Heathen Aliens

Attention heathen aliens. The galaxy is not big enough for both of us.
First we tried leaflets, and you would not repent…
Then we tried hymns, and you would not repent…
Now we confront you with holiest persuader of all. Space-borne thermonuclear missiles. Prepare to die.

Cliff Harris of Positech Games (We’ve blogged about his other indie games like Democracy 2, Kudos and Kudos 2, and on Positech’s business model) has just added a new DLC pack for Gratuitous Space Battles. You’ll be fighting The Order, alien zealots who plan to wipe you out with shiny new weapons:

Radiation Guns

Bullet-firing weapons which deliver a radioactive payload which eats away at your ship from the inside, even if you manage to restore your shields after the initial impact. They also come with a free creepy green glow effect!

Nuclear Missiles

All the fun of radiation guns, in missile form!

Limpet Mines [

Tiny robotic drones which seek out fast moving enemy fighters and attach to them, slowing them down and allowing your heroic gunners to take an easy shot at those heathen alien swine.

Firefly Rockets

Think of them as ‘Rockets 2.0′, faster and more deadly.

You can get it here.  And, yes, there’s a strong possibility that I posted this just to share “then we tried hymns, and you would not repent.”

Popularity: 1% [?]

Indie Games Updates

TayKrOn, the folks who did the PC game Slide Colors, as well as bunch of Kongregate games, announce the launch of Slide Colors for the Xbox.  I reviewed Slide Colors fir Indie Game Mag a few months ago, and my IGM review was quoted in the press release announcing the XBox version. The XBox version will cost 80 Microsoft points, which is a dollar in non-stupid currency, so it’s well worth checking out this match-three.

SubSoap, behind Faerie Solitaire (did I mention how much I liked this game?) are planning the launch of an episodic sequel.  I thought the original Faerie Solitaire was adorable and I can’t wait to see the new features.

Finally, don’t forget that Indie Game Mag is running a sale through Valentine’s Day!

Popularity: 1% [?]

JayIsGames’ Best of Casual Gameplay 2009

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: 1% [?]

ThumbGods in 2009

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: 1% [?]

Game Review: Cake Mania 3

I have a new review of Cake Mania 3 up over at Casual Gamer Chick.

Cake Mania 3 is an adorable time-management game for the Nintendo DS. Jill, our heroine from Sandlot Games’ PC versions of the Cake Mania imprint, is cheerfully preparing for her wedding day when she accidentally breaks a time-bender (I suppose it was wedding decor), and sends herself and her loved ones off through space and time, only to be saved through extensive cake baking! Jill must rescue her displaced friends and family, repair the time-bender and make it back for her wedding – all by making and decorating cakes.

Once Jill lands in a new location and sets up her bakery (“Oh look,“ Jill notices, “My oven works in ancient China! That’s not weird at all!”), the top screen is used for progress stats, like time spent and money earned, and icons of waiting customers. The bottom screen is Jill’s bakery. Players send Jill rushing from oven to customer with a tap of the stylus. A checkmark appears over the future actions in Jill’s queue so you can easily keep track of what she’s doing. Tap the checkmark to remove a planned action from Jill’s to-do list.

Read the rest of my Cake Mania 3 review over on Casual Gamer Chick.

Popularity: 2% [?]

Mystery of Cleopatra

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: 14% [?]

Game Review: Women’s Murder Club

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: 23% [?]

Get “The Shivah” Free!

Writing about about games makes checking my email so exciting! This landed in my inbox today. I don’t usually associate casual games with Yom Kippur, but when you’re done fasting and thinking over your mistakes this past year, why not check out this mystery game?

“The Shivah” is a gritty noir mystery game starring an embittered rabbi. He’s accused of a murder he did not commit and now he has to find the real killer before the police catch up with him. And now, for the first time, you can nab this rabbinical mystery absolutely free!

The game features full voice acting, an original soundtrack, three different endings, a DVD-style optional commentary and blooper track!

Simply enter the coupon code “FreeShivah” when purchasing and poof – the game is yours. This offer ends on Tuesday 29th September 2009 , so head on over to http://www.wadjeteyegames.com and get your free game while you can.

Popularity: 18% [?]

Women’s Murder Club Coming To The DS

After  Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade Of Grey, and Women’s Murder Club: Death In Scarlet comes a new WMC, Women’s Murder Club: Crimes of Passion, this time for the Nintendo DS and DSi.  I think the portable DS system, with the stylus-driven games, is perfect for casual gaming, and I’m seeing more and more story-based casual games coming out. I’ve been carrying the  Sims (or Sims Castaway!) in my purse, and I also saw a Nancy Drew game for the DS the other day.

From the Women’s Murder Club: Crimes of Passion press release:

“When I dreamed up the ladies of the Women’s Murder Club, I knew they were women of action; women on the go,” said James Patterson. “I never dreamed they could come to life like they have in the Nintendo DS version. This new game gives fans a chance to become a member of the Women’s Murder Club anytime, anywhere.”

And by “anytime, anywhere” I think he means “while waiting at the airport”.

I was lucky enough to get a look at some screenshots from the upcoming game. I had to include this one, because there just aren’t enough science-themed puzzles in games targeted to women!

Obligatory hidden objects minigame. It works well in a mystery-solving game, but I just don’t see what’s fun about squinting at the screen.

Nintendo DSi users will get a special feature that uses the camera, (can’t wait to see how they integrate that) but the game will also be available for the regular DS.

Popularity: 34% [?]

Helping You Waste Time

I’ve been a bit quiet on the blogging front recently. I’ve got a review coming out in the next Indie Games Mag, and I have some DS reviews in the works, but in the meantime, here are some other game sites I like to help you you smiling at work.

Angry Gamers (I love these guys but foul language warning!)
Big Red Potion
Casual Gamer Chick
Eat – Sleep – Game
Gamasutra
Gamers With Jobs
GamerTell
Killer Betties
See Jane Game
Simpson’s Paradox
Talking Orange
Tiny Subversions
Two Bit News
WomenGamers.com

Popularity: 20% [?]

Game Review: Faerie Solitaire

I’m a bit late posting this because every time I went to get another screenshot or check a fact, I got sucked into playing a few hands of Faerie Solitaire.

Faerie Solitaire from SubSoap is a new casual game, mixing a cute fantasy story with basic solitaire. I’ve said before that the best games have simple rules, with many variations and strategies. In Faerie Solitaire, you are given a foundation card, and you can either play one card higher or one card lower than the foundation card. A played card becomes the new foundation card, and you do it again. You could easily teach a child to look for a number one higher or one lower than the selected card.

As you play more hands, different hands have a different card layout, including special layouts with unavailable  cards in thorn patches or ice. Special cards and events pop us randomly as well, offering bonuses and minigames. The random element made the solid solitaire game that much more addictive for me.

Because the hidden object games have a finite pool of backgrounds and items, it soon became more of a memory game than a hidden objects game. Which is great because I think hidden objects are overdone, they start to feel like filler because they’re the default of the casual games genre.

I sometimes find it annoying when there’s a lot of game to be unlocked. In some cases, it seems like a tacit aknowledgement from the developers that some parts of the game are good and some parts are lame, and to make the game longer, you’ve got to grind through the lame to get to the good bits. When I reviewed GardenParty World, I talked about how  not needing a game for the system of working at a dull minigame to earn spending points. GardenParty World is hardly the only offender here, I was also frustrated by unlocking the chance to play indentical levels in Fashion Solitaire. But Faerie Solitaire had a system of power-ups and unlockable features that kept me excited about the next add-on without leaving me feeling like the developers had greyed out most of the game.

In their Faerie Solitaire press release, Subsoap promised strong production values. They delivered, there are no awkward cutscenes or grammatically painful instructions, the usual hallmarks of an indie studio. But what really ties it together is the movie-score music.

This is not an all-encompassing story game but I don’t think it’s meant to be. You won’t be daydreaming at work, thinking about getting home to play Faerie Solitaire.  This is a quality solitaire game that had my boyfriend looking over my shoulder. Drawing  in other people to kibbutz  is a mark of a great solitaire game!

Popularity: 26% [?]

Upcoming Faerie Solitaire

From the press release:

Subsoap(TM) (www.subsoap.com), an up and coming developer of
casual games, today announced the launch of Faerie Solitaire.

The game is a fantasy-theme casual card game that’s full of adventure,
mystery, and wonder. Featuring 360 exciting levels, including Hidden
Object mini games, 8 worlds to play through, and hundreds of hours
of gameplay entertainment. Faerie Solitaire is the next triple-A
casual title, and is available exclusively at Subsoap.com.

Rescuing Lost Faeries

In Faerie Solitaire players will travel across the land of Avalon
in search of magical faeries who have been trapped by some
mysterious force. A move away from what is currently popular in
the casual space, Faerie Solitaire’s strong production values
and compelling gameplay will surely please solitaire fans.

Is it just me, or does that sentence make it sound like other casual games have no production value and boring gameplay? I’m not saying there aren’t a bunch of dull match-3s floating around the internet, but I’ve played some amazing casual games, like Funky Farm 2, Crayon Physics, and Nancy Drew: Lights, Camera, Curses!, just to name a few recent ones that had me addicted.  I hope Faerie Solitaire will be one of them!

Subsoap also plans to launch a new casual gaming portal sometime this year.

Popularity: 32% [?]

Thoughts on Game Distribution

CasualInsider has a piece on exclusive distribution. I hate to quote such a huge portion of the article but I really can’t condense. Basically, the makers of Totem Tribe decided not to offer their game exclusively through one games portal, instead it was offered for sale through multiple channels. Big Fish Games was one of the portals.

I reviewed Totem Tribe about a month ago, after getting it on BFG, but I had no idea of the politicking behind the scenes. Totem Tribe is still available on Big Fish Games even if it’s not on the top 100 list.

The game was released silently on BFG, with no front page coverage, and still manged to get to number 13 on BFG’s top 100 games within a few days of being released, but on the next day, the game vanished from the top 100 completely. On the day BFG removed Totem Tribe from its top 100, the game was the top game on Reflexive, two on Shockwave, and three on Real Arcade. Since, the game has reached the top ten on Amazon, Arcade Town, iWin, Logler Global, Real Arcade, Reflexive, and Shockwave, and, on many of these, reaching the top place.

The game’s best rank on Big Fish Games was 13 of 100, but now the game is no longer to be seen. Moral of the story? Never rely on portals. Build up your own site, and work on developing strong brands that consumers will remember and want more of.

I agree, but I think CasualInsider’s moral isn’t as pat as it sounds. How is a casual game-player going to find the indie websites of small developers, or even hear about those developers and games at all? Portals like Big Fish Games have a massive advertising budget to spread the word about new games. It’s also easy to bookmark and check back. If I don’t use a portal — and I’ve blogged about my concerns with portals before — how will I even hear about games I might like to try and buy?

Once I discover the site and play a good game, I try to remember the developer’s name but that’s because I blog on gaming. I didn’t care about that before, and besides the big names, I didn’t really follow any development news.

So, how do you hear about new games? Portals? Word-of-mouth? Word of, um, keyboard? And, when you do play a good game, do you remember the developer and check back for new things?

Via Portal Wars: Exclusive, or no deal | CasualInsider.com.

Popularity: 13% [?]

Free Casual Game: Jane’s Hotel

Giveaway of the day is offering a free full-version download of the casual time-management sim Jane’s Hotel.  It’s only available until midnight tonight (march 14th) so hurry over to Game Giveaway of the Day – Jane’s Hotel to get yours!

Popularity: 18% [?]

January and February on ThumbGods

I’ve heard about that post-Christmas slump for games, but on ThumbGods, this was a great time for reviews. I reviewed Funky Farm 2, the match-3 Atlantis, A Case Of The Crabs, Totem Tribe, Rotoadventures Momo’sQuest, Slayer of Dragon, the underwhelming Build-a-lot 3,  Democracy 2,  Electric Box, and Cartoon Network’s Fusionfall here on ThumbGods, and Ciao Bella, over on Casual Gamer Chick. Sheihk Chandio reviewed GTA: Liberty City, Pokemon Diamond,  Gran Turismo 4,  Dragonball Z:Infinite World and FF7. Lexton Collins reviewed the upcoming Runes Of Magic.

We recently discovered AngryGamers, a new site for gaming rants and reviews (with some NSFW language). We also posted about a cool boardgames craft project, and I wrote my first walkthrough, a guide to solving MyTribe mysteries.

Don’t forget, we’re also on Twitter! You can follow ThumbGods on Twitter for instant updates whenever we post!

Popularity: 19% [?]

Press Release: Women’s Murder Club Game Available Today

Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade Of Grey, a new casual game based on James Patterson’s best-selling novels, is available starting today from MSN Games. Here is the press release, and some exclusive screenshots!

NEW YORK, NY – February 24, 2009 - I-play, the world’s leading multi-platform casual games publishing division of Oberon Media, announces the exclusive launch of the second casual PC game based on the best-selling Women’s Murder Club book series by James Patterson.  Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey makes its debut on MSN Games today, where it will be available exclusively for two weeks.  Created by best-selling author James Patterson, in collaboration with I-play’s award-winning team of designer Jane Jensen and producer Robert Adams, this new title delivers another original story and thrilling adventure to follow the massive success of its predecessor, Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet.

“We are pleased to again collaborate with MSN Games on the exclusive launch of Women’s Murder Club:  A Darker Shade of Grey”, said Don Ryan, Chief Operating Officer, Oberon Media, I-play’s parent company.  “Millions of casual gamers, and James Patterson fans alike, made Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet an interactive gaming hit!  Now, James Patterson and the I-play team have created an addictive sequel that will have users riveted with the new Women’s Murder Club storyline through hours of spine-tingling game play.”

A casual adventure game based on Patterson’s massively popular Women’s Murder Club novels, Women’s Murder Club:  A Darker Shade of Grey is available exclusively for download at MSN Games until March 10.  MSN Games will be offering Women’s Murder Club fans exclusive content including a sneak peek of the first ten chapters of James Patterson’s not-yet-released novel “The 8^th Confession,” desktop wallpapers, Windows Live Messenger icons and jigsaw puzzles created from in-game scenes and characters.    Additionally, players purchasing the game via MSN Games will have access to Women’s Murder Club trivia questions and quizzes.  The game is available for PC download for $19.95.

Women’s Murder Club: A Darker Shade of Grey is the sequel to the tremendously successful Women’s Murder Club: Death in Scarlet seek-and-find mystery game.  The adventure begins when a brisk morning jog ends in tragedy for a young military cadet.  The famed heroines of Women’s Murder Club are called to the scene and eventually led to a prestigious but secretive military academy in South Carolina.  Users will follow Lindsay and Cindy from California to South Carolina as they interrogate suspects and investigate esteemed military personnel.  Along the way, players will attempt to reveal the truth and track down the killer by solving challenging puzzles using instinct, fact and forensic evidence to expose years of corruption, cover-up and conspiracy.

Women’s Murder Club:  A Darker Shade of Grey is filled to the brim with new features including an all new Women’s Murder Club storyline; character dialogue; ten thrilling investigations unveiling a story of mystery, adventure and sordid secrets; twenty-five challenging puzzles; a point system to track progress within the game; and breathtaking art of locations that lead gamers to delve deeper into this interactive adventure.  The game is being developed and published online by I-play and will be published at retail by Elephant Entertainment, a division of THQ Inc.

One more screenshot of what looks like a forensics minigame. Awesome!

Popularity: 36% [?]

Thoughts On Casual Games Dev

Game development isn’t exactly my strong suit. Personally I prefer to let other people work long hours, pouring their heart and soul into a game, and then I play it and complain about what’s wrong with it. Hey, that’s where my talents lie!

But I do have huge admiration for indie developers, and I hope to focus on lesser-known titles here on ThumbGods.

Cliff Harris of Positech Games talks about making independent development profitable. Cliff is behind the Positech Games titles Democracy 2, Kudos (and Kudos 2!) and others. The entire interview is worth reading, if you’re all interested in what makes a game succeed, but one statement really stuck with me.

Who will survive in the casual game business in 2010?

Big Fish Games, Popcap.
I think I’ve got the full list there.

Big Fish Games is an awesome casual games portal. The “new game every day!” works perfectly for repeat business.  They’re a total giant, even my mother-in-law has a Big Fish Games account. But I worry that massive portals like BFG (much as I love them!) and now Amazon are making it harder for the guy-with-website development model to succeed.

Not to be all doom and gloom, because as Cliff’s interview shows, an indie game developer and creative marketer can still do very well.

Via Interview with Cliff Harris (cliffski) from Positech Games | Sell More Games.

Popularity: 26% [?]

Game Review: Funky Farm 2

I really like farm management games, which is odd since I can’t keep a real plant alive, but after playing Harvest Moon, FarmCraft, Farm Frenzy and so many others, I wasn’t sure there was any more room left for new farming games. I didn’t know if Funky Farm 2 by SortaSoft could bring anything new thatother farm sims hadn’t alreayd done.

The premise begins just like any other time management game. Raise your chickens, sheep, and pigs to maximize profits, unlock new animals and farm tools as you improve. But when I saw the rewards, I quickly realized this is not another rinse-and-repeat farm sim. Players don’t receive the typical bigger watering can or a new seed to cover more ground. As you play Funky Farm, you unlock a mailbox for government farm grants, a pet llama, a pet duck and other funny farmyard surprises.

Your sidekick, Piper the hep cat, wants to help you get the farm going so you can throw a happening party.  He guides you through the first levels with beatnik words of wisdom, explains the rules, and encourages you to pick up some new duds for the party. Even the error messages arrive with hep cat style!

Any money you earn above your level goal can be spend on accessories. I was a little apprehensive about this part, because I expected the casual-game cliche of a portrait of your hep cat friend wearing each new accessory. (Much like the annoying rewards screen in Tropical Dream and others) Oh no. When you buy accessories, your new livestock appears wearing the Chucks and shades you selected.

Each animal type needs a different type of care, sheep (and your pet llama) need to be sheared, pigs need to be slopped and slaughtered, and cows need to be milked. I was a little grossed out by turning the cute piggies into plates of bacon, but then I took a harder attitude and harvested* all my cows, sheep, chickens and pigs at the end of the day to save herding them into the pens at night. Did I mention that your new animals come with names like “Count” and “Basie”?

Like all time management games, this is all about balance. Players need enough farm products to sell and continue to buy new animals. With too many animals — especially those messy pigs! — you’ll spend the whole time reseeding the ground. With too few, you won’t be able to make the cash for your beehive hairstyles and bowties. This is a very well-done farm management game, with the right level of difficulty and reward, but it’s the wild beatnik personality that really makes the funky farm stand out.

*special Meg euphemism for “killed off”

Popularity: 23% [?]

Amazon Enters The Casual Game Market

Amazon.com is entering the casual games market! They’re offering downloadable casual games to try or buy, using the Big Fish system of a timed trial and then a paid download.

I’m worried that massive portals like Amazon and even my beloved Big Fish are becoming the Wal-Mart of casual games, making it even harder for indie developers to compete. Amazon and BFG have advertising budgets (I could just stop the sentence here, couldn’t I?) that are far beyond the reach of the average independent developer, and they’re able to offer a wider assortment of games at lower prices. This seems like all good things for game players, but I’m afraid it will come at the expense of the smaller, more creative amateur developers, who can’t possibly make a profitable game with that kind of competition. That leads, ultimately, to a smaller assortment of games for us to try.

PS — Amazon is also offering the full version of Build-a-Lot free as part of their promotion, just like Big Fish did. But don’t fall for it! Build-a-Lot is just not a fun game.

Popularity: 17% [?]

Press Release: Globulos Reopens, Free To Play

Supercute gaming site Globulos.com, which offers a bunch of casual multiplayer games, reopens with a free-to-play basic model and a cash shop for extras.

The 20 games and the 50 playing fields are playable 100% for free. Games are 1 against 1 player, 2 against 2 or melee of 4 players. The gameplay is a mix between arcade fun and simultaneous turn based strategy. The kawaii style was noticed by the Japanese Nintendo official magazine, Nintendo Dream with a full page article.

Some options like character customization or power-ups (teletransportation, invisibility and a lot more) can be purchased using Globbies, the website currency.

The 20 games are: Arena, Football, Croquet, Tic-Tac, Save the King, Darts, Funky Foot, Bomber, Rally, Volley, Sumo, Flipper, Pétanque, BomberKing, 4-Square, Snooker, PacGlob, Basket, DartsKing, Monster.

A Nintendo DS game is being developed and is targeting the upcoming DSiWare channel.

Popularity: 27% [?]

Game Review: Atlantis

I wrote a little while ago about Big Fish Games’ free game giveaway. Did you get yours? I picked Atlantis and Fairies. Atlantis is a match-3 casual game. As colored bubbles slide down a maze, players shoot other bubbles into the lineup to pop three or more. Set up chains and arrange longer groups for extra points, like your average match-3.

When you pop certain combinations or activate special bubbles, strange effects happen to your maze. Your bubbles might slow down, stop, or even travel in reverse, which adds to the fun. There’s also the obligatory exploding bubble that pops everything in it’s path.

Besides the puzzles’ names, it didn’t really have much of an Atlantis theme. Still, the backgrounds were pretty and even more importantly, none of the backgrounds made it hard to see the bubbles. The bubbles themselves were distinctive colors too, so I was never frustrated by trying to determine if the ochre ball is meant to be brown or orange.

If you like match-3s, this is a solid, enjoyable one. The bubbles are pretty and easy to see, the controls are quite simple and sensible, and the different mazes hold a player’s interest. With the wide selection of bubble popping games, though, it doesn’t stand out all that much.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Disney To Launch Online World This Summer

Looks like Disney will be following Cartoon Network’s lead with Fusionfall and creating a kid-friendly MMO world. Disney’s new virtual world will be based on the cute movie Cars. From their press release, as quoted on Casual Gamer Chick:

This summer, Disney Online will launch World of Cars Online, a 3D online world based on the hit movie CARS. Players will be able to take an amazing ride into a wacky world full of fun and adventure by designing their own car, becoming a racing legend, making new friends, and playing mini-games with Lightning McQueen and the rest of the cast.

Read the full press release, and more commentary, over on Disney to Launch an MMO/Virtual World | Casual Gamer Chick.

Popularity: 12% [?]

Game Review: Totem Tribe

Totem Tribe was sort of a cross between MyTribe and Age Of Empires. You start out as a young chief with a small tribe, and you complete building, combat and searching missions to improve their fate.

Totem Tribe uses building and unit training without the usual resource management side of things. There’s no real harvesting involved and no resource requirements to build new items, which takes some of the challenge away, and lets you focus on building an aesthetically pleasing settlement. Or maybe that’s just me. Your buildings each create specialized units, which you can then use to explore, build, fight, and so forth.

It’s no Momo, but this game is cute. Your villagers fight mushroom people and funny animals, and they live peacefully with giant ladybugs and lazy turtles.

Each island has gems, seashells and other clickable collectibles. It took me a little while to realize that what I’d thought were some funny-looking flowers are actually the gems you are meant to collect. Oops. Because there are surprise activitable items, I found myself clicking on everything, old-fashioned hand-activate style, to see what might happen.

Totem Tribe blends a civ game, a strategy game and the good kind of hidden objects game, all things I like, into an addicting casual game. My only real problem is that the story falls flat.  While I actually liked the gameplay of repeatedly finding a new object of Epic Supreme Destiny on each unlocked island, I found  the chief’s requests for and the general quest text about each Super-Duper Supreme Epic item to be stilted and annoying.

Overall, a solid casual game, even if the story arc leaves a bit to be desired.

Popularity: 29% [?]

Press Release: Mahjong Solitaire

Some new casual games to play on your iPhone:

Budapest, Hungary, January 29, 2009 – Artex Studios, Inc., the owner of CasualGameStore.com is scheduled to release the iPhone and WiiWare version of Mahjong Zodiac and Str33t Racing.

Mahjong Zodiac
———————-
Mahjong Zodiac is a unique combination of the classic mahjong and the three matching games. The classic mahjong gameplay with the intriguing twist, guaranteed to challenge anyone looking for a brain workout. Embark on a journey through ancient China and Buddha’s life in this story-filled mahjong game. As you progress from level to level, a beautifully illustrated story is revealed, immersing you in a great gaming experience.

- 96 well balanced level
- unique hand drawn graphics
- particular mahjong tile set
- beautiful particle system
- authentic background music and sound effects

Mahjong Zodiac sounds a bit like Liong:The Lost Amulets for a blend of mahjong solitaire and a story, don’t you think?

Str33t Racing is due out later in 2009.

Popularity: 14% [?]

New Free Games From Big Fish

Get a new free game from Big Fish Games! Go to the page for Mystery Case Files Madam Fate Game and then:
Click “Buy Now”
Select the $19.99 price option
Use FREEFATE as the coupon code
Apply code and watch as your order magically becomes free!
Download your new full version game.

I’m downloading mine right now!

You can also get a free download of Build-a-lot with code FREEBUILD, but I really didn’t like that game so I can’t be bothered to get it, even free.

We also had some more free games from Big Fish a few weeks ago.

Popularity: 15% [?]