Category: Reviews

As I have gotten older and as a parent, I have come to realize and understand that proper communication is key in any relationship. If people would take the time to find out the best ways to communicate with those around them, I think life would go a lot smoother. 🙂

Our last child had trouble speaking with he was young. Forming words and communicating what he wanted was difficult. When it was appropriate, he began speech therapy to help him communicate. I remember the frustration he experienced when he was trying to get his point across and folks could not figure out what he wanted.

Today, I am looking at Lil’ Requester, a new iOS app. The app is free to try and comes with a couple different plans depending on how many children you want to use it with.

From their website, “Through Lil’Requester, kids can make requests by expressing feelings and identify familiar people, places and activities in a manner that allows them to value the power of language and reinforcing comprehension.”

The app provides a way to create custom visual and audio requests that can help a child communicate with others. The interface is clean, easy to follow, and very kid friendly. There is no real need for me to go into a lot of details since the app pretty self-explanatory.

To start off, you will select your role: parent, teacher, nanny, therapist. Next you will create your kids accounts. (The free version only allows for 1 child). Within the kids account, you will have Activity, People, Place, and under each of those there are numerous options, such as, under activity, you can have draw, swim, ride, etc.

As was mentioned above, you can create custom activities and audio requests for your child. This is probably the best feature, since you can use items and sounds/voices your child is familiar with, helping them better interact with the app. In addition to custom items, the app provides daily, weekly, or monthly reports and you can share a child’s progress with others if needed.

So, if you have a child or know one that could use some assistance in communicating, then you should try Lil’Requester. You can try it for free and see if it helps. I think back to my child and the troubles he had. We were able to work through things eventually but if an app like this was available years ago, I think it would be able very helpful to bridge the gap and remove some of the frustration of having trouble verbally communicating his needs.

I have been playing digital CCGs for a long time/ Some of them are Hearthstone, Elder Scrolls Legends, Mythgard, and Magic the Gathering to name a few. There are many more out there that I want to try some day. No each time I play one of these, I ask myself, “is this the one that I will play exclusively?”

I enjoy Hearthstone and have put quite a bit of money into it. The thing with Hearthstone is that the cards rotate out so fast and it is hard to keep up in the game without spending a lot. Elder Scrolls Legend was a great game and I really enjoyed playing but last year the developer stopped updates and new content so most left it.

Well about a year ago Riot announced and launched Legends of Runeterra (LOR) as their digital CCG based on the League of Legends (LOL) universe. I enjoy playing League of Legends and Riot is a strong company so I was excited to see how it played.

Holy cow, Legends of Runeterra is awesome and is simply getting better with every expansion. Right now I think I have found the one I will play exclusively.

Legends of Runeterra is truly free to play. If you spend money in the game it is for premium event pass and/or cosmetics. If you play you will get earn the cards. I have been patient and have gotten about 70-75% of all the cards in each region without spending any money. When I have needed I card, I crafted it.

The game is really easy to jump into and figure out how to play. There are plenty of different game modes you can enjoy: play normal, ranked, vs AI, the Lab, Expeditions, Gauntlets, Events pass.

The mechanics of the game, the game animations, the ability to play on PC or mobile (with no difference in quality), and the amount of content that has yet to be published all point to a long and propeous future for Legends of Runeterra.

This game right now has earned the highest marks I have ever given a game. The game is free to play and needs to be experienced. I am not going to give a standard review here, I want to you try it and see for yourself.

The newest expansion with the region Shurima has launched today (March 2021) and I cannot wait to try it, the previews have looked awesome.

So if you enjoy digital CCGs, put Legends of Runeterra on your download list today.

LOR Explained:

LOR Newest Expansion Showcase:

App Links:

I am happy to announce that Agricola has been launched on Steam and on Google Play! If you have been following my site, you will know that this game has been a favorite on my iPad for years!

Agricola, from developer Playdek, is an awesome Euro worker placement game that has, until just recently, been only available on iOS. Now “Agricola: All Creatures Big and Small” has been out for some time on all platforms but that is from a different developer. That game is fun to play but for me I have been waiting for the full Agricola to come out on Android. I recently purchase the offline version of Agricola, Family Edition to help teach my family about the game.

Since I have covered this game before, I will not go into too much details. Overall I am very pleased with the game and look forward to hopefully seeing a few things added down the line.

If you look at the reviews on Steam, you will see they are somewhat negative. Now if you compare the iOS version with this version, yes there are a number of differences.

So what are differences?

• No in-game store to purchase additional cards
• Rules somewhat updated based on the 2016 update
• Online play? (I have not played online yet so I cannot confirm this)

But what is the same?

• Developer Playdek working with Asmodee
• Amazing graphics and soundtrack
• Helpful tutorials, card gallery, rulebook
• Ability to save games, create profiles
• Works well on small screen

If you are a fan of Agricola and have been wanting the original ported to Android, well it is here and worth the $5 USD. Enjoy

As a parent myself I know the importance and difficulty in putting money aside for a child’s future needs. With the cost of college’s going up, smart parents will begin saving money for their child sooner rather than later. It is never too late to start saving.

Today’s review, I am looking at U-Nest, a free IOS app that allows parents to setup a tax-free savings type account for their child or children on their phone or tablet. This is something I wish I had access to when my kids were younger.

Overall U-nest is an easy to use app. It is a financial app with a very nice interface and a minimalist design. There is no extra fluff in the app. It does exactly what it needs to do.

After downloading the app, you will need to create an account. Once you have done that, you will need to establish a monthly plan- how much will you save each month. The app provides a nice calculator to show you if you saved X dollars/month what it will turn into over the life of your child. This calculator is also available on the website. You will need to invest a minimum amount of $25/mo with a max of $15000/year.

The app allows you to choose between different payment options and will soon allow gifting from others into your child’s account. Since it is a mobile app, you can follow and check your child’s account at any time. From past experience I would not check it often, put the money in there and forget about it. Let is grow unhindered.

Now because this is a financial app, it is important to know the details behind what is happening with your money. I am going to mention the high points here but they have a very good FAQ page and a Questions page, which I recommend you read.

The app uses Invesco Rhode Island 529 Education Savings as the vehicle for saving your money. The age-based portfolio are invested in low cost investments (ETFs). Now if you do not know about 529 plans, check out their Questions page.

U-Nest is a nicely done app to allow parents a quick and easy way to begin saving money for their child’s future education. So if you have young children and looking for a way to begin saving, I suggest you download U-Nest and see if their investment portfolios are a match for your goals.

Features:

• Easy to Setup
• Tax-free growth
• Easy tracking
• Personalized Goals
• Personalized Investment portfolios
• Investments managed by Invesco

Download:

Android coming soon

When I was dating years ago, I had to work up the nerve to call the young lady. Well now a days, you can still call but with the advent of the Internet and social media there are tons of other ways to connect and communicate with someone you are interested in.

Today I am looking at DatingSphere. You can access DatingSphere either online or via their free iOS app. The first thing you need to do is setup an account. The easiest is probably to sign in via Facebook. When you first start you will provide some information about yourself and what you are looking for in a person. The service will send you matches) each day about 5 pm.

The biggest difference with this service is what they call the Sphere of Influence, which is described as:

“Your Sphere of Trust is a group of up to 10 people you invite to give a proper introduction to your matches. The personality type and traits they believe best describe you help create your unique personality profile we use to match other daters.”

So you get to choose who is in your sphere so hopefully they know you well enough to help match you with others.

When you do find someone you are interested in, you can send them an ice breaker to begin a conversation. They have two days to respond. They are:

• 2 Truths andA Lie
• Bucket List
• Ask 3 Questions

As with any dating app, you will need to create a good profile with an updated photo of yourself. You are going to want to honest, assuming you are taking it seriously. Those in your sphere will then help find matches for you.

Overall everything, the app and dating service are pretty straight forward. The key is to have a good sphere of friends to help you out and to be patient.

If you enjoy digital board gaming, then go to the app store and download Istanbul today! 🙂

Istanbul is another nicely done board game from the folks over at Acram Digital. This premium game is available for both Android and iOS devices. After my initial testing of the game, I would recommend you play it on a tablet or larger screen phone. Some of the text is hard to read (at least for us old folks) on a regular smartphone.

In the game you job is to collect 5 or 6 rubies (depending on the game mode) before your opponent does. You lead a team of one merchant and four assistants through 16 locations in the bazaar. Each location has a different function so you need to decide wisely where you need to go and what the best deals for you are. The bazaar is represented in a grid pattern but you cannot move diagonally.

There is a a lot going on in the game and quite a few things you need to keep track of. The developers have put together a great tutorial, that I recommend you go through. There is also a help screen you can access at any time.

The graphics and sounds are wonderful – they really make you feel that you are in the bazaar.  Overall the game is a gem. The developers have really done a great job on this right from the start. I wish the text was a bit bigger so I could play on my phone but maybe in a future update.  I have no problem recommending the game- digital board game users will definitely enjoy this one.

Features:

• English, German, Dutch, Polish, French, Korean, Japanese, Chinese Simplified
• play with AI, with friends or both
• pass and play mode
• crossplatform online multiplayer with synchronous and asynchronous modes
• 3 levels of difficulty AIs with individual strategies
• pre set or random generated game boards
• colorblind mode
• over 70 achievements

Download:

Today I am looking at ConnectSocial.

ConnectSocial is a new social media networking app available for both Android and iOS devices. The biggest things you need to know is that this is a premium app/service. You start off with a seven day free trial and then only pay $7.99 USD per year.   This is a definitely a new twist on things. Most social networking apps are free and supported by ads.  Having a premium social network and no ads does provide some extra privacy to the user with no companies looking at trends for advertisements.

The first thing you need to do is create an account with ConnectSocial. You can do this in the app or online. The one thing that I noticed and did not like is that there is no information about the service, etc on the website. I am not sure why the developer did not what to provide more information.

Overall the app is pretty easy to use. There is a nice clean interface and the colors work well. You should not have any trouble moving around the app.

With any social media, the main component is creating posts. You can have text, images, videos in your post. Once it is upload, readers can like and share them too. You can setup or join groups, and create events too.  The app allows you to text friends,  get notification on new posts/messages.  You can also see a nice gallery of all your photos.

Finally ConnectSocial is built on a self-moderating community. You can easily report users who abuse the system. Since this is a premium service, I would assume there would not be a lot of problems with spam or trolling but you never know.

So why would you want to use a premium social media networking app? The biggest is privacy and security. Having to pay for this service should definitely keep out a lot of folks that you probably do not want to deal with anyway.  I like the idea behind this service and will be curious to see how it grows in the future. I think to make this app work, you will want some of your friends to join with you so you have a base of users to start with.

If you are a big social media person and looking for a more secure service with no ads, then try ConnectSocial for 7 days.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OFFNgbVM3lY&feature=youtu.be

Download: