Category Archives: $2.99

Little Things Make Life Worth Living

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Little Things Make Life Worth Living is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

I love beginning a post with an over-dramatic statement. While Little Things won’t change your life, it will give you hours of fun, low-key gameplay.

I know what you’re saying…”Another puzzle game?” And you’re right…puzzle games are a dime a dozen on the iPhone and iPad. But this one really goes out of its way to be unique and elegant while remaining simple.

You can buy it HERE



Healthy Food Finder Review

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Healthy Food Finder Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: CALORICIOUS
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1.1
Device Reviewed On: iPod Touch

iPhone Integration Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
User Interface Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Re-use Value Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.33 out of 5 stars

Healthy Food Finder by Caloricious is exactly what its name implies: a shopping app that focuses on healthy foods. If a product is organic, low-fat, sugar-free, or otherwise an alternative to what you might typically choose in a supermarket, it may be found in this app.

The Healthy Food Finder works in two ways. First, it is a shopping list maker; second, it is an in-the-store decision-maker. In both cases, what it offers to you is access to nutritional information, along with an evaluation of the good and bad points about the specific item. While it presents everything in a clean, readable manner with pictures of most products, it does rely in part on user-generated content, and some of the entries were incomplete. Note to iPod users: the app requires an Internet connection to work, so if you’re in the store, you’ll want to have a pre-made list with you.

Due to its focus on healthy foods, it is not a robust shopping database. For example, when searching for jarred spaghetti sauce, there’s not a Ragu nor a Prego to be found. Hunts spaghetti sauce makes it in there; but then Hunt’s recently announced that they were only using sugar, not high fructose corn syrup, in their products. Thus, foods with certain ingredients are excluded by default — in this case, HFCS, but after a few more searches it seems that things like traditional white flour and lots of artificial preservatives are also out . Meat is free-range; bread is organic; granola is gluten-free. This means that the app will probably be more useful to you if you have access to a Whole Foods or other alternative supermarket.

The app itself functions as advertised. You can search for ingredients, make a shopping list, check food labels, even rate and review the food you buy. There’s also Facebook integration for sharing your shopping with your friends. The interface is a little stylized to match the Caloricious website, but otherwise it’s pretty standard tap-and-swipe iOS fare.

If you’re pursuing one of the eating philosophies championed by the app, Healthy Food Finder by Caloricious could very well be the app for you. It will certainly point you to product lines you might never have heard of before … albeit product lines that you will probably have to seek out a Trader Joes to purchase. And if you’re a user of their website, it’s certainly something you’ll want to have on the go.

[ Healthy Food Finder Review is a post from 148Apps ]


‘Neuroshima Hex’ Review – You Had Me at Hex Grid

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‘Neuroshima Hex’ Review – You Had Me at Hex Grid is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Earlier this month we took a look at Neuroshima Hex [$2.99], the iPhone adaptation of a strategy-heavy boardgame based in the Neuroshima universe. This game world straddles several sci-fi cliches and includes things like nuclear war, a sentient robotic revolt, mutants, humans doing whatever they can to survive, and even somewhat intelligent carnivorous plant life. Adapted from the tabletop Neuroshima game, Neuroshima Hex features four of the main factions and is fast-paced enough that calling it an "action" board game seems appropriate.

Like many strategy games with unique rulesets, Neuroshima Hex is fairly complicated. Playing the game involves selecting one of the four factions, each with their own strengths and weaknesses, then playing with a 35 tile "deck". Players start by placing their headquarters on the game board, and the rest of the game revolves around attacking the enemy HQ while defending your own utilizing the tiles you draw at the start of your turn. Your deck of tiles consists of three different types, tiles that contain different types of units, modules which buff those units, and instant action tiles that do things like destroy or slide a unit, or even initiate combat.

The issue with all this is that the learning curve of the game is less of a curve and more of a wall, as the developers didn't do much to make the game approachable to newbies aside from including a brief tutorial video. There is a help section in the game, but is isn't convenient at all to refer to while you're actually playing. Once you get a hang of strategically using your hex tiles to attack the opponent as well as deal with their threats on the game board Neuroshima Hex is a lot of fun… But as suggested in the thread in our forums getting there requires reading additional material on the game or even printing out a quick reference guide PDF.

In comparison, Carcassonne [$4.99] features a fully interactive voiced over tutorial that did an absolutely fantastic job at introducing new players to the game. Carcassonne is also host to some great online multiplayer options while Neuroshima Hex only comes with single device multiplayer. Thankfully, the developers have posted in our forums acknowledging these issues and plan on addressing them in the future.

Neuroshima Hex is a fun fast paced strategy game, and if you already know how to play, you'll likely have a great time jumping right in to this iPhone port. If you're intrigued by hex grid strategy games, and this is the first you've heard of Neuroshima Hex, just be aware that you've got quite a bit of work in front of you as you climb the steep learning curve.

App Store Link: Neuroshima Hex, $2.99


MovieCat! review

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MovieCat! review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: OtherWise Games
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0
Device Reviewed On: iPhone 4

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars
Replay Value Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.19 out of 5 stars

It might sound corny but I had trouble putting MovieCat! down. That’s how much it hooked me. It’s a movie trivia game, so of course if you don’t like movies, you won’t like this. If you’re a huge film buff like me, though, you will absolutely adore it.

MovieCat! comes from the makers of the Invisibles quizzes, a series of puzzles that have ably tapped into the trivia market. Who wants complicated quizzes after all? You just want to feel smug about what you do know. Nothing beats the satisfaction of completing an Invisibles quiz. MovieCat! continues to tap into this by offering 14 different puzzle categories, all equally as compelling, bar possibly one.

Some focus on certain genres such as action, horror, comedy or chick flicks. Others provide lines of dialogue and require you to guess what film is being quoted. All the puzzles offer multiple choice answers which is much more convenient than having to type the answer. All the puzzles offer a nice variety of trivia so you never feel stuck with the same puzzle type.

The only one that feels a little weaker than others is the DVD Chapters game whereby you figure out what film is being discussed through the names of its DVD chapters. Maybe it was just because I was terrible at it, but I just didn’t enjoy it as much as the others. It felt all too random to guess what the answer could be.

Each game is divided into five rounds of five puzzles each. Get an answer wrong and you lose one of your cat’s nine lives. On Medium or Hard, you lose more cats for each incorrect answer. At the end of the five rounds, you’re given a Cat Scene to complete. This is where the cat in the title makes the most sense. An image is displayed of a few colourful cats imitating a famous scene from a film. It’s charming and fun to be able to collect all the scenes. Some of them are harder than you’d think, too. Each game doesn’t take long to complete, which makes it ideal for a quick play during your daily commute, or simply because it’s so much fun.

I played MovieCat! for a good 5-6 hours before I noticed any repeated questions in the line up. Even then, it was only the odd question here or there, and there were still plenty of new questions to answer. When you do eventually run out of questions, there’s also an additional puzzle pack that can be purchased.

If you like movies, this really is an unmissable purchase. I haven’t had this much fun with a trivia game for a long time. The cutesy cats only help matters.

[ MovieCat! review is a post from 148Apps ]


Black Tie Adventure Review

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Black Tie Adventure Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: 7th Playground
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1.4
Device Reviewed On: 3rd Gen iPod Touch

Graphics / Sound Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 3.67 out of 5 stars

Black Tie Adventure is a platform game that relies on a quirky story and off-kilter premise, but comes out being quite enjoyable in the end. The game begins with a wedding between two individuals being interrupted by an evil snake. The snake uses its long body to wrap around and steal the entire wedding party and the bride, leaving the groom to head out to save them all. The grooms weapon of choice… a sunflower. I personally would be packing an assault rifle, but a sunflower would definitely be in my top 3.

Levels are well designed and the graphics are well done. Each level consists of three present boxes that contain some of the wedding party, various snakes that need to be irradiated, and a number of hearts that need to be gathered to obtain a gold medal. There are 4 worlds with a total of 32 stages which provides a whole lot of game for not a lot of investment. Depending on your skill level in platform games, there is an easy mode to ensure everyone fully enjoys the game. With boss fights and detailed levels, there is plenty to enjoy in Black Tie Adventure.

7th Playground has created a winning platform game here, and even with the quirky storyline, this game shines as an enjoyable adventure. Compared to two plumbers who spit fire and save princesses against a giant reptile and his children, I guess Black Tie Adventure is downright believable. Black Tie Adventure is available on the app store for $2.99.

[ Black Tie Adventure Review is a post from 148Apps ]


RipCord Music Player Could be a Lifesaver

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RipCord Music Player Could be a Lifesaver is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

I make no bones about the fact that it is a scary world out there.  It doesn’t help matters any to know that there could be a sicko or nut job waiting around any corner, just looking for an opportunity to pounce on some unwitting victim.  Sure this may be pure paranoia, but that is what my meds are for, right?  Anyway, It has become a sad reality that runners, women especially, need to lookout for themselves.

The problem with running alone is that eventually you are bound to end up in an area that you are less than familiar with.  While protecting yourself hasn’t always been easy, developer AquilaCom is making life safer for runners everywhere with the introduction of their new app, RipCord Music Player.  Not only is the software a fully functional media player, but it also is a personal safety device.  Here’s how it works:

“Imagine you are out for a jog, walking home at night, or minding your own business sitting in the park or at the playground. You’re lost in thought as you listen to your favorite playlist. Suddenly you are taken by surprise, confronted by an attacker or wild animal, or maybe you fall and are seriously injured… You are in trouble, and need help right away!

You do not have time to fumble with buttons, or launch app’s…  With RipCord Music Player  all you do is pull the plug on your headphones or earbuds, literally just rip the cord right out of you’re iPhone.

Instantly, RipCord Music Player sounds a load alarm and sends an emergency alert message to your friends and family by email and/or text message. This Alert Message let’s them know you need help and indicates exactly where you are (thanks to the built in GPS tracker).” — VIA AquilaCom Development Blog

What I want to know is why no one thought of this sooner.  This is a brilliant idea that I have no doubt could be a lifesaver.  However, what happens if you accidentally unplug your phone while running?  That could lead to quite a panic.  Also, if you have an iPod Touch, you better pray that there is a Wi-Fi access point available, otherwise the application is not going to work.

At the end of the day, the important thing is your safety; with a pricetag of only $2.99, this app isn’t going to break the bank.  If you are the kind of person that likes to go on long runs by yourself or are just looking for an extra layer of personal protection that isn’t apparent to the naked eye, give RipCord a look.  Who knows?  On the off chance that the worst were to happen, it could very well save your life.

$2.99

RipCord Music Player

iPhone App – Designed for the iPhone, compatible with the iPad
Released: 2010-08-22 :: Category: Music

[ RipCord Music Player Could be a Lifesaver is a post from 148Apps ]


Caligo Chaser Review

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Caligo Chaser Review is a post from: Best Iphone Apps Review Website

Developer: Com2uS
Price: $2.99
Version Reviewed: 1.0.2

Graphics / Sound Rating: 3.25 out of 5 stars
Game Controls Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Gameplay Rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
Re-use / Replay Value Rating: 4.85 out of 5 stars

Overall Rating: 4.09 out of 5 stars

Being a reviewer, I typically have a good sense of what works in a game and what doesn’t. Not only do I have a good sense, but I can pretty accurately tell if a game is going to be good after playing for 2 minutes. I’m not harping on having some kind of unique skill, but I’m not usually wrong on this. I freely admit to you today, however, that I was wrong about Caligo Chaser.

After downloading the game from the App Store, I booted it up, stared at it for a few seconds, and then put it away. Maybe I’d was too enamored with Game Center to give the game a deeper look, but I just wasn’t interested. After a day or two of staring at the icon, I went back to Caligo Chaser and started playing.

First off, the game really isn’t all that pretty. It’s just not sharp looking. Not unappealingly dull, but it’s not to the level of some of the other games I’ve been playing. It looks a lot like it belongs on a Super Nintendo, which isn’t a terrible thing, just not what my eyes are now used to. The menu system is at best functional, and at worst just plain ugly. The buttons are too small, the letters are a bit fuzzy, and some of the icons are hard to differentiate from others. When you find yourself confused between a skull and a ring, you know you have a problem.

Past the, err, graphical imperfections, though. is a deep game that will keep you entertained for quite some time. The game is set up like many RPG’s, with a bunch of side quests on top of an overarching, sinister story. I’ll admit, I’ve played games with better stories, but this one isn’t too bad once you get into it. The abundance of side quests also gives the game a much longer shelf life, lasting many many hours. Each side quest is built for the iPhone, meaning that they only take about 5-10 minutes to beat; you can play the game in quick sessions rather than in huge chunks. Many iPhone RPG’s miss the boat on this, but I think that it is a great quality for an iPhone game app.

While the game does have a good deal of depth, the individual levels do not. Once you actually get into a level, it’s all combat, and it’s all fast. Button mash here, special move there, and a few potions later and that level is done. None of them are overly hard, but the further you get along in the game, the more effort you have to put in. I go through phases with the combat, sometimes I love the button mash-fest, sometimes I wish it was a bit more involved. Just don’t expect to need a great deal of strategy to move along.

As questionable as things may seem though, Caligo Chaser’s individual parts come together to form a great whole. I find myself all the time laying in bed until 2AM, telling myself that I’ll only play one more level, or one more quest. Maybe it’s the compartmentalized levels or maybe it’s the story that is just good enough to suck me in for a bit more. Whatever the reason is, I’d definitely recommend Caligo Chaser to any RPG fan.

[ Caligo Chaser Review is a post from 148Apps ]