New iPhone apps worth downloading: Foursquare update, Type:Rider, Escape From Doom

Our first app worth downloading today is the newly updated Foursquare. The social networking app lets users see where their friends are hanging out and share what businesses they’re visiting, and now includes more capabilities for finding businesses wherever you are. We’ve also got two new games for your attention. Up first is Type:Rider, a side-scrolling platformer in which players travel over typography and also learn about the history of the written word. Second comes Escape From Doom, a first-person endless runner in which players fight through Egyptian mummies out for blood.

Foursquare update (Free)

What’s it about? Location-based social networking app Foursquare lets users “check in” when they visit different businesses, sharing where they hang out and what things they like.

What’s cool? Foursquare is a social networking app that adds a little something extra to the offering of sharing where you’re hanging out. When you check in to various locations, you can often access special deals and discounts, as well as notify your friends where you’re headed and see where they’re hanging out, as well. You can also use Foursquare to search for different restaurants and businesses and make reservations. Foursquare’s new update adds the ability to instantly find what businesses are around you when you need to kill some time, as well as the latest check-ins of all your friends, so you can easily meet up.

Who’s it for? If you’re a social networking junky who wants to find their friends easily and maybe save some money, check out Foursquare.

What’s it like? Get other useful location-based services from YP Local Search & Gas Prices and Groupon.

Type:Rider ($2.99)

What’s it about? Adventure through the history of type in side-scroller Type:Rider, a game in which players control a colon as it rolls over various fonts and words.

What’s cool? The easiest way to think about Type:Rider is as a side-scrolling platformer for typography nerds. Each level of the game takes players through the history of type as they go bouncing over platforms constructed of fonts, letters and other obstacles. As you go, you’ll need to carefully navigate over gaps and up ridges, while also collecting trophies that unlock information about the evolution of the written word through history. Type:Rider includes three different control structures for players to choose from, and 10 different worlds to play through.

Who’s it for? Fans of platformers and typography will have a lot of fun with Type:Rider.

What’s it like? Check out side-scroller Trundle for a similar (and similarly beautiful) experience.

Escape From Doom ($1.99)

What’s it about? Flee through the desert and fight your way through mummies and monsters in Escape From Doom.

What’s cool? Escape From Doom is technically an endless runner, but instead of being played from a third-person perspective, players go running through the game’s Egyptian desert landscape and see the action from a first-person viewpoint. Your goal through the game is to break urns and treasure chests to access weapons, then blast away at and dodge mummies that get in your way. The further you get, the higher you’ll rank on the game’s leaderboards, and Escape From Doom includes a number of objectives to fulfill through the course of the game as well.

Who’s it for? Players who like endless runners and first-person shooters will get a kick out of taking out mummies in Escape From Doom.

What’s it like? You’ll also want to try Into the Dead and Temple Run 2 for two more great endless runner titles.

Latest from NewsReports