I’m leaving Dead Space ($9.99) off my week’s best because, well, it’s a no-brainer, and it’s been picked as best of the week by everyone else, and it’s a great game and you should go buy it now. You don’t need me telling you something you already know. Here are this week’s other faves.
Hero Worship (Free)
Hero Worship (free) is a book tied in with Facebook that allows you to converse with the author, and discuss the book with others. Instead of scribbling your notes in the margins, you’re sharing them, not just with the author, but with fellow readers. The author can share supporting information via the comments, as well. It’s very interesting, and I’m excited to see how this turns out. Subsequent chapters are to be released every six weeks or so, and the author/developer might eventually charge for them.
Essay ($3.99)
Do I buy every writing app in the App Store to see how it works? Yes. Do I like them all? Absolutely not. Essay ($3.99) is on the “like” list, so far. It’s a clean, Dropbox-synched rich-text editor that gets out of the way, and lets the writing happen. Easily accessible (and hidden) formatting options, emailing docs right from the app, and printing. What more do you need?
Babblemania Spanish ($2.99)
After six years of Spanish classes from middle through high school, you’d think I’d know more than “cerveza fria” and “hola.” While Babblemania Spanish ($2.99) probably won’t turn your kids (or you) into native speakers, it will set a nice groundwork of vocabulary and usage. Lots of repetition, seeing the words, hearing them, speaking them, mixed with fun songs. Your kids will be asking you for a manzana in no time.
Fluke HD ($1.99)
One of my favorite things about the iPad is that it doesn’t necessarily leave one stuck in a corner in their own iPad world. It can be shared with others. Fluke HD ($1.99) is a great, traditional-looking board game that mixes luck and strategy. Play with up to four players. Open Feint and Game Center integrated. Nice graphics, groovy music in the background.
Grim Joggers ($0.99)
Join the extreme jogging club in Grim Joggers (99 cents), taking responsibility for the lives of your fellow humans. You control the first jogger, and the rest follow suit. Take care not to run them all into various obstacles (or off a cliff, like I did on my first attempt — had to laugh at the ghosts rising from the abyss). The graphics aren’t the most amazing I’ve ever seen, but I’m not sure I’d want them crystal-clear when my sole surviving jogger becomes impaled on a bunch of spikes, and bleeds out.
