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App of the Day: Crazy Monster Truck Is Crazy Fun

Tags: App of the Day 24 August 2012 "Crazy Monster Truck Escape" brings top-notch graphics and exciting gameplay to your mobile device -- and it's totally free. If you want to download a free app, sometimes it seems like your options are limited to enjoyable but simple games like Bubbles or Temple Run. You might imagine some of the more intense games are quite a bit more expensive. But "Crazy Monster Truck Escape" demonstrates the level of detail app developers are willing to put into a free app, and, on top of the dazzling details, it's a heck of a lot of fun to play. What's the App? Crazy Monster Truck Escape takes users on an immersive journey with a classic cops vs. robbers story -- and you're the robber. After you start the game, music blares and it asks you what kind of graphics you'd prefer. If you're on a slow or old device, you can choose the simple ones, though selecting "Fantastic" will get you the best quality. At first most of the levels are locked, so you progress in a linear fashion through the game after you've beaten off the fuzz at each level. You get to pick which truck you want to use, and then you're off. You might select Bulldog or DragonSword -- it's more about the look of the car than actually changing the way they drive in the game. Depending on what kind of device you're using, the controls change, but they are very easy to get a handle on. You need to evade obstacles and police chasing you at first, and in the later levels you have more specific missions to earn points. The fun thing about this game is the top-notch, detailed graphics -- you feel like you're playing something closer to Call of Duty than Angry Birds. Crazy Monster Truck Escape is a free app available on Apple and Android. You'll Want It If... If you want a compelling game for free, this is a good choice -- it has enough going on to keep you interested for a while, so it has longer legs than some of the more simple offerings. If you appreciate high-quality graphics for mobile games, this will be right up your alley. Crazy Monster Truck Escape shares narrative components with games like Grand Theft Auto, so it's definitely not for children, but if you're an adult and you want to play something a little edgy and fun, this is a solid pick. It's Not My Thing -- What Else Ya Got? If you have children, you'll probably want to keep them away from this game -- it's not graphic in its violence, and it doesn't use profanity or sex like Grand Theft Auto, but the negative attitude towards the police and generally adult content isn't the most appropriate for children under 13. A simpler game, like Atari's Greatest Hits, is a superior choice for families. It offers a number of fun, vintage games, and even though Atari's Greatest Hits will set you back more moolah, it will send a better message. Related Stories App of the Day (29) | Games (14) | Crazy Monster Truck (1) Email Your DNA, Create a Monster? PlayBooks Stolen by Truckload, RIM Suffers Another Blow

Got a to-do list a mile long? Wunderlist helps users manage the litany of tasks facing them.

Checklists are deeply satisfying. The calm washing over you as you glide your pen over a much-loathed and now-completed task brings utter gratification in looking at a list of chores, now crossed out. The Wunderlist app is one of a number of mobile and computer checklist that can deliver that sense of accomplishment, though it's by no means ideal.

What's the App?

Wunderlist is a task manager with a solid syncing feature, so a list you make on one device will appear on another. It is available for iPhone, iPad, Mac computer, Android phones and tablets, and Windows computers, so it is compatible with many smartphones and laptops used in North America.

You can sign up with an existing e-mail address. When the Wunderlist screen pops up, you can create one single list or several lists categorized by the day you want to finish the tasks or the type of chores they are. There's no limit to the number of lists you can make.

Once you've created your lists and press the sync button in the lower left-hand corner, Wunderlist will show you "Today's Work." If you complete one of the items on your list, you can check the box next to it, and it will get a line through it -- not quite the same as drawing a line yourself, but it's still satisfying to watch the task move out of your to-do pile and into "Recently done."

If you get all of your chores done in one fell swoop, there's a button in the lower left you can click to send them all into the completed pile. There is also a button to let you star important tasks to make them more obvious when you glance at the list. And, for organization, Wunderlist lists the days of the week at the bottom center of the screen, so you can jump ahead to see what's on your plate in the future. There's also a button devoted to tasks without assigned due dates.

The app is available for free for Apple products, Windows and Android on the Wunderlist website.

You'll Like It If...

If you want a simple way to make to-do lists and have them appear on all of your devices, Wunderlist has a pretty basic interface and really took care to cover the bases with its syncing options. If you press a button in the right-hand corner, you can link it directly to a cloud.

It's Not My Thing -- What Else Ya Got?

There are a ton of different task managers on the market, and Wunderlist is a totally standard but fairly unexceptional entry. If you're only managing a few tasks and you use Apple products, this less-than-wonderful tool is not that much more advanced than making a To-Do list through iCal. Wunderlist can't really handle more complex project management tasks or group-oriented lists, but on a personal scale it's perfectly adequate.

And if you use Gmail, there's always Google Calendars, which has the advantage of being much easier to share with other people, since Wunderlist is not ideal for collaborations. And if you're looking for something more advanced, where you give groups of people more details about your tasks, an app like Evernote may be more appropriate because it lets you share more information in general.