I always liked playing Skee-Ball at the boardwalk arcades while growing up. It was a skill game, as opposed to a game of chance like most of the rest. Well, now I can re-live the experience on my iPhone with the Skee-Ball app. It works just like you think it would, using a finger flick to simulate rolling the ball. But you don’t have to worry about the machine breaking down on you while spitting out little tickets.
While we are on the subject of password security this week, it is worth mentioning that 1Password has an iPhone version. In fact, it has two: a standard 1Password and a 1Password Pro with a few more features. And, you guessed it, you can sync your 1Password on the iPhone with your 1Password on the Mac, giving you secure access to your passwords while away from your computer. Unfortunately you can’t easily log on to Web sites in mobile Safari, but you can copy and paste your passwords across.
The iPhone’s has been a fantastic innovative space for game developers. Here’s another odd and creative game: Tipoli. You control two little guys one of whom is stuck to the surface and the other who is continuously bouncing. All you do is touch to switch them. Very very simple, yet also very interesting. Give it a try.
Want to get a taste of speech recognition for free? The new Dragon Dictation app lets you talk into your iPhone and it will translate your speech to text. It’s not perfect, but works surprisingly well, especially considering it is free. You can then edit the text on the iPhone and send an email
Taking notes on the iPhone just got easier. Thanks to Note Taker you can write on the iPhone’s screen instead of typing. It uses a clever method of shrinking your letters down to fit on a page, and a lot of other interesting features. It doesn’t convert your chicken scratch to real text, but for the purpose of taking notes it is well suited.
If you play in a neighborhood poker game you could probably benefit from a little practice here and there. Online poker is quite a commitment, but a good iPhone app like Poker Superstars III can provide you with quick little practice sessions to sharpen your strategy. The AI is decent enough to send you packing quickly if you don’t know what you are doing, which will only help to make you a better player.
Minim is one of those rare cases where you find a relatively new game concept in an iPhone game. This 3D puzzle shows you molecules made up of number atoms. You need to combine the atoms following a set of rules until you compress the entire molecule into a single atom. It starts of very easy, but soon the level of complexity makes it challenging as each level gets more difficult.
You’ve got an iPhone with a camera. In front of you in the store is a product with a bar code on the back. Why type in the name of the product and search the Web for prices when an app can do it for you? RedLaser will grab the bar code and search the Web for prices and information. Other apps can do this too, but RedLaser seems to be the best of the bunch.
Combine the facts that your iPhone is always with you, it has a GPS chip, and has access to maps, and you’d think that you should be able to use it to track your bike rides — distance, speed, time, and even plot your course on a map. But most apps that claim to do this fall short in one way or another. An exception is Cyclemeter, which does all of these things and more. It keeps track of your rides without requiring you to sign up for a Web service or leave your iPhone. And it is gentle on your battery compared to other apps. Plus, it is very geeky cool to be able to see your ride on a map when you are done.
The ability of the iPhone 3GS to take video is great, but it makes you choose been capturing moments as a photo or a video. Video is a good choice, but sometimes you also want to send out or post a quick picture too. Videopix allows you to select a frame from a video and save it as a photo to your iPhone’s camera roll. It is pricey, but if you use video a lot, it could come in handy.
If you like following the latest goings-on at NASA, then the new NASA App for iPhone is your new favorite app. This free app gives you lots of news feeds, pictures, video and other information about all the different missions and programs. So far it has been updated constantly, even with count-downs to launches.
MacMost has its second entry into the iTunes App store this week with Free Games. This is a simple little free app that lists the 20 free Web-based games at MacMost.com. It is simply an easy way to bookmark them as an app on your iPhone, rather than as bookmarks in Safari. As something extra, the app also lists some other free games recommended by MacMost.
The follow-up to the popular GeoDefense game, GeoDefense Swarm doesn’t disappoint if you are a fan of tower defense games. It looks like the original, but it is an open field game, as opposed to a fixed path game. In fact, it adds an interesting element as it is hex-based instead of grid-based.
One of the most popular iPhone games of the year has been Flight Control. This simple game asks you to direct airplanes in for landing by drawing on the screen. It starts slowly, and then gets hard very quickly. You’ll find yourself playing over and over again.
It seems like tower defense games have found their perfect device in the iPhone. The touch screen is perfect for this sort of game. Probably the most talked-about tower defense game right now is GeoDefense. The graphics alone make it worth the price. Plus, it is a game that takes its levels seriously.
Since the launch of the App Store, Tap Tap Revenge has been one of the best free distractions. You play in a style similar to Guitar Hero or Dance Dance Revolution, tapping on dots as they fly down your screen. It’s lots of fun, especially if you like these kinds of music games. And there are special versions in the App Store too, with music from Nine Inch Nails, Lady Gaga, Coldplay, Dave Matthews, etc.
While Spades is usually a game for four players, it turns out to be a pretty good solo game against computer opponents as well. Multiplayer Tiki Spades offers both this single-player option and the ability to connect with others. Unlike a lot of other Spades games, the AI is pretty decent and the interface is excellent.
I’m surprised it took LucasArts so long to realize that its old Monkey Island games were perfect for adaptation to the iPhone. The Secret of Monkey Island Special Edition for the iPhone is a re-hash of one of the old games from the series. If you have never played Monkey Island games before, you should get a kick out of it — a point-and-click adventure with both clever puzzles and a sense of humor. And if you haven’t played it since it was first released 19 years ago, it could be fun to re-live the adventure.
Sick of paying $1000+ per megabyte for SMS messaging on the iPhone. There are plenty of apps that will allow you to bypass AT&T and send and receive text messages for free. And some apps, like Textfree will use the iPhone’s notification feature to alert you of new texts even when you are not running the app. The full version allows unlimited text messages, while a free trial version limits you to 15 per day.
