The fruit loving users among us constantly claim that Apple’s apps are superior to androids in every way. The days when the iTunes store was the biggest player in the market are long gone, with millions of downloads happening on android’s Google Play everyday. Well, today I prove the critics wrong. Listed below are five awesome apps that even your mother would love to know you play – apps that not only pass time in the most entertaining of ways but also help you learn something, while you’re at it.
BLOCK PUZZLE
Many haven’t heard of this, but it is a truly fantastic game. The goal is to arrange the block pieces so they fit perfectly. It doesn’t prevent you from skipping ahead to the next level before you complete one, and there are no penalties for the amount of time you take to complete each. But the satisfaction itself of staring down five pieces of a puzzle and finally getting it right an hour later is so great that it just keeps you going, if only to prove you can.
BRAIN MATH GAME
Sounds nerdy, I know, but it’s a great way to challenge yourself with simple addition. The objective is to add up all the numbers on the screen within the very limited time period. The numbers shown to you increase as the game goes further, gradually moving from the amateur levels to the more fast paced pro levels. It’s a great way to pass time without wasting it.
ECONOMICS QUIZ
Be warned that the airpush advertising on this app is enough to make you want to uninstall it immediately. However, it’s a truly great resource for learning and refining both your economics knowledge and your awareness of general knowledge topics that could come up if you can look past that. It gives you the right answer from a choice of four, and helps you ensure that the next time someone asks you a question relevant to the topic, you come out the sharper one with a smug look to boot.
POWER VOCAB
It used to come on a ship, now the English language comes through an app or online, whichever you prefer. It’s easy to assume that although English is a second or third language for most of us, we think we know enough to get us by. This app seeks to prove otherwise. The challenges thrown at appear simple and basic but when you get a score of 3 out of 15, you realize you only know conversational English. Try it, learn something and give those around you a reason to be glad this year.
ANGRY BIRDS
No games list would be complete without it. This game forces you to think strategically – to plot your moves against the egg stealing pigs (literally) with precision and finesse in order to get – and keep – the highest score. A perfect, if slightly underestimated mental exercise sure to help you refine your aim, planning and execution skills all in one go.
But if thinking is not your thing, you should try out the new Temple Run 2 where adrenaline junkies with ninja-like reflexes thrive.
Some might argue that this article missed its mark because some of these games are also available on the IOS platform, and I wouldn’t blame them. This article wasn’t an attempt to pit Apple versus Google in any way, but to show that all those i-users have less and less reason to look down their noses at us Android fellows by the day.
Note: these apps are all freely available on Google Play and although they vary in MB size, they won’t be too taxing on your storage space regardless of how full your memory is.