Apps and articles related to "Small Penguin" (2025)

Goat Simulator Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our rating: :: THE GRUFFEST OF BILLY GOATS

Unleash chaos as a grumpy goat in this humorous but short-lived casual game.

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Posted by Chris Kirby on October 26th, 2013

Another Week of Expert App Reviews

At 148Apps, we help you sort through the great ocean of apps to find the ones we think you'll like and the ones you'll need. Our top picks become Editor’s Choice, our stamp of approval for apps with that little extra something special. Want to see what we've been up to this week? Take a look below for a sampling of our latest reviews. And if you want more, be sure to hit our Reviews Archive.

Tweetbot 3

Tweetbot is the best Twitter app that’s out there, hands down. It’s feature-packed and easy to use. Tweetbot 3 continues this app’s legacy as the best, and is a must for anyone who uses Twitter. Now, Tweetbot 3 is a new app, not just an update to the now-previous version of Tweetbot. While the two apps are pretty much feature-identical, there’s been some usability tweaks and a revamped look and feel for iOS 7. It no longer sticks out like a sore thumb – it fits, and it’s a welcome redesign. It is a bit jarring jumping from the new look to a version using the old one, but the Mac version will be updated for Mavericks soon, and Tweetbot for iPad is in the works down the road. --Carter Dotson

Pocket Titans

Pocket Titans mixes a puzzle game with the kind of row and column switching seen in Candy Crush Saga and 10000000. Yet this casual puzzle gameplay is all wrapped up in the veneer of a squad-based RPG. The way it works? Players have their squad of heroes from the various RPG archetypes: warriors, rogues, archers, et cetera. They and the enemies are on a small grid, with the ability to move an entire row or column in one’s turn. Players get to make two moves to put their characters in their ideal position to attack enemies or use their character’s ability. For example, warriors attack enemies nearby (and their attacks can hit all enemies in a nearby radius), archers can hit enemies either diagonally or straight away from them in their line of sight (no obstructions in the way), healers can, well, heal. As well, each class has secondary abilities that activate when they can’t use their primary one. Everything happens automatically, so to learn how to play just requires learning how the various classes work, which is simple enough. --Carter Dotson

Zombie Cupcake Attack

Zombie games aren’t going away anytime soon, but a new zombie game that has landed in the App Store puts a spin on the craze. Starring Ace of Cakes star Duff Goldman, Zombie Cupcake Attack features undead treats that need to be annihilated in order to save the world from the apocalypse. The graphics are quite impressive for an endless runner. At the start of the game, it’s evident that the developers put a lot of details in all five endless levels. While it has more of a kid-friendly appeal, adults will find themselves having a lot of fun as well. --Angela LaFollette

Hello World - Book 1: The Lonely Islands

Imagine a magical and whimsical fantasy world full of interesting people, epic battles, mediocre coffee, and a talking cat. This is where the story of Hello World takes us; on a journey through a 3D universe populated by a whole variety of mythical creatures and bizarre people. Hippies, vampires, zombies, trolls, chupacabras; there is no shortage of strange beings. In this first-person adventure, Cap and Leet must quest through a universe unlike any other in order to save the magical and semi-sentient land of “Fred.” Set in the style of an RPG, players must explore forests, caves, and sail the sea, all while meeting the most unique of characters and poking squirrels with sticks. --Lucy Ingram

My PlayHome Stores

My PlayHome Stores is the much-awaited sequel to the popular app My PlayHome; a digital dollhouse app that allows children to interact with a play family within their house, including a vast amount of interactive options. My PlayHome Stores now allows this family a day of shopping as children can explore a variety of stores including clothing and ice cream shops, a smoothie shop, and a restaurant. These apps are lovely, simple, and sweet, bringing the creative play of a traditional dollhouse and other creative play to the iPad and iPhone, and as such bring an intuitiveness children will enjoy a great deal. Fans of My PlayHouse as well as those new to this series will enjoy the many interactions as one places a character into these scenes. Do note that although the family from My PlayHome (a mom, dad and three kids) can be seen at the top right of the screen, one also has easy access to a large cast of characters that include men, women, and children of various races and backgrounds – a very nice touch. --Amy Solomon

Other 148Apps Network Sites

If you are looking for the best reviews of Android apps, just head right over to AndroidRundown. Here are just some of the reviews served up this week:

AndroidRundown

Look Out Below

More and more mobile games are utilizing physics in unique ways. Ever since the rise of Angry Birds, developers are looking for new ways to bring the force that dictates all things in the real world into the games that appear on phones and tablets. Physics are implemented in a variety of different games, offering unique game play options and interesting ways of using the laws of science within the game. Look Out Below is one of those games that offers an uncommon usage of physics while offering a simple, but testing game play. --Mike Deneen

IceBurgers

IceBurgers is an environmental tale. Two ships collide in the Antarctic, spewing burgers and letters, and a penguin has to clean it up. Alrighty. Interestingly enough, what makes this game unique is what probably is its best feature: the lack of frills. It rocks a simple motif and features even simpler gameplay, and, as such, can be a formidable time waster. The gameplay is an atypical mix of crossword puzzle and Scrabble. A square grid of 25 tiled letters makes up the playing area, and words are supposed to be created via swiping a finger across letters in fairly liberal fashion. When a word is formed, it lightens up and explodes, and the tiled letters are replaced randomly by falling tiles from above. --Tre Lawrence

BBM for Android

Yes, BlackBerry (formerly RIM) has had better days. The iconic technology company made devices that signified corporate success and helped shape the smartphone market. It’s current troubles are well known, and the company and its devices have arguably lost some of their previous luster. One piece of the BlackBerry ecosystem that has always been respected is BlackBerry Messenger, its eponymous messaging system. It’s always-on nature, perceived reliability and PIN-based connection service is almost universally respected, even by non-BlackBerry device users. So, when BlackBerry announced that it would be opening up the hitherto proprietary messenger to iOS and Android users, ears perked up. --Tre Lawrence

And finally, this week Pocket Gamer reviewed Dead Trigger 2, highlighted the stand-out hits from its Big Indie Pitch event, found 8 tablet-only games to play on the new iPad Air, reviewed Ace Attorney on 3DS, and went hands-on with Vita charmfest Tearaway. Head to Pocket Gamer now for their weekly wrap-up.

Penception Review

+ Universal App - Designed for iPhone and iPad

Our rating: :: FINGER ART

This simple yet elegant app is almost perfect for a little on-the-go sketching.

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Catch a Ninja Review

It turns out ninjas aren't that much tougher than fruit.

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Posted by Carter Dotson on December 27th, 2012

We enter the middle portion of our rundown of 2012's best games, covering numbers 20-11 of our favorite games. Have an opinion of your own? Let us know in the comments!

20. Girls Like Robots: Based on quality, Adult Swim Games probably had the best 2012 of any mobile publisher, with a succession of high-quality games with absurd premises. The silliness made it a great fit on a surface level for the publisher. The high quality of the game, which transcends its silly people-organization concept by just continuously iterating and evolving on it throughout the game, made it something special.

19. Polara: This endless runner mixes in the color-switching of classic shmup Ikaruga with endless runner gameplay. But it shines because it is never content to keep throwing the same tricks at players, as Eli Cymet explains: "Polara boasts tight and varied gameplay, and consummately constructed stages. Rather than rest on the laurels of novelty and squander the core mechanic, developer Hope This Works Games offers a new way to think about color matching in almost every level."

18. Polymer: Play the "One Polymer" mode in this unique sliding puzzle game from indie-musician-turned-developer Whitaker Trebella to see its genius: it encourages long-term strategizing and planning to make a high-scoring match, not just quick reactions like in other puzzle games. Sure, there's modes that require quick thinking as well that are plenty of fun, but the premise of One Polymer is what kept me coming back.

17. Pocket Planes: Nimblebit hates our free time. Last year's Tiny Tower was addictive. So was Pocket Planes, thanks in no small part to the fact that there was more surface strategy to employ, and the ability for players to have a say in their fate as they expand their airline's reach into a globe-traversing empire. Plus, what other game has people in frog suits flying planes? It's the only game on this list, for sure...

16. Need For Speed Most Wanted: If one game was to define how far iOS gaming came this year, EA and Criterion's racer, adapted to iOS by Firemonkeys, might be it. From being packed full of features, and looking absolutely amazing to boot, it's showing that the difference between consoles and mobile, at least on a technical level, is a rapidly-shrinking gulf. Yet despite the good looks, it is definitely a keeper for its gameplay according to Blake Grundman: "Even with the most critical of eyes, Need for Speed: Most Wanted is still easily one of the best racers on the platform to date. You would have to be crazy not to take this hot rod out for a nice long joy ride."

15. Organ Trail: Director's Cut: Often times, pixel art is used just as an art style, and not to convey an actual retro feel. Not so here. By combining the look and feel of an 80's PC Oregon Trail game, and combining its mechanics with a modern-day zombie apocalypse, the elements brilliantly wind up informing each other and forming a sublime take on a classic. Rob Rich feels the same way: "Virtually every aspect of Organ Trail: Director’s Cut oozes style and cleverness. Also pus. It’s a game that’s likely to please zombie fans as well as anyone who remembers the one without the green-skinned shamblers fondly. And it’s with no hesitation or trepidation that I suggest that everyone reading this should buy it. If they haven’t already, of course."

14. Ski Safari: There are endless runners, and then there's Ski Safari. I'll let Rob Rich explain why it made our list: "Penguins, snowmobiles, eagles, and yeti can all be used to put some real distance between the accident prone man and the avalanche. Not only are they useful, they’re also pretty funny. Watching the yeti run wildly or slide along on its stomach never gets old. The same can be said for seeing a penguin ride along on the fuzzy mythological beast." If a man and a penguin riding a yeti while outrunning an avalanche ever gets old, I will weep bitterly. An easy choice for this list.

13. Super Crate Box: It would be easy to forget that this was actually a 2012 title, since it came out in the first week of January. I don't forget sitting for hours on end, either on touchscreen or at my iCade, trying to last just a little bit longer, cursing out that disc gun, the giant walking green skulls, or the stupid fire pit at the bottom. Yet, after those countless hours, no game revealed itself to give the players the control over their fate, to be about pure skill far more than randomness, quite like this one did.

12. Fieldrunners 2: Remember 2008? That's when the first Fieldrunners came out. 2012 is like an eternity since then, but Fieldrunners is still a ton of fun. As Rob LeFebvre writes: "Fieldrunners 2 HD is a brilliant combination of action and strategy with a depth of gameplay that’s hard to ignore. I find myself thinking of solutions to particularly difficult maps while I’m driving, or showering, or making dinner for the kids." Just don't burn the food while protecting your base.

11. Mikey Shorts: The laser precision of the controls is a significant part of what made this so good: trying to shave fractions of seconds off one's time in order to beat a friend on the leaderboards could be nigh-impossible with virtual controls, nay it should be. But instead, it's about as perfect as it could be. Not bad for a first-time effort, and challenging friends to try and one up their times added a ton of value to this one. Plus, there's silly hats.

$2.99

Posted by Amy Solomon on August 24th, 2012

ABC ZooBorns is the delightful new app from Peapod Labs, part of a series of apps dedicated to teaching children about the alphabet as well as themes such as food, vehicles, sports, music, household objects, or wild animals.

I really appreciate how for ABC ZooBorns, developers at PeaPod Labs have partnered with ZooBorns.com, a site dedicated to documenting births at zoos around the world to bring photos and video clips of these charming creatures.

My son loves animals, and to him the only thing better than animals are baby animals. Together we have spend time looking at baby animal videos on YouTube, so it is nice to have all this information within an application, making searching for this information a lot less time-consuming and simple to use for my boy.

My son, a fan of these other apps, was excited to hear about ABC ZooBorns, asking me about a list of his favorite animals, all of which are included - much to my son’s excitement. I too enjoy the list of animals included - be it more traditional zoo animals, such as tigers or zebras, but also including some unique choices such as Ural owl, wombat or quokka. We do love to look at these animals as babies, especially those are simply precious to look at such as baby Gorillas or Elephants.

It is wonderful that this app contains a great deal of content even without being online, as each animal included has a series of images as well as very nice narrated animal facts that sometimes correlate with the photo in question, also including more information involving such details as species, as well as a fun interaction for each animal.

ABC ZooBorns as well as the other apps in this series includes a menu page of available baby animals to explore - alphabetically arranged. Tap to select a baby animal to explore further. Do note that each animal type is spelled out at the bottom of the page, allowing one to tap any of these letters to see a series of animals starting with this letter as well, introducing some letter awareness. Make no mistake, though; these apps can be enjoyed by curious children well past the age of learning their ABC’s.

As more and more animal images are explored, the menu page will become filled in from blank areas to small icons created of each animal image showing what users have and have not looked at and saving this information for later - a nice touch.

When taken to a page dedicated to one’s animal choice, note the “Little Explorer” holding a window left of the screen. A tap here will deliver players to the interactive screen where children will drag their finger around the screen to uncover new related photo elements, allowing children to brush a monkey, bathe a hippo, weigh an otter, or help hatch a penguin.

I have enjoyed these as well as other interactive moments, but I find that too often one is asked simply to find the animal not seen until the wiping of the fingers, leaving more room for additional variation. It would also be lovely to hear animal noises during wiping of the screen or after to include another animal elements to this application.

To hear fun animal facts, tap the icon of the “Little Explorer” wearing a safari outfit right of the screen - a terrific inclusion for children, especially those who may be pre-readers, and I really enjoy how each photo of each animal contains its own narrated fact.

To watch an animal video, swipe the page to progress to the next image where one will find a link to a video clip for each sequential photo as well.

We have been a fan of these apps universally, and it is exciting to say that these apps keep getting better and better, now updated to be interactive, as well as include video clips and universally well-shot photographs.

I also find it impressive how much this series of apps has changed, making these apps more interactive and user-friendly for children who need help with reading. I admire PeaPod Labs' commitment to further developing their apps with free updates of added content and not just bug fixes. I would love to see more varied interactions in the future as well animal sounds.

My son and I also enjoy their other all new ABC House - everyday objects that I will also be reviewing in the future. If interested, please look for it in iTunes.

My boy has come to know these apps a great deal and gets excited when another of this series appears on our devices, utterly recognizable as these apps share the same stylized icon including a “Little Explorer” character dressed in a way which demonstrates each of these app’s themes. I do wonder what could be next for this series. Only time will tell.

$1.99

The Little Engine That Could by OnceUponAnApp is a nice story book application for iPad based on the classic children’s book of the same name, but not connected to Penguin's official app of this story. Although extras are included, this book is primarily a story book with bright colors, illustration and animations reminiscent of the original book and includes lovely narration and music which is especially well-done, adding a lot of richness to this beloved tale.

This app, although abridged, is a faithful adaptation of the classic children’s book written in 1930 about a train filled with toys and other fun things for children on the other side of a large mountain which the train needs to cross over to in order to deliver its cargo. Soon the train pulling these cars breaks down and needs the aid of another engine that is willing and able to pull the freight. Sadly, many trains refuse, being either unwilling or unable to do so, until a small and inexperienced, yet a very kind train, the “little engine,” comes across this problem and is willing to help. With the use of the positive affirmation, “I think I can, I think I can,” the Little Engine makes her way over the mountain to the children waiting for her.

Updated for the iPad, this application includes both a video to watch of the story as well as a book to follow along with as a narrator reads. The narration is very good in each of these sections, as are the images used throughout the book section. I found the animation used in the video to be a bit choppy, yet still enjoyable to watch and I do like how each of the trains met has a personality and voice all their own and as varied as people kids will meet in the real world, as many of these trains are not helpful, a lesson children need to learn at some point sooner or later. A nice use of different voices for each individual train within the video section further showcases these differences, moments I appreciate. I did however, miss the use of music heard in the video but not used in the book section, unfortunate as this music added to the experience found in the video.

A section of activities has also been included, with a connect-the-dots section and coloring pages. Some simple puzzles are offered as well, letting players build a train or load a train with the various toys and other cargo found in this story, and it is nice that the hints are offered within these puzzles. A “Play with the Engine” area is also included, allowing children to choose a specific train from the story to become animated and move on the tracks. These actives are pleasant, yet may only appeal to the youngest players who have not yet mastered the skills worked on here, as the puzzle sections, coloring pages and connect-the-dot sections are on the simplistic side, and the “Play with the Engine” area has less interaction than I had hoped.

With these issues aside, this is a nice re-telling of this classic story, with very good narration and music making this ebook worth looking into.

Powerslide Penguin Review

iPhone App - Designed for iPhone, compatible with iPad

Our rating: :: ADDICTIVE FUN

Chillingo offers up another fun casual puzzler experience, this time with a cute Penguin.

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FREE!

Posted by Nina Ignaczak on November 9th, 2010

Oh boy, this one is a major hit with my kids (2 and 4 years old)! Talking Perry the Penguin is nothing more (and nothing less) than a digital voice recorder, which takes input from te microphone and converts it to a voice emanating from the megaphone of a pudgy and cute little Penguin named Perry. Hours of fun sending parroted message via Perry can be had with this app.

Options include a slider to control microphone sensitivity and another to control output voice pitch. Interestingly, the voice pitch slider also controls the size of Perry, so a high pitched Perry is small whereas a low-pitched Perry is large.

What more can be said? I hope the developers add more features for voice modification and additional creature options. Great idea- we want more!