1st Impressions

Emergency Radio is for the news junkie.  If you like listening to police scanners as a hobby or just want to tune in to a particular event that is live on the news, this app will help you do that.  The app comes in two flavors.  The free/lite version has a half-dozen stations pre-loaded just so you can check out the interface.  The $0.99 full version has the complete frequency database available to you.  Once nice feature is that it can find stations near you based on your current location.

While I have seen other applications that will let you tune in to emergency radio frequencies, this one has a really nice feature in that it displayes all the ten-codes on the screen.  If you hear someone mention 10-59 or a 10-14 or something, it doesn’t have to remain cryptic.  You can just scroll down the list and see what it means.  It’s kinda nice to know if they are just talking about a fight in progress or a full blown riot.  It is that kind of usefullness and attention to detail that sets the great applications apart from the good ones.

Rich Diamond is a really nice puzzle game. The graphics are a bit retro, but game play is relaxing but challenging. In order to move from one level to the next, you have to move around and push different things in the room with you to fill holes, make bridges, and so forth with the ultimate goal of picking up all the diamonds and making it to the exit. There is no timer to beat, moves can be undone, and levels can be restarted as needed. The game currently contains 300 levels in three difficulties and costs $2.99. A free/lite version is also available. This one is a keeper in my book.

This $2.99 app provides you with a countown to future events and “days since” (or weeks/years since) a past event.  Unlike TextMinder, this is more passive than active.  TextMinder actually gives you a nudge for future events.  This is more for informational purposes.  Time remaining can be displayed in days, weeks, and months.  You can even send your countdown events to others that have the app by email in case you want to share them.  The interface is nice, and it does a good job at what it does, but for what it does, I found the $2.99 price point a bit high.  At that price point, I would have expected a more feature-rich application.  Something that could import dates from the calendar, birthdays from your contacts, allowing for repeating events, and so forth.  For now though, I’m forced to recommend waiting for a price drop or more features.

In the about page on this site, I mention that one of the goals of this site is to provide added exposure to some apps that I feel really need and/or deserve it.  TextMinder is one such app.  TextMinder is a new $1.99 reminder app that sends you SMS reminders at a set schedule.  They are sent at a time of your choosing and can be repeated at durations ranging from hourly to annually.  Using the application could not be simpler.  It is very intuitive.  After creating an account where you input the phone number you want messages sent to, all you need to do is launch the app and enter the text and date/time just like you would a calendar event in something like Outlook.  

The application actually works in conjunction with a web site, txtminder.net.  You can edit, add, or delete your reminders from there as well.  Even if you are not an iPhone user, the web site appears to allow you to manage reminders with other phone carriers.  In other words, based on the carrier list, it appears to be open to everyone.  There is no additional charge other than your standard text message rates for the SMS messsages, and they come free from any advertising.

This is one of those utility kinds of apps that I love.  I was a huge fan of the now defunct Sandy reminder service and would love to see this app grow and add some of those features.  While I have a lot of suggestions, my first two would be these.  I’d love to have a default time for reminders so that they don’t have to be individually set every time.  I’d also love to be able to respond to a SMS reminder to delete it, postpone it, or change it’s repeat frequency.  It would also be cool if you could import a CSV file of events into the web site.

All in all, I am very happy with what this app does.  It makes my Must Have list and stays on my iPhone.  I’m hoping that it really takes off and becomes successful in the iTunes store and that the future is a bright one for this great tool.

Numbers is my new Must Have $0.99 puzzle game. A free light version is available, but save your time any go for the full version. The premise is simple, but the proper solution may take you a while. Basically, you are given a pattern of numbered blocks to duplicate. When you put a new piece down, it has a value of 1. But it also ADDS 1 to any pieces on the four sides of it. This means that pieces must be placed in the right order in order to match the goal pattern. If you think this sounds challenging, you would be right.

The game comes with over 100 levels. My hope is that more will be on the way. As you progress in the levels, you can used earned credits to purchase new board themes, new level packs, and/or use the credits earned here on/in the developer’s other games like SlideIt. The one huge thing I would like to do is to play without the pressure of the timer. I just think fast enough or remember well enough to either beat the clock or start over.

The unique game play and over 200 current levels makes this game a great buy in my book and I’ve added it to the Must Have list.

If you like Bible Trivia, you will love this game. Although it is $3.99, it promises a lot of fun and education. The game allows for multiple skill levels and shows the Bible reference for each answer. Great care is taken to not repeat questions until all in that difficulty level have been seen, and answer position is really randomized. Game play has two modes. One is timed, and the other is more relaxed but limits you to a certain number of strikes. Since I am not quite sure how many questions come with the game, I am not sure if the price point is too high or not. I’d think that a free light version or a price drop might be needed to advance sales.

SlideIt is one of those sliding puzzle games. I’ve never been good at them. This $1.99 app has some nice features though. As you finish levels and earn credits, you can not only unlock new photo options, but also what in other games might be called powerups. These allow you to do things like add time to your countdown timer and swap two pieces. If this were not enough of a twist for you, credits earned in SlideIt can be used in other games by the same developer. I am not quite sure if these added features justify the expense though. But I also see that this opinion is partially biased because it is a game type that I find more frustrating than fun. If you really like these kinds of games though, I recommend checking out the free light version before purchasing the full one.

Infection took me a minute to learn, but I’m slow. LOL The premise is simple. Touch a colored button on the bottom of the screen and it turns the little hex in the bottom left corner and any touching ones of the same color to the new color. The goal is to get the entire screen the same color in as few moves as possible. If you complete the level under par, you move on to the next and more complex level. Once you get as far as you can, your score can be saved in an online leader board.

Overall, this is a relaxing and fun game. It is a $0.99 game in the iTunes store. A free light version is also available. If you like relaxing puzzle games, you should check this one out. It promises lots of game play for a buck.

Seqqarah is a new series of puzzle games for the iPhone.  The goal of the  $0.99 Temple of Thot (pictured) is to match colored gems so that each of the sections of the game screen consists of a single color.  You do this by switching any two adjacent gems.  The logic behind Temple of Thot remindeds me a lot of those old sliding games where you had to line up the numbers one through fifteen.  Once the game level is complete, you can move on to the next level without any cost.  In other words, you can skip a tough level, but it costs you in points.

In the $0.99 Temple of Isis, the game play is much like Bejeweled except with a twist.  While you can make lines of three or more gems disappear, the ultimate goal is to make squares or triangles of the same colored gems so that it turns the background of the section that they define from black to red.  I found this style of game mechanics to be more relaxing than Temple of Thot.  My one complaint in both of these games though is that you play against a timer.  While I like that as an option, I also like the ability to take my time and not feel rushed depending on my level of mental alertness.  I wish an option were available where you could play without the timer even if the trade-off was that your scores were not saved or something.

I really enjoyed the new game play of these games, particularly Temple of Isis.  And the graphics are absolutely incredible.  They look a much more expensive than a $0.99 game.  Ultimately the entire series is promised to have 500 different levels.  My hope though is that developers continue to offer more levels for each of the different “temples” so that if you have a particular favorite game style, additional levels will be available.  I also hope a generic and light/free Saqqarah version is in the works with a taste of each of the different puzzle types so that they can be attempted prior to the purchase.  With several different game play mechanics in the works, I’m looking forward to seeing what the next “temples” will bring.

Sometimes, you just need some gratuitous violence as a release.  Yeti Sports 1 offers just that.  If the screen shot looks familiar, it should.  It’s the $2.99  iPhone version of the old Flash game that has been a huge internet hit for as long as Flash has been around.  

Game play is simple.  Launch the penguin from the top of the cliff, and smack him with the bat to send him as far as possible.  Think “home run” here.  Where this game differs from the PC version is that you can tilt your iPhone to adjust the penguins “flight path”.  The object is to have it land in the wind current at a shallow enough angle so that the wind can help carry it along.  Along the way, you can bounce off of flying birds and pick up fish.  The first gives you longer time aloft, which the second gives you more points.  

While ultimately I found the game very entertaining (in a gratuitous kind of way), I wish there was an option for a bit of gore.  I mean if you are going to be a Yeti and launch a penguin a thousand feet with a club, wouldn’t you expect at least a bit of bruising?  Also, at $2.99, I think it is priced a bit high.  Sooner or later, you are going to want more than just bashing some penguins.  At that price point, there are games out there that offer a lot more challenge and expected game play.  The fact that the app title is “Yeti Sports 1″ makes me hope that the number indicates future updates.