Readers’ App Reviews – February 2016

Valentines Day is behind us but I’m still falling for all these sweet community apps!

The community has been hard at work pumping out new games and apps built with our tutorials. I’ve downloaded a ton of them and I’ve picked a few to show you.

I receive more than an app a day from readers like you busy working on games. I don’t have time to write about every app that hits my inbox, but hopefully the few I show you gets you excited for our community and inspires you to finish your app. Don’t miss the honorable mentions, plenty more inspiration waiting for you.

This month we have:

• An app for know it alls
• A game for your thumbs
• An app for the world traveler
• And of course, much more!

Keep reading to see the the latest apps released by raywenderlich.com readers like you!

WOKwiki

Are you a know it all? More importantly are you a WikiKnowItAll? WOKWiki is made for you!

WOKWiki takes all of Wikipedia and turns it into a multiple choice quiz! Seriously, how awesome is that? You can play against your friends or the community. Race for time or go head to head on accuracy.

Any subject you can think of is covered. Historical Figures, Sports, Technology, China, Logic. Literally any random fact on Wikipedia is up for grabs. You can use tags to limit the questions you’ll receive unless you really are a know it all. ;]

• Author: Mohamed Alwakil @masry_7yran
• Most useful tutorial: Swift by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!

Invisible Pix

Invisible Pix is the coloring book for the iPad.

Its got all the basic stuff you’d expect like pinch to zoom, adjustable brushes, auto saving, and more. You can color free hand or use the Magic Pen to stay perfectly in the lines as you color. Tilting the device reveals an light outline as your color. When you’re done of course you can share to Facebook and Twitter or save to your photos directly.

There are tons of themes from Animals to Dragons to Mandalas to Pirates and much more. They’re adding more series over time including holiday specials. Most series only cost a couple dollars and the entire experience is 100% ad free.

• Author: Sebastian Frey
• Most useful tutorial: How to Make Great App Store Screenshots
• App Store Link: Check it out!

The Travelist

Do you travel so much you’ve forgotten where you’ve been? Then The Travelist is an app for you.

The Travelist will help you keep a log of all the countries and states you’ve visited. On the map of the world simply select where you’ve been to start compiling a list. You can mark where you’ve lived, visited, or would like to visit. As you enter your conquests you can see what percentage of the world or country you’ve seen. See a checklist of where you’d like to go.

You can also rank yourself against other travelers to see who’s seen the most of the world. Share your map, rank, and other travel stats with friends on Twitter, Facebook, iMessage, or even print it out.

• Author: Brian Kayfitz
• Most useful tutorial: CALayer in iOS with Swift: 10 Examples
• App Store Link: Check it out!

Mr. Astroman

Mr. Astroman is on a mission and needs your help. He’s flying into unexplored territory high above the planet’s surface.

The objective is simple: fly as high as you can while avoiding obstacles like falling spikes and force fields. Along the way you’ll encounter powerups and upgrades. Each level unlocks more equipment like shields and bullets. Use the bullets to blast holes in force fields and walls at just the right time.

See how high you can climb on the global GameCenter leaderboards or challenge your friends to beat your high scores. Collect achievements for your valor above the earth.

• Author: AR Khorsand
• Most useful tutorial: How to Make a Game Like Mega Jump With Sprite Kit and Swift (2 parts)
• App Store Link: Check it out!

Roller Ball

Its gonna take more than just a little tilting to make it at Roller Ball.

Roller Ball is based on the old school classic and its a ton of fun. There are a handful of balls rolling around the screen and a matching slot for each ball. Your goal is to make sure each ball finds its home. But its going to take precision and planning to make it. Once a ball finds its slot its not over, other balls can still knock it out as they roll around the screen.

There are nine randomly generated levels with 3 levels of difficulty. So take your time and work your way up to mastery. Maybe one day you’ll be as good as me. ;]

• Author: Richard Lowe @riklowe
• Most useful tutorial: iOS Games by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!

ThumberJack

ThumberJack is more than a catchy puntastic name. Its also a super addicting yet incredibly simple game.

To become the best ThumberJack you can be you’ll need precision, agility, and a keen sense of hand eye coordination. Or maybe just your thumb and some luck.

An endless log is flowing down the screen and you’ve got to cut it all! Keep your thumb in the touch zone to avoid getting cut and keep it on the log to keep the cut going. Get points each time your clear a log joint. See if you can make it to the top of the GameCenter leaderboards and be the best ThumberJack in the land!

• Author: John McManus @J0hnnieMac
• Most useful tutorial: Trigonometry for Games – Sprite Kit and Swift Tutorial 2 parts
• App Store Link: Check it out!

QuoteBreaker

Do you love solved puzzles and putting that brain of yours to work? Good, time to download QuoteBreaker!

QuoteBreaker is a two part game. You start with a Nonogram puzzle. A grid with number hints for each row and column. You’ll fill a square for each number and leave the others blank. Each row’s rules must be satisfied. Its like sudoku on steroids. The second part is a Cryptogram built from the previous Nonogram. You’ll decipher a message using numbers as your guide.

QuoteBreaker is very challenging and extremely addicting. Once I started a puzzle I couldn’t put it down.

• Author: Ed Thomas @edthomasjr
• Most useful tutorial: iOS Games by Tutorials
• App Store Link: Check it out!