Console Games for $20 or Less

Posted on January 21, 2007

Note: I get a commission for any game that you buy after you click through the link.

This will become a weekly feature. I will search through the offerings at Amazon and gather my favorite picks in one post. After all, a good deal is a good deal, right?

A Link to the Past ($17.99) — Gameboy Advance

I mentioned this one before, but the price has gone down since I talked about it last. $18 for a Zelda game that was released for the SNES is a pretty good steal, since some people (will, my friend) asserts that this is the best Zelda ever. I still enjoy the Minish cap more than this one, but, hey, it’s part of the Zelda series, which just lets it speak for itself.

It also has the “Four Swords” extension that allows you to hook your Gameboy Advance to your Gamecube to play the critically-acclaimed Four Swords Adventures. Of course, you’ll need four other friends, too.

Sly Cooper: Band of Thieves ($17.99) — PlayStation 2

Sly Cooper: Band of Thieves is the follow up to Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus. It has the same cel-shaded animation and the same quirky humor as the first game. In this game, you can play as Sly’s other friends in order to complete certain levels. The gameplay is pretty well-done and it goes in the same vein as its predecessor.

This is a great deal and I hope you take advantage of it. If not this week, then at a time that you want to play a good platformer. If you like Ratchet and Clank, you’d like this one. Or, even better, if you played any of the other Sly games, you’d like this one.

Come back next week for more under $20 picks from Amazon.com. Hope you liked this week’s features.

Bookworm Adventures: Trial Play Review

Posted on January 20, 2007

Rarely does a game’s trial spike as much interest as Bookworm Adventures did for me. Even more ironically, I’m not much of a fan for the regular Bookworm game. As in, I’d play it, but I wouldn’t pay $20 for the complete version. However, this hybrid RPG/Word game does wonders for the word game genre.

In it, you play Lex, the now-recognizable bookworm. The fact that he is horrendously over-sized (the worm equivalent to Godzilla, I would say), doesn’t matter too much because he isn’t exactly a gross-looking bookworm. He’s quite endearing, actually. Leave it to Popcap games to make an endearing bookworm.

Anyhow, you battle foes by putting together words in from the letters in the box underneath the action. Words with a higher point value deal more damage to your opponent. It’s a rather ingenious way to incorporate the word game and RPGs together. Okay, now I sound like I’m repeating myself.

In my 30 minute taste of Bookworm Adventures, I managed to acquire three different power-ups. In normal gameplay, the power-ups will probably allow Lex to do more damage, heal himself, or protect himself. You seem to be only to hold three at a time; you acquire them by defeating the boss at the end of each level.

So far, I’ve had no quibbles with this game and actually quite enjoyed it. The concept is original and it is pulled off superbly. Even those with a phobia of their English teachers will love it. If I wasn’t being so stingy with my money this semester, I definitely would have paid for the game.

Let’s Play Pen ‘n Paper Scattergories

Posted on January 19, 2007

Scattergories is one of the best party games that anyone over the age of 10 can enjoy. But what if you don’t have the box, timer, and cards that come with the box? Not to worry!

We used to play this in my drama class with folder paper, pencils, and an astute time-keeper. We all enjoyed it, even those students who were sullen and hated the world for whatever wrong it did to them.

Players needed: 2 or more

Items needed for each player

• Pen or pencil
• Blank paper

Items for timekeeper

• Scoresheet (blank paper)
• Watch of some kind

Set-up

Have each player divide their sheets so there are six columns and six rows.

Players should contribute five categories all together. They could be anything from “a boy’s name” to “movie title.”

The categories should be written in the first column. (View my very artistic drawing for clarification.)

Then, one player should contribute a five-letter word. It doesn’t matter what word it is, as long as there are five letters. Although, it would be wise to not use words like “Queen.” You’ll see why later. Your five letter word goes across the top of each column.

How to play

The five-letter word supplies the first letter for each of your categories. For example, if your word was “learn” and your first category was “movies,” then you would need to think of a movie title that starts with each letter of “learn.”

Sure, it would be easy if you had all of the time in the world, but you don’t. The timekeeper should set his watch to one and a half minutes (or whatever the group decides on). Once time is up, everyone must put their pencils down.

Everyone must exchange answers. If two or more people have the same answer (like, in the example on the right, if more than one person had “Little Nemo” as their movie for “L”), then they must cross out that answer. They gain zero points for duplicate answers.

All answers that have not been crossed out are equal to one point.

However, players can contest answers. If there is an answer that takes too creative an approach, the other players may vote it “yes” or “no.”

I hope those were satisfactory directions. The Let’s Play series will run on this blog indefinitely. It will offer rules to games that don’t require a box or a console, and will generally promote interaction with family and friends. It will run every Friday from now on.

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