Apps: Candy Crush Saga by King.com

CANDY CRUSH SAGA
HERS	MEDIA	HIS
Candy Crush is simple, fun, and very addictive. If you like Bejeweled I think you'll like this one even more. It has the basic "match these three of the same color" concept but it's a little more in-depth. This one has extra boosts if you match 4 or 5 in a row and even more when you match those special candies. Plus, it has a huge map that keeps you from feeling like you're just doing puzzle after puzzle after puzzle... Enjoyability: 4/5 Candy Crush is an awesome app. It has lots of different twists that really keep the game interesting. Each level has a set of goals that you have to reach in a limited number of moves. I like how it's based more on the moves that you have and not how much time you have left. It makes the game more relaxed and lets you think more about how each move is going to affect the board. There are a few timed levels but, trust me, those are the easiest ones. Another thing I like is that you can connect it to your Facebook account and it will show the top scores on each level (blue has kicked my ass on too many of them.) Now for the downside of this game. You don't gain any power-ups. Sure, you can unlock them.. but then you have to buy them. They're usually $1.15 but then it's $20 for extra hearts?! What? You can hold up to 5 hearts which regenerate automatically but it's one every half hour. I'll be stuck on the same level all day sometimes. But $20 to hold 3 extra hearts is definitely not worth it. Blue and I are both on level 35 now and we have to either invite friends or buy "tickets" to continue our adventure. I don't like that. Creativity: 4.5/5 It isn't very original when it comes to the concept of the game but King.com added so many different things. They turned a common puzzle game into one that doesn't lose your interest after a few levels. First, the map. Instead of it just being one puzzle after another, it feels like you're travelling through the game. It even has a little story to go along with it. And then there are the combos. You can make stripey candy with 4 in a row (clears a whole line) and chocolate candy with 5 in a row (zaps all of the candies of a certain color). Make a T or an L with two sets of three and you get a candy in a wrapper that acts like a bomb. Reminds us of Warheads (Blue - "The yellow ones should explode the most candy."). Then if you mix those candies they do ridiculous things that can sometimes clear the entire board. The goals of each level are cool, too. Some have you clear the jelly by making matches in particular blocks and others have you drop fruit to the bottom of the board, those are the hardest! Beauty: 4/5 I love the design. It looks nice and it's set up very well. Easy to navigate through and it never freezes my phone up which is a huge plus for me. I really like the music in this game, too. It kind of reminds me of Animal Crossing. It's calming (even though some of the levels can be SO frustrating) and it doesn't get on your nerves. It goes along with the candy theme really well. The sound effects are great, too. It says things like "tasty" and "delicious" when you make nice combos. One thing that I don't like, though, is how similar the yellow and orange candies look. They're difficult to tell apart, especially when they're striped. Just a small detail but I can't really complain about anything else. It's a cute game. It has an almost childish feel to it. Overall: 4/5 I love it. Candy Crush Saga has a well-known concept so it's easy to get started but it has many unique features which separate it from the other puzzle games. Great design, hard to put down, and it actually gets very difficult, especially when the number of moves you begin with starts to decrease (but of course, you can always buy more..). I just wish it didn't ask you to spend money on everything in the game. I can understand them trying to sell extra hearts, maybe not for $20. But I think you should at least be able to earn power-ups and continue playing without spending cash. Other than that, though, it's perfect. It's definitely one of my favorite apps right now. You can download it for free from the Google Store and probably find a link to it through Facebook since it's one of the newer games.	  A 'clear the jelly' level. A 'get the stuff to the bottom' level Post-Game Recap The map! It's huge.	Candy Crush Saga is a game that I really didn't think I would like at first. I avoided downloading it despite it's appearance and the top of several lists and being featured. Though, eventually how much I had been seeing it wore me down and I decided to try it. I'm glad that I did, though. It offers hours of free entertainment (or if you're bad at puzzles, days!). As soon as I started the first few puzzles, I realized I was crazy for prejudging this app, and immediately texted pink that she had to download it. I went from thinking I wouldn't like it to (almost) wanting to spend the $1.15 (note: you can do this for free by getting three Facebook friends to send you a 'ticket' to get on a train to the rest of the levels. They don't have to be new players, so it isn't that bad.  Not to mention, I already had 3 or 4 friends playing the game when I first started it.) needed to unlock the majority of the game. Enjoyability: 4/5 Puzzle games usually have a problem keeping my interest for an extended period of time. And while I just picked this app up off of the Play Store (for free) I can tell this one isn't going to have that problem. If you've ever played bejeweled, then you already know the basics of Candy Crush Saga. And if you're thinking 'Oh, another bejeweled....' like I was when I first downloaded it, you will be pleasantly surprised. The game play is a lot more in-depth. Different modes, better combos, the works. Matching four of a color gives a super candy, and matching five gives the most delicious candy of them all (chocolate covered in sprinkles) that both have game altering mechanics behind them. What really makes the game so great is the way it's social. Connecting the game to Facebook will import all of your friend's progress through the game. What level they're stuck on, their high-scores for each level, etc. As competitive as I am, I haven't moved passed a level without having the top score (though I'm worried Pink will do the same, and we'll both just be stuck on level one forever). I took a point here because of how much I hate level 23 (update 1/27/13 - 23 is fine, but I despise 34) and also because the in-app purchases are very expensive albeit not required. (Like, $20 expensive. Definitely not buying that. I hope.) Creativity: 4/5 The basic concept of the game isn't very creative. Get three of the same things in a row, get points. However, King took this basic concept and made it much more. For one thing, more modes. Limited moves, limited time, "clear the jelly," and "get the toppings to the bottom of the screen" are all a ton of fun to play and all work with the basic bejeweled mechanics. Another thing that makes it even more unique is the way it handles combos. Four in a row gives you a candy that clears an entire row. Make a 3x3 'T' or 'L' shape, and you'll get a candy that clears an entire 3x3 grid--twice! The crown jewel though, is when you get five in a row. That candy clears out the entire board of one color. Mixing those special candies gives even larger effects. Beauty: 4.5/5 The game is visually stunning--I love the art direction. The art and slight animations make the 'world' of Candy Crush Saga come to life, as it takes the monotony out of the game that usually plagues puzzle games that just have a list of levels. The art makes it exciting to unlock new levels to see what the next 'dragon in the lemonade lake' will be. The music also compliments the game play rather well. It's relaxing to play, even when you're so frustrated that you lost the level by one move (something that happens to me quite often). The sound effects keep the game upbeat. Large combos, and the announcer calls "Sweet" or "Tasty" amazing combos will have him saying "Delicious" or "Divine" Overall: 3.5/5 I enjoy playing Candy Crush very much. It's fun and I definitely recommend the download. I know it doesn't make sense for me to give the game 4/5 and higher in all the categories then give it a 3.5 overall, so let me explain: Ding for some of the outrageous costs of power-ups as well as not being able to earn power-ups for free. Some levels were difficult enough that it felt like King wanted you to pay to get past them. Ding for requiring cash or friends to get past level 35. Ding because when Pink spent the $1.15 to unlock the later levels, the game glitched and didn't award it to her even though her card was charged.  If any of these are corrected or changed I will readjust my score! Now go download Candy Crush Saga from the play store. (Edit: Google play refunded pinks $1.15, and she repurchased the train ticket. It worked this time around)
TOTALS Enjoyability: 8/10 Creativity: 8.5/10 Beauty: 8.5/10 Overall: 7.5/10

Follow Up notes:

• There are 11 ticket requiring rail-roads in Candy Crush Saga. Each one costs either 3 friends or $1.15.
• The game appears to be adding new features each rail-road. First rail-road is boxed candies that need to be cleared twice. Second rail-road is chocolate candies that are similar to the whipped cream, but if you don't clear one each turn they expand by one block.

Blood Brothers Screen Shots

Blood Brothers Screen Shots
	MEDIA
	From left to right: Loading Screen, First Screen, Choosing a path From left to right: A PvP battle, Using the map to choose directions, PvP Event Group Rankings From left to right: Assembeling a squad, Choosing a PvP battle, Character Sheet More character sheets.
We hope you enjoyed these screen shots!  Be sure to read our full reveiw of Blood Brothers. Or, check out a full list of all of the Pink and Blue App Reviews. Thanks for viewing! - Pink and Blue.

Apps: Blood Brothers by Mobage

BLOOD BROTHERS
HERS	MEDIA	HIS
Blood Brothers is my favorite app at the moment, no competition. Blue started playing it a few months ago and he would always bug me about how I needed to download it. I was hooked as soon as I did and I wish I would have started earlier because he's level 100-something and I'm at about 70. This game absolutely loves to crash my phone, though, and as much as that annoys me, I still open it right back up. It's always my first choice when I have time to spare. Some days, especially during the events, we'll sit around and play for hours. Blue even admitted to playing on his hour+ drive home from work, which I was not happy about. Enjoyability: 5/5 Blood Brothers is a lot of fun. You start out by choosing your main character, each with his or her own unique attack, and then you collect more "familiars" as you travel through the different lands. The more you play, the more items you get to level up your monsters' stats and special attack. Simple concept. This game also holds weekly events that you can participate in to earn even more items and money. I think the events keep the game interesting. I'd go a few days without playing and then as soon as a PVP or group battle started I'd get sucked back into it and play all day. Creativity: 4/5 When it comes to the concept of the game, I wouldn't consider it very creative. It does, however, have a few really cool features, including the ways your characters can level up and, of course, the weekly event arena. To level up, you can sacrifice the familiars you catch throughout the world to increase the chance of your character using its special attack and you can use crystals to power up their main skills. Another one of my favorites is when you have two of the same and can fuse them together to create a more powerful familiar. They are ranked "common" through "legendary" and depending on how many stars it has, you can make it more rare. With the events, some weeks they'll have "special dungeons" (always makes me laugh) and other times they'll have "raid bosses" where you can ask your allies to help you defeat it and the points are shared between you and your team. Beauty: 4.5/5 The designs are great. The characters look awesome, the lands are simple, and the music is fitting. There's not much animation in Blood Brothers which is probably a good thing because of how poorly it already runs on my ancient phone. I've also played it on blue's phone and my parents' tablet, though, and it ran very smoothly. The most animation the game offers is during some of the special attacks, which is usually where it lags for me, and some of the leveling up. I like the music, too, and as much as we play it, it doesn't get annoying. Overall: 4.5/5 Blood Brothers is awesome. It's easy to play, very addicting, and the events keep you coming back. I have put so many hours into this game and I know blue has spent many more, with his phone glued to his hand. It's my favorite game from the Android store right now and I am always on the lookout for new Mobage games. I just downloaded Cityland, I love games where you build up your own city or island from scratch. Download both of them for free and be sure to add blue and I in Blood Brothers.	Procced a spell. COME AT ME. Update 1/27/13: There are more screenshots available to be viewed here.	Oh man, Mobage really delivered with this game. It's kinda like pokemon meets yugioh in final fantasy land. You collect little monsters (called familiars), take them to battle, level them up, fuse them and evolve them. Even better is that it's MMO style, complete with an auction house and random pvp battles to put your familiars to the test against everyone else's. Like all good MMOs, it's even updated weekly. Each week, there is a new event. Be it teaming up with your allies to take down giant raid bosses, or pitting yourself against the world in a pvp championship, the events really make the Blood Brothers universe feel alive. I guess I'll find out for sure once I read what pink has to say, but once I got her to try this one, she seems to enjoy it almost as much as I do. Enjoyability: 5/5 I sometimes struggle to put this one down and get back to work. It's extremely addictive, and very enjoyable. You can play casually or hardcore, and feel rewarded either way, which is something many MMOs fail to achieve - things are either too easy or too hard. The events that take place weekly in this game help to maintain that ballance. There are rewards for reaching milestones (casual) and there are rewards for ranking highly at the end of the event (hardcore). Another very important thing about this freemium game is that it truly is freemium. Everything in the game is obtainable without spending a dime (although, I've personally spent a dollar). The items you can buy, the familiars you can buy, are all available for free, and the working auction house lets you trade for the premium content. Creativity: 3.5/5 This game isn't incredibly creative. It isn't an entirely new concept. Catch monsters, level them up, and fight them. Pretty simple. I gave it a 3.5 for it's seemless combination of different games across different genres and making it massivly multiplayer. Beauty: 4/5 The game is pretty. I love the art direction, the sound effects fit perfectly. There's even a few League of Legends refrences (one of the familiars is named Pendragon, for instance). Some of the spells do share animations; though, and that can be visually frustrating at times. Other than that, this game is visually pleasing. Overall: 4.5/5 This is my go-to app whenever I have time to play it - and sometimes even when I don't have time (at work, etc). It's provided me with hours of entertainment, and is likely to provide me with hours more (I'm only level 116 of 150.) Oh, and once I got her started on it, even pink enjoys this one - even if it causes her phone to crash on occassion. If you decide to download this one for Android, input my friend code to get some extra stuff when you start out: 7KRzKQ
TOTALS Enjoyability: 10/10 Creativity: 7.5/10 Beauty: 8.5/10 Overall: 9/10

Apps: Scramble With Friends by Zynga

SCRAMBLE WITH FRIENDS
HERS	MEDIA	HIS
Scramble is one of my favorite games from the Google Play Store, definitely in the top three. I play it every day and it never gets old. We usually have at least 3 games going at once and sometimes up to 5 or 6 while we're at work. You can log into it with your Facebook account and connect with your friends that way, making it really easy to get started. But if you're like me and have only one or two people that you play with, there is a leaderboard that pops up from the main screen and lists all of the top scores from the people on your friends list that play as well. Not only does this keep you coming back to steal the top spot, but it helps you find more people to challenge. The scores are reset on a weekly basis and I am happy to say that I have claimed the #1 spot for the past few weeks with blue in 2nd place. ;] Enjoyability: 5/5 It's so much fun to play and such a simple game. You'll quickly pick up how it works during the first round and then be hooked by the second one. Scramble has a few different items that you can use when you're stuck and can't find anything. You can do things like freeze the clock, reveal words, and, of course, scramble up the letters. You use tokens when you select these items but your tokens regenerate over time so you don't have ads popping up every 2 minutes asking you to buy more. It's a very competitive and fast-paced game. There are three rounds, each lasting only two minutes so it's easy to sneak in some ass-kicking even if you don't have much time to spare on video games. Creativity: 2/5 Scramble is basically a touchscreen version of Boggle so I can't really give it a higher rating here. Most of the games that Zynga has made have been similar to other games, though, including Scrabble and Hangman. But the powerups and leaderboard add a nice touch and turning it into a game available for touchscreen phones and tablets was a great idea. It has made an already fun game more enjoyable and social because of how easy it is to challenge your friends and family. Beauty: 4/5 The game was designed very well. Much like the gameplay, it's simple and straight-forward. The main screen has different sections where you can start up new games, view older games, and check the high scores with smooth navigation throughout the entire app. Once you start a round, you pick your items and then it takes you to a grid of letters where your games begins. The graphics are smooth and the sounds are nice, too. My only complaint is the sound for the timer because it's easy to lose track of how long you have left. So if the time runs out before you use your items, those tokens are wasted. Overall: 4/5 Scramble is a great game. I was addicted as soon as I started playing and I have it up ever day so I definitely recommend it. I do want to point out that it freezes my phone up sometimes but I have an ancient Android so that's expected. Other than that and the sneaky timer, though, I have no complaints. I downloaded it months ago and it's still one of my favorite apps.	His first word was "farts"	Scramble is tons of fun. I'm a huge fan of social games, and anything that I can make into a competition, so naturally I really enjoy this app. The weekly leaderboard is a fantastic new addition to show you how you stack up against the rest of your friends - and shooting for top score of the week is a great motivator to play. One of the perks of this game is that it only takes two minutes to play a round, so they're easy to squeeze into a busy schedule. I love playing against my girlfriend while I'm at work, and getting a new game or new round is more exciting than getting most texts (naked pictures excluded). This app is definitely worth the download, though as with most Zynga games, the paid version probably isn't worth it as all it offers is ad free and slightly faster coin generation. Enjoyability: 5/5 This app is timeless, really. The first match is as enjoyable as the rest. This is important to me because I can't stand when games start fun and get boring after a few hours. The most enjoyable part for me is kicking the butt of pink over there (though to be honest she wins more times than not - but I'm beating her for top score of the week atm!) Creativity: 2.5/5 As with most Zynga games, they're not very creative. They take ideas that have worked v in the past and rehash then - usually adding a social element. Scramble is basically boggle with friends. I gave them a 2.5 for some innovating features that they've added, that keeps the game fresh. Power ups, for instance are tons of fun. They force your to ask yourself "would I rather play more rounds or get higher scores" which is fun, and they're pretty useful. Beauty: 4.5/5 The art in this app is easy on the eyes and the colors are easy on the eyes. The limited animations are well executed, smooth, and fitting. The sounds are equally well done. Overall the art direction of this game adds to the playability and enjoyability of the game. Overall: 4/5 I recommend this game to anyone that loves to kick their friend asses at games that involve some thinking. The fast paced, brain wracking, game play will have you coming back for months and months. Asside for it not being extremely creative (if I was Hasbro I would hate Zynga) its a near prefect game.
TOTALS Enjoyability: 10/10 Creativity: 5.5/10 Beauty: 8.5/10 Overall: 8/10