Author Archives: Jonathan-Liu
Whimsy Animals for the iPhone Has Puzzles for Your Little Ones
My three-year-old daughter loves puzzles, particularly the chunky wooden puzzles with pieces shaped like parts of the picture (as opposed to jigsaw pieces, which she has more difficulty with). So it’s no surprise that one of her favorite iPhone games is a puzzle game. Whimsy Animals has sixty simple puzzles which then reveal photographs of […] Continue reading
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Tagged Animals, Electronic Geek, Games, iPhone App, preschool, puzzles, Toys and Technology
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Touch Pets Dogs for the iPhone: No Mess, No Fuss
My daughters (and my wife) really want a dog, despite the fact that my six-year-old is allergic and breaks out in a rash whenever a dog licks her face. But I’m not really a dog person, and I know that as the stay-at-home parent I’d end up doing most of the chores myself. But then […] Continue reading
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Tagged Electronic Geek, iPhone App, kids, Toys and Technology
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Lessons From the Funny Pages: How I Became Calvin’s Dad
Like many others of my generation, I grew up reading Calvin and Hobbes in the newspaper, and it quickly became one of my favorites. In hindsight, I was much more like Susie (bit of a nerd, teacher’s pet, overachiever) than Calvin, but I loved his imagination and thought he was tremendously funny. And, of course, […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, Calvin & Hobbes, Comics, lessons from the funny pages, Parenting
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Orbital: All You Need Is One Thumb
I’m a sucker for “casual games,” the sort of thing that runs in your browser or on your iPhone. Of course, the reason I play these instead of my old Xbox is because, theoretically, I can play for just a few minutes rather than investing several hours. In practice, however, I sometimes end up playing […] Continue reading
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Tagged arcade, Electronic Geek, Games, iPhone App, physics-based, Toys and Technology, Videogames
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Ninja Versus OMG! Pirates! on the iPhone
“Ha! Foolish Ninja! Behold the power of rum-powered technology!”
So says one of the pirate bosses in Mika Mobile’s newest game for the iPhone (and iPod touch). OMG! Pirates! is a heaping serving of awesome. Unless, of course, you side with the pirates, in which case you are a fool. In this game, you take the […] Continue reading
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Tagged arcade, Electronic Geek, iPhone App, ninjas, Pirates, Toys and Technology, Videogames
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Rubik’s 360: a Puzzle That Will Spin Your Mind
I was always a fan of the Rubik’s Cube: my dad played with one when I was younger. While we learned to make a checkerboard and a “six-spot” pattern with it when it was solved, it wasn’t until my dad brought home a heavily-Xeroxed, hand-drawn guide that I was finally able to solve it. That […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, gravity, Puzzle, Rubik's, spheres, Toys and Technology
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Rescue the Scientists from The Isle of Doctor Necreaux
The diabolical Doctor Necreaux is up to his old shenanigans: he captured the world’s top scientists and forced them to build a doomsday device on his secluded hideaway (a volcano, naturally). When he demanded that the world bow to him, however, a small team of specialists was sent in to plant a bomb deep in […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, Board Games, card games, cooperative, Dice, sci-fi, supervillain
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Shrapnel is Gattaca Plus Halo With a Twist of Greek Mythology
Shrapnel is like a mash-up of some of my favorite things: take Gattaca, throw in two parts Halo and a little bit of Greek mythology and Joan of Arc, and you’re getting close. And paired with Bagus Hutomo’s eye-popping paint-like illustrations, and you’ve got a recipe for a compelling graphic novel.
Thanks to Radical Publishing, I […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, Comics, Graphic Novel, sci-fi, space epic
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DaVinci’s Secret Machines for the iPhone
DaVinci’s Secret Machines is a new iPhone game that recalls old PC games like The Incredible Machine, with Rube Goldberg-like machines built to solve physics puzzles. I got to try the game out recently, and it kept me entertained for a while. The graphics are nice, as you can see from the screen shots, with […] Continue reading
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Tagged Electronic Geek, game, iPhone, physics puzzle, Toys and Technology
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Radical Publishing Raises the Bar on Comics
Radical Publishing is a relatively new company offering comics, graphic novels and art books. In their first two years they’ve recruited a host of great comics creators (including one of my personal favorites, Warren Ellis), and their offerings are decidely different from most of what you’ll find from Marvel or DC. Radical’s universe covers a […] Continue reading
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Tagged Armchair Geek, Comics, Graphic Novels
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