Bearable

Bearable App for iPhone
     It's almost Halloween!  We all know you can't have Halloween without candy or bears, right?... What?  You can have Halloween without bears?  I don't believe you!
     There are 4 game play modes, as you can see in the picture to the right.  Story mode, Speed play, Timed mode and 2 player mode.
     Story Mode: You play a little panda bear that lives in an enchanted forest.  One day he realizes that something sinister has happened!  All of his friends have been transformed into delicious food!  Who would do such a thing!?  Help him find out by journeying on toward the answer.
     You will move along a path.  Each large icon represents a cut scene.  The small dots are progress toward the next scene.  You must play and win the puzzle stages 3 times to go from one cut scene to the next.
     The scenes have audio dialog as well as text to read along under the images.  It's a very cheesy story, as is the voice acting.  but somehow it just adds to the joy of the game.  It's the strangest thing.  You think yourself a fool for continuing through the story when it makes no sense.  At the same time you can't stop yourself from wondering what could possibly happen next.
     Below are some screens of cut scenes.  The art isn't spectacular but it gets the job done.  It's very colourful and eye catching.

     For some reason, my favourite part is that the bear finds a Pringles can (As you can see in the image above, to the left).  The Pringles can has a silly voice and calls the bear "Son" at the end of every level you beat.

     During the puzzle mode you will see many colourful shapes and panda heads on the screen.  Switch two to make a row or column of at least 3 of the same colour.  They have to be in a line.  Simple touching wont do.  Also, diagonal does not count.

     During the levels you can click the small button on the bottom left.  This is the "Hint" function.  It will let you know where you can switch some pieces to make matches.  This can come in handy when there's only one or two matches available on the board.
     If you do run out of matches the screen will reshuffle.  Also, just before the level end you might get a special event where all of the touching colours on the screen explode for one final extra point blast.  But you can't play any more after this happens.  If it's not enough points to beat the level, you'll lose and have to start that level over again
     Each level has a goal for how many points you need to earn to beat the level.  Sometimes you can acquire this quickly.  other times you can't.  It's all in the luck of the draw.
     To get a better score you want to get combos.  Find matches very quickly.  You'll know you're doing well based on the sounds the app makes after each match.  If they get higher and higher you're starting your combo.  If it goes back to the regular sound, you've taken too long.  You'll know you have a max combo when it goes from a high itched noise to a more 'exciting' sound.
     Winning levels will gain you points that you can spend on bonuses you can use at the beginning of a level.  You can see them on the screen to the right.  Buy them before playing the next level to get through more easily.  However, don't waste them.  You'll want to save up until the end of the story mode, when it gets harder.  You will also get 10000 bonus points after completing story mode.
     Speed Play:   This mode has a timer at the top.  Once the timer runs down, it's game over.  It keeps track of your best score.  This mode is for when you only have a small amount of time to waste.
     Time Play:  This mode will have a timer that slowly runs down at the top.  Gain as many points as you can before it runs out.  When you beat a stage it will replenish some of the time, based on how well you did (Combos get you extra seconds). This will continue to happen until you run out of time.  It will keep track of your best score.  Try to beat it!
     2P Mode: is for when you want to play with friends.  Se the phone between you on a solid surface.  One puzzle will be on each side.  One upside down, one right side up.  Each of you can make as many sets as possible.  A meter on the side will let you know who is winning.  You do not have access to hints during this game mode.
     I thought this was a fun and quirky little game.  Appropriate for all ages.  If you're no good at puzzles, I wouldn't worry too much.  The point goals in story mode tend to be low.  I think anyone could easily play this game.  Plus you can beat it in under an hour.
     This game will game you going around saying silly things like "The secret ingredient is real bear juice!" and other such nonsense.  it's just too silly not to give a try.
Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Updated: Sep 12, 2012
• Version: 1.1
• Size: 12.4 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Mooff Games Ltd
• © Mooff Games Ltd

Rated 4+

超絶叫プラス (Super Scream Plus)

Super Scream Plus App for iPhone
     I've been trying to do some spooky (Cute, but spooky) apps for Halloween, since it is the month of October.  I did a review for Witch Defense for your witch fix.  I reviewed iTaroTHlite for all your fortune telling needs.  Sweet Devil Just for your time obsessed demon girl entertainment.  Now I'm doing a review for an application that features the world's cutest ghost girl.  That application?  Super Scream Plus.
     The game is simple enough... So simple that the app creators felt absolutely no need to add any instructions whatsoever within the application... Hey, application developers... It's not "that" simple.  Anyone considering making an application for a game... Always add instructions.  Even if you think the game is simple enough.
     When I first started this up I looked for instructions and found none.  Started the game... Had 'no' idea what I was supposed to do.  Some little ghost girl just kept coming toward me.  I kept tapping her, but nothing happened.  Then it was game over.  I tried again.  This time I accidentally tapped high enough on her that it hit the top area... Her position changed... She was facing left... I tapped left... She changed again... I had figured it out!
     Let's start with the levels, and work our way up to game play.
     You start off on the first stage.  "Horror!"
     When you press the arrows, you can scroll through the available stages.  They will be locked at first.  There are four stages, currently available.  There are 3 ways of unlocking each stage.  Do you see the "Mission Clear" box on the screen shot to the left?  When your mission is 100% complete, the next stage unlocks.  Alternatively you can use your coins you win from the game to unlock another level.  You can do this through the "Shop" function.  Lastly, you can piece together the next level, one puzzle piece at a time.  At the bottom of each stage is a price.  When you have that much coin, you can buy one random puzzle piece.  Sometimes you'll get a duplicate, sometimes a new piece.  When you have purchased enough to fill in every piece of the stage picture, the stage is unlocked.  You can see an example of this below.  I bought a few puzzle pieces for each stage.

     Opening levels is not the only thing you can do with the money you earn from your missions.  There's also weapon choices, also purchased through the store.

     The weapons you see on the top row of the weapon selection screen I have provided to the right, are 500 dollars a piece (That's game coin, not real money).  The next 3 are 2500 a piece.  The crowbar to the leek are 5000 a piece.  I believe the last two are part of "Secret Unlock" which costs 150000.
     The weapons don't have any affect  on how much damage you do or what happens within the game.  It only changes the sound you hear when you hit the character.  the gun (Default weapon) makes a gun shot noise.  The cloud icon is a weapon that makes the sound of passing gas every time you hit the enemy.  You should be able to figure out the other sounds based on that.
     While we are on the subject of the "Shop" I will also list the other things you can purchase within it.  I have already told you the weapons, the stage unlocks and the secret unlock.  These are all available to purchase with in game coins, collected from missions.  You may also purchase the ad removal (Removes the small banner at the bottom of the game) for 99 cents of real money.  You can purchase in game money with real money as well.  10000 for 99 cents, 30000 for 1.99USD or 100000 for 4.99USD.  But remember, the game isn't that difficult.  Don't start wasting your money right off the bat.  I would suggest purchasing these only if you intend to unlock everything and only after you've played through at least most stages on your own.  You accumulate money pretty quickly.
     Let's discuss the game play.  After all, you need to know this, right?

     Above you can see some game play samples from the first stage.  Pay attention to the direction of the girl's hands.  If she's pointing them upward, like in the first image, click the small translucent rectangle above her.  If she faces left, click the left one and so on.  As she gets closer, she will start to cover these boxes.  It may be difficult to tell exactly where they are.  This can result in misses.  You want to avoid misses.

     When you hit her, she'll cry out and cringe as she is in the second image.  The longer you wait to hit her, the closer she gets.  You want to keep her as far from you as possible, as her getting too close will end the game.  As the game progresses she will also get close much faster.  So click the directions quickly.

     Once in a while during the game you'll get a chance to rapidly tap to do damage.  it's timed so click as fast as you can before the bar runs out.  For the shorter ones you can usually get 10 taps in.  The longer ones you can get over 50.

     Once the game ends you'll get your score.  A high combo gets you a decent amount of money.  However, no matter how badly or well you did in the game... The real difference is made now... In the after game.
     The after game allows for a slot machine style multiplier of whatever money you earned.  You can earn as little as 1X (Which is not good... Even in a great game you don't earn that much), or as much as 32X the amount!  This slot game is called "Lucky Time"  And you really do need to be lucky to get those big numbers.
     Each stage has it's theme.  The second one is an Android themed level.  It's called Love | Roid.  Fight the school girl (Not sure why it's dressed that way) attired Android as it comes toward you.  As usual, you'll know where to tap based on the direction it's arms are pointing.  I will provide two samples below.  See the one on the left?  It's pointing upward.  In the second image it is clearly pointing  to the right. Click the rectangles assigned to that side of the screen.  But remember, speed is key.

     I really enjoyed this fun and cute game application.  I will say that it can get a bit tedious after a while.  So play in short bits.  Don't spend an hour or more playing this game (In a single sitting).  Try a few here and there.  The appeal entertainment value will last longer that way.
Rating: 3.7/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Updated: Aug 17, 2012
• Version: 1.1
• Size: 17.8 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese
• Seller: WANDERER Co., Ltd.
• © WANDERER Co., Ltd.

Rated 9+ for the following:

• Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
• Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence

Number Creatures

Number Creatures App for iPhone
     This is a cute and fun application that can be enjoyed by very young children and adults alike.  These tiny creatures are made up of numbers.  Can you find all of the numbers that make up these creatures?  Take them apart, one digit at a time!
     There are 3 modes available to play this game in.  Let's start by going over each mode, individually.
     Kids mode is the easiest version of the game.  This is good for both children as well as people just learning to play the game.  The difference between this mode and others is that the numbers that the animals are made up of are in colour.  The other modes are more difficult to distinguish one number from another, due to the fact all of the numbers are black.  The Kids Mode numbers each have a different colour that is assigned to each digit.
     You have a timer to the upper right and a score to the left.  As I've not noticed any change in the score in Kids Mode, I must assume it does not change.
     You can unlock certain goals as well, such as "Complete in under 60 seconds".  Though I am not sure what unlocking these goals affects.  It's still nice to see it pop up and let you know you did something great.
     The music is catchy enough, but if it begins to annoy you, or if you'd rather listen to something else, the music can be turned off mid game by clicking the speaker icon to the right side of the screen.  You can even pause the game if need be with the pause function that sits above the audio toggle.
     There is also 1 Minute Mode.  this seems pretty clear from the title.  You'll have one minute to completely disassemble as many number creatures as you can.  one digit at a time.  When you finish one, another will load up.  Go quickly and try to get a good score!
     Wrong numbers will set you back.  Try not to hit too many.  It can sometimes be hard to tell an 8 from two 0s and a 7 from a 1... Of course there is always the 9 and 6 issue as well.  but try your best!
     It will keep your high scores stored in the app for each of the different game modes.  try to beat your own score.
     The last game mode is the extended version.  Though the application is free, this version can only be unlocked through a purchase via the app store or app itself.  This unlocks 50 different creatures and allows you to play "5 minute mode".  It also gives you "5 Creature mode" where you try to disassemble 5 creatures as fast as possible.  Naturally it also removes the in app advertisements as well.
     Below the three game mode options you'll see an extra 3 buttons.  'Catalog' shows all of the creatures you've taken apart while playing the game.  Try to collect all of them!  Below I have posted a few different creatures you may see while playing the game.

     'How To play' will explain the basics for playing the game.

     'Options' will take you to the options menu.  Here you can view your high scores, read through the game credits, view more apps from this app producer or view apps from their affiliates.  please note: the affiliate applications are only available in the Japanese app store.  They are not available through the US app store.

     I think this game is very cute.  It's a fun way for young children to learn and play with numbers.  As well as being a fun little puzzle games for adults to play to pass the time.  I also like the catalog features.  Collecting things through game play is always something that keeps me playing something.  I feel compelled to complete the collection.

     I think most people that like simple puzzle games that aren't time consuming will enjoy this application.  It's not incredibly challenging, and a bit simplistic... But it's fun and creative.

Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Category: Games
• Updated: Apr 06, 2012
• Version: 2.1
• Size: 13.2 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Muu Muu Co.,Ltd.
• © 2011 , Muu Muu Co.,Ltd.

Rated 4+

Career Quiz

Career Quiz App for iPhone
     It's never too early to start thinking about college.  However, the biggest question for those thinking of getting a degree is usually "What do I get a degree in?"...  Most people don't know what they want to spend the rest of their lives doing.  Should you be a Doctor?  A Lawyer?  Maybe a job in Marketing or Politics is best for you.  This app helps you decide the best path to a happy and successful future by gathering information about your interests and seeing where they fit in the spectrum of available degrees.
     This application was developed by the good people of Madison College.  It was developed to help 'would be' students decide on their career path.  However, it is available for anyone.  So even if you intend to try attending a different college, this application can still be useful.
     Let's go over the basics for this application...
     The interface is simple.  There's no real way to get confused.  To start the quiz, click the giant "Start" button.  If you have already taken the quiz, but forgotten the results, click the "History" button at the top.  You can save multiple results here.  This is in case you let your friends or family members take the quiz as well.  The "About" function tells you about the Madison Area Technical College.  It also provides the website and a contact email.
     The quiz is 16 pages long.  So set aside a little time for this.  It takes anywhere from 10-15 minutes to complete.  Depending on how long you linger on each question.
     It asks some basic multiple choice questions.  Each question and answer is assigned to a specific degree.  So choose carefully.  Though you may notice the same or similar questions being asked on multiple pages... The answer choices are different.  Even if the answer choices aren't 'exactly' right for you... try to choose the one that fits you best.
     This can all be a bit tedious and repetitive .. But as is life.  Remember, the degree you choose can directly affect the rest of your life.  A few minutes of tedious question answering is worth it.
     At the end of the quiz you'll see a list of available degrees.  Next to each is a number.  The higher the number, the more questions you've answered that seem to fit that degree choice.  Clicking the tiny arrow will drop down a list of different careers assigned to that degree.
     So let's look at my results.  I scored highest in Arts, A/V Technology & Communication.  My score was 88.  That's just slightly higher than my score for Marketing, Sales & Service.  I have been paid for work in both of these fields.  So I would say that these findings are very accurate.
     In case you're wondering... Scrolling way down to the bottom of the list are my lowest scored degree choices.  The bottom was "Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics".  I have interest in these things... But I don't think I'd be very good at working in the field.  So, again... I would say this is accurate.
     I would recommend this application to anyone considering going to college, but isn't sure about what degree you should be working toward.  Even if college is years into your future, it's always good to know early so you;ll have time to plan.
Rating: 5/5

• Free
• Category: Education
• Released: Aug 26, 2010
• Version: 1.0
• Size: 1.1 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Madison College
• © 2010 Madison Area Technical College

Rated 4+

小悪魔ジャスト

Sweet Devil Just App for iPhone
     Just how good is your internal clock?  Are you really bad at telling how much time has passed?  Well now you can test your skills with this adorable and unique app game.  It even features an adorable little cartoon devil girl, to make a great download for Halloween!
     The application is in Japanese, however it's pretty simple to use.  You wont need to really do any translating to get the basics down.
     On the launch screen you'll see 3 buttons.  The top left button sets the time.  The top right gives you information on how to use the application (Entirely in Japanese).  The bottom button starts the game.
     Before you start the game for the first time, you'll want to set the time.  So click the top left button.
     You'll now see the screen to the left.  It says ""Stop at just".  This is asking where you wish to stop the timer at.  This is in seconds.  So if you want to stop it at 10 seconds, type in "10".  For a minute, type in "60" and so on.  Then click "Set".
     To play, click the large "Play" button.
     The way the game works is that you will choose an amount of time.  Tell the devil to start the clock and when you believe the correct amount of time has passed, click the stop button.  The devil will then rate you on how close you were to the actual time.  The rating she gives you is in Japanese, but the picture will fairly well depict whether you did a good job or not.  She'll tell you how close you were as well (And hooray for numbers being universal).
     Below I've listed some of the ratings I got when I tried it out.  I tried to range from very good to very bad so I could collect a decent amount of images to share.

     Here are the translations for the comments given by the devil girls.
TOP LEFT: ...The difference is -3.05 seconds
TOP RIGHT: I can easily do it.  The difference is -0.28 seconds.
BOTTOM LEFT: ...The difference is -5.13 seconds.
BOTTOM RIGHT: JUST! You're becoming the best!  The difference is -0.10 seconds (Loose translation.  I had a little trouble with this one)
     This is a cute and unique idea for a game.  The graphics are very cute and expressive.  I am disappointed that they did not translate it before releasing it to the US market.  Fortunately it is simple enough to understand without translations.  I think this could be a really fun way to pass the time while in a waiting room.  It may just help the time to pass a little quicker.
Rating: 4/5

• Free
• Category: Entertainment
• Released: Aug 22, 2012
• Version: 1.0
• Size: 4.5 MB
• Language: English
• Seller: Albatrus Co., Ltd.
• © Albatrus co.,Ltd.

Rated 4+

MonTowers

MonTowers App for iPhone
     Battle your way to the top of the towers and tame the monsters within.  Summon them at will to help you conquer new enemies and explore where no man has gone before... STAR TRE- no... Sorry... MonTowers!
     The "story line" that displays whenever you first launch the app is weak at best.  Mysterious towers spring up.  no one knows who built them or why.  They are suddenly flooded with monsters.  From where?  Don't pay attention to that, it's not important...  Monsters flood the towers and adventurers (for some reason) enter them to battle the monsters.  they realize the monsters can be tamed.  Those who do this are known as "Summoners"... They explore new towers to find new monsters that no other summoner has.  They do this because... Apparently it's just really boring at home... And I suppose battling monsters seemed like fun.
     To guide you along your adventure you will have a scantly clad blue haired demon... elf?... Person...  She will give you quests and explain new parts of the game.  When you complete these quests you will receive awards.  Potions for healing the monsters, New monsters, Tokens for spending and of course experience points.
     Tokens can be used in multiple ways.  You can use tokens to purchase potions. You can use them to play the Gacha (Which can grant you a random monster, a potion or a new outfit for your guide), to open a new monster summon slot or to upgrade your monster.
     The image to the right is what you will see when using the Gacha.  It requires 5 tokens.  Don't expect to always get something useful from it, however.  The amount of tokens I've spent on the Gacha only to get the same monster 3 or 4 times in a row is enough to frustrate anyone.  You can only use one of any monster.  Getting multiples of the same monster coin is useless.
     There are several towers.  Each one is more challenging than the last.  This application is regularly updated.  So you can always expect new towers with new monsters to battle.
     You can attack with 3 monsters at once.  However, you'll want monsters on backup in case one of your creatures dies.  Different monsters have different abilities (Some have none).  Some are better to use against monsters with particular skill sets.
     Unlike Pokemon you can't just throw a Pokeball to capture these monsters.  When battling them you'll have a chance to win the creature at the end of the battle. Sometimes it works, sometimes it does not.  Because some quests require you to get specific monsters, you'll end up spending a lot of time fighting the same monster over and over to try and win it.  This can be quite tiresome.  No one enjoys grinding.
     Below I have posted some screens to show some of the monsters you'll face when traveling up the towers.  There are many different kinds.  From strong muscle men with the heads of random animals to half naked elves.  Monsters that look suspiciously like something out of a Japanese pornographic cartoon to mythological creatures (Such as unicorns and dragons).

     Any monster you battle in the tower can be won.  You can get bonuses for collecting all of the common and uncommon creatures in a particular tower.  Summon them to aid you in battle and fight against other monsters.  I suggest always summoning the most recently defeated monsters, as they will generally be your strongest.
     You can also upgrade your monsters if you wish to keep using them, but they aren't strong enough.  Any monster can be upgraded two times (Female characters seem to wear a lot less when they are upgraded.  All characters have slightly different looks when upgraded).  Upgrades cost tokens.  if your monster is defeated in battle after an upgrade, the upgrade is lost.  If you summon your creature again, you'll need to pay to upgrade it again.  Due to how rare tokens are (You 'can' choose to purchase them for real world money, but I prefer earning them through the game), I avoid upgrades and just try to keep a good group of strong monsters summoned to battle for me.
     Summoning a monster will take time.  The earlier (Weaker) monsters are summoned fairly quickly.  However, as you progress you'll learn that the stronger monsters can take hours upon hours to summon.  Because of this you will want to avoid letting any of them perish.  Don't enter a battle with monsters that aren't fully healed to avoid losing them.  Have back up monsters and trade them out.  I like to work with 3 teams of 3 (9 monsters total).  that way I can cycle through the teams.  By the time the third team is looking rough, the first team is fully healed.
     Leveling up will heal all of your summoned monsters.  it also gives you an attack bonus for a limited amount of time.  This bonus is called "Fever Time".  There will be a timer in your upper right corner to make sure you know how much longer your bonus will last.  Don't waste it!
     One more thing about summoning monsters before I move on.  Summoning monsters requires certain elements (Well, compound elements, but let's avoid thinking too hard about that).  Earth, Air, Water, Soul and Fire.  You must go to the field regularly to obtain these elements.  Collect what you need to summon the monster you wish to summon.  Different monsters require different element amounts and combinations.
     If you click the "Invent" button at the top middle of your main screen where you do your monster summoning, you'll see some other features.  My Stats will tell you your level, experience, monsters collected and so on.  Gallery will show you the pictures of any monster you have collected.  You can also see the pictures for their upgrades (But only if you have upgraded that monster).  Tiana's (The guide) room is where you go to see Tiana's different poses and costumes.  You can also change her costume here.  Doing so will cause her to wear the costume you've chosen whenever you see her in the future (Until you change it again).  Get Potion and Get Token is pretty obvious.  Help will give you some basic game function information.  Settings allows you to change the sound volumes and notifications.  The issue I have with this is that these reset after you've closed the app.  So if you open it later, the volume settings go back to default.  I would really prefer they remembered what i changed them to, to be honest.
     You can also access the game center from here which will earn you badges for leveling, collecting monsters, defeating monsters and so on.
     In my views this game is fun and semi-addictive.  however, as you progress and it gets a bit more like grinding and waiting and grinding and waiting... The fun factor certainly goes down.  I've been on a quest to collect the black dragon for ages.  I must have fought that dragon 30 times and never caught/captured it.  I've made it to level 45 and am about half way up the 6th tower.  I've collected 130 monsters and personally... I've lost a lot of interest.  I did enjoy it and I would recommend it.  but it's not going to be one of those games you can play constantly and never get tired of it.  Also, the amount of fan service gets really old.
     I thought the artwork was well drawn.  It was crisp and clean.  The fighting system was simple yet effective.  I like that you can upgrade monsters but I'd prefer the upgrades carried over.  I like the ability to change the guide's costume.  I also like the idea of a gacha machine.  I think if you enjoy monster capture/battle games you should give this game a try. 'Today' the application is free to download.  So you might want to download it free now, while the option is there.

• $0.99
• Category: Games
• Updated: Oct 17, 2012
• Version: 1.3.3
• Size: 203 MB
• Languages: English, Chinese, Japanese, Korean
• Seller: Buff Stone
• Copyright © 2012 BUFFSTONE Corp. & YD Online Corp. All rights reserved.

Rated 12+ for the following:

• Infrequent/Mild Horror/Fear Themes
• Infrequent/Mild Simulated Gambling
• Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content or Nudity
• Infrequent/Mild Cartoon or Fantasy Violence