I was having a late night with my one year old son, Severus, and to keep myself awake I browsed through Tumblr. When I came across yet another hilarious picture reblogged by someone I followed, a picture of the cast of the Harry Potter movies with wording over it that simply said;

Remember when we thought we’d all be addicted to Pottermore? #Awkward

And that is precisely how the experience can be summed up.

I participated in the Magic Quill trivia in August, and received beta access in September.

At first, I was put off by not being able to choose my own username, but I picked the most befitting of the options and it has grown on me since then.

I tore through the site voraciously, upon my first official log in – desperate to get to the thrilling parts of receiving my wand and being Sorted.

Both events consist of answering questions pertaining to your personality and desires. Did you want to rule with an iron fist? Did you prefer quiet walks on the beach? The way you answered the questions, determined your wand and future in Hogwarts.

The site loaded very quickly, though by following the #pottermore hashtag on Twitter, I could see that many more people were also receiving access at the same time. I anticipated a site crash was imminent, so I kind of half assed my way past everything after I was given my wand; an unyielding black walnut with dragon core, because you want to know.

I had already heard a few laments about the Sorting process, so I was most eager to get to this for a few reasons and I was smugly triumphant when the page loaded after I’d answered all of the questions. I was Sorted into Slytherin, as I knew I would be.

I love the way it’s set up, not everyone gets asked the same questions and you can choose answers that obviously lean towards one House so you CAN cheat the system if you really wanted to, to be in the House that you prefer. But why not see where you’d really belong?

My favorite part is that it does not ask you, ever, which House you’d WANT to be placed into. It is the most genuine Sorting one can experience with Hogwarts not being a real place (and I feel this bears repeating: Hogwarts is not a real place, where you are Sorted does not matter in real life, if you shed actual tears over not being placed in Hufflepuff – those of us with a firm grip on reality WILL laugh at you.) and I think it’s essential that it stays that way.

Upon completion of the Sorting, and a celebratory dance, I entered the jaded Common Room. Aside from the informative links directing to more information on your House ghost and founder, there was not much I cared about here, so I continued on with the story.

Or, at least I tried. The site crashed and refused to load again until a few days later.

Pottermore is extremely interactive, though lacking its trademark soundtrack, which is a bummer. I don’t know about you guys, but I like to hum along and am way too lazy to have the soundtrack on deck in my Spotify playlist. The artwork? Dark and magnificently well executed.

As you progress through the familiar territory, you pick up little nuggets along the way; Chocolate Frog Cards, Potion making supplies, Galleons and such. You open up exclusive content that delves further into characters and scenarios and in that regard Pottermore lives up to its name. As you go forward and participate in what Pottermore has to offer, you also collect House points which – as they do in the series – are added to your House’s total.

On the downside, I find the playability is low; Potion making is horrendous and frustrating – you can see the list of things you’ll need to make each potion, but you have to go into Diagon Alley to buy them and then find your way back into the Potion making area. It’s a tedious process. I find no enjoyment in learning spells for wizarding duels (though if you accept friends, like I have decided not to do, you may have more fun dueling with them).

Once I’m finally allowed to move along from my restricted point and finish up all the books and the cherished chapters within, I’m not sure I’ll ever log into Pottermore again – it’s not like I won’t be able to find all of the information on the Harry Potter Wiki eventually.

A plea in advance; Wait.

The site will undoubtedly buckle, and frequently – as not only will it be open for public consumption, but those of us with beta access will finally be able to move past The Sorcerer’s Stone. They only let in a handful an interval for beta, and for days after they were given access, I got the purple screen of death so many times it was emblazoned in my eyelids, and when I didn’t get the purple screen of death there was the equally obnoxious “This page has vanished” notification.

Complaints will rain down en masse, people will lose their place in Sorting and have to start all over again with different questions, potions will not brew correctly, the confusion and delay will be rampant.

And infuriating.

The hype will die down, and that would be the best time to truly feel Pottermore’s fluidity as you embark on your magical journey.

If you’ve followed the series to this point, Pottermore is a gift. I decided not to add friends because – quite frankly (and ironically) people have ruined every social media interaction I’ve had and this is probably the last time I’ll experience the magic of Harry Potter, and I want it to remain unsullied.

This week we received news from Artix Entertainment that their Pony vs Pony game had some new additions. The level cap was raised to 20 and hundreds of items were in the store.

Pony vs Pony launched two weeks ago. I’ve been under the weather the past few days, so I decided to try it out. For the online game you make your own Pony to start. Think My Little Pony meets a puzzle fighter. To battle, players match same color orbs in groups of at least four. Some orbs create protective shields and others attack.

When I created a Pony, first I noticed a limit to the types of name combinations. Not a big deal, just limiting. It appears from the dashboard that you only have so many battle points per session. I thought it was per day, but mine did not reset the second day. So….I don’t know how it resets.

For someone brand new to the game, the instructions are not entirely clear. It’s a simple enough interface, but I was very confused by what was going on. The orbs that protected versus attack isn’t explained very well in the interface. The press release states that sunshine orbs deal a damage attack, butterfly orbs cast a protective shield.

Once I understood what to do I played a few rounds. I won pretty easily repeatedly. I would advise to use a mouse instead of a touchpad because there were many times where the orbs would not highlight if I didn’t put the arrow over it in a particular spot.

Another weird thing I ran into is that my Pony had a level up sign under it, but the level is still 1. I tried clicking on the sign, clicking on the pony, and clicking on the level. I tried battling the 2nd level boss. I beat him about six times and still did not level. I tried to fight the next boss but was told that I did not have enough fights under my belt yet.

In the end, Pony vs Pony is cute and would have some potential. But the User Interface is confusing and it’s hard to know what’s really going on. The battles are also pretty easy which gets boring after awhile.

PonyvsPony is a free to play game so you can try it yourself. But I would recommend waiting until more improvements have been made. There is potential for a fun online game to play when you want to pass time, but currently it’s not there yet.

Rating

BUY

I enjoy casual gaming, most people do.  Whether it be on your phone, pc, ipod, or even your Xbox; people play casual games all the time.  I’ll admit, I carry my tablet with me everywhere and 60% of my apps are games of all genres.  Recently, I’ve become more interested in Hidden Object games.  They are fast paced, fun and challenge your mind.  At times, they can be a bit frustrating.  So, when I was given the chance to play Vampire Saga: Welcome to Hell Lock I was very excited!  This is a fun and affordable addition you can make to your pc games library.  Although the title doesn’t seem so family friendly, it really is a game that anyone of any age can enjoy with excellent content and nothing too scary.

As I said, I was really excited to play this game.  I have not had the pleasure of playing Vampire Saga: Pandora’s Box so going in, I really didn’t know what to expect.  ”Hidden object” made me assume that’s all I’d be doing.  I did not expect an engaging storyline at all.  The game surprised me and I think that is what made it so enjoyable.  Having other tasks to complete, countless puzzles and mini-games to solve along with dozens of hidden object games, made this a worthwhile experience.  It also kept the game from getting monotonous and too repetitive.

The game starts off in a bit of confusion.  The main character has had an motorcycle accident, he wakes up not knowing where he is and of course, is experiencing memory loss.  No phone, no flashlight and lost in the woods…not a good place to be.  Once you realize you need to get going and find help, the story begins.  The game is a point-and-click adventure where you choose where to go, which paths to take however, your choices do not effect the outcome of the game.  There is still the storyline and required tasks to progress but you’re free to explore and examine as you please.  The graphics are top of the line for this 2D game and I was really pleased.  I also found that there were no glitches and everything ran smooth and quick.  I always hate when there are hang ups when traveling to different locations or having to wait minutes for screens to load.  This time, not one complaint.  There are a total of 35 different locations in-game and travel is made easy by following arrows OR if you’ve taken a picture of the location with your camera, you can travel instantly.  I thought that was really neat.

“Welcome to Hill Lock, a place no one in their right mind would want to be. But then again, you’re not in your right mind.  All you can remember are moments – speeding down twisted back roads on a motorcycle; a spectral figure soaring through the night air; a piercing pain on your neck; and darkness.

You preferred the darkness to what you now see.  An abandoned town beckons you to explore its ravaged streets. Fire that reaches up through cracks in the earth threatens your life. And signs that something unnatural is stalking you have your nerves on edge. To survive, you’ll have to search for clues, gather useful items, and solve clever puzzles. If there’s a path that leads out of hell, you’ll find it, but only if you take the first step!”

Now, even though I found the game enjoyable and fun, I was a bit disappointed with the way the story goes.  I’m telling you, it’s a complete cliffhanger…you’re really left hanging on the edge.  With so many unanswered questions, no explanation of why certain tasks were given to complete and the big question, WHY?  I expected that completion of the game would reveal all to me but, it didn’t.  I was really engaged in the story and had so many questions that were not answered.  There were vampires, ghosts, creepy dolls, bugs and a whole slew of other unpleasentries.  This brought me to believe there would be an understanding by the end and that it would all make sense.  Sadly, these mysteries are never solved.  The ghosts were never explained even though they seem play some kind of role.  We learn what caused the memory loss, but not why.  I could go on but I don’t want to ruin it for you or dissuade you from giving it a try.  I’m assuming that the main focus when the game was created was of course, the hidden object and puzzles but when theres a storyline, people want answers.  I’m not saying that the game isn’t worth your time, I think it’s great but I feel strongly that there will be another addition to the Vampire Saga.

The music and ambience sounds give the game an eerie feel, it also gives you the sense that something is not right here.  There is dialogue but not much.  Many of the story cutscenes are filtered in like shots from a comic book.  I think it was a good way of making it more fast paced without the dragging on of dialogue.  I appreciated that it moved quickly through and for those of you who aren’t interested in story or dialogue, you can skip it and move on at any time.

Overall, this game is very short compared to other pc games of a similar genre.  Being that it was so enjoyable, I wish it were longer.  Maybe if it were a bit lengthier, there could have been more to the story.  Also, there are different levels of difficulty.  “Casual” and “Expert” are your choices and I believe they are very straight forward.  Although, I recommend starting out with the “Expert” setting because the “Casual” is a bit too easy.

In my opinion, this is a game anyone can and will enjoy.  It’s available for purchase on the Vampire Saga website and is currently being offered at $6.99.  You may also download a FREE 1 hour demo of the game which is always a good idea.  I hope you’ll give it a shot!

DEMO

“A young girl…destined to rule but pursued by shadows. A trusted friend…broken but not defeated. A tyrant…wrapped in darkness, ambitious but cruel.” If that’s not a set-up for a great story, I don’t know what is. Big Fish Game’s Drawn: Dark Flight is the continued story of Iris, Franklin and the evil tyrant who destroyed her parents and now is looking for her. The game opens with promise, a beautiful animation sequence with those words above narrated to you along with your goal–light the three beacons so Iris can defeat the tyrant and rule as queen. I had high hopes for this game, because I absolutely loved its prequel: Drawn: Painted Tower.

While the opening animation sequence is beautiful, it was too brief. It finishes and you find yourself just staring at hole in the ceiling and feeling dumped in the middle of the game. What was so great about the original, was that it was an even mix of animated story and puzzles that weaved you into the game. The sequel lacked the same balance, and I missed it. That said, the graphics still have that dark, amazing, gnaw at your senses quality. You literally navigate through a world of shadows and, like the original, you pop into paintings that are intricately detailed and colored, making this feel like a truly magical place.

The music is familiar, poignant and effective. It haunts you through the game as you wander in the dark kingdom. A bright note, no pun intended, is that the music changes when you enter Iris’ paintings to a fitting theme, i.e. seaworthy music for a scurvy infested pirate, etc. It’s a pleasant break from the main score that runs through the rest of the game. Also, the sound effects are great–from ocean waves, books flying in the wind, rain failing, thunderstorms, and fire. Their sounds all add to the beauty of the game. The voice of the dark lord was a little overdone and I would have liked his shadow minion, Raven to have a voice, a creepy whisper or moan versus just typed text.

Dark Flight is similar to its prequel, where you have to defeat the dark tyrant to save Iris and make her queen. It is mouse driven and at times slow to load. There are two versions you can play, the tutorial mode or the experienced player mode. The tutorial sequence was helpful as is Franklin, your guide and hint giver through the game. The game relies on heavily on combination type puzzles, some harder and more frustrating than others. I would have liked there have been more of a balance between combination puzzles and hidden object games, but maybe I’m biased after the first version. Big Fish Games does provide a walk-through version online which I admit the first time through I had to reference out of frustration. If at some point you find yourself losing patience with the puzzle, the creators’ have also been kind of enough to provide a “Skip Puzzle” option, but you can only use it once you’ve put in a little time trying to solve it. Once the bar above “Skip Puzzle” is full then you can click it and move on. I don’t like to use this option if I can help it. I can’t let the game beat me! WHAT?

While some of the puzzle sequences feel redundant, creativity abounds in their presentation. One of my favorites was an arcade-like sequence where you have to catch a series of symbols and get them past the evil tyrant’s black crows to move on. I also liked the “Simon Says” sequence you play on coral tubes inside a frog painting to uncover your next clue, as well the paint-by-number game that leads to lighting the next beacon.

Overall, I enjoyed Drawn: Dark Flight but felt that it was too short in comparison to its prequel. The ending was anti-climatic and lackluster. SPOILER ALERT: Iris defeats the dark lord and becomes queen in a rather vague battle in the sky where she’s a phoenix and he’s a black shadowy bird creature. A bigger send off for the tyrant would have been nice, but for a six dollar price tag, you can’t really complain. The graphics are phenomenal and it’s a good way to entertain yourself for a few hours. Towards the end of the game, Iris hints that perhaps her mother and siblings are still alive and the game closes with “To be continued…” I’m keeping my fingers crossed that Big Fish Games can bring back the fun and intrigue of the original Drawn: Painted Tower if indeed they make another sequel. While this one certainly was entertaining, I think they can step up their game in both story line and length of play.

RENT/TRY

It’s a good things that the Nancy Drew games from Her Interactive don’t actually require you to play them in order. I was last solving mysteries in #21 – Warnings at Waverly Academy and going into Shadow at the Water’s Edge, I had no idea what had happened in-between. What you learn prior to setting off on the newest adventure is that Nancy has been invited to teach English in Japan and will be staying at the Ryokan Hiei, a small traditional hotel known to be haunted.

Before I tell you how the game progresses, let me tell you now that if you’re the type of person that is very bad at number puzzles, or quickly loses patience with numbers or the type of puzzles you might find in the newspaper, this is not the game for you. Shadow at the Water’s Edge throws a lot of Japanese culture at Nancy, not the least of which is the puzzles.

I knew I was in for something different with this game just after opening the packaging, it’s the first of the Nancy games I’ve seen on two discs, which told me I was in for a game with a little more oomph to it than before. I’m not new to the Nancy games, I’ve played about six of them now and I find that I enjoy the puzzler/mystery feel of the games and having been a fan of mystery stories (Nancy Drew Mysteries specifically) for years, I’ve got a pretty good mind when it comes to figuring out what to do next in these games. They traditionally haven’t been terribly difficult or time consuming, finding the right mix of puzzle and mystery with story and repetition.

Having arrived in the ryokan, I met Miwako, the young lady at the front desk and Suki, her robotic cat. I’m later introduced to her grandmother, Takae and her boyfriend (slash hotel Handyman) Rentaro. Rentaro specifically is important in the beginning of the game, as it’s he that introduces Nancy to three puzzle types: Renograms, Nonograms, and Sudoku. The latter two puzzle types play pretty huge parts in getting the game to progress, so it’s important to not only do the easy puzzles, but to go back to Rentaro for a few more, just so you can get the practice.

Soon after arriving at the ryokan, Nancy happens to be in the lobby as a furious hotel guest is checking out early. They’ve been frightened away by the haunted hotel and it’s then that Nancy’s detective senses start tingling. She’s raring to crack the case before it’s even really started and it’s time to start grilling Rentaro, Miwako and Takae about the ryokan’s past. Nancy knows they’ve got a secret, but their traditional family values and concern over the ryokan means they’re not saying a thing.

Also in Japan, are Bess and George, two of Nancy’s good friends and she’s got them on speed dial so she can keep in close contact with them. George is working a technology expo at the exhibit center in Misako and tries to get Nancy tickets to join her and Bess, but the tickets are sold out. This means that for the entire game, you’ll only ever interact with Bess and George through the phone with calls and the occasional text message. However, Nancy does travel down to the exhibit center many times to meet with Miwako’s sister, Yumi. If you’ve played many of these Nancy Drew games before, you might find it interesting to note that Nancy’s boyfriend Ned, is not available to talk to. Usually Ned is available to call when Nancy needs to rehash the plot a little bit and he’ll give hints. In some games, Bess has been available, or a combination of Bess and/or Ned. Bess and George fill that role in this game, though they’ve conferenced their phones so when you call one of them, you’re really calling both of them. As hints go, Bess and George are fairly useless – though they will try and help you with your puzzles, it’s normally tips/ideas that you already know and just don’t know what to do with it. The best way to know how to keep your game moving forward is to keep an eye on Nancy’s check-list, where you can check tasks off as you complete them. Not being able to check off one of the tasks has more than once made me realize I haven’t completed something or investigated something as thoroughly as the game wanted.

Nancy also has a responsibility to the school where she’s teaching English. She has a few students and each night, and she keeps her students assignments in a box in her hotel room. For several nights, you’ll want to keep up with the assignments to make sure Nancy grades them as new ones come in. I only saw four assignments total, but played through more days/nights than that, so it’s fairly easy. You’ll never have to take Nancy to the school either. In fact, there’s only a few places in all Japan Nancy will be able to visit in the game. There’s the ryokan, there’s a small Pachinko parlor in Kure that Nancy needs to visit several times throughout the game for different reasons. There’s the exhibit hall in Misako where you’ll also find Yumi and her bento stand. And a few times, Nancy will make a trip to Yumi’s apartment.

So, after Nancy’s been good and settled at the Ryokan Hiei, the strange things start to happen. Lights flicker, doors slam, Nancy sees a strange dark haired lady in the bathroom mirror and the mirror cracks, and that’s just the beginning. Nancy finds a book on supernatural hauntings written by an American named Savannah; the book has a whole chapter on the ryokan. Nancy manages to get in touch with Savannah, who happens to be in Japan at the same convention Bess and George are working, and talks to her about the ryokan. Eventually, Nancy’s the only guest left in the ryokan. After some not-so-subtle Nancy Drew styled prodding, she learns that Takae thinks the ryokan is haunted by her daughter’s spirit and that the spirit (also called Yūrei) is angry with her.

The story in Shadow at the Water’s Edge (while I think having little to do with the title – there’s water, and it’s Japan, but it’s kind of eh- not really related) mixes good old traditional detective mystery with a little supernatural fascination and it’s Nancy’s job to figure out what the real mystery is and who (or what) is behind it all. If you’ve played any of the other 22 Nancy Drew games, you’re going to be for the same sort of ride you’ll find in the other games (difficult number puzzles aside). However, you should expect to put in more significant amount of time with this game. I think in the past some of the games can be beat in 4-6 hours if you’re pretty quick on the uptake. Shadow at the Water’s Edge probably took me closer to 10 hours which is a pretty big upswing in time, and probably explains the 2 disc install. I think the game’s had a bit of a graphics adjustment as well, it’s nothing to write home about, but it’s not the typical three-dollar mystery puzzler you’ll find at most online game portals either.

I did have one minor concern about the story in the game. This is one of the first times I’ve played one of the Nancy Drew games and really had an issue with timing on certain things. Events didn’t always trigger when I thought they would, and sometimes I had to revisit things I’d already seen or done, because I didn’t do it after the event that the game had it planned for. For instance, I looked up records on the ryokan’s computer as part of my investigation, but because I didn’t do it after a certain conversation with a character, I had to do it all over again after triggering another conversation. Little things like this might mean retracing Nancy’s steps a few times, but it’s quick to get around, and conversations are linear enough, you can cover everything you need to without too much trouble. It’s not like there’s a time-limit on the game, so, this wasn’t a huge deal, but since Nancy can only go places during certain times (the trains stop running after midnight) it does mean repeatedly returning to Nancy’s room and setting the alarm on her phone for another time. On the good side though, I didn’t run into any major glitches that prevented me from completing the game, like that time I played game #14 and a glitch near the end of the game meant having to start the whole thing over again. (One of the valuable lessons learned about keeping multiple saves happened that day.)

There are two levels to the game; you can play as a Junior or Senior Detective, which changes the difficulty level of the puzzles. As with many of the more recent games, there’s trivia and achievements at the end of the game, based on your game play. They’re minor additions and don’t necessarily add anything to the game, they’re more to reward you for doing the more esoteric things in the game, like playing with the robotic cat, or relaxing in the hot springs. There are however, two different endings to the game, based on a choice Nancy makes when she figures out the culprit. It changes the post game wrap-up a bit, but not so much that it’s worth repeating those last five minutes or so of the game.

For the money, Nancy’s got a pretty big mystery in store for players. It’s not going to keep you busy for long, but if you’re in to it for the mystery, for the Nancy Drew lore, or a chance at different type of puzzler (as long as you like numbers), I doubt you’ll be disappointed.

BUY

One of PopCap’s most anticipated releases, and the second true reincarnation of their flagship genre pioneering favorite, Bejeweled 3 had some high expectations to live up to. Of course, I didn’t hop on the Bejeweled train until the Bejeweled Twist station, but it’s been a great ride so far. Bejeweled 3 is chock full of crazy match 3 fun for old Bejeweled pros and newbie Bejeweleders alike.

They went all out with this one in many ways. The background graphics in Bejeweled 3 are gorgeous and beautifully (optionally) animated. I must say that, during game play, I don’t usually pay that much attention to the background, but when I think to look, it is actually quite amazing. The colors and spectacle of each of the special gems also add to the updated feeling of the game. The newer secret games, are seamlessly woven into the bejeweled quilt, but with a flare that is all their own. I am not as fond of the transitions as I was of the transitions in Bejeweled Twist. I think that the thicker black borders around the jewels caught me off guard a little, and take away a little from the feel of the rest of the game.

The sounds of Bejeweled 3 are familiar in more ways than one. During the match 3 gameplay, the sounds of matches and creating and detonating of special gems match that of the latest versions of the game. The secret games have their distinct sounds to things specific to each one, which are appropriate and alert to things like the appearance and release of butterflies, destruction of ice columns, breaking of rocks, collecting gold and treasure, and the presence of skulls. There are also familiar sounds from other games in some of the puzzles which was amusing. And although I love the kudos given by the familiar voice, I have mixed feelings about the background music in general. I can’t really place my finger on it, but it was another of those small things that left a tiny sliver of disappointment.

The actual play of the game is fantastic. Players start out with four basic modes – Classic, Zen, Lightning, and Quest. After playing each of these to start with (classic is a fantastic place to start for those new to Bejeweled), one of four “secret” games will be unlocked. The secret games represent the match 3 plus that warranted a new and revamped Bejeweled, proving that Bejeweled 3 truly has something for every type of gamer.

Playing through 5 levels of Classic mode unlocks Poker. What a brilliant idea. In this secret game, the objective is to make the best poker hand possible with each 5 matches, earning points to keep the skulls at bay, because when a hand is made where a skull lies, a flip of the coin decides if the game continues or not.

Lightning mode, which is a fast paced timed Bejeweled frenzy, unlocks Ice Storm. Ice storm is not a race against the clock like Lightning, but a race against rising columns of ice, which in some ways is more exciting. Making Marches through the columns knocks them down a little, but making vertical matches within a column destroys the column completely (for a short time). Leveling up multipliers has the added benefit of creating a tropical breeze that lowers every existing ice column. The goal is to prevent the ice from reaching the top and completely freezing over. This one is a great cool rush.

Zen mode in Bejeweled 3 has seriously evolved into a truly individualized relaxing/motivational experience. From optional soothing sounds of nature, to positive mantras, to steady breathing (my personal favorite and possibly the most beneficial) to brain training tones, take any or take all, and drive life’s stresses into the ground with no pressure of time or fear of running out of moves. And once the 5th level of nirvana is reached in zen mode, it’s time to release the Butterflies secret game. Each match makes the butterflies climb higher and higher toward the waiting spider’s grasp. To keep this one going, players must release the butterflies before they reach the spider. Matching them sets them free, but it gets tricky because it changes the available matches each time they move.

Quest mode offers a journey of increasingly difficult challenges that provide a nice variety of strategies to uncover hidden treasures. Playing the secret games first will make the challenges in Quest mode easier because a lot of the quests are based on the secret games. And once the quest is complete, it’s time to start busting some rocks in the diamond mine. Diamond Mine offers a surprisingly exhilarating expedition to collect as much cash and treasures by matching to break out the ground. The ground must be completely below a marked level to level up and add some time to the clock, but clearing all the way to the bottom adds even more! For me, I think the continuous explosive sounds and competitive feel of this secret game make it the most addictive.

With something for anyone in any mood, Bejeweled 3 is just bursting at the seams with brilliant continuous entertainment to lose yourself in for a weekend every day. Replayability is extremely high on this one. With social gaming making its stamp on the casual games space, the pressure is on for developers to create something with enough novelty, accessibility, and versatility to pull us away from Facebook. Mission accomplished. This is a must have for anyone who appreciates a solid good sparkly time.

Review copy of Bejeweled 3 provided by PopCap Games and did not affect the outcome of this review.

You’ll take the doctor through the next six days via two simple controls: the arrow keys and the spacebar (arrows to move, spacebar to interact).  The doctor wakes up to his wife and daughter, heads to his car and then to work.  You learn on the first day that Dr. Pilgrim was on the team that just invented a cure for Cancer.  Everyone is partying and congratulating John on his good work.  As the days progress, you’ll run into just a few choices about how John is living the next few days, and Day Two is when John learns what’s really going on.

It’s a short, simple browser-based game, but with an interesting story and several different ending opportunities.  Everything about the game from the graphics to the music and directions in order to highlight the story.  There’s not a replay option – on purpose – it’s supposed to make you think about priorities.  However, obviously depending on your internet set-up and browser options, there are ways to play the game again and again to see the different ways John can play out his last days (though that feels too much like cheating).  In the interest of writing something about the game, I did play it multiple times to see what some of the different endings would be.  I feel like they’re all equally valid and emotionally-charged.

The game has only been up on the site since the second of December, but it’s already getting a lot of buzz, and it’s easy to see why.  If you’ve got five or ten minutes and don’t mind the chance that it might make you a little teary-eyed, it’s definitely worth the time to play through the game.

BUY

Twisted Lands: Shadow Town is a interesting cross-breed of game, involving both your skill with hidden object pages and point-and-click adventure style gaming. Much in the spirit of the Nancy Drew games by Her Interactive, Alawar Entertainment’s Twisted Lands brings you an interesting mystery to uncover with a little bit of spookiness and a lot of challenging puzzles.

The game begins, with a short introduction showing you and your female companion, Angel, out at sea on a treasure hunt. Something happens and the next thing you know, you’ve and your boat have washed up on shore and Angel is nowhere to be seen. Cue the frantic search of the beach, a mysterious cave and trying to figure out how to get further into the nearby town to continue your search. Here’s where you realize something that’s a little unconventional for the modern day adventure/puzzler type games: your character is not female. There’s a sense of urgency created around the idea that Angel whatever her relation to you: wife, girlfriend, partner-in-crime, is missing and you need to find her. Combined with the fact that every scene you come across is in some sort of creepy disarray and sometimes you run across a scene only to find something that belonged to Angel, there’s a definite feeling that things need to be done quickly.

The hidden object scenes give you a break, there’s no timer, so you can be calm and methodical in your search of a scene. While the story creates a sense of urgency, there’s no actual game mechanic that keeps you from going as fast or slow through the scenes and puzzles as you need to. Some of the trickier puzzles have a timer — not that runs out and starts the puzzle over — but one that actually lets you skip past the puzzle if you’ve spent so much time on it. But, it’s optional, and a good way to keep you moving through the game without getting stuck on a particular frustrating puzzle.

Speaking of helping you along, the game actually has a few great tricks for giving you that little boost as you go. There’s probably one of the best in-game journals to be found here – complete with pictures and a few lines about what you’ve found or how it might be related to other things you’ve come across in the game. It even keeps track of codes/clues you’ve found so you’re not constantly rooting through inventory or having to keep your own physical notes as you play. It can make things easier, if you take advantage of it, but it’s in no way necessary to play. On that same note, there’s an actual help button that when clicked will give you an indicator of where something can be found (useful when you’ve been staring at the same hidden puzzle for too long) or will give you the next direction you need to go in (great for when you think you’ve just been running in circles). The help button recharges after every use, so you’re restricted from spamming it, but there’s no limit to how many times it can be used in the game.

Also, available when you purchase the full edition on Thursday, is a complete game walkthrough — available from the game menu screen. So if neither the journal or the help button is getting you through a particularly trying section of the game, you can always go to the walkthrough. Honestly though, if you use the journal and the help button wisely, you will probably never need to use the walkthrough in order to figure out the game.

The story is creepy or at least there are creepy parts of the game, but as far as actual horror it might not be as scary as some of those older adventure games like 7th Guest and 11th Hour. However, there is a definite mysterious factor to the story, something about the places you find and the bits of the town you uncover signal that something trippy is happening. It’s not scary but it has a very sort of psychological horror very similar to old Lovecraft novels where something is off but you can’t put your finger on what.

If you get sucked into the story and the puzzles, you’ll probably only get about 4 hour or so out of the base game, more if you really take your time. However with this collector’s edition, once you finish the basic story and are appropriately creeped out, you’ll have access to a bonus chapter that will probably give you another hour and a half of game play. The bonus chapter actual feels far more urgent the the regular game, because you’re actively looking to escape from what’s chasing you. Then it’s a constant battle to figure out how to get out of there.  Really, the bonus chapter would’ve been a great addition to the base game.

If you’re a fan of the adventure puzzler, Twisted Lands should be right up your alley.  I had a lot of fun, and found myself eager to power through the game to see how the story ended.

Well, prepare to have those brute thoughts quashed, dear readers – the robots just got cuddly.

Platform: PC
ESRB: E (Everyone)
Genre: Puzzle
Number of Players: 1
Developer: Wadjet Eye Games
Release Date: May 2010

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Puzzle Bots is an adventure puzzle game (that’s right – it is a genre that is not just populated by early Zelda titles!) that takes place in Dr. Hugo’s Factory for Making Robots. You control 5 different robots, and each of the robots that you “unlock” during the game will aid with a different ability in order to solve puzzles in the game. The title of this game is not deceptive at all. That is where the enjoyment begins.

Everything about this game screams simplicity. The animation consists of simple lines that are easy on the eye, and makes this game approachable from the beginning. The abilities are also quite rudimentary – one robot to lift something, another to tow things through water, another to use a flamethrower. In order to understand each robot’s unique abilities, you are permitted three introductory levels that act as your tutorials. Thankfully, these tutorials are integrated throughout the game, not just lumped at the beginning. As this is a PC game, it is not so much about learning the controls (it is point and click) – rather, learning about how you can use your robots’ abilities in different ways. The easy mechanics and atmosphere allow the developers to focus more on the creative use of the objects in the game, rather than the memorisation of controls and abilities.

The seamless, interwoven nature is also supported by the narrative. Sure, the unresolved romantic tension between Yuriko and Zander seems quite inconsequential to the continuation of the game itself. And it is quite irrelevant to the little robots that Viktor hates his job and will do anything to jeopardise himself. But these human moments provide an interlude as well as a nice context. It has allowed Wadjet Eye Games to create a game that laughs at itself, encouraging the player to have a little bit of a giggle too.

All of these elements contribute to the sense of progression. When you complete an objective, you know you are going to learn more about the story. You have a purpose, as do the little robots that you are guiding into the big bad world.

Many gamers would see these elements as threatening. The cute emotive personalities of humans and robots alike can seem rather sugar-coated. Equally, the amount of guidance and support (even the inclusion of a “hint” button! How blasphemous!) negates the many years of prior gaming experience of many entertainment enthusiasts. Real gamers should be able to figure these things out, right? Well, yes they should.

However, I ask this question of those critics who want challenge and brutal reminders of their expertise: Have you ever woken up one morning, and decided to start the day like you were four years old? When was the last time that you got out of bed without hitting the snooze button, counted the number of things that are blue, and truly enjoyed the bright day ahead?

If you haven’t, or can’t remember the last time that you did. then you need to get a copy of Puzzle Bots, and experience it. Now.

I think it is wonderful that Wadjet Eye is not taking the road of ruthless killing machines and extra kudos to them for saying to their audience, “We’re not sorry to disappoint you”. And I am not sorry either.

Review product was provided by Wadjet Eye Games, and does not affect the outcome of this review.

This year at Casual Connect Seattle, I was fortunate enough to sit down with some of the folks from PopCap and talk industry trends, social gaming in general, and more specifically, the much anticipated Zuma Blitz. Overall, it seemed like they were in sync with the opinion that there is and has been a pretty obvious shift in the casual gaming space toward social gaming, but still respect the notion that sometimes, we do still want to just sit down and enjoy a game without the pressure of beating each others’ scores or getting in all of our good moves in under a minute. So, there is talk of integrating social feature into their existing games, giving players the freedom of playing solo, or send some smack talk to their friends, getting into the competitive spirit.

Having said that, the main topic of conversation was the upcoming speedy, completely social, competitive version of our favorite ball blasting frog hopping bonanza, Zuma Blitz. Here’s what I found out… They weren’t just inspired by the success of their first Facebook Bejeweled Blitz, they learned from its journey as well, and plan to send Zuma Blitz off on a similar one. It’s all about the gradual. Zuma Blitz is set to start rolling out on Facebook in the next couple of weeks. It will roll out little by little to more and more people over a few weeks to help ensure continuity (how do we get to the front of the line?). In addition to the progressive release, the gameplay will start players off steadily as well, so as to get used to a couple of different power-ups at a time before introducing new ones, using an ‘experience points’ system to unlock features and and “a ‘treasure chest’ virtual currency-based system for obtaining in-game power-ups. The more you play, the better you can score.

Zuma Blitz is played just like previous incarnations of Zuma, with players shooting colorful balls at a creeping snakelike composition of other colored balls to blast groupsof three or more of the same color, trying to keep from being swallowed up. However it wouldn’t be called Zuma Blitz without a time limit… So, you get a minute. However, taking the blitz a bit farther, there are opportunities to make the right match for additional 5 second increments. Now, not only are players fighting to stay alive, but also to not run out of time. Brilliant!

I had the opportunity to play a few rounds at level 2, which included some familiar power-ups and challenges. But the added complexity of also trying to extend the time without the hope of “finishing” the level actually creates a new, more focused Blitzy state of being. The level I got to play was one of the final levels from Zuma’s Revenge. But, along with the regular Blitz weekly tournaments, where they reset the scores and conduct their prize drawing, they will be changing up the actual level we play every couple of weeks as well. Genius! That sounds like the perfect way to keep it fresh and keep our Blitz mojo flowing. I had to stop myself after playing twice, both recognizing and respecting the full extent of the addictive nature of the Blitz. Zuma Blitz is no exception. I can’t wait!

What do you think about the increasing emphasis gaming companies are putting on the social aspect of gaming? Are you looking forward to playing Zuma Blitz?