’re only days away from Thanksgiving, which means now might be the time to stock up on apps to enjoy while zoning out amidst dull dinner-table conversation, or after sneaking away for a breather from the family. Might we suggest Horizon Chase? This slick little racer hearkens back to arcade classics, albeit with modern flair. Other top game releases this week include the completed first season of Telltale’s Game of Thrones series the serene space exploration of st Horizon. It’s a good week for all things Horizon, apparently.
Not into games? Fair enough: we’ve also got a pair of new apps that help you be more productive on the run. Dragon Anywhere brings Nuance’s celebrated dictation software to Android, while Stagelight is a pro-level music production suite squeezed onto your phone or tablet. ’re off next Friday for the holiday, but we’ll be back in December to catch you up on the latest greatest Android releases. Until then, give these a look.
Horizon Chase – rld Tour
Horizon Chase really nails its modernized retro aesthetic.
Racing games have evolved dramatically since the late ‘80s early ‘90s, but if you still have a fondness for Out Run or Top Gear, take notice: Horizon Chase – rld Tour looks plays like a love letter to that era. It offers the same kind of arcade-style racing feel, with plenty of big turns emphasis on avoiding collisions: success is found primarily through agile steering picking the correct lane before a curve. so, picking up gas icons so you can use boosts not sputter out halfway.
Horizon Chase is gorgeous, too, with the cars vivid, low-polygon environments expertly shaded in a way that recalls past eras—plus the ‘80s-inspired soundtrack is dead on. And the campaign offers a load of content to dig into, including 73 tracks across 32 cities. It’s a free download with a single $3 in-app purchase to unlock the full game, so you can try out a few races before dropping your cash.
Dragon Anywhere
Once you tap the microphone button, Dragon Anywhere can be completely controlled by voice comms.
Nuance rules the Mac dictation market with its Dragon software, now it finally has a voice-to-text Android app designed for professionals on the go. Dragon Anywhere just hit the ay Store this week, so long as you have an active Internet connection on your phone, it promises to translate an unlimited amount of talking into text. Composing a book on the fly, or giving a lecture you want to immediately have as text? Dragon is up to the task.
The recognition is very accurate in my initial testing, will only improve with use: Dragon Anywhere learns your speaking habits, plus you can manually add your own words. But while the app is free— there’s a 7-day trial available through Nuance’s website—Anywhere costs $15/month to use, it doesn’t appear to be a free add-on for desktop subscribers either. Discounted three-month yearlong plans are available, however.
Game of Thrones: A Telltale Games Series
The series takes place alongside the HBO show, offering a complementary tale with familiar faces.
Telltale’s Game of Thrones episodic series premiered before Five to Try began, so we didn’t cover any of the middle entries along the way. But as of this week, the last episode of season one is now available, which means you can now experience the whole story on Android. It’s based on the smash TV series begins at the end of season three, with a concurrent tale that could well spoil parts of the show—be sure you’re caught up before playing.
ke the studio’s other great games, including The lking Dead The lf Among Us, Game of Thrones lets you shape the storyline by your dialogue choices, key decisions, how you fare in tap–swipe action sequences. And it’s appropriately grim very gory from the outset, doing a good job of matching the show for tone. Episode one is free, letting you enjoy the first couple hours, with the five remaining episodes sold for $20 together within.
Stagelight
It’s a lot to cram onto a phone screen, but the lessons get you familiar fairly quickly.
Got an itch to lay down some beats wherever you are? Stagelight can help with that. This loop-centric software comes over from , the free download gives you a fair amount of functionality, including various loops, instruments, effects. The interface still seems like it’s made for bigger screens, with tiny buttons a bit of fumbling needed to get where you need to go. But to its credit, Stagelight comes with tutorials that teach you how to get a track up running pretty quickly.
And it’s expable. ile the free version is plenty fine for basic tinkering, you can get a starter kit with extra functionality effects for $10, or spring for the higher-end bundles that have fancier, pro-level features. so, artists like nkin rk bal have their own premium sound bundles, letting you emulate their style with relative ease.
st Horizon
You’ll pull resources from each planet you touch down on, but don’t stick around too long!
Are you the last human floating around out in space? e to find out. You’ll blast off navigate your ship from planet to planet, harvesting resources terraforming the terrain along the way. nding gently is crucial, as is avoiding asteroids other space debris, as you only get one shot at this: bust up your ship the run is over.
st Horizon ($3) requires a bit of precision as you explore around the procedurally generated planets, attempting to go as far as you can with each new run while keeping an eye on your limited fuel oxygen supplies. It’s a serene jaunt, too, despite the frequent crash–burn endings, the game offers four different adventures to take on—the last of which promises something totally fresh each time you play.
