Out Of Circle - 3.5 Stars

What is it?

Out of Circle is a tap style game with the aim to escape a rotating circles. I was contacted on Twitter to review this game so was pretty excited to get started. I think this is a love or hate  app game as it can be very frustrating. 

The game is a white circle  outline with a gap rotating around a dot, you tap the screen to release the dot but if you hit the edge you die. Once out of the first circle you move to another and so on an so forth. The style, speed and direction of the circle change between moves and the longer you stay alive the more complex it appears. 

One frustration that I did have is that you can't tap anywhere on the screen as you are restricted to a circle at the bottom of the screen. This was particularly annoying when you were into the game, missed and lost the flow. 

There are three modes to the game: Arcade, Time Trail and Chirstmas (which I assume means Christmas with an unfortunate typo!). As it is Christmas I mainly played the Chirstmas version. The screen has a few colours that it changes to between plays, with stockings hanging from the header and festive snowfall. 

The normal version is the same as the Chirstmas game but is a  full colour screen, which I feel is a little plain and would benefit from having anything on there to liven it up a bit. 

If you have played DashUp then this is very similar to it. The colours and set up are the same but the format of the game play is different through the use of circles and not sliding white bars. 

Thus far my highest score is a mere 11 but my partner has scored 13 and is forth overall in the world with the highest being a mere 16. This is a bit of an indication to how difficult the game is to master and that there are some frustrating adverts, that I must admit has made me kill the game a few times. 

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 4 

This is a pretty simple game to get a grasp off but it is difficult. If you have poor reaction speeds you will quickly get angry with it but it is interesting for in home challenges. The main frustration is that you can't tap anywhere on the screen to play and if you miss the tap circle you lose your flow. 


Price - 5

This is a free game with no in app purchases. 

Adverts - 2
This game is riddled with adverts. There is a constant banner at the bottom of the screen, but it doesn't interrupt game play. After three plays there are full screen ads, these start off as manageable but after about 8 plays they turn into 5 second screen invaders. After 4 of these in a row the game got switched off. As this game is difficult you don't want to break your concentration but the ads do it for you!

Overall Rating - 1

I have struggled with rating this app but I am going for 3.5 stars. The adverts are annoying and the game is a little difficult to play. The inability to tap anywhere on the nearly blank screen is also frustrating. With that said it has remained on my phone and from starting the review to now i have upped my score...but will I get the highest in the world. 

Keep, jury is out or delete - Keep

I will be keeping this for a little while longer as I enjoy the competition, but if the adverts get any more annoying it will have to go :(

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/out-of-circle/id943841480?ls=1&mt=8

Dash Up - 5 Stars

What is it?

I wasn't sure what this was but I stumbled upon it when I searched for 'Christmas Apps' on the App Store and scrolled like a lunatic to find the less popular or featured not offering.  Dash Up  can be compared to the popular follow up to Flappy Birds, Swing Copters. The aim of the game is to tap the screen, navigating a bauble to the top whilst avoiding obstacles. If you hit an obstacle you break the bauble with a shattering smash.

I have been thinking of the best way to describe what the obstacles are and I might be having a slow day but basically they are white blocks that close together like elevator doors. If you hit them whilst closed or get the bauble suck between them then game over. 

I haven't fully mastered this game yet, with my pitiful score of six (which was smashed by someone getting 25 as I typed this review), but I like this one. I found Swing Copters infuriating and I couldn't get past one, much to the delight of who I was playing against! Dash Up on the other hand isn't so brutal and is much easier to play, but do not be fooled into thinking it isn't frustrating! 

What I liked about this Christmas app is that it is festive. When you start there is a little festive jingle that plays that soon builds up into Jingle bells. The app uses bold festive full screen colours with crisp white snow falling and Christmas Trees. The bauble is red and decorated and I really liked the whole package, though I appreciate this may not be to everyones liking. Another nice touch to the game is that when you get past the white obstacles you hear a festive jingly ping.

I will be honest I am not a fan of the flappy phenomena that took the world by storm this year but I am liking this. I think the crisp, although basic graphics, and the absence of the abnormal bird with huge lips instead of a beak has done it. I am not adverse to pixilated games but it is nice to have a game that has a similar format and is modern.

From the main menu there is a 'Mode' option. There are four modes, each of different colour and the one I have been playing is 'Christmas'. I like that the app can still be played after the festive time without the Christmas features.  In the other mode you play with a white ball, and because I am in a festive mode i am going to refer to it as a snowball, but of course the music changes!

The game is on the GameCentre so you can complete ;) You can also remove Ads, if you pay but to be honest there are only banner ads at the bottom which I hardly noticed. 

I think there will be a contest in my home this week with this app which I will without doubt lose at but I will try!  

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 5

Can you tap? If yes then you can play. 


Price - 5

This is free, you can upgrade to get rid of the ads, but I wouldn't bother as they are not intrusive.

Adverts - 4
There are ads, but only banner ads at the bottom and they do not interfere with game play, after a while I forgot that they were there. You can upgrade the app to remove the ads, but unless they do an update to add more I wouldn't bother. 

Overall Rating - 5

It could be my festive mood or the watching of frustration on peoples faces playing this app but I really like it!! It is not often that I like this type of game, so I am very impressed!

Keep, jury is out or delete - Keep

Keep, no doubt about it!

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/dash-up!/id910959738?mt=8 

3D Santa Run & Christmas Racing - 2 Stars

What is it?

Ever played Temple Run? Well imagine that with a funny looking village, Ginches and a sort of 3D Santa and that is the game. I play Minion Rush, well I did until the latest updates with Jelly Labs that have ruined it for me, so I am used to pretty good graphics. This game wasn't exactly what I was expecting in the graphics, especially from the icon. The graphics are a little clunky, but they don't really disturb game play, but equally they don't encourage you to want to keep playing. 

The game is basically to make Santa run for as long as you can, sliding and jumping over obstacles and turning sharp corners. You dodge obstacles by tilting the phone from left to right so pretty easy to use.  Like Minion Rush the more points, coins and Grinches you collect the more points you earn to increase your multiplayer. When you increase the multiplayer you get more points each time you play.

If you have the sound on the game plays you festive music which is a nice touch.

As I am sat here writing this, I am struggling to say that I liked the game. It is a bit of festive fun and delivers on its promise of a Christmas theme, but I think the clunky graphics let it down. 

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 3 

If you have played these games before then this will be easy to pick up and play. I did like in the game that there are instructions as you play the first few times. If quick paced games aren't for you then I wouldn't recommend this one but if you like Temple Run then you may like this. 


Price - 5

This game is free.

Adverts - 2

There are adverts of various types but they are not as frequent as I have seen in other games.

Overall Score- 2

I just didn't take to this game. I only kept playing because I had decided that I was going to review it. If you like Temple Run and don't mind less jazzy graphics then this is worth a try, it is Christmas after all.

Keep, jury is out or delete - Delete

I hate saying delete when I can see that effort has gone into a game but I just don't want to play. This game is already off my phone, but mainly as I just upgraded to the iPhone , but I am not going to download it again as it just isn't for me. 

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/3d-santa-run-christmas-racing/id938177866?mt=8

Mahjong Worlds - 25 Days of Gifts - 2.5 Stars

What is it?

I found this app looking for some festive fun. I love Mahjong, I always have, so I was looking forward to matching Santa, holly and baubles in a recognisable way! The opening screen promises festive fun, very bright and colourful with Christmas images galore, but then I went into game play I was disappointed :(

When you first access the game play screens there are different stages, the first being Eldorado. Having a look at the the other stages there are some that could be Panto names but nothing that screamed Christmas. 

I started in Eldorado and there are few levels in the world, the game is easy enough to start by tapping in the unlocked level. You are then taken to the tile selection, only the classic version was unlocked, the Christmas tiles were there taunting me, but I couldn't access them :(

If you know Mahjong, the game of pairs with tiles in a stacked order, then this does what it says on the tin. As you go through the levels the difficultly and number of tiles increases which is good and keeps you interested.

There are ads throughout the game and some can be a little annoying. I will be honest, I have stopped playing in search of true festive game but if you like Mahjong, then this is free so why not?

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 5

Do you know how to play Mahjong? If yes then this is simple to play. If you haven't played you basically make pairs until all the tiles have gone, but be careful some are locked in or hidden below other tiles. The selection of the tiny tiles is surprisingly easy and I can honestly say I made few mistakes. 
Price - 5

This is free. 

Adverts - 2

Annoying. I encountered a 15 second ad, yes 15 whole seconds!! In a positive there aren't layered ads that frustratingly result in visiting the app store and crosses to close most of the them are easy to spot.

Keep, jury is out or delete - Jury is out

I like Mahjong, but I was looking for something festive, so I have mixed thoughts about this game. The game is easy to play and considering how small the tiles are they are easy to select, view and pair :)

Overal Rating - 2.5
I would have loved to give this more, but it didn't live up to festive expectations. 

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/mahjong-worlds-25-days-gifts/id433618104?mt=8

Christmas Pics Quiz - 4.5 Stars

What is it?

I decided to get into the festive swing of things so did a search for 'Christmas' on the app store and stumbled across Christmas Pics Quiz. I had 100 Pics on my phone a while ago for a play off in work to see who could complete the categories first... a very productive week! This game gives a bit more as it also combines the with the awesome game Guess the Emoji! I loved the original game of this and completed it within a few days. Unfortunately I lost my score in the great washing machine incident where, god rest its soul, my iPhone 5 went to phone heaven! I couldn't face going through the 200 levels to get back my score, so this game had ultimate appeal!!

There are several categories within the app, but my main game play has been Christmas pics, of which there are about 20 (easy to complete) and then the 100 levels of Christmas Emoji which was a welcome surprise!

The aim of the game is to guess what the series of emoji's are, for each correct answer you earn some coins. Each level appears by showing the available letters, normally more than needed, the blank boxes to create the words and the emoji's hidden below four squares. Each square you remove shows part of the clue but also reduces the amount of coins that you can win. 

There are a great mix of items in there, but some repetition. If you are good at word puzzle games, there are some levels that you don't have to uncover any of the emoji's. With that said there are some that did my head in! I mean seriously in German and Italian so some Google help was required. 

The coins are important as they can be traded in for clues. You can reveal a letter that will appear in the answer section, this was my favourite hint tool! You can also remove letters from the selection, but for the Italian and German ones this was of no use to me. 

The coins quickly run down and the game does, maybe a little too eagerly, offers to let you buy more. The game also asked you after a wrong guess if you needed help and offered to sell you coins, this was a little frustrating when I had only guessed wrong twice!

A good feature of this game is the notifications. On the first night I played it got turned off in a bit of a huff as my tired brain couldn't figure out what the hell the answer was. While in work the next day running between meetings I had the normal notification of 'come back and play' but with the awesome addition of a freebie clue of a free letter!

I will be sad to complete the series of festive levels but I am looking forward to trying the Winter, TV Shows, TV Stars and Cartoon sections!

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 5

If you have played any of the Guess the Emoji type games then this will be second nature to you! If you haven't, then it is just tap on a letter to add it to the board or tap it again to remove it! Very easy game!
Price - 5

Free! There are in app purchase and some of the other categories are payed. Although that may be frustrating the free categories have up to 100 levels and are good fun!

Adverts - 3

There are adverts in this game and sometimes they can't be avoided based on how quickly they show up between levels. There are banner ad's throughout the game but they don't interfere with game play. I will say that the ad's didn't make me put the phone down unlike games like Scrabble and the god awful Christmas Cracker game last year (it still angers me after 12 months!).

Overall Rating - 4.5
This would have quite easily been a 5, but the full screen adverts that popped up resulting in me in the App Stored just stopped it :( 

Keep, jury is out or delete - Keep

Without doubt I will be keeping this game until it is complete! My deadline for this is December 17th when my shiny new iPhone 6 WILL be arriving.... if only my scores would be transferred over! Definitely recommend this to people that like word games and are partial to a bit of Catch Phrase! Happy guessing!

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/christmas-pics-quiz-fun-festive/id755281885?mt=8 

Xmas Crush - 2 Stars

What is it?

This game is like Bejewled with Christmas symbols, not too dissimilar to the Christmas Sweeper, but thankfully has volume control. 

The idea of the game is to swap pictures around to make a chain of three or more to score points and get special functions. 

This game is ok, but when you run out of moves it doesn't tell you, it just encourages you to use boosters, that are not that easy to understand. There are in app purchases t, but I didn't take advantage of these as my free ones didn't help me at all!

I played for a few levels but lost momentum. If you like Bejeweled and fancy a festive twist then check it out. 

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 3 

This is easy to use as it is the same functionality as Bejeweled. The additional functions that you can trade tokens for are not that easy to understand and I ended up wasting mine and not winning the level.  
Price - 3

This is a free app, but it does have in app purchases. 

Adverts - 2

There are full screen adverts and some appeared during game play which I don't like. There are also banner adverts throughout the game which can be distracting. 

Keep, jury is out or delete - Delete 

I quickly lost momentum with this app and quickly ended up back on Disco Bees and Jelly Splash when I had a few minutes to spare.  Its a nice game for Christmas if you like Bejeweled, it just wasn't for me. 

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/christmas-crush-match-3-addictive/id757157553?mt=8

Christmas Sweeper - 1.5 Stars

What is it?

This is a bejeweled type game with a Christmas twist, as the jewels are now familiar Festive symbols. Like Bejeweled the idea of the game is to swap tiles to make a chain of three or more to score points or win challenges. 

The game has a variety of levels which you must complete in order to continue through the game. 

The game is simple to grasp as it is a like for like copy of Bejeweled, but with very annoying sound effects!

The sound alone made me dislike this app, I had a headache after just five minutes.  I tend to have my phone on silent when I play games so not to disturb others, but this is not an option on this game!

The game took over my phones volume control, I couldn't find a way to fully switch off the sound effects. There is a volume icon, that does nothing! When you are in the game, there is a music icon that turns off the invasive music, but the noises associated with successful moves remains. This ruined the game for me. 

Another thing that I didn't like, and haven't experienced in many apps, is mid game play full screen adverts, a big no for me. 

I like Bejeweled, and will be sticking with it. 

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 5 

As this is Bejeweled with different icons this is easy to play. 

Price - 3

This is free, I certainly wouldn't pay for it. 

Adverts - 2

There weren't many adverts but they do present themselves during game play, which I see as a ploy to trick you into the app store. 

Keep, jury is out or delete - Delete

I love Bejeweled and will be sticking to it, as after five minutes of game play I had a headache. If you don't mind apps with lots of noise that you can't control and like Bejeweled , then this might be worth a try, but if like me the noise is a deal breaker, then I wouldn't bother. 

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/id766588578?mt=8&affId=2049622

Virtual Snow - 2 Stars

What is it?

This is an app that allows you to add snow fall to your camera image. I reviewed the free version so could not actually take any pictures. 

When you open the app you are presented with a screen full of instructions, the main one being that if you double tap the screen it adjusts the amount of snow fall. The instructions have been written in white bubble writing on a pale background so may be a little difficult for some people to read.  The instructions automatically disappear after a few seconds and the only way I could find to get them back was to close down and restart the app. 

When the app goes to the camera function snow is already falling and it looks good. When you double tap the screen the snow fall does increase, but the speed difference isn't that apparent. There are three types of snow fall: Light Fluffy; Snow Storm; and Blizzard. 

There is a menu option that can be accessed, but for some reason the text is horizontal when the phone is vertical and vice versa. The fonts used for the menu are difficult to read and the writing on the button images are too small.  After some playing with the app I figured out there is a snow flakes options of which there are three to choose from, upgrade option and more apps. 

The different snow flake options are basic, shaded and cartoon. My favourite is cartoon as its as basic and shaded are very similar dots. 

As I mentioned earlier the free version only allows you to view the snow fall through the camera options. You can take screen shots but they can be blurred and contain the advertising banner that is always present at the bottom of the screen.  You can upgrade the app to remove the adverts and take pictures to your camera roll for £0.69.

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 3 

In the free version there isn't much to use as you can't take pictures. The fonts used for instructions and menus are difficult to read and seem to work against the direction of the phone.  
Price - 3

This is a free app, but has very limited functionality and the fact that you can't use the camera is a little disappointing.  The upgrade cost is low at £0.69 but it didn't make me want to buy it, but I can see the appeal for Christmas fanatics!

Adverts - 2

There are adverts in the app including pop ups and a constant banner at the bottom of the screen, all to encourage you to upgrade. 

Keep, jury is out or delete - Jury is out

This app has a nice concept and it is fun. The instructions and lack of camera functionality lessen the app for me but you can take screen shots and with the iOS7 you can crop the pictures, you just have to ask yourself if it is too much like hard work?

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/pocket-snow-storm!-virtual/id485367333?mt=8

Android:  Not available. 

Xmas Songs - 2 Stars

What is it?

This app gives you access to a selection of Christmas songs for free! The app is basic in its design but gives you access to a collection of free songs for the Christmas period.  

You simply scroll down the list and select the one you want to listen to and it starts to play.  When you select the Play option you are taken to a controls screen that allows you to amend the volume, rewind, fast forward and pause with a novelty candy cane to show the position of the song and festive falling snow flakes.

The songs aren't always chart versions, but they do the trick to give a bit of festive cheer. Please note though that not all of the songs are popular and I had never heard of a lot of  them. There are also a few readings from books, listed as songs which was different, but this is supposed to be a song app so I wasn't impressed with this. 

Another thing, the write up on the app store says there are 10,000 free songs, I don't think so more 200 including the readings!

There is a search option but this is limited to scrolling through the list of songs rather than free text. There is also a download option, but my list was blank, and there are no instructions to tell me what this is or how to use it.

Sometimes it can take a few seconds for the song to load.  There are adds on the app, disguised as songs, but they are easy to spot as they have icons, whereas the songs don't. 

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 3 

This is easy to use as it's selecting songs from a list. My slight frustration with this app is the songs are not all songs, and there is no way to identify this apart from listening to it. 
Price - 3

This is free but there is an option to upgrade. Based on the songs included in the free version I wouldn't upgrade. 

Adverts - 2

There are adverts hidden in the list of songs, but after you click on a couple they are easy to identify. There are also some plugs within the songs, so its worth checking them out before you play them at a Christmas party!

Keep, jury is out or delete - Jury is out

This is a good concept but the songs aren't to my taste and most I haven't heard of. I will see if there are any particular songs I like, but this won't be on my phone come January 2nd. I also don't like it is advertised at 10,000 songs when it is clear it is more 200. With that said it is free and easy to use and worth a look as everyones music taste varies. 

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/christmas-music-10-000-free/id474048409 

Android:  Couldn't find on Google Play.

Xmas Cracker - Pull the Christmas Cracker - 0 Stars

What is it?
Rubbish, frustrating and prepare for repetitive strain injury just from the adverts. From first opening the app I couldn't tell you what it is, as I had an advert invasion! When I first entered the app two full screen adverts appears and then one in a smaller window. When I tried to close them I was taken to web pages and the App Store, for this alone I have dropped two stars!

After several attempts, I accessed the app. The premise is you chose a cracker and pull it. The app doesn't actually allow you to pull a cracker, you tap the screen with a timer, until it splits in two. The graphics aren't great and after every game  there are more ads.

There is a multiplayer option which is basically two people tapping the screen (on the same phone).  I gave up on this app as the adverts were horrific and every time you access the app it asks you to rate it even though you haven't been able to play it! The games wasn't enough to keep my interests.

I even asked others to test this with me and #fuming was actually used! With that said peoples reactions are funny, maybe recommend to someone that has annoyed you!

Now for some ratings.....

Ease of use - 2 

Not easy to get to the actual game as the adverts are too invasive. The cracker game isn't using a pulling motion and is tapping, which is odd on a touch screen phone. 


Price - 3

This was free, but you can upgrade to remove the adverts. I wont be doing this I don't think the app is worth the price. 

Adverts - 1

Awful, worse than Scrabble Cheat, I hate the adverts which made me hate this app!

Keep, jury is out or delete - Delete

I do not like this app, I think the developer has got greedy with adverts. I thought the app would be fun but it was frustrating and I have never tapped a cracker to pull it!

Where to find it:

Apple: https://itunes.apple.com/au/app/xmas-cracker-pull-christmas/id733197581?mt=8

Android:  Not available.