Top 5 Apps of the Week: Sunset Hills, Crystal of Atlan, and More!

If these top picks don't pique your curiosity, you'll be excited to discover a variety of premium apps available for free, albeit for a limited time only. Moreover, if you're on the hunt for more hidden treasures, be sure to explore our "Free Apps of the Week" section, refreshed every two weeks!

Sunset Hills (Android & iOS)

Do you love puzzle adventure games? Well, I remember Day of the Tentacle and Mad Max clearly, in addition to the corny Superhero League of Hoboken. Fast forward to today, and you have Sunset Hills, a hand‑drawn, narrative-driven point‑and‑click puzzle adventure. I basically step into the shoes of Nico, a dog-turned-writer on a post-war train journey, and I am going around reconnecting with old friends and solving environmental puzzles.

I absolutely love the gorgeous hand-drawn 2D characters that are magically set against 3D environments. Younger gamers will definitely be drawn to the warm “storybook” art style, and when coupled with dynamic animations and immersive ambient sounds, it becomes pure magic! It is as though a novel has come alive.

The storyline's pace might be slow, but I am not in a rush to complete the game, either. I like how it explores themes like friendship, memory, healing, and the aftermath of war. It does lend a rather charming feel to the game, and it can be emotionally resonant, depending on where you are in life at the moment.

• Price: $7.99 (Android), Free (iOS) / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: Yes ($8.99 to unlock full game in iOS) / Account required: No

I don't know about you, but in this age of AI, I tend to place even more value on handcrafted or hand-drawn images. Sunset Hills is just one of the games that are visually arresting to me, sporting cozy, story-rich, visually enchanting puzzle adventures. I love the hand-crafted environments and reflective narrative, and there is no pressure at all to finish the game, allowing me to play it at my own pace. 

• Download Sunset Hills from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Crystal of Atlan (Android & iOS)

Ah, another MMORPG on both Android and iOS platforms. Enter Crystal of Atlan, a magic‑punk title that brings together technology and magic under the same roof. Basically, this is action-packed right from the beginning, where the combat is fast-paced and responsive. When you are able to pull off flashy combos, aerial maneuvers, and crisp dodge mechanics, it feels like you are in a dance that you never want it to end.

Another aspect of this game that will appeal to many would be the diverse class system. With five base classes to choose from (Swordsman, Musketeer, Magister, Puppeteer, Fighter), each of them can branch into two subclasses at level 15. Talk about depth and flexibility in customizing your party's build! Of course, this might also lead to better replay value.

Relying on the Unreal 4 engine, you can be sure that the visuals are translated beautifully to the mobile platform. Combat sound effects are also satisfying, while the cutscenes do feature their fair share of voice acting, most of the gameplay sections were much quieter. Overall, controls were tight enough to keep me coming back.

• Price: Free / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: Yes ($0.99-$99.99) / Account required: Yes

Crystal of Atlan, in a nutshell, is an immensely polished action MMORPG experience on the mobile platform. When it comes to its combat, class systems, and PvP, everything kind of clicked into place. However, I did find its stamina-limited structure to be rather restrictive from entering a deeper progression, while the story could do with a bit more firming up.

• Download Crystal of Atlan from the Google Play Store and Apple App Store.

byAir (Android & iOS)

Traveling by air is not for everybody, but sometimes, it is the only plausible option. For frequent flyers, one of the things about air travel that you must dread most is flight delays or reschedules. ByAir aims to make life less of a headache as this free yet feature-rich flight tracker offers real-time status updates, airport guides, trip history visualizations, and more.

You can track live flights by receiving up-to-the-minute updates on departure/arrival times, gate and terminal info, route details, and even remaining flight time. Of course, once you are in the air, it doesn't really matter too much since you should be able to obtain such info from the IFE itself. 

Travelers to unfamiliar places will appreciate the AI‑enhanced airport guides, offering traveller-sourced tips—like the fastest security lanes, best places to eat, and hidden lounges. It also helps to have maps of amenities, weather, transport, and currency exchange information handy at your fingertips.

• Price: Free / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: Yes ($2.99-$39.99) / Account required: No

If you're a frequent traveler, I would say this is an app that is worth installing. Push notifications that provide you with timely alerts for status changes, delays, and gate updates will always come in handy. Overall, the user interface is easy to understand and navigate.

• Download byAir from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Cineswipe (Android & iOS)

Do you love movies as much as I do? Enter Cineswipe, a free entertainment app focused on helping users discover content via a swipe‑based interface. Yes, that means more screen time added up, but at least you know it is not for nothing. With this app, I can track my viewing progress, manage personal collections, and explore detailed stats and clips, perfect for any movie nerd!

Overall, I found the user interface to be clean and intuitive. It features a swipe-style card interface that makes it easy to discover new titles. In addition, it pulls information from services like Trakt, TMDB, Letterboxd, and TV Time, making it a snap to manage multiple entertainment tracking platforms in one place.

If you are an avid TV series viewer, you can mark episodes and movies that have been watched, maintain heterogeneous watchlists, and receive progress notifications. Not only that, statistic nerds will geek out with a detailed statistics panel that depicts average watch times, favorite genres, and more!

• Price: Free / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: None / Account required: Yes

I will also be served short, curated video snippets based on my viewing history and taste, making it a snap to quickly discover content in a TikTok‑like scroll. This is a well-designed, feature-rich tool for movie and show lovers who appreciate a swipe-heavy, data-driven discovery format. 

• Download Cineswipe from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

Linga: Books with translations (Android & iOS)

Mastering another language is always something that I have dreamt of, but I have yet to get off my lazy butt to begin. However, I have always found out that reading seems to be one of the best ways to have a good grasp of a new language (in addition to speaking it, of course). Enter Linga, an app designed to transform reading into an effective language-learning experience. 

Basically, I can tap any word or sentence in imported or in‑library texts (EPUB, MOBI, PDF, FB2) to instantly translate, obtain synonyms, grammatical info, usage examples, and even pronunciation. Best of all, it also works offline! There are over 1,000 curated books to browse through, although I can choose to upload my own if I desire.

I understand that the number of supported languages is still relatively limited, but hopefully that will change in the future. These languages include English, German, French, Spanish, Italian, Russian, Portuguese, Chinese, and others, which should be adequate to arm most readers who want to learn a different language with enough ammunition. I also appreciate how I can play audio for words and phrases, which are further bolstered by offline pronunciation tools. 

• Price: Free / Advertising: None / In-app purchases: Yes ($5.49-$109.99) / Account required: Yes

In conclusion, Linga is a richly featured mobile-first language-reading app that excels in integrated translation, vocabulary building, and user experience. I would suggest this for intermediate learners and avid readers who want to deepen their language study through literature. As for beginners, you might want to begin at a lower or more manageable level, using easier texts.

• Download Linga: Books with translations from the Google Play Store and the Apple App Store.

We do hope that you will have a smashing weekend with this week's list of recommended apps and games! Let us know whether you found any one which was useful in the comments!