I’ve been playing a couple text-based games recently. Both of these are ChoiceScript games, available for the iPhone or for the web browser.

Choice of Romance is a new text-based PC and iPhone game by Heather Albano and Adam Strong-Morse, using the same ChoiceScript code and choose-your-own-adventure style as Choice of Dragon. You play as a young mage, from a noble but impoverished family, looking for love in a Spanish-influenced magical kingdom.

The royal court bore striking resemblances to Henry VIII and Catharine of Aragon: The king and his politically-advantageous wife have one sickly child, while the king’s wandering eye has led to an illegitimate son. One time I played through, I went after the king, and was soon receiving gifts, stringing the king alone and deposing the rightful queen, just like a magic-using Anne Boleyn. I don’t know if this was the intention, or if maybe I should lay off the historical novels for a while.

Via Simpson’s Paradox: Choice of Romance

I checked out Choice of Dragon, a free text-based adventure game  for a web browser or iToy.  The multiple-choice interaction gave me the opened-ended storyline I loved in text games, without the turn-key-in-lock frustrations of a game that parses text entry. (Hey, I wasn’t THAT nostalgic) You play as a dragon in a generic fantasy land, full of princesses to capture (or princes, your dragon can be an equal-opportunity kidnapper), adventuring parties to torment, and treasure to steal.

CoD is a solid IF game. Engaging descriptions of scenes and character never become long-winded. The story uses fun fantasy stereotypes, without going into the complete parody in Fantasy University or Kingdom of Loathing, and uses light sarcasm, but never takes on the unhelpful DM’s tone from Zork or Adventure. The game is fairly short, but reading the game is such a delight, it’s practically impossible not to play through a few times for different stories.

Via Simpson’s Paradox: Choice of Dragon

Popularity: 4% [?]

It’s here! Legacy has released the new House MD casual game!

LOS ANGELES, CA (September 13, 2010) – Leading casual game developer and publisher Legacy Interactive® announced today the release of House M.D., the third game released this year in its Hollywood Hits™ series. Faithfully adapted from the television series by the same name, TV fans and casual gamers alike can now experience what it’s like to be part of the show. House M.D. will be available September 13th on Legacy Games for PC download at http://www.legacygames.com and at top retailers nationwide. House M.D. is licensed through Universal Partnerships & Licensing on behalf of NBC Universal Television Consumer Products Group. The series airs on Fox Mondays from 8:00 to 9:00 p.m. (ET/PT) and also on USA Network.

“We are thrilled to be publishing a game based on such a popular and high quality brand like House M.D.,” said Ariella Lehrer, President and CEO of Legacy Interactive®. “We knew from the beginning it would be a challenge to live up to the show’s high standards, but our team did a great job and it shows in every part of the game experience, from the detailed character art to the hilarious script.”

“Legacy Interactive has become a leader in TV-based interactive games, and we are happy to extend our relationship with them through the House M.D. title,” said Bill Kispert, VP & GM, Digital Platforms, Universal Partnerships & Licensing. “With its quirky characters, witty writing and diverse array of challenging puzzles, the game is true to the House brand and puts a twist on both the medical sim and puzzle gaming genres.”

House M.D. takes a unique approach in blending light adventure game play with mini-games and lab tests. Play along with the surly Dr. House and his team at Princeton-Plainsboro Hospital as you race to unravel 5 all-new medical mysteries. Featuring all eight characters from the hit television show, solve more than 100 mind-bending puzzles and mini-games to uncover critical clues about your patient’s hidden life. In order to crack the case, you must track down evidence by examining patients, searching their home and workplace, interrogating their friends and family, running lab tests, and performing surgery. Every piece of evidence reveals part of the solution, so careful observation and analysis is key. The clock is ticking. Be prepared for unexpected twists and turns before you solve the case!

In tandem with the launch of the game, USA Network will offer a free 30-minute trial of the game on their “Character Arcade” (www.characterarcade.com). Character Arcade is USA Network’s casual/social gaming destination offering fans an experience beyond game-play. The site includes access to gamer portfolio tools, social networking, an affinity rewards program, industry news, chat-blog forums and new gaming options, including PC, downloadable and MMO titles.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Wild Games Studio Inc just announced the development of a new open-ended adventure game, a third-person RPG called ‘Dhaila’s Adventures’ . This game tells the story of a nature fairy, Dhaila, going on sandbox missions in a gorgeous gameworld. From the press release:

Featuring Dhaila, a young fairy whose powers are bound to nature, the game will rely on gameplay taking place in an open world where the player will update the origins of Dhaila and help fulfill her destiny. In addition to the main quest, Dhaila could fill hundreds of side quests depending on the choices and actions proposed. Puzzles and large dungeons filled with traps and monsters will be part of her adventure to enhance the gameplay. Furthermore, Dhaila will be accompanied with a friend that can be controlled by another player to help Dhaila during certain puzzles through teamwork.

Not a lot of details yet, but I’m definitely interested in seeing how this one turns out.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Swedish indie devs, The Bearded Ladies, are announce the launch of their retro-inspired helicopter-adventure game Landit Bandit. The game promises co-op or duel mode, sexy girls and killer penguins.

The feel-good digital game of the summer has finally landed. Literally. Join eccentric characters Marley and Lander, as well as hot island babes and Tommy Gun-wielding penguins in Landit Bandit: a retro-looking, 3D casual-physics-based-helicopter game now available on the PlayStation®3 Network priced at a mouth-watering 12.99 Euros.

Landit Bandit has the depth of a cool-blue ocean and offers gameplay to suit a universal audience. Players can compete for the high-score on the global leaderboard – as well as battle head-to-head in 6 unique duels – or work co-operatively across a 20-level campaign against the backdrop of gorgeous 3D levels ranging from the picturesque desert islands to the cool, ice-filled tundra, each packed with enough humour to keep you laughing out loud from one level to the next.

David Skarin, CTO of The Bearded Ladies is elated at the release, “To have our game on the PlayStation®3 Network is great. Its a testimony to the hard work and raw talent of our small independent studio. We’ve defeated a string of self-imposed, gruelling milestones and overcome technical challenges akin to the cerebral workout being offered in the game that would leave any bearded lady weeping. The release brings joy to our hearts, although the real excitement is going to come in monitoring the reaction of the players”.

CEO/Producer, Haraldur Thormundsson added, “We have fulfilled our dreams with the release of Landit Bandit on the Sony PlayStation store. Its been one of the most rewarding expeditions I’ve been part of to date. To have shared the milestone with such a talented – not to mention eccentric group of creatives – is also very special. We’re all confident that players will enjoy the retro-goodness and LOL just as much as we did during the development”.

The North American gaming community can expect to get their hands on the controls of Landit Bandit from July 13^th.

Popularity: 4% [?]

TERA already won my love with their gorgeous concept art. (A larger version of the picture above is my laptop’s wallpaper — and that’s saying something, considering I get new game assets in the mail every day) I’m really excited to see their new MMO at E3

En Masse Entertainment, a new breed of game publisher focused on delivering highly anticipated online video games to Western audiences, announced today that it will present the first hands-on demo of its flagship Action MMO title, TERA™, at the upcoming Electronic Entertainment Expo 2010 in Los Angeles. The hands-on demo will focus on TERA’s groundbreaking action combat system, which allows players to step into a world where their actions, teamwork, and combat expertise—not statistics—give them a chance to become true heroes in the face of danger.

“At E3, people will have the chance to experience firsthand what makes TERA‘s gameplay so exciting,” said En Masse CEO Dr. Jae-Heon Yang. “Select media will form a party with varied roles and venture forth to experience their first battle using our innovative action/adventure style combat system. During the show, players will see how TERA is changing the rules of MMO combat.”

TERA is an innovative Action MMORPG with rich graphics and animations where players fully control their characters through the game’s dynamic battle system. Player actions in TERA can change the balance of power in a world threatened by dark powers as six allied races work together to protect their world. The game, which is currently in development for PC, will launch in North America and Europe in 2011.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I’ve posted about Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box and about The Game Composer’s Blog before, and today’s post over at the Game Composer’s Blog was just awesome. Sayre’s latest post transcribes a podcast he did about Tiger Eye, with an alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.

ALIEN: Welcome back, humans. One of your kind is now with us. Behold Matt Sayre!

MATT: Thank you, Alien. I’m happy to be here.

BIGFOOT: (English accent) Welcome, Mr. Sayre.

FRANKENSTEIN: Urrrgh!!

MATT: Hi, Bigfoot and Frankenstein’s monster.

BIGFOOT: Oh, go ahead and call him “Frankenstein”. He’s grown accustomed to that particular appellation.

MATT: Great. I will, thanks.

FRANKENSTEIN: Gyee.

ALIEN: Begin this interrogation by giving us the history of your project and the human faction that has created it.

MATT: Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box is a new hidden object puzzle adventure game based on the paranormal romance novel Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. The game basically covers the first half of the book. You play as Dela Reese, a young woman traveling in China. She finds a mysterious riddle box and once she opens it she discovers an ancient warrior, Hari, who has been trapped within for centuries. He is cursed to serve as a slave to whomever possesses the box. You try to rid him of the curse and deal with the Magi, the antagonist who is responsible for the curse and who wants his riddle box back.

Our team, PassionFruit Games, was formed specifically to make this game and, we hope, all its sequels. Tiger Eye is the first in the Dirk & Steele (the psychic detective group Dela belongs to) series of books and it’s an exciting series, perfect for video games. The members of PassionFruit Games previously worked at Her Interactive (I did contract work for them, the rest were full-time), where they worked on the Nancy Drew Dossier series. Unfortunately, the Dossier series did not pan out (even though Resorting to Danger won Yahoo’s 2009 Hidden Object Game of the Year award) so the team was laid off. The day after being laid off, however, we were already planning this new venture. And last month we shipped TE: CotRB!

I kind of want to quote the whole thing, actually. And also I want to subscribe to the Alien, Bigfoot and Frankenstein podcast.

Via Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box Postnatal « The Game Composer’s Blog

Popularity: 4% [?]

Go back to school with the upcoming Facebook game Fantasy University! Discover exciting career options like  Dodgebrawler, Emomancer, Slackninja, Cheermonger or Mathemagician! (Player classes based on everyone’s favorite RPG stereotypes, crossed with everyone’s favorite college stereotypes.)

You can sign up for the beta here,  or check out Fantasy University’s Facebook info page, or Professor Lackpants’ online lectures to learn more. Edit:  You can also read a preview of FU here.

I’m just waiting for my FU school pride sweatshirt to arrive.

ELANTHIA (a seriously non-fictitious place) Fantasy University, the country’s finest Adventuring College, announces the opening of its new term slated for July.

The University, notorious for its financial troubles, was deemed “too big to fail” by the Elanthian Education Department and was subsequently bailed out with a generous, albeit undisclosed, endowment.

“We’re delighted, simply delighted!” said Thaddeus Lackpants VIII, a professor at the school, at the press conference held earlier today. “The entire faculty and I are committed to our students receiving the finest Adventuring Education that delicious government funding can provide!” he added, a pile of Fubars tumbling out of his beard onto the floor.

The University justifies its new financial stability by touting its record of producing Class-A Adventurers. Many of its alumni have gone on to long, spectacular deaths, such as Dodgebrawler extraordinaire Randy McDandy, who put up a valiant effort against the fabled Badgerdragon before being summarily consumed and digested.

Opponents of the school, however, call the bailout “an affront to common decency,” and refer to F.U. by its initials with a bit more fervor than is socially acceptable.

Press release via VerticalWire, screenshots are my own.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Hull, UK / TQ Digital have confirmed that their anticipated MMO, Heroes of Might and Magic Online, licensed by renowned publishers Ubisoft, will be entering it’s Asia area closed beta on May 7^th.

Fans of Heroes of Might & Magic, one of the most loved PC-franchises of the last 15 years, can finally take their adventure to the MMO space on May 7^th with Heroes of Might and Magic Online, developed under the careful study of established china-based online games developer, TQ Digital.

With millions of players already habiting their other titles, including such well known names as Eudemons Online and Conqueror Online, TQ Digital have had a wealth of expertise to call on while crafting a playing experience based around the wants and needs of the series’ loyal fans.

Licensed by Ubisoft – who boast a host of mega-franchises, including The Settlers and Assassins Creed – Heroes of Might and Magic (HoMM) Online will take players back to the classic gameplay elements of HoMM III, mixing it with the stunning updated graphics of HoMM V in a 2.5D turn-based massively multiplayer environment.

Though Ubisoft introduced a new universe to the series for HoMM V, their first title after acquiring the franchise from 3DO Company, TQ Digital are finally bringing the popular fantasy setting of Erathia back, which debuted in 1999 releases, HoMM III and Might and Magic VII: For Blood and Honor.

Gameplay in Heroes of Might and Magic Online is as varied as it is beautiful, with gorgeous graphics complementing your epic quest to prove your valiant leadership.

Chose from a variety of 8 unique factions, develop elaborate castles that dominate the skyline of bustling metropolis Harmondale – epicenter of trade in the sweeping Antagarichean continent – plunder resources in exhilarating missions and fortify your armies against the inevitable wars of domination that lie ahead as you carve out your own legacy like the legions of plucky adventurers before you.

Experience magic based on an innovative in-game star system. Cast a new spell to increase your proficiency or perfect spells through a dynamic online training center.

Randomly generated combat maps, designed with strategic gameplay in mind, ensure you will need to think studiously about unit formations and tactics, while the hundreds of unique campaigns, each with deep storylines and goals, including 10 chapters of battlefield missions, are guaranteed to keep play refreshing throughout.

Develop towns of different races with the unique Town Prestige System, form guilds, gather resources, and prove your worth in the bloody-thirsty Challenging Arena. TQ Digital will be hosting a slew of PK events with HoMM Online: Team PK and Extreme PK are only the tip of the iceberg, with these events providing opportunities to gain priceless honor points and increase faction reputation.

Summary of HoMM Online game features:
• First Persistent World Turn-Based Strategy MMO
• 8 towns, 16 classes and 56 creatures
• Hundreds of campaigns with epic storylines
• Unique Anima and Dragon Scale Forge System
• Glorious Guild Building & Exciting Guild Wars
• Challenging Arena and PK Tournaments
• Heroes can build towns of different factions

The Asia area closed beta for HoMM Online launches on May 7^th. For more information on the game and a chance to register for beta access, visit the game’s official website today: http://homm.91.com/

Popularity: 4% [?]

I mentioned Passionfruit Games‘ new paranormal-romance-novel-turned-adventure-game Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box last month, when I helped with the Tiger Eye beta. The final game is released for PC today (the Mac version will be out in May).

The game is available on Passionfruit’s website, at three different price points. A $6.99 version is just the game download, $9.99 includes the game, strategy guide, Tiger Eye wallpaper and a seven-minute song from the game, and a $12.99 platinum collector’s edition includes all of that, plus more music and the sheet music for the Tiger Eye theme.

Related:

On composing Tiger Eye’s music
Tiger Eye Beta
Tiger Eye: Riddle Box Game Review
Game launch press release

Popularity: 6% [?]

So I heard a bit of a rumor that Merscom was changing their focus, moving away from hidden object games (like Shutter Island, Wisegal and National Geographic’s Mystery of Cleopatra) and into social games. I didn’t realize that meant they’d soon be acquired by Playdom.

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ — Playdom, a leading social gaming company, announced today the continuation of its roll-up of talented social gaming development teams with the acquisition of Merscom, LLC. Privately held Merscom develops online and social games for third parties with nationally recognized brands. Merscom is currently developing games for Sea World, Purina, National Geographic and NBC Universal. Merscom is based in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Playdom plans to leverage Mercom’s expertise in working with IP owners as Playdom moves to develop partnerships with powerful global brands. Playdom also plans to use the acquisition to leverage the talented North Carolina game development community. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

Via Playdom Announces Acquisition of Social Game Developer Merscom, LLC — MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif., April 26 /PRNewswire/ –

It’s interesting to see Merscom described as a social and online games company, since I associate them with hidden object games and HO/adventure games.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Head over to DigimonBattle.com to sign up for the open beta!

From the press release:

WeMade Entertainment, a leading online games developer and publisher, today announced the start of open beta testing for the first-ever online Digimon game, Digimon Battle. Based on the popular Digimon anime series, Digimon Battle allows players to become a gifted Tamer and partner with a good Digimon in the battle to save both Earth and Digital World from the rampaging evil Digimon. Aspiring Tamers can sign up for the open beta and start playing when the servers open at 5:00pm PDT, here: www.digimonbattle.com

The story of Digimon Battle is based on the original animated TV Series, Seasons 1 – 4 (“Digimon Adventure,” “Digimon Adventure 02,” “Digimon Tamers” and “Digimon Frontier”). The classic anime characters are brought to life in the online game as players select a Tamer character, either Takato Matsuki, Henry Wong, Rika Nonaka, or Jeri Katou, and set off with their Digimon and human friends, using the Digivolution system to help their Digimon companions grown stronger. There are three types of Digimon Partners and seven types of Captured Digimon for players to find and tame in the world. Players and their Digimon level up by winning battles, and players can progress from a Rookie Tamer to the powerful Brave Grade. During the open beta, only the Normal Digivolution system, where players strengthen their Digimon partners by leveling up, will be available. In addition, the maximum level will be limited to 50.

“Digimon fans have been waiting for a game that provides exciting, interactive hands-on battling and we are proud to deliver,” said Kevin Seo, CEO of WeMade. “The beta is only the beginning. We will have many new content updates in the coming months that will add new Digivolution systems, Digimon classes, maps and the action-packed Battle Mode where players can battle each other to determine the best fighters.”

To commemorate the launch of the Digimon Battle open beta, WeMade is hosting a Triple Play Event Bundle, which includes three individual events running from March 17 to April 7. Now is the time for players to get in the game and get a head start! The first event called “Mega Mission” is where players are encouraged to “digivolute” their partners to the Mega Stage for a chance to win up to 500 WeCash, plus Gold Drills, Excalibur Swords and one week of Deva Aura! In the second event called “Check In and Cash In,” players are encouraged to check in to the game every day in order to achieve a 100% attendance record and cash in for the Mysterious DigiEgg! In the final event called “DB Happy Hour,” players can receive 30% EXP Buff for free when they log in on March 20 and 21 from 11:00am – 2:00pm Server Time.

For more information about Digimon Battle and to join the open beta, please visit www.digimonbattle.com

Popularity: 5% [?]

New development studio Passionfruit Games plans to release a casual adventure game Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box, based on the paramornal romance novel Tiger Eye by Marjorie M. Liu. Romance games are a wildly popular genre in Asia, but in the US, they’re hard to find and usually pretty second-rate games.  (Did I mention how bad My Boyfriend was?) We have high hopes for this one because new Passionfruit is made up of many HER Interactive veterans — the game team who put together Nancy Drew Dossier: Lights, Camera, Curses! and NDD: Resorting To Danger.  The game is currently in beta.

From the Passionfruit press release:

Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box also officially marks the launch of PassionFruit Games and represents a unique moment in the history of gaming.  Although a market for romance themed video games has existed abroad for years, these games are essentially unknown in the U.S.  Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box will be one of the first romance casual games to hit the U.S. market when it goes on-sale in April 2010.

In discussing PassionFruit Games’ decision to launch their company with Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box, Melissa Heidrich, Studio Director, expressed her enthusiasm for reaching out to romance readers: “The majority of casual gamers are women aged 25-65, who report they play casual games mainly to escape.  Interestingly, those same attributes apply to romance novel readers – so it’s surprising that there are currently so few romance casual games on the market.  That’s why we’re excited to bring Tiger Eye to life as interactive entertainment.”

For Marjorie M. Liu’s fans, it will be a great chance for them to experience a game written by, designed by, and created for women. Mari Tokuda, one of the designers translating Marjorie’s novel into game form, says: ““There just aren’t many romance games in today’s market.  And, for many women, romance novels are not interactive enough.  That’s where we come in – we are giving players a chance to experience the romance through fun gameplay and sensual cut scenes that further the relationship.  This game will really appeal to players who want a storyline and those who want to BE the smart, down-to-earth romance novel heroine.  And of course, we’ll have a sexy leading man heavily featured in the game.  A game like Tiger Eye is one of the most engaging ways for readers to experience characters’ relationships.”

Fans will also be able to experience things that weren’t in the book and to search for hidden objects, play minigames, listen to a film quality soundtrack, and solve puzzles, all the while following the storyline as the main characters’ relationship deepens emotionally and grows in intimacy, though there will not be explicit sex scenes.

PassionFruit Games acknowledges the challenges of turning a popular book into digital entertainment and of adhering closely to the book’s storyline.  In their quest to stay true to the novel,  all members of the team—from artist to programmer—read Tiger Eye, as well as other novels in the Dirk & Steele universe, to get a feel for the “essence” of the game.  The producer and lead designer held regular video conferences with Marjorie to go over the latest design ideas and Marjorie herself wrote the script for the game and is involved with the game every step of the way,  giving input on scene art, character design, and voice actor selection.

Says Marjorie, who is well known for her New York Times bestselling Dirk & Steele and Hunter Kiss series and for co-authoring the hugely popular Dark Wolverine Marvel comic book series, about playing the game’s early build: “I was amazed by the beautiful cinematic cut scenes and the way players could actually experience things my characters had done.  It’s an incredible feeling to not only see favorite characters brought to life but to experience life through their eyes as you progress through the game.”

The Tiger Eye novel, which Publishers Weekly praised as a “first-rate debut” and “a striking paranormal romance,” tells the story of Dela, a woman with psychic abilities who buys a riddle box in Beijing’s Dirt Market and opens it to find an ancient warrior, Hari, bound to serve as a slave to the person who has opened the box.  The action moves between China and the U.S. and PassionFruit Games will mirror this international scope through two games, the first to take place in China and the second in the U.S.  PassionFruit games also plans to involve readers in the release of Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box with the chance for a select few fans to be Beta testers and with fan voting on looks for the character, Long Nu.

More on Passionfruit Games and Tiger Eye: Curse of the Riddle Box from Simpson’s Paradox.

Popularity: 5% [?]

I blogged about the adorably addictive Grow Tower a while ago.  There’s also an RPG-themed Grow that I somehow missed. The mechanics are the same, you’ll grab icons on the sides to drop items into the world and then watch those items grow and interact and build new features.

The major difference is that a little adventure happens in your Grow terrain. Your terrain grows into all the RPG constants — a castle, a tower, a monster, a magician, and so forth — and a tiny adventurer sets out though all the  fantasy staples. (screenshot above shows our adventuring friend looting treasure)

Bookmark the Grow RPG-adventure game to play when you need a smile.

Popularity: 3% [?]

A man serving life in prison for first-degree intentional homicide lost his legal battle Monday to play Dungeons & Dragons behind bars.

Prison officials instigated the Dungeons & Dragons ban among concerns that playing the game promoted gang-related activity and was a threat to security. Singer challenged the ban but the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Monday upheld it as a reasonable policy.

Dungeons & Dragons players create fictional characters and carry out their adventures, often working together as a group, with the help of complicated rules.

I don’t think we should punish murderers by letting them hang out and play D&D in the first place… but it seems a bit odd that prisoners can watch cable and read other books, but not D&D. Maybe prison officials are afraid of someone getting shanked over the division of party loot?

Via Game over: Inmate can’t play Dungeons & Dragons – Odd News – Fresnobee.com

Popularity: 2% [?]

The awesome JayIsGames site is running a Best of Casual Gameplay 2009 contest.

Adventure is a hard call — since Monkey Island: Screaming Narwhal, Time Gentlemen, Please! and Wonderland Adventures: Mysteries of Fire Island are all in the running. I think Monkey Island wins for me… with TGP in second . I enjoyed Wonderland Adventures, but it just can’t compete with Guybrush Threepwood or foulmouthed Dan and Ben.

Some of my other favorites on this list are A Case Of The Crabs, under Browser Adventure, Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting To Danger under Hidden Objects. (I also helped out with NDD: Resorting to Danger so I’m not entirely unbiased) Faerie Solitaire is running for best Time Management… so is Build-a-Lot 4, which means I am officially the only person who hated Build-a-Lot 3. The frustrating Don’t Look Back under Interactive Art, although this game was made for  people with more patience and skill than me, I did like the myth theme.

Vote for your favorites, or just use this as list of games to check out.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Guest author Lexton “Lunarhound” Collins discusses the upcoming Guild Wars 2, believable NPC drama, heroic errand-running, and shares his perspective on what makes a good MMO great.

Most gamers, both fans and detractors, would agree that MMO’s need shaking up. It’s happened before, when City of Heroes and, shortly afterward, World of Warcraft made camp grinding a thing of the past and brought quest-based advancement to the mainstream. Suddenly, characters had purpose-driven lives. Other games followed suit, and life was good in cyberland.

Now, several years later, gamers are growing weary of the new grind. It’s tough to ensure that every single one of the hundreds of quests necessary to keep an MMO going are interesting, and players are growing weary of the endless variations on “kill ten rats and bring me their tails”. Mini dramas acted out by NPC’s cease to feel immersive when sticking around for a minute afterward lets you watch the world reset before your eyes so that the next players in line can ride. Collecting exclamation marks and running errands for people too lazy to deliver their own letters or fight their own battles feels less like an adventure and more like checking off a list of chores. Few want to go back to the way things were, but developers, and many players, seem to be finding it difficult to see a way forward.

There have been efforts to do something different but they’ve gone largely unnoticed. Guild Wars came hot on the heels of World of Warcraft, and attempted to remedy many of the ‘theme park’ issues that came with a static world that had to reset each quest for the next player by making heavy use of instancing. Players see each other in towns, but once outside, you and your party had your own private copy of the world. This allowed them to change things permanently based on your actions. Unfortunately, this lead to many players not considering it a real MMO and, despite its commercial success, it didn’t inspire many imitators. Additional problems came from the fact that players could not jump, climb or swim and the world was full of invisible walls that forced strict adherence to the current mission path. Dungeons & Dragons Online came along a few years later with a similar world structure coupled with much better implementation of the mission-based game play and a great new action combat system, but the facts that it couldn’t (at the time) effectively be played solo and it required a monthly fee, it also ended up being relegated to niche status.

Now, Guild Wars has a sequel on the way. ArenaNet was very secretive about it for quite some time after its announcement, and even now information is limited, but what is beginning to emerge paints an interesting picture of a title that is trying to shake up the genre all over again. With the inclusion of open world areas and much greater mobility (players will be able to jump, swim and climb as they can in most other MMO’s), as well as new attitudes toward creative use of instancing, they might actually succeed this time.

In a preview at Eurogamer, back in August, lead designer Eric Flannum states that “I think I can safely say that you won’t see a single exclamation mark floating above a character’s head in Guild Wars 2.” This one little sentence makes for a pretty bold statement considering the direction of MMO’s for the past few years and, luckily, he elaborates:

“We actually don’t have a traditional RPG/MMO quest system… Instead what we’ve got are Events. Think of them as group-orientated activities. This is one of the many things that will encourage the player to explore the world – you can wander through and never quite know what you’re going to see. You might come across a fortress that’s being attacked by centaurs, or it might be that the centaurs attacked half an hour before you got there and they hold it now. You might start walking along a road you’ve walked a hundred times and suddenly there’s a caravan traveling along that road that you may not have seen, and you can go help that caravan out.”

Supposedly, these events will form a complex web within any given public area, spawning new ones and phasing out old ones based on cause and effect. An older example given is that of a dragon attacking a bridge. Players can band together to defeat the dragon, which might open up a new chain of events that can be participated in. Alternately, they might fail, choose not to help, or simply not be there when the dragon attacks, which would result in the bridge being destroyed and a completely different chain of events opening up, revolving around repairing the bridge. The difference between this and something like Warhammer Online’s public quests is that they will not simply reset repeatedly so that players can do them over again. The assertion that there will not be a traditional quest system seems to indicate that public areas will consist of countless such events and, rather than wandering around looking for someone with an exclamation mark to tell them what to do, players will spend their time looking for something actually happening. The potential of such a system to change the way questing is seen in online games is staggering.

That isn’t to say that all adventuring will be completely directionless. Each player will have a personal quest chain to play through that reflects his or her own character. From an interview with MMORPG.com in December:

“When a player creates a character in Guild Wars 2, they will be able to answer many questions about their personal character history. These answers will help determine your personal story in the game. As many fans have theorized, one of the first things you choose is a ‘subdivision’ of your race, which provides a more personal feel to your character’s history. For the humans, that means their ancestry–Elonan, Krytan, Ascalonian and Canthan–and also their social status as gentry or commoners of the city of Divinity’s Reach. For charr, it primarily means their legion, whether Blood, Ash, or Iron. The asura choose between the three most respected colleges of learning; Synergetics, Dynamics, and Statics. The sylvari follow the path of their seasonal cycle, or the time of day in which they awakened, being Dawn, Day, Twilight or Night. The norn choose their personal totem, and may choose to walk in the path of bear, snow leopard, raven or wolf. From these and other initial determinations, a wealth of personalized storylines develop, so that each player in the game experiences a story that is individually tailored to their character.”

According to ArenaNet, these choices, though part of character creation, will not affect class or power in any way. Their sole impact is on the player’s own personal narrative. This sounds tantalizingly like the Origins system in Dragon Age: Origins, and is an exciting thought when considered in the context of an MMORPG.

There’s no telling, of course, how much of an impact any of this will have or how well it will be received until the game is available to the public in some form. And if these claims were being made by a smaller developer without the experience or budget to back them up, they might be only a faint cause for hope at best. But ArenaNet has the budget and the talent to back up its big ideas, and it has already proven with one successful series that it knows what it’s doing.

Most seem to believe that the ultimate feat for an MMORPG would be to topple World of Warcraft. I’m not so sure. I think the ultimate measure of success is moving the genre as a whole forward. With a new approach to quest content, a strong focus on providing the player with a personal storyline, and the lack of any sort of monthly fee, Guild Wars 2 stands poised to do exactly that. Will it topple World of Warcraft? I doubt it. But it may force Blizzard to change in order to compete, which would almost certainly lead to other games following suit. Now that would be an accomplishment.

Popularity: 3% [?]

In 2009, I reviewed indie games like Funky Farm 2, A Case Of The Crabs, Rotoadventures Momo’sQuest, Slayer of Dragon,  Democracy 2,  Electric Box,  Faerie Solitaire, and CyberWord. I plan to keep focusing on creative, indie games next year. I also played major mainstream titles, like Cartoon Network’s new MMO Fusionfall, and James Patterson’s Women’s Murder Club:  Games of Passion for the DS. ThumbGods reviewed the match-3 Atlantis, Totem Tribe, National Geographic’s Mystery of Cleopatra, Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, Sims 2 on the DS, and Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting To Danger! Major misses  this year were  My Boyfriend,  Create-a-Mall,  the disappointing Build-a-lot 3, and Jack in Lost in Blue 2. (Not all of LiB2. Just Jack.)

I tried to branch out a bit from reviews, and started writing some hints, including a guide to solving MyTribe mysteries and hints for Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting To Danger! I’ll probably keep doing this whenever I’m really proud of solving a puzzle and want to help out.

Thumb Gods had a great guest post when when Lexton Collins reviewed Runes Of Magic. I guest posted reviews of Cake Mania 3 and Ciao Bella, over on Casual Gamer Chick, Crayon Physics Deluxe review on Angry Gamers, Travians: Asterix Meets The Sims on SeeJaneGame, and contributed to several issues of Indie Game Mag.

Popularity: 3% [?]

Open Beta has begun!

Grand Fantasia is now open to all, and the Item Mall has been released! Join the dynamic and quickly growing community now and experience the adventure. The Aeria Staff has a lot of thrills planned, and players can look forward to epic contests and events including the chance to win 1 Million AP!

Popularity: 4% [?]

From the burda:ic press release:

This is what adventurers have been waiting for: On November 25, 2009, the games publisher burda:ic will start the Closed Beta phase for the eagerly anticipated free-2-play online strategy game highlight Avalon Heroes. Starting immediately, all registered members can sign up for the one-of-a-kind Closed Beta at alaplaya.net/pages/ahcbapplication. With a little luck, this means that they will already get to marvel at the impressive skills and weapons of the game characters before the release date. Moreover, in the official Closed Beta forum at avalon.alaplaya.net/forum, players will be able to find more detailed information and share what they experienced in the game.

Popularity: 6% [?]

Mystery of Cleopatra follows Herod’s Lost Tomb and other educational, casual games from National Geographic. In this one, you play as a trusted advisor to the queen, charged with solving a mysterious break-in at the palace.

Cleo is a gateway game,  a hidden objects game with elements of an adventure game. While there’s still a certain amount of searching, you aren’t just looking for objects for the sake of squinting at the screen, your character actually uses those items.

I’ve written before about losing interest in hidden objects play, but Cleo held my interest a bit longer with ancient scenes. Did I mention that there are Romans? I’m unable to separate my game reviews from my classicist side, and I have to admit that the later civil wars and the question of Caesarion and Octavian’s inheritance have always interested me. The story leads you through different famous places in Alexandria, like the library and the lighthouse, and touches on some of the Roman-Egyptian tensions at the time. As you click around the hidden objects screens, bits of information appear about the items you’re seeing. You’ll also come across scrolls with a paragraph or two of historical background information. (I soon found myself skimming these, but that’s mostly because I wanted to play more.)

Finding items was quite easy, since you can see silhouettes of the items you’re seeking. I found my location hints recharging much faster than I could possibly need, but of course I was playing in casual mode because I am a huge slacker I don’t like my games to scold me for pausing. At times, silhouettes of items that are used together will appear inside a jeweled circlet, and once all the parts are collected, you can make and use a new item.

The puzzles ranged from the usual reassembly of a torn-up note to really creative, clever puzzles. I particularly liked the logic puzzle to open the armaria (That’s classicist for storage box. You’re welcome.) and the code-breaking puzzle. The only disappointing puzzle was one that required players to arrange numbered scrolls. The directions were seriously confusing, it took me a long time using the red and green hints to figure out what the game was asking me to do. (If you’re stuck, it might be because “across” doesn’t mean what you think it does. )

Later in the game, your character remembers places you’ve previously visited, and you use your inventory and evidence to answer questions about them, a bit like the basic mechanic in Phoenix Wright and occasionally used in Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion as well.

Spoiler Alert! Caesarian gets killed so Octavian can be Caesar’s undisputed heir! Wait, wrong spoiler. The real spoiler is at the end of the game when your NPC sidekick, Kathya, who’s been mostly plot exposition and historical detail so far, turns on you and tries to frame you as the murderer!  The brutal backstabs of palace life!

Overall, Cleo is an engaging Big Fish-type game with great scenery and good puzzles. And Romans.

Popularity: 9% [?]

James Patterson’s Women’s Murder club has been a successful series of novels, a TV show and a series of casual mystery PC games before coming to the DS. The new Women’s Murder Club: Games of Passion seems designed for a casual DS gamer to tuck her into her purse, instead of a Patterson mystery novel. Most of WMC is played with the DS turned sideways, using the read-only screen to display a list of objects to find, instructions, or images to accompany the action in the interactive screen, which creates a book-like format for more of an interactive novel feel.

WMC follows the usual pattern of story cutscenes, hidden objects and minigames. The hidden objects casual adventure game is a pretty crowded genre, so it’s hard for a new game to really stand out. Probably the most unique characteristic was the James Patterson characters.  Players solve crimes and meet with the WMC ladies as Patterson’s detective Lindsay Boxer, and supporting characters with solid personalities made this more that just a reskinned HO game.

The story progresses via cutscenes and dialogue options. Players have some choices for what to say, but it was more of a quiz on recent plot events. Believable banter makes the cutscenes worth reading, and the linear storyline makes it feel like reading a novel, not being hemmed

Random side note: The mysterious Chinese markings found on the victim actually do say bu zhong, Not Loyal. My Chinese  literacy is just good enough to be completely thrilled with the developers for using real words when dramatic red scribbles would have acceptable. (It always cracks me up when I see upside-down characters or random other words.) Good work, THQ.

A lot of the game was hidden objects, whether it was tidying a crime scene or looking for clues, but this was a particularly bad HO. The small DS screen doesn’t really lend itself to searching, and players search a picture that’s larger than the screen, for maximum squinting-at-the-screen annoyance. It was also the Highlights magazine type of hidden objects, instead of the cluttered-room HO. It felt oddly childish to look for giant peace signs and lightning bolts, especially on crime scenes with mysterious dead bodies. The game does mix up the hidden objects a bit by giving players a clue instead of a list of items, but still gives the feel of an activity book more than an adventure game.

The story leads to several minigames, which were much more engaging than the picture find. When I got the Women’s Murder Club press release, I was pretty excited to see the game included a science lab minigame, and the puzzle’s gameplay didn’t disappoint.

One of the minigames was a mah-jong game, which is also accessible under an icon that says China (This character is a different zhong, an object lesson on why I am not so good at Chinese!). I usually consider mah-jong games to be computer solitaire 2.0, but I found something charming in the tiny tiles and stylus interface, and ended up playing this minigame more than I’d expected.

Women’s Murder Club: Crimes of Passion offers a solid storyline and characters from the popular novels to fans of the hidden objects mystery.

Popularity: 15% [?]

I’d been meaning to play the new Monkey Island game since I first heard about the Telltale Games release, but it was the pirate-day free download that finally got me started.

Telltale’s new Monkey Island is not to be confused with the LucasArts updated re-release. No, the Screaming Narwhal is an all-new tale in the saga of Guybrush Threepwood, mighty pirate. Elaine and LeChuck (and at least one other familiar character!) are back as well, revamped from their grainy 2d incarnations, but following the spirit of the originals.

Goofy dialogue, creative uses for found items and pirate-y silliness are the hallmarks of the Monkey Island games, and the Screaming Narwhal has them all. Guybrush uses his razor-sharp wits to deal with the wacky denizens of Flotsam Island, whether that’s a clever ruse of selling fine leather jacket, an amazing use of misdirection (Look! It’s Louis XIV!) or coming up with a believable excuse on the spot. The dialogue is not a memory test of in-game facts, but a chance for zany interactions.

The freedom of the old Secret of Monkey Island and LeChuck’s Revenge options was in stark contrast to the thousand ways to accidentally off the protagonist in the punishing other adventure games I played around the same time. (Getting killed by a passing car when Laura Bow crosses the street still sticks in my memory as the finest example of the I Made This, You Play This, I Hate You mindset.) Guybrush can stick a bomb in his pocket or attempt all sorts of athletic feats without any ill effects.

The Monkey Island games make you wonder What would happen if I…? and then encourage you to try it out! When you try to pair two objects that didn’t belong,  use something in the wrong way, or say something ridiculous, Guybrush makes a joke instead of a beep, an error message, or a score punishment. LucasArts rewarded creativity by offerings zany responses to zany questions and zany actions. The object was not to beat the level, the boss, or the game, but just to see what would happen next!

The Screaming Narwhal contains the old Monkey Island mechanic of an old pirate map for Guybrush to decipher. I don’t want to give away too much, but this isn’t the usual hidden object standard, there isn’t any squinting at the screen to find map pieces. If you’d like to make the puzzles easier or harder, the hint frequency is on a slider in your options menu, so you can adjust how much Guybrush tells you.

When I think about it, the only thing that could possibly be improved is the inventory. Oh, no, not the actual inventory, the U-tube and manatee monocle and breathmints leave no room for improvement. But the way to access the inventory is to mouse over the right hand edge of the screen. This is also the way to walk off the right hand edge of the screen or look at things on the far right of the screen. It is not a game-breaking mechanical failure, but a minor annoyance that came back every time I mean to look at something on the right and opened my inventory.

Go check it out and remember why Monkey Island was such an awesome story.

Popularity: 12% [?]

The newest Indie Game Mag comes out today. Issue 5 promises to have some great games and interviews, including my piece on Wonderland Adventures: Fire Island.

The July/August Issue of the Indie Game Magazine hits news stands everywhere today. In Issue 5: We have a brand new roundtable feature where 4 reviewers rate 10 of the latest indie game demos. This issue is chock full of indie goodness with over 20 indie games featured. We have an extensive interview with Edmund McMillen, Fling around bodies in Ragdoll Cannon, Solve some family friendly puzzles in Wonderland Adventures, Build an empire in Romopolis, and take a look at the IGF student finalist City Rain.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Ok, so when I posted about LEGO Rock Band, I was pretty excited. But this is even better!

Monkey Island is back, both as a remake of the original game AND as a new series in the Monkey Island world.

LucasArts and Telltale Reveal Series of New Monkey Island Adventures Coming Soon!
SAN FRANCISCO, Calif – June 1, 2009 – LucasArts today announced that the original hilarious pirate adventure is back, with two new projects underway based on the classic Monkey Island franchise. Beginning in just a few short weeks, Telltale will premiere the Tales of Monkey Island™ game series, delivering a completely new epic storyline and swashbuckling flair that will unfold across five monthly episodes on PC and WiiWare™. The Monkey Island celebration continues later in the summer when LucasArts publishes The Secret of Monkey Island™: Special Edition, a completely re-imagined version of the first game in the series that adds updated high definition graphics, a re-mastered musical score, and full voiceover to the classic adventure game originally launched in 1990. The Secret of Monkey Island: Special Edition will be made available on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft, and PC.

Can’t wait to see what kind of insults the Swordmaster has for GuyBrush Threepwood this time!

Popularity: 13% [?]

From VerticalWire:

Burda:ic, a leading publisher of online games worldwide, have announced that war is about to break out between the Royal Army and the Pirates of popular free-to-play MMORPG Florensia! Two existing in-game maps will be converted from standard adventuring areas into new player vs. player (PvP) War Zones for level 40 and above: the Hidden Port in the Pirates of the Black Dragon Base and the Rainbow Highland on Chester Island. Additionally, an all-new War Zone map, the Lava Plateau, will be added on Magnel Island.

Buccaneers beware, you’ll need a keen eye and fast fingers upon arrival to these new areas, as players are free to attack anything that moves… even if that happens to be a fellow adventurer. It’s every man, soldier, and pirate for himself on these battlegrounds, and it’s up to each player to decide his or her own fate. Help the Royal Army clear the areas of monsters and earn a boost in the ranks. Kill other players, and the Pirates are sure to take notice.

A war is brewing on the high seas of Florensia, and these new PvP War Zones are just a taste of the seafaring adventure and mayhem on the horizon!

For more information about the War Zones, scheduled to be added early next week, visit http://www.florensia-online.com/.

Popularity: 14% [?]