Reviews
Candy Sports is a Kinect Sports inspired game for your Windows Phone. While that sounds fairly straight forward the twist is that through September 1, 2012 you can play the game and win prizes that includes an XBox 360, Kinect Sensor, Xbox Live memberships and free candy.
Candy Sports is a promotional game involving a home run derby, a field goal competition and a basketball game. You'll need to find promotional codes from Lifesaver Gummies, Skittles and Starburst candy wrappers to play for your chance at the prizes. Choose the "Play for Prizes" option from the game's main menu, enter the codes, and play the game for a chance to win one of the prizes. You can enter to play the "Play for Prizes" section of the game up to three times a day.
So what if you don't eat Skittles and have no interest in playing to win a prize? There's a "Play for Fun" section that lets you to play just for the fun of it. Each game is multi-level (five per game) and as you progress through the levels, things get a little more challenging. Here's how the games break down.
Skittles Baseball: You've got ten pitches to hit as many home runs as possible. You swing the bat by swiping up on your Windows Phone screen. Timing is key and if you hit a set number of dingers, you advance to the next level.
Starburst Football: You've got ten tries to kick as many field goals as possible. The position of the football will change from kick to kick and as you advance through the levels, other variables come into play (e.g. hit the moving banner as it passes between the goal posts). Hit a set number of field goals and you unlock the next level. Kicking is accomplished by swiping up on your Windows Phone screen.
Life Savers Gummies Basketball: You've got ten tries to sink basketball shots. This game starts you out at the free throw line and moves around the court between attempts. Nail a set number of shots and you unlock the next level. And you guessed it, shooting the basketball is accomplished by swiping up on your Windows Phone screen. The first two levels are a little docile but at level three things get really interesting.
Consecutive home runs, field goals and baskets earn you bonus graphics (bat turns into Skittles, football changes to Starburst colors, basketball changes to gummy colors, etc.).
Candy Sports is a nicely animated, marginally challenging game for your Windows Phone. If you snack on Skittles, Starburst or Life Saver Gummies the game is a nice way to make the most of your munchies by trying to win prizes. Outside the chances to win prizes, Candy Sports isn't something that will keep you glued to your Windows Phone for hours. It is a game that is fun to play for short bits of time though.
Candy Sports is a free game that you can grab here at the Windows Phone Marketplace. You can find more information on the promotional angle and get a free code over here at the Candy Sports website.
Thanks, Karl, for the tip!
Mole Hit is advertised over at the Windows Phone Marketplace as an "amazing hit a mole game". Mole Hit isn't a shabby little game for your Windows Phone but unfortunately, it's is one of a dozen or so "whack-a-mole" styled games available on the Marketplace. It may struggle to set itself apart from the other bash-a-mole type games but I think if you give it a try, you might like what you see.
For those not familiar with the whack-a-mole concept, Mole Hit has moles pop up from underground and your job is to hit them before they retreat back into their mole hole. It's a reaction game and with Mole Hit, the game has targets you need to avoid which makes the game a little challenging.
Mole Hit has over twenty different animals to hit or not hit. For example, moles are fair game and will appear in various shades of brown, rabbits deduct points, and foxes cost you a life. Lose three lives and the game is over.
Mole Hit has 48 levels that span Spring and Winter themes with decent graphics and animations. Each level is timed and your job is to whack as many moles as possible. At the end of each level you are presented with your score and the percentage of moles hit. From there you can move on to the next level or replay that level to improve your score.
Mole Hit is a decent game for your Windows Phone and not a bad way to pass a few minutes with. It's also a simple game to keep your children occupied with.
Mole Hit is a free, ad supported game that you can find here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
ChalkMaster is a simple, yet entertaining game for your Windows Phone. Graphics are unique, game play interesting and overall ChalkMaster is nice game to pass the time with. The chalkboard graphics are nice, game play challenging enough to prevent the game from getting boring, and with almost a hundred level there's plenty of gaming with ChalkMaster.
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Smartboard Calculator is a Windows Phone calculator that should cover all your mathematical needs. Calculations include algebra, geometry, trigonometry, statistical problems. Smartboard Calculator's units cover not only numerical but also units of time, distance, velocity, weight, temperature, energy, pressure, volume, angles, energy, power, and a handful more.
Even if all you need is a calculator for basic arithmetic, Smartboard Calculator is worth a try. The calculator acts much like a blackboard that you can scroll around by touch. This gives you the capability of displaying multiple calculations at once. It gives the calculator more of a worksheet feel to it than a straight up calculator.
In addition to all the calculator features and functions, Smartboard Calculator has:
Smartboard Calculator comes across a very thorough, comprehensive and nice looking calculator for your Windows Phone. The only thing missing is the chalk dust and erasers.
There are two versions available, a free version that has some limited functionality and a $4.99 full version that brings the export to Excel, backup to SkyDrive, favorites, templates and history into play.
You can find Smartboard Calculator Free here and the full version of Smartboard Calculator here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Think you know trademarks and logos? If so, then try your hand at the Windows Phone game Logorama. It may be a humbling experience to some.
Logorama is a collection of over 100 logos from fast food chains, websites, retail stores, clothing manufacturers, and other businesses from around the world. The logos are spread out across eight levels that are progressively unlocked as you correctly identify logos.
To make things challenging, some of the logo is concealed. If you run across a logo that you need a little help with, there's a tip button at the bottom of the screen. If you get stumped, you can always move on the next logo with the arrow buttons.
Logorama is a nice little trivia game for your Windows Phone. It's simple, challenging and a fun way to pass short bits of time with. The only downside to the game is that if you are revisiting a section to identify the remaining logos, you have to scroll through all the logos you have already identified. It would be nice to have some indication that you've already identified that logo so you can move on to the ones you haven't . It's not a major downside, just one that makes game play a little tedious.
Logorama is currently only available for the U.S. Marketplace but should be available worldwide shortly. To celebrate the app's launch Logorama is currently a free app. However, in a few days the game will cost $.99 with a free trail being available in a few weeks.
You can find Logorama here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
3D Akranoid is a Windows Phone game that brings the classic arcade game Akranoid to your Windows Phone but with a slight twist. Akranoid is an arcade game where you have layers of bricks or tiles that you have to destroy before they reach the bottom of the screen. That's the game premise of 3D Akranoid but instead of a two-dimensional screen, you play the game in 3D.
You face the wall of bricks and they slowly advance across the gaming field towards your position. Armed with a bouncy ball, you tap the screen to send it towards the bricks. Unlike the 2D versions, you lack a paddle to keep the ball in play. If you miss tapping the ball on it's return, the ball simply bounces off what would be the back wall of the game screen.
Controlling the balls direction is a little challenging and takes some time to get used to. Basically, you tap the screen in the direction you want the ball to head towards and it will eventually bounce that way. You can speed things up by striking the ball directly and the faster you tap, the faster the ball bounces.
Along the back wall of the playing field colored bonus dots will appear that if hit will give your ball special abilities, slow the movement of the bricks and back them up a bit.
The goal of 3D Akranoid is simple. Smash all the bricks before they cross the playing field. Once you eliminate all the bricks, you advance to the next level. 3D Akranoid has infinite levels, offering plenty of gaming and with each level the game becomes more challenging. The pace of the brick's advance quickens and you run into bricks that take multiple hits to eliminate.
Graphics and animations are nice and once you get the ball controls down pat, game play is fun. I would have liked to have seen a Help/How-to Section and there is no way to pause the game. You can hit the back button to return to 3D Akranoid's main menu but when you return to the game, you return to the starting point of whatever level you are currently at. The game really needs a traditional pause function where you can return to the game where you left. Regardless, all in all, 3D Akranoid is a decent game for your Windows Phone that has potential.
3D Akranoid is a free, ad supported game that you can grab here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Finger Slayer is a Windows Phone game that takes a unique way to test your reaction time. You tap and hold your finger on the guillotine circle, the game counts down 3,2,1 and on GO! you release your hold on the screen to avoid losing a finger. Simple enough, right?
If you pull your finger off the screen too soon in anticipation of the GO! signal, the game ends. If you don't pull your finger off the screen soon enough, the guillotine drops and your finger is lost. Each successful round earns you points and you can share your score on Facebook, Twitter or email them to a friend.
Finger Slayer is a fun, pass around game to see which of your friends has the best reaction. It's odd how that the vibration (when you lose your finger) can make you a little jumpy and pull away too soon. Finger Slayer does get a little tricky as you advance. The game will pause ever so slightly between the "1" and "GO!" which gives the game a bit of a challenge.
Finger Slayer may not appeal to everyone but if you care to test your reaction times, it is a free, ad support game for your Windows Phone. You can find Finger Slayer here at the Windows phone Marketplace.
Cradle to the Grave is a Zombie defense game for your Windows Phone that reminds me a lot of the old Missile Command games. You know, where you have three defensive posts and you battle against vast numbers of enemy forces. Animations are very nice, game play challenging and entertaining and if you like wiping out Zombie hordes, Cradle to the Grave is worth a try.
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Here's a Windows Phone app for those who like to shop or who just hate getting lost in shopping malls.
FastMall is a navigation app for local malls and shopping centers. FastMall isn't new to the smartphone market with established apps over on iOS and there's even a web portal for the FastMall services.
FastMall uses your Windows Phone location services to locate any participating malls in your area and offers, in the least, a Bing Map for the mall and a listing of stores. At best, FastMall will offer a detailed map of the mall property.
FastMall's pages are laid out with pages that list Nearby Malls, Most Viewed malls, Recent Malls visited, Favorites, and the customary About Screen. While FastMall will pull up participating malls in your location, you can also search the complete database by keyword search.
Some of the features with the FastMall Windows Phone app include:
FastMall covers malls located in thirty one countries from the U.S. to New Zealand. The only downside to FastMall is that not every venue is mapped. Hopefully, that will change with time and future updates.
I can see FastMall being a handy app while traveling to help find your way around the local malls. FastMall is a free, ad support app for your Windows Phone that you can find here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
Cartoon Camera is a simple Windows Phone app that gives you the option to apply one of eight drawing effects to your photos. The app will apply these effects to existing photos from your Pictures Hub or let you capture new images directly from the app.
The main page of Cartoon Camera is your camera viewfinder. Along the bottom of the screen are four button controls and a three-dot menu. The button controls cover your shutter button, flash settings, effects choice and access to your Pictures hub. From the three dot menu you can access the About Screen.
The eight drawing effects include:
Just choose your effects, frame you photo and either tap the camera button at the bottom of the screen or use the camera hardware button on your Windows Phone. Cartoon Camera does not support the "tap to shoot" function.
Photos are captured, effects applied and everything is saved to your Saved Picture folder in the Pictures Hub. To apply effects to existing photos choose your effect and then tap the Folder Button to choose your photo. The effect will be applied to the photo and you'll have the option to save (save button replaces the flash button) the new photo to your Save Pictures folder.
Images taken at full resolution (4640x3480 at 262dpi) on the HTC Titan II are saved at 1144x854 at 262dpi resolution. Large enough to get decent prints off of or for computer viewing. The effects are respectable and the only downside may be that you can't mute the shutter sound without dialing down the Windows Phone main volume. I wouldn't have minded seeing direct access to the Windows Phone camera settings but I'm not sure if there are restrictions present to limit that access.
All in all, Cartoon Camera is worth a try if you're looking for a drawing effects app for your Windows Phone. There is a free trial version available for Cartoon Camera that is limited to three effects (Cartoon, Gray Cartoon, Pencil). The full version of Cartoon Camera is running $.99 and you can find it here at the Windows Phone Marketplace.
