The days are getting shorter and the ocean breeze is making its way inland. That’s when you know that the season is changing. I know that summer is on its final legs when Anime geeks from around the country converge on my tree lined city streets in massive hordes of school uniforms and giant robots. That’s where I’ll be this weekend.
Whether you are looking for a game to occupy your time in line at a convention or need an app to help make your pictures of cosplayers look better, we have a few apps that are going to make your weekend better…
Abyss Attack
This vertical shoot-em-up takes after games of decades ago where players were faced with the challenge of oncoming enemies with nothing more than a few thousand bullets and an arsenal that would make the U.S. Military jealous. This underwater version is less fighty and more bubbly, but the basic idea is the same. You must destroy a variety of brightly colored sea-dwelling creatures as you move through the depths of an unknown land. Then, just when you think you’ve made it, you must take down the leviathan boss or seal your fate in your sunken tomb. This game is available for $0.99.
Radium
If you are looking for a new way to listen to Internet radio, as well as any broadcast station with a web-based stream, then look no further. Not only does this app offer thousands of high-quality radio stations for you to choose from, but you can adjust the equalization of individual songs, share links to your favorite stations with others, and sync your Radium account across your iOS and Mac devices. If you have a subscription to SiriusXM or Live365, you can add that to your listening list, too. Do you already have the Radium app on your Mac? Now you can take your favorites on the go. This app is on sale for $1.99 until Sept. 3. It will go up to the full price of $3.99 after that.
doo | Document Organizer
Tired of switching around between various apps to access files you’ve stored in your many free cloud storage services? You need an app that lets you access everything in one place and doo is just the app to “doo” that. Access local and cloud documents, tag files so you can find them quicker, and create searchable PDFs to store in the cloud without leaving the app. Download documents from email and automatically import them to doo. The intelligent tags feature will make it possible for you to find documents within seconds no matter where they are stored, even in your emails. This app is available for free.
Age of Thrones
Although the theme is medieval and the monsters included dragons and undead creatures, this tower defense game has nothing to do with A Game of Thrones. Don’t worry. You’ll still have fun killing stuff and defending your “Wall.” This epic adventure lets you create your own path so you can control how the enemy falls. There are 16 different upgradable towers, four buildable castles, 20 different enemies, and more. Use hero spells during the game to send enemies to their gods and customize your gameplay with a talent tree. Play in Endless mode, Casual mode, or Iron Maiden mode (metal!) against waves of enemies. This game is available for $1.99.
Parallels Access
These days, anyone who does business away from the office needs remote desktop access of some kind. As technology advances, so does our ability to get into our computers more smoothly. This app lets you have access to your desktop computer and even “appifies” them so you feel right at home on your iPad. Swipe, scroll, and pinch to zoom files from you computer that have never been optimized for a touch screen experience. You can even copy and paste from you desktop to your iPad. Easily switch between applications on your Mac or PC and use the Magnify Glass to get a more detailed look at your documents. This app is available for the iPad for free.
Blackbar
If you read 1984 and thought is was a great book with an insightful message on the importance of keeping your thoughts free, then you will enjoy the story that unfolds in this game. While not as deeply riveting as Orwell’s dystopian future, the characters in this book also find themselves censored for their private conversations. What happens to the young friends is up to you to discover. You’ll have to figure out what words were redacted from print in order to move onto the next page. Be careful what you write. You never know who is reading your letters. This game is available for $2.99.
Photoristic HD
Being able to throw a funny filter on your picture so that a plate of food looks like a masterpiece is one thing, but being able to individually adjust the different tones of a black and white photo to bring out the contrast is a way cooler photo editing feature. This app lets you adjust eight different colors, individually. Use professional grade editing tools like white balance, contrast, saturation, and more. If you really just want to throw a filter on your picture, there are more than 30 presets that you can also customize. Plus, you can create and save your own presets for easy access in the future. This app is available for $4.99.