App-lesauce iPhone App Reviews

By: Zwigglers Mobile
Site: http://apps.facebook.com/zwigglers
Release Date: October 15, 2009
Price: 99 cents
Click icon to download

Chain Rxn, the popular game that is already well-known and loved to Facebook users, is now available for your iPhone. In this game you get one chance to tap the screen and set off a chain reaction that will explode enough balls to clear the level.

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It took me a while to really figure this game out. It seemed simple enough at first. Playing on Facebook, I couldn't understand how my wife scored six million points higher than I did. She really couldn't either. "I guess I just got a lot of them to explode after the limit was reached." But try as I might I couldn't beat that score. Then I figured it out. If you want to achieve the highest score possible, then each ball would have to explode one at a time. The first ball gets you 100 points, the second 800 points, etc. If you set off your explosion and two balls hit it directly, you will get 200 points. If however, one crashes into your explosion and the second crashes into it, then you will get 900 points. The worst thing you can see is a massive cloud of explosions right after you set off the chain reaction. What you want is a slow, steady line of explosions until you are at around the 200,000 to 300,000 point level, and then get the large cloud of explosions, racking up millions of points in the process.
Chain Rxn is highly addictive. It is also a good game to play while waiting in line, on a break, etc. since you only have to tap once and let it go. The game will ask if you want to resume a previous game. Also, Chain Rxn uses Facebook Connect so you can still brag about your high score to all your friends. I will give Chain Rxn an 8 out of 10 for its addictive gameplay and its soothing, wind chime audio.

By: The Game Creators
Site: http://www.thegamecreators.com/
Release Date: August 5, 2009
Price: Free
Click icon to download

In iLooney you place crates on the grid in order to keep the Looney in the bin. As you place a crate, the Looney moves one step closer to escape. Box him in and he's locked up for good, or at least until the next round. Fail, and the Looney is free to unleash his looniness on an unsuspecting world.

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iLooney is pretty much a carbon copy of Catch-a-Mouse it is the Looney and his comments that make this one a little more memorable. iLooney gets a 6 out of 10.

By: Capcom Interactive, Inc.
Site: http://www.capcommobile.com/iphone/
Release Date: July 15, 2009
Price: $4.99
Click icon to download

KENKEN: Train Your Brain is a grid based puzzle game similar to sudoku. Players must place the numbers is the correct spots, using each number once in each row and once in each column. The difference lies in the 'cages'. A number and a mathematical operator appear in each cage, which is defined by dark outlines. For example, a cage has 3+ in the corner. The numbers in that cage, when added together, must equal three. This provides an extra layer of depth to sudoku.

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KENKEN: Train Your Brain's price tag of $4.99 is a little steep, but is expected from a major developer like Capcom. The production values are higher than your average app. For those not willing to pay, the Lite Version can be found here. The amount of puzzles in the lite version are adequate. Spending the money gets you many more, though. The paid version also gets you the Academy, which advances your rank and unlocks more puzzles. I will give KENKEN: Train Your Brain a 7 out of 10.

By: Miharo Games
Site: http://miharo.com/
Release Date: July 18, 2009
Click icon to download

Kludge has had many names over the years. When I first came across it, it was a peg game called Mastermind. In Kludge, you play as a hacker. It is your goal to crack the code. Higher levels will have more digits in their codes. The game lights up which numbers are to be used (plus an extra one to throw you off). Numbers can be used more than once in the same code. Once you think you have it, click the green 'E' to submit. The computer will then tell you how you did. an orange light will tell you that you have a digit right, but in the wrong place. A green light tells you that a digit is totally correct. Trial and error will tell you which ones are right and wrong. Players get sixteen guesses to crack the code.

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I have never really cared for this kind of game. That being said, Kludge's cyber hacker 'story' is a good twist. The iTunes description boasts "good graphics" and I don't really see that. The paid version offers a career mode and the ability to purchase power-ups like more guesses and getting correct digits provided. I will give Kludge Lite a 4 out of 10.

By: GudeBalls
Site: http://www.gudeballs.com/
Release Date: May 26, 2009
Click icon to download

Gudeballs is yet another great puzzler for the iPhone/iPod touch. In Gudeballs players sort the colored balls into the four chambered wheels. If a wheel is filled with four of the same color, it explodes. Explode all wheels to clear a level.

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There are two different time limits that players must contend with. The bar on the top of the screen indicates the time left to place the current ball in a wheel. The bar at the bottom of the screen represents the time left to get all of the wheels exploded. Later levels include locks that only let a certain color past them and colored circles that change the color of any ball passed through to its color.
Gudeballs is a game that starts off easy, has a great learning curve, and becomes very challenging very quickly. I will give Gudeballs a 9 out of 10.

By: syncRage
Site: http://sorty.syncrageblog.com/
Release Date: July 04, 2009
Click icon to download

Sorty is a unique puzzler. As different colored balls drop into the play area, players must drag them to the section of colored wall that matches them. The real strategy comes in when you have a row or block of like colored balls. Drag your finger across the whole group to pick them all up and sort them away.

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Sorty was more fun than I expected. The pace becomes frantic after a few minutes of play. I will give Sorty an 8 out of 10.

By: ARCTAN
Site: http://twitter.com/MineRunner
Release Date: June 06, 2009
Click icon to download

Mine Runner Lite brings back the glory days of the Apple II and the Commodore 64. It is an exact(as far as I can remember, anyway) port of the classic game "Lode Runner". In case you are too young to remember Lode Runner, this game is an almost perfect blend of puzzle game and an arcade game.

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Players must navigate the board and pick up all of the gold while avoiding the bad guys. Bad guy running straight for you? No problem! Simply swipe downwards to the left or the right to dig a pit that the bad guy will fall into. Then simply run over him and go for the gold. Or, fall through the hole yourself and make a clean getaway. When you collect all of the gold, head for the escape ladder and the next level. The lite version offers five levels, while the full version offers all 150 levels from the original game. A level editor is being considered for a future update. The only flaw I found in this game is its somewhat awkward control scheme. Trying to run up a ladder and missing it, only to run into a baddie is a huge disappointment. A D-pad would have worked much better. The accelerometer is a good alternative, but the D-pad would have made it just as good as its ancestor. I will give Mine Runner Lite a 7 out of 10.

By: Little Red Bike Media
Site: http://wordtower.me/
Release Date: June 13, 2009
Click icon to download

Word Tower Lite is a mashup of Scrabble and Tetris. The game begins with the screen partially full of random letters. Players must place the falling letters in the desired places to make words, then trace through the created words with their finger to get the points and make the words disappear.

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Later levels introduce the star blocks, which net the player triple points, and the snow flakes. If the player fails to shake their iDevice while the snowflake is falling, the snowflake will turn into an ice block, which will remain frozen, blocking progress until the end of the level. If they do shake the device, then the letters are randomly rearranged. The level ends then the player can get the key and the keyhole, which spawn at the end of the level, to touch. I will give Word Tower Lite a 6 out of 10.

By: Charles Jamerlan
Site:www.charlesjamerlan.com/apps/mag/default.aspx
Release Date: June 10, 2009
Click icon to download

With a name like "Most Addictive Game" this one has a lot to live up to. When I think addictive, I think Bejewelled, Tetris, Dr. Mario, Pac-Man, etc. Games that I was really addicted to. That's a hard bunch of games to follow, let alone claim to be more addictive than. Sadly, Most Addictive Game falls way short of its title. A mort apt name would have been "Most Mediocre Game That Will not Hold Your Attention for More Than a Minute".

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In Most Addictive Game, the player must keep the center box from touching one of the four moving boxes all while staying within the confines of the play area. The main flaw with this, as I discovered relatively quickly, is that with my finger constantly on the square I was protecting, I could not comfortably see the entire screen. My hand would be blocking the view of half the screen, hiding at least two of the bad squares at any given time. I will give Most Addictive Game a 1 out of 10.

By: Imre Katai
Site: No Site Listed
Release Date: June 2, 2009

Click icon to download from App Store.

Gravity Golf Lite puts an interesting spin on the game of golf. Actually, it's a little more like miniature golf. You start the hole with your ball stuck on the side of a planet. The gravity from that planet is holding the ball there. You touch the ball and drag your finger and a line will appear showing you the path of the ball. A star that is brighter than all the others is the hole. When you have the shot lined up, release your finger and the ball will follow the path that you laid out for it. Sounds easy enough, right?

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The thing is, the gravity from other planets on the hole will affect the trajectory of your ball. The bigger the planet, the stronger the gravity. Suns have the greatest pull of all, and if your ball touches one, it is lost. Your ball can also be lost if it gets too far away from a planet to be affected by its gravity. Magic moments in this game include hooking your ball around a planet and having it zip straight to the hole and waiting for 5 minutes as your ball follows an elliptical orbit around the planet until it finally hits the hole.
I will give Gravity Golf Lite a 7 out of 10.

By: Demiforce, LLC.
Site: http://trism.demiforce.com
Release Date: April 16, 2009

Trism is a unique puzzler. It works by sliding rows of inverted triangular prisms, or "trisms", to create groups of three or more. When you make the match, the trisms disappear and the remaining trisms slide into their place. If two triangles oriented in the same direction end up touching, then a space will be left between them. If you find that you are just building up a lot of empty spaces that you cannot do anything with, simply flip your iPhone/iPod Touch the other way. This will cause the cascading trisms to fall in the opposite direction.

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Trism-Lite comes with three modes of play: Infinism, which is a freeform game, Terminism, which is a timed game, and Syllogism, which has different shaped boards and makes you tilt the device to slide the pieces around. Achievements are also given out for meeting certain in-game goals.
Trism-Lite is a fun, addictive, and frustrating puzzler. I will give it an 8 out of 10.