Mini Reviews: GasGames

Posted on March 18, 2007

GasGames has an assortment of games for you to play. Some are a little strange, some are more addicting. Here are five mini-reviews of some of the games that I played.

Fulfillment

The only direction Fulfillment gives you is

Achieve and cherish it.

That poses no problem because this game is actually one that can explain itself. Take the pieces from the left side of the board and configure it into the square on the right side. It’s kind of like the tangrams you might have played with when you were in elementary school. The catch is that you can’t rotate the pieces, which gets extra challenging in higher levels when there are strangely shaped pieces. The hardest part is that every puzzle has a time limit, so if you don’t make the square in time it’s game over for you.

This game is as addicting as it is simple. It’s a great distraction from work, but watch out–you may be taking more time playing the game than actually doing any work.

Apartheid

Yes, the word “apartheid” doesn’t have the greatest connotation, but the game is actually quite interesting. You have to separate colored circles from any circles that are different colors. Sound confusing? It may take a couple of plays to understand game play completely. You use the mouse to draw lines to separate the circles. But they move. And sometimes, different colored circles move annoyingly close together. The game ends when you completely use all of your energy, which is depleted every time you draw a line to separate colors.

This game doesn’t have the addiction factor of Fulfillment, but it’ interesting for a couple of round of game play. It’s nothing that kept me consistently wanting to keep playing it.

Multiplex

Multiplex is one of those games that, when it starts, you think it’s rather stupid and a waste of your time. And then it gets faster, and you realize just how much concentration goes into the game.

The object is to use your number keys to press the number on the block when it lines up with the block of the same number. Yeah, that’s sort of a “huh?” explanation, but it’s clearer if you look at the picture. Let’s say a block that has the number 1 on it falls from the sky. You need to press the 1 key on your keyboard when it aligns with the 1 on the floating blocks. This gets very complicated when you have a low number and a high number right next to each other, as you might forget to put the high number in its place because you’re concentrating on the low number.

game is quite easy, but it does turn out to be frustrating when the blocks start to fall more quickly. It’s good to play, but don’t do it when you’re already wired. You might throw your computer out the window. Or something.

Constellations

Constellations has you connecting dots in order to make a certain length. Watch the bottom gauge to see how close you are to that length. You get points by finishing and by how many unused stars you have left on the board. The more unused starts the better. Your game can be over in two ways: you run out of stars or you run out of time.

This game is quite addicting, and since the configuration of the stars change every time you play, the game won’t be the same at any time.

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.

Do you sudoku?

Posted on October 28, 2006

If you’re like millions of other people around the world, you probably do it. Sudoku, I mean. You know? The game where you have to write the numbers 1-9 in boxes and they can’t repeat within a box or a row or a column? Yes, that sudoku.Well, now it’s online and you can play for free! Okay, so Web Sudoku has been in existence for who knows how long. But I’m talking yummy multi-player action. Sudoku puzzles done before you blink!

Online World Sudoku Championship 2006 (yes, the name is long; bare with me here) allows you to play against other sudoku addicts around the world (presumably). You can play by yourself, too, but the fun is in the multiplayer. You can play anywhere from one to three other people who are currently online. The game has a point system based on how many squares you correctly fill in. Those points are translated to another point system that gets carried over to other games and determines your ranking.

I only found one bug where someone else’s points were being assigned to me in game, but during the point of assignments out of that particular sudoku game, the system seemed to straighten itself out.

You do need to register to play, but registration is free.

The sudoku-phile in my absolutely adores this online version. But for those of you who have a problem with it, my advice is this: steer clear!

I learned of Online World Sudoku Champion from Kao-Ani. OWSC is a free sudoku game that pits you against other players.

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