RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 ($5) — While an unabashedly freemium version of RollerCoaster Tycoon 4 has been on the App Store for a while now, we’re quite thrilled to see the original developer bringing the classic version to the iPhone and iPad as a “purchase once” option with no in-app purchases. The iOS version of RollerCoaster Tycoon 3 remains faithful to the original, adding only a new mobile-friendly UI to the classic gameplay. A series of video tutorials is provided to familiarize new players with the game, after which you can either launch yourself into a career to become the ultimate theme park mogul or simply play in a more open-ended sandbox mode to let your creativity roam free. All 18 scenarios from the original PC game are included, along with five different themes and full controllable cameras, including the Coaster Cam that puts you in the front seat of your roller coasters.
Along the way you must deal with all of the usual challenges, such as changing weather patterns, to ensure that you keep your guests as happy as possible. If you’re a fan of the original game, or even any of the other classic strategic building simulators, this one is definitely worth the price, and it’s sadly a rare gem in an era of freemium building games.
CARROT Weather ($4) — This amusingly snarky, yet functional iOS weather app gets a big update to complement the new Mac version, adding support for forwarding notifications from your Mac to your iPhone and Apple Watch and radar and satellite weather maps. The new Time Machine feature introduced in the Mac version has also now been included, allowing you to view weather for any location up to 70 years in the past or 10 years in the future.
The Today Extension has also been improved with five different display options now available, along with UV index, 24-hour wind speed forecasts, and a collection of sparkling new repartee.
Google News & Weather (free) — Perhaps not surprisingly, Google hasn’t paid much attention to the Apple Watch for the most part, with the conspicuous exception of Google News & Weather, which adds support for not only viewing the latest headlines from your wrist, but even throws in a Glance and the ability to save any headline to your Safari Reading List with a force-touch gesture. So far we haven’t seen any indications that Apple’s own News app is coming to the Apple Watch, although that may change by the fall; still, Google News & Weather also has the advantage of being available in more than three countries.
Microsoft Outlook (free) — Microsoft continues to make some nice improvements to its free iOS version of Outlook, with the latest update adding Apple Watch support.
