One-hundred and sixty-five in a series. Welcome to this week's overview of the best apps and games released for Windows 8.x and Windows 10 in the past seven days.
There have not been that many app releases or updates this week, at least when it comes to notable ones.
Still, this week saw the release of Rise of the Tomb Raider for the Windows platform as well as a big update for OneNote.
In other news, Microsoft and TripAdvisor announced a partnership in which the TripAdvisor app will be preloaded on millions of Windows 10 devices.
As always, if I missed an app or game that has been released this week that you believe is particularly good, let me know in the comments below or notify me via email instead.
Discounts This Week
Red Stripe Deals are back. Up to six applications and games are discounted and highlighted in Windows Store each week.
The following is this week's selection:
- Reading Trainer for $1.99
- Drift Mania: Street Outlaws, a drifting game for $0.99
- The Bridge, a 2D logic puzzle game for $3.49
- Bloons TD5, a tower defense game with balloons for $4.99
- Sengoku Jidai, an offline turn-based strategy game for $1.99
- MoBu - Financial Management for $3.49
App of the week
Rise of the Tomb Raider ($59.99, no free trial)
Rise of the Tomb Raider is one of the first major game releases for the Windows platform.
The game takes the Tomb Raider franchise back to its beginning as it narrates how it all started and how Lara Croft started to become the "Tomb Raider".
The game features impressive visuals, an interesting story line, and a new hub zone feature that enables you to explore the game world and discover secrets at your own pace and without progressing the main story line.
Skill trees are being used in Rise of the Tomb Raider to give players customization options. Spend points in hunting, brawling or survival to get better at certain things or gain additional skills such as better looting skills.
The game is well designed all in all and should run well if the machine meets the recommendations.
Other apps
Gym Radio was designed to deliver the best music experience for workouts. Just pick the type of workout, e.g. cardio or hardcore, and listen to motivational music that keeps you going.
The free version of the app is somewhat limited, it does not support offline listening or the skipping of songs among other things.
Mission Unpossible ($1.99, free trial available)
You create your own independently run spy agency in Mission Unpossible. The game is made up of two major parts: managing the spy agency and sending agents on missions.
Management involves hiring new agents, sending them on vacation and selecting missions.
Missions play out as a narrative that includes "what will you do now" multiple-choice moments.
Love and Dragons is a hidden object game featuring wonderful graphics, lots of different characters and a story featuring intrigue, mystery, plot twists and a love story.
The game features several different search modes that make the game more versatile than your run-of-the-mill hidden object type of game.
Important Updates
OneNote has been updated. The new version features "more organized notes", shape recognition, options to move or copy pages and sections, and automatic transformation of drawings into shapes.