What's New in Gamezebo
Lifetime RSVP Review
Guests are the life of any party. No matter how good the food is, or how great the place is, if the people aren't happy then the most carefully planned event can easily turn into a disaster.
Achieving the perfect balance of guests - where interesting conversation flows but personalities don't clash - is truly an art unto itself, and Lifetime RSVP shows just how tricky it can be in a rather unique way: by representing guests as multicolored tiles that must be arranged harmoniously on a game board.
Star Defender 3 Review
Thirty- or forty-something gamers likely have fond memories of dumping quarters into their favorite arcade game in the '80s. To some, it was all about Pac-Man, while to others the addiction of choice may have been Frogger, Space Invaders or Centipede. For me, it was Galaga. Who could resist those swirling, insect-like aliens you can shoot out of the star-studded sky?
Kitty Luv Review
The enormous popularity of Nintendogs for the Nintendo DS handheld system has opened the floodgate for other "pet sims" - games designed for people who want to take care of a virtual pet without the real-life time and money commitments.
Kitty Luv lets players adopt a kitty of their choice and interact with it in real-time while looking after all its basic needs such as feeding, brushing and petting.
Cradle of Rome Review
As the old saying goes, "Rome wasn't built in a day." It took centuries for the ancient metropolis to grow from a small city state into a province-spanning empire. Time was required for its transformation into the capital of the civilized world.
In like manner, don't expect to build Rome quickly in Awem Studio's Cradle of Rome. It'll take more than a day to do the job right... and that's a good thing!
DS Casual: Doing the Brainwave
In the inaugural edition of DS Casual, we dissected a pair of brain games from Nintendo, Big Brain Academy and Brain Age. Taking different approaches to neurological stimulation, both are winners in their own unique hemispheres.
Now Majesco is seeking to capture our brainwaves with its own pair of head games -- Brain Boost: Beta Wave and Brain Boost: Gamma Wave.
MONOPOLY: HERE & NOW EDITION Review
The ultimate property trading game gets a 21st century makeover in Monopoly: Here and Now Edition from Tikgames and RealArcade, a downloadable version of the board game of the same name.
What's New & Hot!
Every week, Gamezebo scours the web searching for the latest and greatest games across the world's leading casual sites so you don't have to.
Enchanted Gardens Review
If only gardening in real life could be as simple as it is in Enchanted Gardens, where you can make lush green grass sprout on cue simply by rotating a few tiles. Even if you're the kind of person who has trouble keeping a cactus alive, you'll have no trouble restoring five beautiful gardens in this flora-themed tile-swapping puzzle game from Louisiana-based Yatec Games.
Magic Match: The Genie's Journey Preview
Good news for fans of pattern-making puzzlers and everyday Joes alike. Just like those who played last year's offbeat original, we suspect anyone who grew up listening wide-eyed to the tales of the Arabian Nights will appreciate token sequel Magic Match: The Genie's Journey.
15 Minutes of Game: Featured Web Game of the Week
Why feature play 1 game when you can play 10? Well, 7 actually so far. Comedy Central is releasing 10 web games this year to celebrate the 10th year anniversary of South Park, and each one is really good.
Play them all here
Stand O' Food Review
Ah, fast food. Americans spend more than $120 billion on it each year (yes, that's billion with a "b"). So, despite any moral dilemmas on contributing to the country's obesity pandemic, why shouldn't you cash in on our hamburger-craving society? This is precisely what you can do in Stand o' Food, a new casual arcade game that challenging players to feed a stream of hungry customers.
Azteca Review
As many digital diversions as we see exploring peripheral aspects of ancient Aztecs' lives (e.g. ceremonial masks and glittering gold), it's a wonder more don't delve deeper into this culture's fascinating lore and mythology.
Suddenly here to fill the void comes fresh, head-scratching outing Azteca, an intriguing spin on the typical "match-three" puzzler that challenges you to save the storied civilization by uncovering words of wisdom its gods secretly seared into stone.
Ouba: The Great Journey Review
It's always exciting when a puzzle game comes along that doesn't just dress up a proven game concept with new graphics and power-ups, but actually invents a new way of playing.
Ouba: The Great Journey is one such game.
What's New & Hot!
Every week, Gamezebo scours the web searching for the latest and greatest games across the world's leading casual sites so you don't have to.
Charlotte's Web: Word Rescue Review
E. B. White's book about the unlikely friendship between Charlotte the spider and Wilbur the pig is one of the most beloved children's novels of all time, and also serves as the theme of the latest word game from MumboJumbo.
Just as Charlotte wove words into her web to try and save Wilbur from ending up as a tender pork chop on someone's dinner plate, the goal of Charlotte's Web: Word Rescue is to weave words into your own web to score points and earn different coloured ribbons.
15 Minutes of Game: Featured Web Game of the Week
The My Story is. . . Makeover Game
It would cost you a couple hundred bucks to make yourself over in real life . . . or you can do it virtually for free, in Lifetime's My Story is. . . Makeover Game.
The Treasures of Montezuma Review
As if you needed additional proof between recent releases like Luxor 2 and Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst, along comes The Treasures of Montezuma to reinforce the old maxim: Not all casual games are created equal.
Mysteryville Review
We've all heard kids playing the "I spy" game at some time or other. You know, "I spy with my little eye...something red!" An apple? Flower? Book? And, on goes the guessing until someone gets it right.
That's the concept behind Mysteryville, the latest entry in the object discovery genre of puzzlers made popular recently by Big Fish Games' Mystery Case Files series. And, like those titles, Mysteryville gets it right, mostly.
Steals & Deals
What's better than 30% off the most popular games at Big Fish? How about 50% off everything at iWin? What's better than 50% off? How about download and own Caribbean Mahjong for free at RealArcade. You can check out all these great Steals & Deals here at Gamezebo.
The Legend of El Dorado Deluxe Review
With a map originated from the Conquistadores, you must help Dr. Van Hutton locate a lost treasure buried somewhere in a lush South American rainforest. This is your goal in The Legend of El Dorado, a new puzzle game from Zylom.
Teddy Tavern: A Culinary Adventure Review
We here at Gamezebo often say you don't need to reinvent the wheel in order to create a fun, accessible and addictive casual game.
Such is the case with Teddy Tavern: A Culinary Adventure, a game that doesn't pretend to be completely original - because it's not - but it takes the "Diner Dash"-style food-serving game-play and adds a few new twists to keep it fresh.
What's New & Hot!
Every week, Gamezebo scours the web searching for the latest and greatest games across the world's leading casual sites so you don't have to.
Why We Need Women
Call it what you want - casual gaming, downloadable gaming, blow off a little steam in the middle of your work day gaming. Whatever it is, however you want to describe it, this industry has a problem. We don't know what women want.
Belle's Beauty Boutique Review
Belle's dream is to open a salon so she can "make the world a more beautiful place, one person at a time." She gets her wish in Belle's Beauty Boutique, where she gets to run her very own beauty parlor and do her best to satisfy the demands of the assorted customers who walk through the door.
Steals & Deals
50% at iWin? How do they do it? Volume! Volume! Volume! But seriously, 50% off all games on iWin.com until January 31, 2007. Check this deal out and more in this week's Steals & Deals.
Solitaire Pop Review
As good a twist on the classic card game Poker Pop was, it's hardly surprising the same formula - e.g. fusing classic card game elements with several puzzling twists - has been applied to spiritual sequel Solitaire Pop.
15 Minutes of Game: Featured Web Game of the Week
Get popping for instant stress relief. Thanks to Paul Croft for suggesting this game.
Know a good Web game that deserves fame? Email us at editor@gamezebo.com.
Cannon Blast! Review
Perhaps it's due to breakthrough films, such as the "Pirates of the Caribbean" series, but the pirate theme is everywhere these days - from toys to books to video games.
And so it's no surprise one of the hottest casual game downloads is Cannon Blast!, a swashbuckling adventure that fuses combat on the high seas with "Zuma"-style ball-blasting fun.
Zodiac Tower Review
Even on the cloudiest of days, it's now possible to look up in wonder towards the heavens thanks to Zodiac Tower.
An astrology-based brainteaser from Enkord, makers of Clash 'N Slash, Jewel of Atlantis and Jurassic Realm, this unique outing - which fuses Tetris-style shape-building with traditional pattern-making challenges - proves yet another welcome casual gaming debut.
Rack 'Em Up Road Trip Review
If you dislike shady, smoke-filled barrooms and the idea of pool sharks nibbling away at the few dollars in your wallet scares you, then it's time to take to take your pool game on the road in Rack 'Em Up Road Trip.
What's New & Hot!
Every week, Gamezebo scours the web searching for the latest and greatest games across the world's leading casual sites so you don't have to.
Sid Meier's Railroads! Review
Trains captivate. Whether invoking memories of a simple layout under the Christmas tree, a story from a beloved book or scene from a favorite film, or the joys of watching your own children indulge in some make-believe railroading, trains have the power to fascinate.
Thanks to Sid Meier's Railroads, that addictive allure is yours to enjoy -- trainmaster or not.
Turtle Odyssey 2 Review
A good casual game should not only be hard to turn off when it's time to get back, to, well, life - but it should also tug at your thoughts to the point where you're itching to sit back down at the computer and resume playing whenever you have a spare moment.
Realore Studios' Turtle Odyssey 2 is this kind of game.
PLAY IT FORWARD: Casual Gaming Poised to Explode in 2007
Hold onto your keyboard and kiss everything you know about interactive entertainment goodbye. Superb a year as 2006 has been for casual games between the release of blockbusters like Mystery Case Files- Prime Suspects, Diner Dash - Flo on the Go, and Slingo Quest, 2007 brings countless exciting new happenings and innovations.
Shogun Sudoku Deluxe Review
Its been said the first 15 minutes of a game is the most critical - after all, we all know how important first impressions can be.
While Shogun Sudoku Deluxe is an entertaining and challenging puzzle game, it doesn't follow the aforementioned rule. In fact, the first few minutes are rather bland and predictable. Thankfully, it's not indicative of the entire game.