I was first introduced to the world of tower defense games a couple of years back with the venerable Desktop Tower Defense. I do have to admit that I wondered if the whole idea of the game, placing various types of gun turrets to try and annihilate a group of small creatures/people before they can escape from you, might indicate some deep homicidal impulse on my part. But when I realized that the creatures where aptly named “creeps,” my worries dissipated.

When the iPhone came along it was immediately apparent to me that this was the perfect platform for tower defense games, with the touch screen an excellent way to place my maze of death. Sure enough the genre has sprouted no fewer than 49 different iPhone games for those who share my intense desire to keep creeps from crossing the screen. I’m not going to tell you which are my favorite, that will come later, but I am going to try and give you a complete snapshot of what’s available in the App store today. Because, let’s face it, if you don’t have at least half a dozen of these installed you’re not really exercising your homicidal instincts to their full potential.

geoDefense

Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Futuristic Tron-like graphics, high-speed gameplay and path oriented maps.

geoDefense Swarm

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Same purposefully (I hope) unsophisticated, futuristic graphics as the standard geoDefense, but with an open field approach to maps.

TowerMadness: 3D Tower Defense

Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This games gives you a reason for your killing, to protect your sheep from aliens. Also you get a 3-D interface, although the graphics leave something to be desired.

Fieldrunners

Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fieldrunners offers a relatively vanilla tower defense experience, but is distinguished by its extremely smooth interface and high quality graphics.

Star Defense

Price: 99 cents (free “prelude” version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This space-based tower defense game has you playing on small worlds that you can rotate and zoom into. The graphics are definitely the key feature here.

Dungeon Defense

Price: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this version of tower defense you play the bad guys, in the form of skeletons, and you kill the heroes. I kind of like that idea. There does seem to be a limited amount of gameplay, however, with only three skeleton types to place.

Sentinel: Mars Defense

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: You place towers to defend Mars from aliens. There seem to be a good selection of tower types and the graphics look impressive.

Sentinel 2: Earth Defense

Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: The same idea as its predecessor Mars Defense, only this time the alien buggers are invading earth. Impressive graphics are once again the highlight of this tower defense game.

Navy Patrol: Coastal Defense

Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Tower defense on the water, you place your navy to defend against an invader. Graphics are not overly impressive and the interface can get a bit cluttered, but gameplay seems to be deep.

The Creeps!

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: This time the creeps aren’t just trying to innocently cross the screen, they’re trying to get under your bed! This take on the tower defense genre offers cute graphics and some interesting features like destroyable terrain.

TapDefense

Price: Free
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Solid graphics and gameplay seem to be marred by some user complaints about advertisements. Still, it’s hard to argue with free.

7 Cities

Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Coastal tower defense, you build towers next to waterways to destroy invading ships. Towers can gain experience to get more powerful. The graphics are impressive and you can even build your own maps.

Battle Field – Nuclear Bomb

Price: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A wide selection of towers, with 10 different types. There’s also a leveling system and, of course, nuclear bombs.

TowerDefense

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not available
Distinguishing Features: Cartoonish graphics look decent but the description is strangely short and there aren’t enough ratings to merit a score. I kind of feel bad for the developer.

A Bugs Defense

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is pretty simple, bugs are invading the house and you stop them with various insecticides. The graphics are cute and cartoonish. Unfortunately there seem to be some game-play “bugs” that bother reviewers.

SG Tower Defence

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Graphics are… unimpressive. There’s a strange wooden background to everything and the towers and creeps look like something out of 1985, and not in a good retro way.

Besiegement

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting mix of graphics for a fairly vanilla tower defense game. The point of view is different from most, and you do have a good selection of tower types.

Port Defender – 2D Tower Defense

Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Not a lot special here, the graphics aren’t anything to swoon over and the selection of maps and towers are pretty standard.

Warp Defense

Price: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: I was a bit curious to see how the “warp” in the title would be implemented in the game, but it turns out it’s just a path-based tower defense game with laser-showesque graphics.

Dragon Slaughter Episode I

Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented game with excellent graphics. Interesting tower purchasing system requires you to combine orb types, with various strength and weaknesses.

Ninja TD

Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: OK, there are Ninjas, what else do you want? Well, there also seem to be some beautiful graphics here, along with magic based ninja powers. Unfortunately your enemies are not pirates.

Moonlight Minions

Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: Impressive graphics, with an underground path-oriented theme. Your “towers” are various fungal compositions, I’ll let you make what you will of that.

Garden War

Price: 99 cents (free version also available)
Current Rating: 4 stars
Distinguishing Features: A pest oriented tower defense game, in this one you defend your garden from various creepy buggers. Maps appear to be path-oriented and graphics are very good.

TriDefense

Price: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: This version of tower defense offers decent graphics and some interesting features for example creeps can appear from anywhere on the screen and you can modify the terrain.

Bloons Tower Defense

Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: In this path-based tower defense game you want to pop the escaping balloons, but you get to use dart-throwing monkeys to do it, sounds good to me.

Booom Brigade

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: An interesting mix of shooter and tower game. You get three types of troops to fire at the incoming creeps, but they don’t do it automatically, instead you have to draw their attacks onto the screen. Reviewers indicate it’s a hard proposition.

Defender Chronicles – Legend of The Desert King

Price: $3.99
Current Rating: 4.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Fantasy oriented path-based tower defense game with a leveling system for your general that gives you bonuses for troop types.

Zombie Attack!

Price: $2.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There are zombies, you need to kill them…pretty self-explanatory really. The best part is the hand drawn (as in pencil on lined paper) tower picker.

Tribal Trouble Tower Defense

Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: Decent graphics and interface, but be warned that there’s only one level in this game.

Kill All Bugs!

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Basic tower defense game except the creeps are giant bugs. Graphics are nothing impressive, but there does seem to be a good depth of gameplay.

Hextop Tower Defense

Price: 99 cents (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Yes, it’s hexagonal, apart from that there’s nothing special here.

iDefend

Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: A lot of gameplay with 36 levels, but you better be a fan of retro graphics.

Exal Tower Defense

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: A basic open field tower defense games with mediocre graphics.

Mote-M

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Another basic tower defense game, this one with path-oriented maps.

Nemesis Defence

Price: $1.99
Current Rating: Not Rated
Distinguishing Features: Path-based tower defense game with a good selection of towers but only three different maps.

Circuit Defenders

Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: The premise is that you’re defending a circuit board from viruses. The graphics are… not bad. The gameplay is endless, and by that I don’t mean that you will want to play forever (although you might) but rather that you keep on going until you’ve lost all your lives.

Retro Defense

Price: $3.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Retro arcade style tower defense game with path-oriented maps and 15 levels.

Sweetwater

Price: $2.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: This coastal defense oriented game features some very nice graphics and 3D effects. Be prepared, however, that this one is no pushover, reviewers rate it as one of the hardest tower defense games they’ve played.

Last Portal

Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics are a bit simple, but well designed. The interesting feature of this game is that you need to defend a central point rather than a maze or a side of the screen.

Galactic Invasion

Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Your towers in this game are orbital emplacements to stop alien invaders from reaching earth. Unfortunately the interface seems a bit difficult to use.

INKoming

Price: $1.99 (free lite version also available)
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Interesting resource management features require you to turn towers on/off to make the best use of your capabilities.

touchDefense

Price: $3.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Simple but well designed graphics in this basic tower defense game.

Defense Station Touchable

Price: $2.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Average graphics and a pretty standard path-based setup without a ton of depth.

TowerDefend

Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: Nice if you like old arcade graphics, but not much else compelling here.

Mars Defence

Price: Free
Current Rating: 2.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: Very basic from graphics to gameplay. Reviews indicate this is a work in progress.

Tides of War

Price: 99 cents
Current Rating: 3 stars
Distinguishing Features: A mix of real-time-strategy and tower defense. You have both units and buildings that you can deploy on the map to keep an invading horde of pirates from overwhelming you.

Power Towers

Price: $1.99 (free version also available)
Current Rating: 3.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: There seems to be a lot of depth to the gameplay, with nine tower types and eight different mission types. The graphics look like something from the DOS era, however.

StopTheBoxes

Price: $1.99
Current Rating: 1.5 stars
Distinguishing Features: The developer says it’s a tower defense game, some of the reviewers agree, but I sure can’t figure it out.

Defense Grid Companion

Price: Free
Current Rating: 2 stars
Distinguishing Features: The graphics look nice, but there’s not a lot of information from the developer, nor a lot of reviews. Of course it doesn’t cost you anything to give it a shot.

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Enter the variety of remote control apps for the iPhone, which let you operate your desktop Mac from your iPhone as if you were sitting in front of it. Some of these apps use the common VNC protocol to allow remote control, and others use their own proprietary methods. All of them will let you control your Mac (or a PC) from your iPhone.

Jaadu ($24.99)

Jaadu is the most polished and powerful of all the iPhone remote control clients. It offers SSH encrypted VNC, which is a key feature if you connect to your Mac via public Wi-Fi networks, although the SSH encryption in Jaadu doesn’t operate with Snow Leopard Macs (Jugari promises a fix soon).

The actual remote control is quite intuitive. By default, control is a combination of moving the mouse pointer and sliding the desktop behind it.  You pinch with two fingers to zoom in and out of the remote screen, and the iPhone’s soft keyboard can be used for typing. Jaadu provides a pop-up box for using modifier keys, as well as keys that don’t exist on the iPhone keyboard. It works well for limited typing, but you would not want to write an essay this way. Jaadu includes nice extras such as clipboard transfer and support for a wide variety of VNC servers, including the built-in Mac OS screensharing.  Unfortunately, you do need to modify and configure your firewall to allow SSH, but Jaadu does have software that will attempt to automatically configure it for you.

LogMeIn Ignition ($29.99)

LogMeIn’s primary feature is that it requires zero configuration of the computer being controlled, and it works securely and automatically across all kinds of networks (other remote control clients usually require manual router configuration). The software works with LogMeIn’s suite of Mac and Windows remote control products, and is a polished and powerful piece of commercial software.

After installation, you are presented with a list of computers to which you have access, and that’s all you need to configure it. The actual remote control isn’t as smooth or intuitive as Jaadu.  Your two basic modes are either the background moves or the mouse moves. Similar to Jaadu, LogMeIn has a pop-up keyboard and modifier keys.   Personally, I use this program as my preferred method of remote control because I can easily control a fleet of Macs and PCs.

iSSH ($4.99)

iSSH, like Jaadu, offers integrated encryption of VNC sessions; however, the remote control functionality seems to be thrown in as an afterthought in what is actually a very powerful system administrators’ tool, offering all kinds of remote access including SSH, X11 and telnet.

Similar to other remote control clients, you move the mouse by sliding your finger across the phone’s screen. A very nice feature iSSH offers is a “transparent” view of the keyboard, so you can type while still seeing as much of the remote screen as possible. Actual performance seemed a bit slower than LogMeIn or Jaadu, and the app appears less stable, occasionally crashing. The crashing aside, it’s overall an excellent value.

MochaVNC ($5.99) and MochaVNC Lite (Free)

The Lite version of Mocha is absolutely worthless; it works OK as a viewer, but you can’t do any normal typing, as the developers do not support the Mac’s modifier keys, such as “command,” unless you buy the full version. Neither version offers integrated encryption, and the performance was slow and unreliable. At a dollar more than the more polished and feature-rich iSSH, MochaVNC is not a good value.

RemoteTap ($4.99)

RemoteTap is a “VNC-like” application, although it doesn’t actually use a standard VNC server. Instead, you download the free RemoteTap preference pane on the computer you want to control. This preference pane is much more powerful than normal VNC servers, offering support for advanced features like command macros, multi-touch gestures, and direct access to Spaces, Front Row, and application launching.

RemoteTap’s remote control works very well, with a unique “magnifying glass” interface that expands the area of the remote Mac screen without the need for a lot of manual zooming in and out. Overall, RemoteTap is very polished and feature rich, but it is missing support for standard VNC or encryption, so it is not a good choice for those with a mix of Mac and PCs or who need to connect over the Internet.

RDM+ Remote Desktop ($9.99)

RDM+ Remote Desktop works in a similar manner to LogMeIn, utilizing a central server to enable remote control of Mac and PC desktops from an iPhone without requiring manual configuration of routers or firewalls. You install a small piece of software on the Mac or PC you want to control, and then purchase and install the app on your iPhone. RDM+ Remote Desktop provides the usual basic remote control features; you can pan, zoom, click and drag on the remote computer as well as type text. However, the controls on the iPhone felt awkward and were not as intuitive to use as many of the other remote control apps.

All of these apps have their plusses and minuses. The best value for the money is probably iSSH. The most polished commercial-grade software is LogMeIn. Jaadu is simply the most powerful pure VNC client, and RemoteTap offers some unique Mac-only functionality for LAN use in a home or office. MochaLite works well as a free viewer if you just need very basic functionality.  Which ever way you go, these apps will let you access the desktop of your Mac from anywhere, so go ahead and stay in bed and convince your boss you are sitting at the office.

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Kosher ($4.99)

Apps like Yelp help you find the best restaurants nearby via your GPS, but if you keep kosher, you want slightly different information about a restaurant. First, obviously, is if they are kosher, but the Kosher App also includes reviews from users of the website Shamash.org as well as the certification authority used to determine if the place was kosher (some authorities are accepted more widely than others). The application can also work without an internet connection since the database is downloaded during setup. The app also contains the blessings for the meal, although the average user of Kosher probably already knows them.

Kosher Cookbook ($4.99)

There are lots of recipe apps out there, but the average app doesn’t consider the restrictions on types and combinations of food kosher cooking requires. Similar to other applications, Kosher Cookbook has a large database of recipes and allows you to create custom shopping lists and meal plans. I liked the organization of the recipes in such a way that the kosher home would approach it: dairy, meat and parve. Additionally the virtual “shelf” of cookbooks contains the secular categories as well, such as appetizers, breakfast and dessert. For anyone who keeps a kosher kitchen, or wants to cook for kosher guests, this cookbook will steer you clear of ingredients and combinations that would be inappropriate.

KosherMe ($6.99)

Originally this started out including just the blessing over food (hence the KosherMe title). Unique to most of the Jewish applications is the fact that prayers and information are also in Hebrew and until recently the iPhone didn’t support Hebrew. Most other applications simply render the Hebrew as an image. KosherMe actually renders it like text and allows you to choose Hebrew, English, or transliterated Hebrew (Hebrew words “sounded out” for those that read English but not Hebrew). The newest version expanded to practically all common Jewish prayers and I use it to enhance my spirituality. See a beautiful rainbow and don’t know a prayer for it? There’s an app for that.

iBlessing (99 cents)

If you just want the blessings over food and not sure which one to say, or how to say it, iBlessing is for you. For only 99 cents, it tells you all the proper blessings for food as well as washing hands and grace after meals. Instead of showing you the text, it says the blessing for you in Hebrew and in English and gives you time to repeat each word. If you can’t read Hebrew at all, this is great. Bonus prayers include the Shema and Modeh Ani. Unfortunately, even with iPhone sound turned off, it plays introduction music which can be disconcerting if you only want the blessing.

Siddur ($9.99), Siddur Lite (99 cents)

In sharp contrast to KosherMe is Siddur. Siddur is, pardon my cross-cultural reference, the whole enchilada. Not only does it contain practically every common prayer and blessing a Jew would need, but it subdivides those prayers into the various cultural backgrounds such as Ashkenazik and Sephardic. The folks at Rusty Brick really went all out to make this program the center of your iPhone Jewish life. On the basic level, Siddur includes the morning and evening services as well as most major blessings in all the Nusuch. Unlike KosherMe, there is no English transliteration or transliterated Hebrew. You have to know what you’re saying. Siddur Lite stops there. The non-lite version includes a Zmanim which uses the GPS to tell you the proper prayer times for your current location (push notifications coming?!), a Luach to tell you the current Hebrew date and upcoming Hebrew events, and a public misheberach prayer list.

Synagogues (99 cents)

So you only go to synagogue twice a year and aren’t sure how to get there? Synagogue uses your GPS coordinates to find the closest synagogue. Maps is ineffective for this search because it pulls up day schools and other places affiliated with synagogue, but not houses of worship. Additionally, Synagogue tells you the religious affiliation of the synagogue (Reform, Conservative, and so on) as well as the rabbi’s name, the website, and the number of households in the congregation (in case you want a smaller or larger one to attend).

Shabbat Shalom (Free)

What time does Shabbat start? What time is it over? What’s the Torah portion for the week. This application I use more than any other to answer these questions. Since many of my friends are observant Jews and do not answer the phone on Shabbat, being able to see what the start and end times for Shabbat where either I live or they live is very helpful. You can add multiple locations so I know not only when I can call local people, but when I can call observant friends and family living out-of-state.

Mizrach (99 cents)

During many Jewish prayers in America, you must pray pointing East, towards Jerusalem. Mizrach, which means “east” in Hebrew, uses the 3GS compass feature to accurately and elegantly tell you where east is (technically, slightly southeast). Sure, you can use the actual compass, but it isn’t as pretty. Mizrach will accurately direct you towards Jerusalem no matter where in the world you might be praying.

Shabbat Clock (Talking Version) (99 cents)

One of the restrictions of a traditional Jewish Sabbath is the inability to use electronics such as an alarm clock. Generally, you can set the alarm clock in advance, but you can’t snooze the alarm because that would be using electronics. You can’t even wake up the phone from sleep because that would be “using” the phone. Shabbat Clock keeps it’s app open and prevents the iPhone from going to sleep (make sure it’s plugged in). At the appointed time, it will play an alarm for up to a minute. It will even automatically call someone if you’d like.

For those so inclined, an iPhone might be your must trusted tool in the synagogue next to your siddur. Just please put it on vibrate during services!

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There are few iPhone games that I will immediately buy. Most of the ones I do, however, are the classic games I played as a teenager.

The iPhone/iPod touch is more than powerful enough to handle these games and it seems that there are many people like me who are keen to experience these classics again. So, here’s a roundup of modern ports of classic games. Only official ports of classic games are detailed here — clones and the like do exist but I had to draw a line in the sand. I’ve also included links to Wikipedia for those interested in the history of the games.

Classic Arcaders

The Video Arcade is where mainstream gaming began, and there are plenty of original ports from this era to re-live your youth shoving coins into cabinets. I’d still like to see BubbleBobble make an appearance here to completely satisfy my urges.

Space Invaders

Release Year: 1978
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Super Breakout

Release Year: 1978
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $1.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Centipede

Release Year: 1980
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Missile Command

Release Year: 1980
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

PAC-MAN

Release Year: 1980
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $5.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Ms. PAC-MAN

Release Year: 1981
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $5.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Galaga

Release Year: 1981
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Frogger

Release Year: 1981
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $1.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Dig Dug

Release Year: 1982
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Pole Position

Release Year: 1982
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $2.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Q*Bert

Release Year: 1982
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $1.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Space Ace

Release Year: 1984
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Time Crisis

Release Year: 1995
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $5.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Alpine Racer

Release Year: 1995
Original Platform: Arcade
Price: $1.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Adventures

The classic point and click adventure games let you guide your character around a scene, interacting with computer characters and objects by either entering text or clicking on action words. Sierra and Lucas Arts were the kings of this genre until the 3D graphics revolution when they seemed to die out. Myst took a different take on the genre while InfoGames was one of the original companies where text adventures all started (Frotz is an open source interpretor of text adventure games and includes the M.I.T version of Zork).

Zork (available in Frotz)

Release Year: 1977
Original Platform: DEC PDP-10
Price: Free
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Mystery House

Release Year: 1980
Original Platform: Apple II
Price: $5.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Secret of Monkey Island

Release Year: 1990
Original Platform: Atari ST, Macintosh and PC
Price: $7.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Simon The Sorcerer

Release Year: 1993
Original Platform: PC
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Myst

Release Year: 1993
Original Platform: Mac
Price: $5.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Flight of the Amazon Queen

Release Year: 1995
Original Platform: Amiga, PC
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Shooters

The memories of borrowing my school’s greyscale brief-case sized 386 for the weekend to play the shareware version of Wolfenstein 3D are still with me. It started a new era of gaming can now be fondly relived on the iPhone. Duke Nukem 3D is another old favorite, athough ID was clearly the leader.

Wolf 3D

Release Year: 1992
Original Platform: PC
Price: $1.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Duke Nukem 3D

Release Year: 1996
Original Platform: PC
Price: $2.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Platformers

While the original jump’n'run platformer Super Mario Bros isn’t available (yet?), Sega’s main competition Sonic The Hedgehog is, as well as other classic variations of platform games (including hack’n'slash platformers like Golden Axe).

Golden Axe

Release Year: 1989
Original Platform: Arcade Consoles (Sega System 16)
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Rick Dangerous

Release Year: 1989
Original Platforms: Amiga, Amstrad CPC, Atari ST, Commodore 64, ZX Spectrum, DOS
Price: $1.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Sonic the Hedgehog

Release Year: 1991
Original Platform: Sega Mega Drive / Genesis
Price: $5.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Streets of Rage

Release Year: 1991
Original Platform: Sega MegaDrive / Genesis
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Flashback

Release Year: 1992
Original Platform: Amiga
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Super Methane Bros

Release Year: 1993
Original Platform: Amiga
Price: $0.99
Links: Webpage, iTunes

Strategy / Simulation

Sim City and Civilisation are two of the most well known and loved strategy simulation games and of course they make a showing in this list. Personally I’d love to see the old Bullfrog Amiga classics PowerMonger and Populous appear on the App Store too.

Archon

Release Year: 1983
Original Platform: Atari
Price: $2.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Sim City

Release Year: 1988
Original Platforms: Amiga, Mac
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Civilization

Release Year: 1991
Original Platform: PC
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Puzzlers and Others

From the original puzzle game Tetris, to early classics like Bomberman.

Rogue

Release Year: Early 1980s
Original Platform: UNIX
Price: Free
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Bomberman

Release Year: 1983
Original Platform: MSX, NEC PC-8801, NEC PC-6001, Sharp MZ-700, FM-7, ZX Spectrum
Price: $7.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Tetris

Release Year: 1984
Original Platform: PC
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Boulderdash

Release Year: 1984
Original Platform: Atari 400/800, Apple II, MSX, ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, ColecoVision
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Crystal Quest

Release Year: 1987
Original Platform: Apple Mac
Price: $0.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Pinball Dreams

Release Year: 1992
Original Platform: Amiga
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Pinball Fantasies

Release Year: 1992
Original Platform: Amiga
Price: $6.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Worms

Release Year: 1994
Original Platform: Amiga
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

Vay

Release Year: 1994
Original Platform: Sega CD
Price: $4.99
Links: Wikipedia, Webpage, iTunes

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When push notification finally made its way to the iPhone, a lot of people were anticipating IMs pushed to their iPhone. At first, I scoffed at this idea. I’d always figured IMs were based around the “instant” part of the phrase, and someone pushing an IM to me might be disappointed if I don’t get back to them right away. Well, guess who’s been a big iPhone IM-er since 3.0 came out? Go on, you’ll never guess. Yep, it’s me. I’d like my crow with a side of au jus, and a loaded baked potato, please.

First a quick word of warning: by no means are my comments here to be construed as any sort of a formal review. While I’ve tried to run all of these apps through their paces, I wouldn’t feel comfortable calling any of my comments a review — they’re more like first impressions.

That said, while there are 10 apps we tested out, it quickly became clear to me this was a race between Beejive and IM+ Push. The important criteria for me were: the ability to connect to multiple IM protocols (and multiple accounts of the same protocol), the ability to do push notifications, and the app not requiring its own server-side account to operate. Price, as they say, was no object. When you get right down to it, the difference between many of these apps is only $5-7. My afternoon brownie indulgence costs more than that.

Over the last week, I’ve been receiving push notifications from at least one of these apps during testing, if not more than one, and I didn’t notice a detrimental effect on my battery life — with the usual disclaimer that if I spent my entire train ride home IMing friends, I’d see a battery hit.

Without further ado, here are my findings.

IM+ Push ($9.99)

IM+ Push is a very full-featured app with two specific features I enjoyed: I can set how long I’m online for up to three days (perfect for getting through a weekend); and I can change the wallpaper behind the messages. However, I found the app overall a tad on the slow side. As a speed comparison, by the time I had opened IM+ and viewed the IM, I would have also replied to the IM in Beejive. While it does claim to connect to Skype, I had some issues getting it connected, and never got a push from Skype.

IM+ Lite (Free)

IM+ Lite is the free version of IM+ Push and the only differences between the two are that you can’t change the wallpaper and the push notifications are email only.

Beejive ($9.99)

I found Beejive to be the fastest app in my tests. I could very quickly see what IMs had arrived, preview them and reply to them. Like IM+, I can change the background, but I can only be online for up to 24 hours (which was the standard time period for all the apps). There was one nice feature I found in Beejive that I couldn’t find a corresponding setting for in IM+: I can set how long I show as “available” after I close the app. One of the chief complaints from people I was IMing during this test were the frequent “crumpy is available”/”crumpy is away” notifications they were receiving. By staying “available” for 20 minutes, the person I was IMing with had a much better experience. It was a minor detail I hadn’t thought of until a few people complained about it.

One other feature I liked is I can set how many IMs from contacts are shown when I launch the app. The default is I only see the most recent message from each contact, but I set it do display more, up to and including all messages.

Agile Messenger with Push ($9.99)

For the price, I found Agile Messenger to be a very poor solution. You can only connect to one account of each protocol (I have two AIM accounts: my personal and a work one). I also found the type size on the IMs to be too small to read, and there was noticeable lag when typing.

AIM ($2.99/Free)

There are two AIM apps from AOL, one that’s free and one that’s $2.99. I’m grouping them together since the only differences between the two are that the free one has ads and the paid version does not. While I found the app to be very responsive, there are two big issues I had: I can only be signed into one AIM account, and all push notifications have an SMS-style popup. I couldn’t stop the pop-ups, but I could control how much information was displayed — the ranges are from “new IM” to the full contents of the IM, including sender information. The only reasons I’d recommend this app is if money really is an object, you only have one AIM account, and don’t mind the obtrusive pop-ups.

Yahoo! (Free)

Well, about all I can say is, “Yep, it connected to Yahoo.” You can only connect to one Yahoo account and there is no push notification, nor any announced plans for push.

Palringo (Free)

In my tests, Palringo failed on liftoff. It requires a server-side account, and when I went to setup the account via the iPhone app, the captcha image didn’t even display — really, who needs captcha on an iPhone app? The app does not currently do push, although as of this writing they have submitted a push version for approval. At this point, for a free IM app, I’d recommend IM+ Lite over this one.

Skype (Free)

Since the purpose of this article is IM apps, I’m going to gloss over the voice portion of the Skype app, which is arguable its greatest benefit. However, I was able to connect to my Skype account and IM with friends just fine. There are no push notifications for IMs, however.

Fuze (Free)

Fuze is another one that requires its own server-side account to run. You can also only connect to one account of each protocol, and there are no push notifications. Also, for some reason even after quitting the app, it kept me online, but I didn’t receive a test message I sent myself when I logged back in. As with Palringo, if you need an IM app that’s free, go with IM+ Lite.

Chart of Instant Messenger Features

And the winners are!

For free apps, IM+ Lite blew the doors off the competition. I could connect to multiple protocols and multiple accounts.

In the paid category, while it was a close race, I felt Beejive edged out IM+ Push. While the ability to stay online longer than 24 hours was nice, I felt the speed and the ability to quickly see received IMs edged Beejive over the finish line.

As always, we welcome your comments about what IM apps you prefer.

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Feeling the cash crunch around this particular time? Not to worry, most of the applications mentioned here are free or just a couple bucks. A nice print-out of your gift tucked or wrapped nicely in a festive Father’s Day envelope will more than likely communicate your genuine appreciation for your dad. So since all dads are obviously not the same, breeze through our list and find our top picks for your kind of dad.

The Stay at Home Dad

iHandy Level (Free)
For the Stay-at-Home Handy Dad — utility belts and their attachments are so passé! Consider surprising your stay-at-home Dad this Father’s Day with gadgets that reside in his iPhone.

iHandy Level is a free application brought to you by iHandySoft Inc. This stunning application exploits the iPhone’s Accelerometer and Proximity sensor to bring your stay-at-home Handy Dad a truly unique handyman experience. From balancing and centering picture frames on the wall, to leveling a floor tile — this is definitely one unique application that no handy dad should be without!

If you’re feeling extra generous this Father’s Day, you may consider the iHandy Carpenter which includes five handyman tools in one for the ridiculous price of $1.99!

iHandy Carpenter Notable Features

• iHandy Level
• Plumb Bob – the easy method of verifying the verticality of walls
• Surface Level – the best tool to level any flat surface
• Steel protractor – OK so it’s not made of steel, but it sure is pretty and measures angles beautifully
• Steel Ruler – again, not real steel – but smarter and more compact than any steel ruler you may have come across and it actually measures a few times longer than the iPhone, too

Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner (Free)
If your stay-at-home Dad isn’t particularly the handyman type, but perhaps more of the kitchen connoisseur, the Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner app may be more his taste.

He can swipe away at the Spinner sorting by Dish Type, Ingredients, and Prep/Cook time to view recipe matches of his choice — or, if he’s feeling “saucy,” he could simply tap the Spin Categories function for a totally impromptu pick. One thing is for sure, the recipe of choice will definitely be one to delight since all recipes are based on ratings and reviews of millions of home cooks. To top it off, each recipe comes complete with its own Nutritional Information chart to keep a stay-at-home Dad’s family happy and healthy.

Notable Features

• Choose by Dish Type from Appetizers through to Dessert (cocktails included)
• Choose by Ingredient
• Choose by desired Prep/Cook time
• A light shake will present random recipe ideas

The Sports Fan Dad

ESPN ScoreCenter (Free)
Forget about losing your sports fan Dad’s attention to the TV, that’s a worry of the past. A glance is all it will take to get the latest scores, results and stats of his favorite sports team — all from a one-tap access interface. With the recent release of the iPhone and iPod touch 3.0 software update, the new ESPN ScoreCenter will also feature push notifications.

Results are available for:

• Football/Soccer
• Baseball (MLB)
• American Football (NFL)
• Basketball (NBA)
• Ice Hockey (NHL)
• NCAA College Football, Basketball
• NASCAE, Formula 1, Indycar
• Golf
• Tennis
• Cricket & Rugby are both coming soon

Sports Radio (99 cents)
Is your sports fan Dad a multinational sports fan Dad? Place the world of sports radio into the palm of his hand with a single app for the iPhone and iPod touch. Not only can your dad tune in to over 6,400 sports radio stations around the world, but with the newly added Facebook and Twitter integration, he can keep his friends in the know as well.

Notable Features

• Includes users favorite MP3 iTunes stations
• Pick from favorites or recently played stations
• Includes Public Radio streams and over 2,100 MP3 stations from Europe, Australia, and Canada
• Dynamic directory for adding new directories and stations without application updates, 
email links to a station stream to friends using iPhone or iPod touch Mail application,
 Radio for iPhone supports MP3 and AAC stream formats and then some

The Athletic Dad

Yoga STRETCH (99 cents)
Now don’t let the womanly image fool you; these days yoga is a very acceptable, manly athletic activity (and I’m not saying so just because I do it — cough).

Having the mind in tune with the body through yoga has proven to yield many benefits, especially for me. These include lowering blood pressure, weight normalization, and an increase to energy and endurance levels. This progressive app displays traditional yoga poses at individual intervals and comes complete with a personal yoga instructor that walks students through a successful session. Since the application is designed exclusively for the iPhone and iPod touch, your athletic Dad can strike his pose in his office or from the comfort of his own hiding place.

Notable Features

• Consists of traditional yoga poses sequencing with a Vinyasa flow
• Designed to improve strength, balance, posture and flexibility
• A personal yoga instructor walking each through a full session including audio commentary, images and music

iFitness ($1.99)
If your athletic Dad doesn’t happen to be the posing, flexing type, iFitness may just be what he needs for an all-around healthy, accurate and comprehensive workout. Forget about breaking the bank to get your dad a personal trainer for Father’s Day — a single solution has been developed just for the tech- (and financially-) savvy individual and it’s available on none other than the iPhone and iPod touch.

Notable Features

• Over 110 beautifully illustrated exercises with accompanying text
• Favorites option to create your own custom routine
• Preset routines that our experts have made for reaching different goals
• Exercises organized by the muscles they target

The Business Dad

TravelTracker with TripIt ($7.99)
With just one tap you can download all of your trip information into TravelTracker. Not only will it download each of the your critical trip details, such as flights, hotel reservations and car rentals, but it also goes the extra mile to fetch the pertinent details of your trip, such as your meetings, activities, notes and yes — even your restaurant reservations. Yum!

Does your airport lack sufficient mobile coverage and/or is not yet equipped with free Wi-Fi? Never fear! TravelTracker with TripIt works sufficiently offline just as beautifully as it does online. Oh, and if you’re still trying to figure out what exactly TripIt is, check out this amazing free add-on: tripit.com.

TravelTracker is your all-in-one virtual travel assistant and companion. It stores all vital information for your trip and displays it in a convenient optimized itinerary screen that allows you to record all of the key aspects you need before, during and after your trip. This is every business Dad’s winner.

Notable Features

• One-touch flight status
• Customizable packing lists
• Records all details of your travel expenses
• Record-keeping of all of your frequent traveler award programs
• Airplane database with link to seating charts
• Email your itinerary and expenses to contacts
• Download current weather conditions & forecasts for your chosen airport
• Download current exchange rates to determine your trip total in your own currency

Currency (Free)
These days, with business deals flowing like water across oceans, the Internet has skyrocketed business transactions into oblivion and the only way for your business Dad to keep up with the world’s currencies is through a single intuitive application such as Currency. This app provides the latest conversions in every exchange language (18 languages, to be exact) and in every currency (which total 90 currencies for over 100 countries).

Notable Features

• 18 exchange languages
• Up-to-date exchange rate information for over 90 currencies and 100 countries
• Common currencies: Dollar, Pound, Yen, Peso, Dinar, Yuan, Baht, Dirham, Real, Kuna, Riyal, Lira plus many others

The Single Dad

Urban Spoon (Free)
No single Dad will ever be without ideas as to where to take the kids (or a hot date) for the best eats in town! With similar functionality as Allrecipes.com Dinner Spinner, the shake of the iPhone or iPod touch will jolt Urban Spoon into emulating the function of a classic slot machine to present a random restaurant pick in the vicinity. Another shake will simply pull up another selection — and just keep on shaking until satisfied. Arm getting tired yet? Just set a lock on any of the three criteria items (Neighborhood, Cuisine, Price) to narrow the selection.

Notable Features

• Use GPS to find a restaurant nearest you
• Filter by Neighborhood, Cuisine and Price
• Search and browse local restaurant and check out their reviews
• See a list of all nearby restaurants
• Compare restaurant picks with your friends

NYTimes App (Free)
For the single Dads (or really any dad) who are always on the go, they’ll never miss a beat (or an important news update) from the newly polished NYTimes App. No longer is this news application painfully sluggish, as its version 1.0 predecessor was. In fact, NYTimes App zips across the wire to download up-to-the-minute news in a flash and even works just as feverishly offline or in airplane mode (just as long as the app has downloaded the articles previously, which is still quite instant).

Notable Features

• Gorgeous and sophisticated interface
• Access to the latest articles and photos of the day
• Customizable toolbar with favorite sections of NYTimes.com
• Read anywhere – After a quick sync, articles and photos are available offline

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beamME (Free) To even use this app, you’re required to have an account from rmbrME. Once you log-in (or sign-up as the case may be), you can choose the phone number or address of the person you want to “beam” your card to. If you enter a phone number, the recipient will get an SMS message with a URL they can click (or visit later, if they don’t have internet access via their phone) that presents them with a web page of your contact info. From there, they can have that information emailed to them with a vCard attachment. If you go the email route, you can skip that extra set and have all your information sent in an email along with your vCard attached.

Contacts2Go (99 cents) This app has a bevy of interesting features. Once you set the email address you want the vCards to come from, you can send as many vCards from your contacts list to as many people as you want. You have the option to turn off what information from vCards get sent, which is good if you keep notes about people in their contact details, and you can even “Introduce” people — both vCard contacts get each other’s information, a virtual “Hi, Jim. This is Bob. Bob, Jim” sort of situation.

EmailContact (99 cents) EmailContact is undoubtedly the most bare bones of the lot. You are presented your contact list where you’re told to choose the information you want to send. From there, the information is pulled and attached as the body of an email. You can then email it to whomever you choose. A vCard, however, is not attached to that email, so the the recipient(s) will have to manually create a contact for themselves. This could prove to be a hassle for iPhone users with the lack of copy and paste.

FriendBook (99 cents) This is much more than an app solely for sending contact information, it’s more of a Dialer/Contact replacement. With FriendBook you have access to all your contacts to either call, text, or email them. You can also merge multiple contacts, delete contacts and move them around groups. There’s a “Face Dialer” which is a more visual favorites that gives you one touch access to a contacts number. The send vCard option is interesting as it uses your location and the accelerometer to send a card. You put two touch devices together and shake them in a handshake motion (QuickTime link) and the cards are beamed to each other. While definitely cool, the app is hindered by the fact that you can only trade information with other owners of FriendBook — there’s no option to just send a vCard.

Handshake (Free) Like FriendBook, Handshake is dependent on the person receiving your contact information having the application, thankfully, there is an option to send an App Store link so they can download it right away. Once you set your own vCard, Handshake uses location services to find other Handshake owners and your potential recipient. From there you can either choose to send your card or someone else’s in your contact list, pick the person you want to send it to and almost instantly a notification is presented asking the recipient if they’d like to “Preview and Exchange,” “Preview,” or “Discard.” Once you accept the vCard, it’s automatically added to your contacts list. You can also choose to send a picture from your camera roll, which makes sharing photos virtually effortless.

Handshake Premium ($2.99) The premium version is exactly like the free version, except for the lack of advertisements and the good feeling you get for supporting indie developers.

iBeam (99 cents) iBeam is another app that works best when the person you’re trading contact information with also has it. Thankfully, it isn’t totally dependent on this fact and still lets you send information via email. When sending the contact details, you can choose to either attach a vCard or send as a plain text copy in the body, but not both, which would have been a nicer touch. For situations where there is no network connectivity, iBeam also allows you to trade information via an auto-generated QR code. The receiver uses iBeam to take a picture of the barcode and the app will convert the information to a vCard.

Nameo (99 cents) Akin to FriendBook, Nameo requires that both sender and receiver have the application. From there, you just hit connect and your name, number and email are transferred. Unlike all the other apps, you have to input this information manually, that is to say, you cannot choose yourself from the contacts list, and that is all the information that will be exchanged.

Send Contact (99 cents) Send Contact picks up where Email Contact left off. You choose who’s contact information you want to send and then the information is put into the body of an email with a link to a service that will generate a vCard to download. While not as simple as just attaching the vCard to the email, it is still nice that you are given both options to choose from. The email also includes a link to the app for touch device owners to buy and import the contact details with. A huge plus is that before you send each vCard you can choose what extra fields to turn on and off, so you don’t find yourself sending personal information.

Sharecard ($1.99) Sharecard is designed for sending only your vCard. Once it’s assigned, with as few as two taps, it’s attached to an email and in the recipient’s inbox. Like some of the other apps, you can specify how much extra information you want to share when you’re sending it, in the settings, but beyond that, Sharecard is a pretty simplistic app wrapped in a snazzy interface.

vCards (99 cents) vCards is another bare bones app, which it makes apparent from it’s single screen illustrating the three steps to sharing a vCard: Choose the card to send, choose the contact to send it to, and then hit send, where vCard will be attached to an email and sent off. While it’s nice that you can choose whomever’s contact information you want to send, the app is hindered by the fact that the recipient must already be in your contacts list, there is no option to just enter an email address on the fly.

While everyone’s needs and wants are different, I feel that I can say safely that Contacts2Go is the clear winner. While Handshake would have been my top choice, the dependency on both users having the application, free or not, severly hinders the trading information process, which should be as effortless as possible. Contacts2Go, while not as polished as a lot of the other apps, makes that happen. If you have a personal preference or another app you think is better, sound off in the comments.

vCard App Table (click to enlarge)

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North Pole ($2.99)

I’m not really sure why this app is named North Pole. I was expecting a compass type app, but in fact, this one give you Christmas-themed bobble heads. You can choose from Rudolph, Frosty, or Santa Claus, and the motion sensitive head-shifting action is accompanied by popular Christmas tracks, which you can select in the app’s settings screen.

Holiday Mistletoe (Free)

Any excuse to steal some holiday smooches. There’s about a thousand mistletoe apps out there (Don’t believe me? Search for yourself), but this one has the benefit of being free. It also features motion sensitive animation that simulates 3D space, and real jingling sounds, so your kissee will hear you coming and have a chance to escape.

Christmas ($0.99)

It’s the most directly named of all the apps on the list, that’s for sure. Does it capture the spirit of the entire holiday in a single piece of software? Probably not, but it’s only a dollar after all. Basically a music playing app with a list of built-in classic Christmas carols. It also features a recorder so that you can add your own, and a countdown timer so you know exactly how long it is till the big day.

Nice List Holiday Gift Manager ($1.99)

I am the worst gift shopper on the planet. I never have any idea what to get anyone, and even if I have an idea, it’s completely forgotten by the time I get to the store. That’s why I used (or am still using, actually) the Nice List this year. It lets you pick people from your Address Book, add gifts to their lists, and set a price for each, and then quickly tick off when they’re purchased, wrapped, and delivered. Nice UI and icon make this one stand out from the crowd.

Are You Naught or Nice? ($1.99)

You probably shouldn’t need an iPhone app to figure this out, but if you do, this one has some decent illustrations and a pleasant interface. Also has some entertaining examples of what qualifies as a Naughty/Nice act, ie. “Returned all the presents to Whoville” and “Stole from a street Santa.”

Santa Wings: Rudolph’s Christmas Flight ($0.99)

From the makers of iPhone flight simulator Wings, Santa Wings provides a North Pole-esque landscape for you to fly over in you sleigh, pulled by five reindeer, including the most famous of all. You can adjust your speed, display or remove the cute animated reindeer and sleigh, and choose from four different holiday-themed soundtracks.

Holiday Hunt ($0.99)

I don’t condone taking potshots at the real thing, but you might be able to work off some of that holiday stress by shooting down Jolly Old St. Nick with this simple simulator. The goal is to pick off his reindeer one-by-one, which obviously can’t end well for Papa Christmas.

Starbucks Music For The Holidays (Free)

If you’re already tapped from gift shopping (and/or buying Christmas iPhone apps), then the Starbucks holiday music app will come in handy. It’ll save you a few dollars in holiday music purchases, especially if you don’t mind not being able to pick a specific track to play, since the songs play in shuffle mode only. Still, there’s nearly sixty songs, and they’re all either holiday classics or modern classics from artists like Jack Johnson.

FirePlace ($0.99)

Maybe you’re one of those people who own a virtual fireplace DVD. I’m definitely one of those people, so buying FirePlace for my iPhone was no big leap. Fireplace offers audio and video, and optional holiday music to accompany your burning former trees. It also plays in either portrait or landscape mode, depending on the orientation of your phone.

Festive Holiday Baking ($1.99)

A simple recipe app with loads of delicious looking desserts. I can tell they look delicious because the app includes pictures of all the treats, in addition to ingredients lists, yields, and directions for each item. I’m making the Peanut Butter Fudge for my own family gathering, but I wouldn’t bet on it making it there in one piece.

Christmas Carols by iChristmas ($0.99)

Perfect for your holiday karaoke party. Packs over 100 sets of Christmas carol lyrics and historical background, with more than 85 providing actual audio as well. This is a multi-tasker, since it includes shakeable jingle bells and simulated mistletoe as well. Might be the closest thing to one-stop shopping on this application list.

iTree ($0.99)

Part advent calendar, part virtual Christmas tree, the iTree from sodacope changes as the Holiday season progresses. When it was initially released, it displayed a pine tree in the forest, then a stump for a while, then the same tree in a room, then a decorated tree, etc. There’s also virtual snow that reacts when you shake or change the orientation of your iPhone, snow globe style.

Fuzzle Christmas (Free)

If you haven’t tried out the puzzle game Fuzzle yet, this free holiday version might provide the perfect opportunity. Your goal is too line up five or more matching Christmas ball ornaments, but moving pieces will generate more, making it progressively harder. Use the candy canes and stars as wild cards, with the stars erasing all matching tiles on the board. Fun and free, definitely a holiday must-have.

iSanta ($0.99)

A simple game, but a pretty fun one as well, sort of like the Santa Claus version of PaperBoy. You control your sleigh’s altitude by tilting your iPhone up or down, then drop the appropriate colored gift into the chimneys of houses with corresponding window lights. Suffers from a bad audio track that had me worried my iPhone speakers were broken for a second, so you might want to play it muted.

Happy holidays, TAB readers! Remember, tis the season to pretend that January credit card bill doesn’t exist!

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Quordy
Find the most words, get the high score.

Smiles
Two games in one. Play the Drop mode for Bejeweled-like game play or the Zen mode for a Solitaire-esque game.

Spin
Rotate the object to match the silhouette.

Puzzloop Endless
Fend off a non-stop barrage of colored balls.

MetaSquares
Compete against the computer or another player in capturing the most squares.

Dizzy Bee
Use your touch device’s accelerometer to control Dizzy Bee and save its fruit friends.

Lumen
Use mirrors and colored filters to guide a laser beam through check points.

Imangi
It’s Scrabble meets the Rubick’s cube.

Amazing Sudoku
A flashy, stylized version of the cult game.

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Nutrition/Weight/Health Information Apps

Restaurant Nutrition
If you eat a lot of fast food, but you’re morbidly curious and want to know what you’re putting in your body, then this is the app for you. I like it because it helps me eat reasonably well when I’m on the road.

LIVESTRONG.COM Calorie Tracker
You probably recognize the Livestrong name from Lance Armstrong’s charitable organization that made yellow bracelets omnipresent. Well, now they’ve given us an app that keeps track of your daily calorie intake/burn.

Weightbot
An adorable robot that keeps track of your weight for you. A great app that’s beautifully designed, in addition to being useful, with nice sound effects, graphics and animations.

Personal Trainer Apps

iPump Total Body
The perfect app for the meat-heads in the crowd. Not my personal fave when it comes to this category, but it might appeal to people who are just making the jump from more traditional workout aids like videos and DVDs.
iFitness
The best fitness app for general users, since it gives you all the basics, but you can also customize it as much as you need to.
GymGoal Lite
Whether you’ve set a serious goal to meet, or you just want to keep track of your workouts, this iPhone app can help you. Has some nice extras that may or may not suit your particular needs.

Run/Walk/Bike Tracker Apps

RunKeeper
A perennial favorite in the App Store, RunKeeper is definitely more than capable of keeping track of your runs. Good integration with an online site makes it an inexpensive alternative to Nike+ for iPhone users.
FitView
Store all of your aerobic workout information in one convenient, portable location with this app. It might not record the info for you, but it does do a good job of organizing and analyzing it.
Fitnio
Sometimes you don’t want all the bells and whistles, just a clean app that monitors your progress when you’re out for a run. Fitnio fits the bill, giving the casual runner or biker everything they need at a price that’s unbeatable.

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Fuel Consumption / Efficiency: AccuFuel

Maybe you’re into hypermiling, or maybe you’re just looking to see if your car needs a tune up, but if you’re looking for an app to track fuel consumption and efficiency, then I really like AccuFuel. The interface is simple and doesn’t get in the way of entering information quickly. AccuFuel produces graphs of your fuel efficiency over time for multiple vehicles.

Service Tracking: Car Care
Care Care gives you a way to track service expenses on multiple vehicles. The tracking reports might be too simple for some, but the fuel consumption tracking features that are also included might make it a good buy for the person looking for an app that will do both.

Cheap Gas: iGasUp
Everyone needs help finding cheaper gas these days. iGasUp has the most accurate and the most current data available. Read the full post to see some free options as well.

Expense Reporting for Mileage: MileBug
In my job, I need a way to track mileage for work trips around town. MileBug does a great job of providing a really simple (and IRS friendly) method of tracking my trip logs. I really like how I can export the reports to email for reimbursement and reporting.

Carpooling: Carticipate
Carticipate isn’t quite there yet as the community continues to grow. But if you’re looking for ride-sharing info in an iPhone app, this free download is where it’s at.

Parking: Parking Meter
Parking Meter is a simple app to track where you parked your car and/or how much time is left on that meter. I don’t always need the GPS location of my parking spot, but I like the ability to send myself SMS reminders before time expires on the meter if a meeting goes long and I forget to run out and drop a few more quarters in the slot.

Speed Traps: Trapster
Trapster helps you avoid speed traps and traffic cameras as you drive. The audible voice warnings are driver-friendly and help remind you to check your speed and drive safe.

Car Buying: iLeaseMyCar
If you’re looking to buy a new car, iLeaseMyCar (and now iLeaseMyCar Pro) is a great tool to carry with as you look at financing costs. This app lets you calculate your payments by changing your down payment, interest rate, and so on. Another app to check out is Auto Fuel Economics, which gives you a very simple run down on the fuel costs for two different cars with different MPG ratings.

Music: Shazam
I find Shazam indispensible for figuring out what song is playing on the radio as I drive around. I love the simple interface that’s easy to use in the car and the accuracy, even with some background road noise.

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