Beta Signup: The Big Bluff

Join the Big Bluff’s open beta!

Think you’re good at trivia? Are you confident in your own knowledge to bet on whether or not you will know the answer against other players? Step into the Open Beta of The Big Bluff, a new game developed by himojo, an entertainment company and social games developer for the Facebook platform, and experience the thrill of online multiplayer trivia that integrates the mechanics of Texas Hold ’Em Poker. Playable within Facebook and on TheBigBluff.com via Facebook Platform, the free-to-play online trivia game stands ready to pit your knowledge against others unlike any other trivia experience to date.

Upon logging in to your account, you will be given a purse of in-game currency to spend on virtual items for your avatar and at the tables. Step into a room and pull up a seat, where games of up to five players will already be in progress, 24/7.

Similar to Texas Hold ‘Em Poker, a dealer will display three cards in the community hand – the first displaying the question category, followed by two hints at the answer. Players will then have the option to match the pot to continue playing based on the cards shown. The fourth card displays another hint, while the fifth and final card displays the question that players must correctly answer. Fold at any point in the game if you’re not confident in the final question and answer, or bluff your way to the end and force your competitor’s hand. Call your opponent’s bluff and win bonus currency if they don’t know the answer.

“We’ve spent months experimenting with ways to combine the best aspects of trivia and Texas Hold ‘Em Poker into one game and are pleased to finally offer early access to the Open Beta of The Big Bluff,” said Eric Arlt, Chief Executive Officer, himojo. “The game offers an online trivia experience through Facebook unlike anything else out there. Poker and Trivia are two huge activities that are beloved around the world and we look forward to everyone experiencing this new hybrid of the two games in a competitive, free-to-play and social environment.”

The Big Bluff Features:
• Facebook Platform – Play the game by logging into your Facebook account on either Facebook.com or on TheBigBluff.com
• Real-time Online Multiplayer – Step into a room for five and watch opponents and friends play you live from across the table
• Chat System – Real-time chat during the game, allowing players to put on their poker face and play their bluff
• Customization – Access the dressing room and customize your avatar from head to toe with publicly available and exclusive items
• Virtual Currency – Earn in-game currency by winning a hand, daily check-ins and by purchasing with real-world money
• Global Leaderboard – Win rounds, build up your purse, unlock high-roller rooms and gain stardom by making it onto a central leaderboard

To start testing your trivia knowledge and betting big on your skill, visit the official The Big Bluff website at www.thebigbluff.com and log in using your Facebook information. Be sure to connect with us on our Facebook page at www.facebook.com/thebigbluff and follow us on Twitter @thebigbluff for daily trivia and giveaways.

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% [?]

What We’ve Been Talking About On ThumbGods

I recently reviewed My Boyfriend, Women’s Murder Club:  Games of Passion, and Lost in Blue 2 for the Nintendo DS (more on Lost in Blue 2 here), as well as Mystery of Cleopatra, Tales of Monkey Island: Launch of the Screaming Narwhal, and Nancy Drew Dossier: Resorting To Danger on the computer (Not to mention hints for Resorting To Danger!). I usually take a lot of time with game reivew, but I managed to review Nancy Drew: The Mystery of the Clue-Bender Society for the DS in under 140 characters.
PS ThumbGods also got onto Facebook, and Twitter.

Popularity: 6% [?]

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: 10% [?]

Resorting To Danger! Hints

This is the second time I’ve done hints for a game (my first was the solutions to the wonders on MyTribe), so I should warn you that there are game spoilers in this post! If you’re just interested in the game, I have a non-spoilery review of Resorting To Danger, too. Are you sure you want to keep reading? You don’t want to try just one more time?

Don’t worry, I have the answers to the elements puzzle in the Zen room, the statues puzzle in the garden, and the icons puzzle to get into the bomb shelter.  Read on for the solutions!

Read more »

Popularity: 17% [?]

MyTribe Mystery Solutions

I started playing MyTribe a while ago, and I think I’ve finally unlocked all the MyTribe mysteries!

This is the first time I’ve given any hints on ThumbGods, so this is your warning! Spoilers ahead! If you want to solve the mysteries on your own, don’t keep reading! How about a nice article on the World of Warcraft font instead? Or the history of the console? Or what I thought about MyTribe — the no-spoilers version? Seriously, stop reading now!

Still here? Ok, here are instructions on how to solve the mysteries on MyTribe.

These are for the Grubby Games single-player game! Go here for solutions to the mysteries on Facebook’s MyTribe, or here for advice on building the Great Ark and going to the second MyTribe Island.

I knew the big red rock was iron, especially when my tribespeople who were scientists started to drop broad hints. You need someone who is legendary in science and in construction to access this. Once you do, you get a bonus on work that uses tools.

Like the iron-red rock, I knew what the fish skeleton rock was but my tribespeople didn’t. A legendary rock-gatherer can break it open, and then a legendary scientist can examine it. Tada! Now your tribe has 50,000 more science points!

For a star-carved rock, use Stardust on a tribesperson, and then drop that person on the rock. Quickly add 3 more stardusts… don’t worry that it cost 4 Stardusts to solve the mystery, because now Stardust will drop more frequently on the island. For the moon-carved rock, do exactly the same thing with Moondust for more frequent Moondust drops.

A legendary scientist can tell that this ancient fountain is special, maybe even the Fountain of Youth! Once she does, you can use fountain water in potions.

For the strange bush, first make a fertilizer potion from guano, sea water and stardust and pour it on the strange bush. Then have a legendary farmer look at it. Ta-da! Now you have a special berry bush, and you can use these berries in potions.

Only someone with 100 strength can move that weird old stump. Tribespeople with high strength tell you there’s something special under it, but you need to get someone to max physical strength to move it. Once they’ve moved it, it needs special care. Make a potion of fish, sea water and stardust to make it rain (or just hope). Your muscle man may need to tend it again, and then your old wither stump grows into a strong iron wood tree.

Are you looking for the solutions to the mysteries for MyTribe on Facebook?

Popularity: 100% [?]

About the Revolution Controller

Some more from GamesAreFun.com, with a little bit regarding the controller for Nintendo’s upcoming Revolution console. It seems that nobody exactly knows what it will look like – nobody from the public, that is.

In an interview with EGM, Nintendo’s Reggie Fils-Aime said that just because “you and your fans haven’t seen the controller doesn’t mean that no one else has. The thing that I always find surprising, and certainly in the last year I’ve had wonderful opportunities to spend quality time with a number of our key third-party publishers, is when you sit down and share the innovation with them, just how excited they get. I saw it firsthand with DS, we’re seeing it now with Revolution,” he continued.

But since he wasn’t content at just talking up Rev and plugging the DS, he dropped some hints as to the design of the controller, saying, “If you just think about it, we’re going to have the ability through wireless internet to download all your great games from NES, SNES, N64. Think about it – each of those controllers are different. How are you gonna play? That captured some of the imagination of what our controller needs to be able to do, and certainly as you get into the meat of that type of innovation with the developers, their eyes truly light up because they start to imagine what’s possible with that kind of configuration, which is vastly different than a sheer horsepower kind of game.

I also saw some comments praying “No touchscreen, please”. We’ll see what other news will be gotten from Nintendo about this in times to come – “soon” would be nice.

Popularity: 11% [?]