Fresh iPhone Apps for Jan. 17: Numberlys, Banters update, Blockwick, Darkness Rush (Appolicious)

Experience some innovative storytelling with today?s leading Fresh App, Numberlys. The app is kind of like an interactive storybook mixed with an animated feature, telling the story of the creation of the alphabet. It?s fun for kids and adults, and looks great. Following that is an update to Banters, a social network that?s all about sharing and responding to quotes. In games, Blockwick will challenge your puzzle-solving skills, while Darkness Rush: Saving Princess gives a horror spin to the running genre, along with some slick Unreal Engine 3 graphics.

Numberlys (iPhone, iPad) $5.99

Numerblys is something of an interactive storybook for kids, telling the story of the development of the alphabet. Combining reading, narration, computer-generated animation and interactive elements to tell the story portrayed in the app. Readers can follow along with the narration, as well as take part in the story in a few cool ways.

With a black-and-white aesthetic for most of the storytelling, the interactive elements of Numberlys are made to stand out by coloring them red. When a red object appears on the screen, you can tap it or otherwise interact with it to advance the story, recreate a moment, or make other actions happen. It?s a pretty neat game/movie/book hybrid in an app that kids should get a kick out of.

Seems like there?s a social network for everything in the App Store. You can share photos, share videos, share status updates and share your current reading list with the help of the Internet and an iPhone app. Banters expands your social networking capabilities even more, making it easy to share quotes among your friends.

A big update has just come through for Banters, allowing users to see featured quotes from all users right on the front page of the app, as well as those quotes shared by their friends in particular. Banters is sort of akin to Twitter, in that it includes small quotes that users can see and respond to within the network, but with less clutter. The posting process has also been simplified, with limits on messages removed, and more to make Banters work better for everyone.

Blockwick (iPhone, iPad) $0.99

Slide puzzler Blockwick is a simple enough concept, but in practice has all kinds of complexity built in. The game is all about moving colored blocks so that they touch blocks of like colors. You?ll have blue, red and yellow blocks to contend with, sometimes all at once, and your goal is to maneuver lots of blank blocks out of the way so you can match the colored blocks to defeat the level.

The complexity emerges with puzzles being filled with those blank tiles that come in various sizes and shapes. Some puzzles will be filled with tiny bits that need to be moved clear, requiring players to be able to see several moves down the line in order to be able to get blocks where they need to go. The first 60 puzzles in Blockwick are free. After that, more sets are available, each for a $0.99 in-app purchase.

A side-scrolling running game with Unreal Engine 3 graphics, Darkness Rush puts you in the role of a monster-type character: either a werewolf or a vampire. Your character runs through each level, dodging obstacles, collecting coins and earning crystals that go toward allowing you to transform into your bestial form. Once you?ve done that, you?re superpowered and can really start to do some damage.

As you plow through the game, you?ll destroy things like runes to regain magic power and dodge spikes and fireballs in order to keep yourself going. Coins you collect along the way can be used to purchase items that can get you further, and you?ll also attempt to complete mini-challenges along the way. It?s a bit like a horror story version of Jetpack Joyride, and it?s fun in all the same ways.

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Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/applecomputer/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/appolicious_rss/rss_appolicious_tc/http___www_appolicious_com_articles10783_fresh_iphone_apps_for_jan_17_numberlys_banters_update_blockwick_darkness_rush/44204025/SIG=13ut2tj9t/*http%3A//www.appolicious.com/tech/articles/10783-fresh-iphone-apps-for-jan-17-numberlys-banters-update-blockwick-darkness-rush

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