0
comments
Did you know that there is more to the state of Illinois than Chicago, sports franchises, and the birthplace of Abraham Lincoln? I know it seems hard to believe, but thanks to the due diligence of the Illinois Office of Tourism there is a new app that will help newcomers explore every nook and cranny of the state.
Enjoy Illinois is designed to help residents and visitors alike check out over ten thousand attractions located all over the map. Tapping into the GPS capability of iPhone’s and iPad’s, the application can even help wanderers find interesting places close to where they reside.
If trip planning is more in your wheelhouse, the software can help you design an action packed trip, every step of the way. Everything from shopping to food can be found in Enjoy Illinois, along with special discounts reserved specifically for users of the app. Buckle in, because it sounds like a road trip might be in your future!
Enjoy Illinois
Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad
Buy Now: FREE
Released: 2011-08-11 :: Category: Travel
Apps mentioned in this post: Enjoy Illinois
About: Enjoy Illinois Helps Explore The Unknown is a post from 148Apps
--
Source: http://www.148apps.com/news/enjoy-illinois-helps-explore-unknown/
~
Manage subscription | Powered by rssforward.com
:: WELL & TRULY AWESOME
I was a bit skeptical about Awesome Saucer at first. I mean, the title seems like kind of a boast, and there are an awful lot of apps in the App Store that talk a big game but fail to deliver. After spending a mere five minutes with this game I wasn’t just impressed; now I think the whole “awesome” thing is actually a bit understated.
Unfortunately it can be a bit hard to distinguish when I’m being attacked because the action and visuals are so flipping crazy, but there are three difficulty settings to ease the transition and even the early levels are an absolute blast. It’s also a little disappointing that there aren’t any achievements of any kind, or even online leaderboards, but I’m having way too much fun with it to mind.
It’s really quite easy to get words jumbled up, especially for those not 100% confident with their English language skills when it comes to writing things down. It’s not so much the obvious mistakes that are easily made but more the subtle ones. Things like spelling breach as breech or compliment as complement. Small and subtle but it makes all the difference. For those who are keen to ensure that such blips are a distant memory, an app like WordWit has the potential to not only educate and entertain in its mission to decode the secrets of confusing word usage and spelling.
I mentioned the existence of Hothead Games’ Kard Combat 
Yet as fun as all of the surprisingly intense duels can be, I can’t help but lament the “half-access” this freemium title grants its users. Each of the eight (recently up from four) mage types and their varying strategies is fun to mess around with, and there’s bound to be one that fits each player’s preferred strategy, but they can only be used for a handful of tower floors and a couple of single player challenges apiece. In order to access the rest of their campaigns (and by extension unlock all of their cards), players will have to pay. Thankfully multiplayer is still available for non-paying users, but I feel like those who’ve taken the plunge are at a distinct advantage with more (and better) summons at their disposal.
The plot serves little purpose except to bookend the campaign levels, but the blasting is really what it’s all about anyway. Stan is rooted to the spot, which is odd seeing as he’s in space, so players have to direct his blasts by tapping (and holding) on the screen to get him to blow away the alien aggressors. Par for the course, there are various upgrades that will unlock as the levels progress which can be carried over to the Survival Mode. Which is good because it’s near impossible to last longer than a few seconds in Survival with the default gear.
City-building simulation games have been quite popular over the year, and with good reason: people like to run things without the fear of failure. Sure, it’s possible for one of these virtual cities to crumble to dust due to economic decay, natural disasters or atomic monster attacks, but it’s just a game so there’s no real pressure. However, even without the risk it’s still fun to pretend we’re the one running everything.
The simple act of placing houses and other structures strategically has a pleasant addictiveness to it. As does watching the surrounding areas’ appearances change based on the good or bad things dropped next to them. For example; a normal house looks okay, a “good” house looks fancier and a “bad” house looks rather gross. It’s a simple effect that makes the experience that much more appealing. But what makes it most appealing, to me anyway, is how experience is steadily gained during play and will unlock new building tiles as higher levels are reached. It makes for one heck of a good reason to keep playing regardless of the lack of any sort of multiplayer. Save online high scores.