Add some social flare next time you check a weather forecast with Weathermob, an app that combines weather reporting with social networking to pair human reports with more traditional weather information. It’s followed by Stamped, a social recommendation app that just focuses on what you and your friends like, without the noise and recommendations of strangers. In games, Rocket Riot includes rocket launchers and is about as crazy as the name implies. Then RAVENMARK: Scourge of Estellion slows the action down a bit for some turn-based medieval strategy.
Weathermob (iPhone, iPad) Free
Make weather reporting a social event with Weathermob, an app and service in which you’re the weather reporter. The app works by gathering weather reports from lots of real people and aggregating them together, so you can see what the weather is like in various places not from just a standpoint of temperatures and precipitation, but based on what it actually feels like, what you should wear, what you can do outdoors and so on.
You can also get traditional weather information from Weathermob to augment your human reports and get a fully fleshed-out picture of the weather at any given time. The app also includes forecasts for as far ahead as eight days, and you can make, view and share weather photos and videos for use on the service. There’s also Facebook and Twitter integration, so you can import friends and share with other social networks.
Stamped (iPhone, iPad) Free
Backed by Google Ventures and created by a team of mostly ex-Google employees, Stamped is a social recommendation database that compiles your favorite venues, restaurants, books, businesses movies and more. But unlike other recommendation services and apps, Stamped limits what you see and what you read to just the recommendations of your friends. That way, you see exactly what the people you trust like (or dislike), and filter out the opinions of strangers.
As you add your recommendations (or “Stamps”), Stamped allows you to add photos of establishments for others to see, and you can write and read reviews from within the app. Anything you especially like can be shared with the greater social networking universe through Facebook and Twitter, and you can create to-do lists out of other people’s Stamps that interest you.
Rocket Riot (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
Jetpacks and rocket launchers – if that sounds like fun, you’ll want to pick up Rocket Riot, a 2-D game in which your primary goal is to blow up lots of stuff with big explosions. You play a pirate bent on earning your freedom and blasting away at other pirates, all of whom have jetpacks and rocket launchers, in a pixelated world that blows up real nice. Touch controls allow you to fly around the screen and a quick swipe in any direction fires a rocket.
Rocket Riot includes 48 levels to fight through, and as you defeat enemy pirates you’ll unlock them as characters as whom you can play. Your goal isn’t just to fight off other enemies, either: In some missions, there will be other things to blow up, or you may need to use your rockets to blast through walls to explore new portions of the map. Rocket Riot also includes Game Center support, so you can see how you stack up against other players on its online leaderboards.
RAVENMARK: Scourge of Estellion (iPhone, iPad) $2.99
A turn-based strategy title with a lot of story, Ravenmark makes you the commander of a medieval battlefield, ordering troops around the screen with simplified touch controls. Each type of unit you control – cavalry, archers, shields and melee units – has strengths and weaknesses when sent up against various types of enemy units. The better you pair your troops against your enemy’s, the more successful you’ll be in battle.
You and your enemies take turns issuing commands to your forces in Ravenmark, but all the action happens simultaneously, meaning you’ll have to anticipate your enemies’ moves. The game includes 15 campaign missions right now, with more coming from developer Witching Hour Studios as free downloads.
