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bloc'd is a highly addictive riff on Tetris that you should download right now
Tetris is the first game I remember someone being addicted to. After weeks of being made fun of by my father as a child for how much I was playing the game, I awoke one night to sounds coming from downstairs. The sound was my father at 2AM furiously trying to beat his high score. He'd already beaten ours. I was reminded of that story when I woke up my wife early one morning as I furiously tried to top my own high score in bloc'd. After all these years I'd finally become my dad, but it was worth it to experience bloc'd. The set up is simple: half of the player's screen is rows of colored blocks, shapes drop from the top of the screen towards a series of spikes, and players rush to draw that shape in the blocks directly below it. You have two options for creating shapes. First you can swipe on two or more of the same colored blocks causing them to disappear, providing new blocks to match up. Or you can double-tap an individual block that's in your way, causing it to disappear. Players are limited to five double-taps per game unless they'd like to purchase the game's $0.99 in-app unlimited taps option. It sounds complicated, but you'll be swiping and tracing in seconds. The only complicated part is stopping yourself from playing yet another game when the harsh hand of destruction comes down. The moment you think you've found your rhythm, the shapes start to get more complicated while dropping ever faster. Players who upgrade to the paid version of the app also get the ability to freeze or remove falling shapes in addition to unlimited taps. I appreciate that some players may enjoy these features, and developers have to eat and make their rent payments. As a fan of this game, I want the developers to eat rich bountiful feasts as a reward for what they've created. But personally unlimited double-taps, block vanishing, or block slowing powers get in the way of the insidious genius of bloc'd -- the bitter swearing under your breath when you waste your last double-tap or the cold knowledge that the block will never stop dropping even if you're nowhere near having the shape you need. If you enjoy puzzle games bloc'd will quickly make its way to the top of your playlist. Its shifting difficulty makes it suitable for a quick time-killer in line or taking over all your free time on a flight. You should play bloc'd. You should support the developer of bloc'd. But you should also try playing with just five double-taps just to see how far you can get. Then, utilize all the power-ups you want. You'll already be hooked, and once you're addicted it's just about getting that next fix, that next high score. Now pardon me, I have a high score to beat.
ZapVM creates visual messages on your iOS device for story telling, giving instructions, whatever you can imagine
ZapVM is a free app (with some desirable in-app purchases) that lets you create and share messages with sound, still photos, captions, stickers and freehand sketching tools. I can see ZapVM being used by PowerPoint or Keynote fans, families sharing events, for consumer reviews of places or services, vacation photos, even simple hello messages. The app does all the editing and processing right on your device, so no data link is needed until it is time to share. I tried the app and had good success. The options can be a bit daunting, so take a couple of minutes to understand all the icons. In a nutshell, here is the process: Take a photo or get one from your camera roll. Record a narration. You can swipe through up to ten images. When you are done, use the drawing tools to annotate your presentation with things like arrows, captions, freehand drawings or text and other graphic elements. When you are done, your images and annotations get rendered into a video, which you can then share. You don't have to register to use it, you can just send your 'Zaps', as they are called, directly from the app. Here's where things get a bit complicated. The free version of ZapVM allows users to create and share an unlimited number of 30-second Zap Videos with ad-based Zap Links if published on ZapVM.com and up to 25 active Zap Projects on their device. Free users may also use Zap Credits to export enhanced quality Zap Videos that are up to 90 seconds long and that include an ad-free Zap Link, if published, for three months. All users receive five free credits upon downloading the app. Zap Credit Packs with 20 credits are available via in-app purchase for 99 cents. Users may also upgrade to Zap Plus for $4.99, allowing them to store an unrestricted number of active Zap Projects on their device(s) and to create, export and share an unlimited number of enhanced-quality, 90-second Zap Videos, each of which includes an ad-free Zap Link, if published, for three months. ZapVM works well, and is a pretty unique approach to content creation on iOS. I'd like to see the pricing simplified and the ability to import short videos instead of just photos. The whole notion of credits bogs down what is a very powerful app. My two cents worth? Give me a free 'lite' version to try out, and then sell a full-featured version. ZapVM is not a universal app, and it requires iOS 7. It is optimized for the iPhone 5.
Defend yourself in the wild skies of Luftrausers
You're a fighter pilot with a plane that can be customized to fire devastating lasers, equip heavy armor, and spin elegantly in all directions. Oh, and it can repair itself while in mid-flight and survive a dive straight into the ocean, too. Your life is constantly in danger as rival pilots, warships, and other hazards flood your path at every turn, and a flight can end in tragedy within seconds of takeoff. This is Luftrausers. This odd little indie title from developer Vlambeer -- available today on Steam for Mac -- is a unique, modern twist on the classic old-school fighter pilot arcade games of yore. With ultra-simple controls consisting of a single button to fire your weapon and basic navigation controls, it takes just seconds to learn, but its steep difficulty curve means you won't be mastering the skies any time soon. As soon as you launch your plane into the air you will be inundated with enemies to take out. Small, quick enemy planes zip by at every angle and don't seem to care if they plow right into your aircraft, while massive hostile ships patrol the ocean below. It's up to you to find a way to spin your plane in a manner that allows you to fire upon them, and then cross your fingers that you achieve a hit. The game is presented in a four-color palette that makes it feel more like old war footage than a game, but the retro-futuristic weapons like lasers and massive missiles remind you that it's all very much tongue-in-cheek. The gritty, bass-filled soundtrack keeps pace with your flying and feels totally on point with the kind of experience the game offers. The more you learn about how to fly efficiently, the more progress you'll make on the various goals laid before you -- which range from taking out certain numbers of enemies to scoring a large number of points. As you gain ranks you'll be given access to new plane modifications like various body types, propulsion systems, and weapons. Luftrausers is currently on sale on Steam for US$8.99, a 10% discount over the regular price of $9.99, and it's definitely worth the price of admission.
Checkmark 2 for iPhone is a slick reminders app
I have a mind like a sieve. Checkmark 2 plugs the holes. The developers at Snowman have released Checkmark 2 (US$2.99 launch price; regular $5.99), a major update to its predecessor, Checkmark. This handy reminders app looks great, improves on old features and adds some new stuff. After a week of use I've promoted Checkmark 2 to my iPhone's home screen. Here's my look at Checkmark 2. New Look Checkmark has been redesigned to feel at home on iOS 7. Minimal icons have replaced the old ones, and the iOS 7 keyboard is in place as is the date selector. Overall, that "heaviness" is gone and the app looks more in line with iOS 7.1's design aesthetic. It's funny how a redesign can make an app feel "lighter," and that's the case with Checkmark 2. I did find one instance where I was wishing to go back to the previous version. The "date selection wheel," for lack of a better term, is smaller in this version and therefore a little harder to use. Not a deal breaker, of course. Scheduling reminders Checkmark 2 lets you schedule a reminder by date or location. This update adds lists to the mix, which is great for to-dos, shopping lists and what have you. Depending on how you use it, its almost like Checkmark 2 has a project manager built-in. First, a look at where and when. Where By far, my favorite function is to schedule a reminder to pop up as I approach or depart a certain area. Checkmark 2 makes this easy by letting you pre-load favorite locations. To begin, tap Where and then hit the "+" in the upper right-hand corner. Enter the name of your new spot ("post office") and then tap Next. From there you've got three options: identify your location from a map, import an address or, easiest of all, simply grab your current location. Adding from the map is fun. The map pops up (normal or satellite view are available) with a text field. You can either enter the name or address, or simply drop a pin if you're super confident. There's an option to expand or contract a location's geofence, too. It starts at 100 meters (good for something specific like a house) and expands all the way out to 30km. I used a radius of 200 meters to define the complex of athletic fields where my kids play soccer in the spring. Once you've found it, tap done and assign a representative icon as the final step (I was wishing for a ballet slipper to use for my daughter's dance studio -- hint, hint -- but the comedy/tragedy masks worked just as well). There are 36 icons to choose from, so you'll likely find something to work. Including The One Who Knocks. Once things are set up, it's a breeze. Just tap the desired location, make a new task and you're good. I'm pleased to report that Checkmark 2 has solved a big issue for me. Typically, a calendar or other reminder app will sound an alarm as an event starts or is about to start. That's all fine and good, but I've been wanting a second prompt to sound as an event is about to conclude. For example: I drop my daughter at dance for 4:00 and need to pick her up at 5:00. Checkmark 2 will let me schedule an alarm for up to an hour after the start of an event. Super! I'd like to be able to do this at two- or three-hour intervals, too. Maybe after an update. Still, that's a huge help. Here's another trick. For fun I set up "cascading reminders." I had to drive to the post office, the grocery store and the bank. So, I told Checkmark 2 to remind me to hit the grocery store as I left the post office, and the bank as I left the grocery store. Fun! That way I don't have to pull out my "Errands" list and see what's next. Checkmark 2 also lets you group similar locations. For example, you can put the drug store, grocery store and post office into a single collection called "Errands." When This is simple and requires no setup. To create a reminder for a certain time, simply tap the "+", give it a title and a date. You can also add some notes and set repeating options. By default, your repeat options are daily, weekly, monthly or bi-weekly. A custom schedule is also available. List Lists view is a new addition. Rather than being an endless strip of bullet points that scrolls forever, Checkmark 2 lets you create headings to keep things sorted. You can also re-arrange the lot at will. It feels more purposeful than tacked-on, which is nice. I've been using it for grocery lists. Overall this is a really nice update. iCloud sync is in place (only an iPhone version exists for now) and there are several notification sounds to choose from. Once you've got your places set up -- which, I do admit take some time -- Checkmark 2 is a pleasure to use.
Daily App: Dudeski is an arcade skiing adventure that you can't put down
Dudeski from Static Oceans is an 8-bit, arcade-style skiing game that captures the essence of other skiing games, but offers its own unique visual style and engaging gameplay. Dudeski is a barrel of fun that'll keep you pounding the slopes well into the summer months. In the game, you play as a skier who is hurtling down Shred Lord Mountain as an avalanche follows him. Your goal is make it to the bottom before the pile of snow overtakes you. As you fly down the slope, you must ski through gates and avoid any obstacles in your path. It's critical that you hit each gate and avoid each obstacle because if you miss, you will slow down and the avalanche will threaten to overtake you. The app measures the distance you travel down the slope on each run. When you hit the end of the slope, you've completed that region and can move onto the next. The game includes four mountain regions, and each run is different. You never ski the exact same slope twice, which makes the game challenging, since you can't memorize the track you need to ski. There are no in-app purchases, but there is an in-game currency of pinecones that you collect as you ski. These pinecones then can be used to unlock shortcuts and purchase gear to make your mountain runs easier. The terrain also is dotted with some friendly penguins, secret trails and trophies. Unlike most games in this genre, Dudeski uses one-finger tap controls to point your skier left or right and two-finger taps to jump obstacles. This makes it easy to control your skier regardless of your position or movement. The app has plenty of content to keep you coming back and has a nice balance of difficulty. The gameplay is easy to understand, which means there is no learning curve to playing. The skiing, though, progressively gets harder, so you really have to work at mastering the game. Dudeski is available for US$1.99 from the iOS App Store. It's a universal app and requires iOS 7.
OneNote for Mac now available in the Mac App Store
Microsoft quietly released OneNote for Mac this morning in the Mac App Store. As previously announced, the longtime Office component from the Windows side (and presumptive Evernote competitor) is free for all users, regardless of the platform. OneNote for Mac requires OS 10.9. Check it out, and let us know what you think of it in the comments. Could OneNote have a chance to replace Notes, Simplenote, Evernote or something else as your go-to digital notebook?
New and notable apps for iOS and OS X
It's always busy in the App Store with a never-ending flood of new apps landing on iOS and OS X. Take a few minutes and check out our list of stand-out titles from the past few weeks! If that's not enough, you can also follow our ongoing coverage of new apps as they are released. New iOS Apps CASHFLOW - The Investing Game [iPad; Category: Finance; $4.99] Claw your way out of the Rat Race, build your CASHFLOW Empire and claim dominion over the realm (realm being your living room)! StackMotion [iPhone; Category: Photography & Video; $1.99] StackMotion™ is the ultimate superimposing application that will wonderfully enhance your moments by combining photos, videos, text and music. UP Coffee [iPhone; Category: Health & Fitness; Free] UP Coffee, the first product from Jawbone Labs, is the simplest way to understand how caffeine affects your sleep. Da Vinci's Art of War [iPad; Category: Games; $4.99] Da Vinci's Art of War is a popular region-based board game where the ultimate goal is to dominate 16th century Europe. Now you can play it on the iPad! Sliver [iPad; Category: Music; $3.99] Sliver is a powerful tool for soundscape and sonic texture creation. Glorkian Warrior: Trials Of Glork [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $2.99] Glorkian Warrior: The Trials of Glork is a collaboration between Eisner Award winning cartoonist James Kochalka and indie game studio Pixeljam, makers of the prehistorically epic DINO RUN! Surgeon Simulator [iPad; Category: Games; $5.99] You are the surgeon. Bob is the victim. Do your worst! Dudeski [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $1.99] Race down Shred Lord mountain as an avalanche chases after you. Ski between gates, dodge obstacles, discover the secrets of the mountain, and try making it all the way to the bottom. Penombre [iOS Universal; Category: Games; $0.99] Journey into the enchanted land of Pénombre where witches, ghosts and other creatures meet in this endless runner game. Microtrip [iPhone; Category: Games; $0.99] Microtrip is a physics arcade game set inside the body of a strange creature. Its unique soft-body physics and the procedural generated levels make the game different and challenging every time you play. New OS X Apps F1™ 2013: Classic Edition [OS X; Category: Games; $54.99] Compete for motorsport's ultimate prize in the official computer game of the 2013 FIA FORMULA ONE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP™. Tworb [OS X; Category: Productivity; Free] Good-bye email, and hello Tworb, where you can transfer small and large files quickly, securely, and easily. ImageCrawler [OS X; Category: Utilities; Free] utomatic image file crawler. You input the root URL. (entry address) ImageCrawler collect images from internet. HeyWire [OS X; Category: Social Networking; Free] HeyWire synchronizes your text messages and contacts across every phone and device you use. Just a Timer [OS X; Category: Utilities; $0.99] Simple timer. Start with Return, cancel with Escape, pause and resume with Space key.
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Surgeon Simulator retains its grotesque hilarity in iPad debut
Surgeon Simulator was one of my favorite PC games of 2013 thanks in large part to its ridiculous premise and intentionally horrible control scheme. The game just debuted on iPad, throwing out the overly complex keyboard commands for overly complex touch controls, and amazingly the formula still works. Surgeon Simulator is a bit of a parody of the hundreds of "simulator" games that flood the PC, and it's anything but realistic. You're given the freedom to perform complicated medical procedures with little in the way of hand-holding or direction. The patient's body is presented before you with organs exposed, and it's up to you to use the tools on your table to complete the operation. On PC, the game assigned a key to each finger on your hand, which resulted in hilarious fumbling of surgical instruments, random objects, and even human organs. On the iPad, things are somewhat streamlined, and grabbing items -- which was a challenge on its own in the original iteration -- is much easier this time around. That being said, actually using medical tools is just as difficult as it's ever been. You can tap on an area you want to direct your instrument, but angling your hammer, saw, or scalpel is still a crapshoot. The patient's death results in a "game over," but just about everything else is totally fine -- including yanking and discarding entire organs. If you find your patient losing blood you can calm the flow by administering a syringe of mysterious green fluid, but as with all the tools, using it isn't as easy as it sounds. There are a few definite drawbacks to the iPad version, including a tendency for your equipment to get stuck inside the patient's body or on your tablet or other equipment. This wasn't as big of a problem in the PC version, but it's extremely common on the tablet. It doesn't ruin the experience, and it's oftentimes hilarious when you see your hammer somehow stuck behind a patient's ribcage, but it's occasionally frustrating as well. Despite that minor complaint, the game is still a fantastic, one-of-a-kind experience. I'm really glad the developer, Bossa Studios, decided to bring the game to iOS, and at US$5.99 it's still a bargain. Pick it up and saw some bones.
Call in sick to work, because Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft just launched for OS X
Blizzard's Warcraft-inspired collectable card game, Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft, is now available for anyone and everyone with a capable Mac running OS X 10.8 or newer. The game -- which has been in closed beta for a number of months -- has seen a meteoric rise in popularity since its debut, and as a player myself I can tell you that it's definitely worth checking out. The game is free to play, with additional card packs available for purchase in-game. You can also earn game currency by besting opponents online, which you can then also spend on upgrading your card collection. Head over to the official Hearthstone homepage to download the game and give it a go. Blizzard is also planning a release for Hearthstone on iPad which should take place later this year.
Daily App: Astro Golf is a game of miniature golf disguised as a sci-fi adventure
Astro Golf from Bolder Games takes a challenging miniature golf game and adds in a sci-fi storyline to create a delightfully challenging puzzle-style game. In the game, you are tasked with the job of helping your robot "Orbit" and his robot friends escape from an abandoned cargo ship. The game has a sci-fi look and feel with 3D art that is impressive for a casual golf game. Astro Golf is a miniature golf game first and foremost. Each level kicks off with a virtual tour of the hole and the path you must follow in order to sink your ball. Instead of a traditional golf ball, the ball in Astro Golf is a robot. You must tap, hold and pull back on the robot to aim him and adjust the speed of your shot. A red arrow and dots along the side of the round robot help you gauge the direction and speed of each shot. The dots are convenient, but they sometimes are obscured by your finger. You start off with a basic robot, but can purchase "power ups" that add abilities like a hole magnet and a door opener. You earn in-game currency by completing levels quickly and keeping your strokes under par. There also are "coins" in your path to the hole that you can hit. The more you hit, the more points you earn, which are converted into money that is added to your in-game treasure chest. The app starts out with the basic bank shots and quickly progresses to ramps and other obstacles like black holes and flames. Replay-ability is very high as the game has 50 levels. Each level has a recommended path to the hole, but you can deviate from the recommended path and make up your own. The more creative you are, the more points you will earn. You also can obtain three different robots with support for plugins that provide extra abilities like the ability to move through walls and to move at warp speed. Astro Golf provides an almost unlimited amount of gameplay with challenging mini-golf puzzles that'll keep you on your toes. Astro Golf is available for US$1.99 from the iOS App Store and is compatible with the iPad and iPhone. There are no ads, but there are in-app purchases that you can use to supplement the money you earn within the game. You earn plenty of money from playing and only need to purchase extra if you want to move faster through the game.
Daily App: Disco Zoo lets you rescue animals and throw them a 70s party
Disco Zoo from NimbleBit is a casual puzzle game that challenges you to rescue 8-bit animals while you build out your virtual zoo. It's an interesting puzzler as it has several different objectives that keep you busy and engaged in the game. The first objective is to collect animals that you add to you zoo. To collect animals, you must find their unique pattern in a 5 by 5 grid. Each animal has a three or four-square pattern and you have eight tries to draw the correct pattern. Once you collect an animal, it is placed in a pen with other animals of the same type. In the zoo part of the game, you are challenged to earn money by keeping your animals awake. When animals are awake, they earn you coins with the more common animals earning you less and the rare animals earning your more. As the animals fall asleep, you are alerted to wake them up in order to keep the money flowing. Coins and DiscoBuxs are the currency within the app and are used to pay for animal rescues, unlock new areas for rescue trips and throw disco parties for your animals. The disco parties require DiscoBuxs and are a lot of fun with cheesy disco music, a disco ball and lots of dancing animals that earn you double the amount of coins during the dance. Disco Zoo is a unique casual game that is part puzzle game and part zoo simulation. The music is fun, and the 8-bit animals are adorable. The game is easy enough that it takes little effort to start playing and is engaging enough that you keep playing when you have a few spare minutes. Disco Zoo is available from the iOS App Store for free. There are in-app purchases for DiscoBuxs and coins, but you can earn all the currency that you need to play the game as long as you are patient. You really only need to buy the in-app currency if you want to advance faster.
Demolition Crush gives you bombs and plenty of buildings to explode
Building on their earlier demolition games, AppMania is back with its newest title, Demolition Crush. This latest offering has you playing the role of a demolition man who is living out his childhood dream. Each level brings new explosives and new challenges as you help blow up buildings and reduce them to rubble. Demolition Crush has the look and feel of Angry Birds, with complex, cartoon structures made of a variety of materials that are piled on top of each other. As the demolition man, your job is to place explosives to blow up the structure to below the required level. Be careful in your placement as you don't want the debris to fall onto innocent bystanders. You will crush them and lose points in the process. Demolition Crush requires more than just brute force, you have to study each structure and try to find its weak spots before you start slapping on bombs. It's an arcade-y game so expect to be entertained more than mentally challenged. Than being said, the app has a nice balance between logic and explosive fun, allowing you to think just a little bit before you blow things up. At launch, the game ships with 180 levels that cover three locations (US, England, China) and includes five different explosives which are given to you as you unlock levels. Each level is increasingly more complex and challenging to solve. The app has a rewards system, rubies, that you can use to buy premium items within the game. You earn rubies by destroying a structure, not injuring a bystander and collecting coins by hitting them with your debris. If you need more rubies than you've earned, you also can buy them via an in-app purchase. The game also has an energy level that decreases with every level you complete and forces you to take a break when you've expended all your energy while building. Demolition Crush is enjoyable game for those spare moments when you are looking for something quick to play. The levels are quick to play, allowing you to try several different explosive strategies in just a few minutes. The graphics are good and the animation is smooth, which makes for a pleasing experience. There are plenty of sound effects, but no background music. The only critique of the game is that one of the animated characters in the in-apps purchase section may not be suitable for younger kids. She is appropriately dressed but, like a Betty Boop, she may be a bit "buxom" for the younger set. That's only an issue if you plan on handing over the game to your nine-year-old son, who, of course, would love blowing up buildings. Demolition Crush is available for free from the iOS App Store. It includes the occasional advertisement and has in-app purchases. You also can tie it into Facebook and share your scores on the social network.
Daily App: StackMotion lets you create dynamic photos by combining images, video, text and music
StackMotion is a new photo editing tool from Flambe Studios, the makes of PicPlayPost and PopAGraph that allows you to combine photos, videos, text and music. The app uses layers to let you create really unique projects. StackMotion has two main screens -- the playback screen that allows you to view your project as you build it and the editing screen, which is where you swap out your media and tweak it to your satisfaction. The editing screen is where you will spend most of your time, and it is chock full of options for editing your project. The first step in creating a project is choosing the correct media for your background image and your foreground image. The foreground is a static image, but the background can be dynamic with the option to add a panoramic photo, a slide show or a video clip. Once you have the media selected, you can add them to your project by importing them from the camera roll or taking them live using the camera. As you would expect, the background image becomes your canvas, while the foreground image can be masked to overlay neatly on the background. You also can add text to the project and music if you prefer. The building of the project has the feel of the a non-linear editor like iMovie, but it is much more simple with a short timeline and only one media element per type, i.e., one block of text, one track of music, etc. When you are adding each type of media, the StackMotion app has a few editing options that allow you to change the text, flip your photo, apply filters, and so on. You also can set the text timing so it appears in the beginning, end or is always on the screen. An undo button allows you to correct mistakes, while a clear button lets you start over. When you are done editing, you can share your project via social media, upload it to a vide service like YouTube, publish it to Tumblr or export it to your photo roll. Overall, StackMotion was enjoyable to play with as it allows you to do more than just prettify a photo. The ability to use a slideshow, a video clip or a scrolling panorama as your background adds a new dimension to the creation process. My only complaint with the app is a minor one -- when you edit an element like text and hit the "Done" button, the app brings you to the playback screen to review your project and autoplays the clip, which can be annoying when you are trying to edit quietly. I'd rather stay in editing mode and have the option to review by manually pressing play when I am ready. StackMotion is available for US$1.99 from the iOS App Store.
AnyFont helps you configure custom fonts for all your iOS applications
AnyFont (US$1.99) enables you to add custom True Type and Open Type fonts to your iOS device for use in any application. When I first heard about this app, I was curious. How could an app like this "break sandboxing," the security feature that keeps each app separate and safe? I contact the developer, Florian Schimanke, who explained the steps the application takes. "[In iOS 7], it is possible to include fonts in configuration profiles. You can do this for example using the Apple Configurator from the Mac App Store," he wrote. "[AnyFont] takes the fonts that are added to the app's storage by the user via iTunes file sharing or the 'Open in...' dialog and creates a configuration profile from it so it can be installed on the device. AnyFont hands over the newly created profile to Safari which then takes the user to the installation process. When finished, the user is then taken back to AnyFont." I added a copy of the app to my iPod and dropped in a copy of a True Type (ttf) font I found on my Mac. I then launched the app and selected the font, which moved me through a few screens to the "Install Profile" pane you see in the image at the top of this post. From there, I clicked Install and then consented to having the profile install the font. A further tap to "Done" and I was ready to start using my new font. What's more, once installed, the font appears in the General > Profiles settings, making it simple to remove the item should you change your mind in the future or wish to tidy up your device. A visit to Pages showed the new font was installed and ready for use. If you regularly perform content creation on iOS, this clever two-dollar utility will expand your font horizon. I found it easy to use and that it delivered exactly the functionality promised.
Daily App: Squiggle Racer makes 8-bit car racing frustratingly fun
Squiggle Racer is an 8-bit game that challenges you to race your car around a small circular track. The gameplay is simple -- use the two large buttons to control your steering and move that car around the track to complete laps. As you complete laps, you open up additional tracks. Squiggle Racer may appear simplistic, but don't let those basic graphics fool you. The racing game takes a page from Flappy Bird and is surprisingly difficult, so difficult that you'll find yourself slamming your phone down in frustration and then picking it right back up again because you know you can complete the lap this time. It takes the right combination of button taps and hold to maneuver around each track. Don't give up if you can't get it on the first try, you will eventually figure it out. It's taken me about a week to unlock two tracks, and I'm close to finishing the third. If you'd rather not challenge yourself, you can unlock all the tracks and remove ads via an in-app purchase of US$0.99. Squiggle Racer may be 8-bit, but it is a frustratingly fun car racing that's difficult to put down. If you enjoy that genre of throwback games, then it definitely worth a download. Squiggle Racer is available for free from the iOS App Store. There are small ads at the bottom that don't interfere with gameplay, and they can be removed via an in-app purchase.
Monkey Boots is stealing my minutes and turning them into hours
Even before Flappy Bird turned the App Store on its head, there was a bit of a casual gaming renaissance taking place on iOS. When I say "casual," I mean games that are easy to learn, but not necessarily so easy to master. Monkey Boots fits perfectly into that category, and its single game mechanic can feel both subtly brilliant and frustrating at the same time, which is all the more reason give it a try. In Monkey Boots you play as a cute, cube-shaped monkey on the run from an endless herd of elephants. You auto-run by default, and the simple touch controls let you jump, pounce downward quickly, and slow your speed. As elephants come barreling across the screen it's up to you to dodge them. Getting struck by a scampering pachyderm means instant failure. The longer you last, the more points you gain, and bonus points are rewarded for bouncing on top of the fleeing elephants. Speaking of the elephants, the ponderous beasts come in all shapes and sizes, from ones just barely larger than your primate to massive wooly mammoths that require a huge jump in order to clear. Failing isn't the end of the world, though, and as soon as you find yourself trampled and dead, you can instantly start another round. This softens the blow a bit when you ruin an especially solid run and besting your previous run is always the "carrot on a stick" that keeps you pushing for one more try. If you're looking for a more personal incentive to repeatedly sacrifice your little friend, there's also a leaderboard to check how much better (or worse) you are than your friends. Monkey Boots is free and includes ads that occasionally pop up after a round has ended. They're not invasive and never appear on the screen during gameplay, so it's a totally reasonable trade-off. If you've become addicted to ultra-simple games as of late, Monkey Boots definitely deserves your attention.
Bills Forecast is a new forecasting tool for your personal and business finances
Similar to a weather forecast that gives you a snapshot of the future weather, Bills Forecast from Minus 4 Degrees provides you with an overview of your financials for the next 12 months. Bills Forecast is a budgeting app that lets you log your bills and see how your expenses fluctuate each month. To get the best financial profile, you will need to enter in all your bills, not just the recurring monthly bills that are always the same. By entering in once off expenses like repairs, taxes and car registrations, you can view an overview of your future finances. It'll help you budget by allowing you to save in the months that your bills are low and dip into savings during those months when your expenses are high. Entering your bills is very easy. Just tap the big "+" button in the bottom tool bar and fill in all the details on the bill entry screen. The app allows you to assign a category to a bill and make it recurring. You also can add the bill to your default iOS calendar so you have a reminder of when it is due. If you decide not to use the calendar feature, the Bills Forecast app will send you a push notification when an expense is due. You'll also receive notifications with a weekly and monthly summary of your expenses. The app has four main views -- the main screen that shows the summary of your bills each month, a monthly detail screen that lists your bills for that specific month, a graph overview that shows your bills for the next 12 months and a "Next 14 days" view that lists your bills in the next 14 days. Bills Forecast look at your monthly bills for the next year and uses color to show you the relative amount of expenses you have each month. A month that is has very few expenses is shown in blue, while a month that is high is shown in red. A medium expense month is green. Months are also labeled as "Low", "Med" or "High", allowing you to see where each month falls on this scale with just a quick glance. Keep in mind when you are using Bills Forecast that it is not a bill tracker that shows you which bills you've paid and which ones are still due. It is a forecast and bill reminder tool only and is best used for estimating your budget. That being said, the ability to track your bills as you pay them would be a feature that I would love to see in a future version of the app. Bills Forecast is available for $1.99 in the iOS App Store. It's compatible with the iPhone and iPad and requires iOS 6.0 or later. There are no ads and no in-app purchases.
Buffalo Wings is a Flappy Bird clone and 'a fun little family experiment'
After Dong Nguyen pulled Flappy Bird from the App Store, Tapity developer Jeremy Olson decided the time was right for him to learn how to produce a game and explore what makes Flappy Bird so popular. Instead of a solo project, Olson decided to make it a group effort and involve his family members in the development process. It was as Olson writes "an opportunity to take a break from our daily routine and do a fun experiment." After a few weeks of work, this experiment today launched in the iOS App Store as Buffalo Wings. Rather than duplicate Flappy Bird, Olson and Tapity UI Designer Christain Billings decided to replace the bird with an 8-bit buffalo character, which was whipped up by his ten-year-old brother in just ten minutes. The Buffalo Wings app shares the same gameplay as Flappy Bird, requiring you to tap on the screen to keep your buffalo from plummeting to the ground as you fly in between pipes. The mechanics are similar to Flappy Bird, with the jagged shape of the buffalo adding some challenge to the game. As work on the app progressed, Olson recruited his younger brother to help and taught him the basics of Objective C coding. His father provided the audio, while his sister researched the silly buffalo facts. Other family members were involved in the testing of the app, helping Olson tweak the physics so the game was hard, but not too hard. The challenge of the gameplay is where Olson nailed it. There's a nice balance in Buffalo Wings -- it's hard enough to be challenging, but not so hard that you throw your hands up in frustration (at least not all the time). As you make your way through the game, you are rewarded with silly buffalo facts that occasionally will make you laugh out loud. The graphics are polished for an 8-bit game, and the gameplay is every bit as addicting as Flappy Bird. Buffalo Wings is available for free in the iOS App Store. It is compatible with the iPhone and requires iOS 7.0 or later. There are in-game ads, but they are barely noticeable and don't interfere with gameplay.
Enigmo Explore manages to be challenging and relaxing at the same time
If you're an old-school App Store gamer, there's a good chance you've run across an Enigmo title in the past. The physics puzzle franchise has been making waves on iDevices almost as long as Angry Birds, and its initial release on PC dates back over a decade. Now a partnership with iOS developers Team Chaos has produced Enigmo Explore -- which is arguably the best title in the series to date. As in past Enigmo titles, your task is to manage a seemingly endless stream of dripping liquid, directing it to a vessel located somewhere else in the level. You are given various tools with which to accomplish your goal -- like platforms that can bounce or redirect the flow and sponges that soak up liquid from all directions and cause it to drip downward. Manipulating these tools in 3D space makes up the bulk of the gameplay, and the variety of their effects on the liquid means that there are a virtually endless number of ways to solve each puzzle. You can make things needlessly complex if you really wanted to, but doing so kind of defeats the point. The levels range from stupidly simple to mind-bogglingly complex, with every degree in between well represented. A timer begin at the start of each challenge and slowly ticks away. Besting a stage quickly will earn you more points, but you're not really punished for taking your time, which helps add to the zen vibe of the game. Enigmo has always been about relaxation, and Enigmo Explore is no different. Soft music and pleasant sound effects turn even the toughest levels into pleasant challenges, and frustration is always kept to a minimum. At US$1.99 for over 100 fantastic levels with endless replayability (and no in-app purchases), it's a great way to chill.
Perloo is a free physics-based puzzler that is clever and engaging
I'm not hooked on too many games, although the original Angry Birds did cost me many (happy) hours. Every so often something catches my attention, and Perloo has done that. Perloo is a free app that has no 'help' page, no screen of instructions. It starts in black, and then a man in a meadow ruminates philosophically. The screen goes black again and you see a round white-and-black shape. It soon becomes obvious that the white shape responds to movement of your iPhone. From there, I have no advice to give you. As you go deeper, the game gets more intensive and frustrating. Keep at it. There are worlds to discover and explore. I'm not sure how far I am into the game, and how far there is to go. That's one of the joys of how it all works. Even the game icon (see above) is puzzling. It looks like just black at first glance, but a closer look barely reveals a shape. I have seen some games, the 'Myst like' games that create a physical place you can explore. But Perloo is completely abstract, and yet physical rules apply. The sounds are excellent, and it is hard not to get involved. Perloo is not universal, so it's best played on an iPhone or an iPod touch. It requires iOS 6 or better. Although I didn't try, I'll bet headphones further enhance the game experience. Beware the prism level. Enough said.
