Blizzards (not the Dairy Queen variety) and snow storms are hitting large chunks of the country hard. The best thing to do while you’re snowed in is cozy up with your phone or tablet and play some games. January was a great month for new game releases. We’ve got 14 excellent games for you to check out while you avoid shoveling the driveway. And for those of you in warm climates, don’t rub it in. Enjoy!

bit Cowboy
bit Cowboy is a Western action platformer game, styled after classics of the Gameboy era. You play as the new sheriff in 2-bit Town. Tackle challenges, earn rewards, track down bad guys, and find hidden loot. Play as a cowboy or cowgirl, then customize your look with hats, bandanas, masks, and more.https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.crescentmoongames.twobitcowboy

Adventure Time Game Wizard
Finn and Jake face an all-new villain: Doodle Wizard. Battle his sketchy army across a huge open world including the Grasslands, Candy Kingdom, Ice Kingdom, Dungeons, and more. The kicker for this game is you can actually draw your own levels. This is one case where your imagination is truly the only limitation to what you can do.

Flockers
Flockers is a new game from the creators of “Worms.” Sick of being used as Weapons in the Worms’ endless battles, the Sheep decide to make a break for it. Save the Sheep by guiding them through crushers, giant buzz-saws, deep pits full of spikes and giant swinging meat cleavers. Or you can leave them to be exploded by the worms.

LEGO Bionicle
The game for LEGO’s popular Bionicle series is finally available for Android. In the hunt for the ancient and powerful Mask of Creation, the six Bionicle heroes Tahu, Kopaka, Onua, Gali, Pohatu and Lewa must fight to recover the lost masks of power to stop the rising evil on the mythical island of Okoto. read more →

We investigate 5 apps that could be the next
Instagram, Snapchat or Vine – plus a bonus social
network that pays you for posting

Facebook and Twitter are the leading social media
apps, but in the past few years they've been joined
by additional social networks including Instagram,
Snapchat, Vine and Pinterest, all of which seem to
have taken the internet by storm. So what's the next
big thing in the social space for 2015? We bring you
five apps that aim to become social successes in
2015, plus a bonus social network that actually pays
you for posting.

1. Secret
Secret is a bit different from your normal social
media app, allowing you to share secrets with your
friends – but they won't know it's you. They can then
reply anonymously, too.
Your secrets don't just get shared with your friends,
though. They can be seen by people nearby, and if
your friends "love" your secret then their friends
will see it too.

2. Kleek
Kleek isn't its own social network. Rather, it
connects to Facebook to allow you to limit the
statuses and other data to just the people you care
most about. You can use Kleek to make sure only your
close friends see your statuses.

3. Wanelo
Social shopping app Wanelo, which is derived from the
phrase Want, Need Love, features millions of products
from the likes of big brands all the way through to
independent Etsy sellers.
See what your friends have favourited in the app, and
add items to your wishlist.
You might see the Wanelo Save button cropping up on
your favourite online shops in 2015 as the network
continues to grow in popularity (it currently has
over 11 million users).

4. Yik Yak
Yik Yak (shown at the top of this article) is a bit
like Secret, allowing you to share your thoughts with
people nearby. Posts can get upvoted if they're
interesting, so you'll see the posts that others have
considered to be good at the top of your feed.
You can also take a look at what's being posted in
other locations, say New York rather than your
location of London, if you're curious about what
they're talking about across the pond.

5. Shots
A rival to the likes of Snapchat, Shots is a
smartphone app that lets you capture photographs, or
'shots', through the front-facing camera, which then
get shared with other Shots users. You can't comment
on the photos, because the developers are concerned
about cyberbullying, so it's simply a scrolling wall
of selfies.

There's also a private chat feature built-in that you
can use to talk to friends. And if you're wondering
what all the Justin Bieber photos are about – he
helped fund the startup back in 2012.

read more →