App of the Week: Hooked

Handout

App Name:  Hooked

Price: Free

Available Platforms: Android

What does this app do?  Words with Friends, Angry Birds, Mahjong Connect – these are just a few of the popular apps in the Google Play Store for Android devices. For game app lovers, wading through the possibilities can be daunting.

Hooked, a game recommendation app developed by Hooked Media Group, can help.

“There are hundreds of thousands of apps out there people may really enjoy,” says Pita Uppal, CEO of the San Francisco based company.

Uppal, who recognizes people like to play with variety game apps but may have no idea what to try, likens Hooked to Netflix and Pandora rolled into one.

Once you download the app, Hooked analyses more than 40 factors, such as device type, the kinds of games a user has on his or her device, and usage statistics. By looking at what a consumer already has and how he or she is using those games, Hooked aims to offer users intelligent suggestions.

From the homescreen, select the menu button at the top and then search categories such as “Top Picks for You,” which provides a customized, star-rated list of recommendations. Press the tools key in the upper right hand corner and customize your recommendations by category, such as puzzle and racing, or by price.

Select “My Games”, and the app displays a dashboard of icons to help you understand your game activity. A folder icon, for example, shows what and how many games you have installed, and a clock icon tells you the amount of time you’ve spent playing a particular game. I spent an entire minute playing “Stupid Zombies.”

Logging in through Facebook or Google+ allows you to see what your friends and connections are playing, too.

Is it easy to set up? Yes, the 2.1MB app installs quickly. Log in with your account and go.

Should I try it?   Hooked is like a personal shopper for game-loving app users, and the more you use it the more it understands what you might like. For the moment, it is only available for Android, but Uppal says the company plans to launch Hooked for iOS in the coming months.

Source : abcnews[dot]go[dot]com