars Edition (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
It’s the big weekend: the 84th Annual Academy Awards. And if you’re getting into it with your friends, you’ll want to give a look to Awards Hero: Oscars Edition, an app filled with information about the nominees and the ability to square off against your friends to see whose best at picking winners.
Awards Hero allows you to watch trailers for the nominated films, bet against your Facebook friends and create pools with your pals to easily see who can best guess the whims of the Academy. It also packs a ton of information and even clips from past Oscar winners, so you can bone up on your movie history during commercial breaks.
ZiGGURAT (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Ziggurat’s simplicity makes it both tough and interesting. You’re a lone space marine trapped atop a pyramid-shaped mound – a ziggurat – and skeletal alien freaks are bearing down on you. They’ve already killed everybody, and there’s no way you’re going to make it out alive. You just have to take as many of them with you as you can. That’s enough to make Ziggurat a compelling game of seeing how much damage you can do before you’re overtaken, one that keeps players coming back to best their top scores.
Part of what makes Ziggurat appealing is its slightly weird aiming system. Rather than tapping where you want your energy projectiles to go, you’ll need to slide your finger along the bottom of the screen to direct your space marine to fire in at different points in an arc. The longer you hold your finger down, the stronger your projectile’s charge, but gravity affects where your shot will go, so you’ll have to plan carefully. Facebook and Twitter integration for bragging rights will give you plenty of reason to challenge your friends.
Little Acorns (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Platformer Little Acorns is all about moving fast. You control a squirrel gathering food for the winter, among other things, including rounding up your squirrel babies, procuring fruit and fighting off evil bugs. The key is to get through each level as quickly as you can. You can’t leave each stage until you get all the acorns, but to get the best score, you’ll need to collect everything.
Little Acorns packs 60 levels, each with a design more dastardly than the last. Several of the stages pack power-ups you can snag along the way to amp up your squirrel’s abilities and help you finish more quickly. Your scores are saved on Game Center’s leaderboards so you can see how you compare to other players, and you can also earn achievements for your squirrely diligence.
Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions (iPad) $17.99
Last year, Square Enix ported the PSP version of its classic turn-based strategy title, Final Fantasy Tactics, to the iPhone. The game original appeared on the Sony PlayStation and it’s a great one, all things considered, although the iPhone version suffered from some weakness in the port and from the fact that the game could stand to be played on a larger field. Enter: the iPad version.
As with the iPhone version, the core game is the same – players move characters around a grid to fight in various battles, each with different abilities and stats. Fans of Final Fantasy Tactics and of Square Enix games who don’t mind ponying up a bit for a new game will find a lot to enjoy in War of the Lions, especially with the additional screen real estate the iPad offers.
Don’t Fry the Frog! (iPhone, iPad) Free
An arcade game that requires both thumbs to play, Don’t Fry the Frog! has a simple but interesting premise. Press your thumbs on your iOS device’s screen and a conduit of electricity appears between them. You need to move your thumbs around the screen and use that electricity to kill stuff: specifically, bad flies. And as you might have guessed, you need to avoid using your electricity to cook a frog.
That frog appears on the screen and hops around, attempting to eat flies. Some of the flies are good, but most, not so much. Your electricity is used to kill the bad flies before the frog can eat them, leaving him to eat the good flies. But zap him or let him eat the wrong kinds of flies, and you’ll lose life. The more flies you kill and the longer you leave your fingers on the screen, the more points you earn.
Munch Time (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Side-scrolling puzzler Munch Time is a bit reminiscent of some of the things you’re asked to do in Cut the Rope. You control a chameleon who’s looking to eat a grub for lunch, located somewhere on each level. But in the meantime, you want the chameleon to snag three stars, so your job is to negotiate him around the stage before bringing him to his meal.
In order to move around, you’ll use his chameleon tongue to swing from flowers. But you can’t get every flower to cooperate unless you change the chameleon’s color by eating special bugs. The only way to get the best score is to see which colors you need and which order you’ll have to swing from the flowers, in order to grab enough height and momentum to get to the places you’re trying to reach.
Retro Racing (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
You probably know what to expect out of Retro Racing from its title, and you’d be spot on. The touch-controlled, top-down racer has players using simplified controls to blast around the track, dodging around opponent cars in an attempt to pick up power-ups along the way to boost your car’s performance.
You get to choose from a number of different cars at the outset of each race, and each one has different pros and cons. Retro Racing also packs Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements, and the iPad version packs head-to-head multiplayer support, so you can play against your friends.
WinZip (iPhone, iPad) Free
The well-known .zip file reader and extractor that has been available on PCs for ages has finally made its way to iOS with a WinZip app. Like its PC counterpart, WinZip makes it easy to download, open and unzip compressed .zip files on your mobile devices, making it possible to share and access large sets of files on your iPhone or iPad.
WinZip gives much of the functionality available in the standard version of the software, as well. Users can open password-protected .zip files and copy their contents to their devices’ clipboards. It also allows you to see what is included in .zip files that are attached to emails, making it easy to know what you’re downloading before you download it.
The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Official World Interactive Map (iPhone, iPad) Free
Skyrim remains one of the most popular video games on the market since its November release. It’s an incredibly huge world, so large that players often find themselves lost in its vast cities and dungeons. In order to help, video game guide maker Prima has released an official version of the game map as an app, which can help players navigate across the world and through all the game’s most important towns.
The Skyrim map is interactive, which means you can pan it around, zoom in and leave yourself markers so you can find important locations again later. It also includes a lot of additional information that’s available through in-app purchases, showing players where to find the game’s spectacular and dangerous dragons, where dungeons are located, and much more.
Hyper Snake (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Pretty much the first game ever put on a cell phone was Snake, the game in which players move a snake around the grid-covered screen in an attempt to eat apples and avoid running into its own tail. The longer you could keep the snake alive without crashing into itself, the higher the score the player takes down. Hyper Snake takes that idea into the modern gaming era, adding tilt controls and spiffy graphics.
Hyper Snake includes six game modes, including a classic mode in which your only goal is avoid accidentally eating yourself, a war mode in which you’ll use your tail to fight off enemies, and eat, in which you’ll try to eat as many objects as you can while fighting off bad guys in a Pac-Man style game. For fans of the classic game, Hyper Snake offers a whole lot of great gameplay.
Starfighter Overkill (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Side-scrolling shooter Starfighter Overkill doesn’t go nuts with its premise (lots of things that shoot at you, requiring you to shoot back), but it does do a good job of keeping things interesting. As you fight through wave after wave of enemies, you’ll need to guide your ship around bullets by using touch controls, while effectively making use of powerful weapons like a laser cannon, a giant fireball launcher and a nuclear missile. They have limited uses, however, so how you deploy them is key to your survival.
Starfighter Overkill requires you to carefully move around the screen to avoid getting blown up, while also snagging power-ups that increase the power of your guns, raise your shields and do other important things to keep you alive. It also includes Game Center support, so you can compare your shoot-‘em-up skills and scores with players all over the world on its leaderboards.
Inspire – Paint, Draw & Sketch (Free) Free
Developer KiwiPixel has released a free version of its popular drawing app, opening up the app’s wide array of features to artists who might not have wanted to spring for its more expensive counterpart. The app is designed to allow users to basically paint with their iOS devices, creating works of art from its tools that can be shared with others through social networking.
Inspire includes three different kinds of brushes with multiple sizes, and artists can adjust how much paint is applied to the brushes before they’re used. You can also mix your own colors, change how your brushes interact to allow you to sketch as well as paint, and access multiple undos to fix mistakes. Then, when you’re done, your paintings are automatically saved to your camera roll, and can be shared by email or uploaded to Facebook, Twitter or Flickr.
Art of Coffee (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
Learn the techniques of latte art with Art of Coffee, and app that shows users special ways of adding foam, milk and other ingredients to lattes to create interesting designs in each cup. The app draws on the skills of a pair of top baristas from Australia, teaching users to create 30 different designs.
Art of Coffee teaches you what ingredients you’ll need to make each design and how and why each is important. Each of its designs includes step-by-step instructions, including photos, to show you what you need to do to create each new piece. You can also look up common coffee terms in the app’s included glossary.
WrestleFest Premium (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
A remake of the 1991 arcade title, WWE WrestleFest has been revamped from the days when the WWE was called the WWF, mixing a few classic contenders wrestlers with a few more modern fighters. The core gameplay, however, is the same as it ever was in the arcade version, with players moving their wrestler around the ring to punch, kick, throw, body slam and clothesline other fighters into submission.
WrestleFest supports lots of different game modes, including single-player gameplay and an online multiplayer option. Publisher THQ also pledges monthly content updates that’ll include new wrestlers and game modes, to keep you embroiled in Wrestlemania for a long time coming.
VR Mission (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
VR Mission will look pretty familiar to fans of the hugely popular Metal Gear Solid series on game consoles. This iOS title borrows a lot of its inspiration from that series, but what’s on offer here is more like the original Metal Gear games from way back in the late 1980s – a top-down game in which you play an elite operative that has to sneak through various facilities. Each of your missions has you slipping past heavily armed guards, often to download intel from computers or complete another goal before making your way out of the room.
Sneaking in VR Missions is done by avoiding the visual range of your enemies, which is indicated by a blue cone laid over each bad guy. You’ll also have to avoid making noise as you walk around levels and occasionally silently take down your enemies. VR Missions’ levels include all kinds of traps and security, such as security cameras and lasers, as well as puzzles you’ll need to solve to complete them.
Localmind update (iPhone, iPad) Free
Localmind keys you into information about the world around you by gathering it from other users. If you need to know how long the wait is at a nearby restaurant, for example, or you’re wondering if an event is picking up steam or winding down, you can quiz people who have used other social media such as Foursquare or Facebook to “check in” at those locations and ask them questions. The trade-off is that when you check in, you participate and answer questions for others.
The latest big update to Localmind changes the way the app works a bit, making it possible to “pass” on questions users don’t feel like answering. The app now also lets you search for information about any place, polling users from all over the world quickly and easily. It’s a great way to find out whatever you need to know, whenever you want to know it.
Chee.rs (iPhone, iPad) Free
Another social networking service, Chee.rs lets you apply the “Like” quality of services such as Facebook and Pinterest to your everyday life. For example, you can search for popular things and people and “cheer” them, or you can snap a photo of something you like as you’re going about your day.
Chee.rs also lets you see the things your friends are cheering, allowing you to make comments on their cheers and they on yours. And as you cheer things and comment on other things, you’ll earn “Cheer Points” that let you see your “Cheerfluence” on other users.
RobotGladi8or (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
You’ll probably recognize the underlying thinking behind RobotGladi8tor: it’s a lot like the award-winning sword-fighting title Infinity Blade, but it has you facing off against a variety of robots instead of giant monsters. But while it’s similar to the swipe-fighting style of Infinity Blade, RobotGladi8tor sets itself apart with a sci-fi setting and storyline and a first-person perspective.
The premise of RobotGladi8tor is that you’ve been dropped on a (mostly) abandoned space station and made to fight robots for the amusement of a TV audience. The better you fight, the better your score, but your ultimate goal is to explore the station and find a way out. You’ll also collect weapons to use in your battles and find other tools to advance the story.
Pizza vs. Skeletons (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
So this is a bit weird. You’re a giant pizza, pursued by the ravenous undead because you’re delicious. But being huge, you’re a dangerous, giant pie, and you can crush your enemies with your massive bulk. You steer the pizza through the side-scrolling levels by tilting your device left and right and jump through the air by tapping on the screen. Each level requires you to use your abilities differently; sometimes you’ll fight off undead, other times you’ll run races and gather coins, and more.
Pizza vs. Skeletons includes 100 levels with lots of different goals and challenges, and features a great, hand-drawn art style. It also includes boss fights and an in-game store that lets you spend coins you earn to customize your pizza. And there’s Game Center support to provide achievements and leaderboards to track your progress.
MTV Music Meter update (iPhone, iPad) Free
Keep up with what’s hot in music with MTV Music Meter, a link to bands that are trending each day. The app is updated daily, bringing a new list of the hottest musical groups to your iOS device, along with sample tracks you can listen to and then access in iTunes to purchase immediately, should you find some you like.
In addition to hearing what artists play, Music Meter’s big new update brings a partnership with Songkick, providing concert and tour information so you can quickly grab tickets to see new artists. You can also watch music videos, get Twitter feeds and read news stories about all the feature musicians in the app. You can now also search through Music Meter for new acts by genre, making it possible to discover even more great new music.
Beat Sneak Bandit $2.99
Developer Simogo has successfully married a rhythm game with a stealth and puzzle title, creating something very interesting a lot of fun with Beat Sneak Bandit. The game requires only one control: you tap along with the beat of each level’s soundtrack, and each time you tap with the beat, the titular bandit takes a sneaky step. Your goal is to steal back all the clocks in your town that have been hoarded by a local mansion owner, but in order to snag them all and avoid his security, you’ll need to watch the rhythm of guards, search lights and other obstacles and tap along to the beat.
Mixing elements of stealth gameplay with puzzle-solving in order to navigate each level, you’ll need to keep the beat through each of Beat Sneak Bandit’s many stages. Gather enough clocks for successfully moving in time with the music and you’ll unlock bonus “shadow stages” to work through as well. The game also includes Game Center support for achievements.
League of Evil 2 (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Ravenous Games’ sequel to its absolutely stellar platforming title League of Evil has just hit the App Store, bringing another 100 levels of brutally difficult, super-fast platforming gameplay to your iOS devices. Instead of an 8-bit experience, League of Evil packs upgraded graphics and a bunch of new environments.
At its core, League of Evil 2 is more of the same tough platforming gameplay that made the first game such a success, and Ravenous has done well to mimic its award-winning, super-responsive touch controls from its last outing. League of Evil 2 also throws in a storyline with hand-illustrated graphics, user-selectable costumes and even a few boss fights.
SpongeBob’s Super Bouncy Fun Time (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Nickelodeon Games has taken a page from Angry Birds, but with a SpongeBob motif, to create SpongeBob’s Super Bouncy Fun Time. The physics puzzler puts you in the role of the titular sponge as he and his starfish friend Patrick go in pursuit of jellyfish to catch. In order to nab them, you’ll have to hit them with SpongeBob’s special cannon, bouncing the bullets around in each level to knock out the jellyfish in as few shots as possible so that Patrick can capture them.
There are more than 100 levels to play through in Super Bouncy Fun Time, and as you capture jellyfish, you’ll also have the opportunity to gather coins that can be used to purchase power-ups to make future levels easier. The game also includes the voice of SpongeBob from the popular cartoon show, as well as Game Center support to provide players with achievements to chase and leaderboards to climb.
Reward Volunteers (iPhone, iPad) Free
There are tons of organizations across the U.S. that need volunteers every day. Reward Volunteers helps bring volunteers to those groups that could use their services by tracking their service and providing rewards to people who help out. Volunteers who log lots of hours and also comment and participate in Reward Volunteers’ social networking functions receive “Reach” points, and those points can be redeemed for any number of different prizes and rewards.
Reward Volunteers also has incentives for volunteer organizations, as well. By using the service to look volunteers, organizations can also earn Reach points, which they can apply toward cash rewards from sponsors to help fund their projects.
RAVN Events (iPhone, iPad) Free
Looking for something to do? Check out RAVN Events, an app that’s geared toward finding activities in your immediate area that interest you. RAVN provides personalized suggestions based on your interests of events taking place in your city and near you, including things like food fairs, street markets, exhibitions and night life events.
In addition to seeing personalized suggestions, RAVN lets you interact with your friends on Facebook, getting an idea for the things they might want to do with you and using social networking sites to share events with others. You can also see live pictures from some events through the RAVN app, and use it to meet people with similar interests and who like to do the same things you do.
Track Lapse (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Running title Track Lapse gives players familiar with the genre a few interesting new twists on the games they know and love. Sure, at its core, it’s another side-scrolling game in which players avoid obstacles while trying to keep the main character’s speed as high as possible. In Track Lapse, you’ll use jumping to dodge lots of issues, as well as the specialized Action button to interact with of the game’s new environments. The variety of obstacles the game provides increases its charm, requiring players to adapt in each new level to something new (and usually kind of goofy).
Track Lapse includes 11 levels to run through, each with its own obstacles. It also includes a Time Attack game mode to add reply value to the title and a full album-length soundtrack written exclusively for the game. There’s also Game Center support, which provides achievements and leaderboards to give players even more goals to attain as they play.
Valentine’s Day Special (iPhone, iPad) Free
It might be a little late to be worrying about it, but if Valentine’s Day has sneaked up on you this year, maybe give Valentine’s Day Special a look. The app is filled with V-Day related stuff, including love poems, romantic gift ideas and more to make your last-minute Valentine’s Day something special, despite a lack of preparation.
Valentine’s Day Special includes a few other lists that might come in handy, like love songs and stories, with the ability to mark your favorites in all categories. You can also share anything you find helpful with others with the help of Facebook, Twitter or email.
DishPal (iPhone, iPad) Free
You know, if you find yourself unprepared for Valentine’s Day, you can always score points with a delicious dinner. DishPal can help food enthusiasts and is a social network that lets you share dishes with others (and they with you), whether you’re eating at home or dining out. You can also use the app to find great places to eat based on the comments and reviews of your friends and other users.
DishPal lets users post their favorite dishes into specific albums, called “magazines,” which can be guided by a specific theme or ingredient and that only specific users can edit. It can also put you on to mobile potluck events that you can engage in with other dishPal users and try some new food. It might even help you decide where to eat tonight.
Hamlet! (iPhone, iPad) Free (with in-app purchase of $0.99)
Before he could set things right after his parents were killed by Claudius, Shakespeare’s Hamlet was squashed by the time machine of a wayward time traveler. Now, to prevent a paradox, you – that accident prone, temporally displaced protagonist – are forced to take on Hamlet’s role and do the things he would have done in order to keep history flowing correctly.
Hamlet! is a point-and-click adventure game in which you’ll face numerous puzzles, augmented by the game’s art style and goofy take on Shakespeare’s Hamlet. Each screen is a new puzzle, where you’ll be able to tap on different elements in order to interact with them. You’ll need to unlock the full game with an in-app purchase, but in the meantime you can try out a meaty chunk without having to pay a cent.
Grooh (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
The main character in puzzler Grooh looks an awfully lot like the Totoro from the famous Miyazaki children’s film, My Neighbor Totoro, but on the plus side, the cartoonish visual aesthetic adds a lot to the fun. You’ll need to navigate Grooh through numerous levels, solving puzzles to open each new door. The doors are all locked by colored tiles built into the floor; you’ll use Grooh’s special powers to destroy those tiles in order to unlock them.
Grooh is set up on a grid, so you’re scored by how few movements it takes you to complete each level and reach the door. To clear floor tiles, you’ll need to use Grooh’s special color-changing power that causes the tile he’s standing on to be destroyed. The key is to move from one tile to the next, while looking ahead at your motions so you don’t take unnecessary routes or find yourself cut off from the exit. It’s a solid puzzler made even better by its Totoro-like aesthetic.
Voice Valentines (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Valentine’s Day is tomorrow, and if you need a cool, quick card idea, Voice Valentines might be able to hook you up. The app lets you send a personalized valentine to whoever, be they special someone or just a friend, from your smartphone through a variety of different means – and you can personalize your message with sound recording, photos and more.
Voice Valentines can be sent as SMS messages, via email or through Twitter and Facebook, and the app includes dozens of different themes that let you quickly and easily design how your message will look. Then you just add a photo and a voice message and you’ve got a personalized valentine ready to go. You can also add a written message and send cards to people on your device’s Contacts List.
Fotopedia Women of the World (iPhone, iPad) Free
The latest of Fotopedia’s collections of photographs focuses specifically on women from all over the world, packing thousands of images from several photographers, shot across the globe. The app’s iTunes description calls it a “poignant combination of political engagement and aesthetic vision,” and the photos found within give a look into the lives of women from hundreds of different countries and in plenty of different circumstances.
Women of the World also includes the ability to turn its photos into wallpapers on your iPhone or iPad, and it contains tons of slideshows that are regularly updated. Also receiving regular updates are “visual stories” that go with the photos to give context to the things you’re seeing. You can also share your favorite photos through email or social media like Facebook and Twitter.
Soul Tamer KiKi (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
Role-playing title Soul Tamer KiKi takes a page from action-RPGs for years past, putting players in a dangerous world full of monsters that KiKi has to defeat and can tame to help her fight. It combines features of games such as The Legend of Zelda with those of Pokemon, requiring you to care for the animal souls you collect as well as blast bad guys with weapons and special attacks, as well as traps you set.
Soul Tamer KiKi is a pretty big game with lots to do, with plenty to appeal to fans of old-school RPGs. It features a crafting system, plenty of loot to find, and a pretty long and involved story. It also features Game Center support for achievements and access to your Friends List.
The Lighthouse HD (iPad) $2.99
In The Lighthouse, your job is to guide ships through darkened seas and help them avoid running aground and other nasty disasters. So it’s something of a path-drawing game, except you’re limited by the illumination supplied by your lighthouse: you can’t see everything, so you’ll need to plot careful paths for your ships to keep them out of harm’s way.
You’ll guide multiple kinds of ships with different characteristics throughout The Lighthouse, working to keep them from colliding with each other or tangling with rocks and even giant squids. The game packs more than 30 levels as well as three challenge modes in which to test your skills. It also packs Game Center and OpenFeint support for achievements and leaderboards.
Experience Mardi Gras (iPhone, iPad) Free
Today is the official start of Mardi Gras, and if you’re planning to head to Louisiana for the festivities, you might want to bring along Experience Mardi Gras, as well. The app tracks the parades taking place throughout the course of Mardi Gras, listing their schedules, plotting their routes and giving you maps of their locations so you can find them easily. Experience Mardi Gras even uses GPS technology to track parades live so you can meet them.
Experience Mardi Gras also includes a few other handy features. It streams video from local station WWL TV, so you can even see parades you might miss, and it also has all kinds of listings about local events to give you more to do during the carnival.
Washington Post Social Reader (iPhone, iPad) Free
Fans of the Washington Post and other publications can connect with other readers across social media networks with the help of Washington Post Social Reader, an app that makes it easy to see what other people are reading and finding interesting. The mobile app is based on the Facebook app of the same name, allowing users to see recommended articles from wherever they are.
The WaPo Social Reader allows users to share articles from Washington Post, Slate, SB Nation, Mashable, The Daily Beast and more, making it quick and easy to share articles with other readers as well as see what they recommend. It also connects with Facebook to make it easy to add comments, as well.
Tweet Land (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
High-scoring game Tweet Land has a lot to do with social media service Twitter, but if you’re thinking of some game based on 140-character updates about lunch, think again. Instead, Tweet Land is a game in which you drive a car, smashing other cars off the road as you attempt to survive to the end of each level. But along the way, objects get brought into the game world, based solely on keywords appearing in the Twitter stream.
As you drive in Tweet Land, someone might use the word “meteor” – causing a meteor to crash into the road. “Health” causes health power-ups to appear, and “car accident” causes a spinout ahead of you that can be deadly. It’s a novel and brilliant way to randomly generate the game around you, with more and more keywords getting worked into the game with each passing level.
Beat Hazard Ultra (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Beat Hazard Ultra puts you in an enclosed, top-down space, piloting a spaceship that has to fight for survival. It’s a little like Tilt to Live and other similar titles in the App Store, but with a caveat: Beat Hazard Ultra gets set to your device’s onboard iTunes tracks, and the music dictates the enemies you encounter and your ability to fight them.
As the musical beat picks up, so too does your rate of fire; as the energy builds, so too do the enemies you encounter. Beat Hazard’s levels are dictated by the music you choose to use in them (including Internet radio tracks), and along the way you’ll unlock perks and power-ups that give you the ability rack up higher scores on your tracks. It also packs Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.
Rebuild (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
The world is overrun with zombies and the city around you has been destroyed. Time to gather up all the survivors you can in Rebuild and, well, rebuild. The city simulator game has you slowly adding more and more zombie-free territory to your holdings, customizing and outfitting your survivors, gathering supplies and fighting off the hordes. If you’ve ever played Sim City, you’ll have some idea of what to expect, but with more zombies.
In fact, Rebuild has plenty of obstacles for you to deal with as you fight for the survival of humanity. You’ll deal with riots and struggle to manage food and morale; you’ll even have to fight off rival gangs. Rebuild was formally an iPad-exclusive title, but today’s update makes it available for the iPhone and iPod Touch, as well. It also features Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.
Pinball Arcade (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Developer FarSight Studios is known for its pinball titles on multiple platforms. Its latest addition is a touchscreen version of classic pinball tables that includes four different offerings: Arabian Nights, Black Hole, Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Theatre of Magic. All of them encapsulate the classic pinball feel with great 3-D graphics, as if you’re standing in front of an actual table; all of them are painstaking recreations of great tables from the history of pinball.
Pinball Arcade is going to include a whole lot more content in the future as well, with FarSight planning to add tables to the app. It will include tournaments, additional gameplay modes and the ability to play against others. The app also packs information about all the tables, like who made them and when.
Raid Leader (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
If you’re a massively multiplayer role-playing game junkie, you’ll want to give Raid Leader a try. It takes some of the principles of MMO games like World of Warcraft and turns them into a faster-paced strategy title. You control a team of three heroes, each with a different role: a close-range warrior, a long-range archer and a healing priest. As in MMO games, you’ll need to assign each character to its proper roles to take on a series of boss fights.
You’ll play through a series of 15 fights, all the while earning money that you can use to customize your characters and buy them new abilities to make them more effective in battle. Raid Leader also includes Game Center support to give you a little something extra to strive for by providing achievements and leaderboards.
Ragdoll Blaster 3 (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
There are plenty of physics-based puzzle titles in the iTunes App Store, but Ragdoll Blaster 3 finds itself in the upper tier of similar titles by providing solid control and physics all the way through, as well as challenging level design. In each level of Ragdoll Blaster, you’ll fire a ragdoll out of a cannon in an attempt to collect buttons and hit a target on the other side of the level. Often you’ll have to deal with obstacles that you’ll have to arc over or plow through, as well.
There are more than 100 levels on offer in Ragdoll Blaster 3, plus several different kinds of ragdolls you can unlock and use in different scenarios. You can also watch instant replays of your progress, buy additional upgrades for your dolls from the in-game store, and check your progress on Game Center leaderboards.
LoSo update (iPhone, iPad) Free
Restaurant info app LoSo just got a big update that introduces several new social networking features to users. At its core, LoSo is designed to give you insider information about nearby restaurants before you go; info like what specials are available, what live music is playing and more. LoSo also lets you “check-in” to locations to share them with your friends.
The update to LoSo adds more social networking capabilities with the “What’s Up?” feature that lets users post information about what’s happening in a restaurant or bar in real time, giving you a window into the scene without actually showing up. It also contains loyalty rewards and deals you can access for the places you visit exclusively through the app.
TextVite (iPhone, iPad) $3.99
Next time you have an event you want to get your friend to, you might want to give TextVite a try. The app allows you to invite your friends to events, bypassing the typical invite or e-vite you might send over the Internet, to get immediate feedback. Instead, you send your invites like SMS messages.
The cool thing about TextVite is that it allows you to send invites immediately, as well as personalize them. You can use photos in your camera roll as the backgrounds for your invitations, or shoot fresh ones from within the app. You can also add cool designs to make digital fliers for your events, be they formal or impromptu.
The Lost City (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Fans of the old classic PC point-and-click adventure title Myst will get a kick out of The Lost City. A story of exploration, you reach a deserted island with a special stone and a mess of puzzles to solve, stepping into each new scene to look for ways to move forward by using the objects you discover along the way. While on the island, you’ll discover the ability to change the seasons, which is key to finding your way through the entire game.
The Lost City is an old-school style point-and-click, which means there’s little in the way of narrative but lots to do to exercise your problem-solving skills. The game also uses a graphical style consisting of real photos, giving it an interesting art style.
Fly With Me (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Side-scrolling bird game Fly With Me is all about carefully managing your taps. Each time you tap the screen, your bird flaps his wings – but you only have so many taps (or so much energy) to get through each level. Along the way, you’ll need to eat bees to keep up your strength and snag stars to rack up a high score.
Fly With Me includes 45 levels to work through, each with a hidden gear you can find along the way that will eventually unlock the Robo Bird form for you. The game also includes three challenge modes to provide you with even more to do along the way. There’s also a kid mode with 30 easier levels.
Hotels by Orbitz (iPhone, iPad) Free
You might already be using Orbitz to help you prep for trips by booking your flights through the service, but now you can also use Orbitz to help you book your accommodations. The app makes it easy to search through your destination city and find hotel rooms listed by price and location, then book them from wherever you are.
In addition to just being able to conveniently book your hotel rooms with the app, Hotels by Orbitz also allows users to access exclusive deals and discounts other Orbitz users can’t get ahold of. You can also see customer reviews and compare hotels on an interactive map, as well as share itineraries with friends so they’ll see when you’re coming to town.
TripLingo Romance Edition (iPhone, iPad) Free
Since it’s nearly Valentine’s Day and you’ve now got an app to help you find hotels when traveling, you might want to think about TripLingo Romance Edition. The app is filled with romantic and flirty phrases in 10 different languages that might come in handy, given the season. Each phrase provides information about context and audio pronunciations so you can heard it said before you try it yourself.
TripLingo also has other features to help you make sure you get what you’re trying to say right. Each phrase has a “slang slider” that allows you to adjust how formal or informal the translation is. The app also helps to make sure you’ve got the phrase down and makes it easy to customize what you want to learn along the way.
The Hacker (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Remember the days when using a computer was a lot more like typing and analyzing lines of code in green type on a black screen? The Hacker does, and brings you into the world of hacking through a clever interface. But in order to hack your way through various computers in the game, you’ll have to solve various logic puzzles and mini-games to knock out the systems’ defenses.
The Hacker also includes a number of unlockable games you can find through the course of playing, which you earn by completing the puzzles and hacking computers in the main campaign. You can play old-school arcade titles and even unlock secrets as you go along. There’s also Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards.
Dream Pethouse (iPhone, iPad) Free
The latest casual game from FarmVille maker Zynga is Dream Pethouse, a game in which you collect and feed animals as you build a larger and larger tree house for them over time. You’ll care for animals from baby to fully grown, breed more animals and build them places to live in your tree house in order to gain more coins that you can use to buy more structures and animals.
Like other Zynga games, timing is important: you’ll be able to complete certain actions once and then wait a while before you can perform them again, or purchase items through in-app purchases to speed up the process. You’ll also work to complete goals along the way, like adding specific structures or breeding particular animals, which reward you with points and coins along the way.
Vanity Fair Hollywood update (iPhone, iPad) Free
With the days left before this year’s Academy Awards dwindling away, you can put all your Oscar winner predictions in one place using Vanity Fair Hollywood. The app brings you all the information you need about each Oscar category to make your own predictions and fill out your Oscar ballot, like the list of nominees, trailers from each film, and information about each nominee in every category.
Vanity Fair also brings you a little extra information that gives you an edge over your friends. The app will show you how many people using the app are voting for which nominees, so you can get an idea of how other people see each category. It also ties you into Vanity Fair’s Twitter feed so you can follow the magazine and its editors as the awards draw closer.
Game your Video (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
You’ve shot videos on your iPhone, you’ve got some great ideas and you’re seeing your chance to become famous on YouTube. Now you need to edit your footage, which you can do using Game your Video. The app makes it easy to adjust your film and add affects, using the kind of controls you’d expect to see in a video game.
Game your Video has a number of effects to be applied to your videos. You can choose the “flavor” of your video by choosing the best combination of visuals and sound for the atmosphere you’re trying to achieve. There are also a number of video and audio effects that can be added on their own, including motion effects to give your videos an action-packed feel.
Tank Battalion Blitz (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Jump in a tank and take on other commanders in Tank Battalion Blitz. It’s a top-down game in which you join a squad of tanks to blast another group of tanks. Over time, you’ll gather up more and more tanks into your arsenal, using them to take down your enemies both offline and on.
Tank Battalion Blitz includes multiple game modes, including offline single-player against the computer and online and local multiplayer, so you can take on your friends or players from all over the world. The game includes authentic tanks for you to gather, plus Game Center support for leaderboards, achievements and friends lists.
Order Up!! To Go (iPhone, iPad) Free
Time management game Order Up!! To Go puts you in the kitchen at a restaurant to start filling orders. You’ll start out in a fast food restaurant, working to flip burgers, cook fries and fill drinks in order to get everything done as quickly as possible. Each food item you make has different degrees of quality, requiring you to cook them the right way and for the right amount of time to get the best score possible.
Order Up!! Also mixes up the time management genre by throwing in touch controls that require you to think about what you’re doing a little more than other similar games. You’ll need to use gesture controls to flip burgers and lower fries into the fryer, for example. As the game advances, you’ll cook your way through multiple different restaurants and buy new tools with the money you earn along the way.
Wunderkit (iPhone, iPad) Free
Wunderkit is a task management app that combines to-do lists with social networking. You can keep track of everything you’re working on in the app, creating “workspaces” for your projects, and contains a number of smaller apps that help to amp up your productivity along the way.
The coolest thing about Wunderkit is its collaborative features. You can invite your friends from social networks, like Facebook and Twitter, to join in on your projects, and you can comment on the task updates of your friends as well. It really adds an additional dimension (and a little motivation) to the traditional task organization app.
LeDainian Tomlinson (iPhone, iPad) $3.99
Workout like an NFL running back with LeDainian Tomlinson, an app filled with workouts used by the star player to prepare for games all season. The app contains 16 workouts, divided into four phases, and each is designed to help build speed, explosiveness and power over time.
Each exercise contains step-by-step instructions and videos of Tomlinson to help you get the moves right. There’s also a feature that lets you track your stats over time, so you can see your improvement and places you might need additional work as you write down your reps and weights. Finally, the app packs news streams about Tomlinson to keep you up to speed on how he’s performing on the field.
Blot (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
A beautiful art style and challenging gameplay set apart Blot from other members of the endless running genre. The controls are pretty simple: as the protagonist ink blot who glides across a lined paper world of obstacles and power-ups, you need to avoid crashing by rising and dropping on the screen. Touching the screen makes Blot rise, letting go makes him fall, just like in similar games such as Jetpack Joyride.
You’ll collect coins in Blot, as well as attempt to get as far as possible, in order to raise your score every time out you play through the game. There are also a mess of power-ups you can grab to make life easier (or harder) as you play. But the best reason to play Blot is that it’s tougher than many other members of the genre, and requires a deft touch to play well.
Gorilla Gondola (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Arcade physics title Gorilla Gondola requires a different way of thinking than many other members of its genre. You play a gorilla riding on a cable car through this side-scroller, and you’re scored by how well you can snag bananas floating in the air while dodging obstacles like trees and cliff sides. To do that, you’ll need to jump up and slam back down on the car to get it bouncing in the right directions, which requires a different kind of thinking than most physics games.
Gorilla Gondola includes eight levels of obstacles and bananas to collect, and a hand-painted art style that complements the gameplay and soundtrack. It also has full Game Center support for leaderboards and achievements, so you can see how good you are compared to other Gorilla players around the world.
Spice Invaders (iPhone, iPad) Free
Tower defense title Spice Invaders stands apart from tons of other entries in the genre by being a deep game with lots of content. You play a group of space pirates who love spice – and the best place to get it is by taking over the Earth, one battlefield at a time. To do it, you’ll need to use lots of different towers, firing missiles, bullets, lasers and other weapons at earthlings to stop them from reaching and destroying your bases.
Spice Invaders has tons of upgrades you can unlock for its many different towers, as well as three different game modes and a very cool art style. It includes 54 levels to work through and an online multiplayer mode that lets you take on as many as eight other players.
Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective (iPhone, iPad) Free (with in-app purchase of $9.99)
The first thing you need to know about Ghost Trick: Phantom Detective is that you’re dead. You’re the victim of a murder, and as the protagonist of the game, you can’t remember anything about your past, who killed you or why. What you can do is possess objects, which allows you to manipulate them to move around the screen and affect the world of the living. You’ll need to stop a hit man from killing a witness and do even more to find out what happened to you and why.
Ghost Trick is all about solving environmental puzzles as a ghost. You’ll slip your soul from one object to another, looking for ones you can manipulate. Moving and altering objects in the right order can make things happen and even prevent the deaths of other characters. If you fail, you can always reverse time to four minutes before the person’s death for another go. Ghost Trick’s first two chapters are free; after that, you’ll need to pony up $9.99 to complete the game.
Awesome Land (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
If Super Mario put on a leather jacket and a bit of a Duke Nukem attitude, the result would be Awesome Land. It’s a side-scrolling platformer with solid virtual controls and a hard-edged art style. Each level is filled with enemies you’ll have to jump on to kill as you avoid getting killed by gaps, bees and other obstacles.
Awesome Land is all about completing its levels – 20 of them in all. It also has a great pixel art style and some big boss fights for players to pound through. It doesn’t have a score system the way that Mario does, but Awesome Land does ramp up the challenge and balance it with some highly responsive controls.
Reckless Racing 2 (iPhone, iPad) $4.99
The follow-up to Reckless Racing brings more top-down racing action to your iPhone and iPad. With its responsive controls and great graphical style, the game brings in some fast-paced, stylish racing action that’s easy to pick up but hard to master. Reckless Racing 2’s biggest selling point is that it’s full of content, with lots of events, game modes and characters to unlock
You can start Reckless Racing 2 by jumping straight into a race with the quick play mode, or by beginning a career that you can use to unlock new races, characters and other events. You’ll buy and upgrade your vehicles to give yourself an edge and compete for the best times using Reckless Racing 2’s Game Center leaderboards.
Food Network In The Kitchen update (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Food Network has compiled thousands of recipes from its popular on-air celebrity chefs, creating a compendium of food possibilities for fans looking to create at home the kinds of things they see on their screens. The app is filled with recipes that can be searched by ingredients or even by the chefs responsible for creating them, including Bobby Flay, Paula Deen and more.
In The Kitchen just went through a massive redesign, bringing new features to the fore as well as a big new update to the app’s user interface and general stability. It also includes features that allow users to mark and annotate their favorite recipes, or view and compare recipes side-by side.
BookPlayground – The Skunk Who Could Not Spray (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
The Skunk Who Could Not Spray is another children’s book designed specifically for iOS devices like the iPad, iPod Touch and iPhone, marrying a kid-friendly art style with features that help children enjoy stories and even learn to read, even if a parent isn’t handy to go through the story with them. The app employs a rhyming story that’s fully narrated, so kids can read along or just enjoy the story any time.
Kids also get a few additional layers of interactivity out of The Skunk Who Could Not Spray. In addition to a story that encourages young people to accept themselves, the app includes interactive illustrations users can tap go animate and an original score to make the story more immersive.
Dungeon Crawlers (iPhone, iPad) $1.99
Based on the “dungeon crawler” genre that made PC titles like the Diablo series famous, Dungeon Crawler is a top-down game in which players control a group of adventurers as they explore dungeons and fight evil. The group contains several characters, each with unique abilities, which players control in turn-based battles with the baddies they encounter along the way.
Dungeon Crawlers contains a fairly deep, humorous story, along with 12 dungeons to explore and plenty of weapons and items to find to customize your characters. It also has Game Center support for achievements and leaderboards, and the developers promise regular content updates in the future as well.
Mystery of the Japanese Werewolf (iPhone, iPad) $0.99
Another game with an involved, humorous story is Mystery of the Japanese Werewolf. It takes the conventions of an 8-bit platformer from days gone by and revisits it, putting you in the shoes of katana-wielding adventurer Eileen as she embarks on a journey through a flying saucer to help a talking alien T-Rex. Yes, it’s as weird as it sounds.
Mystery of the Japanese Werewolf has a simple virtual button gameplay style that will remind players of a mix between Super Mario Bros. and the Metroid series, where the focus is on exploration and moving onward by acquiring new abilities. It also packs Game Center support, but probably the best feature of the old-school title is its often hilarious writing, which makes it worth a download even without the deliciously classic gameplay.
