Welcome to What’s App-ening, your weekly source for the latest and greatest in mobile apps. This week, I’ve got two amazing apps I’d like to share with you.
The first app is a game called Love Live: School Idol Project. If you love DDR and adorable anime girls, then you’ll love Love Live. This anime-inspired tap rhythm game is as addictive as Candy Crush with all the charm of Sailor Moon.
In the story, you are the manager of a group of girls working to rescue their high school from being shut down. Their plan is to form teams of School Idols, girls who sing and dance in sync, to draw more students to their school.
The gameplay is simple enough — tap the notes as they hit the circular idol tiles on screen. If your rhythm is correct, you’ll get high score for that note. The more on beat you are, the more points you earn. Alternately, if you miss a note or hit it badly, your team will lose stamina, and if your stamina bar runs empty, then the song is over, and you don’t get any EXP or rewards for the performance.
There are four levels of difficulty for most songs and a story that you unlock the more you play. Overall, it’s a cute game with a great user interface and a charming concept. I give it 4/5 stars, the only thing keeping it from five being occasional extended game maintenance and a long download time. It’s free on iPhone and Android, and it’s my go-to game to play on the bus to campus in the morning.
Our second app will come in handy if you’re going to Comic Con this weekend. We’re already a day into the convention, but it’s not too late to download the official Salt Lake Comic Con app.
The app has everything from maps of the Salt Palace to panel schedules to the locations of your favorite vendor’s booth. If you’re going to this weekend’s convention, it will save you from making frequent stops at info booths to check times and get another map that will inevitably get lost in your bags of merchandise.
This app gets five stars in my book for making what are usually the hardest parts of conventions much simpler. If only it had a costume repair widget.