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Waggle Words ($4.99) by Vermont Digital is a beautiful word game that's unlike other games in the genre. If you enjoyed games like Under a Spell and Spelltower, then you're going to love Waggle Words.

Since I pretty much write full time for a living, I consider myself a wordsmith. That's why word games are one of my favorite genres out there, and a great way for me to unwind and relax after a long, stressful day. While I love word games, I do feel that the market's oversaturated with the same Scrabble or Boggle type of games for a while, and there's nothing new or interesting. That's where Waggle Words comes in.

Free

Under a Spell

Happymagenta UAB

$2.99

SpellTower

Zach Gage

Free

SCRABBLE

Electronic Arts Inc.

Free

Boggle With Friends

Zynga Mobile

Visually, Waggle Words is one of the most gorgeous word games out there. The game is rendered in 2D, but during transition animations, the letters literally pop off of their tiles and fly around on the screen, giving it a pseudo-3D effect that is fun to watch. Waggle Words makes use of a sepia color theme overall, so it has a classy aesthetic going on. The playing grids are always arranged like beehive honeycombs, giving it a unique feel. Letter tiles are dark hexagons with glowing letters, and the colors get inverted when players select tiles. There's a glowing outline on the "Waggle Piece" to differentiate it from the rest, and the light and particle effects are mesmerizing to watch.

The soundtrack in Waggle Words is full of soothing, ambient nature noises, so it's calming and helps you focus on spelling words. The sound effects are fun to listen to as you create successful words, and the "buzz" you hear when using specific power-ups only adds to the uniqueness of Waggle Words and it's beehive design.

There's three game modes in Waggle Words: Casual, Daily, and Speed Game. In Casual, you get a random beehive grid layout (85 different versions with unlimited letter combinations) each time you play, and you can go at your own pace. Daily is a unique game board for the day that you can play multiple times to try and clear it and get your highest score. Speed is a timed game, where your goal is to make as many words as you can in one minute and 30 seconds. For Casual and Daily, the main goal is to clear the board, but you can also quit at any time and go with your current score.

Controls in Waggle Words are a simple affair. To spell words out, just drag your finger across the tiles that you want to use. If it's a valid word, the game tells you at the top of the screen how much it's worth in real-time. Words that aren't valid won't go through. When you have a valid word selected, just lift your finger from the screen and it's submitted automatically.

The one thing about Waggle Words that makes it stand out is the "Waggle Piece" that I briefly mentioned earlier. Once you submit a word, the last letter in that word becomes the Waggle Piece, and it stays on the board but advances to the next letter in the alphabet. If your next word starts with the Waggle Piece, then you increase the multiplier and your score increases. But if you don't use the Waggle Piece in the beginning of your next word, then the streak ends.

As you spell words, there's a chance to earn power-ups that can be used to help you clear the board. It seems the power-ups are random, and you get them when you make high scoring words. There are eight total power-ups available, and they all have a specific purpose.

The power-ups include advancing a letter tile one or two letters in the alphabet either forward or backward, respectively. Others let you move or swap pieces, including the Waggle Piece. There's also the copy boost, but if used on the Waggle Piece, it only copies the letter value, not the Waggle Piece itself. The Waggle Piece cannot change letters through boosts.

The most valuable power-up is the Swarm. This one gets the entire board buzzing and all of the remaining tiles "swarm" together like bees and regroup in a new cluster. This is more like a reshuffle of the board, and it closes all of the gaps that you left by clearing out tiles. I recommend only using the Swarm if you're absolutely certain that there are no other words you can make.

A cool thing about Waggle Words is that there's an AR Mode available for those who are on iOS 11 and have a device with the A9 (or higher) chip. This means that whatever your camera sees becomes the background, and the beehive board is laid out on top of it. It's a cool feature, but in my testing, I didn't find it to be too practical.

The AR Mode can be applied to any of the three game settings. Controls consist of the standard touch, or a different scheme called Target. With Target, you move your device around and line up the tiles you want in the center point, then tap-and-hold a button on either side of the screen to select your letters. When you long-press on both buttons at the same time, you re-center the grid alignment.

Waggle Words also comes with support for Game Center leaderboards, so you can be competitive with other players globally. There's also iCloud game save support, so your stats go with you, no matter which device you're using.

This is one of the most beautiful word games you'll find on the App Store.

The Good

There's a lot of good to be found in Waggle Words. The greatest thing about it is the distinctive visuals that make it stand out from the competition, and the atmospheric sound design. This is really one of the most stunning word games you'll find on the App Store. I also like the different game modes that are available, and the AR feature is cool for showing off your device capabilities. Controls are intuitive and straightforward enough for anyone to pick-up-and-play.

The Bad

While I love Waggle Words so far, it isn't without some flaws. I did find that sometimes it's hard to draw a path connecting letter tiles because it felt sensitive to touch and my finger blocks visibility, so the line would veer off to another tile. It's not a big deal in Casual or Daily, but can be a slight issue with Speed mode. I would recommend trying to be precise in that mode if you don't want to make mistakes.

The verdict

Waggle Words is a nice hidden gem among the App Store in recent weeks. I'm always up for a good word game, and this one is definitely a new favorite. I love the exquisite graphics and amazing sound design. Casual is the mode that I'm enjoying the most, but Daily gives me something to look forward to each day, and Speed is a real test. The power-ups provide variety and can change the tide of the game, helping you get closer to clearing out board. Replay value is high with this one, and I'll be coming back to Waggle Words for a long time.

I highly recommend Waggle Words if you're in the mood for a word game that is unlike anything you've tried before. Waggle Words is available on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $4.99. There are no in-app purchases.

9.3

OVERALL

Graphics 10

Sound/Music 10

Replayability 9

Gameplay 9

Game Controls 8.5

$4.99

Waggle Words

Vermont Digital Arts LLC

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews

Dragon Hills 2 ($2.99) by Cezary Rajkowski is the sequel to the original Dragon Hills that came out in 2015. If you enjoy fast paced arcade games like Grapple Gum and Pigeon Wings, then you'll love what Dragon Hills 2 offers.

With all that's going on in the world lately, I find solace in video games. Though my usual go-tos are relaxing puzzles or Stardew Valley on my Nintendo Switch, sometimes I'm just craving chaos and destruction on my screen. For those moments, I find arcade games like Kick Ass Commandos to be perfect. I remember playing Dragon Hills a few years ago, and I'm glad to see it return on the App Store in a new package.

$1.99

Grapple Gum

Ali Mehrez

$1.99

Pigeon Wings

Ignacio Schiefelbein

$1.99

Dragon Hills

Cezary Rajkowski

In terms of visuals, Dragon Hills 2 supersedes the original game. While the first Dragon Hills did not look bad, the sequel brings in even more polished graphics that are gorgeous to behold. Dragon Hills 2 retains the cartoonish art style and humor, which is great for fans.

Everything's rendered in 2D, but with the city skylines and other environmental backgrounds, there's some nice depth to the layering. The world is fairly detailed and full of realistic textures, and character sprites are lively. The colors are bright and vibrant, with danger zones easy to spot from a distance so you have time to get ready. Animations are smooth and fluid so there's no lag on my iPhone 8 Plus. There's a quirky soundtrack that's fun to listen to during the action, and the sound effects are sure to bring a smile to your face.

While Dragon Hills 2 looks like an infinite runner style game at first glance, it's not. It's level-based with three unique worlds, and players must get through each stage with a challenging boss fight at the end in order to conquer all of the zombie towers. If you played the first game, you'll remember the protagonist, because she makes her appearance once more. But rather than fighting knights, you'll be taking out hungry zombies.

Controls in Dragon Hills 2 is as intuitive as the original game. The former princess takes control of the mech dragon and it goes forward automatically. When you touch anywhere on the screen, that causes the dragon to dive down, digging through buildings, the ground, and even enemies. As you release your finger, the dragon goes upwards, eventually jumping out of the ground. The dragon can only be underground for so long (progress bar at bottom indicates how long until you need to surface), so a combination of burrowing and jumping is key.

As you set out with your robotic dragon friend, you'll see zombies hiding out in buildings, vehicles, and other objects in the environment. You'll want to aim for them, because the more zombies you eliminate, the better. Everything in the environment is destructible as well, so you'll see entire buildings crumble and fall once you rip through them.

There's gold coins to collect along the way, if you manage to time and aim your jumps for them. The coins are for you to spend on upgrades for your dragon, such as increased health, more speed, or more potent burrowing capabilities. Additionally, in case your dragon needs more firepower, there are weapons that you can purchase and upgrade too. And like many games, there are power-up items that you can unlock, making things like collecting coins easier.

While you may start out in the game thinking you're invincible (you're in a mech dragon fighting zombies after all), it's much harder than you think. There are dangerous obstacles that you'll have to watch out for, such as laser beams, deadly acid pools, and even projectiles fired by enemy zombies.

Plus, the boss battles are a test of your ability to jump and burrow while dodging attacks. You start with one heart, which equates to one hit, but more upgrades means you can withstand more damage before you go down. Bosses also need more hits to defeat, so it becomes rather challenging.

Ride a dragon to cause as much destruction as possible.

The Good

Dragon Hills 2 is beautiful auto-runner arcade game that will keep anyone entertained. The graphics are stunning and crisp on Retina screens, and the sound design is fantastic. The one-touch controls mean this game is simple enough for everyone, but also challenging and gives you a sense of progression. There's also a dash of humor mixed in, which I love.

And if the game concept itself is not enough to keep you coming back, then perhaps the abundance of upgrades, weapons, and power-ups for your dragon will. After all, who doesn't want to see what a mechanized dragon can do after getting souped up for battle against an undead horde?

The Bad

There's a lot of good going on for Dragon Hills 2, but I can't help but feel that this is just more of the same. I played the original game for a while, and this is just the same thing, but with zombies. It's great fun for those who haven't played the first one, though.

There's also a slight learning curve for those who haven't played before, and they may find the first boss fight more difficult than it should be.

The verdict

Even though it feels mostly like a rehash, I'm still enjoying Dragon Hills 2. The graphics look improved over the first game, and the sounds are fun. Even though the game is fairly difficult, it's a welcome challenge and keeps you coming back for more in hopes of making progress. There's a plethora of upgrades to work your way towards, and I can't wait to blow up some zombies with a super dragon mech.

I recommend giving Dragon Hills 2 a try if you're looking for a fun arcade auto-runner game. You can find Dragon Hills 2 on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for $2.99.

9.0

OVERALL

Game Controls 10

Replayability 9

Graphics 9

Sound/Music 8.5

Gameplay 8.5

$2.99

Dragon Hills 2

Cezary Rajkowski

Source link: http://appadvice.com/reviews