Android Apps

Four Online Android app Review

Description:

In the Four Online Android app you will be able to experience Connect Four with a number of different users world wide!

Features:

• This is a classic rendition of the old game Connect 4.  You simply try to connect four pieces in a row before your opponent does
• When you are connecting the four pieces you will be able to do it either diagonally, vertically, or horizontally
• This game features a lot of different things including a worldwide games section where you can actually chat with your online opponents
• You can also see how many points that you have online and you can see what the local and global high scores are
• There are also special rooms in the community for the really advanced players
• One of the features online is that your opponents only have thirty seconds of inactivity before their next move or they will have to forfeit the match altogether
• You can also get progress and statistics about each of your games so you can keep track of your record
• There are also local games that you can play in against the AI or against other human opponents

Conclusion:

If you like the classic Connect 4 game then you will love the Four Online Android app.  This is a great way to test your strategy and puzzle skills as you play against other live players over the internet.  The basic jist of the game is extremely simple to pick up.  You simply try to match four of your pieces in a row all the while preventing your opponent from doing so.  The first one to get four in a row wins the game.  You can get four in a row either horizontally, diagonally, or vertical but you have to be kind of sneaky about it or your opponent will catch it and try to block you.  In order to get to play online you will probably have to fill out a quick registration and then you can be given a bunch of points right off the bat.  There are a few different pros and cons to the online mobile multiplayer.  One con is that you have to wait on the other opponents to make their moves.  The game has tried to curb this waiting period by only allowing a 30 second timer of inactivity before the game is forfeit.  The only stupid thing about it is that the game will not notify you that the game is forfeit until after you press the back button.

This app has been given a rating of 4.1 out of 5 stars by Android app users and the game is currently free to download onto your phone if you get it off of the Android app marketplace.

Wixel Android app Review

Description:

In the Wixel Android app you will be able to play in a virtual Boggle board and see how many word combinations that you can come up with before your timer runs out.  The more words you can find and the longer that they are, the higher the score.

Features:

• In this word game you will be presented with a grid that has a bunch of letter inside of it.  In order to get high scores you will have to slide your fingers over the letters and create a variety of words.  The more words you create and the longer the words are, the higher your score is going to be
• You will also be timed in the game, so you will have to get as many words as you can before the timer runs out
• There is a multiplayer mode where you will be able to compete with other players online and see how you fare against other people.  This is a great way to test how smart you are
• There is also a progressive mode that is pretty difficult because you have to find every possible word combination before you can move on to the next level
• The dictionary included in this app is also huge, it contains over 180,000 words.
• There are few different game boards you can play with including the four by four grids and the five by five grids

Conclusion:

Word games are all the buzz right now in the puzzle game world.  Wixel is one of the best games because it is very similar to the game Boggle (which we all know is one of the funnest word games ever created).  In this game you will be able to take a grid of letters and try to create words by dragging your finger over them.  The more words you can create from the grid, the more points you will get.  When you get words that have more letters included then you will get an even bigger score.  Anything over 4 letters is going to be worth more points and will you get you farther in beating your opponents.  There is a progressive mode in Wixel which is also a lot of fun because it will actually force you to find all of the different word combinations available before it will allow you to progress on to the next level.  If you can’t find the words then you have the option to look up the words you missed after the game is completed.  The user interface that is included in the app is actually pretty advanced and the game play modes are also very unique so this word app is actually quite a cut above the rest.

This game has been given a rating of 4.1 stars out of 5 stars and you can download it onto your Android for no cost at all.

AlphaMixr Android app Review

Description:

In the AlphaMixr Android app you will be able to create a variety of different words and get high scores.

Features:

• The AlphaMixr Android app is a really fun word game that is similar to Text Twist or WordWrench where you have a certain amount of letters and you will have to make as many different combinations of words as you can
• You will be given six letters to start out with and you will have to create word combinations of 3,4,5, and 6 letter words
• All of the rounds are timed so you will have to try and find all of the words that you can before your timer runs out
• If you get them all done in a short amount of time then you will actually get some pretty hefty time bonuses to help you up your score
• In order to move on to the next level you will need to either find one of the largest words or you are going to have to get a total score of 7,500 points or more
• You can also submit high scores to the community board to see where you rank among other high score players
• There are over 28,000 words that can be created total so you will have a total option of 8,000 different game combinations to play in

Conclusion:

If you enjoy games that are similar to Boggle, Scrabble, or Text Twist, then the AlpahMixr Android app is a great fit for you.  You will have six letters that are all scrambled up and you will have to try and create as many different words as you can from it.  You will be timed so you will have to be quick and see if you can come up with all of them before the timer runs out.  The way that you will be able to progress through the levels is you will have to either just find one of the very largest words (6 letters) or you will have to score a certain amount of points total.  Once you do this  you can then move on to the more challenging rounds.  The game starts to get really hard when the letters create less words.  Then you have to find more of the big words to be able to have a chance to keep progressing.  You can shuffle the letters at any time in order to get a fresh view on it and create even more words.  Once you have gotten a high score you can then post it on the community board so that you can compare with other people that play the game.  This is a game that is very similar to the word scrambling game of WordWrench and will appeal to all the word game lovers.

This app has been given a rating of 4 out of 5 stars by users and critics ad can be downloaded for free.  It is a must have on the Android phone.

WordWrench Android app Review

Description:

With the WordWrench Android app you will be able to create a bunch of different anagrams from the letters that are provided on the screen.  Hours of word scrambling fun.

Features:

• This is a fun anagram game that allows you to take letters and put them together to create words that have a combination of 3,4,5 and 6 letter words
• In order to be able to progress to the next level of the game you have to at least find a six letter word among all of the possible combinations
• In order to mix up the letters to help your mind formulate new words, there is a wrench feature.  You can either press the wrench button or you can press the space key or even just shake the phone to rearrange letters
• You can use either the touch screen options, the trackball options, or even the controls on the keyboard in order to type in letters and create words
• You can also view the game in a variety of different ways, including the portrait and the landscape modes
• This game will also allow you to listen to some sounds and will also vibrate at times

Conclusion:

If you love anagrams then you are sure to love this game.  You will be given certain letters and you will have to find words that have combinations of 3,4,5 and 6 letters.  You will have to be able to rack your brain to put them together in the correct order and you will be able to switch up the letters to help give you some better ideas on what words are available.  This rearranging of letters is called “Wrenching” so all you have to do is just press the wrench button, shake the phone, or press the space key in order to mix and match them and help you do better.  One of the other great things about the app is that you can use it in either the landscape or portrait views, depending on how you want to hold the phone.  There are also a lot of keyboard tips that you can take into consideration in order to help you to get better at the game and make sure that you can quickly and accurately enter the words within the time limit.  If you love word games then this is a must have on your Android phone.

This app has been given a user rating of 3.9 out of 5 stars by Android app users and reviewers and can currently be downloaded onto your phone for free.

Mem Android app Review

Description:

The Mem Android app is a simple memory game that will help you to challenge your thought processes whenever you have a few minutes to spare.

Features:

• This Android game involves memorizing the sequences that are offered to see how long you can go and to get an even higher score
• You will have to be able to match the sounds as well as the flashing colors to be able to get the longest sequence available
• This game will really test your thought processes and see how far you will be able to memorize sequences that are given to you
• There are a few customizing and personalizing options that you can take advantage of in this game including the style and the speed of the game play.  All you have to do is go into the options men and change up the themes
• The game also utilizes some vibration as well as some minimal beeping sounds in order to accompany the sequences that are provided
• The graphics are colorful but pretty basic and the sounds are not super advanced but they get the job done quite well

Conclusion:

This is a simple game of memory for the Android phone but it is actually quite a bit of fun.  You will get addicted to the gameplay to see for how long you can continue to play the game.  You will come back again and again to see if you have what it takes to beat your old high scores.  The graphics are nothing to brag about but they look sharp and they get the point across.  You can also use the app in a variety of different colors.  The only main features that this app really takes advantage of are the sound and the vibration.  Even these aren’t used that much but they help add to the overall feel of the game.  When ever you tap a sequence from memory you will feel a small vibrate and there will be an accompanying beep.  This is very similar to the little Simon Says light up game that used to be popular a couple of decades ago.  Once you see the “Android says…” line then you are ready to get started and test your little memory bubble!

This Android app has been given a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars by users and you can actually download the app for free off of the Android app marketplace.

BlueBrush Android app Review

Description:

The BlueBrush Android app is a great way for anyone that likes to doodle to get their creative bug out.  You can use the drawing options and endless screen to make whatever kind of pictures that you want.

Features:

• You will be able to take pictures and draw on them, or you can use maps or any other type of photos
• There are a ton of different drawing features to choose from so it make take a little bit to figure it out, but once you get the hang of it you will have endless drawing options available
• You will have drawing tools, panning and rotating options, zoom options, sharing options, undo/redo buttons, saving options, and resizing options
• There is also an option where you can have a group canvas and draw with other friends using the google talk ID which is pretty cool
• You will have access to the paint brush, eraser, text types, shapes, bucket fills, opacity, thickness, transparency, and more
• You can take the pics out of your SD card and draw on those
• There is a hand tool that allows you to drag and pan around the drawing area.  The screen is virtually endless, so you can make your pictures as large or as small as you would like
• You can also use the new, save, share, and open features in order to start new drawings and save your old ones

Conclusion:

For being a simple drawing app, this little guy has quite a few redeeming features that make it a good fit for you Android phone.  You will be able to use a variety of drawing tools including the paint brush, the bucket fills, the shapes, and even different text types.  You can also use an infinite amount of space to draw on which can be a lot of fun, especially if you are drawing with other people.  All you have to do is just use the hand tool and you can pan around the entire area so that you are not confined to a drawing space only the size of a window.  Once you are done making a really cool piece of artwork you can then email or text it to your friends or family if you so choose.  This is a great app for anyone that loves to doodle and kill time.  It is a virtual way to do some finger painting.  The user interface is pretty advanced but it can sometimes make the app hard to use.  If you tap on the side panels in the app it will open up menu options that were previously hidden.  There is no help option so you kind of just have to figure it out as you go along.

This app has been given a rating of 3.5 out of 5 stars by Android app users and currently can be downloaded for free.

Flight Director Android app Review

Description:

In the Flight Director Android app you will have to take your position as the air traffic controller and try to help all of these different planes so that they can land safely without colliding or crashing.  You will have to be on top of your game to get them all there safely.

Features:

• In this app you will be able to land planes in a real airport from off of Google Maps
• Draw the route that you would like the plane to follow in order to help it land safely where it needs to
• The game can be very fun and challenging as well as very addicting
• All kinds of different aircraft that you can help land including planes, helicopters, and also war machines
• Gets more challenging as you move on in the game

Conclusion:

This is a cool game management app that allows you to be in charge of airlines and make sure that the planes arrive at their destinations safely.  You will take the helm as the air traffic controller and you will have to land planes as well as different war crafts and helicopters.  The coolest part about this app is that the actual game board that you play on is based off of real maps of airports on Google maps.  You will get to see all of them from an aerial satellite view and manage the planes over the top of them.  This game is a lot like the popular Flight Control app for the iPhone with a few different twists and turns.   As you are trying to land all of these different planes and aircraft you will see how challenging the game can become.  You will have to land planes that are coming in from all different directions and at all different times.  You will have to land some planes at the same time and not have them crash into each other.  All you have to do is just draw the route that you would like the planes to go in order to help them land safely.  The main cons to this app is that there is no background music so it can get pretty dull while you are playing and also the aerial maps idea is kind of cool but it can also get pretty cheesy.

This app has been given a rating of 3.7 out of 5 stars by users that have played it and there is a free version you can download or you can get the full version for $1.99 off of the Android app market.

LightUp Android app Review

Description:

In the LightUp Android app you will have to light up the entire board only moving one square at a time.

Features:

• LightUp is an ingenious little puzzle gaming app that is brought to you by the same developers that created the Cestos app for the Android
• In LightUp, you are simply trying to turn all of the white tiles into blue tiles.  It seems like it would be super easy to do but you will soon find out that it takes some real skill to be able to do it
• You will start on one square and then you will have to work your way around the board a single tile at a time in order to light up the entire board and complete the level
• There is a lite version that you can download for free or you can get the full version which has tons of features for you to be able to enjoy
• There are over 125 levels that are all unique and offer some very interesting twist, turns, and challenges
• You will also get to hear some cool music that was created by Protonk and you will have hours that you can spend on trying to finish these brain twisters
• There are also two different playing modes;  The multi mode with allows you to try and beat the puzzle from two different starting points and also the Backtrack mode where you will have to finish the puzzle in a certain amount of moves

Conclusion:

You can never have too many little puzzle games on your phone.  They seem to be the best time wasters and you don’t have to commit hours and hours to try and beat an entire storyline.  This app does exactly what it says it will do and it offers a few minutes of mind boggling fun here and there.  The great thing about this app is that it is very simple to pick up and play but can be very difficult to master.  In this game you will have you try and light up the entire board by only pressing one block at a time.  Just remember that if you make a single wrong turn you will have to start over on the board.  The key is to do it as fast as you can without messing up. The graphics in the game are very simple as well and the backdrops of the game always seem to feature some starry sky.  This game is actually very addicting to play and can be a great one to add to your arsenal of favorite time wasters.

This is a fun little puzzle game for the Android.  This app has been rated 4.1 out of a 5 star rating system and you can either try out the app for free or you can download the full version for $3.99 off of the Android app Market.

SliideScreen Android app Review

Description:

The coolest thing about the SlideScreen Android app is that it puts everything right at your fingertips.  You can get all of your latest news and information all in one place and it shows up right on the homepage.  This way you don’t have to go to all of the different apps in order to see what is going  on, you only have to scroll down the list on your homepage and see what needs to be taken care of.

Features:

• This app is a great way for you to get a home replacement screen for all of your pertinent and important information
• You can get summaries for all of your little apps like your GMail, your SMS text messaging, your missed and recieved calls, your calendar, your Google Reader, any Stocks or Bonds, and also Twitter
• The best part about this app is that all of these things are placed in one location so that it is very easy and convenient for you to be able to pick one of them
• The user interface of the app is also super slick and you will find that it is very easy to navigate and the controls are easy to use

Conclusion:

This is a really cool app that has been designed to help you replace your original home screen.  One of the really cool things about this app is that it will actually load all of your information right on the home screen.  That way you can have a list view of all of your newest emails, the time and date, and Tweets you may have,the current weather, your stocks and bonds, and any phone calls you may have missed.  All you have to do is click on it to bring up that specific application.   You also have the option of adding up to 8 different apps that you use very frequently.  All you have to do is just longpress on the app and then tap it over to the slot above that it is empty.  There are a few cons to the app however.  For one, it is much different than the default so it takes some getting used to and number two it doesn’t start up as quick as the default home app.

This app has been rated as a 4.1 out of 5 stars and you can download it off of the Android app market either for free or you can get the upgraded version for $6.99.

Tank Ace 1944 Android app Review

Description:

In the Tank Ace 1944 app you will be able to control a big military tank as you go around around destroy your enemies and try to take over the capitol.

Features:

• In this game you will be able to take command of a tank during the World War II era and try and kill all of your enemy tanks in order to advance and try to ultimately overthrow the capitol of the enemy
• You can play as one of three different groups.  You can either be the allied forces, the soviet forces, or the German forces
• The different tanks that you can play as include the Sherman, the Tiger, and also the T34 Tank.  All of these have big turrets that are movable as well as a cannon to fire from
• While you are playing you will have to capture enemy trucks and convoys that have extra armor, fuel, and ammunition otherwise you will never have enough to kill your enemies
• You can also destroy huge parts of the level.  The entire game is in three dimensions which is a pretty cool feature
• There are also three different difficulty levels that you can play in to be able to match your skill set

Conclusion:

This game is an action packed old school three dimensional war game where you get to control a big tank and blow stuff up.  Although the premise of the game sounds pretty cool, this game kind of fails to deliver any kind of lasting effect on anyone that plays it.  The main gripes with this app are that the controls are all on-screen and they can get quite cumbersome.  You will find yourself spending a great amount of time trying to get used to them.  Also, the missions in the game are all but impossible because of how they are set up.  Some levels you have like seven different tanks to kill but you are only given four rounds to do it with.  Sometimes this limited ammunition will just fire off at random even though you didn’t shoot it.  Also, you have a huge disadvantage over other tanks because they can climb over mountains while you can barely get up a hill.  There is also a page turn effect that happens when terrain gets in the way of the camera on the screen.  There are just a lot of poorly done features in this game that could have been polished and fixed to make this a much better action game for people who enjoy this genre.

This app has been rated by multiple Android users and has been given a rating of 3.2 out of 5 stars by critics.  The app can be downloaded for free off of the Android app market or you can upgrade to the pro version which costs $4.99.