Every time I think I can’t possibly discover other awesome, useful or fun new apps, I find a game or utility that makes something in my life just a little better or easier.
This week, a couple of great utilities, a way to simplify your photo editing process, and a ridiculously addictive game all managed to impress me. But surely these are the last good ones out there, right? (Want to tell me about another awesome app? Send me an email or find me on Twitter at @IanFuchs.)
Paradox Interactive’s hilarious send-up of fantasy tabletop gaming (think Dungeons and Dragons), Knights of Pen and Paper 2, has just gotten a new free expansion.
Called “Back to the Source,” it has two new character classes, higher level caps, an all new mega-dungeon, and a ton of funny stuff packed into it — all for free.
Apparently, the developers missed a saving roll for monetization today.
Twenty dollars doesn’t go as far as it used to, but that doesn’t have to be true if you know where to look. Cult of Mac’s frugal sleuths have found some great deals that you can add to your life with a spare bill floating around in your wallet, from hands-free mounts to game design training and more. Check them out below.
Quick, think of two classic game franchises that make perfect sense as a mash-up! Give up? How about Street Fighter II and Flappy Bird? Not convinced of the brilliance of this idea? Well too bad — someone’s done it anyway.
Joining the plethora of Flappy Bird clones to arrive in the App Store since Dong Nguyen’s hit original, Street Flapper lets you take your favorite Street Fighter characters and guide them through an “endurance training” setup composed of the stretchy arms and legs of character Dhalsim.
Guitar Hero will vanish from the App Store at the end of this month.
Not the best rhythm game available, but still a lot of fun, we praised Guitar Hero back when it first arrived on iOS in 2010. With its price now reduced to 99¢ as a parting gift, it’s absolutely worth picking up if you’re interested in the genre.
Ultra-addictive iOS game Dots has just received a major update, adding a significant new feature.
Called “Challenge Mode,” the addition circumvents the hassle of taking screenshots of individual dots counts — or else comparing scores via social media — by letting players face off in real-time, head-to-head competition.
I’ve been on a zombie movie kick as of late, and once I’d caught up on Walking Dead and vintage George Romero films, I expanded my sights towards the App Store, where I discovered Useless Creations’ delightful Zombies Everywhere! Augmented Reality Apocalypse.
As its name suggests, Zombies Everywhere is an augmented reality game. What that means is that you play the game by holding up your iPhone (or iPad — although iPhones tend to work better) in front of you as if you’re taking a photo. The device’s rear-facing camera is then activated, and the images that are recorded are pulled in as the game’s background.
Popular MMO (that’s Massively Multiplayer Online) game, Line of Defense, has arrived on iOS via a new combat strategy game called Line of Defense Tactics.
Giving gamers the opportunity to take control of a team of four Galactic Command Marines (GALCOMs) as they embark on a range of missions across space stations, starships, and planetary battlefields, Line of Defense Tactics lets you train your squad, upgrade their stats, weapons, inventory and abilities en route to becoming the ultimate fighting force.
Today sees the App Store launch of retro-styled hack n’ slash iOS actioner, Only One.
Borrowing its one-man-fights-off-millions-of-enemies-on-top-of-a-giant-tower premise from the Jet Li-starring cult movie The One, the game is the fighting equivalent of a never-ending platformer — only with waves of enemies (70 in all, plus 7 bosses) taking the place of constant leaps and obstacles.
I can’t believe it took me so long to get to Jurassic Park Builder.
Originally released in 2012, I stumbled upon the game thanks to its latest December 2013 update — which added new missions and various options related to the Dinosaur Battle Arena. As its title suggests, Jurassic Park Builder essentially puts you into John Hammond’s shoes: asking you to build a dino-themed attraction, and then run it in a way that brings in a constant stream of punters to gawk at your prehistoric predators and gobble down raptor-shaped ice creams.
Anyone who grew up in the 80s will likely be familiar with the video game cliche in which players take on the role of hero as they battle their way through a series of fiendish castles to rescue a damsel in distress.
Adult Swim have taken this core concept and subverted it: forging a tower defense game that is pitched somewhere between Lemmings and Dungeon Keeper. Instead of playing the hero, you’re put in control of the villain tasked with protecting your castle (with its kidnapped princess bounty) against an army of wannabe do-gooders.
It’s already received a soft launch in New Zealand, but future Mega Jump 2 gamers elsewhere will have to make do with this trailer, ahead of the iOS game sequel’s official launch this Thursday.
The original Jet Car Stunts rocked the App Store back in 2009 — blowing away our memories of fiddly pre-iPhone racers with a colorful speedster of a game that took full advantage of the device’s touch interface and accelerometer to create something truly addictive.
Four years later the game has received a sequel-sized overhaul and we’re back for another dose of fast-paced, rocket-powered action. The original’s innovations may no longer be new, but our love of a good high-octane racing game hasn’t gone anywhere in the intervening years.
So have developers True Axis delivered?
Developer Frogmind has just updated its award-winning iOS game, Badland. The update is the conclusion to the Day II story-based levels, with 10 new levels and 30 new missions to accomplish, along with seven new Game Center achievements.
The final tally, then, of levels in Badland is now 80, fully double what the game started with back in April.
Ever play Lemmings? If so, you know the thrill of guiding little figures through ever-increasingly hazardous environments, using each character’s unique skill to avoid and overcome the devious level designer’s clever traps and obstacles.
Wobbles, a new universal game app from developer Play Nimbus, takes its cue from Lemmings in two ways. One, players need to guide their wobbles from start to finish, as they all follow each other in unvarying obedience to the march. Two, the little sounds the Wobbles make come close to the cuteness of the sounds in Lemmings–when players fail a level, an adorable Wobble voice says, “wobble wobble wobble!” It’s adorable. Seriously.
SEATTLE, PAX 2013 – We got to spend a little time with this new rhythm game, Jungle Rumble, at the Indie Megabooth area deep within the Penny Arcade Expo showrooms. The game features monkeys and music, a great combination for fun and challenging gameplay, of course.
The first update for Warner Bros’ Man of Steel iOS game is here, and it’s got new story content and a new Superman suit to purchase. The new Skin suit from Krypton gives Kal-El a boost to his power, health, and defense. No more kneeling before Zod!
The game itself is a 3D action brawler with gesture-based combat and cinematic cut scenes, and follows the storyline of the movie, Man Of Steel.
Do you enjoy problem-solving games on iOS whereby the only thing you think you understand as you get started playing is that tapping objects on your touchscreen does something? Splatz is one of those games. Despite its deceptively simple graphics and fairground music soundtrack, Splatz is really absorbing and taxes your memory. Patterns start to emerge….
Lucky Frame, developer behind indie hit iOS games Bad Hotel and Pugs Luv Beats, announced today that its anticipated follow-up game, Wave Trip, will release on January 22, 2012. So, in just two short weeks, you’ll be able to control a mysterious geometric astronaut, helping her travel through worlds of beauty as well as danger, saving her friends via music and beat-based gameplay.
One of the better Yuletide traditions is the venerable holiday Advent Calendar, in which each day of December leading up to Christmas is marked off on a special calendar by opening its corresponding door to find a small gift, toy or chocolate squirreled away inside.
This year, we here at Cult of Mac decided we wanted to give our readers their very own Apple-themed advent calendar, filled with the year’s best apps, gadgets, stories and other curios. So each day in December, we’re going to lovingly peel back the door on the Cult of Mac 2012 Advent Calendar to reveal another delicious morsel, something really special that came out this year that we think every one of you should enjoy.
So what’s behind the door on Saturday the 8th? Letterpress for iOS, a word game for the rest of us, with a simple, cutthroat strategy and an amazing visual design!
Real-time strategy never looked this good.
Today, Eufloria was released in an iPhone-only version for three dollars, while the five dollar universal version has been updated to include support for the iPhone 4S, Retina graphics for the new iPad, iCloud saves, and game session saving (for when you hit the Home button by accident).
