The week gone by was pretty busy for the app world –  popular messaging app Viber was acquired by Japan’s e-commerce giant Rakuten, while viral hit Flappy Bird was taken down within two weeks of its launch on Android. But don’t worry, as the makers of the extremely addictive Angry Birds franchise, Rovio, teased its spin-off game Angry Birds Stella that’s set to launch soon. Google also started highlighting apps and games with in-app purchases in the web interface of the Play Store, two months after this feature rolled out for mobile apps. Enough said, now let’s get down to the apps and games that are worth your attention.

BBM {Update} (Free)

As promised by BlackBerry, the latest update to version 2.0 brings BBM in sync with the BlackBerry app, offering a slew of useful functionalities. First up is BBM Voice, which allows you to make free calls to other BBM users. The BBM Channels feature adds a social element by letting users follow or create their own channels for any topic. Some other features include the ability to share your location with BBM contacts, support for up to 50 people in groups and Dropbox integration.   

Krush (Free)

If Valentine’s week was gloomy because you don’t have a partner, this app certainly deserves a try. Krush connects to your Facebook account and shows you a list of potential matches based on your preferences. If you express a liking for someone and they do the same, the app allows you both to connect with each other.    As they say, technology can really change your life. So go ahead, and give the Krush app a try.

Muzei Live Wallpaper (Free)

In our weekly roundup, we rarely mention the basics like wallpapers and ringtones, because they are easily downloadable from a plethora of sources. However, this week we’re taking a break from this rule to feature beautiful live wallpapers through the app Muzei (Russian for ‘museum’). The app showcases a new piece of classic artwork in the form of a wallpaper everyday on your home screen. The good part is that the wallpaper has a subdued presence and hence gives more focus to icons and widgets. Users can also select their camera photos as wallpaper.

TimePIN (Free)

Don’t like anyone else touching your mobile phone? Well, either you can use complex yet forgettable patterns, set a number password or you can use the app TimePIN. As the moniker suggests, it’s a simple and very effective idea to keep your device secure by changing the PIN based on the current time. To illustrate the idea, at 07:30, the PIN of your phone would be 0730. You can make the PIN even more robust by reversing, doubling, mirroring or even offsetting it.    You can also set the Date PIN in the same manner, though that feature will require you to shell out $1.99 as in-app purchase.

Games

Slam Dunk Basketball 2 (Free)

As the name indicates, the game is based on Basketball, but don’t worry as it will please both fans and casual gamers alike. Instead of a complete basketball game, the game is an one-to-one competition between two players, and and also allows you to participate in a tournament. The gameplay is also fairly simple as players need to slide their finger across the screen to successfully dunk the basketball.

Shardlands (Free)

Shardlands takes you to a whole new world with breathtaking visuals, full of mysteries, challenging puzzles and monsters. Gamers play the role of Dawn, who is lost in an unknown world and is trying to find her way back home with the help of an ancient machine. However, to activate the machine, she has to find keys that are scattered around the world.

The Domingos (Free)

The Domingos manages to marry an engaging physics puzzle game based on the “Domino effect” with an interesting story. The city of Domingos, Dominitas is attacked by Dandits and finally taken over by them. As a Domingo, you have to save your city and fellow citizens against the attackers using your weapons and brain power.

The Room Two (Rs 170)

If you’re fan of mystery and thriller games, then this one will surely pique your interest. The 3D based puzzle game features a visually appealing design with a wide range of mysteries to solve. The visuals and gameplay are complemented by eerie background audio. The game can be played across multiple devices thanks to its cloud-saving capability. While this ends our weekly feature, we’d urge you to try out one of the most popular news-reading apps, Flipboard which now allows you to set the layout density for articles. This means you can choose to view maximum headlines or body text.