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On the trail of fate: Almost 200 years lie between two dangerous Arctic expeditions in »Inua – A Story of Ice and Time«
Photo:
Art experience
Games, learning programs and smart everyday helpers: We looked at smartphone apps that have been released for iOS and Android in the past few weeks.
We accompany a journalist on a dangerous expedition to the Arctic, celebrate a reunion with the series stars from »The Office« and try out an AI app that is fed with text and spits out virtual index cards.
Here are our app tips for February:
»Inua – A Story of Ice and Time« – Deadly Expedition to the Arctic
Great music, loving drawings and an exciting story: With
"Inua - A Story in Ice and Time"
a gripping adventure for iOS and Android has been released, which was co-developed by the TV broadcaster Arte, among others.
In the game, a journalist researches the background of a deadly expedition to the Arctic in 1845. What happened to the crew members?
Was there a mutiny?
Are the men frozen?
Or did the crew die from lead poisoning?
Players have to find out and accompany main characters from different generations on their quest.
The story is based on historical facts, is tightly woven and skilfully jumps back and forth between times.
At the same time, players also learn something about the lifestyle of the Inuit, the indigenous people of Canada.
In the meantime, it's a bit tiring to tap through the minds of all the characters on the screen with each new clue until you land on the right person and move on.
In addition, five euros is not exactly cheap for an app with a playing time of almost two hours.
But the overall dramaturgy is finely tuned, keeps you in a good mood and leads to an exciting finale that artfully connects the paths of the main characters from different times.
»Final Fantasy VI« – A classic in a pixel guise
A classic can also be played on the train in the future:
"Final Fantasy VI"
is now also available for iOS and Android.
However, if you expect a classic with highly polished graphics, you will be disappointed.
Instead, the developers at Square Enix have packed the cult role-playing game into a pixel sleeve.
The story is the same as the 1994 original. Sorceress Terra gathers companions to fight her way to the evil Emperor Gestahl in exciting real-time turn-based battles.
The lovingly designed fantasy world and creative opponents like the steel phantom train have lost none of their charm.
"Final Fantasy" fans get their money's worth - even if the title is unusually expensive for an app at just under 20 euros.
What is striking: A touchscreen cannot replace the gamepad.
The fights can be well controlled.
But it's an ordeal to maneuver through villages and dungeons with swipe and tap.
The figures get stuck on every second doorpost.
This reduces the gaming pleasure, which can last more than 30 hours.
»The Office – Somehow we manage« – office heroes are celebrating their smartphone debut
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Non-stop office sayings: »The Office« has been released as a comic game for iOS and Android.
Photo: East Side Games
Quirky boss with weird jokes: The US comedy series
»The Office«
is now also available as an app.
Almost simultaneously with the Netflix launch of the series, the developers at East Side Games released the game for iOS and Android.
Almost all of the characters that appear in the »Stromberg« prototype series are included.
Unfortunately, the texts in the speech bubbles are not translated.
The English language cannot be switched to German.
The gags bring back nostalgic memories, the mini-games always make you smile and the cutscenes are entertaining.
However, clicking on bundles of money is a bit dull in the long run.
After each episode, the account resets and players have to click on virtual bills, collect coins and upgrade desks again.
Ads and long waiting times, which are supposed to encourage in-app purchases, also spoil the long-term enjoyment.
»Kado« – An AI creates index cards
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Amazing AI tricks: The »Kado« app creates index cards from English texts.
Photo: Digest Technologies
This two euro app is fascinating.
Within seconds,
»Kado« combs
through a text, analyzes the content and uses it to create index cards that can be used to cram for an exam.
Students developed the app for iOS.
She relies on artificial intelligence to label the virtual flashcards.
And that works amazingly well.
A photo of a book page, for example, is sufficient.
From this, the app creates a digital text that can also be edited later.
The app converts sentences in such a way that they create questions for index cards.
The index card can be turned over at the touch of a finger, and the answer is on the back.
The English sentence "Mammoths were an important part of the ecosystem in the Ice Age" then becomes the AI question: "Which animals were an important part of the ecosystem in the Ice Age?" The big catch: the AI only understands English texts.
The app can't do anything with German words.
And even if the AI classifies mammoths as animals: It is better not to expect too complex test questions.
»DeepL« – translator app launches on Android
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Language experts from Cologne: Android users can now also look forward to »DeepL« translations.
Photo: Deepl
Translations with
»DeepL«
are impressive.
The texts are precise and fluently formulated.
Now, after a web version and an app for iOS, there is also a free application for Android.
The app translates words and sentences on smartphones into around 26 languages.
Compared to the competition, the developers from Cologne are considered equal challengers - and have won many a competition with competitors such as Google Translate.
The app already has more than 1200 reviews in the Google Play Store with a top rating of 4.5.
It is easy to use: users enter their text in a field that is translated directly below.
If you don't feel like typing, you can also dictate sentences to the app.
»DeepL« also reads out the translations with a tap on the speaker symbol.
Particularly practical: Anyone who selects an English text from the browser and selects »DeepL« via the three dots from the menu sends the snippet of text directly to the app and the translation is displayed.
The only disadvantage: »DeepL« needs an internet connection, the translation doesn't work offline.