Check out the latest and greatest in apps for your Blackberry with our monthly app roundup.
Chromasphere
All the tilty rolly goodness you could hope for.
It’s a crazy marble rollathon! Tilt your PlayBook side to side to guide the marble through the maze in the fastest time possible, without falling off of the edge.
Tilt PlayBook left, tilt PlayBook right - this is fun!
Of course, this isn’t a fresh premise, with games dating back to the earliest ages of video games, and even further back in time when you consider their wooden RL counterparts. However, since the Wii’s magic motion controllers came along, these games have seen a resurgence. And now, with the wonder of tablets, the genre has now moved full circle, with a board-like digital contraption emulating the board-like contraptions of yore.
You’ll find the usual colour-coded keys (crystals in this incarnation) -- these need to be collected before you can open doors, flick switches or cross bridges -- and moving platforms that have been making an appearance in the genre for decades now. This particular incarnation of rolly marbley games stands out because of its attractive graphics and engaging storyline. OK, I made up the storyline part, but the graphics are attractive.
At the time of writing, the developer stated that the app is still in ‘beta’ status, but I came across no real issues. One feature I’d like to see would be the ability to calibrate ‘flat’. On a better note, the developer has also stated that it’s adding to the current 18 levels.
US$0.99 > redmotion games > Get it here
Stellarium (Astronomy StarMap)
Based on the open-source Windows/Linux project of the same name, Stellarium condenses the infinite wonder and scope of the universe into a nifty, tablet-sized augmented reality app.
The app allows you to point your PlayBook to the sky to see what wonders lie light years beyond our atmosphere, or you can manually navigate any of the different views. You can zoom in on any of the many constellations or asterisms (‘unofficial’ constellations) and see them with or without their dots connected. A brilliant way to learn what lies above our heads.
US$1.99 > 1871260 Ontario Inc > Get it here
Word Craze
Word Craze is a surprisingly entertaining word game where you need to make as many words as you can from the provided five letters.
It’s a very simple concept, but I found that I was playing it for far longer than I thought I would. The addition of BBM integration further improves it -- since games are always more fun when you personally know the person whose ash you’re a-kickin’ -- as does the self-described, pseudo-English ‘eye-contagious interface’.
US$0.99 > SRID Games > Get it here
Wunderlist
Task list apps are a staple of any smartphone owner. I’d be lost without mine and with the plethora of different devices that fill my life, the addition of some kind of cross-platform, cloud-based sync is a requirement that I take very seriously. I can edit my tasks on my PC (or Mac/Linux) and have them appear on any of my iOS, Android, BBOS or WP7 devices. In this sense, Wunderlist ticks not only my completed tasks, but also all of my boxes.
Free > 6 Wunderkinder GmbH > Get it here
