Bumping Bears (On Donuts)

Bumping Bears App for iPhone
     Though this is a paid app, it is currently available to download for free (For a limited time).
     In the mysterious 'donut universe', which is looked over by the bear god and goddess Bues and Bera (Zues and Hera), there is a problem with over population.  This is where you come in.  They ask that you take over a doughnut for them, and upon it, raise some of their tiny bears.  You get to choose one of the bears and raise it in your own way.  If you are unhappy with it's appearance, fret not.  You can change the way your bear looks.  Everything from eyes, snout and belly, to colour, clothing and theme.  You can even have a zombie or robot bear!
     You start with one bear, but as you progress as a guardian you accumulate a second, and eventually a third bear.
     Your bear can work for extra gold.  There are 3 tasks available.  Sushi picking, Robot saving and Street Patrol.  They are each very simple mini games.  The better you do, the more gold the bear earns.  There is even a ranking board so that you can compete against your friends for the best score.
     You can also train your bear.  This is a very important part of raising your bear.  Depending on what you choose to train your bear in will determine what sort of occupation your bear qualifies for.  There are 5 different areas you can train in.  Artistry, Cleverness, Sociability, Stamina and Morality.  The higher your bear's energy level during training, the more points they will acquire.
     There are 2 training options available.  Quick training and Hard training.  I recommend "Hard".  Quick training gives you the base points you'd earn, and goes through the animation process itself.  The hard training gives you the base points however, during the animation, it releases gold coins, honey pots, gifts and extra stats that you can click on to earn as an added bonus.
     Not sure what jobs are available for your little bear?  When viewing your bear, 3 bubbles appear above it's head.  The first is the gender icon.  The second is it's current occupation and the last one is it's happiness level (Based on it's energy).  Clicking on the occupation bubble will take you to your occupation card collecting screen.  Click any card to see what the job is, and what the requirements are for that job.  Then work your way toward that goal!  You'll start out with a level 1.  You can move up from there, but you can never get a job that's the same level or lower than your current job.  So choose your path wisely.  Each promotion also gives you a bonus item.  These items can only be obtained through job promotion.  Your job will give you money every day that you can use to train your bear, decorate your doughnut or buy things for your bear or bear buddies.
     You may notice that there are stats that are not trainable.  The closeness stat, for example.  This is increased in many ways.  You can increase it through regular training, by clicking the hearts that shoot out when you make your bear happy, and also by cleaning the dust clouds from your doughnut.  If you spin your doughnut, or flick your bear up into the sky, you may sometimes see tiny yellow dust rings floating about.  If you clean them all away (By shooting your bear through them) you will get some hearts.  Click them to increase the closeness of your bear.
     Another non-trainable stat is popularity.  This can be improved by winning contests and going on dates.  You can only have 100 popularity.  It will not increase once you've reached that limit.
     You also have personal stats between your friends and you.  your friendship stats.  When you give gifts to your bear friends, or go on play dates, you increase your friendship stats between you and your guardian friend.  They will then show up closer to the top of the list when you view your galaxy (Which is the list of all of your friend's doughnuts).
     Contests are a fun part of the game.  Not only do they give you a chance to improve your popularity stat, you can also win gold and prizes!  The top 3 contestants get awards.  And you have a new chance to compete, every 8 hours.  The awards you have a chance to get are decorations for your doughnut that can't be purchased from the shoppe.  Letter decorations, gold, honey pots and potions that can be used to change the way your bear looks.  You can even send a screen capture of your victory to your Facebook page.
     Want more to add to your Facebook?  You can also have photos sent to Facebook from your dates.  Your bear can date any bear that is of opposite gender and on your friend list (In your galaxy, basically).  Just click the date icon under your bear when you're zoomed in, or go directly to your friend's doughnut planet and ask the bear directly.
     It costs 200 gold to ask for a date and the cost of whatever flower you choose to give to your bear's companion.  You get to watch them go to "Lovelet" the Love planet.  They may play video games at the arcade, listen to music, sit on a bench, sit on a couch, sit on the grass and watch the clouds... There are many different things available for the tiny bears to choose from.  You also receive stats when you ask for a date (You do not receive stats when accepting a date).  You can earn stamina, cleverness... any of the basic trainable stats.  You'll also get popularity and closeness, plus a friendship boost.  When looking for a date, always pay attention to the stat boost you'll get to choose the best.  I never choose a date that gives less than 10 stat points.  20 is a good find.  If there aren't any good ones, exit the date center and re-enter.  You'll get a refreshed version.  The more friends you have, the better your chance of getting a good bear to date.
     Lastly I'll cover the shopping district.  There are 4 shops.  One (Decor) for decorating your doughnut.  You may purchase doughnuts, tiny decorations and letters.  One is for  Another (Wheel) is a chance shop.  You use gold or honey pots to get a chance to spin the wheel to make your bear into a Zombie, Robot, Panda or Red Panda.  You can also spend honey pots here to spin a wheel to receive special clothes and decor that you can only get through this chance shoppe. There is a shoppe (Dress) for clothing.  You can buy hats, glasses, ties, tops and handheld items for your bears with gold and honey pots.  Some items must be unlocked by achieving a particular level first.  Lastly there is a shoppe (Morph) for changing the features of your bear.  Eyes, brows, nose, snout, mouth, ears and colour. You can pay in gold and honey pots.
     Over all I think this is a pretty fun game.  I am happy to have had the chance to play for free.  I doubt I would have downloaded it otherwise.  I suggest getting it now, while it's still free.  I believe the regular price is 1/99.  It's not too bad at that price.  I can tell a lot of work went into the game.
     On the down side this game does have some glitches and bugs.  I am hoping those get fixed.  Sometimes you don't get your points or rewards, sometimes all of your energy drains out when you go to the galaxy screen and come back.  I think that if they fix these bugs, this will be an even better game and get a better rating from me.
Rating: 4/5

• Free (Currently) (Usually 1.99)
• Category: Games
• Size: 103 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: LoadComplete Co., Ltd
• © 2011 LoadComplete Co., Ltd.

Marron Mini & Pri Pri Marron

Marron Mini App for iPhone
     This is the free version of this application.  it is available via the app store free of charge.  Though it has far fewer things available than the full version, I suggest giving it a try.  Even if you have purchased the full version, I'd suggest downloading the free version.  Why?  It has a different set of graphics to use.  Graphics not included in the full version.
     You have a small selection of frames available (One Theme).  Some nice word bubbles in the style of comic books and such.  You also have several pixel graphics to add to your photos.  They remind me of old school video games.  These stamps have 2 themes available.  In case you are confused, they are found in the same area as the word bubbles.  Simply click the down arrow under the word bubble icon to view them.
     And naturally a pen tool and text tool are available for drawing and writing on your graphics.
     You can resize, askew and move your graphics about the image.  there is an undo button available also, in case you decide you don't like that stamp.
     When you click the folder icon you can save the image to your photo album, share it on Twitter or send it via email.

Pri Pri Marron App for iPohone
     The full version is downloadable, separately.  It has the same basic features, with more graphics to choose from.  it also has an additional glitter tool to use.  Which I really like.  I'm a glitter lover.
     There are 6 themes of frames.  Each theme has several frames to choose from.  There is a lot of variety in this application, which I greatly appreciate.  There are also 6 themes of stamps.  They themes range from Holiday inspired to Comic Book, and Flowers to scribbly hearts and stars.  There are 5 pen styles, each with it's own colour set.  5 Sparkle sets, each with various kinds of sparkles and accent items (Buttons, strawberries, hearts, etc) to choose from.  And of course you have your text tool.
     Like the mini version, you can also save the finished graphic, or share it to Twitter or email.
     At 2.99 this app is a bit pricier than I would prefer.  I tend to avoid apps that cost more than 2 dollars.  however, I am pleased with what this application has to offer.  It has a lot of range, and the graphics are very nice.  If I were t change anything, I might add a brightness or filter option to fix up the photo a bit prior to the decoration process.  much like the Princess Camera application offers.
     If you enjoy decorating photos, and want an application that supplies you with many different themes for various styles and events, this is a good app to choose.  If you want to just try it out, get the Mini Marron to have a taste of what it's like.  If you enjoy that version, you'll adore the full version.  Happy stamping!
Mini Marron Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Category: Photo & Video
• Size: 4.7 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese
• Seller: fonfun corporation
• © 2010-2011 SIFCA CORPORATION / 2010-2011 fonfun corporation
• 
  

Pri Pri Marron Rating: 4.5/5

• $2.99
• Category: Photo & Video
• Size: 18.4 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese
• Seller: fonfun corporation
• © 2009-2011 SIFCA CORPORATION / 2009-2011 fonfun corporation

Draw Something

Draw Something App for iPhone
     Draw Something is one of OMGPOP's most popular games, and is a free application you can download on both apple and android phones.  The basic idea is a game of one on one Pictionary.  The person drawing that round chooses one of 3 words, and has to draw a picture that will cause the other user to guess that particular word.  Then the other user draws for the next round.  This goes back and forth.
     You can have several games of "Draw Something" going at once, between various different users.  As you guess and draw, you earn coins.  These coins can be used to purchase additional colour palettes as well as bombs.
     You start out with a very small and limited group of colours.  As you collect more palettes, you'll be able to draw more detailed doodles.  It also helps avoid that problem of people confusing a picture of grapes with a picture of olives.
     Unlike Pictionary, the guesser doesn't just shout out words.  You have a selection of letters to use to guess the word that is being drawn.  Some of the letters will be in the word, others will not.  You start off with a few 'bombs'.  These can be used to remove some of the letters that do not belong in the word.  This may help you guess the word, if you are stumped.   If you are still unable to guess the word, or if you've no bombs and can not determine what word is being drawn, you can "Pass".  The game between the two users is than reset to round one, and you play through again (Not with the same words).
     If you run out of bombs, you can use your collected coins to purchase more.  Bombs are used for 2 things.  They can remove letters for the guesser.  They can also give the person drawing a new set of words to choose from, when they decide what to draw.
     The words that the game uses are not always common dictionary words.  Many times they are the names of fictional characters or celebrities.  Or the name of video games, movies, books and such.  This can make it a bit more challenging to guess if you've no knowledge of that particular pop culture icon.
     If you are no longer interested in playing with a particular user, for whatever reason, you can swipe across their name on your game list.  A red button will appear that causes you to resign, and delete the game.  I often do this if users wait too many days in between rounds, or write the word rather than drawing it.  After all, it isn't called "Write Something".
     You can view how well you're doing and see basic stats for each running game by clicking the "Stats" button.  You can see the most common used colours, the amount of coins collected, your highest successful round and which word type you choose most often (Easy, moderate or difficult).
     You don't need any drawing skills to play this game.  I actually find that having less drawing skills might help some people since the most simple drawings are sometimes easier to guess.  Sometimes details confuse a guesser.
     I recommend this to anyone who likes drawing or playing Pictionary or guessing games in general.  After all, it's free.  What do you have to lose?
Rating: 5/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Size: 12.9 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: OMGPOP, Inc.
• © 2012 OMGPOP, Inc

Rilakkuma Touch

Rilakkuma Touch App for iPhone
     I want to start off by saying that this review is of the basic, free Rilakkuma Touch, and not the paid upgrade.  I love Rilakkuma, and would purchase the upgrade, but I just can not pay 5 dollars for a few special features on this application.  It's just too much.
     This is a little virtual Rilakkuma (Relax Bear).  You can watch him eat his hot cakes, poke him, drag him, and... well, that's honestly about all you can do without paying for extra features.
     It's cute.  I enjoyed it... but only for about two minutes.  The app is very limited, so it gets boring after a couple minutes.  I'm sure the paid version is more fun, but I'm just not sure I'd get enough use out of it to qualify paying 4.99USD.
     If you choose to pay for the "Plus" features you'll get additional food and items for Rilakkuma to interact with.  You also have the choice of playing with Korilakkuma, rather than just Rilakkuma.
     This is not a virtual pet.  You don't need to feed or clean your bear.  You can't customize or play mini games with it.  You can just 'play with it', via poking and dragging.  If he becomes unhappy with what you're doing he'll cross his arms (Making an 'X').  keep in mind that he is a lazy bear that just enjoys relaxing.  So you aren't going to get a lot of reactions from him.
     Since this is a free app, I think any San-x or Rilakkuma fan should download it and give it a try.  However, I don't see this as being something people are going to be using on a regular basis.  I'd love to see a bit more content.  Even the paid content doesn't sound like very much.  It's cute, but a bit boring.

 

Rating: 3.5/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Size: 19.1 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese
• Seller: Imagineer Co.,Ltd.
• © (C)SAN-X CO.,LTD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. (C)Imagineer Co.,Ltd.

Princess Pajama

Princess Pajama App for iPhone
     This has got to be one of the best free game apps I have ever seen in the market.  Yes, that was my first sentence in this review...
     This is not a game that requires you to pay for additional features.  You have an option to spend money to buy in game money, but it is not required, and earning money in the game is not difficult.  The app is completely free to play.
     It's a side scrolling adventure style game, crossed with an RPG feel, and little comic book pages to tell the story (I've a soft spot for games with comic book pages).  You play the hero (Of course) who has been asked to save the kingdom's princess from a terrible monster who has kidnapped her (Alright, so it's a pretty generic theme...).  The princess was stolen in her sleep, and is wearing her pajamas through out the game (Thus the title "Princess pajama").  Once you find the princess (This happens very early on) the rest of the game is level after level of you fighting your way through monsters and bosses, to get her safely back to the kingdom.  There are several levels per stage.  Each stage has a different theme, such as frozen ice, grass lands, woods, etc...
     As you fight your way through, you earn gold and experience levels.  You also get 1-3 keys at end of each battle stage/level.  You will always get at least one.  You get more, depending on how quickly you beat the level.  You can get through each level quickly and get 3 keys, but you'll end up earning less ruves (Gold) from that level, since you earn them via killing monsters, and if you rush through the level, you'll end up with less kills.  So you'll have to decide which you want, items or ruves.  Once you complete a level of monster killing you are taken directly to the shoppe.  There you can exchange ruves for items, or sell items you have.  The shop items change after each level.  So if you see something you really want, keep in mind what level shoppe it's sold at.

     Every hero needs companions to help him fight.  And your hero is no different.  You can summon helpers to come fight with you.  There is no limit to how many you can summon, it seems.  however you do have a cool down time after a summon, and you need to earn summon points over time before you can afford to summon again.
     You start off with several available summons.  there are also 4 special summons you can buy when you earn enough ruves.  Each summoned fighter has their own advantage and disadvantage.  there are range and tank styles.  There are different magic types, fire, lightning, poison, etc... Even a healing summon.  So choose wisely before wasting summoning points.  What kind of fighters you summon to help you can make the level harder or easier.  Also, each type can be leveled.  Each summon has 30 levels.  You get special attacks for them when they hit level 11, 21 and 30 (I believe those are the correct numbers).
     Your princess can also heal and buff you, but you have no real control over her.  She runs ahead, falls behind, falls down, and otherwise makes your life a little harder, as you are trying to save her.  If her health falls to zero, you lose and have to start that level over (No experience and such is lost, just your time and any items used in that battle).  You can equip her with one item.  This item has a special feature you can use.  She can use either a necklace, ring or earring set.  They have various special features such as speed, defense boost, attack boost, healing and so on.  When in battle, you have a small pink button with a crown on it, near your attack options.  When this is lit up you can click it (It has an especially long cool down, so make sure to use it at the right time).  This activates the princess' special feature on her item.  I usually keep her items "healing" only.  As it seemed toe most helpful to me.

     When in between stages, at the shoppe, you can also level your summons, and change out your items.  Your warrior gets two item slots for rings and such, the princess gets one.  You can also carry two 'consumable' items.  Such as potions, portals and bombs.  You can only keep 10 of each with you, so choose wisely.  There is also a spot for up to 3 gems.  When you start out, only one gem slot will be open.  The other you get as you level up, the last must be purchased with ruves.  Gems help boost your stats.  They can make your summoning cool down time faster, boost certain kinds of attacks (Lightning, poison, etc), increase maximum hit points and so on.

     Equipment and gems have levels.  A higher level item will give you better stat boosts. They will sell for more and cost more.  Try to always use the highest level items you find.  The highest level items I have found through levels would be a 6.  They sell level 10 items in the shoppes, but you'll have to save up, because they are costly.
     Once you beat the game, you get a fun little comic scene.  And are given the option to play through for a second time.  Should you choose to play through again you'll lose all levels and items.  However, you'll get ruve value for each item that is lost.  The monsters are also much harder the second time through.
     I really enjoyed playing this game.  It does get a bit repetitive at times... But that's good and bad.  So many RPGs I've played in the past are difficult to take a break from and come back to, because you forget how the fight system works and what combos work for what creatures.  this system is very simple, so even after a break, you'll be alright to get right back into the game.  At the same time, you might not want to play this for several hours straight, since each level is quite similar.
   I am currently on my second play through.  I recommend this to anyone who likes cute games, free games, or has lots of free times on their hands.
 Rating: 5/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Size: 108 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Spanish
• Seller: BLUESIDE INC
• © BLUESIDE Inc.

Princesses Learn French

Princesses Learn French App for iPhone
     This is a language learning program.  It is incredibly simple, and a great way to introduce a new language to a young child (Targeted mainly toward female children).
     I wont lie, I downloaded this because Princess and French were in the title.  It's a bit too simplistic for me.  My French is a bit more advanced than this.  I also would not recommend this for adults or teens who wish to learn French.  This is mainly for children.
     You are given one free story.  Snow White is the only book you can read, without paying an additional fee.  you can purchase more books through the app.  Stories such as Sleeping Beauty, The Little Mermaid and Cinderella.
     When you wish to use your book, and start learning, you are given a few options.  You can "read".  The book is read by a female voice. It is entirely in English with the exception of a few choice key words and phrases.  Some of the words/phrases you learn in Snow White are "Hello, Birdies" ("Bonjour , Petit L'oiseau" ), "Hello, Bunnies" ("Bonjour, Petit Lapin"), "Princess Snow White" ("Le Princesse Blanche-Neige"),  "One, Two, Three" ("Un, Deux, Trois").  These phrases are of course said by the female reader.  So the children will know how the words are said.  this can also be viewed in either portrait or landscape mode.
     There is also a "Colour" option.  This has also been made in an educational way.  The child can colour the image however she wishes.  When she chooses a new colour to use, a voice will say the French word for that colour.
     The Play option has many different learning games to choose from.  These games use the words you learned in the story, along with numbers and colours.  There is a memory card game, a Bingo game and a Sticker game.
     Lastly there is a "Sing" option.  This teaches you a fun song that you can sing in both English and French.  there are 'play' buttons for each verse.  So you can learn each verse at your own pace, before moving on to the next.
     I recommend this to anyone with a little princess who might be interested in learning French.  The child doesn't even need to know how to read, to start learning.  Which I find fantastic.  The earlier you start teaching languages, the easier it is for them to learn.
     The only real down sides to this is the additional fee of 1.99 per additional book.  I think 99 cents might be a more reasonable price, considering the vocabulary limit the books seem to have.  Also the colouring pages should have a en size option.  Some of the details are small, and a child could get frustrated with the fact that sometimes you can't help going outside the lines.  Still, I do think this is a good app for young children to learn with.
Rating:  3.5/5

• Free
• Category: Education
• Size: 23.7 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: early languages llc
• © early languages llc

P.F.Love

P.F.Love App for iPhone
     This is a really cute Valentine's/Love themed photo decorating application.  The best part?  It's free.  You don't need to buy the application, and you don't need to buy extra stamps and frames.  That makes this app really great to me.
     When you are looking through your frames and stickers, you can not only scroll through what's available, you can click the character.  When the character is selected it brings up a character/theme menu so you can switch to a different set of frames and stamps.  Combine stamps from various sets to make unique edits!  They even have different themes available for the fonts (Adding text) and the pen tool (Drawing/colouring over the photo).
     Once you feel content with your photo edit, you can save the photo, upload it to Twitter or Facebook or email it.  Every photo you edit in this application gets placed in the applications "Gallery".  When you load the app up you can select the Gallery tab to sift through all the cute photo edits you've done.  If you feel like you would like to further edit one of the images in your gallery, select it and click the "palette" icon.  It loads the image back into edit mode for you.
     The only changes I would like to see if new stamps and frames to be added.  though the ones already available are simply adorable.

Rating: 4.5/5

• Free
• Category: Photo & Video
• Size: 85.2 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese
• Seller: adada Inc.
• © adada CO. LTD.

Manga Avatar Girl

Manga Avatar Girl App for iPhone
     I have done a review of the first version of this application (Which creates male avatars).  This app is for creating female characters.
     It has all of the features it's male counterpart does.  You can switch through various hair styles, lips, eyes, clothing and so on.  You can add speech bubbles and type what you wish the character to say within.
     There is also a feature to essentially play "Face in hole".  You can add a photo of your (or someone else's) face into the head area of the character.  I don't really care much for this feature.  But I'm sure some people find it fun.  I prefer playing with the face creation features.  You can come up with some really interesting combinations.
     You can also change the background.  Add your own photo background if you like.
     This app could be useful for creating comic book versions of your friends, family or yourself.  You could create your own role playing characters, without needing any artistic drawing talents.  Or you could just have fun coming up with funny face combinations to show your friends.
     There are no colour setting in this application that I have found.  however, if you save the image and load it into an art program on your computer, you can colour it there.  You could almost create your own colouring book, in a way.
     It's a fun and effective application.  Especially considering it's completely free.
Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Category: Social Networking
• Size: 16.9 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: SO YOUNG PARK
• © WM Application Studio, 2011