For the past few days IAR has gotten a bunch of review requests for iPhone 4 LED flashlights, apparently a booming market in the app store. Unfortunately, I don’t have the means to acquire Apple’s latest gadget, so I’m going to be giving away the promo codes in the comments for all you lucky iPhone 4 owners.

LED Flashlight, only for iPhone 4

The Flashlight App (For some reason, the iTunes Link Maker was screwing up on this one and wouldn’t give me the link. But rest assured, it’s a flashlight app.)

LED iLight

LED Light for iPhone4

Adventure puzzle hidden-object finding games are always good…especially when they’re free! Check the bottom of the post for a promo code.

Well, here are the codes! Make sure you PLAY NICE and leave a comment saying which code you took.

If you manage to snag a code, I’m sure the developer would appreciate an honest App Store review!

1. T7WWX7YFJHA6
2. LJMJ3PK73AW3
3. WJYKRATXTH6A
4. JJAFKAYFEAR7

Instructions on redeeming can be found here http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/how-to-get-free-apps/

iTunes Link – Laura Jones and the Secret Legacy of Nikola Tesla

Probably one of the most unique apps I’ve came across in a while, Descent is a freefall calculator able to offer “the most accurate possible representation of the time it would take to freefall to the earth’s surface and the speed you would be traveling upon impact”. Sweet.

Well, here are the codes! Make sure you PLAY NICE and leave a comment saying which code you took.

If you manage to snag a code, I’m sure the developer would appreciate an honest App Store review!

1. PM9F7XAEPF4T
2. PMRM47NTETE
3. XHTJ4WX7K4H
4. YAXXEF7MXRLP
5. PL77APHXE77F

iTunes Link – Descent

A slick top-down racer where you have to collect fuel and smash other vehicles! Check the comments for promo codes.

BlackjackAttack! is basically blackjack on steroids. With powerups. Hell yeah. Free codes at the end of post!

Well, here are the codes! Make sure you PLAY NICE and leave a comment saying which code you took.

If you snag one, I’m sure the developer would appreciate an App Store review!

1. 9RFHRTM33TRW
2. H9AJPKM6FTMW
3. 7PJA7Y7EX7E6
4. ARHAHX7JY9T6
5. A7XTJAAYFWHL
6. JEPMYWAAMFFJ
7. HXEJ9YR6XX3X
8. KX3XHLMPRNF9
9. RFKFWNXHNWYM
10. MYYKLTWARE3N

Instructions on redeeming can be found here http://www.iphoneappreviews.net/how-to-get-free-apps/

App developers: Interested in getting some free promotion and word out about your app? If you’d like to participate in the free code giveaway then just head over here and drop some promo codes to share.

Turn-based strategy games are quite popular on the App Store, beloved due to their addictive and thought-provoking qualities. But every now and again, there comes along a genre-shaking game that just blows me away. Everlands, developed by Hexage.net, is one example.

Everlands’s basic plot revolves around the evil spirits taking control of animals, and the brave plethora of creatures that must come together to stop the evil and cleanse their possessed brethren. While this more juvenile, lighthearted storyline seems out of place in a genre filled with macho heroes, futuristic weaponry and vehicular combat, it blends nicely into the game and serves as a much welcomed change of pace.

In Everlands, you and your opponent take turns placing animals on the hexagonal board. Each animal has a certain amount of life and attack points, but can only attack out of certain sides. After attacking, the animal cannot attack out of that side again for the rest of the match. When an animal loses all life points, it will change alignments, resetting all life points but not attack sides.

Each species has varying amounts of life and attack points, as well as a unique special ability. For example, the intimidating Tiger is able to reduce the attack points of all adjacent enemy animals, while the prickly Hedgehog is able to attack on almost all sides. Everlands is super easy to play, with the bonus of  shorter tutorials, but adds just the right amount of depth to avoid being simplistic and dull.

In order to complete a stage, you must have possession of more than 50% of the board with your creatures. If you are victorious, you unlock another animal to add to your arsenal. While the story mode starts off easy, the difficulty quickly ramps up as you learn to synergize your animal’s abilities and weaknesses together. However, the story mode is rather short, and with the conclusion of the game you are left little replay value. Perhaps in a effort to combat this, Everlands also features a two-player duel mode where you can square off against a friend using the same device.

Everlands is able to simultaneously pay homage to strategy game and casual game principles, making it a blast to play. Everlands is a must-own game if you’re a lover of strategy games, or just have the desire for a great game. Hexage.net builds on a classic hexic strategy game with its own unique quirks and twists, creating a game that shouldn’t be missed.

iTunes Link – Everlands

Developer Link – Hexage.net

Well, the app’s description is in it’s title. Kickabout is a fun, polished casual game where you have to keep a soccer ball/football in the air for as many kicks as you can. While usually a dollar, Co-incidence Ventures Ltd has been nice enough to provide some free codes to give some lucky readers a free go at this game.

iTunes Link – Kickabout – Keepy uppy football skills for the iPhone

Like similar games, High Noon is based around the concept of ‘energy’, which permits you to duel other people a certain amount of times before you have to let it recharge. However, rather than fighting in a strictly textual way, like ‘Mafia Wars’ type games, High Noon actually incorporates some real time action into the game with fantastic results. Because of this, you want to make sure you’re in an area with good internet connectivity; else the game will spit out a warning about how you need a strong connection to play.

Dueling in the game involves tilting your phone (or pod, or pad) to control your gun’s reticule and tapping to shoot. To reload, simply tilt your device forward.  Rather than gaining experience points to level up, the High Noon uses a system of gold bounties on an enemy’s death. If you successfully slay your enemy in mortal combat, you’ll get a tidy sum of gold toward gaining your next level.

My biggest criticism is how repetitive High Noon can tend to be, especially if you need to collect a substantial amount of gold to reach your next level. While you can liven up battles by purchasing items for one-time use (I enjoyed stringing up bad guys with a lasso for shits and giggles), High Noon can tend to get dry when you have a wide swath of enemies to shoot through.

Because High Noon is a ‘freemium’ game, you have the option to buy a secondary currency, ‘wampum’, using actual money from an in-game store. While wampum allows to you purchase more powerful and valuable items, the game does have a generous selection of items to be purchased with gold.

All in all, High Noon is a strong, addictive game. With its combination smooth real-time action bits and a leisurely leveling up and upgrade system, High Noon is the cream of the crop of online freemium games. And since it’s free, be sure to give it a download if you’re interested, and leave your thoughts about the game in the comments.

iTunes Link – High Noon

happylatte’s website

For the low, low price of free, this can all be yours!

Being too lazy to find my iPod Touch’s UDID* by manually plugging it into iTunes, I stumbled upon Ad Hoc Helper, by Erica Sadun. This no-frills utility basically snatches up some info about your device, such as your device name, model, system version, memory, free space and UDID and automatically pops open Mail so you can get that info where it needs to be.  While this not be necessary for everybody, Ad Hoc Helper an awesome way for you to quickly get info about your device, and I recommend you scoop this app in case you’re ever in a pinch.

*A 40 digit serial code unique to your iDevice. Useful for app developers who are beta testing, debugging or adjusting their app. More info here, at TUAW.

iTunes Link – Ad Hoc Helper

Budcat and Activision have teamed up to bring you Pix Maze. The object of this game is to complete different mazes and as you go a picture is revealed.

There are small mazes, medium mazes and large mazes for you to concour. With over seventy mazes for you to complete this game offers a lot of play time.

When you start up a maze your character is a bug that goes through the maze stepping on little color blocks that leave said color behind you to create the picture. In the top left corner there is a screen that shows your progress on the picture so the further into the maze you get the more detailed your picture becomes.

The controls are really simple and not intrusive. In the bottom right corner there are four arrows that you push to go in the direction you wish.

In the options you can set hints to be on or off. If you have the hints on and you wait at a fork in the road the right way will be show to you as a blinking color tab and if you wait even longer or find yourself off the main path arrows will show up to lead you back.

You can also set a playlist of songs to play from the option menu.

If this wasnt enough there is a custom maze creator. All you have to do is draw up the picture and a maze will be created for you automatically. Way cool.

I had a fun time testing this game out, cool graphics, cool pictures but the one and only thing I didn’t like was the character. Im not sure why they chose a bug as your character but I would have preferred something more appealing.

iTunes Link – Pix Maze

Version 1.0.0

Reviewed on iPhone 3G OS 3.1.3

Growing up I was a big fan of point and click action games. This was due to that fact that my step-father worked at sierra entertainment, and we got all the games for free. I have been waiting for these types of games to surface in the app store.

When I came across Laura Jones and the Gates of Good and Evil the first thing that popped into my head was Laura Bow and the Dagger of Amon Ra (a sierra game). I was excited, so I loaded up the game and waited and waited and waited while the game was chopping through the intro sequence. Then I tried entering my name to start a new game and had to shut it off because my 3G couldn’t process the game fast enough. I then loaded up the iPad with the game and wala it worked. Mind you this problem has been fixed and is currently playable on the 3G. So we know Astar-Nevosoft was aware of the problem and got it fixed a.s.a.p.

In the game you are Laura Jones, daughter of a famous adventure duo who stumbles across a mysterious stone that begins the quest to find the gates of good and evil. The characters are a bit cheesy and there is quite a bit of dialogue to get through but the story is interesting.

Each level begins with some dialogue and then you do a find the object in the picture type of game. After certain levels you play a mini-game that gets unlocked in the home screen for later play. A few levels are more intricate and there is more of a puzzle vibe in example finding keys to open drawers that have the safe code etc etc.

All in all the game is fun but defiantly not what I was hopping for. It is a step in the direction towards point and click games I have grown to love and for that I was pleased. If you aren’t a fan of the “find the object” type of game though this is not for you.

iTunes Link – Laura Jones

Version – 2010.05.12

Reviewed on  iPhone 3G OS 3.1.3 & iPad