Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and twenty four in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.
Microsoft released the Windows 10 SDK tools for developers this week and an update for the Surface Pro 3 which improves the device by enabling you to disable certain hardware that you don't require using UEFI.
This week saw the release of several high profile apps and games such as Tubecast Pro, a casting application for YouTube, and Star Wars Rebels, an action game based on the TV show.
As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.
Discounts this week
The following applications and games are discounted by at least 50 percent this week.
- Toy Soldiers Cold War: Touch Edition, an action game for $4.99
- Shiny the Firefly, a
jump and runfly game for $0.99 - SecureWord, a password manager for $1.49
- Doodle Kingdom, a puzzle game for free
- Special Enquiry Detail: The Hand that Feeds for $2.99
- Enterchained, an action game for $0.99
App of the week
Tubecast Pro is a YouTube application with universal casting support. The app supports Google's Chromecast and AirPlay allowing you to cast clips to compatible devices such as Smart TVs, Apple TV, Chromecast devices and DLNA.
The app can cast online and offline videos (download is supported by it) and gives you total volume and seek control on top of that.
This is an excellent application that supports different streaming qualities including 1080p and 1440p. Another interesting feature is the ability to continue playing the sound of videos while the device is locked.
Other apps
Crimsonland ($9.99, free trial available)
Crimsonland is a classic arena shooter in which you try to survive for as long as possible. The game offers two game modes: "quest" mode divides the game into levels in which you need to terminate all aliens to proceed, while "survival" is a classic survival game in which you play for as long as you can without dying.
Enemies that you kill drop extras and better weapons that you can pick up to increase your chances of success. The game features different enemy types and becomes increasingly difficult in later stages.
LIO ($2.99, free trial available)
LIO is a portfolio application to display presentation slides, photos and other images. All items are arranged in columns with option to add new images at any time to any position.
A click or tap on the presentation button switches to a full screen mode in which you can present the images or go through them yourself.
Star Wars Rebels: Mission Recon
Star Wars Rebels: Mission Recon is a jump and run game based on the popular TV show Star Wars Rebels. The first four levels of the game are free to play and act as an introduction to it. The whole game becomes available when you buy packs -- currently for $4 and $2 -- that unlock the other levels and characters that you can play as.
The game itself is a classic jump and run game in the Star Wars universe. Depending on the character that you play, you are either equipped with a laser gun that you can shoot enemy droids and troops with, or a lightsaber.
Apart from classic jump and run gameplay, you are solving quests and rescuing people to add to your secret rebel base that you build from scratch. Visuals are well done and if you like Star Wars, you will certainly like this game.
File Cards ($9.99, free trial available)
File Cards is a file manager for Windows that displays folders and files in cards in its interface. Each card that you add in the application links to one or multiple folders or files that you add to it.
This means that only files and folders that you add to the app are listed by it while everything else is not. You can zoom in and out easily which may be necessary depending on how many files and folders you have added to a card.
The application supports several interesting features on top of the usual loading, copying or searching functionality that all file managers ship with. Since you can display multiple cards side by side, you can use drag and drop operations to move or copy files and folders between them.
There is also an option to create a new image file based on clipboard contents and a couple of extra features such as zip file support or options to pin files to the operating system's start screen. The application is available for $4.49 until April 23.
Gladiatorial combat at its finest. Enter the arena, pick your weapon of choice to defeat the other gladiators. The game features a versatile combat system supporting more than just blind hacking and slashing.
Pick up weapons from the ground, block and dodge, and use combos to defeat your opponents. A commercial version of the game that is not limited is available as well.
R.O.O.T.S. is a strategy game in which you control trees on planets. Your task in the game is to grow your type of trees on each world by linking planets together. There are alien trees in each level that you need to eliminate to proceed to the next.
The size of each planet determines the strength of its tree, which in turn determines the maximum distance that its roots can travel in the universe.
Some god took away the shadows of all of the people in the game and your task is to get your shadow back. Since you can only move in the shadows, you have to move objects around to clear a path for you to reach switches and the level exit.
The game is quite difficult and it may take a while before you get used to its game mechanics. All in all though it's very entertaining.
Finally a match-3 type of game that introduces something new to the genre. The big new feature that Tales of the Orient introduces is rotation. You can rotate the level by 90 degrees in either direction which opens new options and strategies.
At its core, it is a match-3 type game with an Asian theme and beautiful artwork.