S
Simon Sage
Once again we've gathered together the best iPhone apps and best iPad apps and games released this week! We'll regularly dig up the best, freshest social, music, photography and productivity apps for iOS, not to mention action games, shooter games, puzzle games, and anything in between. Come on and dig in to see our favorite releases over the last seven days!
Mountain
Mountain isn't so much a game as it is an interactive puzzle box or a mysterious toy. Players start off in Mountain by drawing a pattern based on a series of keywords presented to them. Based on that input, a massive floating 3D mountain is generated, which owners can then inspect. Weather comes and goes, you can zoom in to see the trees growing along the side, and fiddle with an invisible keyboard along the bottom of the screen. The notes are largely a mystery, and the soothing stillness of the Mountain is occasionally punctuated by a random item or message. For those intrigued by mystery, Mountain is hard to resist.
- $0.99 - Download now
In this iOS action game players gear up in heavy-duty fantasy gear and square off against some truly gnarly beasts. Gather resources while you're out in the wilds, complete quests, hawk your wares in the local market, and prove your mettle against some impressive enemies. For those really hankering for precision controls, MFi hardware controllers are supported, though touch-optimized controls include lock-on visual targeting, so you won't be fiddling too much to get to the action. Online co-operative multiplayer is supported for up to 4 allies through Game Center, and includes a chat system. If you've got any familiarity with this established franchise at all, Monster Hunter Freedom Unite will be an easy buy, even at its relatively high pricetag.
- $14.99 - Download now
Fates Forever is a refreshing new multiplayer lane defense game in the same vein as League of Legends, Dota 2, and mobile counterparts such as Heroes of Order & Chaos. Players pick a hero and must defend against waves AI opponents battering against their defensive towers on the way to their core base, the Gyro. Those tiny Tribute enemies are really just backup for the real enemies: other human players controlling heroes just like yours. You've also got to push back along one of two lanes in order to take out their Gyro. Throughout a match, players level up their hero, improve abilities, and purchase gear. There's great long-term progression for each hero you purchase access to, plus the graphics are absolutely phenomenal. Strategy gamers would do well to try out Fates Forever.
- Free, IAPs - Download now
Civilization Revolution 2 is a welcome refresh to the beloved simulation franchise. All of the usual mechanics you know and love are here: start building an empire with a single humble city, harvest the resource tiles nearby, expand your nation in science, culture, religion, and military, and achieve global dominance through warfare or diplomacy. Players can also build wonders to establish their global supremacy, and extend research through a massive, sprawling technology tree. 3D graphics have been applied liberally throughout Civilization Revolution 2, but by and large, you'll be captivated by the immerse, long-term gameplay.
- $14.99 - Download now
Watercolors is a light and friendly puzzle game about mixing paints. Players have to draw a path to a target circle, so long as the path you're drawing is of the correct corresponding color. Colors are mixed, overridden, and recede as you work your way about the board in as few strokes as possible, though there are also time trials and challenge modes to keep you occupied. Hints can be acquired through in-app purchases if things get really hairy. The first pack of 45 stages is free, and you can unlock the other 225 spread across four packs for $2.99. Watercolors is a polished and imaginative take on brainteasers, perfect for those on the hunter for new puzzles.
- Free, IAPs - Download now
Ready.FM is a new social network for preppers. This highly polished app allows users to put together emergency kits, create maps with important routes, and subscribe to content feeds for survival-related material, such as security, shelter, and hydration. There are social elements baked in here so that you can follow specific users and see what they've been posting about prepping, leave comments, and send private messages with priority ratings and location. The core Ready.FM app is free, and for now they're offering premium features such as offline map caching and unlimited messaging for free. There's also a credit system at play here which allows users to access certain features, such as buying "torches" which are given to users posting worthy content. They're like "Likes", but with a bit more investment. Ready.FM bills itself as a pocket command center for when society comes a-crumbling down, and even if you're not particularly concerned about that happening soon, this is a fun app to play around with important hypothetical ideas.
- Free - Download now
Pixotale is a fun new way of presenting a collection of photos. Instead of just piling on one photo after another, users can intersperse pictures with text and maps to provide additional context. Stories are presented with a large, colorful cover image, a title, a subheading, and the other, and lets other users like, comment, and share each one. Images can be pulled in from the camera roll, snagged from the web, or your existing social networks, like Google+, Facebook, or Instagram. Pictures can then be rearranged and resized to fit onto the page however you like. Transitions from one screen to the other are very smooth, not to mention the content itself is a unique brand of pithy, image-heavy blog posts. The final products can be viewed through the app, or shared out to the wider web.
- Free - Download now
Clctin is a social network and marketplace for avid collectors of all kinds. Users post full image galleries of their speciality items, which can range from baseball cards to miniature race cars to action figures to knives and everything in between. Users can add tags and detailed descriptions to help them keep tabs on what they have and help others discover it. There's a market section available for those that are looking to sell, and for anybody looking for help figuring out what exactly they have on their hands, there's an identify section where the community at large can provide feedback. All of the important social mechanisms are here, such as following individual collections and users, leaving comments and direct messages, as well as posting entries for your own collections.
- Free - Download now
Sight is a neat new utility that lets you save stories for reading later simply by taking a screenshot. After holding the home and and power button together to take a screenshot, Sight will scan your photo library and figure out what article you were reading. Once identified, it will pull in the URL, and pare away any excess web formatting for optimal stand-alone, offline reading later. This is much easier than sharing an article out to a service like Pocket, and all of the processing happens in the background. Website addresses currently saved in your clipboard will also show up as an option to to insert into your reading list, or you can manually designate screenshots that haven't been picked up by the app automatically. When digging into a story, you have a full array of night and day reading modes, screen brightness options, font sizes, and easy access to article sharing. Given, Sight doesn't work 100% of the time, but the developer told us they're still in a bit of a beta phase. In any case, if you're regularly reading major websites, Sight will usually pick up the story.
- Free - Download now
Pitch is a simple, polished tuning app for musicians. There's a level meter available so it doesn't register noise below a certain volume, while the quality meter will adjust the sensitivity of pitch detection. Audio passthrough can allow musicians to monitor their sound through headphones, and users can set a wide range of pitch references, depending on preference. Pitch also connects to the developer's metronome app, Tempo, which will likely come in handy in similar circumstances. Musicians looking for a simple way of tuning their instruments will definitely be interested in picking this one up.
- Free (for a limited time) - Download now
A lot happens in the iOS App Store in a week, so feel free to leave a comment with your favorite recent release on iPhone and iPad! We're always looking for more, so don't be shy to drop us a line when you find something exciting!
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