There's An App For That: Castle Story

Castle Story is Castleville's bastard little sister, and I love it! I'm a huge fan of city- and village-building games, and will pretty much give any of them a try in an attempt to sate the uber control freak within me. Castle Story is an absolutely beautiful game full of charming characters, quest lines, crafting, magic, and even farming. You can upgrade buildings, craft, trade, and build a wonderful medieval village. I do wish the main character had more customization options available other than just their gender, but that really is the only negative thing I can think of. Though... horses. Horses would be nice, and... evil. More evil would be nice too.

There's An App For That: Justice League

Despite the fact that I will probably have to wait seventy years to be able to see a live action Wonder Woman movie actually hit the screen, I can at least enjoy her star-spangled wonderosity in this little fantabulous gem from DC Comics (Yes, wonderosity and fantabulous are words). You can only choose from just five superheroes to run through the game with, but you can add up to two sidekick cards to boost your stats or skills and provide a little "backup". Unlocking different costumes also provides each hero with a different set of bonuses. The game's graphics and special moves are... absolutely wonderful.

There's An App For That: Shipwrecked: Lost Island

It's been a while since I've posted an app review, so here's you go... Shipwrecked: Lost Island has some truly beautiful graphics going for it. There are literally dozens of house styles to choose from and start building. The addition of pets that can roam your village is a really cute, but they really don't do much else. The characters ("helpers") are wonderfully rendered too, and there's quite the eclectic cast to choose from as well. However, to really get anywhere in the game, you need to start spending some real world cash, and that gets old pretty fast.

Toto, We're Not in Azeroth Anymore...

I spent five years entrenched in the majesty that is/was World of Warcraft, and though it has been just over two years since I have wrenched myself free from the seductive iron grips of Azeroth, I have to admit that coming across some old screenshots while cleaning up my computer has made me more than just a bit nostalgic...

Papito, the Latin Gnome Rogue from Tinker-Town

Riversong, Night Elf Druid

Riversong, Night Elf Druid

Jhade, Draenei Mage

Eternity, Undead Priestess

Mhalice, Blood Elf Warlock

There's An App For That: Spirits

Helping to get the little leaf-spirits back into the happy-swirling-vortex-place at the top of each maze level isn't exactly as easy as it sounds. As you can probably tell from most of my previous app reviews, I'm more the RPG-gamer, city-builder, hack and slasher type. I'm not really into the hidden object games, or the puzzle-solver ones, but Spirts has such an absolutely addictive sense of tranquilty in its gameplay. You can't help but instantly love it. Even when the little leaf-spirits pop and die... they do so in such a calming and peaceful fashion.

A black, orange and white color scheme is beautifully simple
and utterly fantastic all at once!

There's An App For That: Battleheart

Battleheart will always have a special little place in mine. When Hurricane Sandy knocked out all the lights, heat and power in the area, this adorable little hack and slasher kept me from completely loosing my mind, that is... until my iPad ran out of power too. Cute graphics, and while not overly complex in its gaming structure, each character has their own unique set of powers and abilities making Battleheart's replability very high. Yes, "replability" is a word.

I simply adore the little purple witch, but Edwardo, the bard, is a charmer.

There's An App For That: Skylanders

What is Skylanders?
In a nutshell, Skylanders is both a video game and a toy line. You can buy the video game and then buy additional toys for the game so you can get more play value out of it. Each Skylander toy is playable and goes onto a peripheral called the "Portal of Power" which comes with the Starter Pack version of the video game. Once the toy is on the Portal, the game can be played with that character. Personally, I think Activision brilliantly hit the nail on the head with this one. The game can be "customized" to a player's particular taste and gaming style depending on what character (toy / figure) they choose to buy and play with. The line is also appealing to those collectors whose OCD will not let them rest until they own every single Skylander figure and their variants.

While I have not actually played the original video game (because I don't own a gaming console), I have tried out their apps...

Skylanders Battlegrounds
Skylanders Battlegrounds is a very straightforward hack and slasher with absolutely beautiful graphics! The fun factor is instant and very high! You can control a team of up to two Skylanders, and move from hex to hex battling whatever is thrown your way. A mobile Bluetooth "Portal of Power" is available, but not required to play the game.

My team of choice? Hex and Terrafin 

Skylanders Lost Islands
Lost Islands is Skylander-themed city-builder game with lots of wonderful little extras. Again, the graphics are absolutely beautiful and feel almost seamless across all their games. The houses, buildings and organic decorations in Lost Islands are very charming. The trees will actually subtly sway, and other floating islands will cast shadows across your village from time to time. Aside from building an expanding town on any (or all) of the nine floating islands, you can also shear sheep, imprison trolls, plant crops, or play with totem poles and a wishing well!

Skylanders Toy Line
You'll find everything from Genies, Elves and Dragons to Treants, Goblins and the Undead among the Skylander Toy Line. My personal favorite? Hex, of course. In fact, the one pictured in the middle graces a special little niche on my desk. (Update 7.11.13: I now own the first two of the adorable little Hexed trio pictured below. Witches tend to work better in threes, so I'm keeping my eyes open for the last one!)

There's An App For That: Menageries

I think I'm probably drawn to the menagerie / zoo apps for the same reason I'm drawn to the city / village building ones... they sate my inner control-freak.

Ice Age Village
I was never really a big dinosaur fan as a kid (nor am I now honestly), but I have seen all three of the animated films in the Ice Age franchise (admittingly however... not in the theater). Though I'm pretty sure there was more than one paleontologist or pretentious geek in the world who cringed at all the historical impossibilities, I did find them enjoyable enough to give Ice Age Village a try when I came across it. The art direction is really impressive. The movie's main characters, species, habitats and miscellaneous village decorations all look as if they came right off of the screen... and right out of prehistory (kinda sorta maybe). Unlike quite a few of the other apps I've played so far, you really don't feel as though you need to spend any real money to advance. Yes, there are some "premium" items and animals only available via acorns, which are purchased with real world money, but there is a way to earn those acorns in game too! Where it fails, however (and quite unfortunately), is in its exuberant cost for further land expansions. Advancement should be a challenge, yes... but it should still feel fun and not like a chore or a tedious impossible grind. Ugh.


Prehistoric species come in all shapes and sizes... and colors!

Tiny Monsters
Love! Love! LOVE Tiny Monsters! This is one of the very few apps I still play. Each animal falls into an elemental category, and interbreeding them can create some really interesting results. "Mythic" (color variant) versions of each animal are random and can be a bit challenging to come across, but there's a Monsterpedia to help you track what you've hatched so far and haven't...

Each Tiny Monster has its own unique animation!

There's An App For That: Explorers of the Lost World

 

Despite the fact that we've seen its plot played out in dozens of books and movies before (not to mention Gilligan's Island! LOL), Explorers of the Lost World had a lot of charm going for it, initially. As your adventurers explore the enormous island, they slowly begin to come across different civilizations (Native, Druidic, Voodoo Cannibal, Gypsy, etc.) and try to befriend them in order to increase the size of the "Base Camp" by adding new buildings appropriate to the group you just encountered. Ok. Cute... up until I came across the Surfer... and the Cowgirl. 

There's An App For That: Lil' Pirates

Lil' Pirates suffers from such a severe case of "Cuteness Overload" that I very nearly broke out in hives just by coming in contact with it. Surprisingly however, there's quite a lot to do in Lil' Pirates! The avatars for the captain and crew are completely customizable, as is your ship and the captain's private cabin. You can set your little pirates out on raids, have them fulfill quests, play mini pirate games, unlock new areas, upgrade your treasure for shiny trophies, engage enemy ships or even join an armada with your friends! Yay for piracy!

 

"Poor, old and haggard Jane loved Richard from afar, though she knew their love could never be, for his heart and his eyes were set on the young Charlotte, the Captain's beautiful sister. Charlotte was trusting and still so very naive about much in the world. It was beyond her comprehension that Jane could plot against her. After all, Jane had always seemed so proper and reserved... but Jane's scorned heart was a cold and heavy stone. If she could not have Richard, then neither would the lovely Charlotte. Charlotte... must die."

There's An App For That: Infect Them All

The premise for this little gothic hack-n-slasher is very simple. You're a vampire... now go kill or convert everything you see, hence the title. Unfortunately however, despite a fairly constant varying crowd of victims (some of which can and do fight back), it just can't help but feel incredibly repetitive. That's not to say this isn't a great little distraction to sink your teeth into, though... it totally is!

 

Initially you only have access to one, but there are actually three different vampires to eventually choose from... each with their own set of strengths, weaknesses and unique vampire abilities (Warning: Miss Elizabeth's Vampire Bat Swarm is absolutely killer ~ >insert fingersnap<). You start the game with a basic vamper, but you can unlock the other two bloodsuckers, Elizabeth and Dracula, by going on a endless murderous rampage to raise the body count you leave in your undead wake.

 

There's An App For That: City Planning Games

Perhaps it's due to my over-compulsive need to organize the things in my surroundings (and in my head), but city / village planning games get me hooked pretty quickly. I remember spending many an hour watching the little mob riots take to the streets, or the giant robot from space come down and destroy my town in the original SimCity back when I was a kid.

As a homage to those early pre-gamer days of mine, here's the quick and dirty on some of my favorite city builder apps currently out there:

Cosmic Colony
Next to Fantasy Town, Cosmic Colony has got some of the best designed buildings and town decor around. A lot of creative thinking went into the look of some of the available shops, homes and alien relics. There's a space exploration mini-game available about once a day that rewards a random little somethin' to help spruce up the colony. Space pirates can be a problem, though...

Fantasy Town
Fantasy Town has some of the best art direction I've seen yet, giving the game a really unique, and very beautiful look. It's worth checking out despite the fact that earning money in the game for the land expansions can take a really long time. That, coupled with the unfortunate need to occasionally spend gems (which cost real world money to acquire) just to complete quests eventually turned me off altogether.

Forestville
Another absolutely beautiful game, Forestville's charm resides not just in its buildings, but in its citizens as well. The village is full of adorable little foxes, bears, birds, rabbits, frogs, beavers, hedgehogs, and deer (and the list keeps going). It's Furry Fandom Heaven! Each species has special, unique characters and rare versions such as the occasional crow, polar bear or blue frog that will randomly pop up and add even more variety to the mix! I'm all for diversity! ~wink~

Kingdoms & Lords
Kingdoms & Lords, ironically, suffers from the reverse issue effecting Fantasy Town. It's pretty easy to earn enough money early in the game to buy a great amount of land, but... you have nothing to put on it until much much later. Even then, most of the buildings you can add (which are exquisite, by the way) do nothing unless you log into a social network with the game (something most people might not feel comfortable doing). Kingdoms & Lords has a great deal of potential, however. It just needs to be fleshed out a bit more in its earlier levels.

Oregon Settler
Oregon Settler is a very fun, frontier-flavored city game full of covered wagons, head-bobbing farm animals, and malaria. Not kidding.  

Pyramid Valley

In Pyramid Valley, you get to choose between being either Ramses or Cleopatra (either avatar is decenlty customizable) and begin building your very own dynasty. Egyptian, Nubian, and Greek-styled architecture, and a complex trade route system make this particular city builder a very unique gem well worth playing.

Smurf Village

Filled with almost every memorable character in Smurfdom, Smurf Village delivers a very addictive gaming experience whether you grew up watching these little blue guys or not. The mushroom homes are very customizable (balconies, chimneys, etc.), and there's even a tropical island and mountainside to explore and build on now too. It's unquestionably Smurfberry Crack!

The Simpsons: Tapped Out

After an explosion at the power plant, Sprinfield gets turned completely inside out, and rebuilding it, as well as locating all of its lost citizens becomes a brilliantly scripted adventure! Each character you rediscover has their own unique jobs (quests) to fulfill, and the new Springfield is completely yours to redesign. This became an instant favorite for me! As a big fan of the show, the fun-factor is insanely high!

Tiny Village

The prehistoric-themed Tiny Village is frequently updated with tons of new content, as well as holiday events and quests. You can harvest resources, build houses and shops, or raise a multitude of dinosaurs. Unfortunately, many of the really great items require gems (which are purchased with real world money), and they're costly. My only other critique is that I wish there was a little more variation with the games' citizenry, or at the least a few unique ones walking about. As you can tell from the screenshot below... they all look alike.

There's An App For That: Zombie Café

There's a lot more than just brains on the menu over at beeline's Zombie Café. In fact, many items on that menu are fabulously grossified versions of popular dishes. Yes, "grossified" is a word. Your café starts out rather humble, but you soon have the opportunity to grow, remodel and hire up some more waiters. There's quite a selection of available themes for your café's look too, so you can pretty much put together anything from a roach-infested hole that should have been shut down ages ago by the Health Department to a classy, high-end five star restaurant... staffed by zombies. My only negative critique is that you're allowed a maximum staff of 10, and depending on the size of your restaurant that may or may not be enough.

Zombie Café is not your typical diner game. In fact, where it really shines is in its ability to eliminate the competition... literally. You can send your zombified staff out into the neighborhood and into other restaurants to make minced meat out of whatever and whoever they find within. If victorious, your zombies return with some cash, some extra food and hopefully a new recipe. Brilliant!

Anyone that walks through your door is fair game! Zombify them and make them
a permanent part of your staff, or serve them up as tomorrow's lunch special!

There's An App For That: Breaktime Studios

I've flittered away so much of my precious time on iPad apps recently, that I figured I might as well dedicate a few short and sweet posts (and reviews) to some of my more favorite ones.

First on the list are three games from Breaktime Studio.

Dream Dresses allows you to own your own fashion boutique stocked up with clothing and accessories that are very reminiscent of a trip through Disney's Magic Kingdom (though with enough differences to be legally ambiguous). You can stock up on sparkling fabric bolts while unmanned sewing machines (no third world slave labor here!) magically stitch together your merchandise. Your "boyfriends" (yes, you can have more than one...) give you money and a smile several times a day, while they otherwise stand around and do... nothing.

My "boyfriends" have a eerie resemblance
to George Clooney and Edward Cullen.

Pocket Potions allows you to own your own magical potion shop stocked floor to ceiling with strange herbs, and literally dozens upon dozens of different types of potions (each with their own unique special effect when drunk by your customers). Magically unmanned cauldrons do all the work once you plop in the ingredients and click the stirring spoons. If you're having trouble keeping your inventory fully stocked... try taking the door off and temporarily putting it in your inventory. That way you are free to stock the place up at your leisure and open the doors only when you're ready for business! Same trick will work for all three of their games.

"Double, double toil and trouble; Fire burn, and cauldron bubble."

Sweet Shop allows you to own your own (you guessed it...) candy shop. The decorative items are really cute and colorful, especially the gummy-themed tables and animated bears (not pictured).

My store clerk is a bug... a very big, and hungry bug... who likes lemons.

Diablo 3: That Old Black Magic...

I have always proudly embraced my nertitude. Yes, "nertitude" is a word. From my early days of classic Dungeons & Dragons pen and paper role-playing games to far more MMORPGs (Massively Multiplayer Role-Playing Games) than I would ever care to mention, my geekdar has led me from one massive time and money-sinkhole to another. Yes, "geekdar" is also a word. Blizzard Entertainment is a ruthless crack dealer, and I am that poor little street whore turning trick after trick just to get one more fix. It took about five years to wrench myself free of Azeroth (and I still occasionally twitch), and while Diablo 3 does not (yet) possess the same obsessive lure for me that World of Warcraft did, I do find myself running into that all-too-familiar pattern of "Oh, OK... I'll just play for a little bit more." Poor, poor little street whore... she should have worked some other corner.

 

 

Is it really any surprise that I would be playing Diablo 3 as a Witch Doctor
(a.k.a. "The Crazy Voodoo Bitch")?

The Witch Doctor's opening sequence is one of the best in the game. I absolutely love the look and art direction of the avatars and the armor progression for this class. The creepy little shrunken heads and/or voodoo dolls they can carry, along with the crazy tribal masks they wear add a truly unexpected vibe to an otherwise very traditional fantasy setting. Just the fact that they can summon up spiders, locusts, toads and zombies throws it right into that old classic B-movie horror genre. Brilliant.

If anyone's interested...
here's my quick & dirty on the other character classes:

The Barbarian ~ The female Barbarian's avatar makes the She-hulk look anorexic. She easily towers over the other classes, as well as most of the in-game villagers and common enemies. The thunderous sound effects of this class' combat swings make even the simplest fight feel epic.

 

Red Sonja's been workin' out.

 

The Demon Hunter ~ Both the male and female avatars for this class look absolutely amazing, and very sexy. I love the gothic "Van Helsing" vibe this class possessed right off the get-go. Even though I've never really been a fan of playing ranged combat classes, the accompanying graphics for the Demon Hunter's skill sets are great, and made experimenting with this class a very fun little side-step.

 

Metrosexual Demon Hunter strikes a pose. Vogue.

 

The Monk ~ I can't really say very much on the Monk class, unfortunately. I only gave it a brief run before deleting the character altogether. Just wasn't for me.

The Wizard ~ The design for the Wizard class, its spells and armor progression is probably one of the best in the entire game. I love that they're Asian, and their gear and garb reflect that. It's worth noting that the Wizard class in every chapter of the Diablo franchise has had a "Blizzard" spell in their arsenal... an obvious shout out to the company behind the endless tragedies that keep befalling the poor town of Tristram.

 

"If ever oh ever a wiz there was..."