Pads & Panels

#3 Minecraft (PC, Droid, iOS)

Publisher/Developer: Mojang

After years in the making and developing a rabid fanbase, thanks to giving users who preordered the constantly evolving beta, Minecraft finally hit version 1.0 this year. The indie sensation gives gamers a randomly generated world to make their own. Dig up materials during the day and build a homestead and weapons to fight the monsters that show up at night, or hit up some of the dungeons and mine away for diamonds. Minecraft is whatever the player wants it to be. (more…)

Title: Cell Bound

Platform: iOS

Publisher: Hothead Games

Developer: Hothead Games

Rating:

Review by: Bill Jones

Cell Bound is the latest of Hothead Games’ mobile offerings, working to create a new type of match-based puzzling, with an ongoing mode that feels similar to Tetris, but with a brand new premise. Players simply control the rotation of a Petri dish as cell slide in from the sides to the center, threatening to contaminate the surface. They can be eliminated, however, by connecting five of the same color. So players spin to make color combinations with the ever speedier cells coming from all sides (which goes a long way in building tension quickly), trying to prevent them from reaching the outer edges of the dish. It’s a fun premise, offering a fresh take on puzzling, but the cells speed up a bit too fast, and without distinct level progression or depth as with Tetris, Cell Bound ultimately ends up feeling a little shallow, despite its three modes of play. (more…)