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TUAW's Daily App: Push-Up Wars
I'm a big fan of DailyBurn for tracking weight and nutrition. While a lot of iPhone users stand by the Lose It! app for that sort of thing (and rightfully so, it's a good one), I prefer to have a service that's accessible from any browser, and DailyBurn (formerly known as Gyminee) is the one I've tried and liked the best. Earlier today, while adding far too many calories to my nutrition record (CES and its various events are not being kind to my diet this week), I noticed that DailyBurn has another app out called Push-Up Wars, designed to help you track your push-up ability. Just like the main app, Push-Up Wars allows you to enter and register how many push-ups you're doing each day, and then the app will track your progress both among your friends and on a global leaderboard level. Push-Up Wars is notable even if you're not an exercise fanatic, just because it's the first app I've seen that's not a game, technically, but still uses Game Center. You can earn ranks and achievements as you "level up," and then see global and friend-based leaderboards. Registering push-ups requires you to take a video of you doing the exercise (only uploaded if you agree to do so), so the app requires a video-enabled iPhone or iPod touch -- no dice on older versions. But it's an interesting idea that's executed quite well, and if you want to get serious about powering up those arms, Push-Up Wars might be able to help.
TUAW's Daily App: Daytum
Just a couple of months back in this feature, I posted about an app called Dayta that allowed you to track and monitor any type of data you wanted to follow. Now, here's another app that will do basically the same thing, but with a few more features and a little extra style. Daytum is a newly released iPhone app (though the website itself has been around for a while) that will help you keep track of any numbers you want: your calories or weight, your sports team's records and stats or even a business' information. Once you've collected that information, you can display it in any number of ways, allowing you to see and track all of your numbers easily. It's a very flexible system that's limited only by the way you decide to use it. The iPhone app is only part of the equation, but it allows you to both enter data on your own and monitor it however you'd like. It's very well designed, and it has an excellently simple look and interface for entering data. Unfortunately, seeing your data back is not quite as well done, but that's all right; that information is also available on the website from any browser. Best of all, it's free -- the mobile app is free to download, and the service is free to use. There is a premium subscription available for US$4 a month with more space (and the option to keep your stats private -- that may be a major drawback for a lot of users), but the free version works just fine as well. If you need an app to track some custom data, but didn't want to jump on Dayta, give Daytum a look.
TUAW's Daily App: Trip Cubby Free
I already use David Barnard's great Gas Cubby app to track all of my gas purchases on my little 2005 Matrix, but since I'm getting ready to drive up to Las Vegas today for the big CES show this week (stay tuned for lots of Apple-related coverage right here on TUAW), now seems like a good time to take a look at Trip Cubby, another solid tracking app from the developer. Trip Cubby allows you to monitor and track any driving trips you happen to make. While the app is made to track them for business purposes (if you need to get reimbursed or paid for your time on the road), you can track your mileage, travel time and expenses for any reason at all. Before a trip, you just enter some basic information about where you're going and why into the app (and you can tag it with whatever else you want). As you travel, you simply track your odometer, any costs and timing, and Trip Cubby will take care of the rest, giving you all the reports you need. For hardcore users, Trip Cubby can even support multiple drivers and vehicles, and you can create custom deduction categories or sort and search all of your trips. Just like Gas Cubby, always having an app like this on your phone can be super helpful, as long as you're diligent (and when you're traveling for business to get reimbursed, you should be anyway). I'll appreciate having it along at CES this week. The free version of the app is full-featured, but it has ads in it, as you can see in the pic. The full version of the app is US$4.99, but it removes the ads and allows for online syncing as well.
TUAW's Daily App: Super Blast 2
I have to admit that I never played Super Blast, but the sequel has entertained me for a little while now. It's a straight-up shooter game with a nice, easy control scheme. All you do is tilt your device to aim and shoot, and you can occasionally tap the screen to clear it with a bomb. It's a tried-and-true premise, and it works well. My one complaint is that it's hard sometimes to tell how your ship is doing and/or when the enemies are actually taking damage. On bosses with large amounts of health, you usually have to just fall back on watching the numbers, and that's a little more boring than it could be. The game's power-ups are quite fun, and the graphics are excellent, featuring almost whimsical 3D alien models with extremely high resolutions that look excellent on the Retina Display. There are plenty of particle effects to go around, and when you do it just right, cutting through the well-rendered bad guys is really satisfying. Game Center integration helps you keep the fight going as well. Super Blast 2 is just US$0.99 on the App Store right now, and while it's somewhat simple, it's definitely worth a download.
TUAW's Daily App: Seafood Watch
Here's another Daily App choice that's a little more practical than a lot of the games we've been covering lately. Seafood Watch is an app updated with information about fish from all over the world, letting you see at a glance where the fish you're eating probably came from and not only how nutritious it is for you, but how good for the environment as well. The app is designed by the Monterey Bay Aquarium, and finding information about the fish on your table or at your supermarket is as easy as pulling up a guide to browse, doing a search for the fish name or even checking around your location. Plus, as New Year's Eve is tonight, there's even a sushi guide. So when the sushi gets passed around a little before midnight, you can take a look at the guide and know exactly where that sashimi came from. Seafood Watch is a free download from the App Store for the iPhone. Have a safe and happy New Year's Eve tonight!
TUAW's Daily App: Roget's Thesaurus
After a few weeks of games, we're going with more practical apps for a little while here, so here's an iOS version of the famous thesaurus reference book. Roget's Thesaurus is pretty much the name in finding words that can work in the place of other words, and a company called Mobifusion has worked with the real thing to bring it to the iPhone in a searchable form. The app lets you browse through 30,000 words and all of their synonyms, change text sizes on the fly or just flip through if you want to browse that way. You may argue that there are free thesauri (?) available online, and you'd be right, but it's nice, especially if you use one often, to have it available and ready to go on the iPhone whenever you want. The official Roget's Thesaurus app is US$2.99 on the App Store. And if you don't want to pay a few bucks (just consider how much a paper copy of the book would cost -- it's worth it anyway), there's always the FreeSaurus. That works well, but there are ads in it, and as you should know by now, there's no such thing as a free banquet dinner luncheon lunch.
TUAW's Daily App: Burn the Rope
This isn't an iOS port of the great Flash game You Have To Burn the Rope, though an upgraded version of that would be nice to have. Instead, this one is a pretty inventive puzzle title by a company called Big Blue Bubble. The idea is that you touch anywhere along a rope to start up a flame, and then you have to keep that flame burning by tilting your iPhone so that the fire always burns up. It works really well as a physics puzzle game, and each level has certain percentage goals of the rope to burn (and later there are enemies to burn through as well), and whenever your flame splits off at different intersections, you need to watch each side of the flame and make sure it has vertical room to grow. Getting through the levels is not that hard, but burning everything on the screen is both challenging and fun (when you can actually do it). It's a really inventive game. Something only possible on the iPhone, it takes a nice different angle and just iterates on it, similar to popular games like Angry Birds and Cut the Rope. That iteration lasts over 80 levels, and the developers promise even more to come. There's no Game Center integration, unfortunately, but there is a silly theme song, and all of those levels make for quite a bit of game. As of this writing, the game is on sale for a buck, but I think it's worth it even for a few bucks. It's too bad there's no lite version to try out, because the concept really is original. But if you like puzzlers like Cut the Rope and Zen Bound, this one will probably scratch that same itch.
TUAW's Daily App: Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3
Much like all of that snow outside your door, the App Store's top lists are currently frozen -- Apple will release what's in the top spots on the marketplace tomorrow (after the holiday), but until then, everything's staying exactly where it is. While we haven't seen a lot of numbers just yet, it's clear that EA was a big winner on the App Store this year. The company dropped prices on lots of its titles earlier last week, then claimed a good bit of the top 10, top 20 and the top 200. The rumor is that as soon as it can, EA is going to raise prices back up on these apps, so if you want to grab this recently-released port of Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 at just a buck, now's your chance. Some of the reviews on this iOS version of Mortal Kombat are iffy. The port suffers from the usual fighting game problem of having no buttons on the iPhone, so controls don't feel responsive. Often the controls actually aren't responsive, though there is an S button to make some of the more common moves easier to pull off. But for just a dollar, playing UMK 3 right there on your iPhone is pretty awesome. Whether or not you agree with EA's stunt -- some say it was a cheap way to get some attention, while others say apps are worth what people will pay for them -- I do think it's pretty impressive that a big, traditional gaming company found an interesting way to take advantage of Apple's usually eclectic marketplace. We'll have to see if other bigger studios pick up on this kind of thing in the future, or if indie developers can find a way to take advantage of it.
TUAW's Daily App: Secret of Mana
Here we go. A few of the hack-and-slash RPGs we've covered in this space have been compared to Secret of Mana, but now Square Enix has gone ahead and released the actual thing on iOS. Secret of Mana borrows a little bit from Legend of Zelda in that you always see all of your enemies on screen, and hack away at them in real time rather than in a turn-based battle or a separate mode. Otherwise it's a JRPG all the way around, as you wander through towns and dungeons, level up and earn weapons of various powers, and explore a big story of an unexpected hero saving the world. This is a good one -- it's a little retro, considering it first came out back in 1993, but it's a great title. The only drawback? It's been released at US$8.99 on the iPhone, and while it's probably worth the price to some of you, most of the App Store market (especially this week, after so many big titles and so many sales already) will probably find it a little too rich for their wallet. If that's a little high, just wait -- Square Enix has done more than a few sales in its time, so we might see it a little cheaper sooner or later.
TUAW's Daily App: The 7th Guest
You might have missed the fact that this classic adventure game was released on iOS, but just in case, here you go: it's available now for iPhone and iPad. According to reviews on the store, this is a faithful recreation of the old full-motion video game from back in 1993. The game has you wandering around a mansion trying to solve puzzles, with a story slowly displayed through video clips featuring real actors in a real setting. The game was quite innovative for its time, being one of the first games to be distributed on CD-ROM. Unfortunately, the main reason for that was because the videos took up so much memory, and weirdly, iOS device owners are currently facing that same problem -- the game needs 623 MB free on your device to install. But it is an interesting game from the start of the modern PC gaming era, and if you're already a fan of The 7th Guest, you'll definitely want to pick this up and play it on Apple's platform. The game is US$2.99 on the iPhone and $5.99 on the iPad. Andy Williams actually sings about "spooky ghost stories" for Christmas, so if you need one of those to play through this holiday week, try your turn at being the 7th Guest at Old Man Stauf's house.
TUAW's Daily App: Hook Worlds
Hook Worlds is the latest from Rocketcat Games, makers of Super Quick Hook and Hook Champ. If you've played either one of those games, you'll know what to find here: running gameplay that uses a one-button hookshot to keep your character moving as quickly as possible across various levels. Hook Worlds, as I understand it, is more of an arcade version than the other two games (though you can try Hook Champ Lite to see what the gameplay is like), featuring four heroes hookshotting along four different worlds, each racing to get as far as they can. This is an app almost meant for those familiar with the "Quickhook" genre, but if you want to just give the game a shot without a lot of story or obstacles in your way, Hook Worlds will serve you pretty well anyway. The game is just US$0.99 cents right now, and for a limited time, Rocketcat is giving away the fourth world for free. There's no Game Center, unfortunately, but Hook Worlds wraps up the quickhook gameplay in a nice tidy package, ready for anyone to try out and see what they think. It's an interesting title that's worth a try even in these busy App Store days.
TUAW's Daily App: I Must Run
The popularity of Canabalt seems to have spawned a whole genre of games on the App Store. I remain a fan of Monster Dash, and Tomena Sanner is another fascinating spin on the very basic one-button gameplay. Now here comes I Must Run, another running-style game that has you as a character running on a 2D field, trying to avoid gaps and obstacles by jumping and punching your way through. Despite the fact that this borrows a lot (if not actually everything) from Canabalt and its followers, there's no denying that "IMR" (as developer Gamelion Studios calls it in a teasing FAQ on the app's description) has its own verve as well. The style is very well done. You play a prisoner running from a prison, and there's a little more story here (some of it in the form of a motion comic) than the other games that tend to go more arcade-style. Gamelion promises there's an end to this one, though good luck trying to get to it. There are also a few gameplay tweaks. You can punch through obstacles and duck under overhangs, so if you want to beat the whole thing, you'll really have to stay on your toes (or fingers, as the case may be). I Must Run is only US$0.99 on the App Store right now, and it's earning some nice buzz around the gaming community. Looks like there might be room for a few more running titles on the App Store yet.
TUAW's Daily App: Max Adventure
Max Adventure has been quite a while in the making. I first saw it at 360iDev earlier this year, and then again at WWDC, where we met up with the husband-and-wife team of Imangi Studios to talk about how it was coming along during development. You may have also seen this video of a level being made in the game. Finally, everything is done, and a few days ago, the game itself showed up on the App Store. It's a hit so far, too. Even though it's a dual-stick shooter, a genre that's been done to death on the iPhone, Max Adventure's got a fun and original sense of humor -- you play a little kid fighting off parent-kidnapping aliens around the neighborhood. There's an excellent story mode to play through, with progression, power-ups and quests to find and do, and if you finish that, there's a survival mode as well, complete with Game Center achievements and leaderboards. Just as you'd expect from Imangi, the folks behind Harbor Master (who recently updated their original app with Retina Display graphics just for the heck of it), the quality is excellent all around. The team at Imangi has put a whole lot of love into this one, and it shows. At the introductory price of just 99 cents (for the universal app!), Max Adventure is a bargain, even during the crowded holiday season. Odds are you've already picked up a few games this year, but even if that's the case, go find another buck in your couch because this one's a must-buy.
TUAW's Daily App: Winta
I first covered Winta (styled WINtA on the App Store) back at GDC Online in October, and found it an enjoyable music game from the creator of Parappa the Rapper, Masaya Matsuura. It's a simple title -- different shapes appear on screen, and the player is meant to tap them in order, which ends up going along with the rhythm of the song's vocals. There's one free track included with the app (which itself is free to download), and then a number of different songs are available via in-app purchase, each with their own themes and displays. Plus, the whole project is part of the OneBigGame initiative, so 10 percent of the profits on each track purchased will go to two charities, Save the Children and the Starlight Children's Foundation, to support the lives of children around the world. OneBigGame has teamed up with both Matsuura and developers Triangle Studios to create the game, and Ngmoco has joined in to share the game (and some achievements) on its own Plus+ social network. It's definitely an interesting title -- I wouldn't say it has quite the appeal of a game like Parappa the Rapper, but it's an interesting multi-touch take on the music genre, and helping out OneBigGame and its cause is definitely an excellent idea. If nothing else, give Winta (short for "War is Not the Answer") a free download and see what you think.
TUAW's Daily App: Neo Defender 2
Neo Defender 2 is another title from the good folks at Appular, who we've talked about here on TUAW before. Neo Defender 2 is an Asteroids-style shooter, but the twist is that instead of moving around the screen, your ship stays firmly in the middle, leaving you to watch all sides and protect yourself from attacking shapes and forms. This lets you use mechanics like multi-touch on the screen to send shots out in all directions, and since enemies split and spread when you attack them, you have to constantly be on the lookout for where to shoot and keep them at bay. Unfortunately, the game's progression is a little slow. You can eventually earn cash to upgrade your ship with extra weapons and more power, and while the fully upgraded player is a force to be reckoned with, I found that getting there could probably have been paced a little faster. I'd also have liked to see a little more innovation; maybe an option to tilt to aim the gun would have been interesting. Still, the game is quite fun, and bosses later on in the game mix things up between waves and provide some interesting strategy to play around with. Game Center integration would have been good, but OpenFeint does provide some achievements to chase. Neo Defender 2 is only 99 cents for the iPhone, and it's available in an HD version for $1.99. There are lots of great iOS games out right now, and there are even more coming out this week, so it's possible you've already spent your iOS gaming budget this year. But if you want something a little smaller than the big profile holiday releases, Neo Defender 2 is worth a try.
TUAW's Daily App: inClass
With all of the great games that have come out this week, you probably have enough to play already, so let's spotlight an app that can actually help you get some work done. inClass is just such an app. Now's probably not the best time to talk about it, as we spin down towards finals and holiday break in school. However, if you make a note of this one, maybe install it on that new iPad you get over the holidays, then bring it back to class with you in January, it might help your grades jump up a bit. inClass is a free app that lets you deal with all kinds of schoolwork, from taking notes in class and sharing files around to tracking class schedules and test taking. inClass was just updated to add some features for high resolution photos and notifications, and the authors of the app are listening closely to feedback and adjusting it as needed. inClass is free with ads for both iPhone and iPad, and getting rid of the ads costs just US$2.99. Again, taking and tracking notes is probably the last thing you want to think about right now as most students head into finals, but don't forget, even as all of these games come out, just how useful an iOS device can be in the classroom, too.
TUAW's Daily App: Backbreaker 2: Vengeance
Most football video games nowadays go all out on features -- you can play any position, just coach fantasy-style, or even design plays in some games. But NaturalMotion's Backbreaker series for iOS goes the other way. It's just good old tackling and running, boiled down into an arcade mode designed to show off the dynamic tackling and motion built into the engine. Backbreaker 2: Vengeance is really impressive. If you're a hardcore football fan you'll want a more full-featured game, but if you just love dodging and diving into players on the football field, you'll really enjoy the wave after wave of points-based attacks here. Especially on iPhone 4, the presentation is great, with smooth and beautiful graphics and very responsive controls. This is the second in the series, and it shows -- NaturalMotion is really learning how to do cool stuff with their engine. There are also tweaks to moves from the first game, and a few new moves as well. And Backbreaker 2's got Game Center integration, so you can chase after achievements and leaderboards, too. It's an excellent game for US$2.99 -- check it out (at least when you're not playing Infinity Blade today).
TUAW's Daily App: Scrambleface
Scrambleface is a simple app that does one thing pretty darn well. All it does is take live feed from an iPhone or latest-gen iPod touch's camera (and it does require iOS 4.0 or higher), then it turns that into a sliding puzzle for you to unscramble. It's not flashy or crazy, but it is kind of fun, and the fact that it uses the live camera feed gives it a nice twist that will appeal to kids or anyone you happen to be demonstrating the iPhone to. There are 21 randomly generated levels that can be done as time challenges if you so choose, and there's an update coming soon with Game Center integration and leaderboards. As part of the Appvent promotion going on right now, Scrambleface is completely free today, December 8th. At that price, it's definitely worth playing with. Think of it as an early holiday bonus!
TUAW's Daily App: Trucks and Skulls
I'll be honest, at the expense of disagreeing with some of you: I don't really like Angry Birds. Sure, I'll admit it's a quality app, and I obviously can't deny all of those sales. But personally, it's just not my game -- I don't find it nearly as fun as some of the other games on the App Store. That said, I know plenty of people enjoy Angry Birds, and for those people, Trucks and Skulls will probably scratch the same itch. Gameplay is almost exactly the same, except instead of birds, you're throwing trucks, and instead of pigs, you're attacking ... well, you can probably guess. There are a few new mechanics, a full level maker and screenshot sharing service, and the stages are obviously different, but otherwise, it's more of the physics puzzle goodness that Angry Birds has, only done with a heavy metal, death trucker aesthetic. Heck, maybe that appeals to some of you even more than Rovio's title. Trucks and Skulls just recently released a free version, and the full game is just US 99 cents on the iPhone and $1.99 on the iPad, with Game Center integration included. If you've already blown through Angry Birds and the recent holiday edition, give Trucks and Skulls a try.
TUAW's Daily App: HEXETERA
Here's the deal: based on that screenshot at right, you already want to play this one or you don't. You can probably guess what it is just from that. It's a falling block game, except you match triangular tiles rather than blocks. There are goals you need to meet in order to progress through the levels (or there's an unlimited mode for constant play, as long as you can manage). And there are various power-ups to pick up and carry out as you go through the game. It's pretty straightforward. Of course, you don't see the great music in that screenshot over there. And you don't see Game Center integration, which ... err, sadly, the game doesn't actually have (though you can keep and share high scores over both Facebook and Twitter). But honestly, you probably knew right away whether this was one you wanted to play or not. If the idea of another falling block game doesn't appeal to you, HEXETERA probably isn't your thing -- go ahead and wait until tomorrow when we'll have another great app in the spotlight. But if that screenshot intrigues you (as it did me), you can pick up HEXETERA on the App Store right now for US 99 cents.
