Monthly Archive: December 2011

FREEBIES; Icarus-X, Zombie Gunship and more!

Yup, you guessed it, even MORE freebies you can add to your “December To Remember” list. So let’s just go ahead and jump right in to it!
[Chaotic Box]
–Universal–
Casual Arcade
$1.99 -> FREE


[Electronic Arts]
–iPhone–
Sports/Hunting
$0.99 -> FREE


[Abu Dhabi Media Company]
–Universal–
Sports/Boxing
$2.99 -> FREE


[A-onesoft]
–iPhone–
Casual Puzzler
$0.99 -> FREE


[The Quadsphere]
–Universal–
Arcade/Shmup
$1.99 -> FREE


[Limbic Software]
–Universal–
Arcade/Top-Down Shooter
$0.99 -> FREE


[XS720 Ltd]
–iPhone–
Puzzle Platformer
$0.99 -> FREE


[Triolith Entertainment]
–Universal–
Puzzle
$1.99 -> FREE


[Alien Worm]
–iPhone–
Casual Arcade
$0.99 -> FREE


[Alien Worm]
–iPad–
Casual Arcade
$1.99 -> FREE


[Gamevil Inc.]
–iPhone–
Platform RPG
$0.99 -> FREE


Cubes Vs. Spheres gets an AWESOME update and Wizard Ops first update goes live!

ShockPanda Games amazing 3D base defense title, Cubes Vs. Spheres had it’s most recent update go live in the middle of the night, and all we can say about it? HOLY FRIGGIN CRAP! Not only did ShockPanda give us an awesome Survival Mode, but they gave us 3 different Survival Mode levels, 10 more levels, this time on Insane Difficulty, new Fire Cubes, Shield Cubes, Gravity Cubes, and a ‘couple surprises’, new obstacles and mechanics like portals, meteors, and dance pads, 4 new achievements, new leaderboards and more! Now developers who might be reading this, take note – THIS is what you call an update! The Survival Mode is absent of the regular scoring system, being replaced by scoring players on how many cubes they destroy. This might turn some players off, as those of us who group cubes together, take risks, and actually play with strategy to build up HUGE combos are not rewarded for it, and players who just toss spheres into the crowed at a constant rate will end up scoring the same. Though it might bring more players in to Survival Mode because of that fact. But in the end, it’s almost downright impossible to complain about more gameplay content in one of the best games of the year, especially endless gameplay content. With the Insane Levels, the old strategy of tossing a Heart Cube into the crowd of cubes and then just bombarding them with Fire Spheres when they’re grouped together doesn’t really work anymore. You’ll need to come up with some new gameplay methods to get through these levels. Insane is exactly the correct word for these stages, so get ready to have sweaty palms, a racing heart, and want to bash your head against the wall, while loving every second of it. The new cubes are a fantastic addition to the game as well, really mixing things up with the Shield Cubes that block your spheres right before they leave your base area, taking these guys out will take patience and complete awareness of what other cubes are close to you. And the Portals. PORTALS!?!? The perfect addition to a game that’s fairly graphically close to Portal. Everything about this update justifies how long it took for ShockPanda to get it to us, and with the price remaining at just $0.99 for this Universal game, you’d have to hate video games not to buy it.
Wizard Ops, Phyken’s 3rd Person Rails Shooter, has just been updated as well. This first update brings gamers GameCenter Support, a new mission, iCade Support, and bug fixes. GameCenter was easily one of the most requested features for this arcade type high-scoring game, so it’s great that it was added in this first update. The new mission, Helicopter Factory, boosts the difficulty of the regular campaign quite a bit, and not like the Survival level is difficult because there’s no health pick-ups, but the enemies are mixed up well, there’s a couple new enemies, new projectile mechanics, and includes a boss type battle at the end of the stage. It also feels slightly longer than the previous campaign levels. Hopefully this is a sign that the future levels will keep increasing in difficulty, making the game more balanced and fleshed out. This update does start the reputation of Phyken as a very responsive development team who works quickly to address issues, and add reasonable features that players are asking for, as well as adding on to it. If this truly is a sign of things to come from Phyken, they shouldn’t have any problems gaining a solid fan-base that will grow with (hopefully) each future release they might bring to the iOS.


Turn-Based RPG, Symphony Of Eternity, sale; $8.99 -> $0.99!

One of the best turn-based RPG titles I’ve had the pleasure of playing on my iPod has easily been Kemco’s Symphony of Eternity. Highly reminiscent of early Final Fantasy games, you’ll guide your group of heroes on their quest to find a magical weapon and fulfill their dreams and restore a broken kingdom. The story is fantastically executed, and fairly deep, and compliments the amazing upgrade/magic system which gives you books that you can equip and learn abilities from (by the end of the game, each of my characters had about 20 spells that they were able to cast). Aside from Square Enix’s Final Fantasy games on the iOS, Symphony of Eternity is my favorite turn-based RPG in the AppStore. In my humble opinion, it’s even better than FF 1 and 2. The characters will grow on you very quickly, there’s tons of exploration involved, hidden areas, great battles (if you have Alphadia, another Kemco TB-RPG for the iOS, it’s not as focused towards grinding by any means), and a very nice story with plenty of plot twists and some great English translation. For a dollar, it’s a no-brainer, Symphony of Eternity is one RPG you NEED to pick up. Even if you’re not a fan of the genre, Symphony of Eternity has all the aspects that could very well make you one. It’s also secured it’s spot in my top 10 of 2011 list. At it’s current sale price-point, it’s impossible to find another RPG of this caliber for this price. I don’t know how many other ways I can try and tell you to go and pick it up, but if you’re interested in finding out, you can check out The App Shack’s review, so go, GO NOW!! Throw down the dollar, and experience one of the best games of the year!

Symphony of Eternity

[Kemco/Kotobuki Solution Co., Ltd.]
Turn-Based RPG
$8.99 -> $0.99


Even More December Freebies!

Already, this month has been a great one in terms of paid games going free, and today is no different than the last 4. Here’s what you can snag for free today, that is, if you don’t already have these titles.
[Donut Games]
Physics-Based Arcade Puzzler
$0.99 -> FREE
[PNJ Inc.]
Block Moving Arcade Puzzler
$0.99 -> FREE
[Depreciation Guild Inc.]
Puzzle
$0.99 -> FREE
[David Kalmanson]
Casual Arcade
$0.99 -> FREE
[Blue GNC]
Side-Scrolling Beat-em-up
$0.99 -> FREE
[Clockwork Applications]
Word Puzzler
$0.99 -> FREE
[Raptus Games]
3rd Person On-Rails Tap Shooter
$1.99 -> FREE


Countdown to Christmas Promocode Giveaway: Updated


Each day before Christmas we will give away a promo code of an iOS game (apps in giveaway listed below) to two of the contest entrants. We will contact you through the method of contact from which you entered and deliver the promo code into your hands.
If you have won a code you still have a chance to win more throughout the Countdown.

You can enter in three different ways:

  • Tweeting about the site or the contest. Include our account name in your tweet (@TheAppShack) 

Sample Tweet- I just entered the Countdown to Christmas Promocode Giveaway from @TheAppShack!!! Enter here: http://bit.ly/thqZWe

  • Liking us on Facebook. (Email us with the name you liked us under)
          • Emailing us at TheAppShack@gmail.com with suggestions and tips for the giveaway or the site in general.

Be sure to follow our Twitter account to stay up to date on what apps are included in the giveaway and who won the latest contest.

Promo Codes you could win:
Flight Unlimited (1 codes) Universal
Commander Pixman (4 codes) iPhone only
EPOCH. (3 codes) Universal
Mage Gauntlet (2 codes) iPhone only (Universal support is coming soon)
Fargoal (5 codes) iPhone only
Saucelifter (5 codes) Universal
Phoenix(10 codes) iPhone only
Cosmic Cab (1 code) Universal
Bridge the Gap (1 code) iPhone only
Holiday Havoc (1 code) iPhone only
More apps will be added to the contest shortly

We thank our sponsors that have generously donated their codes to this awesome contest.


Tiny Defense Goes Free

Amid the frenzy of price drops, Tiny Defense has gone completely free as part of the Blacksmith Games Appvent Calendar.  If you don’t already own it definitely pick it up now.



Tiny Defense is a side-scrolling tower defense game with Mario-esque artwork and great gameplay.
Here’s what has been said about Tiny Defense so far:
    “Tiny Defense takes the tried and tested tower defense genre and puts it onto a 2D playing field. It works a treat and comes out as one of the very best in its class.” – 148Apps.com
      “This tactical defense game is entertaining and addictive. There is nothing not to love about it.” – AppAdvice.com
        “If you’re a fan of games like Plants vs Zombies and you’re looking to try anything with a remotely similar gameplay experience, then Tiny Defense will certainly satisfy that urge.” – TouchArcade
          “Tiny Defense is one of the first tower defense titles that I’ve played that meets up to the expectations of P vs Z.” – AppStoreArcade
            “I like it! Cute, Mario-esque graphics, PvZ gameplay, ample content.” – ArcadeLife
          Don’t pass this freebie up. Grab it now! Tiny Defense


          Infect Them All: Vampires – 0.99 (Magic Cube)

          Magic Cube’s Infect Them All holds a special spot in my heart. It was released around the time I started loosing faith in casual iOS gaming. More and more developers were diving into the IAP scene, making games that pretty much showed gamers how they were truly viewed as consumers instead of gamers or fans. Then along came Infect Them All from a company I previously hadn’t heard anything about, and I was hooked.

          Now, after hours upon hours of gameplay with Infect Them All, Magic Cube’s sequel, Infect Them All: Vampires has just been released. There’s not too much of a difference between the two titles, they both include a Campaign, Infinite Campaign, Survival, and Blitz Modes, they both control the same with either tilt or virtual joystick options, can both have a whole lot of enemies on the screen at once, both have 50 Campaign levels, awesome boss battles, and more. The biggest difference you’ll notice at first is that ITA: Vampires gives your character a special ability. With your first character, you’re able to attack humans by hitting an attack button, causing your vampire to jump and slash twice in the direction you’re tilting or pressing on the joystick. After you attack humans, a reaper will appear above all of them that were in your way, and you can either let them die, or jump on them quickly to infect them, making large groups of humans easy targets.
          There are also upgrades, like in the original, but this time around, there’s a few more upgrades that you’ll be able to buy, considering the special abilities that each vampire has. The upgrades this time around are set-up in branches. You’ll need to upgrade certain perks before you can upgrade others, leading to more attacks, stronger attacks, and yes, the typical more health, quicker movement, and so on. But the abilities really do add quite a bit more to the game than you would think, adding more strategy, more action, and quicker, more arcade-like gameplay.
          As in the original Infect Them All, you will need to infect a certain amount of humans before Survival and Blitz Modes are unlocked; 5,000 to unlock Survival, and 7,500 for Blitz. It does seem like quite a bit, but after you get through the first couple of levels, infecting 30 humans a stage is not too hard, and much, much more (up to about 75) in the later levels, all of which are re-playable, will unlock the extra modes in no time. The two extra characters are also unlocked based on how many humans you infect. The first character unlocks at 1,000, and the second at 3.000, so you’ll have all 3 characters to play with before you unlock the extra modes, giving you adequate time to upgrade all their skills and abilities before taking on the harder modes.
          Infect Them All: Vampries is supported by GameCenter and OpenFeint, having leaderboards for each of the game’s modes, and 23 achievements. Considering you can re-play levels, the main boards most gamers will be competing on will be the Survival and Blitz boards. But if you want to play and re-play levels, trying to get into the top 10 or so scores for the Campaign Mode, get ready to sink a good 40 hours into the game. At $0.99, it’s a great buy, especially if you enjoyed the original Infect Them All.


          Finger Gravity Gets Ads and Arcade Jumper goes free!

          Keeping up with the whole spirit of the season, here’s even more freebies. Finger Gravity and Finger Gravity HD, by Wode Mobile, after just having an improved control update, which also added ads, which people who got the game for free as well as customers who already bought the game can get rid of for $0.99 – thanks for the Christmas gift! I guess if you’re going to try and make money, throwing ads into a paid app, screwing over your customers is one way to do it, though we believe it makes it harder for indie developers to sell games when gamers are constantly worried that once they buy a game, ads will be thrown into it.
          Also going free is Black Hive Media’s Universal arcade platformer, Arcade Jumper. There are some issues with this one, and it’s definitely not the best platformer in the AppStore, but for free, it is worth checking out. The developers are also fairly supportive, and are listening to everyone’s feedback on the Touch Arcade Thread, and through their contact page. So if you’re looking for another platformer to eat up some time, Arcade Jumper is a worthy download.
          [Black Hive Media]
          Arcade-Platformer
          $1.99 -> FREE


          Wizard Ops – 0.99 (Phyken)

          Shoot-em-ups have become a fairly popular genre within the iOS gaming crowd. Thankfully, the 3rd person rail-shooter genre hasn’t been left out of this revolution. Games like Dark Break, Denizen, ExZeus, TheMars and the more open ended Battle 3D: Robots Sky have given iOS gamers endless hours of Space Harrier type 3rd person rail-shooting excitement, though sadly, it’s far from the amount of shmups that can be found within the AppStore. Hopefully with the growing hardware, more and more 3rd person rail shooters will be developed. Until then, we can add Wizard Ops to this small list of games, developed by Phyken, you’ll guide a Wizard through 6 levels of hectic action, as well as have an endless survival level to try and play through.

          Granted, 6 levels does seem short, but the replay value is fairly high, and there’s apparently more levels coming in the future, and at the current price-point, it’s hard to get upset when the 6 levels can be played over and over again to earn more coins which let you unlock any of the 18 total weapons that you can mix and match, equipping 2 at a time, along with the endless survival level offering up hours upon hours of gameplay.
          The controls in Wizard Ops are fairly well implemented, having the player touch on the bottom of the screen in the “touch area” to control aiming and left and right movement. There are some areas where you’ll be able to move up and down as well, which is also controlled by sliding your finger along the bottom of the screen.
          Now, I’ve already said that there’s 18 weapons, but getting into them while talking about the controls is probably a good idea, because there’s quite a few of them that auto-target, but in a nice way. You won’t be able to just stand there and let these auto-target weapons go to town on all the enemies, instead, you’ll need to scroll over the enemy with your aim, in order to enable auto-targeting. Other than that, almost all of your weapons will shoot straight in-front of where your character is. There are a couple that toss out bombs, or have a spread shot, but basically, you’ll be shooting right in front of your character, and with the 3D onslaught of bullets coming your way, actually getting enough shots off to kill the enemies can sometimes be a challenge, especially in survival mode, where the difficulty ramps up fairly quickly. There will be some gamers out there who feel that the 6 regular levels are fairly easy, especially those of you who are in to bullet hell gaming, but not to worry, the survival mode has the difficulty to keep you hooked for quite some time.
          There are pick-ups in the game, with each enemy dropping a bronze, silver, or gold coin, health drops, and even some guns are dropped in-game. If you already have the gun, however, it will automatically be sold, usually for about 300 coins. A major difference with the survival mode is that there are no health drops. So along with even more hectic bullet play, and an increasing difficulty, you won’t be able to regain health, adding even more of a challenge to the endless play.
          For those of you who are worried about IAPs, and are wondering if this game’s shop is pushed towards them, you can take a deep breath, and rest easy. There’s NONE. That’s right, an out-right FULL game for $0.99. Better yet? It’s Universal! And aside from the short regular campaign time, having only 6 levels, it’s hard to even bring that up as an issue since they’re all replayable, there’s an endless survival level, and there’s more levels to come. If you’re a fan of 3rd person rail shooters, or even if you aren’t big on them, but love action filled arcade-based games, Wizard Ops is definitely a title that deserves some attention. I, for one, am really hoping that it sells well so that not only can we get the planned more content, but also see more from developer Phyken. The game looks great, plays great, has tons of action, and essentially endless replayabilty, all without any added IAPs, what’s not to like?


          Countdown to Christmas Giveaway

          On every day before Christmas we will give away 2 promo codes of any game to all of our deserving site visitors. We will contact you through the way you entered and deliver the promo code into your hands at exactly 4:00(or later)

          You can enter in one of three ways:

          • Tweeting about the site or the contest. Include our account name in your tweet (@TheAppShack) 

          Sample Tweet – Follow @TheAppShack for your chance to win codes every day including EPOCH and Mage Gauntlet. 2 winners a day.

          • Liking us on Facebook. (Email us with the name you liked us under)
          • Emailing us at TheAppShack@gmail.com with suggestions and tips for the giveaway or the site in general.

          Be sure to follow our Twitter account to stay up to date on what apps are included in the giveaway and who won the latest contest.

          Promo Codes you could win:
          Flight Unlimited (3 codes)
          Commander Pixman (4 codes)
          EPOCH. (3 codes)
          Mage Gauntlet (2 codes)
          Fargoal (5 codes)
          Saucelifter (5 codes)
          Phoenix(10 codes)
          Cosmic Cab (1 code)
          Bridge the Gap (1 code)
          More apps will be added to the contest shortly