App Review: Happy Street

I can't stop playing!


It's kind of like Tiny Tower. You get a street and you build shops and houses. You stock these stores and get people to buy product. You restock these stores and level up.

And I'm addicted. Again.

For whatever reason I seem to be drawn to games wherein I need to fulfill a business plan. In this case, I want to make lots of money because I know in real life I can't.

I'm living vicariously through Happy Street.
It helps that they have super cute characters and the wait times to fulfill quests isn't too long.

It's free! Check it out!

App Review: Candy Crush

So my friend recently recommended this game to me. But it's very rare that I get a recommendation that comes with a word of caution beforehand.

I love this game. It's addictive, simple, fun, but there are downsides.

Firstly Candy Crush is basically Bejeweled. You match up 3 of the same colour, and get bonuses if you match more than 3.

The first few levels are simple and very easy. But then you advance and realize that some are bloody well difficult. As in you have to retry, retry, quit and be frustrated for a while, retry, retry, and then finally succeed.

What really frustrates me (and many other users of Apps) is when games are nearly impossible to play unless you purchase something in-game. To put it bluntly: they make it impossible to pass certain levels unless you pay money for cheats/bonuses/extra lives/etc.

I really don't think this is fair. And yes, I know life isn't fair. I know Apps need to make money somehow. But the issue I have is that they get you completely hooked and then tell you it's going to cost you the big bucks if you want to keep playing. I'm not a cocaine addict. I can't just buy more coke any time I feel like I need another hit of Candy.

I have more self-control than a lot of people. I'm not rushing to the App store to purchase these bonuses. I can survive a day without playing. But that's not the point, is it? You market this game as free. It's got a billion great ratings (because yes, it is wonderfully fun). But it's limited in that I can pretty much only 'retry' levels 5 times before having to wait a period for 'more lives.'

I wish that free really meant free. I wish I didn't have to grimace every time I hear of another young kid fooled into spending the big bucks on Apps.

Having said that, I'm not boycotting this game at all. I'll just wait the next half hour out... until I have enough levels to play again.

App Review: Open Table

So there's another new App that's getting all this attention because it's AWESOME.

It's called Opentable.

This App has been around for a while, but I've only recently started using it. Usually for these newer 'fad' Apps I like to give it a few weeks (or even months) for them to work out the kinks.

Basically this App lists off restaurants in your area and you can make reservations through the App. By honouring these reservations (showing up, eating, then paying), you get 100 points per meal. These points add up until you redeem them for cheques (I think the lowest denomination is $25) that you can use at any participating Opentable restaurant.

So naturally I thought this was amazing. I hate calling places to make reservations. I get snooty people, haughty people, busy people, noisy people. I'd much rather have an automated system.

Opentable is also great because it allows you to choose from selected dining times. The most popular are obviously 6, 6:30, and 7... and I've never had a problem booking a table during one of those times. Another thing is, you can go to the Opentable website, OR use the App. Both have very user-friendly interfaces.

At first I was worried that Opentable would only have a very select number of restaurants. Or they'd only have the most 'expensive' restaurants. That isn't the case. Yes, most of the restaurants on Opentable are of the more posh and upscale variety, but you'd make reservations to eat at those places anyway, right? So you might as well earn points whilst doing so.
Opentable also includes some 'less fancy' restaurants, and some chain restaurants are included.

I really dig this App and intend to use it each time I plan on dining out!

App Review

I found an amazing App!

Well, there are a lot of amazing Apps. I regularly check out the App store to see whether there are newer Apps or highly reviewed Apps that I should get.

Now note that I will buy Apps if they're really highly recommended or highly rated. But this App is absolutely free!

It's called Bump.

Basically if you've seen that commercial (Samsung Galaxy I think) it depicts people bumping their phones together to transfer files. There's another commercial where two people do this and a guy who's trying to buy an iPhone looks on with jealousy.

Uhm, guys. Anyone can do this. You just need this free App: Bump!

You can get it off the App store for nothing. And it is incredible. You literally just set up phones with this App, and you Bump them together. Using wifi (or your phone network if you don't have wifi available), your phone will recognize another phone and transfer information.

This includes:
contact information
songs
files
pictures
videos

Not only can you do this from phone to phone (even across platforms), you can even bump to your computer. I love this idea. I hate having to always plug in my phone via wire to get photos off it. Or to put some songs back to my computer (there's an App for that too). Now you can Bump items off your phone to your computer wirelessly.

Go to bu.mp to check out the computer App. I have only great things to say about this App. So glad my friend recommended it to me.