Created by: MX Web.

If you are looking for a simple but addictive game involving little more than a flick of your finger, then Polar Bowling for the Palm Pre® is for you.

The game is simple. The goal is to fling the polar bear into the hole at the top of the screen. What makes it difficult is that there is a wind blowing, and it changes direction for almost every polar bear. The wind can slide your polar bear right off the screen, away from the hole, so you have to consider its direction and adjust your flick angle. The wind direction is indicated by a red arrow at the upper left hand corner of the screen.

Scoring is also simple. If you get the polar bear into the hole, your score will increase by one. It will keep going up until you miss, when your score will zero out. Once you miss, you will be prompted to enter your top score in the field provided. At the top of the screen, your top score and the #1 top score is displayed, so you always know what your aim needs to be.

The graphics of the Polar Bowling are simple. The polar bears do cheer you on, with pithy little statements, and they slide across the screen smoothly and without a hitch. There is also music for the game, which can be a little annoying and you might want to turn it off.

However, for a simple premise, Polar Bowling for the Palm Pre is surprisingly hard and addictive. You can definitely waste time at the airport or in a doctor’s office playing this game and even your kids will like it. You’ll like the free price tag too.

Created by: Jason Teplitz.

The Lemonade app for the Palm Pre® is a simple but fun game. The goal of the game is to profitably sell lemonade at a lemonade stand. Just like you would for any ‘real’ business, you do need to take into account the costs involved, the weather (and therefore the amount of time you can sell for the day), total sale days and how many cups you plan on selling in any given day.

You can either launch right into playing the game or you can watch/read the tutorial, which walks you through the game, the available preferences and it also gives you tips for how to be successful at the game. The available preferences are a choice of how difficult you want the game (easy, medium, hard) and how many days you want it to last.

The game is played by choosing how many cups you want to sell, how many lemon slices you are going to use, how many sugar pieces you plan on using, how much you want to charge, and how you plan to advertise your lemonade (with costs). All of this is decided on the screen for the day you are at (ie, you start at Day 1). After filling in all of the necessary information, you then tap ‘Continue’ and you get your daily report for how much you sold, what your profit was, how perfect your sugar choice was, etc. Gathering this information will allow you to tweak your totals for the next sale day, which will hopefully maximize your profit. Tap ‘Continue’ again and you move to Day 2 of your total days of selling, fill in the information, etc.

The interface for the game is simple, easy to understand and the daily report helps you keep track of all of your choices from the previous day. While it seems like a simple game, it is actually pretty tough and addictive as well, since who wants to admit you failed at selling lemonade (something 10 year olds can do in the ‘real’ world and be profitable)?

Lemonade for the Palm Pre is a very smart, but simple, game. And the best part—it’s free.

Created by Keen Studios. (US only)

Checkers for the Palm Pre® is the mobile version of the board game I enjoyed as a kid. The object of the game remains the same – clear your opponent’s pieces off of the board by jumping over them. You can only move diagonally and to an open space.

When Checkers launches, you are given the option of beginning play by choosing the number of players, seeing the top scores “Achievements”, determining the settings of the game or getting support for any issues you may be having. You either can play against the computer, with a choice of playing styles (Normal, Careful or Aggressive), or you can play against a friend, by switching the phone back and forth (Pass and Play). When you are on the Settings menu, you can change the board theme from Original to Classic or to Faces. You can choose to leave on or off the Haptic Feedback (not sure what this does – all it did was vibrate when I picked a piece and also drained my battery) and Sounds. You have additional choices as a one player game – you can turn on ‘Cheat Mode’ and also choose the playing style.

The “Sounds” for the game is merely a clacking sound that occurs when you move a piece. In the Classic game mode, you don’t get the option of being “Kinged”, which occurs when you reach the last row of your opponent and allows you to go back the other way to continue to remove your opponent’s pieces. In the Original game mode, you can be “Kinged”. In the Faces game mode, the pieces have eyes and a straight line for a mouth, and they smile when you tap them to move them, and you also have the option of being “Kinged”. Whatever game mode you choose, the gameplay is fun, challenging and just like the board game version.

The board is clean, the pieces are easy to move and you do need to be on your toes against the computer. For someone looking to play Checkers on the go on their Palm Pre, this game is perfect – and free!

Created by bytesequencing.com. (US only)

Bubbles for the Palm Pre® is a game consisting of popping connected bubbles of the same color, with the goal of clearing the board and racking up the most points. The more bubbles that are popped in one go, the more points you get.

The app starts off with the Last Game Score, which includes how many games played, average score, and high score. You can also choose the type of game you want to play – Normal, Continuous, Shifter, Super Shifter – as well as the bubble size. There are no real instructions to the game and it took me a while to realize that by tapping the bubbles twice, they popped off of the screen and the pieces shifted down. So, if you choose some bubbles and realized you didn’t want to pop them, tapping them once gives you the total points and grays them out, but tapping them twice pops them. The best way to play is to figure out what your best move is to shift the right color of bubbles down so that you can pop them all. It can be an addicting and frustrating game.

Selecting Normal play means that once you’ve made all the moves you can on the board, whether or not it is clear, the game is over and you are reverted back to the scoreboard. Continuous play means there are pieces in the bottom of the screen in a special window that are added to the gameboard when a row clears up, which means even more strategy to play the game. Shifter play means that the pieces shift over to the left or right, depending on where you popped the last bubbles, instead of staying in their own columns, as in the Normal game play. Super Shifter play means that there is more extreme shifting within the bubbles than in the Shifter game style.

It is unfortunate that the game does not come with instructions, but once you figure it out, it seems pretty simple. The free version does contain ads, but they appear at the bottom of the screen and are pretty unobtrusive. If you upgrade to the paid version of the game, version .9.9, you are given the option of undoing the last move you made, but it’s not a necessary option to play and enjoy the game.

Created by Uberu. (US only)

Blackout for the Palm Pre® is an easy yet addicting game to play on your phone. The goal of the game is to turn off all of the lights on the board. Clicking on a light switches it and its non-diagonal neighbors on or off.

The game is very simple, as is the interface on which you play. Once you launch the app, a game board appears with some lights on and some lights off. It is definitely a strategy game since you can turn on some of the lights that are already turned off if you tap the right or wrong button. It can be addicting and frustrating, especially if you get the board mostly clear and then tap the wrong light and have to start over again. The game keeps track of how many steps it takes you to turn off all of the lights and you can start a new game simply by pressing ‘New Game’ at the bottom of the screen.

There are no preferences or other options to the game. It is user friendly and would definitely be older kid friendly as well. For all of its simplicity, it actually is a challenging and fun game…and it’s free.

Created by: Brandon VanBelle.

The Dot Game app for the Palm Pre® is the computerized version of a game I used to play in high school with a pad and paper. The game is simple, but challenging, and it can be very frustrating, especially if you really want to win.

The goal of the game is to be the person to create the most boxes. To create boxes, you simply connect the a grid of dots with lines – one line at a time allowed during each turn. The game sounds simple, but it is a strategy game that you can quickly lose if you don’t pay attention and carefully plan out each move.

The Dot Game is a one or two player game, with the option to play against the computer (one player) or a friend (two player). If you are playing a friend, then you simply hand the phone back and forth for each turn. If you are playing the computer, you can choose the level of difficulty you want. Don’t be fooled, Medium difficulty is still a challenging level to play.

The game interface is basic. To decide on who you are playing, you choose either Human for a friend or Easy, Medium, or Hard for the computer player. You can increase the board size from Normal to Large or Huge, and also you can change the theme to Crayon or Clockwork from the Default theme. Once the game board appears, you draw your line by tapping the spot between the dots where you want it to appear. If your line is the last and creates a box, the color you picked for the Human player (default is blue) is then filled in the box so that you know what boxes are yours and what boxes are not. There is also a tally of the total number of boxes at the top of the screen.

The Dot Game for the Palm Pre, while simple, is addictive and is a great way to kill some time while waiting at the doctor’s office. And the best part – it’s free.

Created by: Moblyng.

m:Mafia is the free version game app for the Palm Pre®, where you get to be a Mafia Don. You can case, fix and/or enforce your way to the top of the Mafia food chain. The cool thing about this app is that it is on Facebook as well, which means you can play on the go or on your computer. And, with Facebook Connect, you can invite your friends to your ‘Family’ and create a m:Mafia community, right on your phone.

When you launch the app, the first thing the game does is to ask you if you want to link your game account to your Facebook page. If you already have a character that you play on Facebook, the game will sync it up for you, or you can create a new character, starting by creating a character name and typing it in the appropriate box. One thing that is a bit weird is that the character name field isn’t character friendly, i.e., you have to tap the blank name field and a enter text box appears, where you type in your name choice. After typing in your game name and making sure no one else has it and that is under 18 characters long, you then get to pick your character’s class.

The classes are:

• Loan shark – Faster money regen
• Heavy – Faster stamina regen
• Operator – Faster strength regen
• Fixer – Faster health regen

I picked Fixer, since I like the idea of ‘fixing’ things, although you may want to be more strategic and pick stamina, since having stamina is a key part of the game. You are then prompted to pick an avatar, from a very limited group of 20 choices.

m:Mafia is played by leveling up and gaining XP, which is done through completing Jobs and Fights. As you level up, you have the ability to do more missions and fight different people. You can recruit people to your crew (which is where Facebook Connect comes in handy), which becomes necessary for more advanced Jobs and Fights (some jobs require a crew of 3, etc.). The Jobs are the best way to make money and to level up, as well as to find special loot items. The money is handy when you need to buy some equipment to, say, rob a bank or to buy some good weapons and armor. Some sample jobs are: purse snatching, mugging, holding up a store, etc. You can do many of the Jobs over and over again, to either find special loot, rack up some XP or bank some money. Your character has a set number of health, stamina, and strength points, although stamina is key to being able to do the jobs because each Job has specific minimum stamina points needed to do it. But don’t worry, if you really want to steal someone’s lunch money, your stamina points do regenerate fairly quickly. And, depending on the job, you can also lose health points (10 in total) or strength points (3 in total), both of which affect your ability to work and/or fight.

The interface for the game is pretty basic, but is easy to use. You pick from the menu button at the bottom left of the screen to get to the main menu, which then allows you to go do Jobs, Fights, Stash (buy stuff), or go to the Bank. You may want to stash your cash in the bank, even though the bank takes 10%, because all of your money can get stolen in a fight.

m:Mafia will keep you busy on your Palm Pre for a while. The interaction between the screens is a little clunky and the graphics are basic, but for a free game, it’s not bad. There are ads throughout, but they are relatively unobtrusive in the top of the screen.

The free version gives you 25 Free Favor points, which you can use to pay the Don for upgrades, health, refills and recharging your stamina or strength. You can also sell Favor points or buy them for $1000. The paid version, m:Mafia 40 Favor, gives you 40 Favor points. It costs $4.99, but for a casual gamer, the free version is enough, especially if you can play a lot on Facebook.

Created by: Cakefight.

Sudoku! is the mobile app version of Sudoku puzzles for the Palm Pre®, with over 1,000 puzzles for you to solve. Sudoku is a challenging game of logic and intellect, where you have 9 blocks with 9 squares each. Enter digits from 1 to 9 into the blank spaces, making sure that each row, each column, and each block only has one of each digit. It can be a very frustrating game, but the Sudoku! app makes solving the puzzles fun and easy.

Playing the game itself is quite user friendly. Simply tap in the box you wish to enter a number, select the number you want to put in your selected box by tapping on the number in the boxes below the game piece. If you want to make some number notes within your selected box, tap on the pencil icon and once highlighted, you then can tap on the numbers below the game piece to create ‘notes’ for potential answers to that empty block. The pencil mode is a great asset to this app, especially if you find you have more than one choice available (and you will, frequently).

The Sudoku! app has a handy automatic game save, which allows you to quit and come back to your unsolved puzzle whenever you wish. And, you can also have the computer solve it for you, if you get stuck.

One of the great features of this app, besides the pencil mode, is that you can add new puzzles that you either create yourself or find in a newspaper or online somewhere. It’s as simple as tapping the Sudoku! menu tab at the top of the screen and choosing ‘Create a Custom Game’. In this way, you’ll have access to more than the 1,000 available puzzles in the game.

All in all, this is a great app for those looking for a free version of Sudoku!, especially with the pencil mode and the ability to add custom games.

Shape Reactor is a challenging and addictive chain reaction styled game for the iTouch and iPhone. The game is similar to online addicting games such as boomshine, but it takes it to a whole new level with:

• multiple shapes
• shape upgrades
• controls designed for the iphone – drag circles, and control some shapes by tilt
• 28 levels over 4 difficulties
• online scoreboards, achievements, and friends
• post events to facebook and twitter, then brag!

Created by: Mundue.net.

The reMovem Free game for the iPhone® is pretty simple in concept: Eliminate all of the colored dots by tapping on them. The trick is that a dot must be next to another dot of the same color in order to be removed. Fortunately, the game is untimed so you can consider your moves for a few seconds—and believe me, you’ll need the time to study the board.

The Info button gives you access to all of the game settings. You can view your personal statistics as well as a high score table. If you don’t want to save your high scores, you can turn off the option for recording your scores. If you want to be able to undo the last move, set the Undo option to ‘On.’ You can also toggle the sound on and off from the Info screen.

By switching between four, five, and six color options, users can change the level of difficulty of the game. For users that may have a hard time discerning between the various colors, reMovem (Free) can be set to add symbols to the colored dots.

Pros: Challenging, fun game that is very simple to learn. Can save high scores.
Cons: Like most games for the iPhone, it can become addictive.

Created by: Optime Software.

My family and I were big fans of MasterMind, the board game where you had to figure out a sequence of colored pegs. Crack the Code (Free) is the iPhone®’s equivalent of this popular game.

There are three levels of difficulty: easy, medium, and hard. The main difference between the levels is the number of colored dots in the code, with easy having 3 dots, medium 4 dots and hard 5 dots. There are six different colored dots on the easy and medium levels, while there are eight colors on the hard level. You have 10 opportunities to get the code right on the easy and medium levels and 12 opportunities on the hard level.

Guess the code by tapping one of the open spaces on the first row, then selecting a color from the popup window. Once you’ve finished choosing colors, press OK. The small grid on the right will indicate if you cracked the code. A black/gray dot means right color, right space; white dot means right color, wrong space. If a space on the grid is empty, it means wrong color, wrong space. You can scroll up and down on the gameboard to see previous entries.

Crack the Code (Free) does make it a little easy for you by not using empty spaces or repeated colors in the codes. But even if you’re not able to crack the code within the allotted number of turns, the game will show you the code at the end.

Pros: Challenging, fun game of strategy.
Cons: Doesn’t automatically start a new game, or give you the option to start a new game, once you’ve completed a game. On the settings page, hard to tell if options are turned on or off (uses slightly different shading).

Created by: Fairlady Media.

As a kid I loved playing Whack-a-Mole with my best friend. Spazzle: Midnight Mask, formerly known as Whack’em All!, is a highly amusing and addictive electronic version of the popular arcade game, right down to the sound effects.

The goal of the game is to whack (tap) or smack (shake) as many critters as you can without losing all of your lives, which are indicated by the hearts at the top of the screen. If you whack a cat as opposed to a critter, or you miss too many critters on a level, you’ll be penalized one or more hearts. If you do happen to whack a cat, it will howl—and the sound is pretty realistic. On higher levels, some of the moles wear masks so you’ll think they are actually cats.

While most of the time you’ll be tapping the screen frantically to clear the board of moles, you’ll also want to fell all of those pesky moles in one swoop, also known as smacking them. The hammer icon at the top of the screen lets you know how many smacks you have available. Simply shake the iPhone to smack down all those pesky moles, rabbits and gophers.

It’s pretty easy to get extra points if you’re paying attention. The timer gives you a few more seconds on the clock, while the colored jewels give you bonus points. The hammer icon adds an extra smack and the heart gives you an extra life. And with those darn cats everywhere, trust me, you’ll need those extra lives.

The Spazzle: Midnight Mask tutorial shows you the basics on how to play. If you whack two or more critters at once, you get double points per critter. Pause the game or change the sound level by pressing the Options button near the top left of the screen.

Pros: Fun, addictive and challenging game. Great graphics and sound effects.
Cons: Ads at the bottom of the screen in the free version can be distracting.

Anyone who was a kid in the 1980s probably has fond memories of playing videogames for hours at the local arcade. One of my favorites was Pac-Man®—simple premise, fairly easy to play, yet still thrilling. Getting Pac-Man Lite for my iPhone® brought back all those memories without having to fill my pockets with quarters.

For pure nostalgia you can’t beat Pac-Man Lite. The sounds and graphics are true to the original arcade game. The ghosts are just as annoying as ever and our hero, Pac-Man, is still hungry for those little pellets and floating fruit.

Moving Pac-Man through the game can be done using one of three methods. Take advantage of iPhone’s touch screen by using Swipe mode. For a more old-school videogame experience, change it to D-pad mode and use the directional pad at the bottom of the screen.

Accelerometer mode allows you to tilt and move the iPhone in the direction you want Pac-Man to move. Both the Swipe and Accelerometer modes show a joystick at the bottom of the screen, which moves in tandem with the direction Pac-Man is going. You can also use the joystick in Swipe Mode, but it’s not as easy to manipulate. I find the Swipe or D-Pad to be the best options.

Easy game mode starts you out with 6 Pac-Men and moves a little slower, while Normal mode is a little faster. The Original game mode is just like the arcade version. Both the Normal and Original modes give you 4 lives. If you prefer to not hear the sound effects, you can turn them off from the main menu. Pac-Man Lite will also keep track of your high scores for all three game modes.

The only issue I have with Pac-Man Lite is that there’s only one board. Once you’ve cleared the screen, you’re taken to a link to purchase the full version of the game. So those of us with Pac-Man fever will have to cough up a few bucks to get to more levels.

Pros: Does a great job of replicating the original Pac-Man game with graphics and sound. Offers several options for the game controller and game type.
Cons: Can be difficult to use the joystick instead of dragging finger across screen to move Pac-man. Game consists of only one board on the Lite version—once you clear the first board, your game ends and you’re given a link where you can buy the full version.

Created by: Digital Chocolate

Object: The object of this game is to free your comrade penguin from the polar bears.

How to Play: After selecting your mission, you’ll start off by catapulting loyal penguins into the line of fire to do battle with the bears. The catapulting sequence is all done on one screen. Your timing has to be very good to make sure you get your penguin out and even better to get the penguins through the burning hoop. Once you’ve launched all of your penguins, the screen changes to where the penguins are flying in from the catapult. As the penguin flies across the screen, tap the screen to initiate the descent of the penguin. The idea is to knock out as many bears as possible to complete each mission successfully. Getting the penguins through that burning hoop in the catapult sequence will be an added benefit as the flaming penguins coming down will help melt the ice which protects some of the bears. You’ll also have missions to disrupt the food supply of ice cream and fish as well.

This cute game is well-designed and is great for passing time with a smile. The graphics, sound effects and music of Crazy Penguin Catapult help set the stage for a really fun time.

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
Graphics
Value
Idiot-proof

Created by: Armor Games/ Antony Lavelle.

As an iPhone® version of the internet game, Shift is a game where you are subject 32763 and your mission is to unlock pathways to the exit door in each level and get out of the experiment. It starts off easy, but as you progress, added elements of challenge are added to force your hand to make decisions quickly and execute your moves with precision. What really makes this game unique is the shift element (hence the name). This flips the screen and puts you in the inverse plane of where you currently playing, giving you the added dimension of game space. It’s a great concept and one that changes the direction of minimalist gaming apps.

The graphics are simple, but don’t let that dissuade you—this game is well-conceived and the gameplay totally wipes that out from your head as you play. The spy music in the background really helps set the stage as you conduct your mission. The only downside is that the game does have an end, so it would be nice if the game had more levels. This game is must-have.

Addictive Factor
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Idiot-proof

Created by: 2XL

This is a sweet 3D motocross racing game where the object is to simply achieve first place.

In order to steer the motorcycle, you tilt the iPhone® either right or left. There are three basic controls: accelerator, brake and preload. You can perform tricks in mid-air such as backflips and whips.

When playing this game, I sometimes could actually feel the sensation of making the turns and taking the jumps as I really got into it and held my iPhone a little too close at times.

You have thirteen different tracks to choose from: time trials, practice and race modes; four camera views; eight different preset control schemes as well as access to the online stats and profiles.

2XL SuperCross is a great game with excellent graphics, music and sound effects and we would definitely recommend it.

Addictive Factor
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Idiot-proof

Created by: Slitherine.

Object: Deliver your load on time and get your money!

How to Play: This game is based on the History Channel’s Ice Road Truckers and involves driving a tractor trailer rig over the ice in a race against time. You’re provided with three different camera angles to view from. I find the “behind the truck” view to be the best. The cockpit view feels too close to the road to have any sense of what’s ahead. Then there’d the front view… A front view of the truck? While racing? Now that’s useless. How am I supposed to know where I’m headed? Well, it does have some entertainment value I guess. You have the accelerator button the right, and the brake on the left. To me, having a brake button when racing on ice is pointless.

The graphics aren’t terrible and the sound effects are pretty good. Ice Road Truckers Lite acts a little buggy from time to time, which tends to detract from the gaming experience. I suggest sticking with the Lite version. It’s fun enough for a free app.

Based upon what was shown to me in this lite version, I’ll save my 99 cents and put it towards my cable bill and watch Ice Road Truckers on the History Channel.

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
Graphics
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Idiot-proof

Created by: Digital Chocolate

Object: The object is to build the highest tower and have the most toonies move in.

How to Play: Playing this game involves tapping the display as the building sections (called blocks) are lowered by the crane above. This will drop the block. An accurate drop on top of another block will be signified by a metal “ding” and stars. This is ideal as your building will be more stable and will attract more tenants, called toonies, who move into their apartments by dropping in on parachutes. You can stack an unlimited amount of stories in which you’ll see birds, blimps and airplanes, and even more as you build higher and higher. You are given three chances to make mistakes before your building project is terminated. The building stack is pretty forgiving in that you have to be pretty off the mark to miss the stack although the building’s sway makes it very challenging to land a block cleanly.

If building a city is more your speed, you can do that by working for the city architect who needs a district built to attract business. The idea again is to build your tower as well as possible to attract the most tenants and business clientele. Additionally, when building the district, keep in mind that planning and placement of certain types of buildings come into play as well.

The Party Game can be alot of fun as well being that two players are playing on the same screen at the same time.

Tower Bloxx 3D is very simple, but challenging. The graphics, music and animation are excellent and make for a very pleasant gaming experience for all ages.

Addictive Factor
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Idiot-proof

Created by: Kevin Calderone.

Object: to get your character to the Sun in each level.

How to Play: The gameplay for this app is very simple. Use the arrows to move your character left or right, with using the up button to jump. You can draw or erase platforms to walk on by touching the screen and tracing lines (hence the name) to wherever you need to go to avoid objects and reach the sun. If you get hit by an obstacle, you will be made to start the level over again. There are six worlds (or themes) to choose from: Paint, Water, Plant, Chalk, Flame and Space, each consisting of twenty levels of difficulty. This game is deceptively challenging despite its innocent appearance.

The graphics and animation are very simple, but novel enough that the gameplay is so interesting that you’ll overlook their simplicity. Your journey on each level is accompanied by ethereal music, which suits the feel of the game. Trace is worth your while to check out.

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
Graphics
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Idiot-proof

Created by: KiraGames.

The object of the game is to get the red block out by sliding the other block out of the way.

This game has the feel of a nice wooden block puzzle you’d find in a craft or antique store. There are 600 levels (block configurations) to choose from. This game is great way to pass the time in a quiet, subdued setting. There are no distracting sound effects or graphics—just you and the wooden puzzle waiting to be solved.

Don’t let the simplicity of Unblock Me (Free) fool you. You’ll definitely stay occupied for a long time! Definitely recommend!

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
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Idiot-proof

Created by: BIT-101.

There’s really not much say about this app except that it’s worth every penny that you don’t have to spend for it.

The object is to keep the stick man from being hit by falling balls, hence the name Falling Balls.

Make the stick figure run by tilting the iPhone® left or right. All balls go from left to right. So, a hint I have is to keep as far right as possible as to make time for judging how the balls are bouncing and give yourself time to take action.

This game is very simple and will keep you occupied should all your other apps crash.

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
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Value
Idiot-proof

The idea of Brain Teaser is to recreate the pattern exactly as shown on the bottom left corner of the display. This is done by tapping the tiles, which flip the tile and the four neighboring adjacent tiles at one time.

If the pattern to solve is symmetrical, it will be easier than patterns that are asymmetrical. This game is simple, but it is very challenging at its upper levels when the grid becomes 4×4. A good rule of thumb to go by is that if the pattern to be solved is symmetrical, keep your moves symmetrical as well.

This game is very good. The graphics are good, there are no sound effects, but we imagine they are not necessary.

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
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Idiot-proof

Created by: Digital Goldfish Ltd.

Bloons (Lite) is a deceptively challenging, but cute game in which you have to pop the target number of balloons to complete each level. Playing the game is easy—all you do is touch the screen to aim and slide your finger accordingly to adjust the power of the monkey’s throw. You are given a finite number of darts to use to accomplish this task, so you have to strategize your approach to meet your goal.

As you go up in levels, the difficulty increases and you will encounter balloons with special abilities and obstacles to make the game even more interesting.

This game is very fun to play and we definitely recommend getting the paid app, which has 100 challenging levels. The graphics and sound effects are very good.
The music is cute, but can become annoying after a while, especially if you’ve been trying to get through the same round over an over again.

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
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Idiot-proof

Created by: ADEPT Games, LLC.

Object: To make the board match the target.

How to Play: You play the game by tapping on any of the eligible tiles indicated by the flashing arrows. Tapping on the tile will toggle it from one color to the other. Do this until the your board matches the solution board on top. The kicker is that you have a limited number of moves to accomplish this goal. There are a given number of moves for gold, silver or bronze—gold is given if the puzzle is completed with the bare minimum number of moves. If you like, you can choose the “race against the clock” mode.

Options such as diagonal moves, crystals which enable special powers, warps, wormholes, and more become available as you progress through the game. The harder levels have more blocks with 4×4 and 5×5 layouts, which will really challenge your resolve to get the lowest number of moves to solve the puzzle!

The graphics of Trixel are nice and very cleanly done. You can play iPod® music for your background, which is a nice feature, although the music included is nice enough.

Addictive Factor
Keeper Factor
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Idiot-proof

Created by: Games Café.

Object: Make money, grow your spa franchise, and most importantly—keep your customers happy.

How to Play: As your customers come into the spa, an icon will appear over the customer indicating what treatment they are asking for. It is up you to drag and drop the customer to the appropriate station, and with some intervention by you, Sally will take care of the rest. You can earn tips depending on how well and how quickly you take care of your customers. You’ll know how you’re doing by the amount of hearts floating above each customer. It becomes challenging to keep everyone happy when you become busy.

As you earn more money, you will have access to more resources, which will help to keep customers happy and grow your business.

In the paid version of Sally’s Spa, you’ll cater to twelve different types of customers including couples. There’ll be 65 items to buy for your shop. You can also hire employees to assist you in maintaining nine different spa services, all while keeping your customers happy. You can play 50 levels and grow a franchise of 10 spas worldwide.

The graphics are superb and the sound effects are very realistic. The Asian music in the background actually helps to keep you level-headed when things become hectic at the spa.

Sally’s Spa Lite is highly recommend it for its value in terms of enjoyment and that it is a great lesson in time, money and resource management, and I would definitely recommend the purchase of the paid version.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: IDeationSource.

Object: Arrange the squares in the puzzle to match the finished puzzle.

How to play: With your finger, slide the rows of colored tiles left, right, up or down to position the tiles to try to match the finished puzzled shown on the top left corner of your display. Sometimes you can catch a lucky break and solve the puzzle really quickly. Sometimes you can slide yourself into a corner and blow minutes just trying to get close to a solution.

If your score is one of the top ten in the world, you can post it for the world to see.

Match Madness LT is a great game, although for more puzzle variety, it is suggested that you get the paid version. The idiot-proof rating is due to its ease of use, not its ease of solution!

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Idiot-proof

Created by: John Moffett.

This is a virtual hunting simulator where you can go on a deer hunt just like a Good ol’ Boy.

You can choose between the Quick Hunt or a Full Hunt. The Quick Hunt will allow you to hone your rifle shooting skills without the pressure of things like keeping score or worrying about ammo reserves. However, in the Full Hunt, there are more options. Each kill earns cash that you may use towards purchasing a shotgun or bow along with the ammo and arrows. You can even purchase camouflage and scent eliminator to bring the deer closer for easier shots. There’s even radar available for a princely sum, but trust me, by then, you’ll have earned it!

The gameplay is pretty simple. What you do is scan the horizon, 360 degrees, for quarry by swiping across the landscape. Deer can be hard to spot in Summer or Fall since the landscape is mottled by foliage. Winter and Spring seasons have landscapes that have more contrast, making the deer easier to spot. Once you find a deer, you can go the scope view by double tapping the display. At this point, the accelerometer is used to get the deer into the crosshairs to zero in for the kill. The more experience you achieve, the steadier your hand, but the deer become faster and more wise to the hunter.

The graphics, sound effects and realism are good in iHunt 3D. Hopefully, future versions will come with more options.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: SGN

F.A.S.T. (Fleet Air Superiority Training) is a jet fighter flight simulator where you can virtually do anything a jet fighter can do. You can perform aerial maneuvers such as turns, climbs, dives, rolls, yaw and boost with afterburners.

Three different views allow you to choose to view from the cockpit, behind the plane, or a side view from a distance. When you launch missiles, there is even a missile cam available to watch your missile approach and hit (or miss) its target. All views are equipped with controls, armaments, radar and a heads-up display, which is like the real thing. The distant view from the side can be really confusing at first, but can have its advantages once you’ve become accustomed to it.

F.A.S.T. definitely takes some practice to become even good at shooting down your opponents. As you progress in your missions, you will unlock fighter craft, which are more sophisticated, and you will also gain access to WiFi competition and the potential for reaching the leaderboard. You can fly head to head against the iPhone®, or you can play against and/or with other people in virtual rooms one vs one or in teams—with wingmen and all.

The graphics, sound effects and realism are superb and makes for a great gaming experience.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: FAKT Software.

Object: To figure out how to use the tools given to you to complete experiments.

How to play: This game is really the epitome of the Rube Goldberg concept. You are given experiments to solve by a professor who resembles Albert Einstein. To conduct the experiment, you’re given an inventory of items at your disposal and a description of what is to be accomplished. As you successfully work with the non-conventional tools, such as rockets, bombs and nitro provided ad-hoc throughout the game, your reward is actually getting to keep them in inventory for use in future experiments. It is strongly suggested that you go through the tutorials to get a grasp on how to apply the tools. You can always “fast forward” through them if you need to.

You are given memory slots where you can create and store your own crazy machine, which allows for full creativity.

Crazy Machines has excellent graphics and great sound effects. For the inventor, creator or curious mind, this is app definitely worth getting!

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Idiot-proof

Created By: MikaMobile.

Object: To stay alive by not getting eaten by zombies.

How to play: You’ve got to protect yourself from the Zombies in the street! Eliminate the zombies as they come at you so that you don’t get eaten yourself. You do this by acquiring weapons, ammunition, cash and medical care to keep yourself alive to fight another night. You move your character down the street by touching the corresponding lower corner to move either right or left. To fire your weapon, touch the bottom of the screen. The different weapons available have trade-offs, such as faster repeat rates, but less power, thus requiring slightly more ammo to do the job. Some weapons have more power, but their repeat rate is slower.

As you go up in levels, some zombies become faster, some become harder to kill and some become really hard to kill.

ZombieVille USA is very easy to learn and fun to play. The graphics and sound effects are very good as well although they can be slightly gory at times.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: ngmoco, Inc.

Object: Score points and complete the journey by stacking the various shaped blocks upon one another.

How to play: You start off on a journey through 6 different islands with multiple stops in each. At each point, you must fulfill the goal of stacking various shaped blocks on top of one another. Each stop becomes more difficult as the shapes become more varied.

The faces on the blocks will telegraph their satisfaction with how you stacked them, and provide an indicator as to what you should do, whether it is stay on course or remedy the situation. The game has somewhat of “floaty,” fluid feel to it, so watch out—there is a false sense of forgiveness in the placement of the blocks. You can attempt to keep the blocks from falling over by shifting the iPhone® accordingly. Having to do the stacking upside down is also a challenge. If you wish, you can set up challenges on Facebook®, Twitter® and email.

Overall, Topple 2 is OK. The graphics are excellent, and gameplay is engaging.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: Fuel Games.

Object: Score as many points in your skating career as you wish.

How to Play: The setting is an empty swimming pool ready for skating, and you have the choice of assuming the role of one of two world-reknowned skaters: Bucky Lasek or Omar Hassan. Once you’ve chosen who you want to be as your skater, you can work on your Career, or you can just go Free Ridin’.

Free Ridin’ is a chance to work on and master your skills without the pressure of time limits or scores.

If you choose to work on your career, you first must start off with the Timed Run. This will give you the chance to become eligible for more events as you achieve different skills such as landing a 360 Airwalk or grind for 30 seconds. The more Events you play, the more items such as board designs and wheel styles become available to you to customize your Pool Ridin’.

When you’re skating, you can do many different tricks from a list of 13 aerials, 2 grinds and a trademark trick for each rider—Omar Hassan’s Verial 360 Heelflip and Bucky Lasek’s Nollie Kickflip to Madonna. If you find it too difficult or “too easy” to execute tricks, you can adjust the tilt sensitivity for more or less responsiveness when playing.

The music provided with Vans Sk8 Pool Service really sets the stage for an authentic skating experience although you can customize the music playlist playing during your skating session. You can even add your own tracks to the mix as well, which makes for a really customized experience.

I have to say for someone like me who is not a skater, this game rocks!!!

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Idiot-proof

Created by: DS Media Labs, Inc.

Object: Connect the pipes from beginning (blue pipe) to end (green pipe) at each level.

How to play: At each level, the water flows slowly through the pipe—at about 10 seconds per section. You have one minute to uncover and use the appropriate sections of pipe to make the connections necessary to stay ahead of the water. You swap out available pipefittings to make the fit you need to keep the water flowing. At the end of that minute, the water goes from really slow to really fast and if you don’t have all your piping connected from beginning to end, it’s game over. It’s also game over if the slow moving water catches up to the incomplete connection for which you’re working on finding a connection.

Each level of the game gets harder as you progress as you are left with less piping options and thus less margin of error when deciding what section of piping to use. Watch out as you uncover the tiles lest you uncover a time subtraction penalty, which takes away valuable seconds to complete your connections.

This game makes you think quickly on your feet as you race against time to keep from FLOverload.

The graphics are very good and are sufficient enough for a nice gaming experience. There could be a little more variety with the sound effects even though they are not bad in and of themselves.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: Freeverse, Inc.

Object: Simply to the catch the biggest and most valued fish!

How to play: Pick where you want to fish by touching the part of the map you wish to fish. Each area has its own difficulty level. There are a few different baits to chose from depending on the type of fish you wish to catch. The big fish are picky eaters! Cast the bait or lure by flicking the iPhone®. Be sure to practice your technique as the better your technique, the further your cast will be, and your potential to catch big fish goes up. You can use bait with a float to indicate a bite, or you can use a lure. Just as in real life, when a fish bites, you pull backwards (or you can touch the reel) on the iPhone to set the hook, and reel in the fish, but watch that tension meter! Reeling in the bigger fish requires finesse as you do not want to snap the line by being too anxious to land your fish.

What’s neat about Flick Fishing is that there is a photo album of all the fish that have been caught and you can brag to your buddies via email.

You can even buy a downloadable private island fishing spot and an additional game mode from the Village Shop.

The graphics are good, but could be a little cleaner. However, the fun that this game provides for the fishing/gaming enthusiast will certainly outweigh this shortcoming.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: Backflip Studios

Object: Hit the targets in the scenarios presented with the least amount of rag dolls.

How to play: This is a fun game where you simply aim your cannon and shoot rag dolls at the targets. To hit your target(s), you may have to lob or use a ricochet technique.

When playing this game, I couldn’t believe how many different levels there were and how absorbed into the game I had become. Ragdoll Blaster has 73 levels to choose from. The levels get more interesting as they layouts become more machine-like—almost reminiscent of the Rube Goldberg contraptions.

The graphics are simple, but novel and are definitely sufficient.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: FDG Entertainment.

Object: A simple one-player game where the object is to make sure the parachutists jumping from the planes land safely in the boats waiting below.

How to Play: As the parachutists jump from airplanes flying overhead, help them avoid getting sawn in half by helicopters, abducted by UFOs, or zapped by storm clouds. You do this by either sliding your finger to generate wind currents for the parachutist to guide them to safety, or by eliminating the threats by tapping on them (doesn’t work for storms clouds) If a parachutist does not land in a boat, he will be eaten by a big old shark who taunts you at the end of the game for not breaking your high score, although you can make the shark cry if you do.

The acapella music is homegrown, but amusing and adds character to the game.

Parachute Panic, with its simple, but novel graphics, sound effects, and challenging gameplay, is a game worth buying.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: Gameloft

How to Play: This a well-conceived golf game with many options. You can choose between the classic tap controlled and advanced swipe-controlled golf swings. The wind velocity will be indicated on the screen. You can zoom in on the area where your ball will land, which will allow you to study the terrain and make adjustments accordingly. You can touch the display to adjust direction to compensate for wind or terrain. Included is a very, very simple tutorial to guide you through how to play game.

There are a few ways to play the game:

• Instant Play—Where you play random holes at 3 different golf courses.
• The Multiplayer option allows you to play either hotseat or wireless.
• Tournament mode—will unlock items such as tournament locations and character wardrobes.
• FreeHole—You can choose to play holes 1-9,10-18, 1-18 or random at any of the different courses.
• You have a choice of 4 different players who have strong points and weak points in power, accuracy, recovery and putting.

The music, graphics and sound effects are superb, with birds and planes flying and hot air balloons aloft over the course. You have your pick to play on golf courses in USA, Scotland, England, and Fiji. What’s neat is that the background music is suited to the location of play. Another added feature is that the characters provide drama when they win or lose and give words of encouragement when you are close to getting a birdie or making par.

The attention to details in Let’s Golf makes for a very rich gaming experience and is highly recommended.

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Idiot-proof

Created by: Tapulous

Object: The object of the game is to obtain the highest score possible.

How to Play: The game is played by tapping the tap targets as the round balls called tappers reach the three round tap targets at the bottom of the display. If you choose the option, in-game arrows instruct the player to shake the iPhone® right, left or back during the game.

You’ll have just under three seconds of lead time between when the tappers first appear in the distant horizon to when the tappers reach the tap targets. You might think that’s alot of time, but when you can have as many as 20+ tappers on the screen at the same time headed in your direction, you best be prepared to move those digits! The tappers are synced with music, which plays while you are playing and makes for a very rich playing experience. There are five skill levels in Tap Tap Revenge 2 to choose from: kids, easy, medium, hard and extreme—and trust me, each level earns its title. You’ll need to acquire really good hand-eye coordination for the extreme level.

You can choose to play by yourself or challenge another player by using the same iPhone or by playing online.

Game tracks by various artists are added weekly to the online library and can be downloaded to your iPhone to provide a variety of gaming opportunities.

Tap Tap Revenge 2 is highly recommended for its overall concept, excellent graphics, excellent music and rich options.

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Paid version available: None advertised

Created by: MobilityWare.

Object: The object is to not get hanged by the hangman. You do this by figuring out the word depicted by the blanks before you run out of guesses.

The graphics are really simple, but sufficient for a word game.

This is the iPhone® version of Hangman, the all time classic you most likely played as a kid with a friend.

With different visual themes and 15 categories of word lists to choose from, there certainly will be no shortage of gameplay here. Some of the word categories include: sports, astronomy, celebrities, and SAT words, so this game is well suited for just about anyone.

You can have 1 or 2 players.

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Paid version available: None advertised

Created by: Andy Qua.

This App is called Cube Runner. The object is to obtain the highest score possible by flying through a barrage of colored cubes for as long as you can without flying into any cubes.

Naturally, as the game progresses, it gets more difficult to navigate through the cubes, as they become more numerous as your craft flies faster. The graphics and sound effects are sufficient to keep the game interesting.

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Paid version available: Yes, but as Cube Runner II

Created by: Wings for Cats.

This app is called Archers. When you first look at this game, it almost looks too simple to be good, but don’t be fooled. This game is good. The object of the game is to hit your opponent more often and more accurately than your opponent hits you.

How to Play: Play is very simple—all you do is touch the screen, pulling back further for more power and pulling down for a more parabolic trajectory. You can play against the iPhone®, another person, or you can just plain practice hitting a bulls eye target. You can choose the color of your player and the style of the bow you wish to use.

Hint: It helps to make a mental note of each parameter you use as you fire at your opponent so that when you do hit your mark, you can either go for a tight grouping, or have a reference point to tweak into launching those head shots. It appears that headshots drain the most life from your opponent.

The archers are essentially colorful silhouettes standing in a grassy field on a partly cloudy day. You need not worry about blood and gore when someone takes a hit—all you see is the arrow sticking through the archer.

As far as the sound effects go, the birds chirping in the background are convincing. When you launch your arrow, the sound of the release of the bow is realistic, and, when you hit your mark, you hear a somewhat comical “uuugh!” or in the case of the winning shot, an “aaarrrgh!”.

Overall, this game is a definite keeper.

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No paid version advertised in this app.

Created by: Michael Welch (BlitWise)—a programmer with well over 10 years experience in the coding of artillery games.

Object: This game is all about getting the high score by trading artillery fire volley for volley and trying to land direct hits on your opponent, which can be either a friend or the iPhone®.

How to play: You simply click in your tank the angle and power of the launch of your artillery and then FIRE! The controls for the angle and power are intuitive and easy to use, which makes aiming your tank a simple task. With sounds of crumbling rocks, dirt piling up, and exploding artillery, the sound effects are uncannily realistic and can be toggled on or off in the options screen. The choice of hilly, flat, or cliff-like terrain along with other variables such as wind speed, wind variability, and explosion size provides the potential for a very rich and challenging game against your opponent.

With everything from Napalm to Gamma Blasters, the choice of weapons in Pocket Tanks is immense being that there are over 30 different artillery shells to choose from—each with their own way of pummeling the other guy’s tank into oblivion and racking up the points on the leader board.

Overall, this game is a must-have for your app collection.

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Paid version available: Yes

Word Warp is an addictive word puzzle game for the iPhone®. If you’re a fan of web-based Text Twist or you’ve ever played Boggle® for hours on Family Game Night, you’ll enjoy Word Warp.

The object of the game seems very simple: make as many words as you can from the jumble of six letters shown on the screen. The words are shown in alphabetical order. To scramble the letters in order to find more possible words, tap Warp and the letters will be resorted. Once you’ve entered your word, tap Got It. If your word made the cut, you’ll hear a ding; if it didn’t you’ll hear a buzz. Pressing the Last button will pull up the last word you entered.

At the end of each round you can tap any word to read its definition. Definitions are provided by either Dictionary.com, Merriam Webster, Dr. Words or Wiktionary; when you’re finished reading the definition, press Done to return to the game.

To pause a game, press the Home button on the phone. When you reopen the Word Warp application, resume the game by tapping the Resume Game button.

By tapping the Info button you can turn on or off the Alt Word list, Sounds and Animations. Want to make the game harder? Turn on the Alternate Word List via the Info button. Word Warp will start pulling from the Official North American Tournament Scrabble word list. Change the theme by touching the arrow and select from four options: classic, blue twister, red spiral or purple bubbles. Using a slider you can adjust the game time from one to 30 minutes. Moving the slider all the way to the right allows you to play untimed games.

The free version of Word Warp does include ads after each level. To bypass the ads, tap the bottom of the screen and press Skip to return to the game in progress.

I have discovered that if you change the settings to Untimed Game, and happen to start a game with that setting, the End button did not work. I’ve got another 20 minutes to figure out the last word in a game that is using the really hard words and boy, it is a tough one.

Pros: Addictive, challenging word game. Can pause game in progress, adjust timer.
Cons: Cannot reset the game time while a game is already in progress.

Do you like to play solitaire? Then you should try out this app! It has over three million downloads and was the most popular solitaire app on iTunes® in 2008!

Sol Free Solitaire is great fun and has easy-to-read screens.

You can play games like Klondike Deal 1, Klondike Deal 3, Baker’s Game, Demon and Spiderette. So if you have some extra time while waiting for a bus, for example, you can definitely kill some time by playing this fun and exciting game.

After a few rounds it can be interesting to look at statistics, scoring and move tracking to analyze your game play.

So check out this fun and interesting Solitaire app!

If you like playing games, you should check out the Trivial Pursuit® application on the iPhone®. It is one of the most challenging trivia games out there.

If you have not played Trivial Pursuit before, do not let that stop you. The basic concept is simple. You just need to go around the board answering questions until you fill up your “wheel” with all of the different color wedges. You get wedges by answering questions correctly and you can only get wedges when you are on a categories main space. The real challenge in this game is the difficulty of the trivia questions. There are four different kind of game types you can play: Classic Mode, Pursuit Mode, Pass’n Play, and Wi-Fi Multiplayer Mode.

In Classic Mode, you can play alone or against the app’s opponent. When you start the game, you choose the numbers of wedges you need to win, the difficulty of your opponent, and the time limit for answering questions. You can also customize your player by changing your name, mascot, and color. To play the game, you roll the dice and then move your playing piece. Each time you move your piece, you must answer a question. If you answer the question correctly, you roll again. Answer incorrectly, and it is your opponent’s turn.

Pursuit Mode is another single player game. The difference here is that the game board is shorter. You don’t have to roll the dice and move, you just have to answer the question first. The faster you answer the question, the higher the number of spaces you will get to move. The goal is to make it to the other end of the board as quickly as possible.

The Pass’n Play mode allows you to play with multiple players on the same device. The game play is the same as in the Classic mode. You can also play a multi-player game over a Wi-Fi network using the Wi-Fi Multiplayer mode.

The great thing about the iPhone version of Trivial Pursuit is that the questions that are asked are a mixture of hard questions and easy modern questions. This gives you the feeling that you can actually win the game.

So start playing and be prepared to answer questions from the six main categories: Geography, Arts & Literature, Science & Nature, Sports & Leisure, Entertainment, and History.

Enjoy!

I just love The Sims®! Finally the latest edition has come out, and guess what!? You can now play The Sims 3 on your iPhone®. What a great application! I have been a huge fan of The Sims for many years and now I finally have the possibility of messing around with other people’s lives right from my mobile device. The app features some extremely rich content and is basically a stripped down version of the actual Sims 3 for the PC. I’m just saying…can it get better?

The first thing I had to do was to create a character and then select from the different hairstyles, outfits and personalities to create my character, “Lauren.” Once “Lauren” was created, I could start playing and moving “Lauren” around to let her live her life. The game is controlled by different buttons and cameras are controlled by pinching and the zoom button.

The Sims 3 is all about exploring your town. After “Lauren” had moved around in the town for a bit, it was time to get a job, learn to cook and use the toilet. All of these things help to shape “Lauren” and also lets her figure out what to do with her gold.

The graphics look great for an iPhone and the music is comprised of top-notch Sims-style songs. I definitely recommend checking it out. It’ll probably get you a bit addicted, but again, who cares, we are having fun!