App of My Eye » Puzzle

blastination

Art — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:05:14 +0000

I’d apologize if it wasn’t for the fact that I couldn’t really be sincere about it. Yes, I’ve been away from the site working hard at my day job, but that wasn’t the reason. The absolute truth? Okay, well, honestly, it’s football season. There, I said it. I’ve been watching college and pro football every opportunity I get and if you add the end of the regular baseball season, preseason NBA hoops, and the start of the NHL season, you’ll understand why I’ve been away for quite awhile. Yet, I’ve re-committed myself, especially after seeing a slew of great games being released, such as blastination by bithoard games. Start off with a simple premise: collect all objects in each level using a ball, which you must direct by creating temporary barriers with swipes of your finger. Basically, the barriers act a bit like stationary paddles and platforms which you use to bounce the ball off of at angles to get all objects. The faster you are, the more points you get as well as the treat of a frenetic pace, which gets your heart pumping. Great graphics, especially the visual effects, just adds to a player’s drive to play even more. An exceptional game through and through for such a low price. Price: 99¢.

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Magic Ball 2

Art — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 08:54:13 +0000

Boasting 100 levels in full 3D graphics, Alawar Entertainment’s Magic Ball 2 caught my eye for another reason. During the mad rush to celebrate birthdays last month, there was always a need to entertain kids. Whether it was my own child or someone else’s, something was always needed to quell the source of the loud ringing in my ears perpetrated by a pair of strong lungs and a pig-headed stubbornness not to give in. Unfortunately, just handing off my iPhone wasn’t nearly enough to provide me some semblance of peace. The reason? Most of the games I downloaded were of the Puzzle variety and, while they may be fun for adults, who pretend they’re brainiacs, it’s usually Yawn City for most kids between the ages of 5 through 10. On a whim, I downloaded this game on the fly and it has been pure magic ever since as a third-person 3D block-breaking game, which not only uses a ball and paddle, but also inventive power-ups to knock down blocks both at the ground floor and up high. Think EA’s Boom Blox meets Atari’s Breakout. Offering three different control schemes in tilt, touch and virtual buttons, you’re able to test out what works best for you to succeed. Definitely a winner for both adults and kids alike, especially considering how much gameplay you get for the price. Price: 99¢.

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Eliss

Art — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 07:25:23 +0000

Just like me, Eliss has been celebrated as of late. However, unlike me, this extraordinary quasi-music puzzle game wasn’t the object of ridicule by relatives at his own birthday party because it gained a couple of pounds and added some gray hair. No, instead, Stephane Thirion’s micro masterpiece has gained worldwide accolades for its originality, accurate touch-sensitive control, and addictiveness. Proclaimed by some as the ‘killer app’ upon it’s release and therefore, further thrusting the iPhone into the spotlight as a viable gaming platform, Eliss showed us something different yet familiar simultaneously. Start off combining or splitting ’like’ planets (based on color) to fit different sized ’squeesars’, which then bloom like cosmic flowers that shoots off stardust you can wipe away. However, you have to be careful not to accidentally touch ‘unlike’ planets or the harmony of the universe becomes unstable and could eventually collapse. Makes sense? I didn’t think so too at first, but it starts making sense once you get into the game. Then, you will understand why, even in it’s visual simplicity, it has garnered a heaping helping of praise since its debut. For me, while it’s 25 levels have entertained me countless times, the game symbolizes that some things do get better with age. So, I can still hold out hope that the same can be said about me… until my next birthday! Price: $3.99.

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All-UP

Art — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 09:12:22 +0000

Having put myself on a mental vacation recently, I’ve been sporadic with my updates to my beloved site, which I totally apologize for. Whether you call it a review site or a blog (personally, I would prefer everyone call it a referral site), App of My Eye (AoME) takes a lot of work ensuring we find apps not many other people may know about or care to report because they’re in the pockets of the bigger developers and publishers. As a self-proclaimed champion of the little guy developer and publisher, the AoME Staff continues to make strides by recommending apps, especially games, like J-Park’s All-UP, an odd, yet delightfully entertaining puzzle game, in which cute uniformed anime/manga-looking little girls (think of the Asian dolls in Disney‘s It’s A Small World attraction) are sitting down bunched together. Your objective is to have all of the little girls stand up by tapping on them individually. However, the problem is that if one girl is already standing up and you tap a girl next to her, she is bound to sit down again. Hence, a dilemma unfolds, which requires careful plotting prior to executing any action. Unfortunately, with a clock ticking down, you may not have the luxury of leisure and therefore must do the best that you can in the time allotted or otherwise fail. Addictive and consistently amusing. Price: 99¢.

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Letter Hunter

Art — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:40:35 +0000

Do not let the icon and title screen graphics fool you: this is not some cutesy word game for some anime/manga fanboys and fangirls to giggle over while watching Kare Kano (aka His and Her Cirsumstances). Instead, Letter Hunter is an extremely well-polished word game that entertains a broad audience of people because of it’s simplicity. First, you are presented with a matrix of different letters, each of which has an associated value. Once you pick and select letters in order to make an actual word, submit it to not only get the cumulative point total added to your score, but also time added to the clock. If you cannot make any words with the letters available, shake the device to get new letters or you can also just start submitting individual letters to achieve low points and buy you some time in the hopes of a vowel appearing. However, I would recommend doing the former rather than the latter, which has a very small succcess rate at best. Another plus is the background music, which absolutely fits the motif of the entire game. We hope to see more products from Felipe Oliveira in the near future. Price: 99¢.

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Trace

Art — Thu, 28 May 2009 07:11:14 +0000

As I continued to rummage through the App Store, I realized there are a lot of apps that use very unspectacular graphics. It’s like some devs decided to use clip art or Wingdings rather than deal with artists, which is understandable with those fragile egos. Just kidding! Of course, on occasion, you run into a game like Trace, which basically says to you “Look, this may look like a child’s fingerpainting, but at least, you will never forget me.” It’s true: I never will, but it is also because of it’s creative gameplay of drawing paths using the touch screen to avoid obstacles in the fastest time possible. The game is a puzzler and a platformer all in one. With 6 unique worlds and 120 levels, you really can’t ask for anything more, including a break on the price… because it’s free. Price: Free.

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