The sequel to the excellent Mayan Puzzle, Mind Crew’s just-released Aztec Puzzle ($2) is all about redirecting flowing elements — water, fire, earth, and air, represented by moving lines passing through directional arrows — from one place to another using a limited amount of moves. The game has 72 total levels, and a “pure mode” to cut out distractions. It may not be as aesthetically impressive as Mayan Puzzle was, but Aztec Puzzle is a fun, challenging game, with some neat special effects and interesting challenges.
Double Fine Productions’ Dropchord ($3) is a quick-moving game, conceptually inspired by the classic Atari game Missile Command. Dropchord initially challenges you to control a line-shaped beam of light by using two fingers on opposite sides of the screen. Moving one finger up or down moves one of the beam’s sides up or down, while moving both fingers at the same time lets you twist the beam around inside an on-screen circle filled with moving dots that need to be popped with the beam. Other levels include one- and two-finger dot-tapping challenges, breaking up the action. There are tons of psychedelic special effects recalling beloved console games such as Atari’s Tempest 2000 and Sega’s Rez, as well as an impressive electronic soundtrack.
NFL Mobile (free) from NFL Enterprises has been updated to version 8.0. The redesigned app now offers video on demand, letting NFL fans watch expanded video content and game highlights. Custom alerts can now be set up for team updates, including alerts for highlights, game times, injuries, red zone scoring opportunities, and scoring plays. Scores and stats have also been updated for the 2013-14 NFL season.
US Airways has finally released its own free app. The app gives US Airways travelers access to trips, flight status, boarding passes, check-ins, Dividend Miles accounts, and other information. Users can send boarding passes to their iPhone, and the passes will all become accessible in Passbook. It’s also possible to email trip info to friends and family.