App reviews: Little Alchemy, MSQRD
Little Alchemy presents you with four elements — air, fire, earth and water — and asks you to create the entire world with them. Well, 560 pieces of the world. Just by dragging and dropping, players can combine the elements, and then the byproducts of those combinations, into hundreds of items including dinosaurs and spaceships. The app is simply illustrated; each new item is represented by a non-animated icon. It taps into the joy of crafting that more complete games such as Minecraft satisfy, just on a much smaller and simpler scale.
There really isn't any flash to Little Alchemy; you're just dragging and dropping combinations. But the elements interact in interesting ways: rain and earth merge to form a plant, which you can then combine with time to make a tree. It really is more about the journey than a particular goal. If you're looking for slick animation, complex stories and explosions, this is not your game. But if you just want a quiet diversion in a noisy world, it's an excellent option. Free, for iOS and Android.
MSQRD
If you're a person who likes to embrace your goofier side, you might consider downloading MSQRD, which lets you overlay truly ridiculous and very fun filters over your face in photos and short videos. If you've ever wondered what you'd look like with ridiculous cartoon eyes, with a beard or with your friend's face, this app can answer those burning questions. Images are shareable (of course, otherwise what's the fun?) and saved into your phone's photo gallery.
Is this an app you need? No. Is it fun to play with? You bet. It is worth noting that MSQRD's filters are similar to those on Snapchat's Lenses feature, so those already using Snapchat may not need a duplicate app — though the filters on the two products will obviously vary. MSQRD was recently bought by Facebook, but the social media giant has said it will remain a stand-alone product. That could, however, mean that some of its features could be coming to Facebook's own apps in the future. Free, for iOS and Android.