Tech review: Game apps that you can play offline
Eternium, which can be played offline, is set in an Earth-like medieval world with skeletons, zombies and demons. Credit: Newsday/Making Fun
Amid the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, you might find yourself in situations where sitting and waiting becomes your main activity. In the case where you can’t find a good Wi-Fi signal and don’t want to take a hit on your data plan, these engaging games can ease the boredom because you can play them offline.
Brain It On!
(iOS, Android; free)
A physics-based puzzle game, Brain It On! features several games and levels ion which you solve challenges using moves that depend on real-world physics. Each puzzle has several ways to solve it, which adds to the fun. The developer and an online community of Brain It On! players are continually adding new puzzles, which you can download once you are again online. Once downloaded, you can play them offline.
Eternium
(iOS, Android; free)
Eternium is one of the few action and role-playing games that can be played offline. The game, which is set in an Earth-like medieval world (albeit with skeletons, zombies and demons) is beautifully crafted, with eye-popping visuals and immersive sound. Like the other games reviewed here, while it can be played offline, there are added features that kick in once you have an internet connection.
Unblock Me
(iOS, Android; free)
This puzzle game has been around for a while and has picked up numerous “Editor’s Choice” awards from Apple and Google while logging an impressive 100 million downloads. There are thousands of puzzles you can play across four modes of differing difficulty. The goal of the game is to slide brown wood blocks up-and-down and side-to-side to create a clear path for a single red block.
Solitaire
(iOS, Android; free)
Brainium Studios is a California-based developer that produces a number of classic games that are playable offline. This version of Solitaire is based on Klondike with several gameplay options, including one-card draw and three-card draw modes. You can choose from several card-background styles or upload your own. In addition to Solitaire, Brainium offers Sudoku, Free Cell and many others.
Thank you, Alexa
Are you nice to everyone? Even inanimate objects? A study from Pew Research Center found 54 percent of smart speaker owners say “please” when talking with their devices. Women are more polite than men: 62 percent say “please” compared with 45 percent of men who do so. Still, 54 percent of smart speaker owners say they are concerned about the amount of personal data their devices save.
— PETER KING
Beware fake Windows 10 email
Microsoft regularly updates Windows 10, but don’t be fooled by a bogus email appearing to come from the tech giant. Trustwave warns that ransomware-packed emails with the subject line “Install Latest Microsoft Windows Update now!” or “Critical Microsoft Windows Update” are being circulated. If you click on the attachment, a ransomware known as Cyborg is installed on your computer. If you get an email like this, just delete it.
— PETER KING
Amazon, NFL team for player safety
Amazon and the National Football League are partnering to help solve the epidemic of injuries — especially concussions — afflicting the sport. Amazon’s AWS cloud unit will provide software to analyze volumes of player health data and scan video images to better treat injuries. The league and AWS hope to eventually use the software tools, which include a new “digital athlete” platform, to predict and prevent injuries.
