AOTWs

AOTW: Real Racing 3

0
11 years
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Since Apple devices have come out, developers have been looking for new ways to use all iOS’ amazing and useful abilities. Many apps use Apple’s accelerometer (tilt sensor), such as Doodle Jump. Racing games have also exploited this piece of hardware by making it incredibly easy and fun to steer and race cars. Apple’s perfect-sized iPad Mini complements racing games even more. Unfortunately, not all racing games are good. The one I think deserves the number one spot is Real Racing 3.

Real Racing 3’s main game is where you compete in different tournaments. The more trophies you earn, the more tiers, or groups of races inside the tournament, you unlock. Once you get enough trophies, you unlock more tournaments.There are many types of races that you can compete in. Here are a couple:

Cup
A cup is basically a big race with 15-20 racers in it. You try to get to the finish first. Easy. Usually participated in a longer course.

Elimination
Every 20 seconds, the last place racer is eliminated. If you are the last one standing, you win. The trick is, you can be conservative, just stay out of last.

Speed Snap
Try to get the best speed coming straight around a turn. Personally, I find this the hardest.

Head To Head
You against someone else. 1 on 1. Simple. Beat him.

Your cars are a big part of RR3. In every tournament, only a certain 4 or 5 cars can compete. You can buy or upgrade your cars using money which you get during the race. In certain races, such as the end couple in a tournament, your car will have to be upgraded to a certain PR level, or rating. You also get fame durning the race, which you accumulate to upgrade your driver level. Upgrading driver levels gives you a boots in money, which is a good incentive to do well in bigger races.

Overall, Real Racing 3 is a really fun app. Many racing apps aren’t very good, but RR3 is just great. The developers delve you into the cars and races so you just want to race more. Also, this is a really long app. Is isn’t just one of those cheap apps that you can finish in half and hour. Also, the graphics is amazing. Real Racing 3 has quality.

AOTW: Clash Of Clans

1
11 years
by in AOTWs

Way back in ye old history, like WAY back, parts of Europe was ruled by small clans, such as in Scotland, Wales and nowadays Germany. The chiefs relied on their skills in war to keep the throne. The rule was, the king had to lead them to victory, and the warriors get a share of the spoils. Also, the chiefs collected golden armbands. The more they had, the better their reputation. But, this was along time ago. Clash of Clans, the iOS app, brings back that time in a cartoony real time strategy game.

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Clash Of Clans

Here is the basis of Clash Of Clans: you run a “clan”, or town. The Town Hall is basically where you store the majority of your resources, mainly Elixir and Gold. Gold is used to buy most everything, except gold mines and gold storage. Elixir is the opposite (Elixir collectors and Elixir storages), except you use Elixir to take away obstacles like stones or trees and make troops. As you could probably guess, you make troops by spending your Elixir in the barracks. The higher level barracks, the better troops you can make. So, basically, you build buildings, upgrade them, and make your clan as impenetrable and resourceful as possible.

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The App Icon

At the very start of the game, your “guide” introduces you to battling. There is a whole storyline of battles integrated in the game. You are fighting goblins. They have outposts, which you set out to destroy. The actual battle game play is fairly good. You deposit your warriors on the outside of the walls in strategic places (if they have any), and different kinds of troops go for different parts of the town (i.e. giants go for defences, goblins go for resources) . But, from there, you can’t do anything. You just wait and watch. Which isn’t too bad, because it is entertaining and short, but still. If you win the battle, you take the gold and elixir you pillaged. Plus, you get a certain amount of trophies, which matter later in the game.

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An Average Town

Goblins aren’t the only ones you can fight. You can fight other players. This gives it an extra level of addiction. You get more and more trophies by battling people, and gain rankings by how many trophies you have. These rankings are called leagues. The higher league you are, the more bonus resources you get per successful battle. Also, you can compare yourself to other people, which is fun.

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The Most Basic Warrior

And of course, there are clans. Once you build the Clan Castle ($$$), you can join a clan, or make a clan. Some clans are invite only, but there are many good open clans. Once in a clan, you can talk to your clanmates and ask for reinforcements. Plus, it give you a big boost of trophies. Then, at the end of the Clan tournament, the top three clans get lots of resources to spread throughout their clan. Overall, Clash Of Clans is a great game. It really gives you an idea of what graphic designers think it was like back then, which really isn’t that useful information, but whatever.

AOTW: Bloons TD Battles Tower Defence

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11 years
by in AOTWs

There are many types of games. Most of which have been around for as long as Nintendo has been making them. But, in the recent decade or so, many new types of games have sprouted up and flourished like runners (Temple Run) and slingshotters (Angry Birds). Tower defense games is another category that sprang up from the vast internet. This one is a little less known, but is still thriving in the form of a couple popular games. On of those is Bloons TD Battles.

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A Screenshot

As you can probably guess, Bloons TD Battles bases their tower defence game off of balloons. Your defence: well, monkeys. But of course, not regular monkeys. Monkeys with weapons to pop the balloons. Dart Monkeys. Shuriken-throwing ninja monkeys. The balloons come on a single path at varying health and speed and you have to use the monkeys to stop them from going through. To do that, you place the monkeys in a spot that will give it maximum potential. The more you play, the cooler and better monkeys you get.

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The Title Screen

Bloons TD Battles basically defines the new generation of mobile gaming. It’s simple, you have an objective, it’s fun, and most importantly, it’s addicting. There is a computer version of it. It can be played multiplayer. All these virtues make the game good. There are later versions, but like many movies, I personally like the original most. Plus, who doesn’t like popping virtual balloons with armed virtual monkeys?

AOTW: Civilization V Brave New World Review

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11 years
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Finally! After waiting a year since the last update, Civilization V has been updated in the form of a expansion pack, Brave New World. After coming out on July 9th in the US and July 12th everywhere else, I got to play it and I have to say it is worth the money. If you want a more fully-detailed description of the game, go to the preview. The information was correct. Here, I will go over gameplay strategies and other specifics.

Culture

First of all, the Social Policy Tree has been updated to add 2 new trees: Exploration and Aesthetics. Aesthetics provides support to culture-seeking player, with policies such as reducing the culture cost of policies by 15%. But the real way to win a culture victory is Tourism. To get tourism, you have to produce Great Artists, Writers and Musicians. They can be expended to leave Great Works behind. Each of these Great Works are worth 2 Tourism points. But, you have to house these in building such as Museums, Palaces and Wonders. Without a housing, you will be forced to either wait, produce one, or use the Plan B bonus. Trust me, that is frustrating. I had a Golden Age that lasted practically half the game since I didn’t have a house for the Great Artists. Anyway, put your Great People into cities that are already producing culture, producing Great People, producing more culture. It is a vicious cycle. To win a Culture Victory, you just have to have “Influential” (it rates your tourism influence over other civs in levels) Tourism for every other civ. Also, one civ that can help you achieve this is the new Pedro II of Brazil. who gets extra Tourism and culture in Golden Ages, or “Carnivals”.

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The Policies

Diplomacy

The real only change to Diplomacy is the World Congress, but it is a great one. Once one civ has met everyone in the world, the World Congress begins. Whoever triggered is hosts the first sessions. The hosts get reassigned each new age, but with a reward. First, you and the person with the 2nd most delegates get to propose resolution, which are bonuses that get voted on. Delegates are your votes. If you are the host, you automatically get a couple extra delegates. Other ways to get more Delegates are by wonders and other special features, but one way is very important  city-state allies. In the 2nd age of the Congress, city-state allies give you an extra vote. So, before the congress, use you money and do all you can to win over city-states. Also, when the time comes to get a new host, use all your delegates. It is crucial. Because later on when it automatically proposes World Leader, which triggers the Diplomatic victory.

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The World Congress Screen

War

Not much has been changed in war, for that was what Gods and Kings waas about. But, a civ that strives on war and dominancy was added: Zulu. If war is your goal, Zulu would be a good choice of a civ.

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His Jungle-ness, The Mighty Shaka Zulu

Science

Like war, science was not altered in Brave New World. Only, like G&K, a new civ that is a mix between war and science was introduced: Ashurbanipal. Every time you capture a city as him, you can steal one of their already-researched techs. Very handy.

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And Ashur

Overall, Brave New World defiantly did not disappoint. It’s new features, such as Tourism and Trade Routes, which I did not mention but can be read about in the preview, are so adverse and realistic. Every year, Civ gets closer and closer to felling like real life. And if you haven’t bought Civilization V Brave New World, something is really wrong with you and you should buy it and change that.

AOTW: Civilization V Brave New World Preview

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11 years
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Whatever kind of gamer you are, wether it is RPG or puzzle, you have got to have heard of Sid Meier’s Civilization V. Civ V is a game where you start as a pre-made civilization, such as Napoleon, Gandhi, Ramesses II and Elizabeth I. Each of these civs have special units and abilities. Basically, you try to beat AI civs, and control the world on way or another. I could go on forever, but, for this I am going to assume you know how to play. Anyway, after about a year to play around with Civ V’s 1st expansion pack Gods And Kings, Sid Meier announced announced a second expansion pack, Brave New World. And from information we have now, it’s going to be a big change.

Civs

First of all, 9 new civs will be added to the game. Here are the most exiting of the bunch:

Ashurbanipal Of Assyria: Being the 3rd Mesopotamian civ, after Darius and Nebuchadnezzar, Ashurbanipal of Assyria has the amazing ability Treasures of Nineveh. It allows you to steal a enemy technology every time you capture a city! This is great for any war-going players that want to have superior weapons and techs.

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Assyria’s Unique Unit, The Siege Tower

Gajah Mada Of Indonesia: Gajah Mada is personally my favorite of the new civs. His ingenious animation is incredibly amazing (OK fine. That my be overdoing it). Spice Islanders, Gajah’s ability, gives each of their fist 3 cities on continents other than the founding continent a free luxury resource of your choice.

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Gajah Mada Himself

Pocatello Of The Shoshone Native Americans: After Hiawatha, Pocatello is the second native american leader. His ability Great Expanse gives his founded cities a free extra tile. Also, their soldiers get a combat bonus when fighting in their own territory. Comanche Riders, his special unit (along with Pathfinder), is a awesome horse rider that replaces Calvary.

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Comanche Rider

Shaka Of The Zulus: Ashurbanipal goes for science; Gajah Mada for trading/culture; Pocatello for expansion; Zulu for war. His best unit, the Impi, replace the Pikemen. They can attack twice, once in range, once in melee in one turn. Also, his ability makes war more efficient and less taxing.

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Shaka

Overall, it is amazing how the designers can come up with so many civs with so many unique abilities and units. They almost certainly have historians working for them. Plus, the tourism and trade route features are used in many of the new abilities. Interestingly, many of the new civs, including Brazil (Rio), Indonesia (Jakarta), Morocco (Marrakech), Portugal (Lisbon) and Venice (Venice) have had their capitals upgraded from city-states. Consequently, about 19 city-states have been added. I have to say, they did a good job (or at least I think).

Diplomacy

The main focus in BNW is making the game more interesting for culture/diplomatic playing in later stages of the game. A big update is the new World Congress. The World Congress is the new way to win a Diplomatic Victory. The World Congress gets initiated when one player meets all the civs, and has the tech Printing Press. Then, you automatically get introduced to all of them. Whoever initiated the Congress hosts it, meaning they get an extra delegate. Each delegate counts for 1 vote (allied city-states can get you more delegates). They are voting on what is called a resolution. The resolution are different bonuses, some projects (Manhattan Project), some rules. The host civ and the civ with the most delegates each pick a resolution, and they get voted on. This gets repeated every so-and-so turns, until the United Nation is built and they elect a World Leader for the Diplomatic Victory.

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Culture

Even more than diplomacy, culture in has been completely turned on it’s head. There are several different new features:

Social Policies/Ideologies

First of all, the Social Policy tree has been changed. Instead of Autocracy, Order and Freedom, which have been changed into the three main Ideologies, there are now Exploration and Aesthetics. Exploration gives more sight and movements, and Aesthetics boosts culture. Commerce has also been changed, giving it the power to upgrade your trade routes.

To make culture not as bland, Fraxis added Ideologies in BNW. Ideologies are basically trees of upgrades (like in religions). As I said, you can choose Autocracy, Order or Freedom. Each has it’s own upgrades, or Tenets, which also influence your relation with other civs.

Tourism 

Tourism is like your counter to other civs culture defense. To generate more tourism, you use things like having open boarder treaties or wonders. Your tourism is rated in 4 or maybe 5 levels: Exotic, Familiar, Popular, Influential and maybe Dominant. If your tourism is strong enough, the public might second guess their chosen Ideology, creating unhappiness (this can be monitored in the Public Opinion bar). If it gets really bad, their cities may switch over to you. If you become Influential in every other civ, you win a Culture Victory.

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Trade Routes

Trade Routes have also been upgraded in BNW. The regular trade routes made by roads still exist, but are just called “City Connections”. Regular Trade Routes are now physical (if you can say that for a video game) units. They can be made in the form of Caravans (for land) or Cargo Ships (for sea). For each unit, you can pick which city you want to have it go to. Each city has it’s own production. Unfortunately  at the start, you can only have 2 trade routes, but select civs and policies can change that. Usually you end up with 7 or 8. Trade routes also carry religious, scientific and tourism-related bonuses to the other city.

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As much as I would like all this to be real (and it probably is), there’s a small chance that it could be wrong. But for now, let’s assume it’s right for the fun of it. Assuming that, I could go on forever on all the new stuff there is. But I will save it for the review. This is a very exciting release for Civilization fans everywhere. And if you don’t have it, I suggest you get it now. It is probably the best stragety game out there, and Brave New World just made it more complete. Check back here for my review after the release on July 9th in America, and July 12th everywhere else!

AOTW: Navigation App Waze Acquired By Google

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11 years
by in AOTWs

Maps are a big part of your phone nowadays. It is a big reason for old-schoolers to upgrade to a smartphone, and if the maps are bad (such as Apple Maps on the iPhone 5), it can greatly influence the public sales. Recently, Google acquired the start-up map company Waze for an astounding $1.1 Billion, and I can see why. I mean, 1 billion is a little much, but still, Waze brings a social feel to maps. But I’ll get to that later.

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One of the big differences between Waze and regular maps is that Waze the phones of everyone who has the app open to take information and put it out to everyone in the area. For instance, if you are stuck in traffic, or there is a blockage, the phone recognizes that and tells the other users. Fortunately, Waze is always looking for a way to avoid traffic, even if it has to change the route in the middle of the ride.

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Going back to the social part, Waze allows you to use maps as a way to connect with your friends or co-workers. Say, if you are picking the person up, you can send them a request to have their location. If they accept, Waze automatically sets up the best route to them, and also allows the person to see where you are and your ETA, even if they don’t have Waze. Also, if you are holding an event, you can see where everyone is and how long it will take for them to get there. The perfect party planner.

Waze brings a whole new level to maps. You can see where your friends or family are and their ETA, while efficiently avoiding traffic your self. And if you don’t feel comfortable letting everyone know where you are, you can turn invisible. All this added up makes a great app for social and practical purposes. Later on when they add more features and perfect everything, it may be better than Google Maps (which is probably hey Google bought it). Waze’s slogan really says what Waze is all about: outsmarting traffic, together.

AOTW: Steam Game Store

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11 years
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Games have been a part of computers for a long time. Whether it is a strategy, puzzle, RPG or action game, most everyone has their own preferences on which games they like. But when you go to buy the game from a store like GameStop (which wastes time), it can be a hassle (which wastes more time). Steam is one of the many apps that allow you to buy and download games straight from the app (such as Good Old Games and the Apple App Store). This is amazingly helpful, especially for a frequent gamer.

The Steam Logo

One great thing about not having to use a CD is that it frees up space for other disks. Also, if you lose the disk, you’re out of luck. With Steam, you can play the game anytime, and it even makes a sidebar shortcut for Macs. When you launch the Steam app, you can choose between a couple options: Library, where you can browse your games, Store, where you get your games, News, where you can get news about new games, and Community. Community is where people can interact with friends, view their profile and achievements and look at/buy mods for games such as Civilization V. The Community section really gives the app a social media fell that other game stores don’t have.

A Screenshot of the Store

Steam is truly a great app. Not only can you easily buy apps and interact with other gamers, but you also save money. Steam frequently have sales on specific games that, sometimes, takes a lot off the already relatively low price. Overall, Steam is a very useful way to download games even if you don’t use the Community section and I highly recommend it.

AOTW: Game Blueprint 3D Tests Your Eye

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11 years
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There are tons of apps out there. By tons, I mean TONS. Lots of those apps are games. The game market for mobile devises has been increasing so rapidly that there so many you can’t possibly have played them all. This App Of The Week is Blueprint 3D, a puzzle game that tests you eye on many fronts. Even though puzzle apps aren’t the most popular apps, Blueprint 3D is highly addictive and fun.

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The Blueprint 3D’s Maker’s Logo in Blueprint 3D’s Style

The way you play Blueprint 3D involves a blueprint (obviously). But not just any blueprint, a scrambled blueprint! But not just any scrambled blueprint, a 3D scrambled blueprint (hence the name)! To solve the puzzle, you have to flip the blueprint over in any direction you want. There will be a couple layers of lines until you line them up right, then it just clicks together. It will be very confusing at first, and you may spend up to a minute on one problem. But once you get to know the game, you train your eye to see the outlines of the image and what it actually is. The key phrase there is what it actually is. They don’t tell you. Still, if you get good, you don’t need to what it is. For instance, my record is 1 second (it’s ok, you don’t have to bask in my glory).

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Can you guess what it is? (go to bottom for answer)

Blueprint 3D is a very fun game that pushes your eye to the limit. The game is not for all people, though, only for those of you who like pipe games and other puzzle classics. This is one of those games that are fun for a couple minutes, but after about 5 puzzles, you get bored. The one thing that keeps you going is the variety of puzzles. There are many categories such as animals, space, medieval, and many more that come out in updates.  Also, you can make your own puzzles by taking or importing a photo. Overall, it is a very creative game and it defiantly deserves it’s title of App Of The Week.

(answer: the Buddha)

AOTW: Glass Nest Gives You Easy Control Over The Temperature

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11 years
by in AOTWs

Someday, we will be able to control most everything with Google Glass. Or at least that’s what it seems like. Another app has been released that allows Glass owners to control the space around them. That app it Glass Nest, the unofficial Nest thermostat app.

A Screenshot Of Glass Nest

If you have a Nest, you know how useful it is. You can change the temperature from your phone so you don’t have to get up. Say you change the temperature to 65 degrees every day at 7:30. Then, Nest will learn what you like and automatically change it for you. Also, if you leave your house with your phone, Nest will turn off to not waste money. That’s a smart thermostat if I’ve ever heard of one.

The Commands

What does the Glass app do? Well, pretty much everything the regular app does. You can find out the temp, change the temp, set it to away mode and take it off of away mode. To do that, the developer took advantage of the awesome “OK Glass” feature All you have to do is say something like “OK Glass, 75 degrees” (full list above) and it will set the taget temp to 75 degrees. Or if you are leaving home, you can say “Ok Glass, heading/going out” and it will set it to away mode. Made by a 22 year old engineer, Glass Nest has only caught the first wave of Glass apps along with Twitter, Path, Bulletproof and more. When Glass comes out in Q4, so many apps and app-making tools will have come out that the possibilities will be infinate. It’s just a matter of the developers creativity.

AOTW: Pixel Press Lets You Make You Own Video Game Levels

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11 years
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Kickstarter has produced some awesome stuff. From watches like Pebble to video game consoles like Ouya, Kickstarter is a great way to get your product some money for your product. Kickstarter is not only for products, though. You can also have a conservational pitch, or a pitch to raise money for theater, dance or really anything you like. Even though there are pitches out there for dance, theater and other things, which they do sometimes get funded, the categories Games and Design get funded the most and raise more money. The most recent exciting pitch is Pixel Press, an app that aims to let you create your own video game levels.

 

Pixel Press is pretty cool. It is an extremely simple (anyone can do it) way to draw, design and play your own game levels. All you have to do is, on a already formatted paper (which you can get here), use simple shapes and symbols to make a completely customized game with hazards, spikes, moving platforms and more. Then, you use the Pixel Press app to scan it in, which renders it as a playable level. After that, you can change the color, background and much more to make completely yours.

A Sample Game Level

 

After you have your awesome game, and have played it a couple times, what do you do next? Make another game? That is surely another option, but first, you have to share it. Pixel Press comes along with a social network. You can share your game so other people can play it and vise versa. This adds to the fun of the app, making it enjoyable even if you don’t make your own level. You can even collaborate on a level if you want to make it as cool as possible.

The App Scanning In a Game Level

 

Whether you’re a adult or a kid, Pixel Press will be fun. Plus, if you are adult, your extra skills can come in handy. One of the the Kickstarter goals is to make it much more costomizible. Even though it is only a stretch goal for Pixel Press, I’m sure they’ll get it. The goal is to integrate customized music and graphics to REALLY make it your own. For music, they will most likely use GarageBand, one of the easiest yet very good music creator(comes free with all Macs). The program for editing the level manually has not been released. Still, it will make Pixel Press a great platform to easily to make highly detailed game level.

Pixel Press is a very big jump in mobile gaming. Now, you can design your own game level, which before you needed a lot of coding experience, with just a pencil, a formatted paper and an iPad. It is the perfect social network/sharing app for gamers. Plus, the price is pretty low for this kind of awesome app: $10 on Kickstarter. The price may go down when it is released, since they need money to get it started. But when it does get started, it will let everyone easily become a game designer.

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