Anyone with fond memories of the old arcade days will remember TRON, though few seem to remember the film. The movie-inspired arcade game Light-Cyles spawned a host of clones and actually earned more than the movie during its initial release.
ArmageTron Advanced is one of those clones. Fortunately there are a few things about this game that set it apart from the others:
- It's free and available for every OS.
- It's in 3-D rather than the classic top-down arcade style.
- It also has a free, easy-to-use online multiplayer option.
The object of the game is to not hit a wall, though there's far more to it than that. The player pilots a Light-Cycle and can neither speed up nor slow down, only turn left or right using the Z and X keys. As the Light-Cycle moves it leaves behind a solid trail called a wall. Any other players (including yourself) that run into the wall die.
Walls never disappear, so you'll have to be careful not to work yourself into a corner and use your walls to work other players into corners. The last cycle left standing wins. It's also important to note that the closer the player drives to a wall, the faster his Light-Cycle will go. The result is an exiting, fast-paced game full of strategic planning. ArmageTron Advanced also comes with an offline mode for those of us with a slow connection. The AI and gameplay are still completely customizable, so you aren't losing too much.
Speaking of customization, that brings me to another of this program's high points: you can change pretty much whatever you want about the game. When you combine that fact with a wealth of different game modes and possibilities, you have yourself a very addicting and entertaining arcade game.
ArmageTron Advanced is a free multiplayer game with simple, casual-oriented gameplay. What've you got to lose? Click to download for Windows, MacOS X or Linux.
Musicovery is an interesting little web app that blurs the line between interactive toy and radio. Musicovery lets you choose and explore music by mood, style, genre, decade and much more. Mix and match filters and customize your internet radio experience to suit your tastes, even if that happens to be dark energetic pop or jazz from the 80s.
Each time you change your preferences in the nav bar the music selector jumps across the screen and plays another song. Genres are color-coded and really add to the aesthetic appeal of the experience. There's a large selection of music to listen to as well, from jazz to classical, hip hop, world, rock and so much more. You can even scroll around the map and choose songs manually. For users with a good internet connection there's no lag or song loading time, so you can expect smooth listening from start to finish.
The downside about Musicovery is that songs play in a noticeable lo-fi format, reserving the better quality for paid users. Subscriptions are reasonably priced but the registration process is confusing and hints at a number of hidden sign-up fees. It's much better to stick with the free version and enjoy the thrill of musical exploration. For a really interesting experience, try unchecking the "hit" box and select "discovery". You'll unearth a ton of obscure bands you just might learn to love.
Musicovery is a great way to find new songs and play with different styles of music. It isn't really a game, but it's got the same sense of exploration and fun as any web toy on the internet. Click.
Cheers to Gexx for sharing the discovery!
With Halloween now a distant memory, and some recent cute offerings on this site, I figured it was time for something a bit more frightening. Enter Project Pravus. In this creepy point-and-click adventure, you take the character of Emily Mason, a real estate agent with a mission to find out why a particular house has been put on the market for an unfeasibly low price. It features sepia-toned location photographs and requires you to explore the house and its environs to discover an unsavoury secret. There are some brief moments of minor gore, so this game will not suit everybody.
Analysis: Although this is a short and relatively simple game, the use of sepia photographs combined with the consistently eerie music and sound effects make for a brief but absorbing playing experience. The concept of utilising real-world photos in a graphical point-and-click adventure is not a new one and this site has previously featured examples such as NFH Propoganda and 99 Rooms. In terms of look and feel, this game is also reminiscent of the recently reviewed Purgatorium although, in Project Pravus, the action takes place in a larger space and there is a more to explore. Whilst this game does not offer anything radically new or different in style or gameplay, the overall package of stylish visuals, creepy audio and some credible voice acting make this worthy of the ten minutes or so it should take you to complete. I recommend playing this at home, alone, in the dark, and with your speakers turned up! Click.
Cheers to Jaime for suggesting this one.
Project Pravus walkthrough now available!
Floatpoint is a science fiction-themed text adventure game by Emily Short. It was entered in the recent 2006 Interactive Fiction Competition and walked away with the first prize. The game features classic text adventure puzzles with a superb story that slowly uncovers new and exciting mysteries about the game's world.
Text adventure games started in the mid-70s with Will Crowther's game Colossal Cave Adventure. They grew in popularity for nearly a decade before graphical games began to steal the spotlight. Although no longer a mainstream phenomenon, countless writers and programmers enjoy working in the medium thanks to its emphasis on storytelling, adventuring, and puzzle solving.
In Floatpoint you play the role of a newly appointed ambassador traveling to a planet colonized by humans from Earth. The cold, icy world of Alehart is home to millions of people, but as you keep reminding yourself, you're not here to sightsee. A massive glacier threatens to overtake the planet's chief settlement and your job is to negotiate a deal with the colonists to bring them back to Earth. But as you quickly find out, there's a lot more going on here than a little bit of ice...
To play Floatpoint, you'll need to download an interpreter, a small program that allows you to run text-based games. A common multipurpose interpreter for Windows is Gargoyle, while the MacOS counterpart is Spatterlight. Both the interpreter and the game are small, free files. Playing games is as simple as opening the interpreter and finding the file on your computer, then you're ready to explore.
Analysis: The heart of an interactive fiction game is the narrative, and Emily Short weaves a surprisingly detailed world in Floatpoint with exquisite storytelling. The colony on Alehart immediately springs to life and the characters feel full and complete. And as for the game itself, it is well-paced and never feels stale. I particularly enjoyed the memory flashes that filled in the backstory. The main character also keeps a running to-do list that periodically pops up to keep you on task. A great inclusion that's perfectly integrated into the plot and really helps out when you're feeling overwhelmed.
Floatpoint does a fantastic job of creating a full and complete world inside your head and the game kept me begging for more. An excellent work of interactive fiction by Emily Short, and congratulations on her well-deserved prize!
Download Floatpoint (mirror)
Get an interpreter to play the game: Gargoyle (Windows), Spatterlight (Mac OS X), Zoom (Unix)
Note: If you have trouble running Floatpoint with the above listed programs, try downloading a Glulx-specific interpreter for your system.
Trick Hoops is simple game of making hoop shots with a basketball. It is a multiplayer game that can be played one-on-one with a friend over the Web, and it's another shining star in the growing collection of creative and original games from Gamesheep.
A free and easy registration is all that's necessary to get up and running, as this allows you to password protect your user name so that no one else can log-in with it. Once logged on, create a new game or join one waiting for a second player.
One player selects a shot by clicking one or more of the buttons that describe the different types of shots possible, such as regular shot, off the wall, swish, off the back board, etc.
To attempt a shot: (1) move the ball with the mouse to position it, (2) click-drag the ball to select the direction and power of the shot, (3) release the mouse button.
If the shot is successful precisely as selected, a challenge is made to the other player to duplicate the exact same shot. To help with this, the ball is automatically positioned in the exact same spot for you. If the challenge shot is made correctly, no points are scored. If the challenge shot fails, a point is scored to the challenger (the one that successfully made the shot).
Play continues until one person scores 3 points and wins the game.
Analysis: This game is a lot of fun and I found myself wanting to play over and over again. The physics are realistic enough for a game of this type and there are enough different shot combinations to keep the game play interesting. The mechanic is a simple one and won't take long to become familiar with how to do it. Perfecting shots, however, is another matter entirely and that's what makes this game so much fun. Kudos to the folks at Gamesheep for coming up with another great one-on-one Web game.
One word of advice: If you are the one being challenged, be sure to look in the upper right portion of the game window to see the type of shot you need to make. Also, watch the angle and power with which your opponent shoots the ball if he/she goes first, as you may have to repeat the same shot soon after. Click.
The following is a reader-submitted review by Marc:
Some of the reviews on this site are tagged as "kidsafe", but a few months ago, when my 2-and-a-half-year-old was begging me to find him some fun games to play on the Internet, I couldn't really find very much at Jayisgames that he would enjoy.
So, I had to scour kids' sites to find stuff. The problem with a lot of the sites is that they are poorly designed—they might have a good game here and there, but they are buried under so many links (and dead ends) that my son would get lost on the site, trying to find the game.
We're down to 6 sites that I would say are well-designed, and which actually have content that a toddler would enjoy. In no particular order, they are:
- cbc.ca/kidscbc
- thisisdanielcook.com
- thomasandfriends.com
- sesameworkshop.org/sesamestreet
- toopyandbinoo.com
- nickjr.com/playtime
Many of these are Canadian sites, but that may be because I got a lot of suggestions on a Canadian parenting forum.
My son started with toopyandbinoo.com (he taught himself to use the computer mouse, so that he could navigate this site) and has moved on from there. I'm not going to go into detail about all the sites. Most of them are of limited interest to adults.
Some of the games, though, are actually kind of fun, even for me. The one that I will highlight is Wubbzy's Wow! Wow! Ring Catch. We don't actually get Nick Jr. on tv up here, so while we've certainly seen a lot of the shows highlighted on the website (Dora and Diego, for instance), Wubbzy is not a character I'm familiar with. Nor was my son, but that didn't stop him from exploring that part of the website (after playing through all the Dora games, of course).
In any case, Wubbzy's Wow! Wow! Ring Catch is very simple: use the mouse to move Wubbzy and try to catch falling rings on his tail. The more you catch, the higher your score. Blue balls also fall occasionally, and you get bonus points for bouncing these off Wubbzy's head, up to five times for each ball (the bonus points increase after each bounce). Acorns and books should be avoided, but all they seem to do is stun Wubbzy for a second or two. On the later levels (there are only 4), the real challenge seems to be maximizing the number of bonus points you get with the balls, and trying to sneak in an occasional ring along the way. My top score is a paltry 657.
The game won't entertain forever, but I think that it demonstrates an important gameplay element for "all-ages" games—it has to be simple enough for tiny tots to play (the most important aspect for this, I think, is that you cannot lose, and you cannot get stuck), but it's interesting enough for adults to try to get the highest score possible. Another Wubbzy game on the site, Wubbzy's Amazing Adventure, shares the same benefits, although it's a completely different game. (My top score on Amazing Adventure is 1006, but I think I could probably get that up to 1020 or so.)
So, probably a link of limited use for this site, but on the off-chance that anyone else out there has a 3-year-old (or so) who likes games as much as WE do ... there you go. Click.
As the US prepares for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, I have my own chores to do in preparation for a house full tomorrow with family and friends. Therefore, unless one of the other contributing authors comes through with a review to post, things will likely be quiet around here until Friday. But be sure to check back just in case. =)
It doesn't help matters that after a long 16-hour wait in line Saturday at WalMart I managed to bring home a Wii, and on which I have been playing the remarkably sublime Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess during most of my idle time away from administrating the blog and working on my masters thesis project.
Hopefully I will have some time soon to reflect on the best (and worst) experiences with the Wii so far, but I will say that there haven't been many disappointments, if any at all. In a nutshell, the Wii offers an amazing new way to interact with video games, and it does so in a mass-market device that is as exceptionally easy to set-up as it is to pick-up and play. My best advice is to pick one up as soon as you possibly can, as demand will likely exceed supply for much of the immediate future.
Have a happy holiday, and let us never cease to remind ourselves that we have much to be thankful for. =)
Bullet Candy is a frenetically paced shmupper's shmup ("shooter" to the casual folks out there), a purified genre piece that thrills in its simplicity—you can download a fairly meaty demo for Windows and Mac OS X.
Moving your ship around a single screen fighting space, and aiming with the mouse, you control a blistering battle with all the grace of a figure skater armed with an AK assault rifle. The simplicity of the controls is inviting even to those uninitiated to the top-down shooter genre, and pretty soon you'll find yourself dancing through bullets and careening to a x10 score multiplier.
Created by a one-man development team, Bullet Candy is a highly polished example of "scratchware", a quality game produced on a scratch budget. The man is selling his creation for ten dollars, which is a real bargain considering the number of modes and replay value in the game. Asteriods mode is like the arcade classic amped on crystal meth, surviving even two minutes in there is an intense, heart-pounding achievement. Survival mode is more, well, survivable, but becomes similarly heated. An international high scores table invites players to strive for greatness, extending the replay value considerably and driving the truly hardcore to train like Rocky Balboa in front of the computer screen. The only real flaw is that the controls, as elegant as they are, could be further improved: the mouse targeting adjusts only on a rotational axis, the distance of the cursor from the ship is immaterial. If the targeting cursor was constrained to the immediate rotation of the ship it'd be easier to aim in a clinch, instead of having to drag your targeting cursor all the way across the screen.
This site does not earn a commission for promoting Bullet Candy, I just think its a sweet game and I'd like to support Charlie's future as an indie auteur. Bullet Candy's controls might qualify it to be a "casual" shoot-em'-up, but its not for everyone. Those who can sip their own adrenaline like a twelve year old Pinot wine should definitely consider giving it a try. For fans of the genre, Bullet Candy is a game you can come back to years later. Download Bullet Candy.
Rabbits are blue and red, seals enjoy sea shells, and foxes make successful hotel owners. Those are just a few of the lessons we learn from BR's Climate Chaos.
The gorgeous adventure by The Super Flash Bros is set on a group of small islands, which are presented with pretty looking, quasi-3D graphics. The main character is Blue Rabbit, who, like your average rabbit, equipped with a digital camera, sets out on a quest to help the natives of the various islands to solve their problems with the local weather.
Upon your arrival on the island, you are greeted by the island's hotel's owner, who advises you to check in. You can take that advice, or you can talk to the locals first, to get a feel for the game. Some people will only appear after you have checked in, so don't forget to do that. From there, it's up to you to follow the enjoyable storyline. Don't miss this gem!
Analysis: A brief tutorial at the beginning introduces you to the intuitive controls as well as to the nicely done symbolic language that is used throughout the game. 
With just 3 icons, Dancing Seal tells you that he loves the sea. The system is vaguely reminiscent of Tork, though it aims to make communication easy as opposed to making it part of the riddles.
Music by Dustball and voice acting by Egoraptor both fit in very well with the general ambiance of the game.
If critique can be applied to this game, it would have to be on a very high level. The whole piece has a very professional feel to it, leaving no improvements to be desired. I only got stumped once, very briefly, in the tutorial, when I had already talked to Dancing Seal, and the speech bubble still asked me to do it. I hadn't seen the green arrow which would let me advance the tutorial manually instead of automatically. I have also encountered a small bug, which made the hotel disappear after I ran around it. I was unable to make it reappear, nor could I replicate the circumstances after reloading, so maybe it was a one-time problem. However, should you run into this issue as well, you can still enter the hotel, if you walk up just right of the hotel's sign.
But those are really the only things I could find. Everything else is close to perfection, sound, music, graphics, story, character design (Dancing Seal wins the Cuteness Award!). Click.
Thanks to the awesome Capuchin for suggesting this game in our IRC channel!
Yosio Ishii's love of cats is the basis of the Neko series, an adorable (if a bit bland in appearance) collection of games starring cats (pronouced "neko" in Japanese). And while his previous work was exclusively Shockwave games, it appears that he has made the switch to Flash with his more recent efforts.
Neko Juppiki is one of his recent Flash-based designs. In this Lemmings-like game you start out with a large group of cats on the top platform of the stage. The object of the game is to get as many of the cats as possible down to the bottom, by manipulating traps and trap doors. Each time you click the screen about half of the trap doors will open, but also about half of the traps will also activate trying to bring your kittens to a spiky demise. The cats will often end up on different levels, so you have to juggle keeping them safe with delicate timing to keep them all alive. Two modes of play are available: the first allows you to lose up to 10 cats before it's game over; the second mode a bit more hardcore, in which the death of a single cat means game over. Click.
Kumo Neko is one of his older Shockwave games and it is a lot of fun to play. In this game you have to swing around on a rope and interact with various pegs dotted around the stages as you try to collect jewels and avoid diamonds (the shape, not the jewel). Just press the mouse button and the cat repels and swings from the stretching rope. On some levels it becomes necessary to move the fulcrum to another peg, by pressing a key (any key will do) just as the rope hits a peg, as the entire play field for a level may be much larger than the game window. It is in this way that you can make your way around the level.
Once you've gathered all the jewels a 'goal' will appear that you must then make it to before you can move on to the next level. Sounds easy, right? It isn't. The diamonds are located precariously near the jewels, and at points in the game you may swing to places you cannot even see. You will have to make split second moves, or guesses, to avoid diamonds lurking near the sometimes elusive jewels. Click.
Analysis: The Neko series of games isn't very amazing with respect to graphics and supporting sound. The graphics are comprised of only two colors throughout, though the use of the grayish blue was somewhat reminiscent of an old Nintendo game, so I was able to appreciate it. The sound is just as basic, with only a few sound effects in Kumo Neko and none in Neko Juppiki. But since the sound only plays a supporting role to the gameplay, it doesn't pose much of an issue at all. However, I would like to see improved graphics in the future.
The games are so simple that they do not leave a lot of room for flaws in the game play. A few times the game was a little inconsistent about whether I could swing through the diamonds when traveling at higher speeds in Kumo Neko, and my cats sometimes went a bit too far beyond the walls in Neko Juppiki; but other than that they ran extremely well.
As with all games in the Neko series, the games were simple yet attractive, and perfect for a quick pick-me-up during the afternoon, or during a lunch break. I recommend not only checking Juppiki and Kumo, but also the other games in the series, too.
Happy Gaming!
Have you ever had that weird feeling that you are a giant, controllable, seeker missile flying down a long tunnel avoiding obstacles? What?! You say you haven't? Then you must not have played The Missile Game 3D by Damien of DX Interactive.
The gameplay is very simple, as I alluded before, you play a giant, controllable, seeker missile flying down a tunnel avoiding objects in your path. These objects consist of different rotating circular discs with shapes cut out of them. As you play you go through 9 levels which increase in difficulty as you progress. By the later levels, if you're like me, you'll actually be moving your body, dodging and ducking, trying to avoid those rotating doors. The game also has several interface features that show you your speed, progress, and the like. However, if you don't want to blow up you'd best be watching the road.
WARNING: This game is known to cause seizures in patients suseptible to them. Please use caution if you have a similar health condition.
Analysis: For a fun and simple game that's taken a simple concept of "avoid the object" and infused some life into it, look no further. The Missile Game 3D is something you'll be able to jump right into and enjoy—perfect for a work break. But a bit of warning, you'll be coming back later to take more stabs at getting through the levels. I'd also advise not playing this game at work, because you'll look like a fool as your body convulses as you try to dodge the discs by moving your body with the mouse.
Overall, great game! Go play it now! Wear a helmet!
Bonus: Wow, another review with a bonus! (I spoil you guys.)
I got in touch with Damien and asked him about any possible sequels. He had this to say:
"This game was always just a side project, it went from start to completed in about a month and the point of it was to eventually learn how to code full 3D in flash. I have almost finished the full 3D code now, ready for a space age 3D police chase style racing game that will eventually get done. Which I suppose could sort of be counted as a sequel, although the only thing they'll have in common is the black-and-white visuals and very fast gameplay.
"A couple of people pointed out the similarities to another game called Tunnels of Armageddon. I recommend playing that one too, if I knew about this game before I finished the missile game, I would've added in some motion blur because that looks sweet!"
I'd personally love to see a space age 3D chase game! My only wish though is that the game has a little more color instead of just black and white, and some more details would be nice as well. A pause button and ability to turn off the music would be nice as well.
A downloadable game for Mac, PC, and Linux, Fizzball is the latest game from Matt Parry and Ryan Clark of Grubby Games—who gave us the perfectly adorable Professor Fizzwizzle. It was described to me as "a combination between Breakout, Arkanoid, and Katamari Damacy," which pretty much makes it compulsory playing.
All the features of great brick-breaking games are there—power-ups, unbreakable objects, tricks to manipulate the ball without hitting it—with an added requirement of needing to rescue all the animals on each level. Yes, animals. As you hit the ball over objects such as apples and coins, the ball will collect the objects and get bigger. When it gets big enough you can collect animals ranging from bluebirds right up to elephants!
As the game advances, the stakes are upped by including targets that you should not hit, like drums of toxic waste, and the need to fight off an alien infestation. On the way, you can pick up trophies such as Chicken or the Egg (by picking up a chicken before picking up one of its eggs), play bonus levels with all sorts of various requirements and, on the kid's level, answer mini-quizzes about animals, some of which are surprisingly hard. (Which animal do you think is called a "zeal" in a group?)
Analysis: This game is gorgeously animated and illustrated, with a fun storyline and great gameplay. The one problem I had with it, and it's a big one, is that the Regular mode takes a long time to ramp up in difficulty. Unlike BreakQuest, where each level is very distinct, all of the levels looked and felt pretty similar—I never got that feeling of "ooh! I love this level!" Having said that, you can pick up your saved game whenever you feel like it, so if it all gets a bit boring you can go and do some real work and come back to it later. The demo lasts for 60 minutes, after which you have to buy the full version to keep playing.
Jay adds: Fizzball is a joy to play for people of all ages, and yet it is very apparent the care and attention to detail that went into creating an especially delightful experience for younger game players. That being said, I had a ball playing this game! Perhaps because I am a kid at heart, or even that I'm a casual gamer to the core, the simple, light-hearted gameplay won me over immediately. The Katamari influence is especially nice since it becomes quite satisfying when the ball reaches critical mass and the animals begin to get sucked up into the bubble all at once. I also enjoyed trying to earn all the trophies in the game, and I still have a few more to go.
Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version
Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Order the full version
Fizzball is available to download from these affiliates:
We are pleased to announce that Ryan has given us full versions of Fizzball to give away to five (5) lucky visitors. Throughout the weekend we will be drawing names from those that leave a comment detailing one (1) of the following:
- The name and description of one of the trophies, or
- The question and answer from one of the kids' quiz screens.
Only the first comment posted for each trophy and for each quiz question will be eligible for the drawings, so be sure to download the demo and play straight away. And please, only one entry per person, and per email address. Click.
Update: The contest is over. Congratulations to Manders, Pladin, Slgalt, HopefulNebula, and Gamzu for all winning full versions of Fizzball courtesy of Ryan and Matt of Grubby Games. Thanks to everyone for participating!! =)
The following is a reader-submitted review by Hilary:
While Jayisgames is primarily about casual gameplay, many visitors to the site are Flash developers or, like me, just casual gamers who enjoy a good work of Flash now and again.
You may recall Jarod's review of Animator vs. Animation back in June. Well, I'm here to say that a sequel to the first cartoon has been released over at Atom Films: Animator vs. Animation II. The Flash animation series was made by 17 year-old Alan Becker, who, using some clever manipulations of screenshots, has managed to depict the battle of the animator vs. the animation.
The stick figure is back, and this time... it's personal. Play Animator vs. Animation 2.
If you enjoyed this, you might be glad to hear there is now a game made from this amazing idea: Animator vs. Animation Game
In the browser-based DHTML game, Slave Hack, you take on the role of a vaguely tech-savvy Internet addict who has now decided to make a living out of his/her own talents. If your ethics do not prevent you from pretending to infiltrate other computers to use them as spam relays, warez-sharing nodes, or even as tools to bring down an enemy's computer with a massive DDoS attack, then you are excellent material for the world that is portrayed in Slave Hack.
Starting out at the lowly rank of "Script kiddie", with nothing but a small computer and a slow connection to the Internet, you begin surfing the Internet. Your home base will be the WHOIS server at 1.1.1.1 until you grow a little more advanced. As you browse through the list of servers, you will notice a server which is conveniently labeled as Freeware 4 All. On this machine, you find a hacker's starter kit of programs essential for gaining access to restricted areas.
This is where the fun of hacking other servers starts. Both NPC servers and other players' servers can (and will be) hacked, but only other players will try to follow your traces back to your own (virtual) machine.*
*Note: Slave Hack is a virtual hacking simulation game. Your 'server' exists only in the game itself and is given a fictitious IP to use while playing. Other players do not actually hack into the computer that you use to play the game. Moreover, neither the game nor this site encourages hacking outside of a safe, harmless environment such as the one offered in this game.
If you start your hacking career at the 1.1.1.1 server, you will notice a main trait of the game. In the form of a text file, a puzzle is started, commonly referred to as a riddle trail. Riddle trails are the only reliable way of getting more advanced in terms of software. Typically, you solve the riddle in the text file, which will give you a new IP address. And when you follow that trail, you will either find a new riddle or a reward for solving the entire trail (i.e., new and advanced software for your hacking convenience.)
While going about your business, you always need to look over your shoulder, as other players might be lurking on any server you're currently infiltrating. Your actions will leave entries in the server's log files, which can be accessed by everybody else. Covering your steps is essential if you want to minimize the risk of being infected, or, even worse, of having all your precious software deleted.
Analysis: Slave Hack is a game that I had expected to surface on the Web long ago. It is, no doubt, heavily influenced by Introversion's revolutionary Uplink hacking game, which was released in 2001. Uplink's player base has often asked for a multiplayer functionality, which has always been politely declined by Introversion. M2H, Slave Hack's solitary developer, has taken it upon him to port Uplink's framework to a browser-based game, and to enhance it with said multiplayer support.
The game needs registering with a valid e-mail address. While starting out, you should be reading the Beginner's Guide, which will help you over the initial steep learning curve. Should you get stuck on one of the less logical riddles, the forums also offer a helpful section called Riddle Help. Be careful, though, as asking for help on a specific riddle might give away which server you're currently frequenting. It is not unusual for advanced players rush to that server to collect your IP address from the logs.
As those of us that played the original await the coming of Virtual Villagers 2 (sometime this Winter), you can get your fill of some news about what's in store for your little islanders by visiting Gamezebo and reading the Developer's Diary they have up about it. Cheers to Joel, Gabe and crew over there for the news on this highly anticipated sequel!
VH1 Game Break currently has a promotional contest running, Digging for DS, in which you can win yourself a DS (yes, the DS is still cool even with the imminent release of the Wii). Just head on over there and do yourself a little digging through the archives for your chance to win!
As I mentioned a few weeks ago, the BBC has just 'opened the flood gates' to CDX for a limited time to iron-out and debug issues with its technology that restricts access to UK IP addresses only. Therefore, this may be your last chance to play the game if you live outside the UK.
Update: After much on-again, off-again with the BBC restrictions allowing only UK players to experience this game, the very kind, talented and generous folks at Preloaded are now hosting the game themselves! So, if you are located outside the UK and wish to play this fantastic piece of work, you now may do so. Please visit the CDX review page for the link.
With drawing games being all the rage lately—evidence Line Rider, Paintball, Paths, and Draw Play, to name a few of the more recent entries—we really have to acknowledge the raw creativity that Nintendo inspires with its innovative consoles. As the world prepares for the coming of the Wii—no, Nintendo, I still haven't received my Wii yet and it looks like I'm going to have to stand in line with the rest of the masses—those of us left standing out in the cold can at least warm-up with the fun packed inside these innovative new browser-based games that are coming from some of the best Flash game designers around the world.
Nitrome does it again with its latest entry, Scribble. This drawing-based arcade action game is a little bit platformer and a whole lot of Lemmings. Use the mouse to draw paths to get your little "blots" from start to finish flag with the fewest of casualties. Each level's finish flag indicates how many blots must escape to unlock and move on to the next level.
And just like Lemmings, blots don't really care about where they're headed, they just keep walking forward until something blocks their path and forces them to do an about-face. Knowing this, use your limited ink to draw ramps, bridges, and other mechanisms to help your blots arrive safely at the finish line.
Analysis: There are many excellent ideas crammed into this fantastic new Flash game from Nitrome, as well as a few minor annoyances, too. It's a highly ambitious title, as is per usual from Mat, Heather and company, and the game succeeds on many levels, not the least of which is the fact that it is nicely polished and a lot of fun to play.
The game starts you off with the basic mechanic and gives you the chance to become comfortable with it before moving you on to the next. Each new level introduces you to a brand new concept that forces you to think differently about what has come before. This helps keep the game feeling fresh and exciting. Some levels may seem rather difficult at first, and will likely cause you to retry several times before you get it right.
I did notice a couple of minor issues that will cause a bit of frustration in some players. First off, if you draw a line over top of another one, when the first disappears it will take part of the second one with it. Also, there is no way to erase lines you've drawn by mistake or improperly. Therefore, while getting used to drawing lines efficiently, you will be playing the "waiting game" a lot while the lines go through their normal life cycle. Likewise, the blots movement is slow and therefore the overall pace of the game may be a bit too slow for those looking for a fast-paced action game, which this is not.
Still, minor issues aside, Scribble offers a lot of fun for anyone that enjoys drawing games, Lemmings, or both. Great new stuff from the Nitrome crew! Click.
I've often thought that Jayisgames doesn't have anywhere near enough word games for my liking, and this almost makes up for that lack. This is a quick, clever Flash crossword puzzle from Taro Ito of Gamedesign.jp, who brought us the recently-reviewed White Jigsaw and other addictive favourites of this site (Dice Wars anyone?), and it lives up to his previous standard.
Crossword works without clues. Instead, a partially-completed crossword is shown, with the remaining unused letters in a panel to the right. To put a letter where you think it belongs, click in a space on the crossword, then click the letter that you think it is. The letter will be moved from the right-hand panel to the puzzle, but watch out—it will appear in ALL the spaces where an identical letter is to be found. In other words, if the clue is _ _ Y, and you decide this must be SAY, click on the first space. All spaces with that letter will turn orange, and you can then click on the letter S to fill in those spaces. However, if you're wrong and the word is really FLY, you can click on S and then F in the right hand panel to replace it. Alternatively, you can click on the space bar in the right hand column to clear any letter already placed.
The game starts you out on Beginner level, and as you beat each level, lets you progress to Easy, Normal, Hard and Expert. If you get stuck, you can click Give Up, which will solve the puzzle for you—you can then click Reset and get a new puzzle on the same level.
Analysis: I love this game! I really like the fact that all the words seem to be real words that an English speaker would use, not those horrible jargon words that only ever get trotted out for word puzzles (Text Twist really gets my goat in this respect). It's easy to pick up, but still challenging.
The only very minor quibble is that I would prefer to have separate buttons for Reset and Give Up—I'd like to be able to Reset the puzzle I'm playing now if I've dug myself into a hole of wrongness, and only Give Up if I'm finding it genuinely impossible. If you've a hankering for word puzzles, speak fluent English and have five minutes to spare I think you'll really like this. Click.
Paths is an intuitive Flash game from the prolific Tyler Glaiel over at Glaiel Games. The goal is simple: use your mouse to draw a path connecting a red circle to a star, while avoiding walls and other obstacles.
Left click the red circle to begin drawing a path, and press the [space bar] to begin moving. If you make a mistake, click the circle to clear the path and start over. Green or red obstacles on the screen can be moved or rotated with the mouse. It is usually necessary to arrange a level properly before releasing the red ball and, eventually, you will even need to manipulate the obstacles while the red ball is in motion. There are no enemies in Paths, but beware of the big button marked "Menu" in the bottom-right of the screen. Clicking it will end your game and send you to the main menu without asking for confirmation(!)
Analysis: Paths puts you in control of both your position and the position of (parts of) the environment you move through. At times it feels a little bit like Super Monkey Ball crossed with the wood game Labyrinth. I especially enjoy how each level demands your attention twice: First while planning and drawing your path, and then again rotating and shifting obstacles out of the way at the appropriate time. Paths could use a bit more polish, but the game behind the ugly vector graphics and obnoxious breakbeat loop is solid. Enjoy!
Wired is a classic-style puzzle game, and one that Vlad Kvitnevski, of Ontario, Canada, has taken and molded into something new and entertaining. The concept itself is one that you've probably seen before: Connect wires from one location to the next. It is a casual game perfect for a rainy day, as it's something you can get hooked on and complete without the hairs on your head going gray, or being ripped out.
The graphics are good for a game of its style, not so flashy as to take away from the experience of puzzling, and yet not too basic, either.
The game does have a few flaws, most notable being that at times I could not tell whether wires were lined up properly. Another game play issue was the awkwardness with which wires connected to the walls, and this became a bit of a detriment to my progress; at times I found myself focusing so much on that more than anything else that I was actually moving backwards instead of forwards.
Overall, Wired was a solid entry into the competition, and one that will likely appeal to all ages and has only a tiny learning curve, if any at all. Vlad succeeded in turning a basic theme into something more and I look forward to more from him. Click.
Wired walkthrough now available!
Those of you who enjoy a stripped-down text adventure game and don't mind a bit of repetition will get a bit of fun out of these HTML-based Enchanted Forest games. The point is to get as much gold as you can.
They are extremely basic—a field of dots, trees and you. Move in the permitted directions by clicking North, South, East or West, encounter monsters guarding treasure, gambling ogres, and find stores and chests which may or may not be trapped. All sorts of surprises await you—watch out for those condors!
The trick is to stay alive and accumulate gold, and, as in real life, these two aims may contradict each other. You need to work out whether the hit points you'll lose from fighting the monster is worth the gold from the treasure. All monsters are the same level whenever you encounter them (i.e., an orc will always do only 10 damage) and all treasures are worth the same. Hint: if you see an orc guarding a pile of gold, kick that orc's butt!
For such a simple game it's surprisingly addictive, but don't worry—if you're a true casual gamer, you can leave your game at any time and when you return, it will be waiting exactly as you left it. I've recovered games that were months old, usually just to get beaten up because I forgot which level monster a beefhead is. It's good fun that doesn't require much more investment than a simple free registration and the ability to press buttons. Click.
Plantasia is a charming and addictive downloadable game about gardening from the folks at GameLab, creators of Diner Dash and other excellent games previously reviewed here. The game requires you to dig up rocks and soil, plant a variety of multi-colored flowers and vegetables, water them, and defend you