App Review: Best apps for passing time in quarantine

With an abundance of time on my hands, now is the perfect time to discover all the app store has to offer and unleash my inner gamer. Normally, finding an app worthy of taking all of my phone storage isn’t my biggest concern, but when boredom hits, the app store can be a savior from my Disney+ movie binging. Here’s my top app picks at the moment.

Fireboy and Watergirl

Among Club Penguin and Webkinz in the web game hall of fame was Fireboy and Watergirl. Over the years I had forgotten about it, but when browsing the app store, I saw the orange and blue avatars and couldn’t contain my excitement as I told my sister our favorite childhood game had gone mobile. 

I was worried how a game in which the controllers were originally arrow keys on a keyboard would be played on a touch screen, but the transition was seamless. The basis of the game is to go through a number of obstacles, fire or water related, that only one player can complete — the one whose powers correspond with the challenge. Once the series of obstacles is completed through teamwork, you pass the level. 

With the app, you can play individually, connect with one of your family members if they have the app, or play with strangers. Even if this game wasn’t a part of your childhood like it was mine (even though you missed out big time), it’s not too late to download it and start a new obsession.

Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp

I’m sure all the non-Nintendo Switch owners, myself included, have felt left out of the current quarantine rage — Animal Crossing. But thankfully, the app store has cured my fear of missing out with a similarly addictive game, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. 

This game has the objective of networking with other critters to make friends and gather supplies and to ultimately make the optimum campsite. I can feel an addiction brewing with the amount of tasks that beg to be completed, like gathering peaches and catching fish, and as my campsite begins to grow. You get to design your character, come up with a clever nickname and theme your campsite to your liking. This app will definitely hold you over until lockdown is over and you can go buy a Nintendo Switch to fully commit. 

Brain Test: Tricky Puzzles

Don’t be misled by the name — this isn’t an educational trap. This game provides seemingly infinite levels of problems and puzzles in need of clever solving. This app is a great way to pass time with its fast-paced, challenging levels — but often gives you the urge to chuck your phone across the room. If you’re familiar with the Impossible Quiz, this app is in a similar format. It’s not that these challenges require immense brain power — it’s that the solutions tend to be unthinkably stupid, thus making the goal incredibly difficult to achieve, yet incredibly satisfying when you do pass. 

Apple COVID-19

Although it’s not fun and entertaining, this app is a must-have and it provides easily accessible, cut-to-the chase information about COVID-19 — including up-to-date information about the symptoms, what you can do to prevent it from spreading, when one should get tested for the virus and fact-checked updates. This app was developed with the CDC, the Whitehouse and FEMA so it can be, and should be, used as an easily accessible and reliable source.