UConnect

How logical is your mind? Are you someone that just goes with your feelings when you do things? Or do you actually take the time to think things through? Ever wanted a game that's fun but takes 0 brain power when your drunk? Do you like connecting the dots?

If your answer is Yes to any of the above, well UConnect is for you.

UConnect is a simple game that will keep you coming back for more when you're bored. There is only 1 goal -- to connect all the dots without repeating the path / lines.





Solid lines mean you must go through it, dotted lines mean it's optional, and direction lines mean you must go through the line in the direction the arrows are pointing at. There are no 1-solution to any of the puzzles, it is simply up to how your brain processes the puzzles!

There isn't much else to talk about this game other than the fun puzzles and awesome different modes that it offers. There are time trials (how many puzzles you can complete in a given time), puzzle trials (how long it takes you to complete 20 puzzles), along with a few other options. It's something you can enjoy alone and / or with a friend in a short burst of time -- perfect for a drink fest or that daily commute if you need it.



Pick this up now while it's free -- and oh, if you're a more modern / clean kind of person, it also offers the interface as "PEN" instead of "CHALK" that will make everything look cleaner and smoother. Personally I dig the "chalk" mode more.

AppApps Rating

Game Play:
Would've been a 3-star, but bonuses for the game modes + fun times when you're buzzed

Graphics:
Simple and effective whether you're a vegetarian or meat lover

Dinosaur Slayer

I think they are more like Dragon's than Dinosaurs...

I picked up Dinosaur Slayer randomly from the app store couple days ago. At 1st i wasn't digging it because of the Patapon-wannabe kind of art style -- not that I hated it, I love it it's a great style, but I've just seen too many developers try it and all the characters look more or less the same.

But boy I was surprised.

First of all, the game is a bit deeper than your average castle-defender I think. I've been through a couple castle-defenders but usually they get the "tap, hold, hit the (x)" treatment within a day. However, this game has managed to achieve dead-easy interaction & mechanics with interesting upgrades throughout.

The main interaction in Dino Slayer is simple all you need to do is frantically swipe your finger from left to right nonestop to hunt dragon's down with your arrows that's IT. There are quite a few upgrades that helps you in the process though:

- Magic spells that cast with the touch of a button (on a cool down timer)

- Arrow shot power (how much dmg your arrows do)

- Multi-shot for your arrows

- Auto-fix for your castle (so you generate health automatically)
- Dudes who sail out on a fishing boat collecting tasty dragon meats

And the list goes on.

At the end of each level you will receive gold based on your kills that can be used for upgrades. BUT, there's a catch and that's "Men hired". Basically every upgrade you do will add to your "hired men" count and this count in return consumes food (which you can buy with gold, or collect from the dino corpses) -- because when you have slaves working for you, you gotta feed 'em to keep them happy. If you don't have enough food then you will end up paying with your gold, which reduces your income (upkeep), so there is a tricky choice you have to try and balance throughout the game. My advice is to save the upgrades until A LOT later (also for achievements, if you want to upgrade everything) so you don't waste too much $ $ early on for slavery.

To add to the fun, every 20th level or so there's also boss encounters that are actually pretty epic and fun. The bosses do insane damage and are invincible to regular attacks unless a timed-yellow circle comes up for you to give 'em the low-blow. It took me 3 days to get to level 100 and I got completely RAPED by the last boss because I don't have enough upgrades (I think??) so it had me starting all over again (sigh) in order to do enough upgrades this time while getting more achievements.

Anyway without spoiling too much you guys should just pick this up and give it a try it's definitely one of the best castle defenders I've played I think!

!! UPDATE !!

Dammit, you guys have missed the FREE period I guess and now it's $0.99 on the app store : (  but still worth picking up I think!

AppApps Rating

Game Play:
Simple, catchy, with good intensity -- just don't hurt your fingers!

Graphics:
Been-there, seen-that type of style, but OH THE COLORS

MonsterVolley

Love sports games? I do! But typically they just don't have the same arcade feeling as console games do (like NHL2K11...) and the controls are just...flimsy? I was about to throw  MonsterVolley away within couple minutes, but because of its simplicity and cute cuddly characters it kept me going.

Astronut

Publisher: Iconfactory; Cost: FREE (4 levels), in-game upgrade $1.99 (20 more levels)



Astronut is a vertical scroller for your iPhone from the Iconfactory. Astronut gives the player control over an astronaut floating through space. You control the Astronut, bouncing him between planets until he crosses the finish line. The app is also GameCenter-enabled, so you can tout your best scores across the Internet.




Gameplay

Controls are very simple in Astronut, with the player only able to move by jumping. The player jumps between rotating planets, using the rotation of the planets to aim for the next one. There is another feature called Boost which allows the player to jump a bit faster and kill enemies. The Boost button is on the opposite side of the screen from the Jump button, making it necessary to use 2 hands in cases where you need to use a Boost just after a Jump.  There is less emphasis on killing enemies than avoiding them.

The game offers bonus levels of floating through space to collect items and hearts.

I felt the gameplay to be a bit fiddly, but maybe that's just supposed to be part of the challenge.

Quality

The Iconfactory are well-known for their great production values and attention to detail and they don't disappoint here. The visual polish and overall user experience are superb and really make you feel like you are using a quality product. Everything down to the sound effects just drips with quality.



Conclusion

Even though Astronut is visually beautiful and simple, it just didn't really make me want to keep playing. The floating can be a bit awkward and uncontrolled. Even with all its charm and polish, the game didn't make me want to keep going and pay the $1.99 for the full version.

AppApps Rating

Game Play:Like an awkward Merry-Go-Round

Graphics:Great polish and style

MiniGore - Halloween Episode

MiniGore -- the popular shoot 'em up game is FREE for a limited time! Sooo hurry up and pick it up even if you have to skip the rest of this review before you need to pay again!

It's been a while since I've last touched this game and I was amazed by how far it's progressed during this time (I actually have removed it from my phone already before). There are sooo many characters to unlock now, some cost # of kills and some real $$$. The controls seem tighter as well.

 

For those that've never played this kind of games it's quite simple, the left pad moves your character and the right pad determines where he shoots -- and the best thing about MiniGore? Your ammos are UNLIMITED!! (at least the very basic one...). There are a number of power-ups in the game that you can pick up as random boxes just drops from the sky outta nowhere. But watch out, if yo accidentally shoot it too many times before picking up the box will explode and you'll end up with nothing but misery.

The game progressively gets harder as it goes along and new monsters will roam your yard faster and faster with varying sizes as well, check out the size of this bad ass it's HUGE (yes I died trying to take a screenshot for you guys). Another fun aspect of the game is that you can pick up little clovers that pop randomly and if you get 3 -- you turn into some sort of fiery pig-cow hybrid that just chomps anything down pac-man style! Totally awesome but totally short as well =P So short it feels almost useless unless you save it for the most critical situations.


Oh, 1 last thing, did I mention that it now supports Game Center? HELL YEAH! Even though it's such a useless platform (really, Apple should just buy Open Feint) but it's still kind of neat to see support for it. So bonus points for MiniGore! Pick it up here.

AppApps Rating

Game Play:
Like Sugar Rush with a bit of Pepper on Top


Graphics:
Even Better than the Wii