Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Little Galaxy: Are you ready for space travel?

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Fresh from watching the Gravity 3D movie, it was simply awesome. The vastness of space and the dangers faced by the astronauts were convincingly captured in it. Well this is not a review post of the movie :) it's just that "space" is one of my area of interest. 

And see, this time I have a game to share which is also related to "space". Little Galaxy by developer Bitmap Galaxy is an Android arcade game set in space. In this game you play as a young boy jumping from one planet to another in his journey.


Little Galaxy game is quite light weight but it's 3D graphics are pretty cool and gives a realistic feel of planets, stars etc., but please do not compare it with "Galaxy on Fire 2" which is simply the best but a much heavier game.


Little Galaxy: Launch screen
Little Galaxy: Launch screen
Game Play
The game play is pretty simple you just need to keep jumping from one planet to another. But mind you, life in space is not that simple and if you remember in Gravity movie Sandra also says "I hate space" at some point. While jumping you need to consider the gravitation force of other nearby planets or else you will be lost in space, also as the planets are rotating on their axis you need to wait for the right time before jumping. About the game controls, just press on the screen whenever you are ready to jump, that's it no other action required.

As you play the game you keep collecting points like if you spin along the planet you collect points, spins are counted also the number of planets you visited are counted. Each game level has some associated objectives, once you achieve the objectives you move to the next level.



Little Galaxy: Level objectives
Little Galaxy: Level objectives
Game levels have time limit associated with it, while in the game on the top left side of screen you will see darkness covering the moon, once the moon is completely eclipsed your game is over, so do not spend too much time on one planet and quickly move on to another one.


Little Galaxy: Wait for the right position to jump
Little Galaxy: Wait for the right position to jump
Game objectives could be like scoring specific number of game points, visit number of planets, watering sun-flowers or taking specific number of spins. It is OK if you do not complete all the level objectives in one go, if you have completed only one out of three objectives, you can play the level again till all the objectives are achieved.


Little Galaxy: Take a spin
Little Galaxy: Take a spin


Little Galaxy: Keep a safe distance from sun
Little Galaxy: Keep a safe distance from sun
There are some special items which could be collected like magnets, if you collect three of them, points will get attracted to you or if you collect three stars you gets an extra life.


Little Galaxy: Collect the magnets
Little Galaxy: Collect the magnets
One such item is to catch the comet as seen in the below screenshot, if you catch the comet you will get some extra time to complete the level. Big jumps are also awarded with extra points. 
So, go ahead play the game and see how far can you go?


Little Galaxy: Catch the comet for extra time
Little Galaxy: Catch the comet for extra time
How much it costs you: 1 US $ approximately.

If you like this post or know any other app / game in the same category, let me know via comments.
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See also:
Other games equally enjoyable by kids:


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Thursday, October 17, 2013

Prince of Persia Shadow & Flame: Return of the classic prince

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There are few computer games which are very close to everyone's heart and it is not possible to let it go. I am pretty much sure that anyone who has played PC games ever has tried his hands playing "Prince of Persia" or at-least heard about it. It is one of the early DOS based games through which we learnt to fight with the enemies and came to know that computers can also be so much of fun.

Ubisoft (one of my favourite game developer) has launched one of the classic Price of Persia title Shadow & Flame with new age stunning 3D graphics and touch screen friendly controls. Through this post, I will walk you through this fantastic game which I have installed on my Nexus 7. I am sure you are going to enjoy it.



Pop Shadow & Flame: Launch Screen
Pop Shadow & Flame: Launch Screen
Pop Shadow & Flame in total consists of four worlds as: Palace, Skull Caves, Ruined City and Red Temple that comprises of 14 levels and trust me once you finish this game you will ask for more. You as the Price of Persia starts your adventurous and dangerous journey to save your princess from the captivity of evil Jaffar from the 'Palace' world, traverse to the other worlds and in the end come back to the same world for the final showdown.

Game Play
The game play and controls are quite easy to understand, on the left side of screen slide left and right to move forward and backward, on right side of screen slide up for jump and down for crouch. As you move forward in this game you learn few new techniques of fighting and jumping.

Within the game, you collect coins, health potions and revives. Using the coins you can further buy powerful swords, tricks and also potions. These potions can help you to gain full strength or bring you back to life in case of death.

Pop Shadow & Flame: On the way to Skull caves
Pop Shadow & Flame: On the way to Skull caves
In this game you fight with different kinds of enemies like guards or skeletons and skulls. You also learn to use some hit combo to hit them hard and save your health and time, as there are objectives associated with each level and time is one of them.


Pop Shadow & Flame: The level objectives
Pop Shadow & Flame: The level objectives
As you complete a level you are presented with options like continue to next level or replay the same level. If you want to play any of the previously played levels you can choose it from the world map accessible from home screen.


Pop Shadow & Flame: In red temple
Pop Shadow & Flame: In red temple
I would specially like to mention about the graphics and the locations shown in this game, it looks simply great and have a mystic feeling in it and on high resolution screen it's a treat to watch and play.


Pop Shadow & Flame: Fighting with skeletons
Pop Shadow & Flame: Fighting with skeletons

Pop Shadow & Flame: Beware of the falling daggers
Pop Shadow & Flame: Beware of the falling daggers

Pop Shadow & Flame: Fighting with deadly skulls
Pop Shadow & Flame: Fighting with deadly skulls
The 13th level called 'The Dream' is a tricky level to complete as you are unsure how to move forward because the path keeps changing as you put a step ahead and also the location shown is also quite freaky. Another strange thing is, this level cannot be selected from world map but only be accessed by playing and completing level 12.

Pop Shadow & Flame: The Dream level
Pop Shadow & Flame: The Dream level
In the last level, killing Jaffar is quite a daunting task as he is a deadly magician, but the prince has to do it. Once Jaffar is finished, prince frees the princess and see it yourself what happens after that.

Pop Shadow & Flame: Princess and prince lived happily ever-after
Pop Shadow & Flame: Princess and prince lives happily ever-after
There is something I would like to mention here, when I was checking the credits of this game, I was in for a nice surprise, this game is developed at Ubisoft's Pune studio, the same city I belong to :).

How much it costs you: 3.5 US $

If you like this post or know any other app / game in the same category, let me know via comments section.
To get notification about the new posts on this blog, do not forget to subscribe to this blog through email subscription option from the side bar.

See also:
Other similarly enjoyable games:

1. Manuganu: Fantastic running game with difference
2. Major Mayhem: Running action game, great action, unlimited fun
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Thursday, October 10, 2013

Stickman Base Jumper: Take a deep breath and jump

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There are games which fall in the usual categories like action, racing, endless running etc. and there are some games which are different due to their uniqueness. We sometime come across such games, Stickman Base Jumper is one some refreshingly different game. If you fancy of base jumping like Mr Cruise as he does in Mission Impossible series, this game gives you the opportunity to just do that.

Stickman Base Jumper developed by Djinnworks is a lightweight but additive game. As the name suggests you play a character that jumps from some of the tallest buildings in the city. At first the graphics or the look of this game may not be that appealing but once you start playing the game I am sure you will get hooked on it. 

Stickman Base Jumper: Launch screen
Stickman Base Jumper: Launch screen
How to play
The game play is simple, you need to calculate the distance, jump from the building and at right time open you parachute so that you touch the ground at or near the mark within time. Sounds simple? Well it's not because there are some minor challenges which can simply get you killed :) if you miscalculate. At the start of the level, you are standing on the top of the tower, touch the screen once to step back for the run-up, touch again to start running to the edge of the building, again a touch to jump and wait for the right time to open the chute, so that you land near the mark.

Stickman Base Jumper: Select the stages
Stickman Base Jumper: Select the stages
The initial game stages are simple, but as you proceed in the game, you will see various challenges like taking in to consideration the wind speed while calculating the run-up or avoiding buildings in between before reaching the destination etc.


Stickman Base Jumper: Get ready, take a deep breath
Stickman Base Jumper: Get ready, take a deep breath

Stickman Base Jumper: Just in time
Stickman Base Jumper: Just in time
As you complete a jump you get stars and points depending on how close you landed to the flag mark and how much time was remaining at the end. You will need to earn some minimum # of stars to unlock the next stage.


Stickman Base Jumper: Mission accomplished
Stickman Base Jumper: Mission accomplished
In few of the levels it requires you to jump at night time which is quite interesting and gives a different feeling altogether. In some levels you can jump through buildings while breaking the glass panes.

Stickman Base Jumper: Dare to jump at night
Stickman Base Jumper: Dare to jump at night

Stickman Base Jumper: Smashing the glass panes
Stickman Base Jumper: Smashing the glass panes

How much it costs you: Not a single penny.

If you like this post or know any other app / game in the same category, let me know via comments section.
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See also:
Other similar games:

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Friday, October 4, 2013

Norton Mobile Security: The key to be worry free

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Android is a great ecosystem for its users and the developers who develop apps for the Android market place that is Android Play Store. The popularity of Android Play store is such that it has surpassed all other app stores. Android also provide the flexibility to install apps directly from other sources, now that is a great thing as the user do not just need to rely on the Play store. 

Well, all this is good but being flexible also has its flip side that is, there could be some apps which are not developed with good intentions and could be stealing your mobile data, information and doing other dirty activities. Well no need to worry, there are specialist companies who develop security solutions to tackle this menace and these companies also have security solutions for Android.

Who do not know about Norton by Symantec, which develops one of the best Antivirus and complete security solution for PCs. Norton's Mobile Security provides the same level of security and solution for your Android smart device. Through this post, let us see what it has to offer.

Norton Mobile Security has a clean and simple to understand interface. As you launch the app, you see a screen with large buttons each for the main functionality. The main functions provided by Mobile Security are:
  • Anti-Malware
  • Anti-Theft
  • Data Backup
  • Call Blocking
  • Web Protection
Norton Mobile Security: All functions in one place
Norton Mobile Security: All functions in one place
Anti-Malware function scans your device and SD card (if available) for malicious apps and code and will display the detected threats along with suggesting the next steps to be taken. You can specify the schedule of the scan as Daily, Weekly etc. As SD card scanning could take a longer time, it provides you with an option to choose if you want to scan the SD card too.

Norton Mobile Security: Scanning for Malwares
Norton Mobile Security: Scanning for Malwares
Anti-Theft if a very useful option if you usually forget you phone at cafes, restaurants or similar places or you simply want to protect your phone's personal data and prevent misuse in case it is unfortunately stolen. It provides various options like remotely locking you device or make it scream by sending an SMS to you phone.
If you are keen on finding the person who stole your device, you can use the web features of Mobile security to locate you device, enable the front camera to take a quiet picture or wipe the data from your device.

Norton Mobile Security: protecting device from theft
Norton Mobile Security: Protecting device from theft
As we know Android allows you to backup important information like contacts, similarly Mobile Security allows you to backup your contacts which can then be restored in case needed. One good option here is you can automate this task by setting a schedule to backup the data on set frequency as daily, weekly etc. 


Norton Mobile Security: Backing up contacts
Norton Mobile Security: Backing up contacts
If you are irritated by repeated phone calls from credit card companies or banks which are behind you to offer unwanted cards or loan or you simply want to ignore someone calling you, the Call blocking feature can come handy. Use Call blocking to add numbers which you want to block for call and SMS. If someone from the blocked list calls you she will get a busy tone and you will see missed call on your phone without your phone ringing Numbers from the blocked list can be unblocked anytime later in case a change of heart.


Norton Mobile Security: Blocking mischievous callers
Norton Mobile Security: Blocking mischievous callers
And finally Mobile Security also provides the Web Protection when you are browsing websites using Android browser or Chrome. It can block the sites which it thinks are harmful for you and your data. Though, it provides option to bypass the website blocking for a short period of time (30 minutes).

Overall I feel Mobile Security app covers all the security aspects of your device and coming from Norton, you are assured that it does what it advertises with high efficiency. I am using this app for more than a year now, it works perfectly without adding any considerable load on the device.
Norton Mobile Security: Protecting while you browse
Norton Mobile Security: Protecting while you browse
How much it costs you: Not a single penny for the lite version though it only provides the basic features like the Anti-Malware. You can pay 29.99 US$ to buy the full suite with all the features, which I will recommend.

If you like this post or know any other app / game in the same category, let me know via comments section.
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Tuesday, October 1, 2013

Monthly roundup: Top blog posts of September 2013

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Monthly roundup of the posts from the month of September 2013 on the top apps / games available on Android.

Games
1. Need For Speed - Most Wanted: Dare to challenge the most wanted

Need For Speed: Most Wanted is a street racing game in which you challenge opponents from the most wanted list. As the street racing is illegal beware you have to tackle the police vehicles, they will do all to bust you.The graphics quality is absolutely top-notch.



Despicable me : Minion rush is an addictive endless running game with great 3D graphics, presented to you by Gameloft.


The zombies are coming, gather your buddies and get ready with you best weapons. It's going to be a long and tough battle to save the village.

Apps

An assorted collection of top utility, productivity apps for android, which are already popular and widely in use.



If you like this post or know any other app / game in the same category, let me know via comments section.
To get notification about the new posts on this blog, do not forget to subscribe to this blog through email subscription option from the side bar.
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