If a busy schedule has you on the go, you may feel relegated to the grind of Candy Crush Saga or one of the many Angry Birds clones. But transit time doesn’t have to mean wasted time—there are some great experiences available to you on your phone.
When you are pressed shoulder to shoulder, hip to hip with a busload of fellow transit sufferers, you may find it difficult to find the kind of elbow room you need to slice bushels of ripe fruit in twain, and with space at a premium, unless you are that person, you may even feel like you only have the thumb freedom to check your messages. That is why a simple, single-button game makes all the difference. Ridiculous Fishing is a game that plays off this problem in a fantastic way, blending twitch-style, angling gameplay and amusingly witty social dialogue. As Billy (@RodAndGunMan), players will sink a line into one of the game’s four ocean waters and attempt to reach as deep as they can without snagging any obstacles or unwanted sea life, all by tilting their iOS 5.0+ device. On the return trip, they will have to hook as many fishes as they can. Once at the surface, all manner of aquatic critters are shot into the sky and must be blasted out of the air with a wide variety of pistols, shotguns, and other weapons purchased from the game’s Shack Shop, a quaint little merchant barge owned and operated by Sean Keeper (@GreatOceanDeals). If they need to put the fishing antics on ice, players can get involved in the constantly progressing, consistently strange storyline of the Ridiculous Fishing cast, as it unfolds over the game’s Twitt— er, “Byrdr” social network. With its uniquely addicting gameplay and amusing story, Ridiculous Fishing is more than worth its $2.99 App Store price tag and makes for a wonderfully ironic companion when trapped in a sardine can of morning commuters.
Travel time can also be study time, but if pulling out your notes or catching up on readings is a little too heavy to wrap your mind around in the morning, I suggest expanding your mind in another way, with games. Letterpress is an addictive diction game for your iOS 5.0+ or Adroid 2.2+ device, that gives all of the Scrabble variants something to worry about. Encapsulated in a gorgeously clean interface, two players engage in an online game of word smarts and strategic scheming. Letterpress provides players with a 5 x 5 grid of letters and asks them to simply make a word—the longer the better. Players select characters from anywhere on the board and receive points for each letter. Turn after turn, players will try and seize more control over the board, transforming the letter tiles to their own colour. Once all of the letters have been used, the player with the most points is declared Letterpress Liege. With its fantastically sleek design, at-your-pace gameplay, and limitless replayability, Letterpress has become my go-to game for the bus, and I hope to see more of you sharpening your lexicographical savoir-faire as well.
