Top 5 Apps of the Week for Android & iOS: Action Games and Video/Photo Editing

This week, we have three games for you to enjoy while you're on the couch, including two sidescrollers that are either more jump'n'run or hack'n'slay. In Super Dash, on the other hand, you get into a futuristic racing car. If you still want to be a bit productive, then you can use our two remaining tips to either tune up your vacation videos or your vacation photos with AI.

DERE Vengeance (Android & iOS)

If you like crunchy, tough, old-school platformers, you should urgently check out DERE Vengeance. The sidescroller wants to break the fourth wall with a horror frame story and the AI running a bit off track. Regardless, you're dealing with a really strong platform game that brings back memories of 8-bit times and the Mario Bros and Gianna Sisters.

The controls can be learned in two seconds, but still present you with tricky tasks time and time again. So yes, the game is really hard, but at no time unfair. Sometimes you have to fiddle a bit to find the right way to overcome an obstacle. But fortunately, the save points are very plentiful and fairly distributed. In addition to the fine music that matches the 8-bit look, you also have to turn up the volume because the AI speaks to you in between. So it's best to play with headphones.

• Price: Free / Ads: Yes / In-App Purchases: Yes / Account Required: No

There are ads, yes. After three lost lives comes a short clip. The problem with this: you can lose these three lives quite easily in 20-30 seconds. So if you're annoyed by too much advertising, you're also annoyed, at least in part, by playing too clumsily. You can turn off the ads via in-app purchase: The otherwise free game charges a fair $1.99 for this.

• Download DERE Vengeance from the Google Play Store or the Apple App Store

DERE Vengeance is a lot of fun despite (or because of?) the difficulty level. If you love the genre, you'll be very entertained here. In any case, you can feel how much passion the developer has put into programming this jump'n'run.

Vaux - Video and Audio Editor (Android)

Are you looking for a very uncomplicated video tool for your Android phone? Then definitely take a look at Vaux! The app has only been on the market for a few days, but it makes a fine impression right away. The app interface looks very clean and self-explanatory and the features are really extensive: You can cut or merge videos, add music to them, convert them to a GIF or another file format, run backward, watermark the clips, and more.

There's only one thing I missed: when I've performed an action, I don't see the finished result directly in the app. So I only find out if I like the result when I look in the gallery app. However, since Duwit Technologies also explicitly asks for missing features, they will surely improve this.

• Price: Free / Ads: No / In-App Purchases: No / Account Required: No

• Download Vaux from the Google Play Store

It all works very straightforwardly and almost even better: without ads and in-app purchases. It may be that the developers will add a price tag to the app later. But for now, it's free and waiting for you to give it a try.

Grimvalor (Android & iOS)

Remember the good old days when sidescroller games like Castlevania or Prince of Persia dominated the gaming consoles? With Grimvalor you might feel the same way on your smartphone. Your task is to find out more about the fate of your missing king and mow down hordes of enemies and bosses in hack'n'slash style.

The controls are quite simple. You're in a 2D world with 3D graphics and can run left and right with your left finger, while your right thumb lets your character punch, jump, and dodge with the press of a button. The game runs absolutely smoothly at 120 FPS and is also quite tricky, as you'll run out of time after just a few hits.

• Price: $5.99 / Advertising: No / In-app purchases: No / Account required: No

The game is strongly reminiscent of Dark Souls in sidescroller style. You collect soul fragments, get new weapons, and equip yourself with trinkets. Character development doesn't have too much depth here, though that doesn't hurt the game. After all, your main objective is to save the world and defeat the darkness, not to win a beauty contest.

• Download Grimvalor from the Google Play Store or the Apple Store

If you want to test the game in advance, the Google Play Store offers a free trial version for the first act. If you like the game, you can then easily upgrade it for $5.99.

Super Dash - Endless Run (Android & iOS)

Friends of the graffiti-spraying subway surfer among you? Then I have another 3D Endless Runner here, which demands the maximum of your human reflexes due to its fast-paced and action-packed theme. So it's just the thing to leave the stressful week behind for a bit and steer through a variety of futuristic landscapes.

• Price: Free / Advertising: No / In-App Purchases: Yes / Account Required: No

Under certain aspects, the game can be considered a racing simulation, although you'll have to wait a few more years for a hyperdrive-powered pocket racer. A captivating soundtrack further emphasizes the adrenaline-fueled gameplay. So choose from your unlocked or paid fleet (Gems) your current racer and test your current reflexes with simple controls.

The game is basically free of charge and without advertising. However, if you are the impatient type, you can buy Gems as well as Stars. For example, we start at 99 US cents for 20,000 Gems. The first unlockable vehicle costs just 2,000 Gems. However, after my first round of play, I already had 1,036 Gens and 13 Stars.

• Download Super Dash - Endless Run from the Google Play Store or the Apple Store

At least in the Apple App Store, the 3D Endless Runner has already received 4.6 out of a possible 5 stars. And Apple customers are known to be particularly critical, so the game can't be that bad.

EPIK (Android & iOS)

You wanted to use the weekend to print out some old-school photos and maybe even glue them into a real photo album, with paper and all? Then you can literally epic-tune your summer vacation photos with EPIK. The photo editing app has just about every trick you could want in 2023 - from complete filter themes for your pictures to digital nose correction, it's all here.

• Price: free / advertising: no / in-app purchases: yes (25.49 euros per year or 6.49 euros per month) / account required: optional

What's pleasing about EPIK is that you can really do a lot even with the free version. The basic tools such as crop, crop, remove objects and all tools for exposure and color correction are available to you without restriction. In addition, there are also quite a few free options in almost every category - from the AI filters to the sky exchanger. Only for the digital AI hairdresser do you need the Pro version in any case.

Speaking of which: The Pro version with unlimited access to all functions costs 25.49 euros per year. If you only work through all the photos from your summer vacation once a year, then the monthly subscription for 6.49 euros is probably enough for you - or even the free 7-day trial version.

• Download EPIK from the Google Play Store or the Apple Store

In the Apple App Store, EPIK has not yet been rated 1,000 times, but it achieves an average of 4.7. In the Google Play Store, the app gets 4.0 out of 5 stars.

That's it for this week with our top 5 apps. What was your favorite? I'm looking forward to your opinion in the comments - and if you have any other insider tips for us and the nextpit community, then of course let us know!