Author Archives: Jacqueline Gowin

About Jacqueline Gowin

Jacqueline is an HR guru who loves to write and is always looking for the newest tech craze. A California girl at heart, though she bleeds maize and blue for her Alma Mater The University of Michigan. Go Blue!

Everyone Will Go Nuts For ‘Little Acorns’

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Little Acorns by Chillingo

Addicting is the first word that comes to mind when I think of the game Little Acorns created by Team Pesky and published by Chillingo. This game has the old school charms of Super Mario Brothers with a fresh spin and less commitment required.

In Little Acorns players take on the role of Mr. Nibbles, a father squirrel who had his entire stock of acorns stolen. Mr. Nibbles now has to go through two years of work to muster the stores he had before the raid. When he starts in the Spring of year one, there are four stages that increase with difficulty as the previous level is completed. Once all four stages of Spring are completed, Mr. Nibbles moves to Summer, then Autumn and finally Winter. After year one is completed, Mr. Nibbles moves into his second year of acorn acquisition.


Click here to watch on YouTube

Each level has a time limit and different obstacles that must be overcome in order to move to the next stage. In the first few levels, the user is mostly getting used to the controls and being able to jump to different heights and acquire all of the acorns for that level. As the levels increase with difficulty, enemies like vicious bumble bees, murderous raccoons and pits of water all stand in the way between Mr. Nibbles and his beloved acorns. Mr. Nibbles also has a great deal of baby squirrels which he must corral in some levels as well as his acorns! What a busy Dad!

Keep in mind a level can only be completed if ALL of the acorns and all of Mr. Nibbles’ kids (if applicable) are obtained. Once all of the acorns have been snatched up, the user is given the opportunity to get bonus food by snatching up fruit that will appear once all of the acorns have been retrieved. If all of the fruit is also picked up and Mr. Nibbles makes it to the exit before the time expires, costume choices will be unlocked for Mr. Nibbles. He will be able to have things like mustaches, a bowler hat, a clown nose or a Hawaiian shirt. None of these costumes increase Mr. Nibbles’ acorn gathering skills, but at least he looks good.

The graphics and sound on this game go perfectly with the storyline. The graphics are clear and charming, great for both children and adults. The controls are also simple and similar to the controls on a Super Nintendo with a right and left arrow on the left side of the screen and a jump arrow on the right.

Little Acorns is truly engaging and will keep you entertained wherever you may be. I found myself waking up this morning reaching for my iPhone not to turn my alarm off, but to try and complete a level I had been stuck on the night before. This is a great game and absolutely worth the price. Will you be able to help Mr. Nibbles stock up for winter? Only one way to find out!

Read more reviews by clicking here.

AppPicker Rating: 5 / 5
App Store link: Little Acorns
Other apps by Chillingo

‘Reckless Racing 2′ Stalls At The Finish Line

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Reckless Racing 2 by Polarbit

Have you ever been to an arcade? Golfland? Maybe… sat at home on your couch playing video games? At any of these places have you ever played a race car game? If so, I bet many of them were more enjoyable than Reckless Racing 2. I will give some credit to the creators since the graphics are better than most and the cars drivers can choose from and “sup up” are very sexy. I want one for myself but I would actually prefer to pay the $60,000 for one of the cars than the $4.99 the game costs (assuming I had this kind of cash).

The game has a variety of different courses and series in which you can compete. The more courses you win, the more competitive the game becomes. In addition, the competing drivers seem to get better as well, thus keeping your attention and forcing them to improve as the game goes on. If you begin to lose more frequently, the difficulty level drops. Should you win, an allotment of amount of money is made to purchase new or upgraded components for the vehicle.


Reckless Racing 2 trailer
Click here to watch on YouTube 

When I was younger, playing a racing game involved making violent movements with the controller while I took a tight corner, or moving my whole body left and right pretending I was slamming the car next to me into the guard rail.

I expected this game (especially being a sequel) to have controls that could be felt by the movements I was making as I played. I thought I was finally going to be able to have a venue to express my road rage or dream of being a race car driver with this game. However, I was disappointed to see the controls were two arrows on the bottom left corner of the screen to accelerate and turn, which was awkward.

It is possible that my expectations were set far too high for this game, but for me, it was a typical racecar game that I would have preferred to pay a quarter for at an arcade that play on my iPad.

AppPicker Rating: 3 / 5 Stars
App Store link: Reckless Racing 2
Other app by Polarbit 

‘UpNext HD Maps’ Presents Your Surroundings In Fantastic 3D

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UpNext HD Maps

UpNext HD Maps is a free app for iPad combining the efficiency and simplicity of Google Maps with the convenience and expediency of the Around Me app. UpNext HD Maps provides beautifully rendered 3D maps of over 20 cities so users can better orient themselves with their surroundings via the effective integration of social networks and information sources.

The app has a menu panel to select from categories such as “Nightlife”, ‘’Dining” and ‘Recreation” to see what can be found near their current location. When a category is selected, a set of locations will appear on the screen indicating where the chosen hot spots are, fully equipped with a description as well as Yelp reviews.


UpNext HD Maps demo
Click here to watch on YouTube

When the app dials in on the chosen location, it shows the size, shape and height of the buildings in the surrounding area. This app does a great job of loading the data quickly so users can move the focal position of the map to a different area without a long wait time for the map to reload.

This app also gives users the ability to stay socially connected by checking in Foursquare, see what places are trending and where friends may be going. It also shows nearby deals users may be interested in. At the moment, I could go to the Britannia Arms and receive 60% off! Keep in mind many of these require the purchase of a gift card which reflects the discount.

This is a great app if you are the indecisive type, the get lost type, the great deal finder type, or just someone that enjoys the convenience of having a map larger than the one provided by your iPhone. This is a great app and is worth a try, especially since it’s free!

Read more reviews by clicking here.

AppPicker Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
App Store link: UpNext HD Maps

‘Zombie Bunnies’ Not The Least Bit Politically Correct, But I Liked It

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Zombie Bunnies by Coding Design

Zombies Bunnies is a game for iPhone I initially envisioned being somewhat of a spinoff of the game ‘Plants vs. Zombies’ where players create a heroic garden defending a house from an onslaught of crazed zombies trying to take over the neighborhood. However, in Zombie Bunnies the player is the antagonist, slaughtering pedestrians on the street, demolishing buildings and generally wreaking havoc on the city, block by block.

The player assumes the role of Dr.Hare, a mad scientist trying to take over the world by using mutant zombie rabbits from his lab. Dr. Hare has an aircraft that flies over the city shooting bunnies out of his cannons to take down not only people but also buildings, benches, geese and any other object that can be sacrificed.


Zombie Bunnies trailer
Click here to watch on YouTube 

The game starts with a list of objectives that must be accomplished before the player can move to the next “threat level”. The objectives range from things like “Destroy 15 trees” to “Kill 50 humans”. These tasks are carried out by using the pointer finger on the screen to move the aircraft up or down to get a better angle for a shot at the desired target. There is a cross-hair in the bottom right corner that, when tapped, causes the aircraft to shoot the bunnies from the guns. There is no way to direct the bunnies soaring through the air as the trajectory remains the same for the four bunnies that are shot out with each tap. The only thing changing the angle, is the height of the aircraft to the desired target.

As the game progresses and objectives are accomplished, new types of aircraft are unlocked with different features, which keeps the game interesting and changes the pace. When a goal is accomplished, a banner will appear on the screen informing the player that he/she succeeded in killing or destroying the desired number of items.

There are some key details to remember while playing. Make sure to pick up the chemical barrels floating through the sky like clouds! These keep the energy level of the aircraft up and without them, the aircraft crashes! Also, the plane does NOT have unlimited stores of bunny ammunition. Keep an eye out for bubbles with bunnies inside floating up into the heavens. These bunnies will need to be stored to shoot at some small child during game play.

This game is delightfully gory and it’s cartoonish graphics make the game somewhat less aggressive. It’s an interesting technique as the bunnies end up biting heads off during the game as well and doing other vicious tasks.

Overall, this game was horribly satisfying. The objectives were very clear at the start of each game as well as during the game to show which objectives were achieved. The graphics fit the game and the plot line well and I appreciate the game not trying to be something it isn’t with over the top, unnecessary illustration.

I DO NOT recommend this game to anyone who has joined or is thinking of joining PETA since mutant lab bunnies taking over the world at the request of a mad scientist may not sit well with you. However, for some reason, I felt this game to be very satisfying and entertaining. It is obvious the game is silly but this is by design meant strictly to entertain, and I liked it.

AppPicker Rating: 4 / 5 Stars
App Store link: Zombie Bunnies
Other apps by Coding Design

The Textbook Revolution Has Begun With iBooks 2

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Click here to watch on YouTube

There is no doubt Apple has revolutionized the world. From the way we communicate, listen to music, use the computer and play games. Now it is changing the way we learn with its latest update to iBooks which introduced iBooks 2. This next generation of iBooks gives users the ability to download textbooks, for a fraction of the cost publishers charge for the hard copies. Although the app is universal, iBooks 2 is only available for use on iPads.

When I was in school (keep in mind I only graduated two and a half yeas ago) I would go online, check websites to find the cheapest place I could buy my books, use them occasionally for class, then at the end of the semester try and sell them back to the school for about one tenth of the price I paid for it. Not only did I waste significant amounts of time, I wasted money and not to mention paper on a book that would become obsolete once the newer version came out.

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All Work and No Play Makes ‘Order Up!! To Go’…A Dull Boy

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Order Up!! To Go by SuperVillain Studios, published by Chillingo

When I first looked at this Order Up!! To Go, I was excited to finally try an app used to order food online and have it delivered! However, I was sadly mistaken. Instead of having a “productivity” app, I had a game where I became the restaurant owner, instead of gluttonous consumer, as I had so wished to be.

The premise of the game is the player starts as the chef of a fast food restaurant who lears how to cook burgers to perfection, pour the correct amount of soda and crisp the fries until they have a nice crunch to them.

The player begins with one order at a time and continues to add items to the order. The goal is to be able to cook the burger, cut the condiments, fry the potatoes, and pour the drink in the quickest amount of time and thereby keep the customer happy of course! For each order, the customer pays money based on how “perfect” each item is and how fast it was served.


Order Up!! To Go trailer
Click here to watch on YouTube 

After the orders at the fast food joint have been mastered, the user is brought to a map that shows an island with restaurants on it. As the chef, the user ends up purchasing a restaurant on the island that is theirs to command. The more money that is brought in by every successive restaurant, the more capital the chef has  to purchase more restaurants.

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YouTube Addictions Quenched Thanks To NOWBOX

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NOWBOX by Pipely Inc.

If you are a YouTube junkie who can only get a fix by finding the best or worst of the internet, then NOWBOX is for you. This free app created by Pipely Inc. gives avid YouTubers an organized plethora of videos at their fingertips.

After downloading the app, users are asked to select categories they are interested in such as Comedy, Sports, Entertainment, etc. Once the desired interests are chosen the users are prompted to select whether they would like to connect their NOWBOX account to Facebook, Twitter, or their personal YouTube account to synchronize the channels to what they already like. After a few moments, the YouTube guide is set!

After the channels have been set, the stations appear on the left side of the screen. The boxes in white that are to the right of the stations and in the same row are the videos available for viewing on that station. When a video is clicked, a preview of it will appear in the top left corner and a written synopsis will appear to the right. Once a video has been viewed, the box will change shade to a darker gray to show that it has already been seen.

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‘Aquaria’ Kills It With Graphics But Not So Much With Controls

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Aquaria by Bit-Blot

Aquaria is a role playing game (RPG) created by Bit-Blot (and sold by Semi Secret Software) for the iPad. This game is amazing in its graphics and artwork. The underwater fantasy world has the player yearning to find the next dark cave or sunny patch of open water to see what new creatures will be found. The way the water ripples and the plants flow are masterfully done. However, the controls are frustrating at best.

The narrative starts with the player learning that Naija is an underwater creature who has lost her memory. The object of the game is help Naija remember her past by rediscovering the underwater fantasy world of Aquaria. The player quickly learns that “verse” or song is Naija’s main weapon and ability.


Aquaria trailer
Click here to watch on YouTube 

Once the player discovers how to navigate Naija through the underwater tunnels, the next step is to figure out how to make her sing. If the player holds a finger down on Naija, an orbit of colorful shapes will appear around her, the different shapes create a different tone in a song. This is where things get tricky, the player has to be able to navigate Naija, hold down on her and discover a third hand to play the notes around her in order to make her perform the desired song, which creates the desired action.

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