Tag Archives: appsized ratings system

Feb 23 2014

Now Playing: Hidden City – Mystery of Shadows for iPad

I haven’t got much patience for hidden object games (HOGs) of late, but I do appreciate most of them for the gorgeous design and interesting storylines. Hidden CIty: Mystery of Shadows (Free) by G5 Games is their latest title to hit the App Store. While there are plenty of HOGs out there, not many have explored the free to play model. In the past, HOGs were far more expensive than your usual games, owing to the depth and richness of the content. It also takes a lot of time and patience to finish one, hence a single HOG could last you for months, depending on how busy you are and how many games you play on average.

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Feb 19 2014

Now Playing: Forces of Nature for iPad and iPhone

Forces of Nature (on sale at $0.99) by Mean Bean Games is a game that will catch your eye immediately because of the art. There’s something fairy-tale like and compelling about the hand drawn art that reminds me of an animated film I saw when I was a kid, The Iron Giant. Another thing common between Forces of Nature and The Iron Giant is the fact that they’re both sending a strong environmentalist message.
Mother Nature’s champion is Sprout, a feisty little seedling who plants various defenders to fend off heartless robots that have taken over his world. Sprout’s mission is to protect the giant tree from land and air units. Water is his main currency for planting seedlings which can be fixed (tower defense type) or moving. Sprout does damage on his own, and strategically dashing behind enemies can even score combo points.
At the heart of Forces of Nature is a side-scrolling castle defense dressed up rather beautifully and quirkily.

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Apr 27 2013

Where Angels Cry in Review: A Hidden Object Adventure That Falls From Grace

It’s been a while since I last picked up a hidden object game. The thing is, for a hidden object game to sustain my attention, it should be driven by a really interesting storyline. Minutes into Where Angels Cry HD for iPad, I was simply hooked.

Where Angels Cry HD puts you in the shoes of a young monk sent by the cardinal to investigate a mysterious occurrence – said to be a miracle, in a remote monastery. Coincidentally – or not, the miracle coincides with the unexpected death of a resident monk who is believed to have been killed by wolves.

Sounds great so far? I thought so, too.

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Apr 14 2013

Magicka in Review: Quirky and Cute, But Not Quite Magical

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Magicka for iPad was featured Game of the Week by Apple. It is a sidescroller where you constantly move forward in a linear fashion with enemies attacking you from both sides. At your disposal are elemental runes which you can combine into various spells, each with their respective properties. For example, lighting and water don’t go together, but if you combine lightning with fire, you can cast a thunderbolt spell. Some spell combinations produce powerful spells – you can create meteor storms, blizzards, explosions, which are unlocked as rewards after completing a level. (Like it so far? read on …)
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Mar 29 2013

Dragon Skies in Review: Flying High For Free

I am not a fan of free to play games (more on that next time), so when I was coaxed into trying out Dragon Skies, yet another social, free to play game, I was wary. My biggest beef with these kinds of games is the not so subtle push for you to spend real money to buy special items or speed up certain processes. I thought Dragon Skies was no different, but more than a month into the game, I have to concede that I was wrong about this game. Read on to find out why —>

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Mar 24 2013

Ivory Tower Defenders in Review: The Classroom is Your Battlefield!

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The race is on to beat the slackers and achievers to their seats!

You are running late for class and try to sneak into the crowded classroom as quietly as you can. Unfortunately, that snarky grad assistant who gives you dagger looks is waiting by the door. Not too long after, you are deluged by bluebooks and exam papers being lobbed at your head. You make it past her, barely, only to be confronted by the dean, who is quite a heavy hitter himself.

No, this is not a stress dream related to college. Welcome to Ivory Tower Defenders a new tower defense game for the iPhone and iPad.

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Mar 2 2013

Art Mogul HD in Review: A Rare Find

If there’s one thing that the App Store lacks, it’s more art-themed games. The ones I’ve tried are usually stealth games which means they focus on stealing gorgeous paintings rather than actually appreciating them. Art Mogul breaks out of the art-meets-stealth-game mode by doing two things: combining hidden-object game mechanics with tycoon-style sim gameplay.

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Feb 16 2013

Karateka In Review: Is the Romance Gone?

Back in the 80s, Karateka was one of those seminal games (not very many were available then) that offered drama, romance and nail biting fight scenes.  Because personal computers then were just taking off, graphics were primitive and much of the excitement of the game depended on your imagination. If you grew up in that bygone era of early personal computing, then the dramatic background music and the boss fight, would be replaying in your mind right now.

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Dec 15 2012

iOS App Review: Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast


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For kids of my generation, Ghostbusters is an important part of growing up. You have these four funny guys (Egon, Peter, Winston and Ray) banding together to rid the city of ghosts, the scientific way. I learned about ectoplasm and the ways of Slimer, and my sisters and I named our very first hamsters after Egon and Jeanine (the wisecracking secretary).

To give you an idea of what Ghostbusters is about, check out the movie trailer below:

A cartoon series and several movies and later, Ghostbusters is all but forgotten. Not to us who grew up watching them, and not to XMG Studio whose developers have come up with a way to keep the Ghostbusters alive through Ghostbusters Paranormal Blast.

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Dec 11 2012

iOS App Review: My Farm Life for iPad

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A game that’s called “My Farm Life” might arouse suspicion for those, like me, who hate pay to play, freemium games that are cute and promising but require real cash to buy this and that. To my relief, and likely yours as well, My Farm Life HD published by Alawar Entertainment is not a social farming simulation game – it is actually the title of a fictional reality show where an unsuspecting aspiring actress is cast in the lead role to well, run a farm!

If you’re into frantic time management games, then My Farm Life HD deserves further examination. Read on!

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