Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and thirty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.
The week has been filled with confusion as to who is getting a free copy of Windows 10 when it gets released. If you are still not sure if you are eligible, try Wayne's article as he sheds light on the current situation.
This week saw the release of several high profile apps and games including the new Disney game Dodo Pop, app of the week Epic Incursion, and two Autodesk applications to create 3D objects.
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.
- ilomilo plus, a beautiful adventure game for $2.49
- Draw a Stickman: EPIC, a drawing game for $0.99
- Tales from the Dragon Mountain: The Strix Full, an adventure game for $2.99
- Bookviser Reader Premium, an ebook reader and ship for $4.99
- Joining Hands 2, a challenging puzzle game for $1.49
- Fiete, an interactive book for children between 1 and 3 for $0.99
Best app of the week
Epic Incursion (currently free, regular price $1.99)
Epic Incursion is a tower defense game in which you try to defend against onrushing hordes of enemies by summoning three unit types -- warrior, archer and mage -- from towers placed alongside the way.
While you are not building towers in the game, you may use existing towers to recruit and upgrade units.
It offers a massive amount of units to recruit, diverse enemies and spells that you use to turn the tide in your favor.
As well as playing the campaign on a world map, you may play an endless mode.
Other apps
The feed reader for Windows offers basic functionality only. You may add as many RSS feeds as you like to it, browse all or only unread news items, and read them right in the app interface.
You can add single feeds to it only as it does not currently support opml files.
Bricks Breaker -- Friends is Arkanoid or Breakout on steroids. While the main game concept of reflecting balls with a paddle to hit bricks has not changed, it adds a lot to it including a massive amount of bonus items and extras that rain down on you while you are playing the game.
The developers have added a skill and character system to the game. You may pick skills and boosters before you start, buy and switch between characters, or hatch new pets that help you along the way.
Coins that you earn while playing the game are required for some and premium currency for others.
These two applications were released at the same time by Autodesk.
123D Catch turns photos that you take from objects into 3D objects. To use it, you need to capture a series of photos from different angles. The app guides you through the process using its integrated photo compass so that you capture the object from all angles.
Captures made can be opened within Meshmixer and exported to other formats for use in other 3D tools.
123D Sculpt+ on the other hand is a digital sculpting software designed for beginners who are interested in 3D digital sculpting.
One interesting feature of the app is that you can turn any object that you have created into a real physical object delivered to your door.
In addition, you may export sculptures to various formats for use in programs such as Maya or 3ds Max.
Dodo Pop is a matching puzzle game in which you feed gumballs of the same color to Crash, a Dodo bird.
While Crash cannot fly, he may use the gumballs to blow a big bubble which takes him to the next level of the game.
The game itself features 140 different levels to play through, power ups, and several obstacles introduced throughout the game to increase its difficulty level gradually while you are playing.
Bizview is a third-party application that acts as a front-end for Google Analytics.
You may add Google Analytics profiles to it to manage and monitor them using the application.
The application lets you add tiles for popular Analytics features so that they are only a click (or tap) away at any time.
Satay Club ($1.99, no free trial available)
This is a "run your own restaurant" type of game in which you serve customers in Singapore in the 1940s.
It features retro-style graphics and game play that it similar to other games in the genre.
Basically, serve customers by preparing the right food when it is requested. The faster you are the more money you earn.