MacBundleBox is offering 15 Mac applications for $49.95: an 85 percent discount (compared to buying each app individually). The apps included are:

• Headline - A full-featured RSS/ATOM feed reader with an ultra-minimal UI.
• Mac Pilot 3 - A system optimization and customization utility.
• iConquer - A game not unlike Risk.
• Mahjong Forests - A traditional mahjong game.
• Shoebox Express - A solution for organizing all your photos by content.
• Caboodle - A way to collect random snippets of text or images on your machine.
• Narrator - A program that will read out stories in multiple voices.
• WriteRoom - A distraction-free word-processor, and possibly the most popular app in the bundle.
• Scribbles - A simple drawing utility.
• Money - An accounting app.
• Operation - A simple project management application.
• Aurora - An iTunes-integrated alarm clock.
• Compositor - A CoreGraphics-based image editor.
• Sofa Control - Allows you to control your applications remotely, using an Apple Remote.

MacBundleBox is available directly from their website.

Today, I got a chance to play Mobile Age's two App Store games: Blackjack 21 and Shanghai Mahjong. As the names suggest, these two familiar classics were ported to the iPhone platform. I started off with the Mahjong, which is a solitaire game the goal of which is to remove all the tiles on-screen by matching pairs.

The game itself is beautifully presented but the interaction falls short. Rather than re-design the game for iPhone, it was ported. The tiles are tiny. When I placed my finger tip on top of the display, I covered about 6 tiles at once. The presentation made selecting individual tiles tricky and identifying them harder -- especially for one as myopic as myself. Two on-board buttons at the bottom left and right of the screen proved particularly difficult to tap. The game does not offer zooming. In the end, I was unable to enjoy playing the game.

To play Blackjack 21, you need to learn an odd swipe language. Swipe down to hit, swipe across to stay, double-tap to double-down, and so on. Although it was a bit confusing to pick up (and a little anti-intuitive, since in our family games, we double tap the table to hit and swipe our hands to stay), I soon was betting, hitting, standing and so forth. In Blackjack 21, most of the gameplay is about the animation and sound effects. There are plenty of both. I'm not a huge gambler so I can't really say much about the gameplay relative to real life. It seems to follow Vegas rules, offering you insurance, etc. at the proper places.

Neither game really blew me away. I was more disappointed in Mahjong because that's normally a game I adore. Many wasted hours in Graduate School were dedicated to multi-player timed challenges. By porting the game rather than redesigning to meet the iPhone's small interaction space, Mobile Age missed an opportunity to deliver a hit.

Blackjack 21 and Shanghai Mahjong each sell for $4.99 at the iPhone App Store and can be played on both iPhone and iPod touch.