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15 Minutes Of Game – Week Two


This past week the members of my Apple Family Sharing plan have been rolling in games like Scrooge McDuck. My backlog file went from non-existent to very, very existent. My iPhone strained under the stress i applied while downloading and playing games. This forced me to finally break down and update to the latest iOS, which has not been a bad decision thus far. It’s faster.  Sleeker.  I like it.

I’d like to keep both paid and free games equally in the forefront, though this week it just so happens they’re all free with in app purchases. I’m not sponsored by any of these game companies (though that could change…wink wink Bethesda, it’s me, ya boi). If i’ve reviewed a game, then i’ve either paid full price for the game, or paid to remove the ads.

Before we begin, i’d like to apologize for the number of times I am about to say “powerful balls”.

Enjoy this weeks list of games to fit your busy life.

  • Ball Blast – Voodoo Games – free – 

Ball Blast

Armed with a cannon, your job is to tap the screen while scrolling left and right. The cannon fires upwards Galaga style, shredding octagons with different numbers inside. The lower the number, the easier it is to destroy. After some time, larger and more powerful balls (Editor’s Note: ehehehhehehehhehe) start appearing from the sides of the screen. If a ball lands on you, you die. You could watch a video to gain an extra life, but you need to be quick because the option doesn’t last long. New cannon skins and backgrounds can be unlocked. Gold earned in the game is used to upgrade the fire rate, power, coins, and coins earned while offline. The more powerful the balls, the more coins they drop. Ball Blast is a family friendly fun time.

  • Zombie Gunship – Limbic Software – free – 

Zombie Gunship

Zombie Gunship is an oldie but a goodie made for fans of the AC-130 levels in Call Of Duty. You sit perched high in the sky launching round after round at walkers while trying to rescue civilians at the same time. Each Human rescued as well as each zombie killed grants gold. Gold is traded in for upgrades to the 25mm, 40mm, or 105mm guns. In addition, more gold per kill, allowance to more civilian deaths, and a larger radar can be gained. Each round is relatively quick and enemies get harder as the round lasts longer (giggity). The ‘Tank’ style zombies take multiple shots to put down and you can only hope they’ll come at you one at a time. Last as long as you can…

  • Theft Tycoon – Corey Smith – free – 

Theft Tycoon

Theft Tycoon is an idle crime tap simulator. As i was testing this week, this is a game I kept checking back in on. It was the definition of a jump in and jump out game and i utilized it multiple times while waiting throughout the week. You begin with a simple ramen stand, making small amounts here and there. As the wealth grows, upgrades and multipliers are available for purchase to make money faster. There’s a side quest set of heists that can be done every couple of hours. It’s a nice boost of income to jump start some extra upgrades. Play only if you like doing hoodrat things with your friends.

  • C.A.T.S.: Crash Arena Turbo Stars – Zeptolab – free –

CATS

As a cat owner, i have to constantly fight the desire to build cardboard cities to watch it run around in.  What’s better than a cardboard city?  Battle tanks. Those are better. In C.A.T.S. the goal is to build better and better battle tanks for your cat to fight other cats in. Upgrading wheels, weapons, and tank bodies gives you an edge over your opponents in the automated battles. Four wins in a row in quick fight will yield a parts box that will open in two hours or for ten gems. Championship fights yield more powerful parts boxes, gold, gems, and more. Send your fur babies into battle the right way: with love and a battle tank.

  • Big Big Baller – Lion Studios – free – 

Big Big Baller

If you’ve ever played sticky.io, hole.io, or twister.io, then this game will feel very familiar. Within 90 seconds, your goal is to drive over enough people, park benches, light poles, cars, buildings, to gain more mass than the other players. Countries battle each other each week to see who reigns supreme. Crushing smaller players underneath you gives you more points and sets them back a couple seconds while you grow bigger. Avoid more powerful balls or you’ll be the one getting crushed. Visually, this game works well, though ad support is a little heavy. The controls are smooth and if you decide to pay to remove the ads like i did (less than $3 i believe), the games fly by and you’ll gain more levels and be the biggest most powerful ball on the block.

Because this is my article and i can do what i want, i am going to add another game this week.  This game that i found while testing this past week frustrated me more than it was enjoyable.  

  • Flip The Gun – Free – 

This game was fun for the first few minutes. The goal is to shoot a gun and make it flip up into the air. You have to time your shots so they are facing down, flipping the gun up higher. The first level with the magnum was surprisingly fun. An ad played in between each round, no matter how short. Once i earned enough gold i purchased the pistol. It was almost uncontrollable. It just spun in the air, maybe getting up to ten or fifteen feet if I was lucky. And more ads played. Navigating the main menu has traditionally been an ad free zone. Not so with this game. Leaving the settings menu to the main menu triggered an ad. I spent the majority of this game watching ads instead of playing the game. In the gun purchases, the third item is a golden AK-47 for twenty dollars. Twenty real, human dollars. The concept is a novel one, but this iteration felt like a cash grab at best. Less ad support and a slight handicap on the physics would make this a pretty good game.

That’s it for this week.  I hope you enjoyed this list and enjoy these games as well. Have a good rest of your week and don’t forget to take a little time for yourself.  Even if it’s only 15 Minutes!