With snow falling over much of the U.S. in recent days, it’s never been a better time to stay indoors, warm up, and spend some quality time with your iPad. New App Store releases include a family-friendly tablet edition of Monopoly, the triumphant return of a long-lost friend in SimCity, a kid-friendly alien shooter, plus two free apps to get you in the holiday gift-giving spirit.
MONOPOLY for iPad ($9.99)
After a few minutes of rolling the dice, buying properties, grabbing some Community Chest cards, and trading properties with AI players, there was no question about it: Hasbro had expertly brought the full Monopoly experience to the iPad. At $9.99, it’s a serious investment. But with high-quality HD graphics, smooth gameplay, fun animations to keep things moving, spot-on AI opponents with varying levels of toughness and exclusive features (tabletop multiplayer and teacher modes), there’s nothing missing in this first-rate experience. My favorite feature? When playing in tabletop mode with up to three others, the iPad automatically rotates the game image to face the current player. Nice touch.
Max Adventure ($0.99)
Aliens have taken the world’s parents hostage. Do you have what it takes to vanquish these squishy foes in this super-smooth dual-stick shooter? Admittedly, I’m a huge fan of shooters on the iPad; just not the controls themselves. Max Adventure, however, nails it. Use your left thumb to move Max around the screen, while the game moves the shooter dial on the right side to wherever your finger touches the screen. This small tweak makes the game much more fluid, and the addition of upgrades, power-ups and a silly over-the-top story make for a fun sci-fi romp.
SimCity Deluxe for iPad ($0.99)
For decades, closet city planners and mayor-wannabes have been using their PCs to turn open land into massive cities. EA brings this immersive classic to the iPad, and it’s perfect for casual players right on down to hopelessly addicted players who want to tweak every aspect of the city management experience. Pinch and zoom down to your open plots of land; easily zone space for homes, businesses and industry; add roads, power and waterlines; then pray that seasonal natural disasters don’t wreak havoc on your virtual creation. With seven scenarios and starter cities at your disposal, perfect touch screen controls and dockable widgets to keep tabs on all aspects of your dream city, you’ll be an expert urban planner in no time.
Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift (Free)
Just in time for Christmas, the folks as ZeptoLab have given the iPad community a free holiday confection: a full 25 levels of festively-themed Cut the Rope goodness. Little Om Nom has again been shipped to your doorstep, and he wants more candy. You’ll need to lay off the eggnog if you expect to keep him well-fed! There’s the usual set of head-scratching puzzles to solve, along with a few new twists, all designed to keep you from successfully dropping hard candy into On Nom’s insatiable maw. Use your finger to cut ropes, trigger fans, drop candy into floating bubbles, avoid spikes, and time your moves perfectly to collect golden stars and, finally, get Om Nom his sticky treats.
Aqueduct 101 (Free)
Calling all virtual plumbers and puzzle app fans: Aqueduct 101 is your gateway to a world of mixed-up pipelines and jumbled waterways. It’s your task to move the pieces around to get the water flowing again. This is a truly unique offering that will challenge you to think in new ways to get past locked gateways, pass floating bridges and crazy conveyor belts, and generally think in four dimensions to properly lay down the pipes in the right sequence to get the water flowing again from point A to B. If the free 48 levels in the “101” version aren’t enough for you, grab the $2.99 app (named simply Aqueduct), and keep on going!
