Cody Lee

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup features a visual menu for over 80,000 restaurants, a new comedy network courtesy of Kevin Hart and a handy app to help you pack for vacations. And as always, we've selected two interesting new games for you to check out.

This is by no means a new app, but if you're not familiar with it, it's definitely worth checking out. Wine n Dine features visual menus from over 80,000 of the world's best restaurants that aims to help you always order delicious food. Save dishes with the 'Wanna Try' feature and you'll get reminded of it when you go to that restaurant, create and discover insightful restaurant lists, and browse the food map to see the best restaurant and foods around you. I also really like that the app avoids negativity—it's all about sharing the good, not the bad. Wine n Dine is available for free.

Laugh Out Loud is the new streaming video service from actor/comedian Kevin Hart, featuring a slate of original scripted and unscripted comedy series, stand-up specials, licensed programming, and live broadcasts. Laugh Out Loud combines Hart’s unparalleled social media savvy with his vision for the future of comedy - social, mobile, multicultural, and seriously funny. Not a fan of Hart's comedy? Don't worry, there are a ton of other comedians featured here. The app itself is free, and you can actually watch quite a bit without paying, but to unlock everything it'll cost you $3/month. Laugh Out Loud is available for free.

Packr will help you pack your suitcase for each trip. The app creates a packing checklist for your suitcase from 24 pre-defined activities and factors in details like length of stay, weather and planned activities. This is the perfect tool for your summer vacations, long week-ends, road trips and even camping. Plus, Packr learns from each of your trips to organize the packing checklists and adjusts the items it recommends based on that data. Unfortunately some features are hidden behind a subscription fee, which I think is a terrible idea for such a situational app, but the core features and design make it worth checking out. Packr is available for free.

Combining rich interactive fiction with classic RPG gameplay for mobile, Tunnels & Trolls Adventures will let you play through iconic adventures like Naked Doom, Buffalo Castle, Deathtrap Equalizer and more. The world of Tunnels & Trolls is filled with tough decisions, devious traps, and monstrous encounters where the risks are only rivaled by the rewards. Roll your stats, choose your kindred and begin your legendary adventures. Tunnels & Trolls Adventures is available for free (with some IAPs).

This is kind of cool. Bottom of the 9th is a strategic 2-player baseball game played with cards and dice. This faithful adaptation brings the fast-paced fun of the tabletop game to your phone! Choose your lineup from a pool of players with different strengths and abilities, outsmart your opponent in the stare-down, then roll the dice to trigger the action. Will you lead the underdogs to victory? Or will you defend the league leaders’ unbroken winning streak? Bottom of the 9th is available for $4.99.

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup features a fun video editing app, an app for discovering new and interesting content, and an app for sharing your travel experiences. And as always, we've picked two great new games for you to check out.

So Hypno Cam is a new(ish) app that enables you to quickly and easily add cool effects to your videos. The app automatically scripts your clips with effects, music, and edits synced to the beat. You don't have to be an expert videographer to create awesome videos—Hype your Instagram and Snap stories with the push of a button. New "scripts" are added every week, and there is a beta developer program for folks who want to create their own. For what it's worth, the app has 4.5-star on early reviews. Hypno Cam is available for free.

Mix is a new way to discover and curate interesting content you find on the internet. I know, this sounds like the same pitch we've heard from dozens of other apps, but Mix is worth checking out. The app uses an algorithm to feed you interesting and relative content, and its beautiful, minimal interface will keep you swiping for more. Use the special 'Mix' button to save and share the things you like, watch videos in-app, and more. Mix is available for free.

Explore every day with Trips by Lonely Planet — a beautiful, simple and intuitive way to share travel experiences. Upload photos and videos to your timeline, then share your trip with your friends, family and fellow travellers. Discover new places, be inspired by stories from the Lonely Planet community and start planning your next adventure. I know there are a lot of these kinds of apps out there, but the early reviews say this is a great way to document your trips or view others' trips. I think it's worth checking out. Trips is available in the App Store for free.

Standby for Titanfall! Experience freedom on the Frontier battlefield in a new mobile RTS that redefines the genre with fast-paced action and intense PvP battles. Put your combat skills to the test by unleashing a powerful arsenal of Titans and Pilots, including units from Titanfall 2 plus brand new specialized units only for the mobile game. Deploy Sim Ninja, Boomer, Ion, Scorch and more onto the battlefield to fight for control of the Frontier. Unite and destroy. And lead your forces to victory in The Frontier War. Titanfall: Assault is available for free (with some IAPs).

Dive into the relaxing and refreshing atmosphere of Swim Out, a strategic, turn-based puzzle game, that will transport you into a sunny day by the swimming pool, the river or the sea. Plan each of your strokes wisely and be sure to never cross any other swimmer's path if you want to peacefully enjoy the sea view on a cosy chaise-longue. There are over 100 levels to play and 12 different types of swimmers. If you're a fan of puzzle games, this one is definitely worth checking out. Swim Out is available for free.

This week's edition of our Apps of the week roundup features a powerful, easy-to-use sketch app, a multitrack music recorder, and a new weather app that serves up both forecasts and GIFs. And as always, we've picked two great new games for you to check out.

There are hundreds of sketch/drawing apps on the App Store, but I still think PicsArt Color paint is worth checking out. It offers a full drawing suite with an intuitive UI that makes it perfect for both beginners and professionals alike. Layers upon layers, a color mixer for any color combination you can imagine, fully customizable paint brushes, and an amazing texture brush are just some of the features available here. You can even doodle on that selfie you just took! PicsArt Color Paint is available for free.

Spire is a multitrack music recording app that automatically adds professional-quality polish to your recordings. Record your music anywhere, edit and mix it to perfection, then share it with the world. Features include working metronome, touch and drag mixing, song exportation, iZotope technology that autwmiatclaly removes unwanted song characteristics, and more. Spire is available for free.

Weather is emotional. Basic Weather is the daily weather app for people who choose to celebrate the highs and weather the lows (zing!). Features include daily weather notifications with hand-matched GIFs to make you smile, simple and swipeable interface, 5-day weather forecasts, instant sharing, and the developers claim the app's forecasts are extremely accurate. Basic Weather is available for free.

Miracle Merchant is a solitaire style potion brewing card game.In it, you become the apprentice of a master alchemist who creates potions for thirsty adventurers. By mixing and combining different ingredient cards you create powerful potions based on the needs of your customers. Each game has a unique, randomly generated set of cards that will test your skills. By successfully completing games you can collect a variety of masterfully crafted potions. Miracle Merchant is available for $1.99.

The title explains it all. In Flippy Knife, you work to become a master at knife flipping using the best knives from around the world. Features include realistic knife-flipping physics, over 35 different blades to choose from, various levels and locations, ranging from a campsite to tree tops, one finger control, and more. I know it sounds kind of ridiculous, but early reviews for the game are glowing. Flippy Knife is available for free (with some IAPs).

This week's edition of our Apps of the week roundup features a new AI-based photo editor, an app for quickly finding your group at a large event, and a new twist on the digital recipe book. And as always, we've selected two great new games for you to check out.

Teleport is a new, interesting app that allows you to edit live photos using artificial intelligence. No, we're not talking about adding animal ears or swapping faces—this app lets you change your hair color, alter your backdrop, blur the background and more. The interface is intuitive and well-designed, and as far as I can tell, the AI-based effects are impressive. Teleport is available for free.

Turf is a simple, but smart app that acts as a compass towards where you want to go. Imagine you're meeting a friend at a ballgame, or a musical festival. Well instead of sending countless texts back and forth, or making hard-to-hear phone calls, the people can simply send a point-of-interest using Turf, and your app will take you straight to it. I know other, more robust maps apps allow you to share your location, but this is more straight-to-the-point (no pun intended). Plus no account is required. Turf is available for free.

BuzzFeed's new Tasty app features all 1,700+ Tasty videos and a new Step-By-Step instruction mode that explains how to cook every recipe. The "My Recipes" page serves as your own personal cookbook and an innovative Search tool allows you to filter recipes by ingredient, cuisine, and social occasion. You can even filter out recipes with restrictions like vegan, gluten-free, low carb, healthy and comfort food. Easy is available for free.

Play the acclaimed PC survival RPG on your iPhone or iPad. NEO Scavenger is a game where you must survive in the wasteland long enough to figure out who you are. Each turn, you must decide where to go, how to scavenge for supplies, and how to deal with anything and anyone you encounter. And with each passing minute, the pit in your stomach grows, your dehydration worsens, your muscles tire, and your body temperature drops in the cold autumn air. Choose your starting abilities carefully, because they and your wit are the only tools you have in the apocalypse! NEO Scavenger is available free (with a single IAP to unlock the full game).

Vista Golf is a simple but elegant mini golf game, defined by crisp controls and the endless competition of new courses every week. We wanted to create the purest form of mini golf in your pocket, so if you seek both fun an frustration, this is the game for you. Features include Competitive Mode, Infinite (arcade) Mode, leaderboards, and weekly updates. I know there are a ton of golf games out there already, but this one seems worth checking out. Vista Golf is available for free.

This week's edition of our Apps of the Week roundup features a sticker-maker, screenshot-stitcher, and an app for locating and reserving campsites. And as usual, we've selected two great new games for you to check out.

Sticky AI uses artificial intelligence to help you create your own selfie-stickers incredibly fast. Create still and animated stickers, save them to the sticker pack and share them easily across your favorite messaging apps. Features include awesome comic and cartoon-like sticker styles, bright and colorful backgrounds to choose from, and a simple and clean user interface. For me it's kind of like having Instagram or Snapchat stickers in all of your favorite social apps. Sticky AI is available for free.

In the market for a screenshot-stitching app? Check out Picsew. It's not a new app, but it just received a big update. Picsew can automatically merge multiple screenshots into a single image. The developer says it has the leading auto-stitching success rate among similar products, and it also has a manual stitching option for more complex projects. Other features include support for both vertical and horizontal screenshots, high resolution output, watermarks and more. Picsew is available for $0.99.

It's that time of year again! Search, compare, and book with thousands of other travelers using RoverPass. With more than 20,000 campgrounds across the country, RoverPass is the only directory to offer nationwide booking through its online travel agency service. Other features include quick-loading search results, large photos, map exploration, online booking, and more. This isn't a new app, but if you like to camp and haven't checked it out, it may be worth doing so. It has one of the largest campground databases of any app I've seen. RoverPass is available for free.

In the mood to try a new puzzler this weekend? Check out Dice Smash. This game is simple, with the goal of tapping empty spaces between pairs of dice in an effort to clear the board. Features include daily challenges, support for Apple Watch and iMessage, and a gorgeous interface. Think you have what it takes to smash the dice? Try it. Dice Smash is available for free.

A new warrior has entered the ring. Street Fighter 4: Champion Edition perfects the winning gameplay formula of its predecessor by offering higher resolution graphics, three new characters (Poison, Ibuki and Dudley), wide screen support for newer iOS devices and a host of updates and refinements. Long time Street Fighter fans can jump into the action and have an instant familiarity with the controls. For more casual players, Street Fighter 4 features numerous settings and tutorials that put you on the path to victory. Street Fighter IV Champion Edition is available for $5.

This week's edition of our App of the Week roundup features a new map-based social app, a to-do list with a twist, and a new app that keeps you informed on new music releases from your favorite artists. And as usual, we've selected two great new games for you to check out.

Events are constantly shaping the way we interact with each other and helping us decide where we go on any given day. With YouMap, you can let the world know what you’re thinking, seeing and feeling, while getting the latest updates at a moment’s notice. Obviously we're skeptical anytime a new social network comes on the scene, but YouMap seems to have the UI and user engagement needed to gain some traction. The early reviews are glowing, with one user saying this is the first social app to "get the map thing right." So if you're feeling adventurous this weekend, see what's going on around you with YouMap. It's available for free.

Purp is a well-organized helper, to-do list and task manager app that allows you to achieve your goals and complete your daily tasks. Whatever your goals are—like completing projects, managing daily tasks, work todos, learning languages, mastering skills, sports or travel—Purp will help you to collect, keep, organize and track them, so you can reach them. Features include iCloud sync, task timer, progress dash board, and much more. The first reviews on iTunes are pretty rough, but the UI are feature set are unique enough that I think it's worth checking out. Purp To-Do List & Goal Tracker is available for free.

Record Bird informs you about new and upcoming music releases of your favorite artists and genres. Be the first to know of a new album or single by your favorite bands and musicians and share the news directly with your friends. With Record Bird, you will never miss a new release again. There have been more than a few apps that have tried a similar strategy, that didn't gain much traction. But the early user feedback (4.5 stars on 90 ratings in iTunes) suggest this one might have finally gotten it right. RecordBird is available for free.

How long can you survive in a post-apocalyptic world? Find out in Mini DAYZ—an official pixel art rendition of the massively successful PC survival game (played by over 3 million fans). It's you against the world in Mini DAYZ: explore a randomly generated map and scavenge for food, ammo and supplies. Use anything you find to craft advanced items. Protect yourself against aggressive infected and ferocious wolves. But most important of all: make sure to stay dry, warm and well fed at all times. The weather out there can quickly get under your skin and your wounds will not heal without you treating them. Mini DAYZ - Survival Game is available for free.

Flippy Hills is an original arcade game with cool physics that will give you plenty of thrills, spills, epic wins, fails and tricks in two modes of your choice: campaign or arcade. Campaign mode features an adventure spanning over dozens of levels that get progressively harder, and arcade mode puts you in an endless barrage of assault courses to compete with your friends and gain records. The gameplay is surprisingly addictive, but you are going to have to put up with some annoying ads unless you're willing to fork over a few bucks via an in-app purchase. Flippy Hills is available for free (with some IAPs).