The scoring system is very well-designed, with intermittent “blank” letters that can play the role of any and all letters that complete a word. This means one or two “blanks” can push your score very high pretty quickly. You can also sacrifice points to refresh the grid completely to have another go if you’re drawing a blank on the current one. The interface and look-and-feel is very polished and customizable. Most aspects of the game are configurable, including sound, “shake to clear” and the theme. Overall, this is an excellent game for the Palm Pre – engaging, interesting, and easy on the eyes.

Each game session comes with up to three hints (with usually five differences to spot). The icons that show that you correctly picked a spot are all customized. For example, in the Vintage Cars version of the app the icons are old 3-spoked steering wheels. Tapping in the little “i” at the top right of your screen will take you to information about the image (in the Vintage Cars case, it’ll give you the model name), and a link to a web resource with the image. Clicking on “Tell a friend” will launch the email app for you and you can send off a pre-filled email with a link to the image (there’s something interesting about the subject line with this version of the app, it is left to the reader to figure it out). Overall, this app for the Palm Pre smartphone is quite addicting and you can even learn about specific topics  - a good way to sharpen the old noggin with the morning cup of coffee.

Other thoughtful touches include separate views presenting the history of the game and a help and about screen.  The game lets you vary the difficulty of the computer opponent, but you may find even the most difficult setting to be easily beatable. You can also let the Pre show you your next possible moves along with the flip count for the move. Hopefully the computer will have improved algorithms with subsequent updates. For now, you may find the game a little too easy and the app loses some of its appeal as a result. Overall, Reversi is a well-designed and thoughtful game for your smartphone, and is sure to become quite popular once the algorithm is improved to make it a little more challenging.

In addition to the full episodes and clips, the app comes with a little “Survivor Guide” where you can see details about the locations and maps of Samoa island. Each of the views are accessible from the homescreen of the app or through control buttons at the bottom of every view. If you’re a fan of Survivor and are looking to engage with the show in more ways, this is a fantastic application that brings in a very wide range of extra features that should enhance your experience of the show. Overall, one of the better-looking apps on the Pre and one that will appeal to a niche audience.

There’s also an option to require a box, and the ability to vary the size of the grid. The computer opponent is quite good and with the large grid option, you may find yourself playing for far longer than expected. Overall, this a simple and well-designed Palm Pre app.

Preferences includes the ability to select between three board themes – Original, Classic, and Faces. The screenshot above is the Classic theme. Within the preferences screen you can also turn haptic feedback and sounds on or off. One-player options also let you turn on the “cheat-mode” which basically lets you move forward and backward. You can change the play style between Normal, Careful, and Aggressive here as well. Achievements are tracked and are visible in a separate view. Overall, this is a well-designed classic game of checkers with solid gameplay and a pleasing interface. The various options to adjust gameplay and two-player mode will no-doubt leave you revisiting this application often on your Palm Pre.

When played live, I imagine most of the fun comes from anticipating the roll and counting your score against the chart. With this version, since the computer does all the counting, you may find yourself compulsively rolling the dice and moving the game along. The large scores (the minimum increment is a 100) also encourage the user to move along quickly. Most of the skill in this game is reduced to judging whether or not you want to take a Stand or continue rolling. This decision is usually based on how much of a lead you have or are trying to make up. The full version will probably allow playing against a live opponent, which should make the game significantly more fun. For now, Word Ace retains the title of the best game on the Palm Pre smartphone, though Zilch Lite may be quite engaging for those who swear by dice-based games.

There are no controls or major interface elements near the bottom so tapping an ad by accident is nearly impossible. Tapping the ad will launch the browser in a separate card and keep your game uninterrupted. The ad changes every time you tap a bubble, which can be a little distracting. You can turn off sounds for the game in case you’re playing in a library or other place with a need for silence. Unfortunately you can’t save the state of a game, you’ll just have to keep a card running if you are interrupted mid-game and need to come back to it at a later time. Overall, Bubbles is clean, simple, and relatively well-implemented. A worthwhile download that compares well with other implementations of the game on other smartphones.

Playing with real opponents and the ability to upload and view player photos makes this game very engaging and life-like. This Palm Pre app also comes with real-time chat capabilities, which you can use during the game itself. The achievements and gameplay will ensure that you keep coming back, and the ability to play regularly against the same opponents will help you hone your skills and make the game so much more competitive. Icons, menus, and other design aspects are simply top-notch and interface is surprisingly uncluttered and straightforward for an app that is relatively complex and feature-rich. A highly recommended download for all Palm Pre users.

This Palm Pre app comes with landscape mode which makes it easier for you to read and follow things. The built-in computer opponent is not very smart at present, but future updates will probably increase the intelligence in the algorithm to offer at least a little more challenging gameplay. Another major problem is that this app appears to be a significant battery drain – at least more so than a simple card app should be. Overall, this is a relatively unpolished app with an unsophisticated computer opponent and is a tad too heavy on the battery. You may find it easy to overlook these shortcomings if you are a fan of the game itself, but the casual player may find it useful to wait for updates to bring improvements.