Best Windows apps this week
One-hundred and thirty-eight in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows in the past seven days.
Microsoft's promotion for Windows 10 is in full swing currently. The new operating system launches on July 29, officially, and will find its way on to millions of end user systems thanks to Microsoft promoting it via Windows Update.
This week saw only a couple of interesting app and game releases (mostly games).
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 new Windows 10 Store does not list Red Stripe Deals yet, therefore no deals listings until this changes.
Best app of the week
Graffiti Grinder is an endless runner game in which you mark the city with your graffiti while trying to avoid obstacles such as pedestrians or the infamous Anti-Graffiti squad that is chasing you.
You collect coins while playing the game which you can spend in the shop to improve your abilities.
Spend money to improve the double jump or enable a magnet that collects coins from further away. There are also one time upgrades that give you a head start or a second life.
The game itself plays like most runner games. You "run" automatically and only control jumping while on the move.
While that may sound simple, it can become quite hectic as the game throws lots of obstacles at you.
Other apps
Earth 3D ($2.99, free trial available)
Earth 3D is an interactive 3D globe offering political and physical maps.
It features more than 1700 geographical objects such as cities, places and structures, that you can rotate and zoom using mouse and keyboard, or touch.
The app supports different view modes you can switch between. Natural View for instance displays weather information when you activate it, while the paid add-ons Animal World and Sky Map add other view modes to it.
One interesting feature of the app is that you get detailed descriptions of items you click on. The information appears to be taken exclusively from Wikipedia.
Only the Weather View mode requires Internet access.
Queen's Garden: A relaxing Match 3 Game with Flowers and Gardening ($4.49, free trial available)
The runner up for the longest game title in Windows Store is a match-3 type of game that differentiates itself from other games of the genre in three ways.
First, it features a relax mode which does not pressure you at all and does away with time or move limits.
The game features an "improve the Royal garden" subgame in which you spend the money you earn while playing on garden improvements.
Lastly, it offers a "find in picture" game mode.
From the creators of Talking Tom comes Mars Pop, a bubble shooter that you play against the computer or friends.
The game mechanics are similar to classic bubble shooters such as Puzzle Bubble, but the multiplayer component adds a competitive aspect to it.
You may play against random opponents on the Internet or against friends, but the latter option only becomes available after linking your Facebook account to the game.
You need to survive longer than your opponent to win the game.
One for Eleven if a football (that is soccer, if you are from the US) management game in which you compete against other players in various supported leagues.
The game features real league and player information but requires that you link your Facebook account to it before you can get started.
Once you are in you take the role of a club manager who recruits and scouts players, negotiates contracts, manages team formation and tactics, and much more.
The game walks you through a ridiculous number of tutorial screens before you can start playing it. While you learn the basics this way, it is completely overwhelming at this early stage.
Shuffle is a word puzzle game in which you need to put letters back in the correct order to form words.
Your goal in the game is to reshuffle letters on the screen to build the correct words and proceed to the next stage.
The game features several difficulty levels and a time attack mode that puts extra pressure on you.