Lost Cities [The Coding Monkeys] - $3.99

There are certain genres of video games that fit in perfectly with the touch screen of the iDevice. Strategy, 4X, Puzzlers… but none of them have really felt as matched up with the interface as board and card games do. Carcassonne set a benchmark for the genre, being the gold standard, showing exactly how to port a board game, perfectly, to the iOS. The Coding Monkeys did an amazing job with it, and still, to this day, more than 2 years after it’s iOS inception, it’s still one of the best, if not the best, example of a perfect touch screen board game. Well now, The Coding Monkeys are back, this time porting over the card game, Lost Cities, designed in 1999 by the highly prolific Reiner Knizia. 

One surprising thing about Lost Cities right off the bat is that it’s an iPhone/iPod Touch only build. With so many iOS gamers seeking out Universal games, or just playing card/board games exclusively on their iPads, it’s pretty strange that Coding Monkeys decided to go this route, and even though Carcassonne was released as an iPhone/iPod only build, and was later updated to be Universal, that doesn’t seem to be the case here with Lost Cities. On the official site for the app, Coding Monkeys has stated that Lost Cities is not Universal because they feel that the speed and purity of the game fit the smaller screen perfectly. They will be looking into releasing an iPad only version, but have no plans on doing so in the near future. They also feel that Lost Cities is the perfect game to be played on the go, and with the simplicity of Lost Cities, and the asynchronous Multiplayer Mode do well to back up those statements. Though, these days, not making your game Universal can cause you to loose sales. 

Now that we got that out of the way, Lost Cities. If you’ve never had the pleasure of playing it, it’s one of the more simple Reiner Knizia games. There are two different gameplay modes, Single Player, and Online Multiplayer. In the Single Player Mode, you’re able to pick one of four different AI opponents. Online Multiplayer is handled through GameCenter, and your opponents can either be chosen randomly, or from your friends list.

You and your opponent are each given 8 cards to start out with, and will always have 8 cards in your hand. There is a discard area and the rest of the cards are the deck. On the board, there are 5 rows, each having their own colors; Yellow, Blue, White, Green and Red. These are the 5 colors that the deck is made up of, with each color having the cards 2-10, along with 3 coin cards for each color as well. 

When it’s your turn, you’re able to pick one card from your hand, and place it into the board under the corresponding color. However, each card you place in that same row afterwards needs to be of a higher value. So it’s a very good idea to start out with your lowest numbered card. Once you play a card, you’re able to either pick up a card from the discard pile, or from the deck, and then it’s your opponents turn. Coin Cards are like multipliers, and can only be played as the first card in a row. You’re able to stack the Coin Cards as well, with one card doubling that row’s score, two cards tripling it, and three cards giving that row a 4X multiplier. However, you’ll need to be careful, as doing this also drops your score right off the bat.

Each row starts off with a score of -20, so if you use coin cards, you could wind up dropping your score down -40, -60, or even -80. But as you add cards to the rows, the score rises based on the number on the cards. For instance, if you place a number 2 card into a row, the rows score changes to -18, a number 3 card, it goes to -17, ect. Rows that you don’t place cards in do not have any effect on your score, so it’s a good idea to only open up rows that you know you can score from. Placing 8 or more cards of one color in a row gives you a 20 point bonus. I know it does sound a little confusing on paper, but really, it’s a very simple game. 

There are 3 different tutorial options which you‘ll be able to go through when you start up your first game, as well as a set of Rules on the main menu. The three tutorial options let you either read or listen to the instructions as you play your first game, or you can watch a game be played. Either way is very easy to understand and learn, and after that first game, I felt like I understood the game well enough to jump right into online play, which hardly ever happens for me with online games. I always want to feel like I have a very good understanding of the gameplay before I challenge another human opponent, but with Lost Cities, that understanding was had right after completing the tutorial. 

The graphics, and user interface are typical of other card/board games on the device. Not too flashy, and fairly minimal, but perfect for the genre. I didn’t really care for the background music, but was able to switch it off, and still have the sound effects on from within the settings menu. GameCenter integration includes a whopping 98 achievements, and 6 leaderboards; Oneline Points, Online Best Skill, Online Games Won, Points Vs. Computer, Best Skill Vs. Computer and Games Won Vs. Computer. 

Lost Cities price of $3.99 feels perfect for the game, with other card games ranging from $4.99 to $9.99 or more, it’s a great buy, especially if you’re looking for something simple enough to jump right in to, but also good enough to be able to play a year down the road without being fed up with it. The Coding Monkeys have ported another fantastic card game to the iOS, and it’s definitely one that fans of the genre, as well as newcomers, should consider picking up. Hopefully we’ll be able to see an iPad version in the future, as well as a two player/single device mode, as that seems to be all that this game is missing.

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Review Rewind: Bloo Kid

Our second Review Rewind spotlights the great little retro platformer Bloo Kid. Developed by Eiswuxe, Bloo Kid started off as an Android title, but found it's way over to the AppStore, and I, for one, and definitely glad that it did. With a great challenge and 84 levels, it's still a game that can be found on my iPod, and that I occasionally play whenever I've got a couple minutes to spare. The bite-sized levels make for great jump-in-and-play-for-a-minute gameplay, but it still provides enough challenge that you can sit there and all of a sudden realize that a good hour has gone by. Old-school fans, and platformer fans looking for another under-rated gem need look no further. Bloo Kid is where it's at. 

**Note: This review was written after playing Version 1.0.

--Click here to check out the original review--

Bloo Kid is the first game for the iOS by Eiswuxe. It’s a platformer, soit’s a risky first game, but Eiswuxe has pulled it off almost flawlessly. You play as Bloo Kid, who is trying to rescue his girlfriend from the evil Wizard. You’re given 60 levels through 5 different worlds. Each level is the size of the screen, so don’t expect any side-scrolling goodness. But to avoid clutter, the developer has made it so that enemies spawn in different places of the levels, giving you waves of enemies to defeat before you complete the level. In each level, you can get 3 stars. One star for beating the level, another for collecting the star that shows up at the end of the level, and lastly, for making it through the level without taking any damage. 

With platformers, controls and physics are huge. If you can’t nail those, then your game will pretty much tank. Eiswuxe has done an amazing job here making the physics and controls work great. The controls are nice and tight, you don’t need to lift your thumb up to change directions, and the jump button is very responsive, and how high you jump is directly related to how long you hold on the jump button. The buttons are also placed very well, and are just the right size. The physics are great. The game doesn’t feel floaty or weighed down at all, which is always very nice to see. It makes the game feel like a game that’s meant to be played instead of a game that’s meant to be fiddled with, struggling with the controls the whole way through. 

World 1 stars out pretty bland, but it’s designed for you to get a real grasp on the levels and how the game works. Eiswuxe decided to make the first world available in the lite version, which might have been a mistake, because most of the interesting gameplay comes after the first world. World 2 gets more difficult, and way more interesting, as you’re faced with enemies that throw objects at you, more platforms that move and take you to other parts of the level, bouncing spikes that you need to avoid, dashing enemies, enemies that you need to jump on in order to make it to other parts of the level, and enemies that need to be jumped on more than once in order to kill them. 

From here on, there’s not too many new enemies, but you will facemore and different ones as you progress. The level design as you go along gets better and better as well, and level design in a one-screen platformer is very important. But just like the controls and physics, Eiswuxe has pulled it off almost flawlessly. There are a couple of areas that it’s impossible to jump over spikes without an enemy being there, and a couple levels where the star is placed in an area where you’d need to jump on the last enemy in order to get there before the star shows up. You are given 5 hearts in each level, but having the stages set up this way just adds to the difficulty, and if you’re really worried about getting 3 stars on each of the 60 levels, this adds to the re-playability of the game. 

At the end of each world, you’re faced by a boss, who takes 6 hits to kill. Each of the bosses has a special attack that you’ll need to figure out in order to survive the battle. Also, at the beginning of each world, you’re given a little clip of your girlfriend being taken to the next area where you’ll be playing. The animations in Bloo Kid are done very well, even when you stop running your character starts to take deep breaths. It’s got a cute factor to it, but it’s a game with difficulty for sure. Especially if you’re trying to get all the stars. Making it through some of the levels without taking damage might take you multiple tries, but each time you screw up, you’re going to end up cussing yourself, and not the controls or game. The retro graphics are fitting, as it’s a game that reminds me of older NES games with it’s frustration level, and difficulty, and that just draws me to it even more. 

For their first game in the AppStore, Eiswuxe has shown that even though they’re new, they can make a professional game with top notch controls and physics, along with wonderful level design. You can check out the lite version in the AppStore, but it only contains the first world, which isn’t a very good representation of the entire game. I almost skipped out on this one because of the lite version, and it would have been a mistake on my end. But the lite version will give you a feel for the game, and let you check out the controls, physics, and first world level design for yourself. I’m giving Bloo Kid 4.5 out of 5 stars, and recommend it to all platformer fans. It could be a 5/5 game if it had online leaderboards, achievements, and some power-ups thrown in, but it’s definitely a game that you will play all the way through, and then most likely end up going back to just to try and get most or all of the stars. For $0.99, it’s a wonderful game. 

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RayStorm [TAITO] - $8.99

Shoot-em-ups are really thriving in the AppStore. But with Cave pretty much having a monopoly on the high-end, extremely polished side of things, it’s hard for others to really compare to the insanely high quality they bring to the table. Fortunately, there are some developers that can compete with this, Taito being one of them. The release of Space Invaders: Infinity Gene, and ports of DariusBurst and RayForce are considered to be some of the best non-Cave shmups available on the iOS, and with good reason. The gameplay, graphics, music and amount of polish are all top-notch. And now they’ve added one more game to the list of ports to hit the AppStore; RayStorm. Originally released for the PSX, SEGA Saturn, and for Arcades, it’s also been ported over to Windows, XBLA and the Playstation Network, it’s now available for your iDevice.

RayStorm is the only Taito Ray-title that’s not connected to the series. Released before RayForce and RayCrisis, what there is of a plot is not connected to the other two in any way. The game takes place between August 4th and 7th, starts on Earth, moves into space, and ends on the planet Secilia. Like RayForce on the iOS, RayStorm contains both an Arcade Mode as well as an iPhone Mode. The two play pretty much exactly the same, but with the iPhone Mode, the enemy placements, game music and color schemes are different, while the difficulty settings have been revised to make the gameplay a little easier. 

In the Options Menu, you’re able to set the difficulty for both modes to Very Easy, Easy, Normal and 5 different Hard Difficulties; Hard 1, Hard 2, Hard 3, Hard 4 and Very Hard. You can also change the movement ratio from 1:1 to 1:1.5, 1:2, 1:2.5, ect, up to 1:4, as well as change the button positioning from left to right. From the first time you start up the game, you’ll be able to start from any of the 7 stages in both modes and select between 2 different fighters. Both of these fighters have fairly different ways of playing and scoring; The R-Gray 1 uses a spread shot and can lock on to 8 enemies at once, while the R-Gray 2 uses a condensed laser shot, but can lock onto 16 enemies at once. The Gray1 is better for new-comers to the game/genre, while the Gray2 is built more for experienced players.

Graphically, RayStorm looks great on the small screen, but unfortunately, the game is only built for the iPod and iPhone, and does not contain retina graphics, so playing on the iPad requires 2X mode, and as a result, is pretty pixilated. But for fans of the genre, this shouldn’t really pose a problem, as there are very few HD/Retina shmups available in the AppStore, so it’s not really a deal breaker. The animations for shooting projectiles, movement and explosions are all fantastic, and with the movement of the backgrounds creating a 3D environment, even though some of the background images can look pretty ugly, coupled with the smooth controls, and great music, RayStorm turned out to be an incredibly immersive shooter.

Priced at $8.99, and including GameCenter integration with 4 leaderboards, one for each ship in each mode, along with 31 achievements, chances are, even though it’s one of the better previously released shmups ported over to the iOS, only hardcore fans of the genre will wind up purchasing it. If you’re new to the genre, you might want to check out some of the cheaper titles before diving right in, but for fans of the genre, RayStorm is a great game, and is really only out-done by Cave’s titles. Taito has shown, once again, why they have been around since 1953, are still highly respected, and have a very loyal fan following. 

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Fatcat Rush - 1.99 (Tomodomo Oy)

Fatcat Rush is a new side-scrolling runner game from Tomodomo Oy. It’s his first game in the AppStore, and like many of the previous first publishers I’ve reviewed lately, he shows hardly any signs of being a newcomer to the scene. In the game, you play as Tombo, a cat who lives on the peak of a huge tower. Every week his favorite food is shipped to him by a hot-air balloon. But this week, the balloon carrying his delivery was struck by lightning, flinging his food all throughout the pathways of the tower. With his stomach grumbling, he decides to go after it all, making sure to hurry before the food spoils.

There’s 15 levels in Fatcat Rush, each with different environmental hazards. The level scrolls, and spins around, while you climb up the pathways further up the tower. There’s food littering the paths, and some shortcuts full of extra food hidden along the way, so keeping an eye open for kind of harder to reach paths usually pays off. You’re given 3 hearts for each stage, and crashing into a part of the terrain, or an obsticle will bring you down a peg. There’s different kinds of food all over the place, some giving more points than others, for instance; Whipped Cream Taco’s give you 1 point, while PizzaBurgers give you 10, and Ketchup Lollipops give you 3.

There’s also Health Shakes which give you a heart, but you can never have more than 3 hit points at any given time. Fish are all over the place, in a bright blue circle, and impossible to miss. Each one adds to your speed/score multiplier and boost meter, which gradually decreases over time. Running into objects drops your multiplier as well. This means that the more fish you collect in a level, the higher your multiplier will be, and the bigger your final score will end up being.

The controls in Fatcat Rush are simple, and work very well within the game. You have a button for jumping, and a button for dashing while you’re on the ground, and kicking while you’re in the air. Dashing on the ground helps you break open crates that are hiding food, fish, and shakes, but you need to be careful with your timing, because running into one of these crates causes you to loose a heart. While you’re in the air, pressing the dash button makes you dash kick, this is very useful for long jumping, reaching harder to reach places, shortcuts, and long strands of food only accessible by jump kicking.

The graphics are great. Smooth and professional, and the environments are very colorful and vibrant. The user interface is great, very clear, and easy to navigate, as well as the HUD during gameplay. You have your 3 hearts in the top left corner, your level progress in the middle, and then your score. Underneath your score is your speed multiplier, and boost meter, going down the right side of the screen, then your jump button on the bottom left, and dash/kick button on the bottom right, with the pause button in-between the two. The physics are great, not too floaty, and never feeling weighed down, coupled with the speed and flow of the game, it plays wonderfully. The music and effects also fit in the game nicely, and add to the atmosphere and overall feel of the game.

There are no leaderboards for Fatcat Rush, which is a shame, because there’s great scoring mechanics, and it would add a whole lot to the replayability of the game. There are however, in-game achievements, 15 to be exact, along with 4 different outfits you can unlock, including one that makes you look like Mario. This does help add to drive the game, and help with the replayability, but once you get them all unlocked, you might loose a lot of the drive you once had to play. The game is very well done, very cute, and really is a blast to play. Great level design, and wonderful controls and physics, along with great scoring does make it a game that you will want to play through completely. But it does need a little more to make you want to keep it on your device for any extended period of time, an endless or survival mode would go a very long way. It is a very well made game, and the way it's going now, will end up being one of my favorite runners, especially if the developers end up adding another mode, and online leaderboards. For $1.99, it’s a great deal, and definitely a game you should pick up if you’re a fan of the genre, or cats.

Fatcat Rush gets 4 out of 5 stars from me.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fatcat-rush/id457251993?mt=8

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Robot Bros. - 1.99 (108km Studio)

Robot Bros. is the new puzzle platformer from 108km Studio, a small indie studio founded in 2010. The goal of the game is to get all 3 stars in each of the levels, and then make it to the exit. 4 of the 5 robots all have a different ability, while one has no abilities. One can drop a certain number of ice blocks in a stage, another can throw fireballs to get rid of ice blocks, there’s a robot with a rocket pack, and finally, a robot that can make portals. Throughout the levels, youaregiven chances to change which robot you’re controlling, by hitting the robot icons at the top of the screen, kind of playing like Babylon Twins.
One pretty major gripe I have with Robot Bros is the controls. You can’t drag your finger from the left button to the right button and have your robot change directions, it will just keep moving in the direction you were first going. To change directions, you need to pick up your thumb, and press the arrow. Also, if you try and use a power in the air, which you can’t, but pressing the button will bring your robot to a halt, and make him drop straight down. The jump button is sometimes unresponsive as well. There’s some minor animation gripes too, like the rocket pack robot can change directions in the air, but he’ll fly backwards instead of turning around, and it seems like the fireball robot is the only robot that has a decent ability animation, bringing his arms back, and flinging the ball forward does look pretty cool though.

It would have been nice if all of the robots had as much detail as the fireball robot does. The rocket robot seems to fly up backwards when you first take off if you‘re pressing a directional button, and it takes a second for him to start going in the direction you want him to go after that. There were also a couple of levels in the game where some ice blocks would disappear and end up half way across the level, this also happened with my characters twice while playing. It would also be nice if once you got one of your characters to the end of the level, if the game automatically switched to one of the other characters in the level, instead of making you hit one of the robot icons. These are some issues that should be taken care of pretty quickly if you ask me.
The game is not very challenging. You’re able to zoom out in each of the levels, seeing almost the entire level. The objective pretty much stairs you right in the face after you see the whole level, meaning the only challenge is really just making it through the level while struggling with the controls. It took me about an hour and half to make it through all 36 levels. I really think the developers could have done a lot more with the game, especially considering they have a robot that can make portals! Right there should scream extra challenging. But I couldn’t help but feel let down. The graphics aren’t too bad, but could use some polishing up, and I didn’t experience any lag or crashing. There’s no in-game music, except for little clips after you beat a level, orwhen you die, which kind of bothered me, but I’m a sucker for game music.

In Robot Bros, the idea is nice, but it seems like there could have been some more attention to details. Mainly with the controls. But for the companies first platformer game, it does show promise. I’m giving Robot Bros 3 out of 5 stars, with the hopes that some updates can make this a game that controls well, gives it more levels, with more of a challenge, some in-game music, and squashes the bugs. GameCenter or OpenFeint support and some achievements would be a welcome addition as well. If you are a puzzle platformer fan, it’s not too bad of a game to pick up. It did keep my attention throughout most of the game, and it’s only $1.99, and is Universal. There really is a lot of potential here, but it seems that that’s all it has right now.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/robot-bros/id455055887?mt=8

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Thor Blitz, $0.99 (by Heitor Barcellos) Universal

   Hello all, I am Frost and going to start with the game Thor Blitz, by one man developer Heitor Barcellos.

   Basically, Thor Blitz is a match-3 game and its obviously inspired by the nordic god of thunder, Thor, who is at war with the Olympus.

   The game plays as a normal match-3 game, theres falling pieces and you have to match them on the bottom of the screen, having multiple pieces like triangles, squared blocks, diamonds and more, a lot more. The sword on top releases the pieces, always falling in groups of 2. You control the sword by tilting your iDevice. While the pieces are falling, and by the way to do it really fast, i heard 1.1 fixed this, but i wish it could be slower, being sometimes frustating at later levels... you have to drag them wherever you want to place them, if you can, and lets you flip the pieces on mid air on once placed on the gound, but you have limited moves, because theres a bar shaped like a sword that limits your moves, making your brain work faster. The point here, as many other match-3 games is to “form horizontal, vertial or L-shaped chains of three or more pieces”... also, you can make combos with 4+ chains to collect Diamonds, if you collect the required 3 diamonds, you will cast a super power called Thunderbolt, wiping out the screen. While this is the bigger combo possible, theres also lower one like earth or aqua combos (is all about making combos to survive), all being flashy and bringing some effects to enlighten it a bit although the game looks solid, in full Retina Display.

   The game has some depth, because you gain experience, gaining levels (and here is where the God of War influence kicks in), and some levels brings you new powers and adding runes, actually being like normal pieces, to the mix, ramping the difficulty up quite a little as you progress. I wish there could be some explanations for each of them, like Pigs on Trees, who does an outstanding job at that because they just show you the piece, leaving you wondering what it does. Some of them to help you, like Mjölnir, Thors hammer, that wipes an entire line or the multi-metal can, who can be combined with anything... also added are other regular pieces, called Runes to add more difficulty to mix them together. There are also bad powers, like the Hades Touch, inverting controls.

   There two game modes and a tutorial. The game modes is Story and Ragnarok, the fist one being the normal game, unlocking runes and progression through levels and the latter is a endless survival mode with everthing unlocked from the beginning and is quite challenging. The tutorial could be more explanatory with the power-ups , but i guess the dev wants to surprise you while playing... Replayability is good because you want to see whats ahead, and unlock new runes and powers, so this gives this game a “one more time” appeal. Theres also one leaderboard with your total points for both modes to compare youself with the rest of the world, and 6 achievements.

   I think you have already have an idea of this game in mind, but you dont know how it controls... well, an update just hit the AppStore, bringing bug fixes, a shiny new icon and calibration, and all they are welcomed and much needed. Now tilting works, it has been finely tweaked, but to our behalf, because before was so slow and now its perfect, fast and precise. Dragging works well, but sometimes in later levels, when you have all those runes and pieces and the pace is getting up, some pieces will swap by mistake. And by the way, dragging hasnt been completely fixed like tilting. It still needs some work, but if you are into this match 3 games, you will ignore it completely and have a good time with this Thor Blitz. So if you are a harcore fan of the genre and craving for your next game, this may be your new game, for $0.99 is already a bargain given the hours and hours you will dive into it.

iTunes link:

http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/thor-blitz/id442153222?mt=8

Here are some promo codes for the fastest to enjoy:

TTNELWE4YR9Y
EWWJR7E33YPJ
W7HFWRLXWFW7

   If you werent fast enough to get a promo code, we will give one more away in our Twitter giveaway, follow us at @TheAppShack

   Please remember to leave an iTunes review with whatever you really think about this game, Also you can check their website for any more games from this developer at hbstark.com

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Art Penguin - 0.99 (Luck-u)

With technology where it is, touch screens, infra-red controllers, it's not surprising that gesture based games are starting to make their mark on the gaming world. Art Penguin is the second game from Indie Developer, Luck-u. You play as a wizard penguin who was on a flight home with a bunch of other penguins and some cows that was intercepted by aliens. But it seems that the aliens only wanted the cows so that they could drink milk whenever they wanted to, and ended up dumping you on a remote island somewhere in the ocean. You now have to make it through some pretty dangerous areas using your trusty wand to get home safely.

There's 16 different gestures that you'll need to memorize in order to make it through Art Penguin's 2 worlds, each having 12 levels. At first, it may feel like you need to memorize thelevels in order to make it through them all the way, but once you get the hang of the gestures, it becomes a game that you play instead of a game that you need to memorize. Each level is built very well, having the difficulty increase at a great speed, so you won't feel overwhelmed at first. By stage 3 you might have some trouble remembering which gestures do what. But thankfully, there's a spell book in the top right corner that holds all the gestures you'll need to know in order to make it through. The graphics are nice and cute, and the music fits the game very well.

The challenge in Art Penguin comes from being able to remember and draw the shapes quickly enough. There’s some spots where you need to wait to see how big a hole is so that you’ll know if you need a spring, or a ramp, and some spots where you’ll need to draw different shapes one right after the other pretty quickly. You are given unlimited lives, but dying takes you back to the beginning of the stage. There is a pretty good sense of accomplishment once you do make it through each level. This structure kind of reminds me of older NES and SNES games of the late 80’s and 90’s, with the same great feeling after getting to the next stage.

Art Penguin is available in the AppStore for $0.99, and really is the best gesture game I’ve played on any platform. Everything about it is very polished, and feels like it could have been released through a big company, like Chillingo, Halfbrick or Gamevil. The gameplay is actually exciting, which is a word I never thought would be able to be tied to a gesture based game, but with Art Penguin, it’s very fitting. Once you get the gestures down, it becomes a blast to play. It’s also OpenFeint enabled, and has 22 achievements for you to try and nab. I give it 4.5 stars out of 5, and if the occasional wrong item for the gesture drawn is fixed in an update, it would get 5 out of 5 stars.

Link: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/art-penguin/id449097181?mt=8

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Curvebot-(1.99)ElPixo

Curvebot is the first game of indie developer Marcus. He is a one man gaming operation working from his house in the United Kingdom.  He was originally working for the military on radar simulation software until he got fed up with all their seriousness and the constant fear of being made to do pushups.  So looking for a joyride of a experience he decided to start making ipod apps.  Inspired by games like Qix and Volified from the 90's he made Curvebot with support from his family and friends. 

The main character in the game is of course Curvebot and his main mission is to save his friends.  In order to do that he must cut them out of various different platforms while avoiding the drones who will try to stop him.

The controls are very easy to learn and don't hinder the experience at all.  To make your curve bot start a cut you first position him somewhere around the perimeter of the object by using the left and right arrows.  To launch him on his cut you tap both arrows at the same time.  After that you are able to control the direction he moves across the object with of course the arrows.  Once a drone hits your line or you its back to the place you started before the cut. Their are 8 different types of drones so you are always kept on your toes.  In order to get a high level score you have to be very strategic about what direction you cut your lines in and how much you cut.

Their is a total of 60 levels with 10 bonus challenges and 3 special levels.  The levels are very replayable as you can shoot to get a better high score and are well designed.  There are GameCenter leaderboards included as well.  The game is supported on Iphone 3gs, Iphone 4, Ipad 1,Ipad 2, Ipod touch 3rd, and Ipod touch 4th generation.

Overall this is a very addicting game with lots of levels and should keep you entertained for a while.  New levels will continue to be added on in future updates.  I give it a 94/100 for its fun and innovative gameplay plus its gorgeously designed levels.

Link:http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/curvebot/id441463143?mt=8

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