Five Great Puzzle Games For The iPhone And iPod Touch

The iTunes App Store is, without a doubt, full of puzzle games. Some are looking to jump on the bandwagon of Tetris copycats, while others present a match-three style. All attempt to challenge the iPhone gamer. We want to give you a glance into five new iPhone puzzlers competing to grace your screen.

Cross Fingers, by Mobigames, introduces gameplay where players must refit wooden shapes into preset slots. There are two types of shapes, light wood and red wood that must be dealt with. While light wood pieces slide and stay in place, red pieces must be held in place as other pieces are arranged around them. If players let go prematurely, the red shapes will return to their previous location. This clever feature grants Cross Fingers its name. Fingers must be twisted in order to hold the red piece in place while other shapes are reordered to solve the puzzle.

Pocketball is a physics-based puzzle game that utilizes the Box2D engine. Here, players are challenged to guide balls into pockets. Balls drop from the top of the screen at predefined locations. Users must then draw ropes between pegs to aim the balls toward their goal. As balls hit ropes, they bounce according to the gravitation pull within the app. Making things even more complex, certain obstacles can throw the balls off course. Bombs can destroy balls, while gravity wells suck them into a sort of black hole. Arrows are present in some levels that help push the balls in the right direction.

Implode contains 60 levels of buildings, just begging to be reduced to rubble. Each level presents you with the drawing of a building on a chalkboard, with only the support beams visible. You are also given a limited number of bundles of dynamite or blast bombs. These explosives must be placed upon the support beams in a configuration that, when detonated, will cause the building to crumble upon itself, with the highest point of the inevitable pile of rubble below an artificial dotted line. If you are unable to drop the building below the line, you fail and must retry the level. If you succeed, you receive a letter grade (just like in school) and a point total, comprised of Explosion Points, a Height Bonus, an Unused Bomb Bonus, and a Difficulty Bonus. Each of these is converted into dollar amounts, for a total payout in each level. Achieving an A+ on any given level is quite a challenge that will require much tweaking of explosive placement. Progressing through the game will expose you to new challenges, such as beams upon which no bombs can be placed or structures supported by a surprising number of beams, making them harder to bring down.

Monumental, the latest in a series of puzzles by Dr. Knizia, brings the Mayan world to the iPhone screen. Arranged in a pair of 3 x 4 grids, rectangular stones must be shuttled either left or right into the grids. Every stone sports a certain color and number of symbols on its face. Players must fill rows within each grid by grouping stones according to color or symbol, or hopefully a combination of both. For example, you would like to have three stones that are all the same color and have the same number of symbols on their faces. A combination like this would return a great score for matched colors, symbols, and number of symbols. Unfortunately, a case like this is rare to stumble upon. If a player combines stones with the same symbols in a row, regardless of the color or number of symbols, these qualify for symbol matches and award points. An identical pair of stones in a row also scores points, regardless of what’s on the third stone. Watch out for broken stones without symbols, as these can only be matched by their color.

We don’t want to leave out word puzzle games. Wordigo fits this genre nicely as it pressures players to creatively build words while undergoing a strict seven minute time limit. This brings a level of complexity and brevity to each game session. Wordigo houses eight word puzzle board that all require horizontal and vertical letter tile placement. The layout may remind you of a Scrabble board with many empty areas. Players must reach the goal of cleverly building words using the limited selection of randomized letter tiles. Succession to the next word path can only be had by completing the current path. The scoring system can be positively influenced by proper vowel placement.

These are just a few of the latest puzzle games in the iPhone App Store that caught our attention. Whether you choose one or all of them, we feel each boasts a handsome interface and gameplay elements that will satisfy puzzle fanatics the world over.

Have an iPhone? Why not check out all our iPhone app reviews. Plus, we have a huge catalog of free iTouch games that we give away every week in our AppSmile Featured App Giveaway!

How to Find a Great Deal on the iPod This Christmas

iPhone | Monday December 7 2009 11:57 am | Comments (0) Tags: ,

Every year there’s always a good range of electronics available and this year is no different. However, as we approach Christmas it’s the time of year when everyone wants the best deals. The new iPod nano is probably one of the best deals available and because it’s available from a wide range of online and offline stores, you can pretty much guarantee that you will get a good deal.

There are probably well over 100 large online stores that stock the new iPod and this is because it’s one of the most popular gadgets available right now. It works for both adults and children and is simply one of the best music players there is. However, if you want to get a good deal you’ll have to do a lot of price comparison.

There are lots of options to choose from and you may find it difficult to make up your mind. Well, if that’s the case then you should read on to learn how to choose the right products for your needs. You will also need to set yourself a budget so that you don’t overspend.

A lot of companies offer iPod accessories along with the iPod in a sort of package deal. This will cost more but it could be better value for money – and iPod accessories are great stocking fillers. Before you go shopping, it’s a good idea to learn a little more about the iPod and what features are available.

You will then need to consider the type of options available on today’s market and do some research to find out which options are best suited to your needs. It can be quite easy to find what you’re looking for if you hit the internet and have a good look around.

When you go shopping for an iPod, just be sure that you set a budget and work out where all the good deals are. You’ll need to do some price comparison before you buy anything and just make sure that you’re aware of all the major stores that stock them so you can get yourself a good deal.

Expert Joel S Sinclair talks about finding ipod speakers online. www.iworld.co.uk has a huge range of information available, you should easily find what you’ve been looking for.

Ipod Car Accessories Used To Get An Ipod To Work In A Car

An Apple iPod is a great type of material to use for any car trip. These iPods can work with a variety of iPod car accessories. With these car accessories an iPod can be heard right through a car. The device can also be charged and held with these accessories.

An FM transmitter is one of the most important iPod car accessories to use. With this the iPod is attached to a transmitter that will connect to the electrical outlet in a car. The transmitter can plug into the iPod through the device’s headphone jack. The user will then set up an unused FM frequency to hear the device through. With this the iPod can now be heard on an FM station in one’s car.

The FM transmitter can also be handled with ease through a convenient display. What happens here is that the transmitter uses a digital display that displays a frequency setting. It can be controlled so that a proper frequency can work with a player. When the right one is found the user will turn to that frequency to hear the iPod.

Another useful material is a car charger. A charger can plug into the electrical outlet and attach itself to the battery charging jack of the iPod. Many of these chargers can work in conjunction with an FM transmitter. This helps to get the iPod played while it is being charged. This is useful in that it can keep an iPod playing on longer car trips.

A good iPod holder is always helpful for this device in a car. An iPod holder can work by mounting to a dashboard through the use of an adhesive surface. It can also clip onto an A/C vent. Each type of holder will work with different materials for attaching itself to a car.

No matter what type of accessory is used it will help to see what accessories work with certain models. IPods of different generations can handle different accessories. Some iPods that are smaller in size like the Shuffle or Nano may need their own accessories. Some accessories can work with the iPhone.

These options are good ones to check out among iPod car accessories. They work with different processes for getting an iPod to work in a car. All of these things can even work with a variety of different types of iPods. Anyone who wants to use their iPod when traveling by road should check these out.

An Apple iPod can be used on the go even when on a road trip. This is thanks to some of the various ipod car accessories that can be used. We’ve got the inside skinny to all ipod accessories needs.