Fans of Ticket to Ride, rejoice: the excellent board game of building trains now fits in your pocket! Days of Wonder did an excellent job on the iPad version of the game (especially when a later update added the Pass-and-Play … Read More
See this screen? Don’t be fooled by its innocent—almost cute—appearance. This is the face of your downfall. Okay, maybe I exaggerate, but just a little. Remember Trainyard? It was an elegantly-designed puzzle app that probably ate up hours of your … Read More
… and the rest Like nearly everyone else, I’ve played a lot of Angry Birds since last spring when I reviewed it, and I’ve been amazed at the number of updates they’ve released. I even paid for Angry Birds Seasons … Read More
Scarlett and the Spark of Life, despite being probably the shortest of these three games, might be my favorite. I should note first that it’s probably not suitable for younger kids—I’d say maybe 10-12 and up, depending on your tolerance … Read More
Everyone knows you can play music on an iPhone and iPod touch. Most of us now think of these devices more as mini-computers that fit in your pocket, but before all the apps and video and snazzy features, the iPod … Read More
When you don’t feel well, what’s your typical response? Make an appointment with your doctor? Hit Google or Wikipedia? Flip open a book? Now, thanks to Dorling Kindersley, there’s an app for that. Family Doctor uses a flowchart system to … Read More
Fruit Ninja, everyone’s favorite fruit-slicing game for the iPhone and iPad, just keeps getting better. Early on they introduced Zen Mode: no bombs, no lives, 90 seconds of combo-scoring glory, and included an HD version for the iPad. Then they … Read More
I recently came across a relatively new iPhone/iPad app called Trainyard that is a work of art. Well, perhaps not literally a work of art, although the interface is not bad on the eyes — it’s a puzzle game with … Read More
If you like puzzle games and logic puzzles, All-in-1 Logic GameBox is a one-dollar iPhone app that will keep you occupied for … well, let me pull up my statistics here … Whoa! Nineteen and a half hours so far? … Read More
Montessorium brings the Montessori Method of learning to the iPhone and iPad. In case you’re not familiar with it, the Montessori Method is a more child-directed approach to learning that focuses on different sensory experiences. In keeping with that, both … Read More
Remember Saving Private Sheep? It’s a little physics puzzler for the iPhone and iPad involving sheep, wolves and dynamite, and it’ll keep you busy for a while. While it’s no Angry Birds, it’s not a bad app, and now that … Read More
Earlier this year I asked why games aren’t about winning anymore—they’re all about achievements. I read through all the comments and there were a lot of good points, both in defense of achievements and criticizing them. There were a few … Read More
Fruit Ninja, one of my favorite apps, has just gotten even better. If you’ve installed the latest iOS update on your iPhone or iPod touch, you probably noticed this new app that showed up called “Game Center.” It’s a way … Read More
Some people are fond of saying that it isn’t the Earth that needs saving—the Earth will be around long after we’re gone. No, it’s we humans who need saving from ourselves. (Need evidence? Look no further than the Gulf, where … Read More
You may have heard about this guy, Scott Pilgrim. It’s a series of comic books by Bryan Lee O’Malley that just concluded this summer, and it also happens to be a highly anticipated movie that opened last weekend … to … Read More
Chronicles of Mystery: Curse of the Ancient Temple is a hidden-pictures game combined with a mystery plotline and various mini-games. It was originally a PC game (previously titled Chronicles of Mystery: The Scorpio Ritual) but has been re-designed for the … Read More
My kids love Highlights magazine, especially since they each get their own copy (my younger daughter gets High Five), usually on the same day, and they can’t wait to sit down and flip through them. One of their favorite pages … Read More
Sister Angelika has a slight problem: the hordes of zombies that are taking over the town of Jalombe. With the help of Father Richiardo and armed with a “soul redeemer” scythe, Sister Angelika must rid the town of the zombies … Read More
I’m always looking for ways to encourage my kids to learn Chinese — a task that is not always easy in small-town Kansas, where their bilingual education is largely up to me. Chinese for Munchkins is an iPhone app developed … Read More
Need another virtual pet for your iPhone or iPad? Pocket Creatures by Tactile Entertainment is a quirky entry that gives you a little critter with a paw on its tail and a garden to wander around in. There’s the usual … Read More
Does the world really need another Doodle Jump-style game? Based on the sales figures for Bird Strike, they seem to want one. (With 1.3 million downloads of the original, the iPhone app from PikPok Games is now available as a … Read More
It’s no secret that little kids love rude noises. Until they reach the age where they learn that farts and burps are considered rude (note: for some, particularly boys, this age limit has not yet been discovered), kids just delight … Read More
Genesis 11 tells the story of an ambitious people. Armed with a common language and purpose, they decided to build a tower that would reach to the very heavens. But, as the familiar story goes, God decided to confuse them … Read More
Everyone knows that all ninja hate fruit. At least that’s what Halfbrick Studios claims with the release of Fruit Ninja, their second game for the iPhone. (Wikipedia is oddly silent on the subject.) Regardless, whether you’re a ninja yourself or … Read More
In software terms, Babylonian Twins is practically ancient. When it was first created, you (or maybe your parents) were finally playing Mortal Kombat on the Sega Genesis (or perhaps the bloodless version on the SNES). It was the age of … Read More
How are you celebrating Earth Day? Barefoot Explorers encourages you to “be a force for good” with their first iPhone game, Panda Hero. It’s a combination of an top-down action-adventure game and an interactive virtual pet, and for each app … Read More
You know what’s missing from most physics puzzler games? Sheep! Okay, so maybe you didn’t miss them, but somebody apparently did. Saving Private Sheep, an iPhone game from BulkyPix just released this week, has you rescuing sheep from the ravenous … Read More
I haven’t quite gotten into the world of e-books … yet. I’m still too attached to the idea of books as physical objects, with a heft to them, a feel and a smell and color. But I’m also drawn to … Read More
Quick! You’re stranded in space, slowly spinning as you orbit endlessly around a planet. What do you do? Well, hopefully a rocket will come by to rescue you before they run out of air and fuel. Blast Off is a … Read More
If you have kids of a certain age, you’ve probably seen at least one (if not all three) of the Ice Age movies, and are familiar with Scrat, the prehistoric squirrel-thing on his single-minded quest for his acorn. It’s a … Read More
