Games:
Some of the iPad games caught me completely by surprise. They were....gorgeous. The iPad's huge screen afforded ample real estate for a gaming experience I hadn't really considered before when using the iPhone and iPod Touch. While I am not a big action gamer on this kind of platform, some of the sim and puzzle games bring me back again and again...
...such as We Rule. This is a "build your kingdom/grow crops" sim game. It has familiar concepts to anyone who has played Farmville. Build your kingdom, plant crops, build more types
[caption id="attachment_500" align="alignright" width="300" caption="A kingdom of minions on your iPad!"]
[/caption]of buildings, sell stuff, collect taxes, repeat. The graphics are stunning and truly shine on the iPad's display. The game suffers from some network connectivity problems, however, which are unrelated to the iPad's hardware itself. The game servers have proven to be rather unstable at times and there have been days when I couldn't connect for hours at a time. This is largely due to the success of the game and the number of players accessing the system, which is a good sign, but can be frustrating when you have a costly batch of crops coming due for harvesting. The best thing? It's free! Look for me under the gamertag "ragle".
Given the iPad doesn't support Flash (I know, I know), Farmville is currently not able to be played. However, in searching around for a suitable replacement, I found an iPhone game which works almost as well. In fact, it appears to be a direct rip-off of Farmville, with the addition of
[caption id="attachment_501" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="Where do zombies fit in the food nutrition pyramid?"]
[/caption]zombies. Zombie Farm, basically, allows you to plant and grow an army of zombies alongside your fruits and vegetable. You can then use the zombies to "attack" other players and steal their resources (and their brains). Scaling the app up to the iPad's screen makes for a better experience, but the apps is currently running in compatibility mode, which makes it slightly less than what it could be eventually. Hopefully the developers are working on an iPad exclusive edition. The game is free and my game profile can be accessed if you are one of my Facebook friends.
Both beautiful and addictive, Harbor Master has become one of my favorites. The concept is basically all about multitasking and management. You have a number of ports, each one of two
[caption id="attachment_502" align="alignleft" width="300" caption="So many boats, so few docks."]
[/caption]colors. Various ships with matching colors enter the screen, at random points and speeds. You must direct the ships to the appropriately colored dock, wait until it unloads, and then direct it back off the screen. All the while, more ships are still coming into the area and must be managed so they do not collide as they wait their turn to dock. It sounds simple but can get pretty hairy, pretty quickly. For some reason, the iPhone version of this game costs $1.99, but the stunningly beautiful iPad version is free.
Another beautiful, yet confusingly priced (free, with the iPhone versions costing between $1.99 and $4.99) is Aurora Feint III. It's sort of like a Dr. Mario or Bejeweled "match three kinds of blocks to eliminate them" game, with the added twist of "battling" random characters in the forest. Each row of three blocks you clear is a slash against the enemy, who is slashing you
[caption id="attachment_503" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Gorgeous"]
[/caption]in return. The graphics are awesome, the sound is beautiful, and the gameplay is very compelling, even a bit nerve wracking at times. I found myself both frustrated and fascinated as I learned the various techniques to clear blocks quickly before they rise to the top or the enemy slashes me too many times. I only recently started playing this and haven't put too much time into it yet, but so far, so good, it's a keeper. Look for me on the OpenFeint network under Ragle or via my Facebook page.
Honorable mentions include CastleCraft, GodFinger, and MonkeyFlight. All of these are beautiful, fun games, but I just haven't been brought back to them again and again as I have the ones mentioned above. Touch Tanks looks great, has a great online multiplayer premise, but was buggy as hell on the iPad. Controls would stick or freeze and the game would eventually crash.
Information:
The built in iPad apps, like those on the iPhone, are those I constantly use. The iCal, Address Book, and Safari apps are probably accessed more times individually than all other apps combined. The iBooks app, while not included in the initial installed selection, is also a stunner and I use it frequently. While these alone are worthwhile for owning an iPad, the 3rd party apps below are must-haves for the device.
The various Google web apps are definite holdovers from my iPhone. Accessing them in the web
[caption id="attachment_505" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Google apps family"]
[/caption]browser and then bookmarking them as apps on the main screen allows me to get to my Google Voice, Docs, Talk, and Buzz pages quickly. They even have their own little icons like "normal"
apps. Yes, I have my Google Wave app bookmarked too, but it appears highly unstable on the iPad and will crash my browser. These are all obviously free and you can find them in your Google account.
The NPR app is a great example of the power of the iPad and the great way to read and listen to the various news stories on that network. The has a clean, simple interface, designed for the iPad's screen to take full advantage. Stories are laid out in draggable bars, divided into categories. Many of the stories have companion audio pieces from NPR's radio broadcast or
[caption id="attachment_506" align="alignleft" width="222" caption="NPR's awesome multimedia app"]
[/caption]podcast. You can queue them into a playlist and, for example, listen to an interview with a politician while reading book reviews. It's a great way to consume news information and is an invaluable addition to the iPad. Best of all, again, it's free!
Not enough can be said for the Netflix app. I have had a Netflix account for over a year. While I take full advantage of the DVD mailer program, it's my wife who watches the online streaming movies the most. (Our TiVo could be used to watch Netflix if I had not "altered" it to enable some other features, rendering the Netflix function unable to authorize my account.) However, since getting the iPad, I have found myself watching more Netflix shows in the last week than I did in the previous year. This becomes great for putting on the spin bike and watching a show to take my mind off the growing fatigue in my legs as I pedal. I also find myself watching my favorite MythBusters episodes in bed instead of laying on the couch only to find myself waking up at 3 AM and being uncomfortable. Sitting outside and catching up on Penn&Teller's Bullshit show has also proven an enjoyable experience. The app itself is free, but requires a paid Netflix subscription, starting at around $9 per month.
Apps from the iPhone which are badly in need of updating to take advantage of the iPad are Facebook, Cracked, Colloquy, and Skype (yes, the iPad can make phone calls).
Are you an iPad developer with an app you'd like reviewed? Leave a comment and contact email below.
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