BRICKIES
Break old bricks a new way
Brickies is a take on the classic brick-breaker game and provides familiar fun without getting boring. Phone (or even calculator) gamers should recognize the basics: You have a ball. There are some bricks. You bounce the ball off the bricks. Simple.
In a bit of a twist, however, Brickies pits you against the clock rather than gravity — missing the platform doesn’t kill you outright, it only disables the ball’s powers until you get a successful bounce again. You also have a second platform on the top of the screen, which makes the game pretty forgiving. That’s always a good trait in a smartphone diversion.
Players can also collect power-ups that let them do things such as fracture the ball into several bouncy pieces or destroy tougher blocks more easily. Brickies doesn’t exactly redefine its genre, but it’s still a fun update on a classic. Free, for iOS devices.
SKYSCANNER
Find the perfect spot to stay the night
Planning a summer getaway but don’t know where to stay? Skyscanner’s hotel app is a handy way to sniff out the best deal easily across multiple search sites. Simply enter a date, location and some relevant guest information to start the search.
One nice Skyscanner feature is the ability to display certain landmarks in a city to get a better idea of a hotel’s location. You can fairly easily map your hotel in Google Maps or Apple Maps — if, for example, proximity to a convention center is important.
You can view search results by text, photo or on a map, which provides a few easy yet useful ways to comparison shop. Searching doesn’t require an account, though you need one to save listings for later. Booking is a different story; you may have to sign up for accounts with various search sites to make your reservations. Free, for iOS and Android devices. (It goes by Skyscanner Hotel Search on iOS.)
