Zookeeper Battle Mobile App Review

Downloaded Zookeeper Battle for free on Google Play or Itunes
Developed by Kiteretsu
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8.5/10

Bejeweled Battle type games are a real hit with the flash and mobile game crowds and luckily developers do get quite creative with their iterations so the genre doesn't get too bland. For instance one of my first mobile app reviews was on Witch Wars which was a Bejeweled Battle type clone. Now I am reviewing one I like even better than Witch Wars; Zookeeper Battle.

So Zookeeper Battle is obviously the battle version of the normal Zookeeper mobile app which for all points and purposes is just like Bejeweled. The difference of course is that you are matching cute little pixelated zoo animals in Zookeeper Battle instead of jewels and gold. Now where the battle comes into play is like every other game of this sub-genre. The more matches you make the better off you will be against your opponent.

However, Zookeeper Battle takes an interesting take on the game. Wherein Witch Wars where you faced head to head in real time and you attack as you go along, Zookeeper Battle takes advantage of rounds much like a boxing match. Each zoo animal corresponds to either attack or defense attributes. So  hippopotamuses and elephants are defense and lions, frogs, panda bears, giraffes, and monkeys are attack. You also have a random animal each round which can act as both. So each round is timed and in that time period you try and match as many as you can. The round then ends and it shows how much attack and defense power you have. You then attack your opponent and if you're attack points beat his defense points then you do damage equal to the remainder, and vice verse. There are also random special tiles you can use to help you such as binoculars which show you all the possible matches, hearts which heal you, paint buckets which causes your opponents tiles to all be grey and the boss tile which creates useless boss tiles that do neither attack or defense.

What makes me like Zookeeper Battle over the other Bejeweled Battle type game I reviewed, Witch Wars, is that with the boxing style rounds it just gets more intense. I also like the cute zoo animals better as well. Overall, Zookeeper Battle is a great mobile game that you can easily sink hours into.

The End Mobile App Review

Download The End for free from Google Play or Itunes
Developed by Goroid
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8.5/10

If there is one genre that has exploded in recent years it is the endless running genre. First it was popular in the 2D sense brought along by Canabalt and then later with the touch screen phenomena there was a rise in 3D-ish endless running games brought to popularity by Temple Run. Since Temple Run there have been countless feeble attempts at recreating its success and most just end up being blatant copies. However, when Google Play released their latest "best endless running games" list I found The End which has the typical Temple Run style but is much more fleshed out.

Since I compared The End with Temple Run you all should know the general idea of gameplay. You play a character who is running and you need to swipe on your touchscreen device to jump over obstacles, slide under obstacles and turn left and right. You also can tilt your device to avoid other obstacles. Now, those are the basic gameplay dynamics that Temple Run sort of pioneered in my opinion or at least brought into popular light. The foundations if you will. From there, though, The End takes it and makes it 10x better.

First off the sheer amount of obstacles and different environments in The End completely blows Temple Run out of the water. In Temple Run there were trees, overhands and skinny lanes. The End features a multitude of obstacles you need to jump over including lava pits, wrecked cars, rubble, etc. All of which have multiple iterations of. You can also slide under a lot of these same obstacles such as semi trucks and buses parked in the way.

Perhaps the best way that The End beats out Temple Run is in the atmosphere aspect. The whole atmosphere surrounding The End is fairly obvious, it is during and post apocalypse  but not by generic zombies, nope by lava! Natural disasters I suppose. And to further propagate this there are missions you need to do in The End which go along with surviving in this apocalyptic world. The missions themselves are fairly generic like run this far, collect this amount of points, etc. But missions in general give incentive to play and increase replay value and addictiveness, all of which The End has plenty of. So if you want to step up your Temple Run game, try out a real game; The End.

Pixel Twist Mobile App Review

Download Pixel Twist free on Android
Developed by NoodleCake Studios
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

I don't know about you all but for me it is finals week also known as hell week or just generally a very stressful time. Luckily for me and others in my situation the folks over at Google Play decided to release their top zen games, in other words games that will help you relax. I already got my time out of Zen Bound 2 and was looking for a new squeeze. Luckily I found Pixel Twist.

Pixel Twist plays exactly like the name implies. You have a cloud of individual pixels and the goal is to twist and turn that pixel cloud into the full pixel art picture that you are shown in the top corner. Sounds easy but trust me it is not. However, while twisting and turning these pixel clouds can be kind of difficult at times I must hand it to them, it sure is relaxing.

It could be based on my love of pixel art in general but I found this game instantly addicting. Played for a good long time and what is even better is there is a whole slew of pixel art clouds so the game takes a while to get stagnant and at that point it is not like you memorized the exact solutions to every cloud. I will say that there are a few tricks which make the game easier but I found it doesn't work for all so my enjoyment wasn't ruined and still found Pixel Twist to be a blast during my finals week!

Jellyflop Mobile App Review

Download Jellyflop for free for Android
Developed by Concrete Software
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

If there is one thing that Jellyfish love to do it is flop around, hence the title of this Android mobile app, Jellyflop. Draw lines to bounce this brave little jellyfish all around the sea and beach to victory!

Jellyflop employs a simple gameplay dynamic. You draw lines so that when the jellyfish falls down it bounces to where you want it to go. Of course you have a limited amount of jelly juice to draw lines and you also should go for stars to get that coveted perfect 3 Stars rating. While not a unqiue concept by a long shot, Jellyflop does manage to still be a fun game and a relevant mobile app with this concept due to a few factors.

One of those factors is that Jellyflop has a lot of levels to keep people occupied and to satisfy them for their free purchase. Specifically Jellyflop has 5 zones with 100 levels. Crazy I know. Jellyflop also tries and keeps levels interesting by having various environmental aspects around such as fans to blow the jellyfish around, teleports to teleport the jellyfish, etc. As far as mobile touch screen devices go, Jellyflop is perfectly adapted to this as you can just swipe your finger and draw all the jelly lines you want. So if you're looking for a fun puzzle mobile app game then try out Jellyflop, it is free and well worth it!

Rune Raiders Mobile App Review

Download Rune Raiders on Google Play or Itunes
Developed by Retro64
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

So awhile back on FlashMush Reviews I reviewed a little game called Rune Raiders. Flash forward to today and I downloaded it on my Nexus 7 and felt the need to do a more mobile app centric review here at MobileMush Reviews.

If you're not familiar with Rune Raiders it really is a simple game to pick up and learn. You get together a party of characters ranging from archers to dwarves to fireworks salesmen. Each has different skills and attack patterns. You then place them on a grid like board and move them forward to battle! You will encounter plenty of enemies which also have various attack patterns (for example some may only attack in a straight line, others at angles, etc.) and you must formulate a strategy on how to win or even have to rework your team structure.

Rune Raiders offers tons of enemy types to battle and even better they offer tons of characters you can play with. There are also tons of levels and a survival mode to keep you busy. As a mobile game I feel Rune Raiders is perfectly adapted to the touch screen capabilities and really is a fun game to play. The only issue I have with Rune Raiders is exactly surprisingly completely different than my main issue from my flash game review on it; the difficulty. Before I found the game to be too hard, but now I found it to be too easy. Once you reach a certain point (at the fireworks salesmen) I just power housed through all the levels. Still a fun game, don't get me wrong, but at that point there was literally no challenge. Overall though Rune Raiders is a great mobile game and will keep you busy for a while.

Hanger Mobile App Review

Download Hanger on Google Play or Itunes
Developed by A Small Game
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

Hanger has been around for a while and even has a sequel you can play on flash game sites, but fairly recently the developer studio, A Small Game, decided to go the mobile route and have been fairly successful with that endeavor I would say.

If you don't know what the Hanger series is about it is fairly simple as it is kind of like Spiderman. You play as a character who can shoot strings or ropes or maybe even web from his hands and the goal is to get from point A to point B without losing too many limbs which you lose by hitting obstacles. Sounds easy but with the physics system in place it actually is quite hard and can get very hectic quickly.

The mobile version is pretty much the same as the browser based versions but with more touch based controls. You have arrows on the left side of the screen to help you move in those directions and a button on the right side to release and shoot new ropes out. This part is actually the hardest part to get used to in Hanger but I can't think of any other way to accomplish the controls in a touch based mobile device. For what it is Hanger is a great time killer and for only $0.99 it is a steal for how much entertainment you will get out of it.

Nitrome Touchy App Spotlight

Download Nitrome Touchy for free on Android or Itunes
Developed by Nitrome
Genre: Entertainment

Everyone should have heard of the developer Nitrome. They are a force to be reckoned with in the online flash game business as they publish many games which are all unique and well polished. Personally I love all of Nitrome's games and love that they like to branch out and try new things. Whether it be their first downloadable game hoping for Steam Greenlight called Flightless or their small 8-bit experimental games. Now Nitrome is back with a new crazy idea called Nitrome Touchy.

What is Nitrome Touchy? Well it is not directly a game but rather a downloadable controller for Nitrome games in your browser. Sounds weird I know. But basically you download Nitrome Touchy and then can sync it to your computer and then when you play select Nitrome games you can use your mobile device to control the character on screen. For now only 10 Nitrome games are compatible but they are great titles. They include: Swindler 1 & 2, Worm Food, Aquanaut, Off the Rails, Thin Ice, Flash Cat, Mega Mash, Super Snotput, Double Edged, and Magic Touch. Each game has a different user interface on the actual Nitrome Touchy app which further customizes the look of it all. I really applaud Nitrome for coming up with something so innovative and new in both the flash game and mobile app markets with Nitrome Touchy.

Tap Shoot Zombie! Mobile App Review

Download Tap Shoot Zombie! for Android
Developed by RotatingCanvas
Genre: Casual
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 6/10

RotatingCanvas is back with another name-centric rotating mobile app! This time its about shooting some zombies and who doesn't love shooting down zombies? Especially with cannons and magic spells!

Yes, I said shooting down zombies with magic spells. Anyways, the idea behind Tap Shoot Zombie! is simple. You tap, you shoot zombies. The way it works is you choose a weapon which then rotates around, you tap the screen to shoot and you aim for zombies. There are also powerups you can get such as money, powered up weapons, bombs, etc. Now the catch with Tap Shoot Zombie! is you can't miss three times. It is the old baseball rule, three strikes and you're out.

I appreciate the core idea behind Tap Shoot Zombie! I just feel it didn't reach full potential for a few reasons. Now, before I list those I will say Tap Shoot Zombie! is fairly addictive and a great casual game...just lacking in professional polish and feel the idea is getting squandered away. What I mean by this is for one the graphics are very poorly done and just do not fit well with each other. I mention this issue over at FlashMush Reviews quite a lot about how having mediocre graphics gives an unfair allusion of bad quality. I fell Tap Shoot Zombie! falls into that. I also feel that a lot more could be done with Tap Shoot Zombie! to make it better. Maybe moving zombies, different types of zombies (or at least more noticeable differences), better upgrades and a more fair shop (prices are ridiculous as of now). Overall though, I see the direction Tap Shoot Zombies! was going in and maybe someone will come along and make a stellar similar mobile app.

Pakkuman's Defense Mobile App Review

Get Pakkuman's Defense for: Android, Itunes, or Blackberry
Developed by Tametick
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8.5/10

Pacman is a classic video game and almost literally everyone knows about it and has played some version or iteration of it. But classic as Pacman is, in today's gaming, both console or mobile, environment it would be considered boring. Retro but still boring. So how would you make Pacman more interesting? Well, Pakkuman's Defense did exactly this by combining the simplistic and retro Pacman game ideas with tower defense elements. Yes, Pacman Tower Defense. Who would have thought?

Gameplay in Pakkuman's Defense is actually quite simple. You have various maze levels a la Pacman and the goal is the same; collect all the pellets and not to get caught by the ghosts. However, in Pakkuman's Defense each pellet now is money and with that money you can place turrets on the walls of the maze which then shoot the ghosts as they come near effectively turning Pacman into a tower defense game.

Of course with each new level things get harder and harder and it actually gets quite challenging. There are also various powerups you can collect in Pakkuman's Defense to help you in your ghost killing quest. Overall I really enjoy the retro throwback with new age elements thrown in with Pakkuman's Defense and think Tametick is ingenious!

Tinboy Joyride Mobile App Review

Download Tinboy Joyride for free on Android
Developed by Defcon Studio
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 4/10

No, this is not Jetpack Joyride although the name and idea is quite similar with Tinboy Joyride and by that I mean it is a generic runner mobile game.

I decided to give Jetpack Joyride a shot, I mean it was free and I saw a post about it on Reddit. So I checked it out on the Google Play store and it seemed to be alright. I normally like distance runner games so why not download it. Well, as you can probably tell from my buildup I was slightly disappointed...actually scratch that, a lot disappointed.

Tinboy Joyride is just not a polished game...at all. You are thrown into the game really with no start screen or anything, I tapped my screen at what I think was the start screen and the character just started running. From there you eventually figure out that you are now playing the game and you just tap the screen to jump over obstacles and collect red and blue balls (points I suppose). However, while the graphics are ok looking, everything is disjointed and do not fit well together and also textures didn't seem to be working quite right. There are powerups in Tinyboy Joyride but again no explanation for anything and you just have to figure out everything on your own. There are goals on the right side of the screen like collect 20 red balls or 5 blue balls but again, no explanation. Playing Tinboy Joyride is really feels like being a fish out of water with no clue other than tapping the screen.

What is even worse is I could not find a pause or stop button unless you lose I suppose. I thought I paused the game or stopped it and I shut off my tablet only to come back five minutes later to realize the game was still going on and I hadn't died yet in five minutes... I promptly uninstalled Tinboy Joyride from my device and do not recommend it until it is more put together in a professional way.

Drop7 Mobile App Review

Download Drop7 for Android or Itunes
Developed by Zynga
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8.5/10

If you follow my other blog, FlashMush Reviews, you'll notice I already did a review on Drop7 but decided I would kind of do a re-do and review Drop7 again for MobileMush.

So I love puzzle games yet I find that for the most part when it comes to mobile games I just don't find that many I like...or at least free ones. However, I discovered Drop7 a while ago from my girlfriend and I was instantly addicted. Gameplay is very simple and while the rules may sound complicated at first they really aren't and you will be playing like a professional in no time. How do you play, you may be asking? Simple, basically you have numbered disks on a grid playing field and you drop more numbered disks on top and beside the others. The number corresponds to how many disks need to be in a row or column to disappear kind of like in Tetris. So for instance if you have a disk with a 5 on it you need to have five disks in a row or column for that 5 to break apart. As disks break apart they can bust apart grey disks revealing numbers and also gravity kicks in and combos are possible.

Ok...So I know that sounds complicated and I warned you but really pick Drop7 up for yourself and you will see that with the in game tutorial it is really simple to pick up. Drop7 is a great example of a unique and minimalistic mobile game that is also super addicting!

Witch Wars: Puzzle Mobile App Review

Download Witch Wars: Puzzle for Android or Itunes
Developed by Com2us
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

Bejeweled really set the tone for match three puzzle games that you would play just to kill time or stress. As time has progressed many games have copied the Bejeweled formula and Bejeweled itself has really evolved into iterations like Bejeweled battle and blitz. The reason I'm talking about Bejeweled so much is that today's app review, Witch Wars: Puzzle, is one of these iterations of Bejeweled, but so much better.

What makes Witch Wars: Puzzle better than the classic Bejeweled in my opinion? Well it just has more going for it and more thought was put into it rather than just the classic and now boring idea of match three. Basically Witch Wars: Puzzle is an iteration of Bejeweled Battle and games like that where as you match your gems or other icons things happen to an opponent you are playing against whether it be a computer player or real life person. In Witch Wars: Puzzle this happens as you have various symbols you are matching up. Handcuffs which will freeze or lock up random icons on your opponents screen, swords which take away health from your opponents health bar, magic books which increase your magic bar which you can then use to cast spells (I'll touch on that more later), coins which increase money you can use between games and health potions which heal you. As you can tell a lot of things are going on.

So you probably get the ultimate goal of Witch Wars: Puzzle, to kill your opponent through matching swords and magic spells. Of course matching everything else helps in that ultimate goal either through helping you or hindering/annoying your opponent. Let me explain the concept of spells for a minute as well, one of the best things about Witch Wars: Puzzle is that you play as a witch who has three various spells and there are a variety of witch characters you can choose from each having different spell types, so you can pick a witch which spells best suit your playing style.

Now that you know the basics and controls of Witch Wars: Puzzle, it is time to mention that you can play against people online! Yes this is an online multiplayer game where you can destroy people from all over and boost your ego with your mad Bejeweled/Witch Wars: Puzzle skills. Overall, Witch Wars: Puzzle is a great breath of fresh air from stale Bejeweled app clones and really is worth playing!

Splice: Tree of Life Mobile App Review

Download Splice: Tree of Life on Itunes or Steam
Developed by Cipher Prime
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

Ever wanted to feel like a mad scientist? Messing with the human genome and making abominations? Well, in Splice: Tree of Life you do exactly that by splicing up various genes and creating new ones.

Honestly I'm up in the air with Splice: Tree of Life. There are a lot of good features and points that I like such as the general idea with splicing genes, rearranging them and duplicating them. I feel it is a pretty unique idea that hasn't been approached in this way before. I also like the presentation of it all and it is very professionally done and looks graphically stunning. Splice: Tree of Life also has tons of levels so for the price it is a great buy.

However, while the presentation graphically is borderline perfect I think gameplay wise it was lacking. For instance when you first load up the game after downloading it you are kind of thrown in automatically. No discernible tutorial, at least that I could find, so you are thrown to the wolves per say to figure out the game for yourself. This almost turned me off completely but through trial and error I eventually figured out how the game works which is honestly kind of weird and without explanation makes it even more weird and more difficult. Overall though Splice: Tree of Life is a beautiful looking and pretty cool and unique mobile game so if you love puzzles this is the game for you!

GYRO Mobile App Review

Download GYRO for free on Android and GYRO+ for $0.99 on Itunes
Developed by Vivid Games
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

You don't always need a really in depth game that draws you in with its deep storyline full of twists and turns, sometimes you just want a simple arcade game you can play for a few minutes at a time, or get addicted to and find yourself looking at the clock and its an hour later. This is the type of game GYRO is.

Simplicity really is best sometimes and GYRO is exactly that and only consists of a few elements. The first element is a pie chart type graphic divided into three colored sections which you can spin and rotate. Next, there are colored balls which fly towards your pie chart character. Throw some powerups in there and that is it. Of course I haven't stated the goal yet but you may be able to guess that. Basically the goal is to rotate the pie chart so that the colored sections on the chart hit the colored balls as they come into contact. If you miss and hit a wrong color than that piece of the pie chart fills up a little bit with darkness, if one section fills up all the way then it is game over for you!

So simple yet so fun and more importantly so much fun. The powerups I mentioned earlier are also thrown in to allow for even more fun and addiction as they prolong your gameplay. On top of all this there are extras such as unlockable color sets, a timed mode and leader boards. So much is packed in the little package that is GYRO and you will find yourself addicted in no time!

Osmos Mobile App Review

Download Osmos on Android or Itunes
Developed by Hemisphere Games
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

Looking for a peaceful and relaxing mobile app to play after a hard days work? Well... Osmos could be the game for you as I feel its meant to be relaxing but it certainly is a serious game that can provide some stress (at least for me).

I was drawn to Osmos as I love the concept for the game and have played various flash games with similar concepts that I really enjoyed. This concept is you start out a small cell or something and you can absorb or eat cells that are smaller than you and as you eat other cells you grow and therefore can eat more cells, etc. Simple enough concept but Osmos takes it to a whole new puzzling level and adds a lot of interesting factors and control schemes.

First off the control scheme is worth mentioning as it is fairly unique but is one of the biggest deciding factors on whether or not you will enjoy the game as it takes some getting used to it. So where most flash games that I've played with this concept has simple WASD movement, Osmos takes a more physics based propulsion system. You basically move by tapping behind or in front of you and you shoot out a small part of you (which does make you a smaller) and that force propels you forward. It is hard to control, slowish and kind of awkward, but if you keep at it you start to get used to it. Also the slow pace of it all can be fixed by a handy tool Osmos has where you can speed up or slow down time and the pace of the whole game which has its pros and cons which you can find out when you play.

Osmos is more detailed than most games with this growing gimmick and it does this by introducing some interesting ideas and putting you in more puzzle based situations. Examples of these puzzle based situations is sometimes you are put into a really small space and you need to figure out the right order of enemy cells to consume so you can be the biggest and win. Examples of the interesting ideas include a more solar system based model with a sun type object which affects gravity and you are sort of pulled  along in its gravitational field which you can edit the course of as you move. Overall, Osmos is a pretty gun game that while simple on the outside does allow for some complex situations, just need to get over the weird control system first!

Canabalt HD Mobile App Review

Download Canabalt for Android or Itunes
Developed by Kittehface Software
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8/10

I know I'm pretty late on the Canabalt train but I just discovered that I had bought the HD version for my Nexus 7 with the latest Humble Bundle and although I've played Canabalt when it first was released as a free flash game, I decided to take a look and review the latest port to the Android (and Itunes) for the HD version.

So if you don't know what Canabalt is about it is regarded as one of the biggest pioneers of runner or distance games as I like to call them. You all know what I'm talking about, the games where you are constantly running in a straight line, jumping over pitfalls and other obstacles and if you fail you die and start over. Most games of this caliber nowadays supplement their game and increase replay value with upgrade or shop systems but Canabalt is pure and is strictly pure running action. Part of Canabalt's appeal is actually in its simplicity. It has simple panchromatic coloring which surprisingly works very well and the gameplay is simple, makes for a perfect high score game to be honest.

Like I said earlier, Canabalt was originally a flash game for free and then they made an HD version you have to pay for on mobile devices, but is it worth it? The $2.99? Honestly I would say no. All the "HD" version offers is a more 3D look adapted from the 2D original look as well as a global high score system. Still a little pricey in my opinion especially when say you could just load it up on a browser on your mobile devices and play essentially the same game for free. Still though, Canabalt as a whole is perhaps the father of all runner games which is a huge flash and mobile game market and it does it so perfectly.

Zen Bound 2 Mobile App Review

Download Zen Bound 2 for Android, Itunes and on Steam
Developed by Secret Exit
Genre: Brain & Puzzle
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 9.5/10

To relax some people mediate, others do yoga and some people...well some people wrap little wooden statues with rope to paint them. Sound ridiculous  Well, it may be but it is the premise of the very unique and interesting mobile app Zen Bound 2.

I wasn't kidding when I said the purpose of Zen Bound 2 is wrapping wooden figurines with rope to paint them. It does sound like a crazy idea and one that doesn't make sense but it is what it is and it works quite well especially on touch screen devices. So the goal is to cover the most percentage of the wooden statues with the paint by wrapping the rope around it. Of course the challenge comes in the fact that you have a certain length of rope as well as the figurines have weird shapes so you really have to be tactical in where you want the rope to go and be fairly precise. Most surprisingly is that with this weird idea of painting statues with rope it really is pretty relaxing.

On top of the weirdly relaxing and addicting gameplay mechanics I was very impressed with just the quality of game Zen Bound 2 is. The graphics are absolutely stunning in terms of realism and level of detail. Just take a look at the two screenshots I have posted on this entry and you'll see. But even the menu systems are very professional looking. I also want to mention the tightness of the controls and how even though Zen Bound 2 requires you at times to be pretty detailed in your motions, the touch screen control scheme can handle it excellently. Overall Zen Bound 2 is unlike any other game I've ever played and trust me I've played plenty, so bravo Secret Exit on making a game that has almost left me completely speechless.

Waking Mars Mobile App Review

Download Waking Mars for Android, Itunes or Windows
Developed by Tiger Style
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 9.5/10

How would you like to explore Mars and be the spearhead of an expedition that not only finds water on Mars but a whole alien ecosystem? Sounds intense right? Well that is exactly what you get to do in Waking Mars by Tiger Style.

I recently picked up Waking Mars as part of the Humble Bundle and I urge you to as well if you haven't already. Waking Mars is a very immersive puzzle platformer with a pretty unique premise and a very nice storyline. The idea behind Waking Mars is you are an astronaut tasked with exploring a cave system on Mars after your remote sensing droid went AWOL. As you go down into the depths you discover a whole plant ecosystem in which you play an active role and it is this "active role" that is the unique twist. Basically there are seeds to various plant species around and you need to plant them in order to increase biomass which "unlocks" other plant species that are blocking the cave system. Unfortunately the more you raise the biomass the more acidic the environment gets which makes your job more dangerous. Overall this idea may sound crazy and far fetched but Tiger Style does a great job explaining everything through in game characters as well as an extensive research menu for each plant species you come across which makes for a really deep gameplay experience.

In terms of gameplay Waking Mars also takes a different approach with you actually using a jetpack and dealing with those mechanics for the most part. This is probably the hardest part about Waking Mars as it takes a while to get used to the touch screen controls. The whole planting seeds dynamic is really cool and works pretty well. It also makes for some interesting puzzles as you need to remember the perfect way to have enough biomass so you need to balance and use your water seeds strategically and whatnot. Graphically Waking Mars is pretty awesome. It has avatars for the characters in the storyline which are the only thing that look a tad weird but only because it contrasts with the general graphics of the levels, but overall graphics are pretty top notch for a mobile game. While Waking Mars does cost a bit of money (could potentially get it for cheap through the Humble Bundle if you hurry) it will keep you occupied for a while and is well worth the price!

Family Feud & Friends Mobile App Review

Download Family Feud & Friends for free on Android or Itunes
Developed by Ludia Inc.
Genre: Casual
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 7.5/10

I feel most people do not review mobile games based on known TV game shows or board games as they assume people already have their preconceived notions about the game, but I think that is wrong and even if a mobile game has the same intellectual property it could still surprise you and you should check it out, hence today's review - Family Feud & Friends.

Mobile games based on already invented TV game shows is however...I guess an easy way out but I'm sure Ludia Inc. was either hired by the original creators of these games such as Family Feud or at least purchased the rights and well...someone's bound to do it and I must say Ludia Inc. does do a good job. So if you've watched Family Feud before (any one of the iterations on television) then you know the general premise of Family Feud & Friends but I'll explain it for the few who may not know. You are give a question such as, "Name an exercise your highschool gym teacher made you do." in which 100 people somewhere were surveyed the same question. You then have to guess answers to that question and try and get answers that most match what the 100 polled people say. That is Family Feud for you! You do that for three rounds with increasing points and then if you win you go to fast money round which is the same except it is more quick fire and you can only give one answer per each question. You then get a friend to do the same and if your combined scores total 200 points you win extra points!

So the gameplay part in Family Feud & Friends pretty much is the same as the television show Family Feud, but how does it differ or work on a mobile device and what is the "& friends" part? Well, basically Family Feud & Friends is a very social oriented game, such as Farmville or Cityville on Facebook. But do not worry it is not that intrusive and you do not have to post or spam your Facebook wall unless you absolutely want to. In fact you really do not need to have friends play to progress further as you do in a lot of those social Facebook games. Friends do help such as in the fast money round and you can do daily challenges for extra points but you can get the full experience without friends at all which can be nice in some aspects.

There are a few problems however with Family Feud & Friends that I have discovered. The biggest I guess is the actual word guessing interface. First off you do have to spell things out which can be a problem for those who are spelling impaired but there is an autocorrect function which helps. The issue lies in the word recognition in the game. For example I have played rounds in which I could guess ice as an answer for something that melts and I get it wrong and the right answer is ice cream. Similar enough to me. So sometimes the answers the computer wants are too broad or too generic. The other big issue with Family Feud & Friends is if you play enough which could happen as it can get pretty addicting then you will start seeing repeats which then just ruins all fun... Overall though, Family Feud & Friends is a great mobile game about a familiar concept that can get extremely addicting!

Turbo Kids Mobile App Review

Download Turbo Kids for Android
Developed by DroidHen
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 9.5/10

Now doesn't this game seem familiar ..at least it does for me as I remember playing and reviewing the flash game demo of Turbo Kids over at FlashMush. Nonetheless I discovered Turbo Kids for Android and love playing it on my Nexus 7 tablet.

What makes Turbo Kids so great is that it combines the addicting tendencies of a distance runner game like Jetpack Joyride with a racing type competition. I guess since it is technically a racing game it isn't much a distance game but the concepts are similar. In Turbo Kids you are pitted against seven computer players in a race for first place. Along the way there are various environmental factors which can affect the outcome. You have boosters to make you go faster, jump boosts which make you jump high in the air and then various weapons you can pick up. This is where the game gets nasty, these weapons. You have ice bullets which freeze an opponent, exchange bullets which make you swap places with who you hit and then trap bullets which slow down an opponent for a while.

As you can imagine games in Turbo Kids can get quite hectic and results vary greatly, it also has a similar effect as the blue turtle shell in Mario Kart games where you can be first, get hit with something and end up dead last. Luckily if you find yourself coming in dead last a lot you can use the points you earn from winning to upgrade yourself and give yourself other powers such as moonwalk ability which breaks you out of ice and trap effects. Turbo Kids has four level packs I suppose each one representing a season and the graphics to reflect each are absolutely gorgeous. Cartoony yet very professionally made and ever so detailed. There are also tons of different modes you can play such as tournament, relay, timing and chase along with achievements for all as well. The amount of content in Turbo Kids is actually quite amazing and can really keep you busy for weeks if not months, this is a must have app for any person with an Android device.

Sushi Chop Mobile App Review

Download Sushi Chop for Android, Itunes and Windows
Developed by Rouge Rocket Games
Genre: Arcade & Action
MobileMush Reviews Rating: 8.5/10

Back when touch screen phones and tablets were just hitting the stage I feel one game got a lot of attention; HalfBrick Studio's Fruit Ninja. Note that even Fruit Ninja may not have been the first game of this swipe to cut things genre but it is the most recognizable and arguably the most popolar app game with that theme. My point is that many games since Fruit Ninja have entered the scene to try and capitalize on some of that same success and most fail. However where most have failed I feel Sushi Chop has succeeded a bit, at least enough to catch my attention.

The success I feel in the differentiation between most Fruit Ninja clones and Sushi Chop is one big thing. Sushi Chop is not just about cutting as much fruit (or in this case fish) as possible while avoiding bombs but there is a secondary goal which has a big impact on gameplay. Basically how Sushi Chop plays is you have a sushi plate platter in front of you with four slots. Each time you slice a fish one piece of cut fish aka sushi goes into a slot. Fill all four slots and you get another plate and then another. The catch here is that if you fail to fill a plate in the time limit then you lose a life. So not only can you lose a life if you hit a "bomb" (in Sushi Chop's case it is rotten fish) but if you don't fill the platters in the time limit you also lose a life.

Another gameplay feature that makes Sushi Chop different and in some ways better than Fruit Ninja is you can slice fish multiple times. In fact you can slice the fish enough times to fill one whole sushi platter with one fish (so four times). This also gives you a slight bonus and can you can run combos with it. Along side the base gameplay there is of course various powerups such as one that allows for all fresh fish to appear (no rotten fish), ones that increase points, one that increases the sushi platter size from four to six slots, and more!

But what there is literally more! After each wave/level in Sushi Chop there is a bonus level in which you are challenged to chop a certain type of fish a certain amount of times before time runs out which helps in the points department. There is also another gameplay mode in which you are shown pictures of specific fish and you have to chop them in that order. On top of all that there is a shop in which you can buy different types of knives for better sushi chopping skill! Overall, in one phrase I guess I would say Sushi Chop is much more detailed than Fruit Ninja and deserves more attention!