Cheddar the Mouse is an adorable chess master who aims to teach your kids how to play chess. He's also the star character of HeroCraft's new, Garry Kasparov-endorsed educational game, MiniChess by Kasparov.
As kids play,they'll solve puzzles that will teach them the basic rules of chess. The game also lets you play an actual game of chess so you can try out your new skills.
You can download MiniChess by Kasparov for $3.99 on the App Store.
BANDAI NAMCO Games has brought their popular mobile game, One Piece Treasure Cruise, to the U.S.
The game lets players engage in strategic battles while following the story of the original comic. You'll get to form your own crew from new characters created for the game, and when it comes time for your crew to fight the one-touch tap controls will have you knocking out opponents in no time.
You can download One Piece Treasure Cruise for free on the App Store.
Do you shovel well? Even if you're not a character from Mystery Men, you can develop awesome shoveling skills in CoalMaster, by Jank Games. In the game you strive dig your way out of being a lowly shoveler to become the 'Coal Master'. What does the Coal Master get? A throne of Shovels! Shovel your butt off and compete against your friends on the leader boards. You can also customize your shoveler and level them up as you shovel.
You can download CoalMaster for free on the App Store.
Fans of the classic Japanese manga, Fist of the North Star, will be excited to hear that GungHo Online Entertainment, have joined together to create an awesome event in Puzzle & Dragons.
For a limited time the game will feature a Fist of the North Star dungeon and several of the characters including Kenshiro, Rei, Shin, and Toki. If you manage to fight your way down to the hardest depths of the dungeon you'll face off against Raoh, Ruler of the Century's End, and in defeating him you'll get the Raoh ChibiDra.
The event has already begun and will run through Sunday, Feb. 22. You can download Puzzle & Dragons for free to check it all out.
iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
Band On Tour by Davide Cardea is working to make musician's lives easier. With the app you can book your tours quickly and easily. It provides you with maps you can use to select venues to play, and each location provides detailed information including e-mail, telephone number, and/or website. Once you've selected your venue you can email or phone the booking agent directly through the app.
Band On Tour also manages budgets, timetables, and even individual set lists. And once you have all of your venues booked you can export your Tour Book in PDF to make it easier to read or share. The app has over 9,000 venues to choose from and more are being added everyday.
You can check out Band On Tour for free on the App Store.
How do you know what apps are worth your time and money? Just look to the review team at 148Apps. We sort through the chaos and find the apps you're looking for. The ones we love become Editor’s Choice, standing out above the many good apps and games with something just a little bit more to offer. Take a look at what we've been up to this week, and find even more in our Reviews Archive.
Monsters aren’t what makes horror movies scary. It’s the idea of the monster that truly frightens us. The shrouded inhuman figure we can barely make out forces us to fill in the terrifying details with our own imagination. That’s why whenever the monster fully arrives, it just looks silly and the fear disappears. What makes Dark Echo one of the tensest, most ingenious horror games on the App Store is that it’s all about not seeing the monster. Based on the development team’s Ludum Dare game You Must Escape, Dark Echo puts players in the poor shoes of some anonymous victim stuck in a pitch black hallway. Virtually blind, the only way to move around is to rely on your other senses, particularly hearing. The game represents this Daredevil-style echolocation by showing sound waves as white lines bouncing around the black screen. Beyond just being a striking visual effect, this gives players enough information they need to progress while also leaving them incredibly vulnerable. --Jordan Minor
It’s a good sign when finishing a game causes me to audibly yell “Nooo, don’t finish there!” at my iPad. It’s also a sign that the first episode of The Detail could perhaps do with being a little longer. It offers just enough to really grab your attention, but its premium price tag doesn’t quite match up with the quantity offered here. The App Store description suggests a mixture of The Walking Dead with the grim realism of The Wire. That’s about right, too. The Detail is a pretty dark game, even this early on, but it hooks you in fast. Following two very different characters – a grizzled and cynical veteran detective and a reformed criminal with a family – it’s not long at all before you’re drawn into the storyline. Action is much like other adventure games with you tapping on hotspots to interact with them in some way. Within a few minutes, you’re inspecting a body, trying to glean clues as to what’s unfolding. You can also talk to people, ask them questions, and adjust your tone accordingly. --Jennifer Allen
The Witcher Battle Arena is a MOBA (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) for people who have never played one before. It lacks the depth of most of the rest of the genre, as well as a few other features that would beguile you. Instead, it’s a bit too simple to really recommend, although I guess it works as a gateway to superior offerings. Unlike other MOBAs, each match is very straightforward with little opportunity for tactical play. Games are 3-vs-3, with teams having to capture the three checkpoints across each map in order to whittle down the opposition’s tickets. Starting out with 500 tickets, games typically take around 10 minutes to complete but will sometimes run a little longer. --Jennifer Allen
While games on the whole are noticeably simpler and easier than the games of the 80s and 90s, there’s also a genre full of games keen to remind you of why you enjoyed such challenges once upon a time. Potatoman Seeks The Troof is part of that genre, testing your ability to react exceptionally quickly. Some control issues aside, it’s mostly quite fun if all too brief. With the graphical prowess of an 8-bit console or computer, Potatoman Seeks The Troof is simple looking but also quite charming. Your sole objective is to dodge everything and survive. There’s a certain amount of pattern recognition involved here, but just when you think you fully get it down, it changes things up. Early on, you jump over various cacti. Then, inexplicably, one cactus leaps in the air – usually catching you out the first time round. So, Potatoman Seeks The Troof isn’t just about pattern recognition but also trial and error. Fortunately, it restarts quickly so you never lose out too much. --Jennifer Allen
As far as conspiracy theories go, the Philadelphia Experiment is a good one to base a game around. Urban legend states the priject, which was supposedly conducted by the United States’ Army in 1943, turned a US Navy destroyer invisible – thus paving the way for technology that would hide other ships and weapons from enemy eyes. But where do “invisible” things go once they’re zapped out of our realm of existence? According to Radiation Island from Atypical Games, the answer is “some mysterious place that’s super-hostile.” Thus begins a game that’s all about survival, crafting, and exploration. --Nadia Oxford
Toca Kitchen 2 is a companion to the popular Toca Kitchen – a favorite digital toy for both children and adults. I admire Toca Boca for their willingness to update their apps as well as to develop new versions of their creations in order to continue to challenge the creativity of young people in their various Toca Hair Salon apps, as well as Toca Kitchen apps – be it Kitchen Monsters, the original Toca Kitchen, and now Toca Kitchen 2. A few things have changed from the most recent update of Toca Kitchen; specifically the ability to combine ingredients both in the cooking process as well as on the plate to serve. The other major change here is the use of 3D graphics – as also seen in Toca Nature – when representing the three customers, as well as using muted shades of food textures to replicate the ingredients instead of the bright and colorful food illustrations I was fond of in the original app. --Amy Solomon
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If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:
Here’s the problem: I’ve come to appreciate quality earphones the older I’ve gotten. I won’t describe myself as an audiophile, but I do enjoy the output a quality set of phones can bring. As such, I do have write a few. Wired, wireless, over-ear, in-ear, lounging, sport… you name it, and I probably have a set for the occasion. I baby them too. They’re cased when not in use, and issued in places that negate the possibility of silly mishaps, like (gasp!) sitting on them. All because I like having options, and dislike procuring stuff twice.
You know what is kryptonite to gadget longevity? Kids. Take my daughter for instance. Ariana Grande must be heard, ave outside hearing the SAME song played on loop, I have to reluctantly lend her a pair of mine. Why aren’t there more gadgets available for kids? That’s a question the Puro Sound Labs Kids Headphones looks to answer. --Tre Lawrence
City Island 3 plays somewhat like a simpler version of SimCity. The player begins with a empty island and must construct a city from the ground up. Houses are placed for your citizens to live in and just like SimCity it is best to construct ones that hold more people to make maximum use of space. Businesses can be placed as well and these are the ones that generate money for the player, using a familiar timer based system. Businesses must be staffed with employees and thus you need to balance the amount of houses and businesses so there is always enough staff to crew your profitable businesses. --Allan Curtis
Checkpoint Champion is a cool new driving game that rewards careful, skilful driving. Taking control of cute SD versions of well-known cars the player weaves their way to greatness. Checkpoint Champion is a great fit for mobile gaming. Using a simple control system, the player must weave their way through very short ten second challenges. These involve driving into checkpoints before time runs out. Each challenge features plenty of fiendish challenges like hairpin turns; handbrake turns, obstacles that need to be avoided and plain tough driving. Checkpoint Champion rewards precision and it is very satisfying to get a level right. --Allan Curtis
And have you met GEOFF? You should really meet GEOFF. GEOFF is going to change the way you think about video games. Come to AppSpy to find out why.
Finally, this week Pocket Gamer got you free currency in Midnight Star and free critters in Pokemon, picked the best iOS and Android games of January, and handed out its first 10/10 of 2015. What was the lucky game? You’ll just have to click here, won’t you?
Auro, the monster-bumping game from Dinofarm Games, uses strategic positioning combined with magic spells and the titular bumping mechanic to push monsters right off the map. You'll play as the impetuous Prince Auro as he explores dungeons and fights monsters.
He only has nine spells to work with, however, so you're going to have to engage your brain on these procedurally generated maps to win. The game also has a competitive play mode that lets you rank up over time to become the Master Bumper.
You can download Auro: A Monster-Bumping Adventure for $2.99 on the App Store and give those monsters a well deserved bath.
Boom and Zap have returned to their magical matching adventure in Rescue Quest. They will once again explore ruins, fight monsters, and rescue spritelings by matching colorful games. Specifically, the new update adds 20 new levels in the Kadabra Ruins and an awesome tile-clearing Cannon.
You can download Rescue Quest for free on the App Store.
The developers behind Way of The Samurai and the Tenchu series, Acquire, have announced their newest game: Fort Raiders SMAAASH!. The 2D combat strategy game has your adorable chibi army build forts and collect resources.
Everyone is battling it out to reach the treasures hidden in a legendary temple located in the sky. You'll be able to customize your fort and level it up to produce more resources, hire more warriors, and gain other benefits. You can also level-up your troops to make them better fighters and equip them with cooler outfits.
You'll be able to download Fort Raiders SMAAASH! for free on the App Store very soon.
Spider-Man Unlimited, the endless runner from Gameloft based on Marvel's famous web slinger, has received some major goodies in its latest update.
New Update Features:
- 8 NEW Spiders including Spider-Punk, Anya Corazon, Classic Spider-Woman, and Earth X Spider-Man!
- Make the ultimate subway run! Experience the all-new realistic subway environment straight from New York City.
- Jennix and Daemos are the latest Inheritors to enter the dimension! They join their brothers, Morlun and Karn, as the brain and brawn of the family and look to devour every Spider-Man ever!
- Go deeper into the Spider-Verse comics than ever before, featuring a new rivalry between two Spider-Men in new narrative events!
- Another upcoming Community Vote lets the fans decide which new Spider will make an appearance. Coming soon!
We had an opportunity to review Spider-Man Unlimited last year, and mostly liked it. The game is available for free (with optional in-app purchases) on the App Store.
iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad
People have been loving the Ham Dunk update for Angry Birds Seasons. And with over 375 million plays, Rovio Entertainment wants to celebrate. They're giving us a new update, called NBA All-Star. Its jam-packed 15 all new NBA All-Star levels and an extra challenging Golden Egg level. You can also use the Shockwave power-up once per stage and try the new Pig Days levels.
To catch all the birdy basketball fun, you can download Angry Birds Seasons for free on the App Store.
+Universal & Apple Watch App - Designed for iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch
Do you want to check out the new Porsche Cayman GT4?
Now you can in Real Racing 3. The is is giving players a first look at what it's like to be behind the wheel of the Cayman GT4. This is the first time a real car has made its debut in a mobile game. You could even win a virtual version of the car after completing some in-game events.
Download Real Racing 3 for free to take the Cayman out for a spin.
Halfbrick and Sony Pictures are celebrating the 30th anniversary of Ghostbusters with a spooktacular update to Monster Dash.
Now you'll get to play as Dr. Peter Venkman, proton pack and all, as he fights ghosts on New York City rooftops. You'll also get new daily events including the new “Who You Gonna Call?” challenge where you get to bust Slimer. Additionally, Halfbrick has added an offline mode to the game so you can play anytime you want.
You can download Monster Dash for free on the App Store now.
KEMCO has just released their newest action RPG, Seven Sacred Beasts. In the game you play as Mattie, a summoner who uses monsters to fight in competitions for money. His next big goal? To win the Summoners Rex - a competition to determine the world's most powerful summoner - and claim the prize of 100 million gold.
Seven Sacred Beasts has over 100 monsters to collect and level-up. You can form strategies based on how you level your monsters and control how they use their powers in battle. And if you prefer a more hands-off approach, the monsters can also battle automatically.
Right now you can download Seven Sacred Beasts for a special introductory price of $3.99 (50% off).
DeNA and Hasbro Inc are pairing up to bring another game from the latter's Transformers franchise to iOS.
It's called Transformers: Battle Tactics, and is a turn-based game that brings to bear the comic book story Combiner Wars and the historic Transformers Generations universe.
▪ Compete in live real-time PVP showdowns with players from around the globe while earning rare TRANSFORMERS characters, valuable resources, and prestige at the top of the leaderboards
▪ Collect iconic TRANSFORMERS characters while teaming up AUTOBOT and DECEPTICON characters side-by-side.
▪ Calculate strategic decisions by leveraging unique TRANSFORMERS character modes to take control of the battlefield in any situation and obliterate the enemy.
▪ Link TRANSFORMERS characters to create powerful Combiners to deal devastating damage in battle!
▪ Connect with friends to form leagues and seek advantage over the competition. Earn powerful rewards and placement at the top of the leader boards.
Transformers: Battle Tactics is available now for free (with optional in-app purchases).
:: DECENT SHOT
