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Gem Spinner – Free Amazon App of the Day 8/24/11

Name: Gem Spinner Description: Spin Those Gems, Round and Round In Gem Spinner, you swap, spin, and slide the gems until you match three in a row. Finagle these beautiful gems to earn points against the clock with each three-way match. Fun to play and aesthetically pleasant, Gem Spinner is a challenging game with an animated, colorful, and well-crafted interface. Please note that Gem Spinner is not optimized for tablets. Drop and Drag Matching Gem Spinner isn’t your ordinary match-three game. In this unique variation, the gems are arranged inside shapes of different sizes. As you clear away gems, the shapes drop into the cleared area, much like Tetris blocks. gem spinner Swap adjacent gems to match three in a row. Double tap a gem to spin its shape 180 degrees. Match all the gems in a piece to clear the piece from the board. Drag shapes to empty board spaces to create more match opportunities. Match enough gems to complete the level goal and then continue to swap, spin, and drag to try to clear the entire board. Practice Makes Perfect Gem Spinner has two game modes. In Practice Mode, hone your gem spinning skills with no time limits. You can practice on six different boards under no pressure. When you’re ready to start spinning for real, try to beat Level One (“The Boxer”) with a time limit. As you ascend through the levels, you get less time to finish the boards, and the goals get tougher. Master the Gems Gem Spinner features a narrated and animated tutorial, so you’ll quickly understand how the game works. Conquer 35 levels that get increasingly difficult. You can also play the boards at various levels of difficulty. Track your score, and compare your skills with others all over the world. Just don’t make yourself too dizzy spinning those gems!

ZDefense – Free Amazon Appstore App of the Day 8/22/11

Name: ZDefense
Description:
Pure Tower Defense
ZDefense distills the best elements of tower defense games. This game features sharply drawn, geometric shapes on a hexagon grid, recalling the timeless old-school designs of such arcade classics as Tempest and Breakout. This fast-paced game will challenge even the most experienced tower defense fans.

Tower Defense 101
For those unfamiliar with the addictive tower defense genre, the game mechanics are fairly simple. You’re provided with cash to build towers of varying designs, strengths, and costs. Eventually your enemies (called “creeps” in this game) will come pouring out and make a beeline toward the exit you’re defending.

Every time you blast a creep, you gain a little money to build more towers. You can also spend your money upgrading the towers you have. Every time a creep reaches the exit, you take damage. Tower defense games are essentially a juggling act of resource allocation and fast reflexes.

Stay Calm. Don’t Panic. Keep Firing!
As creeps keep coming and coming, ZDefense evolves into a frantic maelstrom of destruction. You’ll face 50 waves of enemies in less than five minutes. Defend an exit in the middle of the map from creeps coming in from all directions. You simply can’t use the same strategy for every level; you must change up your tactics for each map.

ZDefense’s maps generally have 10 to 30 waves of enemies. The full version features five tutorial, ten normal, and eight hard maps. There are five tower types with seven levels each. To make your life more complicated, a special tile called the Space Gate allows creeps to teleport from one gate to another.

Command the Creeps
ZDefense comes with a map editor so you can create your own nightmare scenarios to terrify your fellow tower defense fans. The editor comes with full instructions and customizable maps, creeps, towers, and waves. Customize the game mechanics, such as wave wait times, base life, money, and more. You can also take screen captures of your game to record your victories and show off to your friends.

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

FRG Deluxe – Free Amazon Appstore App of the Day 8/20/11

Name: FRG Deluxe
Description: Fight off hordes of enemies with an armored robot in this arcade shooter for Android. Unlock different weapons and robot types as you fight your way through 18 challenging levels. Mow down lone enemies with the rapid-fire chaingun, then switch to the shotgun to clear out waves of foes.

Use your skills to stay alive as you complete achievements and challenge yourself across three difficulty levels. Climb your way to the top of the leaderboards with online high score listings!

In FRG Deluxe, players take control of a heavily armed robot on the battlefield fighting off hordes of different enemies. Move and dodge attacks using the touchpad or optical joystick, or touch and drag your robot across the screen to activate boost. Use the Menu button switches between your different unlocked weapons–lock on and fire one of six deadly weapon types to destroy your foes. Gain points by completing different achievements and improving your score, then use them to upgrade your robot with different weapons, armor, and power ratings.

Up to eight players can battle it out in a free-for-all deathmatch. Find online matches with other players in the online games list. Grab your favorite robot and start playing online. With three difficulty settings to choose from, anyone can find a suitable challenge for their skill level. Rack up the points, complete achievements, then compare scores with the rest of the world through OpenFeint’s online leaderboards.

Additional Features:
-Play through both normal mode and survival mode.
-Change three different settings for each robot: armor, speed, and power.
-Learn the basics of gameplay through in-game help documentation.

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Overkill – Free Amazon App of the Day 8/17/11

Name: Overkill

Description:

Fly your ship through asteroid fields and waves of enemies to collect, upgrade, and destroy in Overkill. A side-scrolling shooter full of pure adrenaline-pumping action, Overkill puts an AI-guided spacecraft with responsive tilt controls at your disposal to help you defeat thousands of foes, earn high scores, and share those scores via online leaderboards.

Objective
Fight through enemy forces and challenging bosses, destroying anything that gets in your way to earn points and money. Occasional secondary objectives help keep gameplay varied, while you use the money earned to return to your hangar and upgrade your three weapon categories (cannons, rockets, and heavy weapons) in order to eradicate enemies and debris more efficiently. You also collect power-ups like rapid fire and double damage for increased destructive power.

Gameplay Modes
Start a new game and get into the main campaign, which is narrated by your ship’s AI. Or jump into one of several quick missions and bonus missions reflecting the campaign’s objectives in stand-alone form. You can even play survival mode if you’re up for a high score challenge. In the campaign you can select from four different difficulty levels for a variety of experiences: easy, normal, hard, and extreme.

Score Submission
At the end of each level, submit your score to the Scoreloop leaderboards with a Scoreloop login or a unique player ID. This widely used system lets you find out your rank for the last 24 hours, among players worldwide, or among your friends.

Additional Features
-Autosave when backing out of the game or exiting to your home screen
-Set controls to use the accelerometer or the touchscreen and keypad, trackball, or directional pad
-Tweak control sensitivity, sound effects, and music
-Increase the graphical filtering and detail if your phone has more powerful hardware
-Expect new levels, weapons, and power-ups to be added in future updates

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Everlands – Free Amazon Android App for 8/15/11

Name: Everlands

Description:
Story-Based, Hexagon-Shaped, Strategy Puzzle
Dark and sinister forces have invaded the colorful world of Everlands. Everlands animals must unite to combine the best of their abilities, together standing against the great threat that casts a shadow over their beloved homeland.

Each animal has unique strengths, weaknesses, and features. Defeat the foes of Everlands through strategy and tactics by combining dozens of animal abilities, leading them through more than 20 carefully prepared levels. Reveal the truth behind the source of mysterious evil in a unique turn-based game.

Game Objective
The goal of the game is to win battles by capturing as many enemy hexagons as possible with the strengths and abilities of your animal hexagons. If you manage to gain more than half of the combatants in that round, you win the battle.

Animal Hex health and attack power levels
Strategic Gameplay
Click on each animal hexagon to see useful information about that animal’s abilities. Based on that description, you place that hexagon on the board to prepare for battle against the enemy. Keep in mind the number and direction of the attack sides of each hex. The sides of your animal’s hex that have no attack direction are undefended. Those are the sides the enemy will try to attack. Ideal placement allows your animal to point its attack in the enemy’s direction, while leaving its undefended sides away from the battle’s front.

Social Networking Features
Invite, challenge and compete with your Facebook friends
Share your achievements on your Facebook wall
Facebook single sign-on support

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Refraction- Free Amazon App of the Day

Name: Refraction

Description:
Refraction satisfies your need for challenging puzzles that test your logic and patience.

The Objective
Each puzzle contains one or more static laser beam. Using mirrors or prisms, refract the colored laser to the circle of the same color. Various objects obstruct your path. The circle nor the source of the beam can be moved. The only way to manipulate the beam is by using the provided number of prisms and mirrors.

Depending on the color of the circle and laser, you may have to combine and split different colored lasers. This app uses pigment colors rather than light colors for refraction because pigment colors are an easier concept to grasp than light colors and accommodate the majority of users.

For example, if a puzzle has one yellow laser and one blue laser with one green circle and one yellow circle, you must combine lasers to create a green beam to reach the green circle.

The Solutions
Refraction features 120 levels with multiple solutions to each puzzle for the casual and hardcore players alike. You may like to solve a puzzle using the least amount of objects possible, or solve it with an amazing display of colors using lots of prisms and mirrors.

User Interface
The interface is accurate and simple, just like the logical gamer would want it. You won’t be distracted by silly music or non-essential flair. With the polished graphics and ultimate precision, you play the game, not fight it.

Refraction offers the ability to take screenshots from the app and save them to your SD card. To take a screenshot, tap Menu > Take Screenshot > Saves to SD Card at /Pictures/Refraction.

Permissions
External storage permission is necessary to save screenshots. The wake lock permission allows you to turn off your screen’s auto-sleep which is off by default. The internet permission is for analytics tracking by Localytics.

Download Link: http://goo.gl/FdVbR (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

iCooking Barbecue – Free Amazon Appstore App for 8/3/11

	Name: iCooking Barbecue
	Description: This grilling season surprise your guests with unique new barbecue favorites. iCooking Barbecue offers dishes that will be a welcome change from the typical burgers and hot dogs. If you don’t think you’re a grill master, it’s time to reevaluate your skills. These easy-to-follow recipes will turn your backyard into the new place for the best barbecue. Beyond the Burger Simply searching for a recipe will make your mouth water. Vivid photos of each dish, and a search-friendly interface make it simple to peruse a variety of delectable options, from bacon-wrapped scallop kabobs to Asian-style beef patties. Search All Recipes to view every dish. If you’re set on grilling something specific–let’s say, beef–search recipes by type, and filter your search to eliminate all non-beef options. Grilling the Goods Once you’ve decided on a recipe, iCooking Barbecue lists all of the ingredients you’ll need, provides step-by-step instructions if necessary, and includes a nice photo of the completed dish. The app also lets you save your own original recipes as well as share your discoveries with friends and family via e-mail. Don’t forget to add dishes to your Favorites list for those that you and your guests just love.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/niZ3H (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Alternatives to the Android Market

So you have an Android phone that you want to be able to make your own, or you may feel a little restricted by Google’s Android Market. What other options are out there? I do a lot of talking and linking to things in Android Market, but I also talk and link a lot about the Amazon Appstore. The Amazon Appstore (among others – see below) is an alternate place to download apps for Android and along with the below list gives you the freedom to get your apps from anywhere.

I will cover a handful of app stores below. Feel free to check them out and comment about your experiences.

	Name: SlideME App Store
	Description: SlideME is a great alternative to the Google Android Market, and is the site that has made recent (geek gamer) news because of the user yongzh getting booted out of Google’s market and pulling all of his apps and moving over to SlideME and releasing them for free. He is the author of the (insert-classic-system-here)OID games like, NESOID, SNESOID, GameBoid. Just for those apps alone you should go check out the SlideME appstore.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/P8VoU (SlideMe.org)

	Name: AndSpot.com
	Description: AndSpot takes a unique approach to the idea of an app store. One that all you power users out there will love. They have a monthly service that gives you UNLIMITED Android app downloads for a low low monthly rate of $8 per month. It is in Beta so you have to sign up for it and wait to get an invite.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/2EEMd(AndSpot.com)

	Name: Aproov
	Description: Aproov is a web based app “store” that specializes is only Free apps. This is great if you are someone that spends a lot of time looking through the regular market’s free section and struggle with it because it is not designed for just free apps, where this app store is designed just for that.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/Y930E (Aproov.com)

	Name: OnlyAndroid (Mobihand.com)
	Description: OnlyAndroid is an app store that has an option that is similar to the Amazon Appstore. It offers a “deal of the day” on an android app or service. Although it is not a free app, but it also does include services, for example the deal for today (7/29/11) is a 15 month subscription to the SmrtGuard service which gives you data backup and a lost phone finder service for 50% off. It is definitely a site to keep tabs on because they might offer a great deal on that certain app you have been eyeing.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/kNGYB (onlyandroid.mobihand.com)

	Name: Amazon App Store
	Description: Amazon Appstore is the alternative appstore that I am obviously a huge fan of mainly because of the feature they offer every day that gives you a FREE app that you can just download. No strings attached. They have a great selection of apps and almost all of the apps have a sale price that is cheaper than the “normal” Android Market.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/BRkOt (Amazon.com)

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

FolderOrganizer – Amazon Appstore Free App for 7/19/11

Everyone likes an organized phone. Even someone as scatterbrained as me. With FolderOrganizer you can organize all the stuff that matters so you can make yourself more efficient. Efficiency at it’s best – best price that is. Get it today only for the low low price of FREE!

	Name: FolderOrganizer
	Description: Want more control over the file structure of your smartphone, or would you love to be able to organize your apps, bookmarks, contacts and shortcuts the way you want? Group items according to labels and create fully customizable folders and widgets with FolderOrganizer. You can organize apps, bookmarks, contacts and shortcuts, change folder icons, sort folder items any way you like, and make app shortcuts with custom icons and names. FolderOrganizer Features With hierarchical labels, easily categorize all items. You can create and edit folders, manually sort items in a label, create scrollable widgets with five items in a row, change label icons, and rename apps and change app icons. Make sense of all the stuff on your smartphone. Get FolderOrganizer.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/zSXHP

Some “Best of the Best” accessories for your Android phone:

Archipelago – Amazon Free App of the Day 7/17/2011

	Name: Archipelago
	Description: Looking for a highly-addictive real-time strategy game that is easy to learn and hours of fun? Look no further than Archipelago! The goal of the game is quite simple: just capture all of the enemy islands on the map. Gameplay Archipelago’s gameplay is astonishingly straightforward: Tap an island controlled by your forces to select it, and then tap an enemy A.I. island to send your troops there. Half of an island’s available troops participate in the attack; the other half say behind to defend the island. To take over an enemy island you must overwhelm the island with more troops than they have currently defending. It may take several attack waves to capture the island! The best strategy may include capturing a neutral (grey) island. Large islands can station more troops, and your forces will grow faster. You can send an attack wave from multiple islands. Drag your finger across the screen to select the islands you wish to have participate in the attack. Game Modes Archipelago can be played with more than on A.I. player and includes Campaign and Single Game modes. In Campaign Mode, you will always control the blue player, and you have no allies. In Single Game mode, you can configure teams as you desire using seven colors and up to four teams. A useful tutorial is also available to walk you through the game functions.


	Download Link: http://goo.gl/YjZje