Always Win is a simple iOS app that allows you to, always win. It is a game for two players. Simply draw a card (virtually on your iOS device of course) for each player and the player with the higher card wins. Simple? Definitely and very so especially when you know the secret behind the game.

Basically the secret behind the app and for you to always win is to know where to press to draw the card. There are three regions that you can press, the top, middle and bottom of the deck. Simply press top to allow the top player to win and bottom for the bottom player to win! If you think you’re lucky, you can attempt to press the middle which randomizes the cards drawn (to play fair in other words). So what exactly is the point of the app? Well not much really unless you can find someone and something to bet with. Say for example you and your younger sibling are deciding who does the dishes, the app now comes handy if the other party is agreeable. Or maybe, you can attempt to earn a dollar or two by simply betting with a friend. There are endless possibilities with the app as long as your friend (or not afterwards) don’t doubt your intentions and the seemingly innocent looking app.

Be sure to open the app first as letting the other party know the name of the app isn’t too appropriate. Also, try not to let the other person press the question mark to see the mechanics behind the app. When they ask, simply close the app and make an excuse to run. So yes, perhaps the developers can do something about that and make the help screen appear only with some special gestures or placing the icon somewhere less prominent. Additional features can also be added to make it more tricky and awesome perhaps tilting and pressing or whatever to result in different outcomes. I mean the more tricks the better to keep the secret hidden right?

Always Win is out in the iTunes app store for the price of $0.99. Do feel free to get it and earn the dollar back by always winning. Happy winning!

Ant Raid is something like a Real Time Strategy (RTS) game that combines action, arcade and strategy. Like its title, it revolves around ants but it is not you raiding people. Instead you control ants and defend from raids from other insects. It is now out for the iPad for the price of $2.99. Read on for my take on the game.

Why is it “something” like a RTS and not fully one? Well, the game strips you off all the common complicated components of a RTS such as resource management and building, troop production so on and so forth. All you have to do is to control a given set of ants and defend your ground from the intruders. Sounds simple? Indeed the gameplay is simple but sure enough it is quite a challenge in the later stages. The game slowly progresses as it introduces the different elements of the game from the basic controls to selecting the different power-ups to give a temporary buff to your ants or to give you god like powers to destroy the incoming hoards of enemies with a simple touch. The game requires quite a bit of management and quickness of your fingers as soon enough you will not only have to defend against the incoming waves of enemies, you have to pick up rods to build up your flag or something. These rods are scattered around the map and to manage between taking the rods and defending your base can be quite a task.

There are different types of enemies in the game, each requiring a different way of handling. For example you have the snails that will knock out your ants once it is killed. You will then have to manage and grab your other ants to carry these knocked out ants back to the base for healing. Among these types of enemies, they have different forms as well indicated by their colors. For example the blue colored enemies have more hit points and take a longer time to kill while the enemies that are red in color are faster. The normal enemies are just normal as compared to the other different colors.

Every time a particular enemy is killed, you collect these energies accordingly to the color. When you have collected enough energy of a particular color, you will be able to temporary buff your ants with that color’s boost. Say if you have collected enough red energy and have activated it, you will give a temporary attack and speed bonus to your army of ants. Interestingly, there is a “gold” mode and that is achieved by activating both blue and red buffs at the same time. You ants will become the ultimate ant warriors and destroy all enemies in sight. Another power-up is more towards giving the player a boost, which is the green energy. When that is activated, you are given godly finger powers that allow you to zap enemies by tapping on them. It is very useful especially when the enemies are too many for your brave ants to manage.

All this come together nicely to bring in the strategic part of the game. Knowing how to handle the different types and kinds of enemies is vital in successfully defending your base. Knowing when to activate the different buffs and when to unleash your god powers will also affect how successful you are in defending your ground. It is a nice blend of strategy and action, giving players a decent challenge to face.

The controls are plain simple. Tap to quickly select a small radius of ants at the point of your contact, hold on to slowly increase the radius of the selection to select more ants and after selecting the number of ants you need, you simply tap wherever you want your ants to perform something say attack an enemy or pick up a fallen ant. You can also use pinch to zoom to view the different parts of the map as well as swiping around to move your view. Controls are smooth and responsive, good enough so that you cannot complain that it is because of the controls that caused you to lose the game. With decent controls, it all boils down to your quickness and strategy in order for the best results.

Besides the main story mode, you get two other different modes to choose from namely a survival mode and a challenge mode. These modes are unlocked once you complete a particular chapter of the story mode. The survival mode allows you to play and defend for as long as you can survive. In each of the levels in the story mode you are awarded stars depending on your performance within the level, these stars out of a maximum three per level will also determine the number of ants you will have in the survival mode. So it is best if you strive for perfection in each chapter as it will definitely help you in your attempt to get your name up in the high scores!

The graphics of the game is decent with lively colors and decent enough details to keep you and your eyes happy as you play the game. The story mode also features kind of a comic style cut scene design that tells a rather uninspiring story but nevertheless it does give some purpose to the game and the different sequence of events. The soundtrack and sound effects within the game is decent as well. I am no musician a music critic but it sure sounds pleasant enough to keep me happy. As a gamer and for such a game, the effects are good enough as well.

In conclusion, Ant Raid is a great game for casual RTS players. It is easy to pick up and play, but in order to actually survive well enough in the later stages requires some skill and planning. For someone looking for a pure RTS experience, Ant Raid might not be the game for you as it lacks all the other elements present within an RTS. Nevertheless, if you are looking to do some strategic planning and to have some fun, Ant Raid is a fantastic game to have. Ant Raid is casual enough for all to play while at the same time challenging enough to attract the more avid gamers. The amount of fun you will have playing the game definitely justifies the price tag of $2.99.

Gameplay Video:

iTunes Appstore Link: iPad Ant Raid ($2.99)

Rolldoku is a fresh new take on the concept behind Sudoku. It is a puzzle game that requires you to fill in boxes within a grid and ensure that within each huge box, row and column, there is only one unique individual number (meaning numbers 1 – 9 without any repetition within that row, column or huge box). Instead of filling in numbers at will, rolldoku requires players to roll and scroll through a cylinder of numbers, swap the rows around etc in order to complete the puzzle.

It is a concept that does indeed bring about a new form of challenge to an old classic puzzle game. The strategy and skills behind Rolldoku are definitely very much different from Sudoku. In Rolldoku, you are given preset numbers. It is your job to find the perfect match of these numbers by adjusting the rows, and spinning or rolling the numbers to get the ideal set of numbers. The same rules that apply for Sudoku apply here in Rolldoku: unique number for the row, column and for the box that the number is within. To keep it short, each Rolldoku puzzle is a Sudoku puzzle with all the boxes filled. These answer sheet is then wrapped into a cylinder and there you get a rolldoku puzzle!

I must say that Rolldoku is extremely tough, and frustrating. It might be just me but from the very start I felt lost. It is overwhelming with so many numbers and the magnitude is heightened with quite a number of rows present. Irony at its very best isn’t it? In Sudoku if you have many numbers already within the grid, the job to complete the puzzle is extremely easy. However, in Rolldoku you get all the different set of numbers at the very start. It is your job to arrange them and arranging them is tough, very very tough. You have to scroll through the numbers and remember what set of numbers there are in each row.

Strategies? Hints? I really need quite a lot of them. It is frustrating to scroll through each row, try remembering the different numbers and then matching them up with the rest of the rows. I would definitely prefer some form of indication of what numbers there are within the row rather than scrolling through them and taxing my mind to remember them. I mean I don’t find any skill in that or pleasure knowing that I can remember all the different numbers. I would rather have skills in solving a particular box or something like in Sudoku. I am sure, however, that if I can ever remember all the set of numbers in each row, I would be able to find a winning strategy to solve each puzzle. But as of yet I have no luck at all.

Whether or not the game is judged to be challenging or impossible is up to you. I read through some of the comments for the free version and people enjoyed it. Not sure how true the comments and ratings are but there is the possibility that people out there find the game fun and intellectually rewarding. For me, I think I would rather have my Sudoku puzzles instead. Rolldoku does bring a new challenge but this challenge is way too much for me. For the rest, I hope you are up to the extremely steep learning curve.

Other than the concept behind the game, the scrolling and moving of rows is flawless and smooth. Instructions are present that teaches you about the control scheme within the game. The graphics are fine and professional looking. It doesn’t strain your eyes should you stare too long at a puzzle. There are countless numbers of different puzzles to test your brains if one isn’t enough. Each puzzle does have multiple solutions so don’t give up like me. There is a timer present as well which is useful if you want to compete with your friends since puzzles can be specifically chosen rather than being randomly generated.

If you get to pass the steep learning curve you will be able to enjoy Rolldoku very much. It is like when I started out Sudoku puzzles, it was pretty challenging but as time went by it became extremely rewarding. Rolldoku is very similar, just that to actually get past the first hurdle can be tough for many. Nevertheless, there is the choice to try out the free version. I strongly encourage all to try out without paying first, and if you get to complete some if not all the puzzles, the paid one is something you must get.

Pinch is back again! The fun and intelligent puzzle game has a new sequel with all new challenging puzzles that will make your brain work! For those who are unaware of the game, Pinch 2 HD is based on the exact same concept of Pinch: You are to combine, split, mix and match the different coloured norbs (the circular balls) to access different places within a particular level. The ultimate aim is to get the required amount of norbs into the finishing line. That comes with some thinking as each level consists of several puzzle elements such as switches, pit holes and so on! Read on for the in-depth review.

Gameplay wise you should know what to expect if you have played the first game. You have your standard certain colours only zones, specific size only holes and so on. There are also the portals and switches that keep things interesting and challenging. Lastly, there is the mixing of colours whenever you combine different norbs together. It is amazingly smart idea and concept in my opinion and it makes the game stand out from other kinds of puzzlers. Nothing much else to say here in terms of gameplay but there is just new levels that stresses your brain and make you smile as you complete the tougher ones. Level design here is great, very little repetition and there is always something new that makes you go “Ah…”

There are also 4 different medals or objectives to complete for each level. You don’t have to complete all at once as it is almost impossible. These objectives are firstly a time objective; complete the level within a particular time. Secondly, the objective to get all norbs to the finishing line. Thirdly, number of pinches that you are allowed to use. Lastly, number of stars collected. It certainly gives some replayability for each level as you try to achieve as many objectives as possible.

I love how the pinching and multi-touch mechanisms within the game are all smooth and responsive. It really brings out the capabilities of the iPad touch screen. It is well implemented and definitely something that helps in improving the gameplay. The big iPad screen certainly helps in making the game more accessible than the first version. In my opinion it just feels nicer and easier to zoom in and out, drag the norbs and pinch them etc.

Graphics are improved from the first version. The norbs and the overall design and background of each level just looks much clearer and sharper. Like the title of the game, the graphics are of higher resolution that of HD like. It looks particularly well when stretched on the iPad. However with all that said, the graphics still don’t stand out that much. As much as it is an improvement from the first version, it is nothing too much to get overly excited for. There is also some light hearted music and sound effects that keeps players from getting too overly stressed out should they fail to complete a particular level.

Overall Pinch 2 HD is a delightful sequel to a clever concept and fun puzzler. There is the ability for you to grab the first 20 levels for free but to unlock the full game, it requires you to fork out a sum of $4.99. It is rather expensive as compared to the first game and other games within the same genre. Furthermore, the replayability of the game is merely that of getting the fastest time possible once every level and objective is completed. Nevertheless, if you find that the 20 levels are fun enough, the $4.99 should be alright as it offers you 100 levels and more to come in updates.

Gameplay Video:

iTunes App Store Link: iPad Pinch 2 HD (FREE/$4.99 Full Version Unlock)

Speedball 2 Evolution is a remake of the The Bitmap Brothers’ classic sports game for the iOS. Nope, I’m too young to be able to tell you that I have enjoyed playing the classic back in the old days but I can tell you that I did enjoy playing the remake version for the iOS. Speedball 2 Evolution, as described by the developers, is a mix of football and hockey. After playing, I must say it is more like a mix of hockey and handball instead. There is the physical play of hockey plus the handling and scoring like handball except that you can simply carry the ball while running without the need of bouncing the ball. This isn’t walking down memory lane for me but how exactly does the game fair? Read on for the full review.

Each match takes place within an arena. Within the arena, you get two goal posts, one for each team, bumpers that when hit give you points, side walls that can give you bonus as well and holes that transfer your ball from one side to the other. It is a rather cool arena designed to bring lots of fun and brutal physical play. To win, you simply have to score more than the opponent. There are 3 ways of getting points. Firstly, by scoring a goal gives you 10 points. Secondly, you can hit those bumpers for a mere but game deciding 2 points. Lastly, you can beat the daylight out of your opponent and as soon as he runs out of stamina and gets knocked out you get 10 points. Interesting sport eh?

When you get the ball you get to do a normal pass or a high lob pass. Without the ball, you get to tackle and body check your opponent. Whether they have the ball or not you can simply tackle and attack them to decrease their stamina. Be extra careful not to spam the tackle button though as each tackle executed reduces your stamina. So yeah, beat the crap out of your opponents if you don’t want to score goals. It helps to win matches too. Of course the opponent can do the same to you, so be sure to try dodge those flying tackles!

The gameplay is extremely simple. All that is described above is all you need to do. There are no complicated button combinations pressing to execute special moves or any need to switch player etc. It works well for a game developed for the mobile platform without dedicated keys or buttons to press. The simplicity of controls and gameplay mean that people can simply pick up the game and enjoy it as it is. There is one problem however, is that the game is just too plain easy. The AI ain’t very smart and once you get used to tackling, you’ll never be able to lose. Scoring is extremely simple as all you need to do is bash your way through, including bashing up the goalkeeper, and all you have is an empty goal to throw the ball into. Some difficulty or challenge would be greatly appreciated. Still, there is much fun to be obtained from playing the game. Besides winning is fun too right?

There are a few modes available for you to choose from. One of which is the quick game mode where you simply start a match. Second is a tournament mode where you can play your custom created tournaments or the preset ones which require unlocking for some. Thirdly is the career mode where you manage your team from the lousiest of divisions to the championships within a maximum of 10 seasons. The career mode is what I enjoyed most. I mean I’m kind of the guy who loves simulation and management and the managing of the team is fun. There isn’t very much depth but is sufficient to keep you interested and playing for a few seasons.

Within the career mode you get to spend cash, which you earn in matches, to upgrade your team. You get to either train your existing player or trade them for better ones. All of which requires you to spend the hard earned cash from matches. The training and transferring of players gives the game a little depth, not much but sufficient to enhance the gameplay and keep you going. Whether is it training your existing players or trading existing players for better ones, it is extremely satisfying to see your team grow from weaklings to champions. As your team slowly gets stronger, you can feel their power as their stamina and strength overpowers your opponents. Of course that means with the easy difficulty, there is no challenge at all within a match as soon as your team gets better. Nevertheless it is rewarding to feel the power and stature of the team you build as you thrash your way through the matches.

Lastly, we have the multiplayer mode where you get to play against your friends via the internet. I haven’t been able to find anyone to play with so I can’t tell you how much fun it is to bash your friends up. I do know however, is that there is going to be loads of fun and obviously a better challenge as compared to the AI.

The graphics of the game is good. The retro like characters and arenas all look fantastic on the iPad and iPhone 4’s retina display. There are also special graphical effects within a match (when you pick up some power ups or something) that keeps the game exciting and action packed. Sound effects are great as well and complement the fast paced action and brutality of the sport well. It can, however, get repetitive after awhile because there aren’t any variances in the background sound or sound effects within different matches. Thankfully, you have the ability to play your own music while playing the game. I’ve read other people’s comments and found out that the game stays rather closely to the old version so yeah probably all you older people might relive that happy childhood memories of yours.

Overall the game is fun to play. Whether or not you have played it back then in the older days Speedball 2 Evolution is sure to entertain. The career mode makes the game very addictive and fun to play otherwise the match concept itself does keep gamers interested and there is definitely some enjoyment in it. The only major problem of the game is the lack of challenge but other than that the graphics, sound department and gameplay all come together to make Speedball 2 Evolution one wholesome fun game to play. For the price of $0.99, this is a great game to have on your iOS device.

iTunes Appstore Link: Speedball 2 Evolution ($0.99)

Stack the Countries is developed by the same person who did the other educational games like Rocket Math and Stack the States. If you’ve played Stack the States, Stack the Countries is the exact same thing but with a focus on an international global scale rather than just the states within the United States of America. Anyways, Stack the Countries is an educational game that is designed to teach children, or rather players, about the different countries around the world. You get to learn about the different capitals, the major landmarks and unique features of that particular country.

The learning comes in the form of mini quizzes and mini games. The one mini-game that is unlocked from the very start is the Stacking mini-game. Players will have to answer multiple choice questions and when answered correctly, you get a piece of that country to stack. You will then have to answer enough questions to stack the different countries up to a certain height. Questions come in a rather general form like (insert capital here) is the capital of which country, the (famous landmark) is found within which country etc. It gives you very general knowledge but is good enough for you to know about the different countries around the world.

When you have successfully completed a level, you get to earn a country to put in your collection. Collect enough to unlock the other mini-games and when all games are unlock, collect to fill up that empty world map that you can view from the main screen. You can also learn about the different countries mainly the capital, the languages spoken, border countries, landmarks and major cities.

The other mini-games Map it and Pile Up also helps you learn more about the different countries in the world. Map it is a game where you are given a country and you are to locate its position in that particular continent. Pile Up is the game where you have to constantly tap the correct country the game wants you to before the countries get piled all the way up. The game allows you to select specific continents to be played with and the types of questions to be asked. These customizations are kind of cool if you want to just learn more about one particular continent.

The game graphics and sound looks fun and blends in extremely well with the educational theme of the game. What I feel is lacking from the game is the absence of fun facts of each of the countries. Yes the game do give you an idea of the capitals of the different countries, the landmarks etc. What I would look forward to is to know more about the interesting facts of each country. It will also be nice to have more pictures of the different landmarks and more information about them. As of now it does its job well, educating about the geographical positioning of the countries and it skims the surface of facts of each country. However, it just isn’t enough for me. It gets a bit repetitive and boring thus I feel the need for some interesting and fun facts to keep people playing.

For the price of $1.99 the game is a good game to get for your kids or for anyone who wants to learn a bit more about the world and the different countries. It is highly educational with a bit of fun value tagged along with it. If you’re looking for just some fun, I don’t think the game is for you. If you’re looking to learn, then Stack the Countries is definitely there to give you a fun learning experience.

iTunes Appstore Link: Stack the Countries ($1.99)

Elixir Master HD is the iPad version of Elixir Master for the iPhone. The main difference between the HD version and the normal one lies in the interface and graphical aspect. Of course the iPad HD version has graphics of, higher definition. Other than that the gameplay and game content is pretty much similar to the iPhone version. Elixir Master is a game where players have to make potions to serve their customers. It is not so simple though as customers are grumpy, impatient and there are many other obstacles in your way.

Elixir Master plays something like Simon Says. You will be given some ingredients to memorize and with the sequence and type of ingredients in mind, you will have to produce a potion with them. It is just that simple and the main gameplay revolves around that. You have 6 different types of ingredients that can be added to the potion. You will have a customer who comes by and states what he/she wants. A speech bubble containing the ingredients of the potion he needs will pop up. You will only have a limited time to memorize it and soon it will disappear. You will then have to add in the right ingredients in the correct sequence to produce the right potion. One mistake and your customer will get angry, leaving you with no points to collect at all.

Customers have limited patience; take too long and they’ll leave. If you have forgotten what the ingredients are, you can ask the customer again in exchange for them losing their patience even more. As you make more and more potions, your ingredients will decrease. You will then have to buy them by simply pressing the right sidebar of ingredients to purchase them. This adds a bit of a challenge as you manage between purchasing the required ingredients while not overspending to get a higher score.

As you progress further into the levels, you will get to serve more customers within each round and customers demand for more complicated potions (containing more ingredients). Should you manage to successfully serve the correct potion to every single customer in time, you will get to play a bonus level to get some points for upgrading. The bonus level plays something like a reaction game whereby the game will flash a certain ingredient and you will have to press on the corresponding icon that represents it.

As mentioned previously, the game is not that simple. It is not just simple Simon Says where you happily and peacefully make the potions to serve you customers. There is the presence of spiders and demons, all of which will do all they can to piss you off. The occurrence of spiders is random and they can happen in two different manners. One is a single spider coming down as and when your customer starts paying. Failure to squish the spider and he will steal away your money (which also is your money). The second occurrence is a horde of spiders coming and you will have to squish every one of them. Every spider that you fail to kill will steal 1 unit of money from you.

On the other hand, the demon can perform many different tricks to disturb you. These tricks include swapping the positions of the ingredients, blacking out the icons to prevent you from recognizing which is which, moving the ingredients’ icons up and down to reduce your touching accuracy and many more. It is manageable at the start but as soon as you reach the later few stages it can become quite a problem. This is especially so when your customers’ patience is extremely short and the potion they want consists of many ingredients.

Racking up successful servings of potion will increase the points/money you get from the subsequent customer. The max combo you can get is 4+ successive customers. Upon serving the customer, a prominent text will pop-up praising you of your great skill and it is accompanied by some sound effect that pumps you up; kind of a nice motivation for players to strive for the best.

The implementation of the obstacles in the form of the spiders and demon definitely makes the game more challenging and interesting. It sure does test your mind’s ability to stay calm and remember stuff. With the need to manage the quantity of ingredients at the same time, the game does become rather difficult at the end. However like the saying goes, no pain no gain. It sure is satisfying after completing the final stage.

There is also the implementation of an upgrade system. What is does is that for every point of points you have accumulated, you can choose a certain upgrade that will aid you in your endeavor to serve the right potion to the right customer. You have an upgrade that increases the patience of the customer, reduces the probability of the demon appearing and so on. Though it is very shallow (in the end you’ll get every single upgrade anyhow, so just pick whichever you think will help you more), it is a nice touch to the game.

The gameplay concept behind the game is simple, neat and well executed. It is a great pick up and play type game without the need of many explanations. However, with only 10 different levels to play with, the game is very short. I spent just nearly 2 hours (with short breaks in between) to complete about 80% of the game (reached level 8 or 9 I believe). The gameplay is also repetitive with not much difference from start to finish. It is only the difficulty that is increased, nothing less nothing more.

The game has its own unique style of graphics (see screenshots). It is nicely drawn and looks good on both the iPad and the iPhone. Although the graphics are limited (background, customers, and almost everything else repeats in a cyclic manner), they are sufficient to keep interest for the short amount of gameplay content the game has to offer.  Sound effects are alright as well, with it suffering from the same problem as its graphics, the repetitiveness. Again since the game is short thus you will not feel much about it.

Overall Elixir Master is a good fun little game that tests your mind. The only problem lies in the game content that it has to offer. With just 10 different levels, the price tags of $1.99 (iPhone) and $2.99 (iPad) are more on the expensive end.  Anyhow if you like memory games, Elixir Master is a great game that implements such a concept with its own twists and tweaks. You will get much fun from this game but don’t expect it to last. Replayability is a huge issue here, just hope the developers will provide some content updates in the future. Other than that, I would suggest that you buy the iPhone version if you are tight for cash. The up scaling of graphics isn’t bad at all.

iTunes Appstore Link: Elixir Master ($1.99) &   Elixir Master HD ($2.99)

Robokill is a top-down mech shooter that just received an update that introduced a new survival mode. It is a direct port of a flash game that was introduced years back, a flash game that I had once enjoyed. With great success, the port is extremely smooth and gameplay experience is as fun as ever. Blasting and destroying enemy robots never had been so fun and addictive, even more so with some other touches such as RPG elements and robot customizations implemented within the game. For the price tag of $0.99, how does the game fair?

Robokill has two main game modes to choose from, a campaign mode and a survival mode. The campaign mode offers players a chance to go through a rather poorly written story line, blasting through levels after levels containing many different rooms. Yes, the storyline makes no impact and impression at all, but that aside, the gameplay is rather solid. You play as a human within a mech suit, trying to clear up a space station filled with other crazy ass robots. You do so by entering different rooms within a particular level, and within each of these rooms offer you a chance to blast your guns away. As you destroy and clear each room filled with robots, you have the chance of picking up loot, cash and gaining experience points along the way. These different items that you acquire are extremely important to your survival in the game. They all lead to one main result, a really powerful mech that will and should dominate all other enemies present.

The game implements some elements of a standard Role Playing Game. Although these implementations are extremely shallow, they do give a sense of progress especially seeing the more powerful guns blasting away. There is this experience points system whereby after accumulating a certain amount of points you get to level up. As soon as you level up, the damage done by your mech and its health is increased. Furthermore, each new level your mech gains would allow you to equip an even more powerful weapon on your mech. It does make sense to go through each individual room just for that. However, should you choose to simply speed run through each level, the only problem that you might face is the higher difficulty level. It is still manageable, but I don’t really recommend it. Take your time to enjoy destroying the enemies, I mean just look at them explode! And of course not forgetting the loot and moolah that you can pick up.

There are 2 main types of equipments that are available: Weapons and item boosters. Weapons are further divided into different types of guns, e.g shotgun, rocket, pulse and laser etc. All of which, however, sum up to almost similar stats giving no major advantage or disadvantage over one another. Within these different types of weapons, you have different levels for them. Higher level weapons give better stats but require you to be of higher level. For example, the sub-machine gun fires at a faster rate but offers lesser damage whereas the shotgun fires at a slower rate but offers more damage. Do your simple mathematics calculation and you’ll realize that everything almost nearly adds up. It all comes down the personal preference. Then there are these item boosters, some of which that you will be using mostly early on would be the shield generators. They simply offer you shield generation of a certain amount after you clear each level. There are also other items to increase your front end defense and so on. You are given 4 slots for each type of equipment. It isn’t so much to choose wisely, but it is more of to just following your interest and pick what you prefer as all items equipped will certainly help you one way or another, and the results don’t deviate much. Of course choosing the higher leveled items over the lower ones will allow you to significantly have an advantage over your enemies. What I mean is when comparing similar level items, just choose what you like especially the in terms of the weapons.

That sums up the only noticeable flaw within the game, the lack of depth within the features they offer. Yes it is nice to see yourself leveling up, nice to see different kinds of weapons but the main question is, so what? It does impacts the game but is not significant enough to make much of a difference. Different weapon types etc perhaps can adapt a different control scheme, making players adapt a certain play style. There is the presence of such items such as the grenade launchers or something. The problem is, they fire at the same time together with the other weapons so how am I to actually control it specifically. More often then enough such weapons with say extremely slow fire rate but high damage miss, making me choose those of higher fire rate. Perhaps some form of controlling the weapons or something to allow different gaming play styles to take place? (As of now I’m simply just holding on and blasting away for each and every type of weapon I equip my mech with) Other form of depth can include some way of weapon upgrading, fixing items to the weapon or your mech or even stat based equipments (which means stat allocation upon leveling or different mech types) etc. The possibility are limitless, but as of the current state, there just isn’t enough to bring the shooter to a level above the rest.

Nonetheless, this doesn’t take away the awesome shooting experience that you will come to enjoy as you blast your way through each level. Controls work flawlessly, with two touch based sticks to control movement and your shooting, you will often find yourself constantly moving and shooting in order to dodge the incoming bullets, rockets, lasers etc etc. The only minor problem I have is that my thumbs sometimes block out some vision of the room as I use the sticks to control my mech. Not so much a problem, unless  there are rooms filled with enemies or rooms that have many holes that you can fall through. Yes, this isn’t your every day type of game whereby you have invisible walls that prevent you from jumping down. If you see a hole, please do yourself a favour and not walk over it as you’ll just simply drop and die. Enemies work well enough to keep you on the move, constantly finding ways to eliminate you. The AI isn’t so bad, and the variety in how each enemy performs also allows a deeper strategic playing style when facing the different enemies.

The campaign can be easily completed within a weekend of average playing time, offering decent enough challenge especially in the final few levels. There isn’t so much of an incentive to try completing it again. The story isn’t deep at all and the campaign mode is very structured and linear. Not much is there for you to explore or any bonus stuff to be discovered. However, the developers have kindly introduced a survival mode recently that allows you to compete for the highest ranking on the high score boards. It is a great little mode to play in bursts or whenever you’re bored. You can simply go on and on destroying waves after waves, seeing that high score go ever so high. You will also see your mech getting even stronger but that also means the wave will get tougher. The main problem I have is, why not have a resume/save feature similar to that in the campaign mode. Once say you have survived an hour worth of waves of enemies and you wanted to take a break. Should you accidentally exit the mode you are totally gone. You have to start all over again from square one. Just something that maybe needs a bit of rectifying.

Graphics of the game is fine. Level design offers variety, sufficient enough to keep people interested to explore rooms after rooms. What I liked most are the colourful graphical effects of the different bullets blasted out from the weapons of both your mech and the enemies. The different coloured and styled projectiles flying all over the room simply drives your adrenaline and intensifies the already tensed battlefield atmosphere of the game. The sound effects, however, is much of a letdown as you have not much of any background music of any sort (other than the main menu) or any other sound effects other than that of the sound of weapon fires (which you will hear most of the time and probably get tired of it).

Overall the game is a solid top down shooter for the price of $0.99. If you are looking for a game filled with action and shooting, Robokill will not disappoint you. If you are a fan of robots and stuff like that, Robokill will also probably please you. It is simply a great game to pick up and play, even more so with the introduction of the survival mode. While the game has some flaws, the main shooting gameplay that drives the game is enough to allow it to move forward and bring fun and happiness to gamers.

iTunes App Store Link: Robokill ($0.99)

Daily Deeds is a task management app that is released for iOS devices. There is a recent update that allows syncing and creating backups with your dropbox account. This app is extremely focused on just one function; tasks that you need to do daily.

We have come across several different kinds of time and task management apps, many of which offer many different functions but not Daily Deeds. Daily Deeds stands out from the rest as it offers a simple solution for people who just want to keep a list of things to do on a daily basis. For example, perhaps as a student, I would want to spend some time studying my subjects on a daily basis, so I can put that inside the app to remind myself. Alternatively, if you like to keep fit, perhaps you can remind yourself to jog every day after work or something. What is so splendid about the app is the simple solution for managing such tasks.

The interface the app has is neat and tidy. You get to view the current day and a list of tasks that you have added. You can simply then just tick them by tapping on the task that you’ve done. You can also go into each individual task and mass manage the previous days should you forget to tick them. There is also an option to tag a different colour along with the different tasks to allow an easier time differentiating the different tasks. The icon itself on your homescreen will also have a notification number of how many incomplete tasks you have on that day. This thus serves as a reminder and should you not want to see it, you can simply finish all the tasks and poof off it goes. Daily Deeds does what it does perfectly, nothing much can be said on that.

Besides the main function of providing a reminder and list of tasks to do every day, it also gives you the function of exporting monthly reports on the tasks you have done. It does it in a very pleasant manner, emailing yourself a beautifully generated table of the different days and tasks with the respective times you have completed them on that particular day. You also have the ability to sync with your dropbox account and create backups should you need them.

The main problem with the app ironically, is the limited functionality. I mean yes, the app is for you to keep track of what needs to be done daily but is there really something that is so important that needs to be reminded daily?  What I mean is few people would want to jog every single day. They would want it probably on every alternate day, but it is impossible for the app to keep track of such recurring events. The app is and is limited to only and only daily tasks and nothing else. With so many different other apps that serve such purpose with many other extra functions, I’m afraid that Daily Deeds is hard to be recommended to the people who might want a little more than just purely daily management. Yes it is true that the app does have a straightforward yet gorgeous interface with a very simple way of managing tasks, but what it does have already been done before with additional goodies.

It comes to the point that Daily Deeds is not a task management app but a habit management app. I mean things that you have to do daily probably turns out to become a habit. Say you want the habit of sweeping the floor every day, or maybe the habit of drinking at least 8 glasses of water and so on. Ironically, if it is a habit already, why need to keep track of it since you will probably be automatically doing it already? Ah, so I have come to the conclusion that this app is habit cultivator app. Should you want to start having a good habit in your life this app will definitely aid you in that process. Hey, thinking about that, it is kind of cool to have a habit cultivator app. For the price tag of $0.99 to cultivate good new habits, I don’t see any reason why not to get it. But for a task/time management app, you might want to consider a more robust app for this app simply does things that you want to do daily and only daily.

Rating: 7/10

iTunes App Store Link: Daily Deeds ($0.99)

p.s It is hard to review such apps that serves such a specific function. For its purpose, the app does fulfill it extremely well. But for general usage, it is hard to say who might actually effectively use it.

Bar Star HD is the iPad version of Bar Star, a time-management game where players are to ensure the smooth running of a bar. Like all time-management games, you have to be quick with your fingers and smart in planning who to serve first and who to ignore. With such skills, the game will then be of a piece of cake. If not, be prepared to start feeling the stress as you fail to serve those customers on time!  The main difference between the iPad version (which this review is based on) and the iPhone version, is the graphics catered for the resolution of the iPad. Other than that the gameplay is pretty much identical.

Bar Star is an action packed time-management game. The difficulty curve is definitely of a acceptable gradient with the starting few levels providing time for new players to get used to the gameplay mechanics as well as the different stuff they have to do. It works out something like a tutorial and is definitely welcomed. Slowly as you progress through the levels, you will find the gradual increase in the speed and accuracy requirements of your fingers increase as well. That is not all though, not only do you have to be quick, you have to think quick (explained in the paragraphs below).

You will start off with just a few types of beverages that you can serve. As you complete and finish the levels, you will soon find yourself bombarded with recipes of cocktails and so on. There are also different types of customers who require different kinds of treatment. That’s when the strategic elements come in. Some customers have more patience than others, thus if both come in at the same time you should put your emphasis on the one with less patience to ensure maximum efficiency. Some customers only order a certain type of drink, so be prepared first by making it before hand.

Customers come in with different number of stars above their heads. The stars are indicative of the amount of drinks they would purchase before finally paying and leaving. Every time you successfully serve the customer on time, he would give out tips or rather stars. The amount of stars is pretty much fixed except that they are awarded according to the time they waited and treatment. If you make a customer impatient but not angry, you will get maybe one star. If you serve him fast enough while he is still in the patient mood, you’ll get two. This varies according to the type of customers as well. However the fact is that if you make your customer wait too long, they’ll get angry and just leave without giving you anything. So be sure to serve all customers on time!

There are 3 main styles of drinks that you can serve and that are beer, wine and cocktails. Within these broad categories, there are different types as well, for example the wine has red and white wine. Cocktails are the hardest to serve as they require you to go to different stations just to make one drink. The main processes are to take an empty glass, get the right base and then go mixing with the rest of the required ingredients. The beer and wine are simple one step processes with the beer requiring you to just on the tap and then you can leave and do other things while for the wine you have to be there to pour it all out. Again, plan wisely as to which drink to serve first and so on.

Like many time-management games, you get to purchase upgrades with the money or points you earn after successfully completing each level. These upgrades are slowly unlocked as the game progresses as well, not all can be purchased right from the start. There are upgrades for your shop or your characters. For the shop, you get the standard few upgrades to help you out in serving the customers for example a bouncer to check the identification cards of the customers, allowing you to focus mainly on serving and so on. For character upgrades, there are the usual few of increasing speed of running, the speed of mixing the drinks etc. Pretty ordinary stuff but extremely essential for the later stages of the game.

The campaign mode features two different campaigns to choose from. One the normal main story and the other a zombie campaign mode. The main differences between both campaigns are the graphical theme and the mini storyline that each provides. Other than that they are pretty much similar. The other game mode that you can play is the time attack where you can fight for the highscore boards to boast to the world how quick and fast your fingers are. Time attack gameplay works exactly the same as the normal campaign gameplay except that you have to serve your customers quick and they’ll provide extra time for you to keep going on. Customers come in waves and the higher the waves the more and more customers you will have to handle. Be prepared to get real busy!

The controls of the game works well. Tap on a particular station and if there are additional options, they appear in a circular format surrounding the station. You then drag your finger to select whatever you need. The only problem I faced is that when stations are placed too closed together, I often face the situation where I mistakenly press one instead of the other intended one. Every time that happens, I do get frustrated as time is essence especially in such a game. Not sure if it is just me but I guess that is where the accuracy of your finger placement comes in.

Graphics are well drawn and remastered to great quality for the iPad version. A cartoony style with comics put in place to tell the story does the game good. Colours are well chosen and the whole game itself complements each other to near perfection. Although graphics aren’t of the highest detail or in terms of uniqueness, it does the job well. The sound department is not lacking as well. Background music gives the game an arcade feel and when your timer is running out, the music speeds up quite a bit, increasing the pace of the game and enable you to feel the adrenalin rush. The only problem though is after maybe an hour of playing or so the music becomes too repetitive and slowly becomes irritating. Sound effects are kept to the minimum but are adequately and effectively placed.

For the price of $4.99, Bar Star HD is a rather good time-management game to try out. With the different game modes as well as over 10 hours of gameplay, the price tag is rather well justified. If you’re a fan of the genre, do feel free to purchase it and I doubt you’ll be disappointed. If you’re new to the genre and wanting to look for such a game to try out, you might want to find try out the lite version for the iPhone first since if you don’t like the game genre . This isn’t really a game that is so special or extraordinary that would make haters to lovers. Instead it does the job well enough for lovers to keep loving and the neutral to have an enjoyable experience.

Bar Star HD ($4.99) iTunes App Store Link