AppReviewToday- All

Hi, my name is Kristina and I work as the office manager of Mid Atlantic Consulting. We are a Macintosh Support, Service, and Consulting Company. I will review one iPhone app every day coming from a non-tech like me. Add your comments and I will try to reply.

  • Fill the Screen With Color in the Puzzling Flud

    Fill the Screen With Color in the Puzzling Flud

    Flud. ($1.99) by Appsolute Games LLC is a puzzle game that is about flooding the screen with color. If you enjoyed games like Open Bar and Bicolor, then you will get a kick out of Flud. It’s definitely one of those games that will make you think before you make your move, and a great option to consider when you just want to kick back and relax with a nice puzzler.

    If you’ve been following my work here at AppAdvice for a while now, you’ll know that I’m a big fan of puzzle games. To me, there’s nothing better than coming home from a long and hectic day (and I’ve had a lot of that lately) and just unwinding with a puzzle game because it makes me relax but still stimulates my brain. There’s never a moment where I’m not thinking, so why not put my brain to use solving puzzles and staying sharp? I’ve gone through a ton of puzzle games while I’ve been working here at AppAdvice, but I can’t help but always be on the lookout for new ones, and still get excited when something that looks fresh and exciting hits my inbox. Flud by Appsolute Games is one of those puzzlers that still gets me thrilled.

    Fill the Screen With Color in the Puzzling Flud

    In terms of visuals, Flud has a super minimalistic aesthetic that will appeal to fans of the look. The game is composed of bright and vivid solid colors mixed in with hues of white and gray. It features simple geometric shapes and the level layouts consist of squares to form grids. Animations in Flud are super smooth and fluid, so I had no problems with it on my iPhone 7. It’s insanely fun to watch the color flood the white spaces with the 3-D rendering effect, especially with the bubbly sound effects. Unfortunately, there’s no soundtrack in the background to help you focus on the puzzles, so you’ll have to provide your own music for that, or just enjoy the sound effects with silence.

    Flud, like most puzzle games, is level-based. At the moment, you can play through four different chapters that have about 18 puzzles to solve, so there are 72 stages in total. The objective of the game is to flood all of the cells with color before moving on to the next stage. Unlike most puzzle games, though, players can play any of the six stages on the level page in any order, so they can skip ahead and return to a previous level if they are stuck. There are no timers or points to earn, but the game does give players a limited amount of moves and resources, which is where the challenge comes in.

    Controls in Flud are simple and intuitive enough for anyone to understand. To start the “flow” of the color stream, just swipe from a starting cell, preferably at the end. The flow will continue forward until it hits a dead end. But you’ll be introduced to cells with arrows that can change the direction of the flow, and eventually you’ll get access to arrow tiles that can be placed on the grid where you need them to go. To place arrows, just double-tap on the space you want to place them in, and then swipe the arrow in the direction you want it to change the flow to. Each level will only give you a certain amount of “floods” and arrows though (visible at the top of the screen), so you have to use them wisely to flood the screen. If you make a mistake, you can just tap on the undo button to go back one step.

    Fill the Screen With Color in the Puzzling Flud

    Since there are no time limits or points to worry about in Flud, you can play the game at your own pace, which is nice. The game starts off easy enough, but things get tricky at a gradual pace. The game does have iCloud support to save your game progress so that you don’t lose your place when switching devices.

    I’ve just started Flud recently, but am enjoying my time with it so far. The minimalist graphics are nice and pleasing on the eyes, the bubbly, clicking sounds are nice audible feedback, and the puzzles themselves are deceptively simple but prove to be a real challenge. The only improvement to the game would be more levels, so hopefully that can be considered in the future if the game does well enough. Either way, Flud is a great little puzzler for any fans of the genre.

    Flud. can be found on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $1.99. There are no in-app purchases.

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

  • Build Your Dream Subway System in Mini Metro

    Build Your Dream Subway System in Mini Metro

    Mini Metro ($4.99) by Dinosaur Polo Club is a subway management simulator that also throws in some puzzles into the mix. If you are a fan of the inner workings of a city and their subway system, and have been craving a simulation puzzle game that uses this concept as the premise, then you won’t be disappointed with Mini Metro. The game was originally released on Steam for Windows, OS X, and Linux on Nov. 6, 2015, and is just now available on mobile for iOS and Android.

    As an Angeleno who has frequently taken the Metro train system in Los Angeles, I’ve become fascinated with the train layouts and subway structures in other cities. As much as I wish the trains and subways in Los Angeles could one day be more like New York’s system, it’s still useable in the current state (we can finally get to Santa Monica by train again). It’s been interesting to see how the city plans out new train lines, and watch the progress unfold right before my eyes. While I don’t have any experience in working on trains or for the city, I’m still curious about the process, so when I heard of Mini Metro being available for iOS, I was pretty excited. Finally, a game that let’s me see a different perspective of how to plan and build a city with a subway system! Needless to say, this game does not disappoint, and it’s great for everyone, even those who have never heard of Mini Metro until now.

    Build Your Dream Subway System in Mini Metro

    In terms of visuals, Mini Metro is gorgeous with a minimalistic aesthetic that closely represents posters I’ve seen for train station maps from all over the world. The game features a light cream beige backdrop that makes it easy to see the colored train lines and various tunnels and rivers that are in place for each of the real world locations. Each station is represented by a different geometrical shape, so it’s not hard to see how you should be connecting some stations together. The colors are bright and vivid so there is nice contrast with the background, but the game also features Colorblind and Night modes as well, which is nice. Animations in Mini Metro are buttery smooth as the trains move around the city and pick up passengers, and there are also nice transition animations between menus too. Mini Metro does not feature a static background soundtrack, but the sound effects that you hear as you play are fairly realistic and definitely get you in the mood for public transit without the hassle of reality. The subtle tunes you do hear are dynamic, and depend on the subway system that you’re building, which is cool.

    There are several different ways you can play Mini Metro. The first is the Standard mode, which you can play in either Normal or Extreme difficulties. Normal lets you rearrange tracks as needed to prevent overcrowding of stations, which will end your Metro system if there is too much overcrowding. Extreme is for the more experienced player, as you’ll have to prevent overcrowding but the tracks you lay down are permanent and can’t be changed. There are 13 levels based on real-world locations, such as London, New York, San Francisco, Hong Kong, Osaka, Melbourne, and more (I’m a bit saddened to see that Los Angeles isn’t one of them). There is also a Daily mode, where you can compete with other players from all over the globe for the best score on a preset map each day. While Daily mode maps remain the same for each player who is competing, the standard levels always randomize the city growth, so each game you play will be unique in its own way.

    The controls in Mini Metro are simple — just draw lines to connect stations together and get the trains running. You can see how much time has passed since you opened the Metro in the top right corner, and tapping this brings up a few button options, such as pausing/playing, and fast forwarding so things move faster. As you get new lines added to your system, you can select the color you want to lay out by tapping on it. You’ll also get upgrades for your system, like more train cars, larger capacity train carriages, tunnels, and tracks after each week passes, which will help you expand and grow. To use these available upgrades, just tap the icon of the one that you want to use (on the left side of the screen) and then place it on the system where it can be used.

    Build Your Dream Subway System in Mini Metro

    As the city grows, you’ll see smaller shapes that represent passengers and the lines that they want to take to get to their destination — keep an eye on these and make sure that you can build your tracks efficiently to satisfy everyone’s needs, because otherwise, stations get overcrowded, you get shut down, and it’s game over. Your score is determined by how many commuters you were able to serve over the course of the system being open. To unlock the other maps, you’ll have to reach a certain point threshold, so it’s important to plan efficiently in Mini Metro.

    I have only played a few rounds of Mini Metro so far since downloading it this morning, but I’m in love with it so far. The game’s minimal look and feel is endearing and represents the source material well, plus the dynamic sounds are a nice touch. Controls are intuitive and easy to learn, but mastering efficient track planning is a difficult but welcoming challenge. Even though 13 different maps may not seem like much, thanks to the randomly generated stations and city growth, it’s never going to be the same experience. I hope that more maps (cough, Los Angeles, cough) are added in the future, as it will only add to the already high replay value.

    I highly recommend checking out Mini Metro if you’re into simulation and puzzle games and enjoy dealing with the intricacies of public transit and city planning. You can find Mini Metro on the App Store as a universal download for your iPhone and iPad for just $4.99, and it is well worth every penny. If you prefer to have Mini Metro on your desktop or laptop computer, it is available on Steam (Windows, OS X, and Linux) for $9.99.

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