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.
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.
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 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 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.
Filed Under Flash Games, Free, Happy Rating, Video Games, Neutral Rating, Extremely Happy Rating | Leave a Comment
Trial Review: Teddy Tavern
Posted on February 16, 2007
Teddy Tavern: A Culinary Adventure was recently released on PlayFirst. I’m not sure of its availability on other sites that feature game downloads, so you should check into that. So, now for the beginning of the actual review on the one hour I was allowed to play during the trial period.
Teddy Tavern (don’t you just love cutesy alliteration) is about as cute as the title makes it out to be: sickenly so. The main character is a teddy bear aspiring to become a great chef (sadly, he works as a short order cook in a popular teddy hangout). All of the customers are also stuffed animals come to life. Well, more specifically, teddy bears.
In order for your teddy to get out of the drudgery of his short order cooking job, he needs to earn medals from restaurants around the world! Thus, each stage is in a different country with different dishes that the teddy bear must serve. While this is starting to sound an awful lot like the set-up for games like Diner Dash, Believe in Santa, and Cake Mania, the gameplay is original enough to merit this title some recognition.
Each level is set up in the same way. For the ones that I’ve played, there are three ingredients on the bottom of the screen with which the teddy can make different dishes. Usually, dishes are made with two of the three ingredients. For example, hamburgers were made with bread and beef. Then you need to send the food up into the air so the appropriate customer will catch it. Yes, you effectively play with your food by flying it in the air. Then you have to clean up after your messy customers by throwing sponges at dirty tables. No kidding!
Although this game is satisfying solely due to the fact that it goes against all conventional wisdom: don’t play with your food, it also has some great game play mechanics. It’s quite simple: everything, from mixing ingredients to throwing food to your customers (I guess “bounce” would be a better term) is done with the mouse.
The simple game play is offset by the frenetic pace that begins quite early in the game. Soon, I had to keep track of ordering teddies, angry teddies, and dirty tables. It is actually harder than it sounds, since much of what you need to do is on the bottom of the screen, and much of what the teddies are demanding that you do are on the top of the screen.
I thoroughly enjoyed Teddy Tavern, but I don’t feel like I absolutely need to buy the full version to fulfill myself. It’s a great download on the trial run, and enjoyable while it lasts. The cute factor may turn off some guys, though.
Filed Under Happy Rating, Not Free, Downloads | 3 Comments
Monopoly Here and Now: Same game, new package
Posted on February 13, 2007
Monopoly Here and Now Edition (I downloaded it from Shockwave) is based on the new, updated version of Monopoly. What with the new spaces that say, “Credit Card Debt” and “Fenway Park,” the 21st century has definitely hit Uncle Moneybags. But is that really enough to keep the game afloat? Well, sure. Because it’s Monopoly.
Let me put it this way. If you enjoy Monopoly, you’ll probably be delighted by the ease of playing and the neat little extras that a computer game provides. If you don’t like Monopoly, you’ll feel bogged down for the same reasons you would playing the real life game: too long and too tedious. This review, then, is for people who are on the fence about the board game in general and want to know how this is even a little different.
When you first start the game, you are asked to choose players. You can play with other humans (not on-line, but, you know, humans in the same room as you, using the same computer as you) or with the computer. The game pieces are also updated to include a cell phone, hybrid car, and a jet airplane. After you pick your players, you can change the rules to fit your own “home rules,” like collecting money when anyone lands on Free Parking.
When the game begins (and if you don’t change this in the options), you will have to watch each computer player go through the motions of rolling the dice, moving, and buying property. While it may be interesting at first (the cell phone seems to place a call to the Mother Ship every time it’s its turn to roll), it will become increasingly annoying. Which is why the fact that you can turn off the animations linked directly to the computer players off.
Other things haven’t changed so much. The place names have been changed considerably. I’m slightly gratified by the fact that Waikiki Beach managed to become a red property. Although, in my humble (albeit biased) opinion, it should have been blue. I mean, Fenway Park? Really? (Don’t hurt me baseball fans!) The Community Chest and Chance cards have also been updated. I received one that sad I made second place in a reality TV competition. I hope it was Project Runway, and not something as soul-stealing as Survivor.
Everything in the game is done with the mouse. While that keeps the whole thing simple, it does make trades a little tedious, especially if you’re offering someone $2 million for Waikiki Beach to complete your set of reds, so you can start building houses. (The money is something I forgot to mention; it’s basically the same system with a couple of zeros tacked onto the end of each bill and property).
One thing that was left out of trading mode, which I would have liked to see, is the inclusion of futures and waived rents. That would be very useful when trading high-ticket properties like the blue ones (not the measly light blue ones, mind you). Of course, that’s just a minor complaint on the whole.
While everything is suitably flashy and up-to-date, this game is still Monopoly. There’s not much more to say about a franchise that has done so well on the same formula for so long. I guess it has something to do with being the capitalist nation’s dream game. But hey, it’s still fun.
Filed Under Happy Rating, Not Free, Downloads | 2 Comments
