The adventure-game genre has two salient qualities: puzzles and story. I’ve played titles with great puzzles and crappy stories, and I’ve played ones with amazing stories and awful, boring puzzles. I’ve even played some in which both the puzzles and plots were great, and some where they were both bad. There may be some kind of permutation formula at work here, but that’s not important.

Brightstone Mysteries: Paranormal Hotel‘s story and puzzles are neither great nor terrible; it is completely average across the board. That doesn’t mean it’s not worth playing if you need an adventure fix, but it probably shouldn’t be your first choice especially since something like seven Monkey Island games are currently available in the App Store.

Regardless, Paranormal Hotel serves its purpose and does what it needs to.

We posted all about NASA engineer Mark Roper’s gruesome, iPhone-augmented Halloween shirts last year. Since then, Mark has quit his job at NASA to focus on Halloween. The result is more designs and, even better, both an improved t-shirt and a horribly gruesome effect worthy of being designed by someone who worked on the Mars Curiosity rover.

Robots are pretty cool, but have you ever wanted to create your own iPhone controlled cyborg? Backyard Brains is banking that a lot of kids are interested in cyborg technology and neuroscience (ethical dilemmas be damned), so after three years of R&D they’ve come up with the RoboRoach – a small electronic surgery kit that lets you turn a real-life cockroach, into an iPhone-controlled cyborg for a few minutes.

The kit comes with a backpack that contains a battery and receiver you superglue to the cockroach after sanding down a patch of shell.  You have to jab a groundwire into the cockroaches thorax, and then after that you carefully trim the antenna so you can stick some small electrodes onto both of them and receive signals from your iPhone. Don’t worry, the iPhone app and the cockroaches come free with the $99 kit, so you don’t have to go hunting for some behind your supermarket’s dumpster.

If you’re looking for an ultra-simple dock, or just for a way to stop your iPhone skittering across your desk every time you snap it’s cable, then you might like the Rolio from Blue Lounge. Not only is it one of the most versatile iPhone and iPad charging accessories around, it’s also one of the most affordable.

If there’s one group of people who could seriously do with less wires — or in this case, cables — it’s guitarists. Walking around with two grand worth of Fender in your hands, trying avoiding a snake-pit of cables and simultaneously tapping out Van Halen’s Eruption probably takes some concentration (I wouldn’t know; I’ve never been on stage with anything but an air guitar, which was completely wireless).

IK Multimedia’s new four-pedal iRig BlueBoard pedalboard de-clutters the floor a little, as it’s the first completely wireless pedalboard for iOS and Macs. The board connects to its companion app on an accompanying iDevice (or to a Mac) through a Bluetooth connection.

When you spend thousands of dollars on a new Mac, you don’t want to take it home and put it on anything — you want the desk beneath to look just as good. So, wouldn’t it be awesome if the Mac’s designer, Jony Ive, designed the perfect desk to accompany it.

Well, he has — but you won’t be able to purchase it. Like the special edition Ive-designed Project (RED) Leica unveiled earlier this week, the solid aluminum (RED) Desk is a one-off created by Ive and industrial designer Marc Newson for a charity auction. And it’s likely to fetch a fortune.

Foxconn, the Taiwanese company that assembles almost all of Apple’s most popular devices, has admitted that it has forced student interns to work illegal shift patterns.

Thousands of students from the Xi’an Institute of Technology were made to work overtime and night shifts at the plant in violation of company policies. And if they refused to do so, they were in danger of losing their degree certificate.

Thanks to the iPhone, it seems there’s little hope left for BlackBerry these days. Apple has stolen most of its market share, and now it’s stealing its employees, too. The Cupertino company has reportedly been contacting BlackBerry staff via LinkedIn and inviting them to recruitment events in Cambridge, Ontario.

Your swanky new iPhone 5s may be significantly faster than its predecessors, but it’s twice as likely to crash when running third-party apps as the iPhone 5 and the iPhone 5c. New research from Crittercism, a company that monitors mobile app performance, has found that apps crash around 2% on the iPhone 5s, but under 1% on its siblings.

The Google TV has pretty much been dead-on-arrival ever since it first launched in 2010. Google’s not about to abandon their TV ambitions, but they’re finally giving up on Google TV. Next up? Android TV.

Although Doctor Who is now a cherished cultural icon, that wasn’t always the case. In fact, many episodes of Doctor Who’s earliest adventures have been lost, thanks to the BBC’s tendency to simply record over the archival tapes. Occasionally, though, “lost” episodes are found, either because someone at home recorded the episodes by pointing a camera at their screens, or because the BBC shipped a copy of the tape to some international affiliate.

That’s how two lost stories from Doctor Who were just recovered. The BBC just discovered a small cache of Second Doctor episodes in Nigeria. And they’re now available on iTunes!

What exactly is the iWatch going to be? A tiny smartphone screen on your wrist that shows you notifications? The Pebble watch shows that such an approach can be popular, but it’s not going to set the world on fire the way we expect from Apple.

So what will it be? One analyst has an interesting theory: it’ll be a home automation gateway that controls all the smart objects in your house.

Way back in 2009, I reviewed the Lightscoop, a miraculous mirror which reflects your camera’s built-in flash up an off the ceiling, effectively turning the whole top surface of the room into one giant soft light source. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the fact that it was bulky and tricky to carry with you.

Now there are two new Lightscoops, both of which are a little more portable,

Given Samsung’s habit of shamelessly copying everything Apple does, I wasn’t at all surprised to see this morning’s report that the South Korean company had just spent $650 million on a fingerprint scanning firm called FingerPrint Cards. In fact, I simply rolled my eyes when I saw the news and thought, “there’s a surprise.”

But it appears that the whole thing was completely fabricated. The press release that went out announcing the move was false, and both Samsung and FingerPrint Cards have denied the acquisition.

Crypstagram is a neat service for encrypting messages inside your photos. And as an added bonus it also ruins those photos along the way by adding glitches to them. You probably won’t want to actually use it for good (or evil) though, as the images you use are posted right there on the site in a gorgeous glitchy gallery.

Tick is a brand-new ToDo app (yup, another one) that offers one big feature not found in the built-in Reminder app: Color. Actually, that;s not quite true; Tick offers bright, 1980s-style neon color, unlike the tastefully bright hues built into to iOS 7.

Love Pad&Quill’s sweet bookbindery iPhone cases, but don;t love the big Baltic birch frames that bulk them up? You’re in luck! The new Bella Fino is a leather taco for your iPhone 5/S/C that does away with the frame in favor of a reusable, re-stickable 3M “clean release” adhesive panel.

Today Contrast (formerly called App Cubby and maker of Perfect Weather) released Launch Center Pro 2.0 for iPhone with a new interface and app icon for iOS 7. If you aren’t familiar with Launch Center Pro, here’s the basic rundown: it’s a tool for quickly launching common actions in one place.

Ok, still confused? I’ll let Contrast explain it better:

Today Apple released EFI firmware update 2.7 for the 2013 MacBook Air that addresses an issue with installing Windows in Boot Camp. The update is recommended for all MacBook Airs released after Apple’s hardware refresh over the summer at WWDC. Grab it now in the Mac App Store.

This update addresses an issue which may cause a black screen to appear when installing Windows 7 or Windows 8 using Boot Camp Assistant if both an external optical drive and USB thumb drive are connected to the system.  This update also ensures that the system will boot by default into OS X after installation of Windows 8.

Source: Apple

Still haven’t been able to get your hands on the iPhone 5s model you want? If you didn’t wait in line on launch day or order online already, chances are you’re going to have trouble finding any 5s for awhile, much less your desired color and capacity.

The same guy who created this handy website for checking 5s stock at nearby Apple Stores has a new service that will email you an alert the moment the iPhone 5s you want is available at your local Apple Store. Eureka!

A couple days ago we showed you a custom Leica camera designed by none other than Jony Ive. The camera will be auctioned to raise money for Bono’s Product (Red), a campaign Apple has partnered with for years to fight the spreading of H.I.V. in Africa (if you’ve ever bought a red iPod, you’ve helped contribute).

Ive and legendary designer Marc Newson have created their own designs of over 40 products for the auction, including a Steinway grand piano. The two men also designed a desk from scratch that looks like an extension of the iMac.

Ive and Newson recently sat down with Vanity Fair for an extensive interview about designing for the Product (Red) charity auction, and as you can imagine, it’s a great read.

Instagram announced new versions of its app on Android and iOS are now available. The Android 4.2 update adds the intelligent photo straightening tool that iOS users have been enjoying for a few months now.

The iOS 4.2.1 update doesn’t contain any major new features, although Instragam did add new settings that let you mute the playback of video with your ringer switch, or leave it always on. You can also choose to preload videos over Wi-Fi only or leave it always on as well. Unfortunately, there’s still no slo-mo support.

The free updates are available for free in the App Store and Google Play.

This is Cult of Mac’s exclusive column written by an actual Apple retail store genius. Our genius must remain anonymous, but other than “Who are you, anyway?” ask anything you want about what goes on behind that slick store facade.  

Answers will be published first in Cult of Mac’s Magazine on Newsstand. Send your questions to newsATcultofmac.com with “genius” in the subject line.

 This week we cover the perks of being an Apple Store Genius – as far as discounts are concerned – as well what to do if you have a jailbroken device that needs repair and the most facepalm-worthy moments from behind the bar.

1. What was your greatest facepalm moment with a customer?

I hear some pretty interesting stories from people about what happened to their broken product. Recently, someone told me their iPad got thrown from a hotel roof in Las Vegas. I would have liked to hear the rest of that story. He took responsibility for the damage and I let him know his options. The stories that make me facepalm are the ones people make up about their damaged device. While it’s pretty obvious when someone is lying, I can’t just call them out on it.

I had a customer who came in recently irate because his iPhone would not power on. His story was that he woke up one morning and the screen was black and wouldn’t power on. After trying to connect the iPhone to power, I noticed a rice grain in the lightning port (urban legend has it that this household staple can “dry” your waterlogged device) and then saw the liquid contact indicator was tripped. I asked if the iPhone had been damaged by liquid and he insisted nothing happened. Opening the device, it was clear it had been submerged in liquid and I was able to show photos of the corrosion. He insisted it was our fault and we should replace it under the warranty. *facepalm* (We didn’t replace it.)

2. Do you check to see if a phone is jailbroken before you give warranty services — even if it is something as simple as replacing broken headphones? How do you check?

We really aren’t seeing too many jailbroken iPhones these days. If I determine a device is jailbroken, it voids the warranty. However, with some issues there really isn’t a way to tell if a device is jailbroken. If the device won’t power on for whatever reason or users restore it with iTunes and then bring it in for service there’s really no way to tell.

3. What kind of discounts do you get? 

I get a personal discount on Apple products and a smaller discount for family and friends with some limitations. We receive varied discounts on third-party products. Every three years we can also buy a Mac for $500 off or an iPhone (device only) or iPad for $250 off including our personal discount. There are also the perks of Apple’s software and many third-party software discounts or freebies. 50 Gigabytes of free iCloud space makes it a little easier to say yes to backing up my iOS devices on iCloud. I wish I used the discounts more often, but when I do I save big.

Apple recently rose above Coca-Cola to become the most valuable brand in the world according to Interbrand, a corporate identity and brand consulting company that ranks companies on criteria including financial performance.

One of the things that stands out about the Cupertino company is its resistance to gamification. Gamification is turning work into play – any activity where you collect points, get a ranking and get something in return. And most of us are all too happy to play along, turning our daily lives into an epic quest for popularity or to get something more (anything!) than what we actually pay for.

You might start your day out putting a latte on your Starbucks Rewards Card, so that in addition to getting caffeinated you’re also on the way to free refills or food. While you’re waiting for the barista, you check your Twitter feed. How many new followers you have you got? Has your Klout score – whatever that really is – gone up? You stop to get gas for the commute to work – the first screen at the pump asks whether you’re a Safeway Club member. Are you? Then your full tank might earn discounts on that ciabatta you buy on the way home. At work, you book your conference tickets with the airlines you have the tallied the most frequent flier miles on, compare “likes” on your Facebook posts and get lunch with a Groupon.

It comes as a relief – to me, at least – that Apple doesn’t do loyalty programs, points schemes or offer fire sales.

Apple wants to sell you insanely great devices, that’s it. They sell on the strength of the product, not something else they throw in for good measure to make it seem more appealing or a better deal. They run very few contests  – like the iTunes $10,000 blowout for the 10 billionth download – and have never offered rewards cards. Apple has long offered discounts to schools, but that’s about it. The MacBooks, iPods, iPhones do not ever go “on sale,” in the way that other companies slash prices when products head down the inevitable road to obsolescence.

Compare this to Coke, which topped the brand list for 13 years in a row before falling flat to Apple. Coke has a website, intended to make its product go down better with worried parents, called “My Coke Rewards School Donations” program. If you participate, the Atlanta-based corporation will “donate points to your school, so it can get rewards like art supplies and sports equipment, and support all the ways kids play.” Sounds good right?

But as Nassim Nicholas Taleb points out astutely in “Antifragile,”  you only need marketing for things that no one wants or needs. Coke (or Pepsi, he adds) are in the “business of selling you sugary water…causing diabetes and making diabetes vendors rich thanks to their compensatory drugs.” So they must “dress up their companies with a huge marketing apparatus with images that fool the drinker.”

I would add that gamification is only necessary for stuff that no one really wants or needs, too. In the case of the Coke rewards program, for example, you are buying Coke to earn points so that the fizzy drinks company donates sports equipment to your child’s school. It would certainly be easier to buy sports equipment for your school directly than stocking up on Coke, collecting and turning in the points then waiting for the corporation to buy the equipment for you. The “money for nothing” aspect of gamification that we now accept everywhere makes it more difficult to see what we’re actually getting in return for purchases.

Fortunately, Apple doesn’t bother. And it’s probably for our own good. A few years back, an April fool’s joke proposed an Apple loyalty scheme that involved getting a company tattoo in exchange for a lifetime 25% discount.  Given the fierce loyalty that the company inspires, they might go bankrupt if they tried to honor it.

I’ve applied dozens of screen protectors to my iPhones over the years, and I’d say less than 10% of them actually went on straight. They almost always go on wonky first time, and that means pulling them away and applying them again.

Fortunately, I don’t have to worry about this anymore, because I have the ALIN from TYLT. The ALIN plastic alignment tool that clips into the side of your iPhone 5 or iPhone 5s and ensures that every single screen protector you apply goes on completely straight first time.

It takes the hassle out of the whole process, and it turns a ten-minute job into a two-minute one. And as you might expect, ALIN is reusable, so you can keep hold of it and put it to work every time you need to apply a new screen protector.

ALIN costs $25, and for that you get the alignment tool, plus four screen protectors — three clear ones, and one anti-glare one. Is it worth your money?