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Microsoft Surface 3 review: The top tablet-laptop hybrid just got more affordable

National Post Tech Desk - Fri, 05/01/2015 - 13:50

Last year Microsoft released the Surface Pro 3, but strangely, unlike its previous Surface laptop/computer hybrids such as the original Surface Pro and the Surface 2 Pro, the company didn’t reveal a non-pro lower-end version of its hybrid device. This led some to wonder if the company decided to discontinue the downgraded, but more affordable iteration of its laptop-tablet hybrid device.

But in early 2015 Microsoft finally pulled the curtain away showing off its less-powerful but still impressive Surface 3, a device that seems designed to compete directly with Apple’s expensive, but extremely sleek-looking, new Macbook.

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So how does it fare against the Surface 2 and other competing laptop-tablet hybrids? Extremely well, and for one significant reason – it comes equipped with the full version of Windows 8.1 and is also Windows 10-ready.

Familiar but different (and more affordable)

The Surface 3 will look familiar to anyone who has used one of the devices before. It features a similar grey metal body to the Surface Pro 3’s, and the same three position kickstand. It’s also 2mm thinner and 54g lighter than its predecessor, measuring in at 8.7mm thick and 622g in weight. But if you compare these numbers to most other tablets, Surface 3 feels large and heavy. For instance, the iPad Air 2 is only 6.1mm thick and weighs 437g. In comparison the full version Surface Pro 3 is 9.1mm thick and weighs 800g.

Patrick O'Rourke/National PostUnfortunately the Surface Pro 3's Type Cover is still sold separately.

The device’s screen is also smaller than the Surface Pro 3’s – 10.8 inches compared to a more comfortable 12 inches – but still maintains the same 3:2 aspect ratio as its more expensive and powerful counterpart. For the most part the smaller size isn’t an issue, but if you’re switching from a full-size laptop or even the larger Surface Pro 3, the transition to using the Surface 3’s screen might be cumbersome for some people.

Also, because the Surface 3’s screen size is smaller, its Type Cover has also been reduced in size. While I eventually became used to the Surface 3’s smaller Type Cover, my hands often felt cramped while using the device. Also, unfortunately the Type Cover still isn’t included with the Surface 3 and costs an additional $159. The Surface Pen comes at an extra $49.99 price tag as well. Both of these accessories are required to use the Surface 3 to its full capabilities and it’s a shame Microsoft has again opted not to bundle them with the device.

Unfortunately the Surface 3 doesn’t boast the same pixel density as competing devices such as the iPad Air 2, Galaxy Tab S and even less popular hybrids like Dell’s XPS 13. However, it’s important to keep in mind Surface 3 is a full-featured tablet/laptop hybrid and has many of the same capabilities as a standard PC or Windows-based laptop – the same can’t be said about other similar devices.

It’s not as powerful as the Surface Pro 3, but that’s okay

Patrick O'Rourke/National PostThe Surface 3's back features the same brushed metal design as the Surface 3 Pro.

The most appealing aspect of the Surface 3 is its affordable price tag, making it ideal for mobile professionals on a tight budget and even students, since the device starts at just $639, a price significantly under the new Macbook’s astounding $1,549 price point and most other tablet/laptop hybrids. The lowest end $639 Surface 3 comes equipped with 64GB of storage and 2GB of RAM.

The Pro 3 is powered by an Intel Atom X7 1.6Ghz quad-core processor, giving the tablet excellent battery life and decent performance. Intel’s Atom processors have come a significant way from the lacklustre chips featured in late 2000s netbooks, and this is immediately apparent in the Surface 3.

Still, if you’re purchasing the Surface 3 and hoping it will become your go-to computer for resource-intensive projects involving Photoshop or Premiere, this isn’t the device for you. Its Atom mobile processor is great on battery life but has difficulty handling many of the programs and applications people might use on a traditional, more powerful laptop.

However, if you’re using the Pro 3 for web browsing or word processor purposes, its performance is snappy and responsive. Unlike Apple, Microsoft has opted to not include a USB-C port in the Surface 3, which depending on how you feel about the technology, might be a good thing. Instead, it features a standard USB 3.0 plug, which makes connecting almost any accessory easy. Rather than the proprietary magnetic charging system featured in past Surface models, including the Surface Pro 3, with the Surface 3, Microsoft has opted for a standard micro-USB port, allowing the device to be charged by any USB charger. While the magnet charging system featured in past Surfaces was great, the ability to use any micro-USB plug with the device is a convenient and welcome change.

Patrick O'Rourke/National PostThe Surface 3's stylus pen also comes at an additional cost.

The Pro 3 is also completely fan-less, remaining silent even when using it for an extended period of time. However, its lack of a fan means it occasionally gets pretty hot.

A great device, if you’re using it for the right purpose

The Surface 3 is the best tablet/laptop hybrid out there next to the Surface Pro 3, but a number of issues many people (including myself) experience with the Surface Pro 3 still remain with this cheaper alternative. It’s awkward to use on your lap and battery life is less than stellar (Surface 3’s battery comes in at about 7 hours with intensive use).

Still, if you’re looking for a tablet/laptop hybrid device and are interested in doing quick word processing on-the-go, or browsing the Internet during your morning commute, than Microsoft’s Surface 3 is the best and most affordable option around right now, especially since it uses the full version of Windows 8.1, unlike past Surfaces.

A $249 docking station is also available that turns the Surface 3 into a decent web browsing-focused desktop.

Manufacturer: Microsoft Surface 3

Price: Starts at $639

Release Date: May 5, 2015

Score: 8/10

Grooveshark shuts down under threat of millions in damages from four-year copyright battle with label giants

National Post Tech Desk - Fri, 05/01/2015 - 13:01

Online music streaming service Grooveshark, admitting “very serious mistakes,” shut down its operations as part of a settlement with major record labels, joining the ranks of several now-defunct peers sued over copyright infringement.

In a message posted to its website on Thursday, Grooveshark said that “despite (the) best of intentions, we made very serious mistakes. We failed to secure licenses from rights holders for the vast amount of music on the service.”

The settlement ends a four-year legal battle and came as Grooveshark’s parent company, Escape Media Group, was facing hundreds of millions of dollars in damages in a trial set to begin in federal court in Manhattan on May 4.

Grooveshark will wipe clean all of the record companies’ copyrighted works and hand over ownership of its website, mobile apps and intellectual property, including patents and copyrights, the company said.

Nine record companies, including Arista Music, Sony Music Entertainment, UMG Recordings, and Warner Bros Records, sued Escape Media Group for infringement in 2011.

In court papers, they called Grooveshark a “linear descendant” of Grokster, LimeWire and Napster, all of which were shut down because of copyright infringement.

The labels on Friday referred to a statement by the Record Industry Association of America, which called the deal “an important victory for artists and the entire music industry.”

The RIAA said that Escape founders Joshua Greenberg and Samuel Tarantino agreed to “significant financial penalties” if the terms of the settlement were breached. A spokesman for Grooveshark declined to comment.

Gainesville, Florida-based Grooveshark was thriving with more than 30 million users. The company said it had a policy to honor copyright holders’ “takedown” requests that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

U.S. District Judge Thomas Griesa ruled last week that its infringement of nearly 5,000 recordings by artists such as Madonna, Jay-Z and Bob Marley was “willful” and made “in bad faith,” potentially putting Escape on the hook for more than US$736 million in damages.

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© Thomson Reuters 2015

Broken Age Act 2 review: When Double Fine craps, it stinks just like everyone else’s

National Post Tech Desk - Fri, 05/01/2015 - 09:00

I’m both confounded and disappointed with the second act of Double Fine’s Kickstarter-funded adventure game Broken Age.

After raking in nearly $4 million in crowd funding, the acclaimed American indie game maker delivered a wonderful first half in its fanciful home-grown point-and-click adventure. Beautiful, funny, and wonderfully clever, Broken Age began as the story of an independent young woman taking a stand and a mollycoddled boy trying to mature into a man. It was a pleasure to play, even if its puzzles weren’t all that interesting.

Players ended up waiting a surprising long 15 months to get the second half of the tale, but, like many, I assumed that time was being put to good use.

Apparently it was not.

The second half of the game shamelessly regurgitates locations and characters, lacks much of the smart subtext and meaning we were able to draw from the first game, and cranks up puzzle difficulty to unfair and un-fun extremes.

In case it needs saying, I didn’t much enjoy it.

Double Fine Productions

When you boot Broken Age up and press continue you’ll see the last few moments of the first act play out again.

(SPOILER ALERT – if you haven’t played the first act and plan to, stop reading now.)

The brave young Vella falls into to the monster-cum-ship she just destroyed as a confused Shay stumbles out onto the beach upon which it crashed. The two heroes switch places, setting up some interesting possibilities.

That’s where we left off. The rush of excitement re-experiencing this terrific twist came rushing back. The stylized, hand-crafted world was just as inviting as I’d remembered, and our two protagonists seemed ripe to continue their fantastical adventure. I was ready to dive in.

Then things quickly began to bog down.

Shay walks up the beach and into a town, then climbs a hill where he meets Alex, the guy who helped Vella shoot down the monster in the first act. After a funny little introduction he gives Shay a list of stuff he needs to get his ship working again, and Shay spends pretty much the rest of his time in the game collecting these items by going back to places Vella had already explored and talking to characters Vella had already met.

On the one hand, these are some great characters. Voiced by the likes of Will Wheaton and Jack Black, they’re bursting with personality. And the writing – particularly a couple bits that involve telling jokes to an easily offended tree and trying to properly describe the shape of a knot – is as charming and knowing as ever.

But – and I can’t emphasize this strongly enough – we’ve seen all of these places and people before. This dogged retreading sucks almost all of the originality and creativity out of the experience. Exploration is simply non-existant.

Compounding matters, the puzzles – once just minor distractions – have transformed into exasperating exercises in trial and error.

The connections between the items you collect and how and where you’re intended to use them are frequently unknowable. I literally spent hours just going from one character to the next and dragging and dropping items in my inventory on them until something happened.

And when something did happen, I often found myself thinking – angrily – that there was no logical reason why I should have known that it would.

Double Fine Productions

During the most frustrating moments of Shay’s quest I simply quit his story and jumped over to Vella – a nice trick happily carried forward from the first act.

Vella’s puzzles aren’t any less frustrating, but at least the ship she finds herself on is a little bit different than we remembered it through Shay, abused as it was by the crash landing.

Her goal in the second act is simply to learn a little more about the monster’s provenance and continue her quest to stop it – and others like it – from terrorizing her world. In order to do that she needs to take control of the ship, which lifts off soon after she enters it and begins rapidly flying away from the town.

Her initial exploration serves as a useful survey of the ship’s newly busted up condition, but I quickly became confounded by perhaps the most irritating puzzle in the game. It involves using the ship’s body-modifying teleporter to grow Vella’s head to such a size that her voice noticeably changes. Problem is, you need to go through the teleporters in an unspecified order in order to get her head to just the right size, and that means running all the way across the ship multiple times in different directions as you experiment.

I was so flummoxed by this conundrum that I eventually just looked up a walkthrough on YouTube – only to find the guy who recorded it getting just as frustrated as I was. He actually quit his recording session to look up how to do it on notes sent to him by the developer, hopped back on, and got stuck again.

I might have found it comical if it wasn’t 2:00 in the morning and I hadn’t been baffled by the puzzle myself for the last 45 minutes.

Double Fine Productions

But while the recycled assets and downright unfair puzzles are letdowns, perhaps the biggest disappointment in Broken Age‘s concluding chapter is simply that, unlike its precursor, it has so little to say.

The first half of the game challenged traditional conceptions of both female and male characters, celebrated individualism, and gleefully suggested that rules are made to be broken. It was refreshingly cynical.

As I played through the second act I kept waiting for similar subversiveness. I was sure that at any moment Shay would subtly comment on what a world beyond and without motherly protection is really like, or that Vella’s righteousness would be slyly tempered by the realities of the world. Or something. Anything.

But there’s nothing. Both heroes sail blithely and unchangingly along their set paths toward what turns out to be a decidedly traditional good-guys-versus-bad-guys finale. They simply face down an utterly conventional enemy in predictable fashion, exploiting none of the dynamic possibilities built up within their characters in the first act.

Double Fine Productions

After beginning with such promise, the second half of Broken Age feels like the product of abandonment and neglect. It’s as though Double Fine simply went through the motions, investing none of the passion or creativity that made the first act so special.

The question is why.

The more cynical side of me imagines that it could be because there was little money in it. After all, people already paid for the second act when they bought the first. But I don’t want to believe that.

A slightly less pessimistic (yet hardly soothing) answer could be that Double Fine simply became busy with other projects. After all, the studio did release five unrelated games between Broken Age‘s first and second acts. That would help explain the massive span of development time the second act consumed, despite its clear lack of new assets or fresh ideas.

It’s easy to imagine our favourite game makers as infallible, but they are, after all, only human and quite capable of mistakes.

The second act of Broken Age is unfortunate evidence that Double Fine’s crap stinks just like anyone else’s.

Double Fine Productions

Making games at TOJam may be for fun, but it can also be profitable

National Post Tech Desk - Fri, 05/01/2015 - 06:30

Toronto’s annual TOJam challenges amateur and professional designers to build a complete game in just three days.

It’s become one of the biggest and most respected events of its kind anywhere in the world, in part because of how seriously it’s taken by its participants.

The people who register and attend TOJam want to make real, playable games. Polished games. Fun games. Games that, in some cases, end up evolving far beyond their humble origins at a weekend game-making event.

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More than a dozen acclaimed and recognizable games – including Capybara Games’ iOS cult classic Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP and the viral father-daughter project Sissy’s Magical Ponycorn Adventure – began their journey at TOJams past.

As the 10th annual T.O.Jam gets underway at George Brown College’s downtown Toronto campus May 1st through 3rd, Post Arcade chatted with a couple of game designers who are currently working on transforming games originally conceived at previous jams into full-fledged – and fully marketable – pieces of interactive entertainment that you’ll soon be able to purchase and play yourself.

MK UltraKnight & Damsel

Toronto-based MK Ultra’s Mathew Kumar, a Scottish expatriate who made the province’s capital his home in large part because of its bustling, highly networked indie game scene, is currently working on Knight & Damsel, a game that got its start a couple of years ago at TOJam 8.

“It’s an ‘uncooperative’ two-player puzzle platformer that features a Knight and a ‘Damsel’ that are trying to rescue each other without realizing that what they’re doing isn’t actually very helpful,” Kumar explained of his game, which has also been described in the press as a “competitive two-player feminist puzzle platformer.”

“It was fun and people really liked it. So we decided to flesh it out.”

An Ouya edition of Knight & Damsel entered production not long after the game debuted at the jam. Kumar and the MK Ultra team have since expanded and refined the project with the help of other Toronto area designers, including members of the not-for-profit Dames Making Games collective.

“Getting amazing input from people like that would be a lot harder to come by anywhere other than a city like Toronto,” Kumar said.

Like other TOJam participants, Kumar sees the event as being as much work as it is play; an opportunity to observe, learn, and challenge oneself.

“There’s a great sense of community, and the thrill of being surrounded by people firing on all cylinders,” he said. “It pumps you up, and you end up surprising yourself with what you can accomplish. And that bleeds into the rest of your life.”

Juicy BeastToto Temple Deluxe

Montreal-based Juicy Beast is another studio currently working on bringing a TOJam-spawned game to the masses.

Toto Temple Deluxe pits four players against each other in a contest to capture and hold on to a goat in order to earn points. It earned rave reviews from other jam participants and ended up being selected for the 2013 TOJam Retrospective, where some of the jam’s best games are put on display. It was also playable at that year’s Gamercamp, another Toronto-based indie game showcase.

“We kept fine tuning the game for each event, but we never actually got to add more content,” explained Juicy Beast co-founder Yowan Langlais. “Then the great folks at Ouya reached out and offered us help to make the game bigger for a full-fledged release on their platform.”

Juicy Beast’s game launched on Ouya last year to warm reviews, prompting Langlais and his team to start working on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, Wii U, and Steam editions, all slated for release this summer.

After Toto Temple‘s success, Langlais and his team became regular TOJam attendees.

“For us it’s a way to escape from whatever we’ve been doing and just have fun for a couple of days,” he said. “We try to come up with something that we could potentially bring back to the office and keep working on to release as a bigger game later. It’s a really good way to test new ideas. If they have potential, we just found gold. If they don’t, we had fun and didn’t lose that much time in the process. We always win.”

Inspired by the success of participants like Langlais and Kumar, each annual TOJam sees an influx of new designers interested in filling a few of the coveted seats in the event’s limited two-floor workspace. It’s too late to get in on the jam this year, but both Kumar and Langlais have some advice for up-and-coming designers who are considering participating in 2016.

“Just do it!” said Langlais. “You have nothing to lose in a game jam, except maybe a bit of your time. It’s a good opportunity to meet other folks and test out their games.”

“Get sandwiches at the Blue Sky Sandwich place nearby,” Kumar added, noting that participants aren’t mandated to take breaks from their laptops during the three-day event, though it’s definitely recommended.

“They are so good.”

Tesla Motor Inc’s Elon Musk wants to reinvent electricity with a mind-blowing plan that’s totally off the grid

National Post Tech Desk - Fri, 05/01/2015 - 05:08

FOSTER CITY, Calif. — Tesla CEO Elon Musk is trying to steer his electric car company’s battery technology into homes and businesses as part of an elaborate plan to reshape the power grid with millions of small power plants made of solar panels on roofs and batteries in garages.

Musk announced Tesla’s expansion into the home battery market amid a party atmosphere at the company’s design studio near Los Angeles International Airport. The festive scene attended by a drink-toting crowd of enthusiasts seemed fitting for a flashy billionaire renowned for pursuing far-out projects. For instance, colonizing Mars is one of Musk’s goals at Space X, a rocket maker that he also runs.

Now, he is setting out on another ambitious mission. “Our goal here is to fundamentally change the way the world uses energy,” Musk told reporters gathered in Hawthorne, California.

Related Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesElon Musk unveiled the home battery named Powerwall with a selling price of $3,500 for 10kWh and $3,000 for 7kWh and very large utility pack called Powerpack.

Although Tesla will make the battery called “Powerwall,” it will be sold by a variety of other companies. The list of partners includes SolarCity, a solar installer founded by Musk’s cousins, Lyndon and Peter Rive. Musk is SolarCity’s chairman and largest shareholder.

As with Tesla’s electric cars, which start around $70,000, the battery might be too expensive for most consumers. The system will carry a suggested price of $3,000 to $3,500, depending on the desired capacity. That could discourage widespread adoption, especially for a product that may only have limited use.

“I don’t believe this product in its first incarnation will be interesting to the average person,” conceded Peter Rive, SolarCity’s chief technology officer. Rive, though, still expects there to be enough demand to substantially increase the number of batteries in homes.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesThe long-term goal is to reduce the world’s reliance on energy generated from fossil fuels while creating regional networks of home batteries that could be controlled as if they were a power plant.

Musk is so encouraged by the initial demand that he believes Tesla and other future entrants in the market will be able to sell 2 billion battery packs around the world — roughly the same number of vehicles already on roads. Although that may sound like a “super crazy” goal, Musk insisted it “is within the power of humanity to do.”

It will take a long time to get there. Tesla hopes to begin shipping a limited number of Powerwall batteries this summer in the U.S. before expanding internationally next year.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesA Powerpack system is on display after Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla unveiled suit of batteries for homes, businesses, and utilities at Tesla Design Studio Thursday in Hawthorne, California.

The long-term goal is to reduce the world’s reliance on energy generated from fossil fuels while creating regional networks of home batteries that could be controlled as if they were a power plant. That would give utilities another way to ensure that they can provide power at times of peak demand.

For now, the battery primarily serves as an expensive backup system during blackouts for customers like David Cunningham, an aerospace engineer from Foster City, California. He installed a Tesla battery late last year to pair with his solar panels as part of a pilot program run by the California Public Utilities Commission to test home battery performance.

Although Cunningham’s home has not endured a blackout in the six months that he has had the battery, it’s capable of running critical home appliances like lights and refrigeration and can be recharged by solar panels during the day.

Kevork Djansezian/Getty ImagesGuests pose with the Powerwall unit after Elon Musk Thursday announced Tesla’s expansion into the home battery market amid a party atmosphere at the company’s design studio near Los Angeles International Airport.

“As long as a person has solar panels, it’s just a natural fit for the two to go together,” Cunningham, 77, said. “I consider it to be a whole power system right here in my home.”

Cunningham took advantage of state incentives that sharply reduced the battery’s $18,300 sticker price under the pilot program. He still paid $7,500.

“The value proposition now is around reliability and backup power more than it is around savings, but over time that may change,” said Shayle Kahn, an analyst at GTM Research.

The batteries are likely to become more useful if, as expected, more utilities and regulators allow power prices to change throughout the day based on market conditions. That way, the software that controls the solar and battery system will allow customers to use their home-generated power — and not expensive grid power — when grid prices spike.

Many commercial customers already buy power this way, and Tesla also announced battery systems designed for them, along with bigger battery packs that utilities can use to manage their grids. Analysts say these utility and commercial markets will probably be more promising for Tesla during the next few years than residential customers.

Several businesses, including Amazon.com and Target, plan to use Tesla’s battery storage system on a limited basis. Southern California Edison is already using Tesla batteries to store energy.

Tesla is building a giant factory in Nevada that will begin churning out batteries in 2017, so Musk needs to begin drumming up customers now. The spotlight may help Musk push policy makers and utilities to consider reshaping regulations so solar and battery storage could be more easily incorporated into the larger electric system, Kahn said.

Tesla’s ambitions already have intrigued homeowners like Mike Thielen, who installed one of the prototype batteries with SolarCity panels on his Redondo Beach, California, home last year. Although he hasn’t needed the backup power yet, he has embraced the concept.

“I think it’s brilliant,” he said. “I would consider upgrading to a more powerful home battery if they could figure out a way to get me totally off the grid.”

LinkedIn Corp shares plummet on ‘extraordinary’ second-quarter outlook miss

National Post Tech Desk - Thu, 04/30/2015 - 14:56

LinkedIn Corp. shares plunged as much as 27 per cent after the company forecast revenue that missed analysts’ estimates, citing the strong dollar and slower-than-projected growth.

Second-quarter revenue will be US$670 million to US$675 million, the company said in a statement Thursday. Analysts had predicted US$718.3 million, on average, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The social-networking site for professionals also trimmed its forecast for annual revenue to US$2.9 billion from between US$2.93 billion and US$2.95 billion.

“This is an extraordinary miss for a company that has by and large avoided any major blowups since going public,” said Paul Sweeney, an analyst at Bloomberg Intelligence.

The company’s shares were down 23 per cent in extended trading, after dropping 2 per cent to close at US$252.13. The stock had gained 9.7 per cent this year.

First-quarter revenue slowed in LinkedIn’s main business of serving recruiters, according to the company’s prepared statement for a conference call with investors. Assigning accounts to new sales representatives at the beginning of the year caused some customer loss, LinkedIn said.

Growth was also affected by currency-exchange rates, as LinkedIn generated 39 per cent of its revenue from outside the U.S. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index, a measure of the U.S. currency against 10 major peers, gained 6.2 per cent in the first quarter.

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Expansion Spending

Chief Executive Officer Jeff Weiner has been spending to build the company’s business beyond its foundation as a portal for recruiters and job hunters, with tools that use the site’s user data for marketing and sales.

Those efforts aren’t translating to as much revenue growth as expected, Sweeney said. First-quarter revenue from marketing products rose 38% from a year earlier to US$119 million. Sales from services that companies use to recruit increased 36 per cent to US$396 million.

Earnings excluding some items was US$73 million, or 57 cents a share, matching analysts predictions.

LinkedIn’s net loss widened to US$42.5 million, or 34 cents a share, from US$13.4 million, or 11 cents a share.

Revenue rose 35 per cent to US$638 million. Analysts had projected US$637.8 million.

The site, based in Mountain View, California, continues to expand its services, moving into professional education with an agreement this month to acquire Lynda.com Inc. for US$1.5 billion.

Bloomberg.com

Apple Watch gaming review roundup: Lifeline, Rules!, Trivia Crack, Spy_Watch, Battle Camp, and more

National Post Tech Desk - Thu, 04/30/2015 - 13:30

The Apple Watch is finally upon us and as expected a number of developers have attempted to figure out what kind of gaming experiences work well on the device with varying results. Most of the Apple Watch’s games are horrible, amounting to little more than companion apps that add little to their core gaming experience, which is expected given the device’s underwhelming processor (when compared to a smartphone), current reliance on the iPhone and the wearable’s tiny 312 by 390-pixel screen.

But a few Apple Watch games stand out from the crowd as enjoyable experiences, and one of them might be onto something, bringing a new kind of video game genre to Apple Inc’s first wearable that’s surprisingly perfectly suited to the Apple Watch’s limitations as a gaming device.

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Lifeline | 3 Minute Games, LLC | 6/10

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XMr5rxPBbFg&w=640&h=390]

Lifeline is essentially an interactive novel that plays out as a series of transmissions from a stranded space explorer. It’s an interesting concept that’s appropriate for the Apple Watch, but doesn’t feel like a game in the traditional sense. The player uses their Apple Watch to communicate with Lifeline‘s character, named Taylor, instructing him on what he should do next. The game’s $3.49 price also doesn’t feel appropriate given what the title offers the player – essentially a very basic choose your own adventure novel.

Still, Lifeline is clever and could be an indication of the type of games that will land on the Apple Watch in the future. However, if the idea of a text-based adventure appeals to you, another Apple Watch game called Spy_Watch is likely a better option since it offers a more interactive experience.

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Rules! | TheCodingMonkeys | 7/10

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCIqtW7A85E&w=640&h=390]

Rules! is a more complicated version of the classic game Simon, tasking the player with remembering an ever-increasing sequence of basic rules. If you enjoy memorization games, you’ll like Rules! And if you dont? Rules! will be a painful experience.

The first few sequences involve tapping numbers in ascending or descending order, and are typically easy to remember, but when other parameters are thrown into the mix, such as only tapping mammals, or selecting odd numbers, all within a constantly counting down time limit, the game’s difficulty increases quickly and drastically. But still, as Apple Watch apps games and even apps go, Rules! is impressive.

Tapping the Apple Watch’s touch screen is usually responsive (although the game did lag on occasion) and you also don’t need to have the app open on your iPhone first to launch Rules!, an issue many other Apple Watch games suffer from.

Rules! costs $2.99.

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Trivia Crack | Etermax | 4/10

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jxoim1uLUnw&w=640&h=390]

Trivia Crack is fun but extremely glitchy. During my brief time with the game it crashed a number of times. It also requires the user to open the game on their iPhone before being paired with another player, defeating the purpose of the Apple Watch’s easy-to-access-focused existence and causing me to wonder why Trivia Crack wasn’t just an iPhone game.

In Trivia Crack the player spins a wheel and then is assigned a trivia category. You then select one of multiple choices, hoping you’ve picked the correct answer. This type of game is well-suited for the Apple Watch and can be played in short bursts, but unfortunately the fact you need to open the app’s iPhone counterpart first in order to launch it, is a huge issue. If this issue ends up getting solved, Trivia Crack will be much easier to recommend.

Trivia Crack is free.

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Battle Camp | PennyPop | 7/10

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnK18dCuNuE&w=640&h=390]

Battle Camp is a game I didn’t expect to enjoy, but there’s something nostalgically compelling about taking care of a virtual pet as an adult (the irony of doing so on $450+ smartwatch also wasn’t lost on me). Essentially, Battle Camp plays very similar to a retro 90s Tamagotchi (there’s also a more limited Tamagotchi companion app for the Apple Watch).

The game is basic, allowing the player to only feed, clean and play with their little monster, but the fact that your Apple Watch reminds you every once in awhile to feed your virtual pet, somehow makes playing the game fun. Once you’ve raised your monster to a certain level, it can be dropped into the world of Battle Camp‘s iPhone game.

Battle Camp is free.

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Spy_Watch | Bossa Studios | 8/10

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oIigbJlmx0E&w=640&h=390]

Spy_Watch is the best Apple Watch game available right now and will likely be the first in a slew of other similar titles released for the device. In Spy_Watch you play as a spy commander, calling the shots to agents in the field, giving them commands and telling your operative what to do next.

The app is actually very similar to Lifeline, but with a RPG twist, allowing the player to take on different missions, earn money that can then be used to buy new equipment, and also level-up. When you start a mission you’ll often give your agent a simple commend such as  “take out the doorman.” You then sit and wait for the results of that action, which can sometimes take up to an hour, or even multiple hours. Many missions can last as long as a real world day.

Spy_Watch is the type of passive experience you play over the course of a day or even multiple days, as the game reminds the player every once in awhile about what their operative is doing, making the game perfectly suited for the Apple Watch as a gaming platform.

Spy_Watch costs $1.99.

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Runeblade | Everywhere Games | 2/10

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31pTC_sdqmU&w=640&h=390]

Runeblade is a game I desperately wanted to enjoy. The concept of playing a simple role-playing title on my Apple Watch seems very appealing at first, but unfortunately the game is bad, so much so that I wonder why it even exists. Your quest is to kill monsters by tapping a sword button, collecting gold in the process and then in turn upgrading your attack power and weapon.

But that’s it. There’s no point to Runeblade other than to continue tapping the screen. Monsters don’t even fight back in any way making for an extremely boring experience and causing me to wish I never played it in the first place. You can use your coins to purchase different weapons, but new items don’t seem to change how much damage you deal to your enemies and they still never fight back in any way.

Runeblade is free.

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Cupcake Dungeon | WearGa | 6/10

HandoutIf you look beyond Cupcake Dungeon's cutesy exterior, you'll find a surprisingly deep RPG that's perfect for small bursts of play.

Cupcake Dungeon is similar to Runeblade in a variety of ways, except instead of monsters, the player slays hordes of pastries and candies with strange weapons. The game is from the same team as Pixel Miner on the Pebble smartwatch and is the kind of title you play for five seconds numerous times a day.

The cutesy treat filled aesthetic is a welcome change of pace from the typical role-playing game lore, and enemies actually fight back at the player, giving you a reason to push forward. Cupcake Dungeon is essentially everything RuneBlade isn’t, although it’s still repetitive, causing me to grow bored of the title after only a few short play sessions.

Cupcake Dungeon is currently free.

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