(I’m posting this to iphone-reviews instead of Overooped because it’s an iPhone game review, although it mentions my own game and quite a bit biased. If anyone feels this is inappropriate I’ll just move the post to my own blog.)
Hexy is an abstract, tile- and turn-based strategy game with variable board size, for the iPhone. With all those similarities to a certain other game, I had to give it a try. And you know what? Hexy is everything I ever wanted Overload to be.
It follows iPhone interface guidelines, while customizing them to go with the game’s theme AND look stunningly beautiful. It has a conceptual theme going (bee hive; with the complimentary joke that any nerd will appreciate), but without going all the way there; it’s not a yellow-orange cartoon bee hive that one might expect from a flash or j2me game, but rather just enough subtle cues (sounds, names of things) to take it far enough while keeping the graphical design simple, unique and beautiful.
There’s a tutorial on first play that’s succinct and nicely done like everything else. There’s just no excuse for not having one in my game…
There’s local versus AI play, and local two player gaming, that’s simple enough. Further, though, there’s wifi play, and match-making online multiplayer. I haven’t seen that much, which is why I’m so anxious to get it into my own game as well. Unfortunately there doesn’t seem to be that many online players in Europe; the match maker didn’t find anyone for me to play with so I didn’t get to judge that experience. In Overload, I hope to make that situation better with push notification game invitation, friend lists and an in-game community, but that’s a very big step.
Most importantly though, is that Hexy is both challenging, allows for complex strategy, and a great deal of fun, while keeping games short enough for a play when waiting in queue with your phone; in short, the perfect mobile casual game. So get it! ~~nevyn
4 months ago on July 20th, 2009 at 1:32 pm | Permalink
Glypha is an old Joust clone, originally for the classic black-and-white Macs. It’s basically the same as Joust but simpler, with another theme and slightly different physics. John Calhoun’s retro classic has now been ported over to the iPhone by Kent Sutherland, and it works really, really well on this platform. The game loads quick and starts quick, no tedious loading screens, tutorials or annoying popups, and it’s fast-paced and short-gamed, just what you want on a phone.
The downsides are no multiplayer, and slightly difficult controls. The screen is divided into three segments for the three buttons (left, right, flap wings), and on-screen non-tactile buttons with fast-paced action means you’re dead if you slip outside the button zones and miss a tap. Not much to do about that until we get haptic feedback, though.
It’s free AND fun, so you have no excuse; go get it. ~~nevyn
4 months ago on July 6th, 2009 at 6:32 pm | Permalink
Seahorse Software’s Pyramid Solitaire is a game that is definitely easy to learn but tough to master. Within a few games strategies will start popping into your head as to how to rack up the most amount of pairs of cards that add to 13.
Pyramid Solitaire is easy but once you dive into the settings the game’s luck and chance elements will start to show their ugly heads as losing comes much easier.
The lite version has considerably less options than the $3 version. The paid version allows users to select from single or double pyramids, overlap matching, the number of re-deals and more.
Pyramid Solitaire is a fun pyramid solitaire game for the iPhone. It’s sturdily built and fun. If card games are your thing, this one comes highly recommended!
7 months ago on April 26th, 2009 at 10:03 pm | Permalink
Remember a few years ago when those weirdly shaped sticks with a few buttons and a thing to pull were all over TV? Chances are you or someone you knew had a Bop It and chances are one of you, at one point or another, got angry and threw that awkward piece of plastic across the room with fury and rage coursing through your veins.
Snazoo isn’t awkward or infuriating, it’s actually pretty fun and surprisingly easier to pick up than that stupid hunk of un-funness that MTV and Nickelodeon used to market.
Maybe it’s because I’m good at it that I’ve never once wanted to chuck my iPhone across the room, maybe it’s because the Kieffer Brothers made this thing well. I couldn’t tell you but I can’t put it down.
The premise is simple: follow directions. When the light is green, obey the game. If the light is red, don’t do a thing. Pretty soon you’ll be fully emersed with the tempo speeding up and your iPhone barking directions at you faster and faster until you slip up and have to start all over.
Snazoo comes with two modes, Play and Friend Play, three different beats and four different voices to tell you what to do. And for $0.99, Snazoo is a concentration game to come back to over and over again.
Disclaimer: Tumblr iPhone App Reviews is not responsible for anything that may happen to your phone after purchasing this app (ie throwing, breaking, cracking the glass, damaged relationships, or sadness)
9 months ago on February 15th, 2009 at 11:39 pm | Permalink
I review a lot of word games for the iPhone because in terms of mobile games they have long lives. I’m also a huge fan of them which makes them a pleasure to explore and review.
Lexic is one of those pleasures. It’s an iPhone gem, a must-have word game.
It comes with two different modes, Cascade and Blackout, which put different spins on clearing letters from the screen.
Cascade is a timed game. Spell the most amount of words with two or more letters in the allotted time and shoot for a high score.
Blackout is an elimination-based game type with no time limit. When a word is created, the letters go away. Tilting the iPhone shifts letters from the left side of the screen to the right allowing for the consolidation of letters when gaps start to appear as the letters go.
Both games are incredibly fun and a joy to come back to again and again.
The only thing missing is the ability to unlock new tile sets. Lexic comes with 12 different looks for the tiles but the ability to unlock more feels missing. Achievements would also be a worthy addition to Lexic. If you spell an eight letter word, you should get something more than a bunch of points, maybe a new tile set or something.
Lexic costs $1.99 and is an absolute steal. It’s a superb iPhone game that is fun to pick up for two minutes or two hours. Buy this game.
9 months ago on February 13th, 2009 at 10:05 pm | Permalink
As a photographer I love interesting iPhone camera applications. The one major flaw in the built-in Camera application is the small button you have to press to take the picture. Why not just tap the screen to close the shutter? That’s where Rogobete Christian’s Fast Tap Camera comes in.
Fast Tap Camera is a a simple application that lets photographers press anywhere on the iPhone’s screen to capture a moment. It also comes with a 3X mode, giving users the chance to take three shots before saving them to their camera roll.
The application works only a little slower than the built-in Camera application and, from my experiences, there is little reason to choose Camera over Fast Tap Camera.
For only $0.99 you can purchase a missing piece of the iPhone. It adds a well-needed, overlooked feature of the original Camera application. Fast Tap Camera is an application that every iPhone user should have, tired of the pesky shutter button or not.
10 months ago on January 25th, 2009 at 8:50 pm | Permalink
For any fan of Boggle or Scrabble, WordsWorth is an iPhone-gaming must. The objective is to connect as many letters as possible to form words of three letters or longer. Certain letters are worth points while some aren’t worth anything; some tiles give a blank for use in any word or bonus points for incorporation.
Buzzwords appear at the bottom and offer large rewards if you can finagle your letters in order to spell them. Timed tiles threaten to end your game if you don’t clear them within the time allotted. In addition, you can scramble and shuffle letters, racking up the points as the game’s difficulty increases.
As a fan of Boggle when I was younger and Scrabble now, when 99 Games sent me WordsWorth I was eager to play. Since then I’ve found myself wasting hours away playing their addictive game.
For $1.99, WordsWorth is well worth it’s price tag. It will give fans or word games hours of enjoyment as well as, in the later levels, a significant mental challenge.
10 months ago on January 22nd, 2009 at 3:54 am | Permalink
For the musician on the go, FourTrack is a great way to lay down ideas or even record a demo in spaces that usually prove to be inopportune.
Sonoma Wire Works’ FourTrack is intuitive and easy to use. Touch a track to select it then slide the recording arm to start recording. As new tracks are in use, the older ones that have already been used play underneath so you can hear their whole song as you lay down new sounds.
Panning tracks so they play in the right, left or center is as easy as sliding left or right on the controller and skipping to any section of the song is as simple as touching different places on the black progress bar at the bottom. Once you’re done recording, transferring is a breeze as well through Sonoma’s built-in Wi-Fi sync.
FourTrack’s one area where users could become confused is when they want to create a new song or sync to their computer. Touching the name of the song at the bottom of FourTrack’s main window brings up a space to rename the track and some information but due to poor design on Sonoma’s part, the bottom of the menu overpowers the top making the song list button hard to find at first glance. Once at the song list though users can create, delete or sync songs.
FourTrack is the go-to application on the iPhone for easy recording. At $9.99, it’s a bit on the pricey side but if you’ve ever found yourself in a hotel room with a great idea wishing there was a way to lay it down on wax, FourTrack is the app for you.
11 months ago on January 2nd, 2009 at 11:58 pm | Permalink
ngmoco lands another hit with Dr. Awesome (on sale for $.99 for a limited time). The premise of the game is to tilt the iPhone and maneuver your cutter destroying parts of the cell in an attempt to eliminate the virus plaguing the victim.
The game is simple and fun, using the names from your contacts list as the patients who need saving. This small addition definitely adds a sense of urgency or apathy when approaching patients. Though we’d all like to think as doctors that we’ll save everybody, sometimes that person just comes along that can’t be saved.
Dr. Awesome is a blast to pick up for a minute or an hour and is a cheap, welcomed addition to any respective iPhone game collection.
11 months ago on December 21st, 2008 at 11:28 pm | Permalink
Last time I reviewed Simplenote by Codality I could only give it three stars as the interface tended to fight the user but now I’m happy to re-review Simplenote after the lastest update.
The latest update to Simplenote has brought some very valuable changes! The interface is more user friendly with added “New Note” and “Trash” buttons. No longer are notes initiated in odd ways through the search bar. Each note that has been created can now be easily deleted or emailed through icons on the bottom of the application. Added too are dates when the note was created or last edited.
Simplenote now features a sync option that allows users to see their notes online through an easy to create account system that anyone can setup right on their iPhone.
The app makes sense now and is a wonder to use. I find myself going to it more and more after the latest update because Simplenote now does notes right and efficiently.
Though the program still lacks, and will probably not add, audio and picture notes, Simplenote is an incredible quick note taking program for the iPhone. At $2.99, if you’re sick of the stock Notes application, pick this application up. It will be a worthy and welcomed addition to anyone’s productivity arsenal. ~~Zack Shapiro
11 months ago on December 21st, 2008 at 7:01 am | Permalink
Oakley’s new, free Surf Report app is the ultimate app for an iPhone-toting surfer. With hundreds of beachs from around the world the chances are Oakley knows a little something about your favorite beach.
Surf Report will tell you all about your favorite beaches from the air and water temperature to the wind direction and speed. It will also tell you the size of the waves, whether it is high or low tide and the best conditions. Surf Report will also detail what’s coming up in the next day or two for surfers planning to go down to the shore.
If I lived closer to the shore I would keep this app on my iPhone year round but since I’m in the middle of Colorado, Surf Report doesn’t do me much good. That being said, if you have an iPhone and you frequent the beach, Surf Report is a must-have. ~~Zack Shapiro
1 year ago on November 27th, 2008 at 8:41 pm | Permalink
If you want a game that’s fun for ten minutes or two hours, a game that’s intellectually challenging and easy to pick up then look no further than Lux Touch. One of the top ten free apps is about to get a whole lot better! Lux Delux is coming soon with more maps, the ability to play with your friends, harder and different AI and more! Lux Touch feels like a steal, getting it for free. It’s clear that a lot of time and effort went into developing the iPhone version of the popular game for Mac OS.
Lux Touch didn’t get five stars because the AI is a little lacking right now. You’ll have no problem winning if you spend a good 15 minutes on the game. Another shortcoming is the fact that you don’t understand why you sometimes get upgrades of dozens and dozens of armies. There aren’t any instructions, you have to visit Sillysoft’s website to learn how to play the game but after a quick read you’ll hit the ground running.
I’m looking forward to Lux Delux, a comprehensive review will come shortly after Lux Delux drops. Lux Touch is definitely a pickup for your iPhone, plus it’s free! ~~Zack Shapiro
1 year ago on October 18th, 2008 at 7:18 pm | Permalink
We’ve been waiting for a little over two months now for an app to drop in the App Store that gives us access to our tumblelogs outside of Safari. I’ve had a chance to play with two apps, Tumble and Tumblrette and I can safely say that they’re both solid apps.
Tumble is a simple, free app that simply allows you to post on your tumblelog. No more, no less. You can choose from Text, Photo, Quote, Link and Chat type posts. The interface is clean and simple and again, just lets you post to your site.
Tumblrette is the Rolls Royce of the Tumblr apps. It costs $1.99 and allows for the same functionality as Tumble but with the included feature to see your dashboard as well. From there you get the same thing that you get when posting from your computer at home: followers, other tumblelogs that you write for, Explore, Preferences, etc.
Both apps are easy to set up and will have you blogging in no time. They’re are simple, streamlined and easy to use
$2 is a tiny price to pay for the added functionality that Tumblrlette brings to your iPhone. If you’ve ever posted or checked Tumblr from your phone and have a measly $2 to throw towards a great app, do it. ~~Zack Shapiro
1 year ago on September 16th, 2008 at 9:17 pm | Permalink
“The X is a real competitor to the iPhone because the iPhone lacks essential features such as video recording” they say. BUT NOW THEY GOT IT! Horrible 2fps blurry video like every other cameraphone. But with a twist!
You see, with QIK, you not only automatically upload your video to the net the second it’s recorded; you can actually watch the video live from qik.com while it’s being recorded! The downside? This functionality is impossible with an AppStore app, so this is a Cydia app that requires you to jailbreak your iPhone first.
I’d also like to be able to watch recorded videos from the phone, which doesn’t seem to be possible in this first version. Other than that; awesome app, excellent execution. For a demo, check out my qik.com videos: (Warning: “I’m just testing this thing” quality video!)
A Tumblr user turned me onto this game about a week ago and I’ve been hooked. I’ve played both Morocco and Othello, two different apps, same game.
The two apps are very similar but there are some small differences that make Morocco stand out over Othello. The feature that stands out the most is Morocco’s multiplayer. Morocco has the option to play against the computer (as white or black) or against a friend. No Wi-Fi/3G or over-the-air is supported, however. Othello, sadly, is missing multiplayer (though it could and will probably come in a future update). Also, Morocco has no sound or annoying pop-up alerts like the ones that come with Othello. Though you can turn Othello or the iPhone’s sound off to escape the worthless clicking noises that come from when you make a move, if you touch the wrong place on the screen Othello will bring up an alert box imposes on the game being played.
Both games feature three difficulty settings but only Morocco will save your game in the middle if you get a phone call, text message, or just decide to press the Home button. If you get interrupted in the middle of Othello be prepared to lose your game. Both games feature a steep learning curve as well, even on easy, if you’re a novice player.
Morocco allows the human player to be either black or white while Othello only allows a player to be black. Changing color adds a different dynamic to the game and allows for the player to experience offense or defense.
Othello has a few features that I liked that were absent in Morocco such as Hints, Undo, and Skip. Occasionally you’ll hit a point in the game where you have no moves and you’ll have to skip a turn. Morocco auto-skips these turns whereas in Othello you physically have to push a button on the screen to skip your turn. It creates a more genuine feel when playing the game. Lastly, Othello is better looking, with a sleeker finish and a Chinese/English touch on all of the text.
Again, both apps are free so feel free to download and test them both out to see which one you like better. However in our first App Faceoff, my download goes to Morocco. ~~Zack Shapiro
Sounds to me like Othello is a complete failure as an iPhone app, while Morocco is pretty nice. Don’t be too kind, Zack! Any iPhone app that does not save your game/state when the phone rings deserves to go in the trash, no second chance. ~~nevyn
1 year ago on August 3rd, 2008 at 2:14 am | Permalink
(Photo Courtesy: 99 Games)
