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Brave Hand (Free) by Heart Shaped Games is a single-player card game that revolves around pushing your luck. If you enjoyed other recent card games like Flipflop Solitaire and Onirim, then you will like what Brave Hand has to offer.

When life gets crazy (and boy is it this week), I want to just sit back and play some games to take my mind off reality for a bit. Usually for me, this involves puzzle games, but I also spend a lot of time playing Solitaire-style card games. There's something about them that just helps me relax, and I put in tons of hours into playing Solitaire back in the day. When I saw Brave Hand on the App Store, I was intrigued by the style and unique gameplay, so of course I had to check it out for myself. After trying it out, I can definitely say that it's an interesting addition to anyone's card game collection.

Free

Flipflop Solitaire

Zach Gage

Free

Onirim – Solitaire Card Game

Asmodee Digital

The visual style in Brave Hand is beautiful, as it features what appears to be hand-drawn artwork on each card back. These drawings also represent "story pages" in the game, which are clues to the origin of the card game, and they also reveal strategy and hidden powers. The drawings all appear like paintings, and feature a wide range of colors, including vibrant shades and muted tones. The scenes are depicted in incredible amounts of detail, and there's a nice texture with the cards themselves. Animations are smooth and fluid on my iPhone 8 Plus with no issues of lag. The game has an ambient and atmospheric soundtrack, and the sound effects of the cards are realistic. Overall, the developers did a great job with Brave Hand's audio and visual design.

In Brave Hand, players have three game modes to choose from, though only the first one is available from the get-go: Brave, Boost, and Jumbo Deck. You'll have to keep playing Brave Mode until you earn enough coins to unlock more story pages, which then gives you access to Boost Mode. And with even more story pages, you can get the Jumbo Deck mode. But if you're impatient, you can unlock all game modes, remove ads, and get extra themes with a $2.99 in-app purchase.

So how do you play? Brave Hand features a standard deck of 52 playing cards, as well as an additional two Demon cards. There are eight starting piles on the board, starting from one in the first pile and going up to eight in the final pile. You're dealt seven cards in your hand, and then 11 cards remain in the deck.

In Jumbo Deck, the deck consists of 90 cards and all piles have eight cards each. Boost Mode is like Brave Mode, except you get three sets of special boost expansion cards that can be bought for some coins. These power-ups include Bomb (reveals all piles on a win), Guardian (+2 bonus point stars on cash-in), and Phoenix (transforms Pile Bonus to 2X on a win).

The goal of the game is to score points by cashing in your cards from the piles. The game ends only if you run out of cards in your hand, or all eight piles are cleared out. How do you clear out piles? On each of your turns, you'll pick any card in your hand, and then choose a pile. If your card is greater than the card in the pile (they're all face-down, but a few are revealed at the start), then you win. If you lose, you get nothing and lose your card.

You'll have two options when you have a win: Cash-In or Push. If you Cash-In, you earn points and end the run, while also getting an additional card from the deck. When you decide to Push, you can challenge the next card in the pile, but risk losing all earned points. It's a game of high risk, high reward.

While that covers the basics, there are some special rules in Brave Hand that make things more challenging. In the upper left corner is the Dice Pile, which reveals the top card of two random piles in exchange for a card. The "2" card is also known as the Scout Card, and can beat an Ace (14) card. The Demon Card has the highest value (15) and if it's scouted with the dice pile, can lead to bonus points.

While it may seem like a lot at first, Brave Hand is actually pretty straightforward once you get the basics. And with the addition of unique rules, it leads to interesting strategies to get the best score possible in a game. I'll admit that I didn't quite get it at first, but once I started to understand what was going on and the depth of strategy required, I found it hard to put down.

Once you get going in Brave Hand, you'll have a hard time putting it down as you push your luck like never before.

The Good

Brave Hand is a great gem of a card game that anyone can play. The game features gorgeous art and a distinctive style that is rather whimsical. The music is immersive and the sound effects are realistic to what you'd expect from real playing cards. While the gameplay seems simple at first, there's a lot of nuances to it, opening it up for many in-depth strategies. The core game mode reveals the basics of the game, but the additional two modes that you can unlock are almost like playing a new game. The replay value is high with Brave Hand.

The Bad

Brave Hand is a good game, but again, it does take some time to practice and understand the rules and strategies to it. And since the game is mostly based on luck, it may not be for everyone. But I can say that once you get going in this game, it can be hard to stop. You just feel like the next run will be better, and it's just fun to push your luck.

The verdict

After spending some time with Brave Hand, I must say that this is definitely a card game that I'll be coming back to in my spare time. I love the cute graphics, the sound is engaging, and the gameplay is different from other card games I've tried. While it's a free download and therefore comes with ads, I didn't find them to be too intrusive, so it's definitely tolerable. However, the game stands out from the crowd, and I'm finding it to be rather enjoyable, so I think it's worth the in-app purchase to get the full experience.

I recommend giving Brave Hand a try if you're a fan of single-player card games. You can find Brave Hand on the App Store as a universal app for your iPhone and iPad for free with in-app purchases.

9.0

OVERALL

Game Controls 10

Replayability 9

Graphics 9

Gameplay 9

Sound/Music 8

FREE

Brave Hand

Heart Shaped Games LLC

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Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp (Free) by Nintendo is a full-fledged Animal Crossing game for smartphones, and it's been met with much anticipation. Pocket Camp joins the ranks of other Nintendo games on iOS, including Super Mario Run and Fire Emblem Heroes.

Even though Animal Crossing has been around siince 2001 on the Nintendo 64, my first Animal Crossing experience wasn't until 2012's New Leaf on the Nintendo 3DS. So while I was a bit late to the Animal Crossing thing, I became hooked on it, doing what I thought would be mundane activities to make money and repay my debt to Tom Nook. I also loved playing online with my friends, visiting their villages and doing various activities together.

Then New Leaf kind of fell off for me, and I neglected my town about a year after I started. Now it's been years since I last played New Leaf, and honestly, I'm afraid to fire up the game in fear of finding out which of my beloved animal villagers has left me. But that's okay, because now there's Pocket Camp.

Free

Super Mario Run

Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Free

Fire Emblem Heroes

Nintendo Co., Ltd.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has the same AC aesthetic from previous games. This means a lush 3D rendered world that's full of bright and vibrant colors and cute animal character models. If you've played previous AC games, then you'll feel right at home. If this is your first AC experience, then you should let the low-poly style graphics work their charm on you, because it's hard to not fall in love with the AC world. All animations are smooth and there's no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. Pocket Camp includes the adorable sound effects from previous games and the music is relaxing.

If you played previous AC games, you'll remember that you start as the mayor of a small village, and your goal is to grow and expand that town to attract new residents. Pocket Camp is different. Instead of owning a town, you're the manager of a campsite. You can choose the theme of the campsite (cute, cool, sporty, or natural) and decorate it however you want.

Various animal campers begin to set up camp in different areas of the campgrounds (riverside, island with plenty of bugs, oceanside, and even a lush grove), and your job is to meet them and fulfill their requests to build up friendship levels. By earning their trust, you'll get rewarded with Bells (AC currency) and useful crafting materials. When you get to certain friendship levels with animals, you'll earn cool things like matching clothes, rare materials and decor, and eventually their character portrait.

The requests that the campers have vary, but they're usually pretty easy to fulfill. These include collecting fruit, bugs, shells, or even fish. To get these items, you'll have to go around the campgrounds and do various activities. Once you harvest an item, like fruit from trees, you'll have to wait a while before more fruit is available (hello timers). Bugs and fish are quicker to re-spawn, as you'll find more if you just walk around a little.

If you have trouble finding specific items that animals request from you, then you may want to turn to the Market Box feature. In the Market Box, you (and others) can list items for sale. These can be seen by friends you've added and vice versa, so if you're in need of something, check what your friends have for sale.

Your character can also only carry so much, so when your bag is full, you'll need to sell items or list them. As you raise friendship levels, you'll earn experience points for your character. Once you level up, you unlock more characters, your inventory space may increase, and you unlock more items to craft.

After you reach certain friendship levels with animals, you can also invite them to your campsite, and have them stay permanently if there's space. But each animal has certain requirements that need to be fulfilled before they visit, and this includes having specific decor items available.

There's also a marketplace area on the map, where mobile versions of your favorite shops come by to sell goods. This includes the Able Sisters for clothes, Kicks for shoes and socks, and the traveling Nook 'n' Go for various decor. The vendors rotate every few hours, so you'll want to check back often for new items.

On top of everything, you roll around in a mobile camper. This serves as your home in the game, and it can be customized on the inside and outside. New to Pocket Camp is OK Motors, ran by brothers Giovanni, Beppe, and Carlo. They can do paint jobs, change your camper style, and upgrade the inside to be bigger and better! They're also this game's Tom Nook, because you'll have to do loans for these pricey upgrade jobs, and pay them back over time.

Since Pocket Camp is a free game, there are Leaf Tickets. This is the premium currency that's used to speed up crafting jobs from Cyrus and even purchase special items like throw nets (catch many fish), honey (attract many bugs), and fertilizer (grow fruit immediately). While you can buy Leaf Tickets through IAP if you're low, I found that the game is rather generous with giving you free Leaf Tickets from leveling up and completing Timed/Stretch Goals.

I've spent a good several hours playing Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp since it came out, and not surprisingly, I find it hard to put down. I swear I swore off of Animal Crossing since I abandoned my village in New Leaf, but just like that, Nintendo has pulled me back in to this adorable world through camping.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a watered-down version of the console franchise, but it still provides players with plenty to do and collect.

The Good

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp has a lot of things to do that will keep players (new and old) invested for a while. This is a nice mobile version of the popular franchise, though it's a bit watered down from the console versions. It's easy to navigate through the campground, there's a ton of animals (including your favorites), and the one-touch controls for activities makes it easy to play this anywhere, anytime.

And despite it being a free game, Leaf Bucks are not hard to get without paying a dime. And while there are timers (like the actual games), this game is meant to be played in spurts throughout the day, whether they're minutes or hours.

The Bad

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is its own beast. If you are expecting a full-on game with free-roam and vast areas to explore and collect things, then you won't find it in Pocket Camp. Each area on the map is limited in terms of things you can do there, and it definitely feels mini-sized.

I also wish that the mobile vendors sold more than three items at once. They stay in the marketplace for several hours, so when I go back to check, it's often the same stuff (yes I play a lot). I would like to see maybe six items at a time for the clothes and socks, because I love to customize my character and have favorite accessories that I want.

The verdict

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is a great mobile version of the popular simulation game. I was afraid that Nintendo may ruin Animal Crossing on iOS (Super Mario Run didn't do that great after the initial launch), but Pocket Camp is fantastic for what it is — a mobile version of a fun simulation game. It may be a watered down version of previous games, but there's still plenty to do and collect in Pocket Camp.

I've spent a good amount of time with it so far, and I'm already level 20. If I get bored, I can just launch it, check on my campsite and do some requests, gather some items, and then put it away. Or I can just keep playing it for hours if I feel like it. It's also incredibly relaxing to play, and provides me an escape from reality.

I recommend Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp if you're a fan of Animal Crossing, or just want a relaxing game filled with adorable animals. You can find Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp on the App Store as a universal download for free with in-app purchases.

9.5

OVERALL

Graphics 10

Sound/Music 10

Replayability 9

Game Controls 9.5

Gameplay 9

FREE

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

Nintendo Co., Ltd.

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