Category Archives: Games

March 21, 2014 · 7:56 pm

50 American States Map and Capital Cities of US Quiz

Besides chemistry, I used to like geography. And there are a plenty of good topics for geography quiz. I decided to start with US States Map and Capital Cities. There are a bunch of apps on this subject on the App Store, but my app is the best 🙂

Please check also a comprehensive review of the app and its functionality by Concordia University Online Nebraska: http://online.cune.edu/50-states-capitals-flags-app-review/

The English description of the game is the following:

All 50 states! All 50 capitals! From New England and the Great Lakes to the California coast and the Alaska wilderness!

* Northeast
* Midwest
* South
* West

*****

1. Initially, I was going to create an app about American cities. But it turned out to be very time consuming to find good (and available in public domain) pictures of several dozens of cities. I had visited (or lived in) some of them myself and I had my own photos (NYC, Pittsburgh, SLC, several others) but still… a lot of search. Meanwhile I created nice maps of all 50 states and decided to focus on state names first. I added capitals as the second mode

2. Features:
– My first geography quiz
– Photos as button icons; a US flag as a background
– I localized the app to 8 languages and I wonder if there is an interest for the US geography in other countries
– The setting button among the mode buttons in the main menu
– The only IAP removes ads

3. Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

My own photos of the Golden Gate Bridge in SF; the Utah Capitol in SLC; and a fire hydrant in Pittsburgh.

Thanks!

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March 7, 2014 · 12:12 pm

Learn Numerals in 7 languages

You may find the Learn Numerals app useful because it’s not about chemistry. It’s about another thing where you have to learn by heart a lot of new words: numerals (numbers) in 7 major European languages.

The English description of the game is the following:

In this app, you’ll learn the names of numerals in 7 important languages. Please choose the learning method that suits you the best.

* Tables
* Flashcards
* Quizzes

– Spanish
– French
– German
– Italian
– Portuguese
– Russian
– English!

*****

1. The app got into an “overnight” review. Yesterday, 8 days after the submission, the status changed to “in review”, but it was not until this morning, it was finally reviewed and placed on the App Store (formally after 17.5 h in review).

2. New features:
– It’s my first app since Monster! that uses different languages as quiz modes.
– The game is localized to those 7 languages as well. I believe that the localization at the time of the release (rather than in an update) was a key to the relative success of Hydrocarbons.
– There are interstitial ads that appear randomly around the 15th question (or flashcard). I’m disappointed with the “Press button to watch ads – Get 30 hints” approach that generated some impression but very, very little money.

3. Acknowledgements:
Icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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February 9, 2014 · 8:58 pm

SI Unit Prefixes

The idea of an app about SI Unit Prefixes came to me several months ago. I registered it at the iTunes Connect in September. At last, it’s here for everyone to enjoy.

The English description:

How many meters are in 1 nanometer? How many vertices does Dodecahedron have? Is 1 Mebibyte bigger than 1 Megabyte?
This app will help you to answer these and many other questions about decimal, binary, and number prefixes. It has a complete list of prefixes approved for SI units.

Please check 5 Tables and 5 Quizzes:
* Decimal Multiple: kilo-, Mega-, Giga-, etc.
* Decimal Fractional: milli-, micro-, nano-, etc.
* Number Latin: uni-, bi-, ter-, quart-, quint-, etc.
* Number Greek: mono-, di-, tri-, tetra-, penta-, etc.
* Binary: kibi-, mebi-, gibi-, etc.

A quick reference and an easy way to learn this information essential for everyone studying math, computer science, physics, and chemistry.

*****

1. This app was uploaded several hours after Heterocyclic Compounds, they got into the review simultaneously, and SI Prefixes were approved 7 minutes before Heterocycles.

2. New features:
– This is my first app in the category Reference. Actually, after analyzing how the main page for each category is filled on the App Store, I’m leaning towards publishing all my apps as Games. To get on the first page of Education or Reference Apps, your app has to be picked up by Apple editors. In case of Games, all new free games get into the “New Free” bar.
– Tables show all question / answer pairs. It’s not only convenient for users, but helped me to check all errors and typos quickly during the development.

3. Acknowledgements:
icons for buttons were downloaded from iconmonstr or were created with Font Awesome.

Thanks!

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November 16, 2013 · 4:32 pm

Circles: New Version

Circles

I’m glad to report that a new version Circles is available on the App Store. If you solved all levels in the first version and are looking for more challenging ones, here they are:

– 12 New levels (totally 21 levels in the Game) divided to three Circles;
– New topologies requiring completely new strategy. In some levels you slide two sectors simultaneously, it makes the puzzle a 2D analogy of a Sphere or a Klein bottle in addition to the Torus topology of original 9 levels;
– Levels with 4 Rings: match three internal sectors by color as you did before and make all tiles in the external fourth ring of the same color too;
– A better control of tiles during rotating and sliding;
– Comprehensive Leaderboards in the Game Center summarizing your best times in the first 9 levels or in all 21 levels.

Please contact me if you have questions and suggestions. I promise to make timely updates of Circles based on your valuable feedbacks. Thanks!

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November 2, 2013 · 2:23 am

Circles: Rotate the Rings, Slide the Sectors, Combine the Colors

Circles

Circles is a very special game for me. Its idea came from nowhere two weeks ago and in one week the game was ready and submitted to the App Store. But don’t think that it is lame because it was developed so quickly. I consider Circles to be my best application so far. It combines a challenging puzzle with the beauty of simplicity.
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October 31, 2013 · 12:48 pm

fruHarvest: Gather Fruits, Berries, and Vegetables while the Sun is Shining

fruHarvest

Greet fruHarvest, my first non-quiz game with 49 different fruits (well, more correctly 49 fruits, berries, and vegetables) to harvest by simple tapping the screen. There are 4 kinds of fruits in the level, and each level brings a new fruit. Your goal is to collect the desired amount of fruits in a limited number of moves (taps). One type of fruits is pulsating and only pulsating fruits in the same row and column that you’ve tapped, are removed.

I started working on this game in July by drawing fruits. The app looked almost ready by the middle of August, but this time I wanted to implement several technologies that I hadn’t touched before: the Game Center, music, consumable in-app-purchases, the Flurry Analytics, layouts, and dozens of smaller things. Meanwhile, the new iOS 7 system appeared, and it required a couple of days of additional tuning.

The Game Center was especially tough one, but eventually it works: there are one leaderboard for the highest level and 14 achievements ranging from opening and removing a certain amount of fruits to even loosing in the very first level. The game is so intuitive and so simple (in the beginning) that the last achievement constitutes a formidable challenge.

The music credits go to two 19th century composers: Mikhail Glinka and Franz Schubert. An acoustic guitar performs the vocal part of two songs: Glinka’s Travelling Song (“Попутная песня” in Russian; 1840) and Schubert’s Farewell (“Abschied” in German; 1828). Unable to find good and free music files, I had to create them myself from sheet music in MuseScore. It was also a fun thing to do.

To celebrate the launch of fruHarvest, in the next 49 days, I’m going to buy and eat the fruits (and berries, and vegetables) in a real life in the order they appear in the game. Hopefully, I can find all of them in the neighborhood’s grocery store. These fruits will be a great starting point for the future blog posts.

I hope that you enjoy this game. Thank you for downloading it. Please don’t hesitate to ask questions and send suggestions.

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July 31, 2013 · 3:14 pm

Greek Letters and Alphabet

Greek Letters and Alphabet

After an intense week of the development, waiting for the availability of Apple certificates, and initial rejection due to unchecked IAPs, Greek Letters and Alphabet are finally available on the App Store.

Let me copy the description of the game (game? or an educational app?) here:

From Alpha to Omega. We guarantee that you’ll learn all Greek letters after finishing all 8 training and entertaining game modes. Essential for those:
– Learning Greek and reading Homer in original;
– Joining a Greek fraternity or sorority (ever wondered what those ΦΛΥ stand for?);
– Studying science classes (math, physics, chemistry – there are Greek symbols in every formula!);
– Traveling to Greece or Cyprus (to understand signs and names);
– Wanting to learn more about other cultures and impress buddies by knowing letter ω.

The application features:
– All 24 Greek letters: uppercase and lowercase;
– 8 game modes to learn Greek letters quickly and happily;
– Tutorial with all letters arranged in an alphabetical order;
– Eye-catching design in traditions of the red-figure pottery of Ancient Greece.

Can you distinguish Chi and Xi? Test yourself right now!

Enjoy the game! Learn Greek letters with my app!
I’ll write more about the development, uploading, and first downloads later in this blog.

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July 3, 2013 · 6:49 pm

What Color is This Monster?

A new educational quiz What Color is This Monster? is ready for sale on the App Store:

https://itunes.apple.com/app/id655223910

The goal of the game is to open 18 hidden monster by answering questions about their colors. It is a perfect opportunity to extend your “colorbase” and learn names of those colors in 8 different languages.

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