Blossom Blast Saga

Sometimes I struggle to come up with a new App of The Week to post as we have our favourites we play regularly. So a new one can be scarce to come up with.  So when I was sitting and watching tv, and saw a commercial for Blossom Blast Saga I knew I should try it.

This is a flower linking game, and from the makers of Candy Crush Saga & Farm Heroes Saga.  Basically you have a game field full of flowers, and you need to link them together in order to clear them.


There are big blooms, and they will cause a chain reaction, which then will clear and give you more points.

If you like linking games, then this is another option. It is fun, but not overwhelmingly different.  You have to link up to Facebook, just like with all their games, which I find frustrating sometimes.  Plus if you don't have a Facebook account you can't really play very well, which is what my boys struggle with while playing Candy Crush.

Have you played?  What do you think?

Daily Celebrity Crossword

If you like to test your brain and have a little fun along the way, then Daily Celebrity Crossword is one you should check out.

I have read that doing crosswords, knitting, and puzzle gaming types of things that make your brain work can help fight off Alzheimers. 

Each day a new Crossword is provided, and it is all based on Celebrities, movies, tv, etc. You can access old ones, and they have theme days:
Movie Monday
TV Tuesday
Wayback Wednesday
Top 40 Thursday
Sports Fan Friday
Smartypants Saturday
Sunday Funday
 

They also have surprise & bonus puzzles.  You can ask for hints, letters, or just have it fill in a word if you are stumped. 

You can link it to your Facebook account and see where you rank compared to others.

Overall a good app if you are a fan of Crosswords.

App of The Week: The app review that isn't

Ok This week's App review is going to be a bit different because I haven't found an app that annoyed me as much as this one before.

So I was looking for games to play for my weekly app review when I came across Family Fued 2.

I like the show, and have enjoyed playing Family Fued computer games, and things over the years so I thought I would give it a shot.

After downloading it, I clicked open.  The first thing that happened was an error.  Ok well that's not so good. Retry.

After taking an insanely long time to load, we were ready to play, right? Wrong.  First I needed to get through the ads, and connect with Facebook so I could play with my friends.

Then I got through that. I played a couple of rounds, between the ads, and then telling me my answers weren't up there only to find it was actually there the whole time.  I got annoyed, and closed the game.

Between errors, ads, and loading times, I don't recommend this game.

Timing Hero

A game of attack and dodge.

There is something strangely appealing about old-school style 8 bit games.  Often, simplicity makes things a challenge. Take, for example, the game Timing Hero.

Simple in design, limited 2 tone colouring, with 8 bit characters  and monsters, with matching fonts and style appropriate music, the basics of this game are to attack and dodge.

Using traditional console-like controls, combined with turn-based style fighting, you use your right thumb to attack and your left to dodge. It can be tempting to just mash the attack button, but, making that mistake can be rather dangerous to your health!

Before you begin, you start as a novice which helps you understand the main skills - like learning to read how and where a monster is going to attack so you can time your dodge. Once you have that mastered, the jobs are unlocked.

There are three main classes of jobs: warrior, mage, and archer with five levels of job class for each - some which unlock when certain challenges are met, others only as in-game purchases.

Each have their own unique special ability which powers up through your battles.

The monster battles are levelled with a sub-boss every 5 and boss every 10 levels. Defeating monsters earns you credits to spend on stay upgrades such as damage, critical hit, and health. 

There are tons of extra things in the game as well - from stat boosting artifacts to accomplishment awards.

I find myself playing this game frequently and am enjoying the challenge of reaching specific levels. I showed this to my game - obsessed 11 year old, who immediately downloaded it to his tablet and started playing. His review of the game can be summed up with his comment: "Man, this game is fun.  It is so addicting!"

We find ourselves chuckling over the melee attacking archers ("Ahh! I stab you with my arrow!") while competing to see who can get the farthest. (Hint: It is never me. He has been well game trained.)

The only downsides I see are:

- you have time regenerated lives so you have limited attempts to complete tasks and play. However, despite playing a bunch, I personally have yet to deplete those hearts.
- it could become monotonous. Let's face it - this game is the same movement repeated over and over.  And there are only 40 levels max per job, so you can finish the game quickly if you are skilled.

If you want a fun game that you can play without time commitment or serious brain strategies, and still fill your need to beat up bad guys... test your reflexes and become a Timing Hero.

App Of The Week - Coin Dozer Season

 

Previously I wrote about my love of Coin Dozer, and thought this would be a great time of the year to tell you about Coin Dozer Seasons.

This surprisingly addictive game, is just like what you would see at an arcade, but with a seasonal twist.   Coin Dozer: Seasons rolls Christmas, Valentine’s and Easter into a single game and they are promising more seasons in the future. 


I really didn't think the coin dozer games would be all that fun, and seriously thought, ok they can be a quick posts for the blog.  That was the sole purpose of downloading these games.

I found them totally addicting, and a fun time waster.

Push shiny gold coins and exciting prizes into your hands by dropping some down the themed play board.  For Christmas it is the roof surrounded by snow and trees.   When you are pushing some of your coins and prizes drop off the side instead of into your chimney.....this is not good.  But you can get boosters like walls that will protect the sides so all your coins and prizes go straight to you!

In Coin Dozer: Seasons you’ll be returning to the rooftops, helping Santa deliver coins and presents down the chimney. Switch machines in the game and you can start collecting gifts for Valentine's Day! Switch again and you can fill your basket with eggs and chocolate bunnies for Easter! Don't drop anything off the sides if you want to have the perfect holiday! But don't worry too much, with multiple holidays to play there are lots of prizes to collect from Easter eggs to Valentine's bears to sugar cookies! Gain levels for special effects and grab special coins to further increase your coin-collecting power! Don't be bothered if you run out of coins, more coins will be giving filling you with holiday cheer soon. Keep checking back to complete your collection!

Have you played Coin Dozer, or Coin Dozer Seasons yet?

App Of The Week: Cats and Cards

I am a huge cat lover, and like solitaire, so when I the app called Cats and Cards I thought it would be fun to try out.

What happens when the world gets infested with hordes of mice? Well you call in the cats of course!  This is basically the premise behind this solitaire game.  This is a classic solitaire game with the a purrrrrrfect twist.

If you get 3 smiley stars on each level you earn new species of cats like Zombiecats!  Once you gather the themed cats collections to win special prizes.  You can trade with friends too.

I found the game cute, and fun, but I haven't really got too sucked in with it. I don't find it the easiest to look at, which then hinders my wanting to keep playing.

It's a cute game, but not something I will continue to play on an ongoing basis. It might be a little too gimmicky for my personal tastes.

App Of The Week: Cascade

I am always on the look out for a fun game to share with you. This week I am telling you about Cascade.

Are you a fan of Match-3 games? Well than you should check out Cascade. 

Cascade is a Match-3 style game, but with a twist.  Along the bottom of the screen, you will find some boxes. You are given a certain amount of spins per level.  You spin the gems, and those boxes fill up.  At that point, you choose where you want to put the gem from the bottom where it will best fit into that row.

This will help you match up gems (with a minimum of 3), and gain you points and boosts.  It's a very simple game, but there is some strategy with where you place the gems. 

Spin, Match, and Win in this unique puzzle game! Join Jasper the Mole on his journey through 19 lands and complete over 300 colorful levels! Spin for gems and send them cascading with matches of 3 or more. The larger the match, the higher your score!

• Match-3 and slots combine in this innovative gameplay experience
• Over 300 hand-crafted levels, completely free to play; no friend gates, no paywalls, no shenanigans!
• Earn Burst Gems, Wilds, and other boosts and powerups to get you through challenging levels
• Compete against your friends on each level, or play alone
• Seamless synchronization between multiple devices

Overall it's a fun game, and something that I do play.

App Of The Week: Minions Paradise

It seems like Minions are everywhere these days. Since people love minions, they are getting marketed in and on everything!  So it was only a matter of time before they had their own app.

Minions Paradise is the Minions App where you can have your own Minion island.  Phil, one of the minions, sinks the cruise ship that the Minions are vacationing on!  When Phil gets to a deserted island first, you have to help him get things set up for the other minions! After all, he did ruin their vacation, they are pretty mad at him!

This island is all about partying it up Minion style.  So you will be creating tikki bars, hammocks, pinatas, and all the awesome things that make a vacation awesome on an island.

Think of this game as a Farmville style game, but without the farming, and with more minions.  It is fun, and simple.

I like that you don't have to wait on things to build or call all your friends to help. I am all about let me play my game when I want to play. I will be back when I have time.

App Of The Week: Angry Birds 2

Why yes, there is an Angry Birds 2. I know what you are thinking isn't there a bunch of different Angry Birds games? Yes. But none of them are the actual sequel. They are all spin offs. So now we have an Angry Birds 2, officially.

If you haven't lost interest, then you will probably love this. My boys were very excited. I gave it a try, but it's a lot like the previous version, but with a lot more rules. They sort of took out the simplicity of the game, and tried to make it more complicated.

Basically you have the same set up as the original Angry Birds. It's a slingshot, some birds, and some elaborate set up you need to knock the pigs off of. BUT this time... you get "cards" as you play. The cards represent which bird you are going to fling.

Each bird is better for a certain type of material the pigs are sitting on. So now you look at the board, and decide which bird best fits the situation.  However if you have run out of that birds cards, then you have to make due without it.

You can, challenge players from across the world in the Arena to see who’s the best bird flinger of them all.  Also, if you connect to Facebook, you will be able to play new tournaments every day to earn feathers and level-up your flock. In the Arena you play until you run out of birds and spells, so you will need to solve some puzzles to earn more.

There’s some serious bad guys on Piggy Island, and your slingshot skills are needed to take them down. Foreman Pig, Chef Pig and the infamous King Pig will stop at nothing to keep your eggs. Are you gonna let ‘em get away with that? It’s time to hit that pork and teach ‘em a lesson.

Over all, the game is fun, and if you haven't gotten bored of the Angry Birds yet, then give it a shot!

App Of The Week: I am Bread

My nephew has a Youtube channel called MrTBakin.  I asked him if he could do a review for us for this week's App Of The Week.

He decided to check out I am Bread for us:




Get it for your iPhone here.

Hot Wheels Showdown App

I have a 7yo who is a Hot Wheels fan.  He loves having tons and tons of cars, and does races in his room.  When we go places he wants to bring them with him, but that isn't normally feasible, so I usually bring his iPhone with us instead.

He always says he wants to be a race car driver. That is why a new app that we have discovered is just perfect for him! The app is called Hot Wheels Showdown app.


Every time he gets a new Hot Wheel Car in the package we can scan the QR Code, and it will add to his collection, and then he can use that car in a race!

This very cool app has 36 different tracks and hundreds of Hot Wheels cars. Once you have a car in your collection, you can race it anytime, anywhere! This may even help them to find new favourites in their current collection or remember that forgotten car they don’t play with anymore!
I also think it’s cool that with the new Hot Wheels Showdown app, I can work with my son to create a huge collection of awesome cars. That is his passion, and we can race together, since we both like racing and trying to beat each other!
If you want his app:

1. Download the free Hot Wheels Showdown App from the Apple Store or Google Play Store.
2. Scan the QR code on the back of a Hot Wheels car pack – you don’t have to have a Hot Wheels pack to get started, but it sure does add to the fun.
3. Your little ones are now ready to start virtually competing with their car in high-octane races!

He really likes the app so I got him to do his own review for us:

Angry Birds Friends App of The Week

I am taking full advantage of my kids being home for the summer, their love of playing apps, and the fact they will work for $1.

So this week I hired my middle son to do an app review, and he is showcasing Angry Birds Friends.  My thought? Man there are a lot of Angry Birds additions...and am I just getting ripped off, since he mostly just writes the same thing over and over?? LOL

Here is his review:

As you can see....he thinks lines are a mere suggestion instead of a necessity! LOL But I love that he tries, and that he really does put his heart into his review.

How you play:
Start the fight or do practice. Hold back, let go, press the screen. You have incredible terance.  (Editor's notes: I didn't know what he meant by the incredible terance so I asked him.  His response? "Oh I found out later his name is really wing man.")

And introducing the new global League! Challenge millions of players from across the world in a fantastically furious bird flingin’ festival of pig poppin’ destruction! Get higher scores to improve your ranking and climb through the seven tiers (sound easy? it’s not). The higher you go, the tougher it gets. And remember, what goes up can also come down...

You can play on mobile devices or Facebook!

App Of The Week: Angry Birds Transfomers Kid Review

Did you know that they now have a game called Angry Birds Transformers? Yeah... me either. But apparently it's a reality and my boys are all over it.

My oldest said he would do an app review for you all! So here is his version:

 

 When you are just begin starting, your first bird is "Red" as "Optimus Prime. Unlock new characters when you see one frozen in an ice cube.  To melt them you pay the right amount of pigs. 

Each bird has different abilities.  When playing, tap anywhere to shoot there.  There can also be pigs on your side.  You move on to the next level by upgrading your birds/pigs.  Places that are locked are covered in fog. 

There is something called Professor Pigs Lab.  You can unlock it at Level 10.    You can make things that are weird and wonderful.  Like energizers, coins, gems and materials. 

PLAY NOW!

I love that he wants you to play now! LOL Here is what iTunes says about it:

Angry Birds and Transformers collide in this action-packed, 3D shoot ‘em up adventure! The EggSpark has transformed the eggs into crazed robots who are destroying Piggy Island, but who can stop them?! Autobirds, ROLL OUT!

The Autobirds have some tough bots on their team – Red as Optimus Prime, Chuck as Bumblebee, and the rest of the transformerized flock! But the courageous Autobirds can’t save Piggy Island on their own – to stop the EggBots they’ll need to join forces with their arch rivals the DECEPTIHOGS (like Decepticons only smellier). Can these bitter enemies team up and put aside their differences? Yeah right…

- COLLECT! Unlock a roster of heroes (and villains) with unique attacks and abilities!
- DESTROY! No need for slingshots when you have LASERS!
- VEHICLES! Oh, yes! Cars, trucks, tank or planes – transform to dodge falling hazards!
- UPGRADES! Get stronger weapons and new abilities for every Transformer!
- TAG TEAM! Borrow a friend’s character to unleash a devastating two-bot assault!
- TELEPODS™! Scan ‘em to unlock, revive or boost your bots!

Have you played?

Hey That's My Fish!, the App

My 8 year old daughter LOVES playing Hey That's My Fish!We've played the board game version a handful of times, and one day she noticed the app sitting on my iPad. Since then she's taken to playing the app regularly. It's one of her favourites.

My take: This is a solid board game to app port, with a decent A.I.

Her take:

App Of The Week: Disco Zoo

This week I tried out Disco Zoo.  You don't play Disco Zoo for the awesome graphics LOL It's one of those 8bit style games.

When you first open this game, you are at your zoo with no animals.  You have to go find them, so you can rescue them. For this, you have to buy a hot air balloon....nope didn't make sense to me either but off I went!  In order to rescue an animal, you have to get all the animals from that species and each one has a specific pattern you need.

You are then given a puzzle, and have to click to find the animals.  You have only a certain number of attempts to find the animals.

Once you have all the animals you were able to find, you can then add them to your zoo.  When you have animals in your zoo, you can start earning coins.  After my first game I had 1 cow, and a sheep.  I wouldn't call that a great zoo lol

As you find animals your Zoo gets better, and will get better reviews. 

Plus you can start a Disco and your animals will be awake and earning you coins throughout the disco.

This is an interesting game and a different concept then I am use to.

App Of The Week: Uno With Friends

This week I am telling you about Uno & Friends. 

Uno & Friends is a social app of the card game Uno. 


For this app, you have to  enter your age to be able to play the game; I believe it is because it is online and you can encounter adults and possibly inappropriate content.  There is also inapp purchases, while the app itself is free, so if you are letting someone who is younger play, you should be aware of that and safe guard your payment information.

This app has some serious potential, but I find to just get to the game itself there is a lot of preliminary things, like pop up scratchers, approving this and that before you can get to anything.  It gets frustrating after a while.  I am the type who likes to open an app for a couple of minutes at a time sometimes, so pop in and play then pop out so I can do other things. If I am waiting for something I will play a game whether it be 5 minutes for 35 minutes etc.

The other thing that can be good or bad about this game is you have to have an internet connection, and you have to play with other people live online.  You have to complete an game.  There is no pop in and play for a few minutes, and come back later.  So for me it's not really a good fit.

However, it might be worth a try for you, if you like to play a full round at a time, and you like playing in real time.  I am more of a turn based, play when you got a moment type of girl.

App Of The Week: Jurassic World The Game

Jurassic World App is a city builder type game, where you are building the theme park, and creating your own dinosaur breeds.  Not only are you creating a fun theme park, but you are also creating stronger dinosaurs to battle in the arena.

I found this game took a long time to load, but while playing it I could see why. It has a lot of animation, and pretty good graphics for an app.  Keep in mind that while the app is free, it does have in-app purchases. I always like to be aware that is something that you will encounter.

When you start the game, you are in the arena fighting another dinosaur with  your Triceratops. Your Triceratops isn't doing well, so you stop the fight, and go visit him.  This is where you learn to feed him to make him stronger and to help him evolve.  After enhancing him....you back to the arena to fight some more.  From there you learn how to win the fight.  There is a strategy to it, on top of just getting a stronger dino.

Along the way you buy new dinos, cross breed, battle, and earn collector packs.  The collector packs have: food, points, coins, and unlocks new dinos. 

The idea is to keep growing your park and upgrading your dinosaurs,  and to win in battles.





**Create powerful new hybrids!**

Return to Isla Nublar with the creators of the smash hit Jurassic Park™ Builder for your next adventure: Jurassic World™: The Game, the official mobile game based on this summer’s epic action-adventure. Bring to life more than 50 colossal dinosaurs from the new film and challenge your opponents in earth-shaking battles. Construct the theme park of tomorrow in this unrivaled build-and-battle dinosaur experience.

In order to build a winning Battle Arena team, you’ll need to design the most efficient and effective park, one that will allow your dinosaurs to thrive and evolve. Discover new and amazing species of dinosaurs by acquiring surprise-filled card packs. Join Owen, Claire and your favorite characters from the film as, daily, you feed and genetically enhance your dinosaurs. Now that the park is open, it’s time to make Jurassic World™ your own!

In Jurassic World™ The Game you will:

* Defy the laws of science as you COLLECT, HATCH & EVOLVE more than 50 unique dinosaurs!
* CONSTRUCT & UPGRADE iconic buildings & lush landscapes inspired by the film.
* CHALLENGE opponents from around the world in earth-shaking BATTLES!
* INTERACT with characters from the film as you navigate exciting new storylines & thrilling missions!
* ENHANCE your experience with Hasbro® Brawlasaurs™ toys – scan each toy dinosaur & battle with it directly in the game!
* CHOOSE from multiple card packs; each can bring a special dinosaur to life!
* EARN daily rewards such as coins, DNA & other essential resources.

By installing this application you agree to the terms of the licensed agreements.

Like us on Facebook for fan giveaways, the latest news and updates! (facebook.com/jurassicworldthegame)

Jurassic World™ is a trademark and copyright of Universal Studios and Amblin Entertainment, Inc. Licensed by Universal Studios Licensing LLC. All rights reserved.

Please note: Jurassic World™: The Game is completely free to play but offers some game items for purchase with real money.

Jurassic World™: The Game currently does NOT support
the following devices:

- iPhone 4/4s
- iPad Mini 1st Generation
- iPad 2/3
- iPod Touch 5th Generation

App Of The Week: Triple Town

A couple of years ago my hubby downloaded an app called Triple Town.  It was addictive in it's simplicity.  This is one of those games we have gone back to after a while and play solid for a few days then move on to something else.  But it has staying power in our household.

Triple Town is a strategy puzzle game.  You start out with grass, and you have to match 3 grass together to build a bush.  Match 3 bushes to make a tree, then you will keep working your way up to floating castles. 


The game takes place on a 6×6 grid of fields on which some tiles are randomly placed.  You are given random tiles, most often grass, and three or more identical tiles adjoin, they merge into one more advanced tile at the position of the last tile placed.


Watch out for those pesky bears though! You have to trap the bears to turn them into a church....I am not sure how bears make a church, but alas that's how it works.  Bears move around thus the reason for trapping them.  Some of them are Ninjas!  And those move around but they jump to any spot on the board!

Another tile you get is a crystal. Crystals can be used as a wild card to make any match, and then you can use imperial bots remove individual tiles, or, if used on bears, turn them into gravestones.


The object of the game is to upgrade as much as possible to get the highest score possible!

I always find the most simple game to be the most addictive.

App Of The Week - Yahtzee Buddies

Yahtzee has been a family classic game for my family since I was young.  We use to take it on trips, camping, or whatever.  If no one else was up to playing, my younger sister and I use to play.  These days I don't have as many people who want to play Yahtzee around, so I don't get to play very often.

While looking up new apps for App Of The Week, I found the Yahtzee Buddies app.

If you are a fan of Yahtzee, this has all the fun of Yahtzee in an app.  You can defeat a new DiceMaster each day to win Bonus Rolls, score Custom Dice and test your skills.

You don't have to have a friends playing to play, although it does make it more fun.  You can just get a random person matched up with you.  You can customize your dice, and it even pairs with Apple Watch if you have it.

It is very simple to play, and you can follow the tutorial, although even if I hadn't I would've been able to figure it out super easily.

My Latest App Obsession.... DomiNations

One day a few weeks back I was in a piss poor mood and I wanted a game to distract myself with. Nothing already sitting on my desktop appealed; either I'd beaten it, played it to death, or just didn't like it that much. So I opened up the app store and randomly browsed around, looking at "editors picks" and the like. I downloaded a few things, which I tried and quickly deleted, until I settled on DomiNations.

DomiNations is one of those "free" time and resource management games whose sole purpose seems to be to rook you into purchasing in game credits with real world cash. I normally go out of my way to avoid these freemium style games, and those I have tried have failed to hold my interest for any length of time. What caught my eye here, and convinced me to download DomiNations and give it a shot, was the name Brian Reynolds. A name that is attached to several blockbuster games, most notably Civilization II.

Okay, so the lead designer from Civ II, a game which sucked away more hours of my life then I'm willing to admit in polite company,  put out  a "build up your nation" style app.... yeah I'm interested.