Games
Do you like playing Scrabble when you're gathered with friends? Okay, honestly who really has time to sit around at home and play Scrabble for hours? The solution is Words With Friends! Words With Friends is a Scrabble like game that is played on not only iPhone, iPad, iPod touch but also many other popular mobile phone platforms including Blackberry and Android so you can play with just about any friend.
How does it work
The rules are just like with Scrabble (at least what I can remember of it). The first player starts off by creating a word in the middle of the board. One letter must cover the "star" on the center of the board. Words can be made top to bottom and left to right. No words made backwards or from the bottom to the top. Multiple letters from a word can be used (look at "QUIZ" in the example photo above to see what I'm talking about). Each letter is worth a set amount of points and all of the pieces within a word are added up to get your total score for your particular play. There are special squares that will give you extra points on the board when you place pieces on top of them. For example TL stands for triple letters. This means that whatever letter you put on it you get triple the points listed on the piece. For a complete rundown of what these abbreviations mean, see the in game instructions.
Why Words With Friends is a must have game
If you're anything like me, you are at least semi competitive and enjoy competing with friends. But if you're like me, you also don't have time to sit down for hours at a time and play a board game. Words With Friends lets you fulfill your need for competition and allows you to do it at your leisure. Play a word, then wait for the other person to play one back. Don't have time to play today? No problem, there is no time limit so you play when you're ready.
Free VS Paid
There is a paid version of this App, however if you don't mind a quick ad after you play a word, the free version has all of the same features so I recommend the free version.
Bottom Line
If you like interacting and competing with friends but don't have a large chunk of time to dedicate to it, Words With Friends is for you. I (along with many of my friends) are addicted to Words With Friends and my bet is that you will be too!
You can get Words With Friends free for the iPhone from iTunes for free here: 
You can get Words With Friends HD Free for the iPad from iTunes for free here:
There are games and there are addictive games. Doodle Jump falls into the second category. The world went crazy playing Angry Birds. I was up til 2AM the first night myself. However, before there was Angry Birds there was Doodle Jump. Up until recently Doodle Jump as only for the iPhone/iPod touch. In other words they hadn't come out with full size iPad version yet. Well now they have and I gotta say that although I had my doubts about an accelerometer based iPad game like this one, it actually works well.
Don't fall
The premise behind Doodle Jump is that your character (Doodle) is always jumping. That part you don't have to worry about. What you have to do is use your iPad and tilt it to guide him from floating ledge to floating ledge. The higher you go, the more points you make. Some ledges are made of straw/branches and will break with Doodle's weight. You can see them easily as they are brown in color. However, if there is something good right below one on a solid ledge such as a spring, jet pack or propeller cap then it's usually worth the risk. If you miss a ledge and there is nothing below (on screen) then your Doodle will fall all the way down and game over. There are also aliens flying around and you can either avoid them or shoot them from Doodle's hat. The higher you go the more obstacles will be in your path.
This game is fun! It's actually even more fun on the iPad! If you've got an iPad, $2.99 and some time to kill, I highly recommend it.
You can get Doodle Jump for iPad here from the
You can get Doodle Jump for $0.99 for iPhone or iPod touch here from the
While I don't play a lot of games I've always been a fan of sniper games. Even when playing Call of Duty on Xbox I get really excited when a sniper mission comes up. There's just something about taking your time and getting the shot at just the right moment that pleases me more than running around shooting at anything that moves. Contract Killer as the name implies puts you right in the middle of a situation where you're a hired killer to take out the bad guys. Each mission has an objective and primary target. There are civilians walking around so you have to be patient and wait for the target to appear. In most cases the target is not standing still and nor will the target be on screen for a very long time. You have to take the shot and make it count. If you miss you'll most likely end up in a gun fight with multiple bad guys shooting at you and you've only got so much ammo.
Good game play on iPhone and iPad
I started playing this on my iPhone 4, but then tried it as a universal App on my iPad too. I like playing it on both devices. Once you identify the target you can zoom in (raise the scope), aim and take the shot. Headshots get you more points, but a kill is a kill. While there is always a primary target, you can also get more points by quickly taking out the other bad guys on the scene before your time runs out. The game is free and you rack up money by completing the contracts. Like most of the games in this category you can use that money to buy more ammo, better weapons, etc. If you don't want to wait, you can use real money and In App purchases to buy what you need.
You can get Contract Killer for iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for free here from the
I play a game here and there on my iDevices. Every now and then one comes along that gets me hooked. This time it's compliments of my friend Mia. She told me that her husband (a new iPhone user) was playing it all the time. I decided to give it a try this past weekend and why on earth did I do that? I haven't been able to put it down. I'm playing as I write this (just kidding). The concept is simple. It's the wild wild west and your iPhone/iPod touch is your six shooter. When you start a match you point your iDevice screen down and wait for it to vibrate. When it does, it's time to raise, aim and fire. This game takes advantage of the iPhone 4/4th gen iPod touch gyroscope. So it's more than just aiming left, right, up or down, your opponent may move around behind you and you have to turn around to get him/her in your sights.
Play for free or pay for more stuff
It's like the Farmville concept in a way. You can download and play High Noon for free and have a great time. However, if you want to play for long periods of time you'll need more "energy". Well energy isn't free. At least not if you want it on the spot. You can either choose to rest (play later) for free or if you want to keep playing now you can buy some enery drink with your "wampum" (money). You accumulate wampum as you play and win. If you run out, you can buy more via in-app purchases starting at 30 wampum for $4.99. I'm not a fan of continuing to pay to play. I therefore don't plan to make any wampum purchases. When I run out of energy I look at that as a time to get some work done or play other games.
Multiplayer only
The game ties into the Game Center. You can challenge your friends or random players. The more wins you get the more cash (gold) you get to buy better weapons. I can't believe someone through a bag of flour at me! The game is fun and does require practice to get good. You can practice against the computer dummy. All-in-all it's a fun game to play. You can definitely play and have fun for free.
You can get High Noon for Free here from the
Today I felt that it was time for a game and to have some fun. Tiny Wings is one of these small games with a simple game play idea which gets very addictive. The game objective is very simple. You have a little bird (with wings so tiny that it cannot naturally fly) that you are going to get as far along the course as possible before the sun sets. What’s stopping you? The course is all full of hills that you must utilize in order to get the bird to fly.
What you do is utilize gravity and enable more gravity to get the bird to come down in just the right place to get the power from the half-oval hill down and up. Obviously for a game, objectives are added that makes it more interesting and challenging to play. Such ones can be reaching the clouds a certain number of times, or doing X amount of perfect hill slides. The game objectives will in turn give you a better nest, basically their way of saying a better score multiplier. It can therefore be not only fun but beneficial to try and reach the objective to upgrade as this makes it easier to get a higher score each time you play. Unfortunately there is no multiplayer mode available which is what I would definitely like to see. Being able to play against friends either on a local network or better yet, through game center and have their birds flying in the same game window would be an absolute killer feature.
Conclusion
It is very hard to put the fun of Tiny Wings into words. Given that it’s just one of these addictive games which keeps you just wanting to continue playing, it is well worth its low price in the app store. The graphics are very well made and makes for an enjoyable play.
Although I wasn’t into Battleship as a kid, I did appreciate the concept and strategy involved. I remember reviewing Battleship for iPhone and found it to be entertaining. Actually it was one of the few games that I played on a somewhat regular basis. Needless to say I was excited to see this title come to the iPad also. It’s pretty much the same game as the one on the iPhone but of course it takes advantage of the iPad’s larger screen real estate.
Multiple game modes is the key
As you might imagine it would probably be pretty boring only having the same exact game experience from years past. That’s why I’m happy that Electronic Arts took it up a notch by offering a Salvo and Superweapons game in addition to the Classic and Multiplayer options. I like the Salvo game for those time when I want to play a “quick” game of Battleship. In the Salvo mode you start out by plotting 5 points on the board and then firing upon all 5 points at the same time. If you get a hit, then you can concentrate all 5 shots on that area on your next turn. For each ship you lose you also lose one of your canons. For example, when you’re down to 3 ships you only get 3 shots per turn.
The other game is the Superweapons mode where you get to pick 3 additional weapons besides your standard canon. Each weapon will have it’s advantages and of course the more powerful the weapon the longer it takes to charge it. You may only get to use a particular superweapon once or twice per game because of how long it takes to charge, but it may also do just enough damage that you can win the game with it.
The graphics are great and the gameplay is good. My only problem with Battleship is pretty much the same as it is with Monopoly and that is I can usually beat the computer just about every time. In the case of Battleship the computer tends to cluster its ships in the same vicinity of each other every game. This means that once I find one and sink it, I know that the others are nearby. EA did just recently update the game with “better gameplay”. I hope that translates into a more random pattern of ship locations for the computer. Other than that I still love playing the game.
You can get Battleship for iPad here from the
You can get Battleship for iPhone and iPod touch here from the
Sure it is right in the middle of the week but I think it is time for a little fun. World of Goo is a game that I used to enjoy on the Mac a year or two ago when I got it as part of a bundle. A few weeks ago, I was thrilled to find that it is also available on the iPad.
In short, World of Goo consists of a number of different levels where you are building structures from different species of “Goo-balls” to guide as many of these balls into a pipe. It may not sound very difficult but consider the laws of physics and you have a challenging game, that is also truly fun to play.
Normally, games in the app store are of varying quality. World of Goo as I wrote, debuted on the Mac and PC platforms first and the game is essentially ported over to the iPad. Interestingly enough, having played it on both my Mac and my iPad, I would without hesitation say that the iPad experience is far superior. It is one of these games that are made for the touch interface. Building the structures with your finger just magically works.
The game offers a solid challenge. Some levels are naturally easier than others and some are very tough. The game developers have taken an interesting approach to levels however, giving you the option of skipping any level at any time, with no restriction on the amount of skipped levels. Should you get stuck, you can always move on and go back later. Personally, I applaud this approach as you may just have a harder time with a certain type of level.
To sum this up, I very much like World of Goo in many ways. The graphics are stellar along with perfect matching audio that rises to the occasion (grandeur, sadness) of the game. If you would like to spend some time having fun and challenging yourself just enough, World of Goo is the game to look at, and at $4.99, it is a no-brainer.
How well do you think you know Apple's history? Apple has millions of fans. Some just like the products, others are fanatics that eat, breathe and argue everything about Apple with anyone who will listen. Many are somewhere in between. The iTrivia App aims to test your knowledge of all things Apple. This game randomly selects 10 questions per game. Some questions are super easy, some are very hard. I've owned a Mac since 1984 and there are still several questions that I've gotten wrong. I guess that puts me somewhere in between the typical customer and fanatic. 
In any case this is a fun game to play when you have a few minutes to pass the time.
There is also a catch
You only have about 25 seconds to answer the question. Not quite enough time to Google it There are over 500 questions/answers in the game so you're not likely to get bored to quickly. The questions range in the categories of Hardware, Software, People, History and Miscellaneous. This game is a Universal App so that it looks great on all iOS Devices. Sadly there's no option to phone a friend.
While the game is GREAT, I'd love to see some mult-player options as well as sharing scores via social media.
You can get iTrivia for $0.99 here from the
I talk a lot about learning Apps for kids. I buy almost any App that I feel can make my twins learn faster, or easier, but like the old saying goes “you can’t have all work and no play” so I also buy up the best kids Apps that will keep my twins happy and entertained. Fantasy Girls is one of those Apps. One of four coloring Apps of the same design and function from this developer, each with their own set of characters to color; Fantasy Girls brings with it 10 cartoon girls, each with their own fantasy outfits and accessories. The simple, intuitive interface allows anyone from a toddler on up to get up and painting quickly.
How it works
Like I said, this is a very intuitive interface. Upon launching the App you are presented with an ornately decorated screen and the first cartoon character. A quick familiar swipe to the left will bring the next option to the screen. You continue to swipe until you find the character you wish to paint, at which point you tap to enter the painting screen. Once inside of the painting screen, the figure is devoid of all color. Your paint color options are on the right side of the screen (in horizontal viewing mode) with a small paintbrush hovering over the current selected color. Painting is easy. Once you have selected your color, you simply tap the area on your character that you want to fill with it and that area is instantly filled. Some areas (like the skin) will fill in with the same color even if the areas aren’t touching. The painting is aided by the ability to spin the figure a total 360 degrees by simply tapping on the half circle with the arrows in the upper left and upper right of the painting area. If you fill in an area by accident simply tap the undo button located in the lower left of the screen.
Once you have your figure painted the way you want, you can then add your character to a premade scene by tapping the two stars in the lower right corner. This takes you to the new “fantasy” background with decorating options replacing the paints on the right side of the screen.
A couple of additons
Once you’re done coloring and decorating that’s it. The only real option is to start over and do another picture. There isn’t an option (that I could find) to output the image other than taking a screen shot. I would like to be able to save the image to the camera roll or email it. The other thing I would like to see is the ability to pinch to zoom like in other iOS device Apps.
The kids love it!
My twins love this App. They will paint, and decorate over and over again. It really keeps their attention and allows them to develop their creative sides. As much as I want them to constantly learn things, I also want them to have a good time, this App allows them to do that.
You can get 3D Coloring Book For Kids: Fantasy Girls for the iPad for $2.99 here from the
You can get 3D Coloring Book For Kids: Fantasy Girls for the iPhone for $1.99 here from the
Sometimes the simplest concepts keep our attention better than the more complicated ones. This concept holds true when it comes to Apps. Case in point is “Save Stickly from Falling Balls”. A spinoff of another popular iOS App; Save Stickly-Free Fall down game, this App takes a few very basic shapes (circles, and a stick figure) and turn them into a game I didn’t want to put down for hours!
The concept is simple, you are a stick man. You are constrained to a horizontal line and able to move left to right on by tilting your iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad left or right. The object of the game is to avoid the balls of differing sizes that move at different speeds from left to right on the screen. To make it more interesting there are multiple “power ups” that help you become immune to the bouncing balls, shrink your player down to half of his original size, and more. Keeping with the simple theme, there are only three different levels: Classic (traditional movements, balls from only left side), Expert (traditional movements, balls from both sides), and Wacky (opposite movements, balls from left side).
I couldn’t put this game down. I haven’t “beaten it” but I don’t think there is really any actual way to beat it. It’s a fun game that seems simple but gets harder the longer you last. It’s a whole lot of fun, and free so head over to the App store now and pick it up!
You can get Save Stickly from Falling Balls for your iPhone, iPad and iPod touch for free here from the
