ABT’s Top Apps and Games- iOS # 7
iOS has so many apps and games that its hard to pick which ones to pay for, which ones to skip, and it can be daunting to search for a decent app or game. We are here to help with a short list of good apps/games and they are easily downloaded through iTunes by clicking the app links. Enjoy!
Impossible Road is one of those games that always brings you back. You are a ball that is dropped onto a road and you must use tilt controls to keep the ball on the road. Staying on the road nets you points. Simple enough right? The narrow road twists, turns, and is completely unforgiving. There is something charming to the toughness of Impossible Road that has made it a new favorite in our collection.
Power-up hats, stick-men, ball power-ups, multiplayer, and golf, make up the world of SSMG2. Possibly the funnest game we have played in quite some time, SSMG2 is a near perfect take on golf. The single-player mode allows you to go on “tours” of different courses; each with 9 holes, each with its own new obstacle or dynamic interface. Each course is fun and different, while remaining difficult and never stale.
You will eventually earn the ability to power-up your balls, earn hats to gain “perks,” and more. All of which, can be used for multiplayer which pits you against an opponent throughout 9 holes, or you can play race mode to see who can finish a 9-hole course the fastest. We haven’t even scratched the surface of SSMG2 – what are you waiting for!
PvZ 2 – a title appropriately captioned “It’s about time” – is the follow up to the original PVZ, released in 2009. PVZ is one of the most iconic mobile titles and a sequel for it was long overdue. The game features a world map, many new types of plants and zombies, themed worlds, challenges, and of course “Crazy Dave.” The game is extremely fun and often gets intense and hectic, without being frustrating. Even after all these years, it is extremely satisfying to fight zombies with plants.
Popcap has also made the game a free-to-play title. Our feelings are mixed on the FTP subject for PVZ: 2, as it is completely playable without paying a single dime, but it is also unfortunate that we need to pay for things like keys to unlock most plants or hope a zombie drops one in-game. Among other FTP mechanics, PVZ: 2 is a gem of game that deserves your attention – heck its FREE!!!
There is no shortage of picture tool apps in the App Store. Social networking has a huge home on mobile and many of them allow users to post pictures. Thus, the large amount of apps vying for your attention can be daunting. Split Pic is the original “clone yourself” app that allows for some creative photo taking. You can choose between a preset photo layout and lace yourself in three different places, or blend two photos together to fix a bad smile. The possibilities are endless, and Split Pic gives creative people a lot to work with.
With the popularity of Vine soaring, Instagram joined the short video craze with its own 15 second video service. Taking some of the best elements of its core photo service with filters and more the videos are fun and the service is here to stay. PicPlayPost is an app that enhances this experience by allowing you to create a “collage” or photos and videos to place in a single Instagram post. You can create collages of gifs, have 6 videos in one posts, add music to a static image and more! PicPlayPost has taken the best elements of popular social networking and created an amazing tool.
Say the Same Thing is a game in which the players must work together to say the same words in response to descriptor words preceding in a conversation. A game can go like so: green, cheese, football= Green Bay Packers!
Say the Same Thing can be extremely fun with one person and frustrating to the next. For example: a gamer friend would guess that the word “Halo” would coincide with the character Master Chief; however, a non-gamer friend would think you are talking about Heaven or an Angel. It is fun and interesting to see where a friend’s or a random player’s mind wanders when a word is mentioned.
Dots is one of the simplest games I have played, yet it keeps me coming back. The game boils down to colored dots on a set square that you must trace to each other in combos of 2 or more in order to clear them from the board. Chaining more than 2 dots at once nets you a higher score within the set time limit of 60 seconds – and that is the game. There is also an awesome multiplayer component to the game that tests your clearing speed against others.
Sometimes having less of something is the best thing! There are only two other modes to Dots: 30 moves and endless mode. In 30 moves you must clear as many dots as you can in only 30 moves. Endless is the only paid mode of this game and it is simply an endless dot clearing mode.
Listening to a podcast while working or doing things around the house is one of my favorite things to do. Apple’s “Podcasts” app is sufficient but it is lacking in a lot of features that have become standard with other apps.
The downloading experience should be elegant, automatic, and easy! Downcast gives you all three with the best UI of any podcast downloading app I have used. You can stream or download podcasts as you wish. The best feature of Downcast by far is it’s gesture control support which is perfect for those who are driving or aren’t looking directly at their screen. Downcast has gestures that control playback, moving back and forth in a podcast, and marking an episode as played (which can delete the episode from your device) or unplayed. Downcast is the best and we highly recommend you give it a try if you enjoy podcasts.
Let us know what you think of our list this week in the comments below or on our forum. We love feedback and if you have any suggestions we would love to hear them!
