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Donut Games
App Store: Sunday Lawn $0.99

Sunday Lawn is a game that makes mowing entertaining. Trust me, there is nothing entertaining about mowing. Well, rocks and puppy surprises could make it entertaining. The object of the game is to mow an entire yard before progressing to the next level. The longer you can mow uncut grass the more points you accumulate. The trick is not to mow over grass that has already been mowed, and avoiding animals. During the course of the game you will encounter a spray can that will super charge your mower. Avoid the dog “mines”, they will cause you to lose points. There are some areas in the yard that are blocked. You must find the switches to open that section. Avoid all the animals. They will cause you to lose the level.

The graphics are simple, but make it entertaining enough for the game. The sound is basic. The sound of nature and mower in harmony. It is a good thing I have the ability to listen to my music while playing the game. The controls are a little weird. I would rather use the arrows than tilt and swipe. Using swipe would cause a delay in change of direction causing me to miss my turn. Despite the minor issue with the controls the game was very fun to play.

Jeff Cranford
App Store: The Cannon $0.99

The Cannon is just what the name says, a game where you get to shoot a cannon! This is actually way more fun and challenging then it sounds!

The objective is to destroy all of the soldiers on the screen. This might sound easy and it is at first! You destroy soldiers by shooting platforms and walls and having those objects fall and crush the brave soldiers. The catch: you have limited cannon balls and there are sometimes obstacles that cannot be moved by a tiny cannon ball, so you have to aim well.

You should not judge this game by looking at the graphics in the screen shots. The gameplay is similar to the other physics based games and is very fun. I played this game much longer than I would like to admit. There is an intro sequence at the beginning of each level that gives you a pan of the entire scene and really adds to the game. There are 60 levels in the game and this game is a steal at $0.99! Did I mention that there is even a level editor?!

Jedidiah Laudenslayer
App Store: Artifice $1.99

Artifice is a fun and addicting turn-based strategy game. The object is to move all of your same color characters to the opposite side of the screen, while at the same time prevent your opponent from moving his characters. When it is your turn you can move a column up or down one tile position by swiping. The game will then automatically move any of your characters that are now unobstructed forward until they either fall of the opposite side of the screen and earn you a point, or run into an obstacle.

This is a really solid strategy game and you can play the computer locally, have a 2 player hand-off local game, or play multiplayer over a network. The graphics and everything about this game are very well done! There is also OpenFeint integration to keep you challenged.

I would recommend this game as I found it fun and challenging. There is tons of replay as each game can progress differently and it’s always fun to try to stump your friends!

Nutomix Interactive
App Store: Pocket Oinko $1.99

Pocket Oinko is a virtual pet game where the pet is a pig named Oinko. This game is very well done and has a lot to offer!

The graphics, animations, sounds, and controls are phenomenal! You have meters at the top of the screen to help keep you informed with how Oinko is doing. You earn money by keeping things in the happy zone and can use your money to purchase food, toys, and plants for your friend.

There are some really fun mini-games that keep things interesting and are really good time killers in themselves. There is a “Poke a Piglet” game where you have to tap Oinko on the head with your finger five times to complete a round as he pops out of random locations. My children don’t usually get to play with my iPhone, but that mini-game keeps them laughing as we are waiting at doctor appointments and such.

I would highly recommend this game to anyone that likes the virtual pet type games. The game is incredibly polished and well worth the $1.99 price tag!

The FireHead
App Store: iShark $0.99

Have you ever watched JAWS and wished that you were the shark? If so, then you are in for a treat! iShark is a game all about a shark against the world. Sharks are so misunderstood!

This game is simple and very easy to pickup and play. You are a shark and you draw lines to control the direction that the shark moves. Your goal is to eat anything that you can see and this includes people, wind surfers, ships, helicopters, space ships, giant crabs, and more. The game has endless play and there are no levels, you just play as long as you can survive.

The controls are easy to use and the graphics are okay. The game is not for children, but it can be a fun pickup and play game, whenever you are feeling the need to get out some shark aggressions. The difficultly level starts off very low and then quickly increase as more elements are introduced that can actually harm your shark.

This is a fun game for those that enjoy survival type game modes and don’t have a fear of the water!

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Prop
App Store: Payload FREE

Finally, I get my own rig to haul stuff. Actually your job is to catch flying debris with your truck bed. Your goal is to make the most amount of money period. That means catch everything. Various size debris, which range from boulders and logs to furniture,  will fall from the sky. By tilting the screen you guide your rig back and forth to try and catch them. If you miss one it will deduct the worth of that piece from your overall earnings. The larger the piece the more it is worth. It is best to use your dynamite when larger pieces or multiple pieces are going to be missed. This prevents them from deducting from your earnings.

During your manual labor several items will fall that you can use to your benefit. The first is the magnet. This is my favorite. If you catch a magnet it will appear above your truck bed. Position your rig in the middle of the screen and slowly float it back and forth. Keep it relatively close to the middle. Doing this will optimize your chances of catching everything. The magnet will attract all debris to the bed of your truck.  This gives you maximum coinage. The next item is a clock. This will extend your time. Good, if you are in the red. If you are like my, and you have a trigger finger wanting everything to be blown up; then you will like the extra TNT that is dropped.

The game is harder than it appears. The controls are very sensitive. I manage to overturn my rig several times by moving too fast across the screen. Very fun game.

Donut Games
App Store: Titanic Rescue $0.99
Pretty much self explanatory according to the title. The Titanic is sinking! Your job is to save the passengers. The tools at your disposal are life rafts and other flotation devices. The passengers will be at their windows waiting for you to “flick” them to safety. If you wait too long the passengers begin to jump ship. When you flick a passenger into the air you must grab the raft and make sure you catch them. If your boat is full or no flotation device is available you will lose a splash. You only have so many splashes before you lose. Think of a splash as a life. To top it all off the passengers are color coded. If you can match the passenger color to the same color flotation device you gain more points.

The game is challenging. Remember, there are no save points or levels to choose from. You need to last as long as possible. Once you lose you start from the beginning again.

Donut Games
App Store: Cows In Space $0.99

A very simple game that can get tricky really quick. Cows space is an interesting game where cows in bubbles float in space. You are a spaceship and your job is to get the cows to make contact with the floating stars in space. Sounds easy enough, but you only get three shots. Make them count! You will score higher if you can save the cows in the fastest amount of time without using too many shots. The level ends once everything becomes still. Throughout the levels you will encounter objects that will hinder your progress. Calculate your shots; there are gravity zones that will suck or repel your shots. Make sure to avoid the floating skulls. Nothing good comes of them. There are plenty of levels to keep you entertained.

I really enjoyed the user interface. The game is well polished, and I like how they keep the same menus for other games. A tid bit that I found out by accident is the ability to keep the level going by using your ship to interact with cows, stars or even bullets. I had gotten a little frustraded with a certain level. I then began to swipe the ship back and forth accidentally banging into a few objects causing them to ricochet wildly. I was able to beat the level, and end my frustration. A fun game that kept me entertained to beat all the levels in one sitting.

Manufacturing Content
App Store: Tractor Beam $0.99

Tractor Beam looks like the classic Asteroids game, but you have no engine and no weapons other than your trusty tractor beam! This is a distance game and you move by touching asteroids to engage your tractor beam. You can use your tractor beam ahead and behind your ship to gain speed or reduce your speed as needed. You can also use double touch to use two tractor beams simultaneously for some complex strategies. The game starts of simple, but then quickly becomes much more challenging!

The graphics are perfect for the game and you can play the game in portrait or landscape mode. The music is created dynamically and adds a lot to the gameplay. This game is worth checking out for anyone that likes the classic look and enjoys a good distance game!

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Mophy Software
App Store: Block Fall Tilt $0.99

Block Fall Tilt is a block matching game that is simply amazing! This is the most fun block matching game that I have played since Bejeweled. The gameplay is simple, but very addictive. You tap on a block to destroy it and any other adjacent blocks that are of the same color. If you only destroy 2 or less of a single color with a tap then you loose a life. Once you loose all of your lives, a new row of tiles will be dropped down onto your existing pile. Once an entire color of blocks is removed from the screen, they will never return if new blocks are dropped into the pile. You loose if a new row of blocks is dropped, but there isn’t room vertically to accommodate the new blocks.

Where things start to get interesting is the “Tilt” part of the game’s name. You can tilt the device to the left or right and all of the blocks that can slide will slide to the far left or right. This helps you continue to match 3 or more blocks at a time. There are also some zig zag levels that also keep things interesting (see screenshot).

I just can’t say enough good things about this game. The graphics are awesome, the controls are well done, and everything is very well polished. My only complaint is that there are not more or unlimited levels! If you don’t already own Block Fall Tilt then I highly recommend that you get it immediately!