Home » Apps with tag 'casual'
Mikey Shorts Review
I almost feel sick of needing to make the point so often, but if you're going to make a platformer, you need to make the core gameplay (that is to say, running and jumping) feel good. In some cases it's a matter of responsiveness from the controls, and in others its anything from the physics to the character animations, but in Mikey Shorts by BeaverTap, none of these things are a problem. In fact you'd be forgiven for thinking someone from Rocketcat Games ran away with someone from Ra…
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casual
Lost Cities Review
Reiner Knizia is no small fish in the world of board games. Titles such as the Lord of the Rings and Ingenious are enjoyed world wide, while Lost Cities, a 2-player 60-card game has even proven to be popular enough to warrant an XBLA remake. Having previously converted Carcassonne to the iOS platform, The Coding Monkeys have taken it upon themselves to restore Lost Cities to its original design, bolstering it with individually scaling AI opponents and multiple asynchronous online games…
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Puzzle Craft Review
'Casual' match-three mechanics; timers that spit out the occasional bonus; resource management tied to tiers of resource management... surely this is a recipe for disaster? It's a mix we've seen slapped together in the 'freemium' model, but is it really such a bad thing at all? Ars Thanea Games and Chillingo prove that you can have your cake and eat it too, pairing all the addictive elements of a freemium title together with a well balanced and deep sense of progression that feels rewa…
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Horn™ Review
When Phosphor Games came out with The Dark Meadow they proved one thing in particular - they know how to craft a world from the ground up. Their latest release Horn comes to us care of casual gaming giant 'Zynga', but its a far cry from the time-sink cash grabs of the past, teleporting players to a world that melds adventuring classics like Zelda and Fable with the visual appeal of Team Ico's best, and ties it all together with Infinity Blade's slashing RPG-lite gameplay. In short, it'…
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Mad Skills BMX Review
One of the biggest hurdle to overcome when trying to create a competitive title such as Mad Skills BMX is in being able to make it approachable for casual players while still catering to the hardcore crowd. Turborilla's solution was an elegant one - focus on the flow of the controls and the feel of smoothly sailing through the air to nail that perfect landing, and newcomers or veterans alike will be hooked. Virtual controls are history in Mad Skill BMX and players can choose to either…
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Judge Dredd: Countdown Sector 106 Review
We've reviewed a couple gamebooks here at AppSpy before. For those unfamiliar with the genre, think of it as a cross between a 'Choose Your Own Adventure' book and an RPG. In fact that's exactly what the Fighting Fantasy series was, having you make choices as you read, but also gaining stats and having to roll dice to get passed tricky situations or to win combat. Tin Man Games have been quite prolific in resurrecting this format digitally for the iPhone and iPad, with most tales being…
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Dance Fever Review
Rhythm games have always been at a disadvantage on the iPhone. While home consoles allow a player to live out their rock and roll fantasies with Rock Band, or dance up a storm with DDR, the swipe and tap inputs of the mobile device just can't compete with these unique control methods. That's not to say rhythm games haven't been enjoyable on the iPhone (or other handheld devices), it's just that you really need to design a simple and elegant system to allow the player to interact with t…
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Magic 2013 iPad Review
I feel I would have to officially hand in my 'nerd card' if I ever lost the urge to want to play a casual game of Magic: The Gathering with my friends. Sure, some people are going to invest themselves more in the collectable card game than others, but all it takes is a pre-made deck and players looking to have fun and you'll find that the evening gleefully melts away. Duels of the Planeswalkers 2013 by Stainless Games is the first installment of Wizards of the Coast's popular CCG to m…
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Captain Antarctica Review
Taking the name at face-value, I had no idea what to expect from FDG Entertainment's latest acquisition, Captain Antarctica. A shield-slinging polar bear did flash across my mind momentarily, but the reality was just as amusing and if you'll forgive me for saying so, incredibly cute too. There are villainous foes to defeat in the depths of the sea and it's your job as an avenging penguin to strap on a rocket, eat as many fish as you can to power it up and turn yourself in to a living…
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Shoot The Zombirds Review
From creating pottery, to knocking down cans and stopping waves of red and blue jelly monsters, Infinite Dreams easily lives up to their name as they approach a wide variety of games and styles of play from casual to hardcore. Shoot The Zombirds acts as the nightmarish sequel to last year's Shoot The Birds and while much of the basic gameplay is in tact, small tweaks keep the game fresh and place an emphasis on careful, precise shots. In particular, Pumpkin Boy packs far fewer arrows…
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Virtua Tennis Challenge Review
Unlike so many who fondly remember Virtua Tennis from its heyday on the Dreamcast, I recall many a shiny dollar being pumped in to the machine at the local Arcade (or if I was lucky, a bunch of free plays during a lock-in night). Combining both the complexity of athletic Tennis and the simplicity of Arcade controls, it was a smash hit. Now on the iOS it has a chance to ensnare even more people, but as you'd expect it's not an entirely smooth ride. Despite the minimum fourth-gen iDevic…
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Air Mail™ Review
If there's one thing the iOS platform does well it's casual games - this doesn't mean they're necessarily easy, but they strip away complexities until a simple, elegant core remains and pair it with gorgeous and almost timeless visuals. Air Mail by N-Fusion Interactive and Chillingo is just such a game, allowing players to literally dive right in to the role of a pilot and stripping away the usual violent role for one that focuses on the joy and freedom of flying. Taking its cues from…
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Run Run Die! Review
Designing a winning platformer for a device that is notorious touchy about its control quirks can make life hard for a developer. Run Run Die! by Voltic Games side-steps this problem by joining other auto-running games like The Impossible Game, tasking players with precise timing challenges that quickly reach maddening levels. The story goes a little something like this: You're a furry little mammal and a meteorite has crash-landed, setting you and your family on fire. To survive and…
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THE KING OF FIGHTERS-i 2012. Review
When The King of Fighters-i first found its way on to the App Store and managed to rival its the Street Fighter titles, it was all I could do to contain my joy. Once again, developers had managed to defy conventions and turn a game that requires insanely precise controls in to something not only playable, but also competitive. The King of Fighters-i 2012 keeps the ball rolling and in much the same way that Volt did for Street Fighter IV. More to the point, those expecting a change-up…
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Conceptis Fill-a-Pix Review
[Editor's Note: Apologies for the video being unavailable for so long - YouTube is currently updating their back end again and it seems some features are missing at this time. We've found a work-around for now and hope this won't be an issue again soon!] Earlier we reviewed Prismapix, a puzzle game where the player uses minesweeper-like clues to know what tiles are safe to uncover a picture on and which are not. That game was based on a simpler kind of logic puzzle, and that's exactly…
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