The iPhone Mom

Over the past week my family has fallen victim to an Angry Bird addiction. I bought the silly game and one by one we’ve been sucked in. Green pigs have stolen the birds eggs and they are angry and ready to wage battle. Using a slingshot you need to fling the birds against the pigs fortresses and try to destroy them. Different birds have different powers and you’ll need to think about physics, timing, flight patterns and more. It all sounds completely ridiculous and it is. But the game is virtually impossible for us to put down. There are 135 different levels and each one is unique and a challenge. A frustrating, twisted and addicting challenge.

The $.99 version of Angry Birds will work on your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad. We’ve been playing it on our iPhones and iPad. There is also an HD version that will only work on the iPad. That version costs $4.99. Unless you want the HD graphics I’d suggest buying the $.99 version and playing that on both devices.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Chillingo Ltd.

Most of the matching/memory games that I come across are best for preschoolers and elementary aged kiddos. I just tried out Pairopix and I’m happy to report that this app is best suited for older kids and adults. It’s a tough one! Your goal is to match up different images that are hiding behind different circles. Tap a circle to reveal the hidden image but pay attention!! After they are revealed the images don’t stick around very long. You’ve got to have a quick eye and a quick tapping finger to keep up. When you play in level one mode once you’ve made a match those circles remain open. But when you play on level two matches that you have already made will randomly disappear and you’ll have to find them all over again. So far I’ve been unable to beat that level.

Pairopix comes with four sets of images and you can download up to 17 additional sets for free. OR you can create your own personalized set of images. I gave that a try and it made for a fun game. All you’ll have to do is tap a few buttons and either take a picture with your camera or choose one from your photo library or camera roll. You can move and scale the image to get it to the right size. When you’ve added enough images you’ll be able to play a game of Pairopix with your own pictures.

The complete name of this app is Pairopix-Awesomest matching game….ever. It’s definitely not your preschooler’s memory game and it’s nice to see a grown-up alternative!

I’ve got two promo codes to give away for Pairopix. Leave a comment and I’ll choose two random winners later tonight. (Codes only valid in the US app store.)

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Spinal Apps

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

I have the Cooking Dash app on my iPhone and it’s one of my 10 year old’s favorites. I enjoy it as well but I have to watch when I play it because I get sucked in and distracted. PlayFirst recently released a new twist on the game called Diner Dash Grilling Green and it’s exclusively for the iPad. The premise is the same as in Cooking Dash. You’re trying to help Flo run her restaurant and keep the customers happy. You earn points depending on how well you’ve done. In this version there’s an emphasis on “Going Green” so Flo is looking to make eco-friendly improvements to her restaurants.

Playing the game on the iPad is a different experience than it is on the iPhone. Since the screen is larger it’s easier to see how the customer’s moods are doing. I also found it easier to tap and maneuver my way around the restaurant. This version lets you use multiple fingers to tap different things on the screen but I almost found that harder to do! I kept forgetting where I was heading, I need some practice. The app has a brand new feature called the “Touch Cooker 3000”. This allows you to help Grandma cook by making certain finger motions on the screen. You can help chop, stir and more. When you help out the food does cook a lot faster which makes your customers happier. Another feature I liked is the ability to play a two player game. You can have a friend join in and help you with the cooking so you can focus on the customers.

I’m still in the beginning levels of this game and I have yet to make an “expert” score. Like I said earlier, it’s a different experience playing on the iPad and I’ve not done very well so far. One of the things my daughter loves about Cooking Dash is being able to purchase upgrades for her restaurants. So far I haven’t seen that feature in Diner Dash GG but I’m hoping it will come farther along in the game because it’s a hit in our house. Also, I’m hoping that future updates and some additional restaurants and levels.

If you’re looking for a fun iPad game that’s better for older kids (and their moms) I think this one is worth the $4.99 price. It’s a fun app that runs great and looks fantastic on the iPad!Even though my scores don’t show it, I’ve found it horribly addicting and have spent a good amount of time playing it. If I could just master the multiple fingers at once concept I’d be golden. As it stands right now I think I’m going to ask 10 year old Miss E. to team up with me and we’ll try to beat the game as a two player team.

Price when Reviewed: $4.99

See the app here in iTunes

Seller: PlayFirst Inc

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

The Word Chase is an easy to learn game that lets you play with words. The game gives you three different words and several letters in a column on the side of the screen. You need to take one letter from the column and use it to replace a letter in a word, which then creates a new word. You continue to do this until you’ve used up all the letters. Points are scored as you create the new words.

The game gives you three levels of difficulty and the ability to lengthen or shorten the size of the words. I really enjoyed The Word Chase. It’s one of those games where you need to think but your brain isn’t going to hurt after you finish playing. There’s no time limit so you can play without pressure. My older children also liked the game. It was fun seeing which words they came up with. This is a great app with broad appeal that the entire family can play.

The Word Chase Free is also available. It has two levels of play, the full version features seven.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Ryan & Brian Entertainment

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Pounce is a fun solitaire type game. You can play by yourself, race against virtual players or play against real people using a Bluetooth connection . You’re trying to be the first one to get rid of all your cards, including those in your “pounce” pile. The app has a nice tutorial that walks you through how to play and it won’t take you long to learn. Pounce gives you a ton of options. You can change the game’s background and the backs of the cards you are playing against. When you compete against a virtual player you’re allowed to select the speed they play at. This makes the game doable for kids too. You’re allowed to decide whether you have to finish out your hand or score to a certain number of points to win. You can even set whether you are a left handed or right handed player.

Once I got the hang of Pounce I had a really hard time putting it away. It’s a great time filler that can become a great time eater because it’s tough to put down. Fun game!

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Double Apps, Inc.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Alien Equation is a math app that really works your brain. Once I figured out how to play it I actually enjoyed it (math, me??) but it took me a little bit to realize what I was supposed to do. I like this app but if I’ve got one suggestion it’s to include some instructions on the main menu. I ended up going to the website, watching a video and then light bulb went on.

The app gives you a grid of numbers and operators (that’s the fancy way of saying the addition, subtraction, multiplication, division and equals signs.) You need to arrange these tiles into equations and when you do they disappear and you earn points. When you’ve earned enough points you’ll move on to the next round. In order to make your equations you’ll need to move the numbers and operators around the grid. To do this you swipe along the rows and columns until you’ve got things lined up. Once you’ve got the hang of it you’ll see that you can rearrange things to get them right where you want them. This is definitely a game for elementary schoolers and older. I’d suggest that it’s best for those who know their math facts fairly well.

Alien Equation allows you to have different player profiles and it remembers where everyone was in their games. There is a practice mode where you can work with only addition or subtraction, etc. The app also gives you the ability to access your iPod and turn on your own music. I liked that feature. The graphics and game play are very smooth and the game moves quickly (once you’ve got the hang of things).

This app had a learning curve for me but I have a feeling if I’d given it to my kids first they would have figured out how to play much faster than I did. Isn’t that the way things go? But in spite of myself I think this is a great game for math practice and your kids won’t even realize they’re doing more than just playing a game.

Price when Reviewed: $.99

Seller: Funner Labs

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

Numbl is all about taking a screen full of jumbled numbers and getting them to add up. Your given a sum and you need to tap the numbers on the screen that add up to it. You can use one number or two, three…however many it takes. As you use up numbers they disappear off the screen and it gets trickier to find the answers. When you’re done you can enter your name on a high score board and also compare yourself to players around the world.

Numbl also features a two player mode where the screen is split. You stand on opposite sides of the phone and race to see who can clear their game board first. The app keeps track of how many wins you each have. I love that the two player mode lets you actually play at the same time, against each other, instead of passing the iPhone back and forth.

Numbl has great graphics and runs very smoothly. I had a lot of fun playing it and I think it’s a great way to let your older children practice their addition facts.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Seller: Andy Wise

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

This post is more than a little overdue but here goes. For Christmas Santa Claus brought me a Cuisinart Ice Cream Maker. What I had asked for was Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD. That made it under the tree too but when I opened up the ice cream maker I decided that Santa has a wicked sense of humor.

The ice cream maker is fantastic and it couldn’t be easier to use. It comes with a freezer bowl that you store in your freezer. Then when you want homemade ice cream you pull out the bowl, mix up the ingredients and set the bowl down onto the ice cream maker’s base. There is a paddle that you set down inside the bowl and a cover that goes over all of it. After you’ve done all that it’s just a matter of turning the machine on. There’s no rock salt and ice to mess with and the machine is noisy but not so much that you want to chuck it outside. The best part for me? Homemade ice cream doesn’t come in a container that’s covered in nutritional information so  I can eat it without guilt. We’ve also used it to make more than just ice cream. I’ve put soda in the freezer bowl and turned it into a yummy slushie. Last week I made homemade cherry slurpees that were pretty darn tasty.

Santa also included Ben & Jerry’s Homemade Ice Cream & Dessert Book. The recipes are easy to follow and yummy and they’ve included their most popular flavors along with some extra treats. Our favorite recipes so far? Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough and Chocolate Fudge Brownie. The homemade versions taste great and it costs a lot less to make up a homemade quart than to buy a pint in the store.

When I first tried playing Gluons I stunk. But I tried it again and after a little bit of practice I got better. Not great, but definitely better. This is an arcade style game that requires some quick moving fingers.

In Gluons you are trying to link up colored balls (gluons) before they run into the laser at the bottom of the screen. The longer the line of gluons that you create, the more points you earn. Colors need to be matched and there are special rules when it comes to some of the balls. You move the gluons by placing your thumb on the iPhone screen and creating a “force field”. When a gluon bumps into the force field it will bounce off and move. The trick is putting your force fields in the right spots so the gluons will bounce against each other and link up. You can also control how often the new gluons appear. Every time you tap the screen a new gluon shows up. So tap quickly to get gluons one right after another. Or tap slowly to give yourself more time to maneuver your force fields.  Each level has a specific amount of points that you are trying to earn in a set amount of time. When you earn the points, you’ll move up to the next level. If you have to leave the game then Gluon will save your spot so you can pick things right back up later on. Finally, the game has three different modes, smooth, mild and wild. So far I’ve only been brave enough to try out smooth.

My Gluons scores weren’t the best and it’s going to take some practice for me to get better at moving my thumbs and putting my force fields in the right spot. But once I got the hang of playing the game I actually had a hard time stopping.

Price when Reviewed: $.99 (on sale, normal price is $2.99)

Seller: 2 Cubed Ltd.

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.

I’ve received  another addicting app for my iPhone. It’s a good thing I don’t get much down time or else I’d be in the corner playing games all day long. This one is called Tumbledrop and it’s like a game of Jenga played with geometric shapes and a bit of physics thrown in.

You’ll want to make sure you begin at the beginning of the app. The first few rounds include tutorials that will explain how to play the game. I’m going to try my best with my own explanation. There is a special shape that sits atop a stack of various yellow shapes. All of the shapes are sitting on a platform in water. Your goal is to take away yellow shapes until the special shape rests on the platform. As you take away shapes they all start to tumble and bump into each other. They’ll move differently depending on which ones you get rid of. You’ll have to figure out what shapes to remove and when to remove them. If your top shape falls in the water you’ve got to begin all over again. Each round in the game becomes progressively more difficult to solve and involve new tricks to the  puzzles. There is also a quick play option that has you seeing how many random levels you can play without hitting the water.  There are currently sixty Tumbledrop levels available but according to the App Store description more are coming via an update.

Tumbledrop is one of those games that seems so easy when you begin playing. Then before you realize it you’ve been sucked in and are trying over and over to beat a level. (If you do beat all the levels you can go back and replay them to try and earn more medals.) I think my favorite thing about this app is the faces on the shapes. They’re animated and show real emotions depending on what’s going on on the screen. They definitely don’t like it when they’re headed towards the water! Cute app that’d be fun for the kids and mom and dad.

**Update 1/27/10 - I’ve just gotten word that the price of Tumbledrop has been lowered to $.99 The app has been selected as a finalist at the Independant Games Festival in San Francisco in March. In order to raise the funds needed to get to the festival from the UK, Dock (the developer) has put the app on sale. More details are available on his blog.

Price when Reviewed: $1.99

Free version available-has 20 levels.

Seller: Starfruit Games

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this app for review purposes.