What's New in Gamezebo
Friday Casual Games News Weekly Round-Up
It's Friday, which means it's time for Gamezebo's weekly Casual Games News Wrap-Up. This week has been fairly quiet, perhaps because folks have been distracted by the imminent launch of a certain phone that will remain nameless.
Gamelab launches a new and improved website, Gamesindustry.biz tells us something we already knew (that the games industry is worth big bucks), and Gamasutra ponders the question of whether games have to be fun. Plus a couple of neat interviews.
Miss Management Review
Imagine if you took every irritating office stereotype - the outrageous flirt, the nit-picking suck-up, the anti-social computer geek, the stressed out numbers guy, the incompetent middle manager - then took every irritating office behavior - gossiping, slacking off, cooking smelly foods in the microwave, hogging the bathroom, bullying - and mashed them all together. That, in a nutshell, is Miss Management. Oh, and did we mention that it's your job to actually squeeze some productivity out of this mess?
Pirate Island Preview
Let's face it -- pirates are hot once again, thanks in part to Johnny Depp's swagger at the box office. And so it's no surprise this treasure-seeking-on-the-high-seas theme is a popular one in computer games, too.
Up next is Sandlot Games' Pirate Island, a swashbuckling puzzle game with a boatload of humor that will keep you laughing while you click. While this three-in-a-row game mechanic has been overdone, and frankly, so has the pirate theme, it's a blast to play for both novice and seasoned gamers.
Azada Review
Sick of all those 3-in-a-row clones? Restaurant management sims? Seek-and-find mystery games?
You're not alone.
Thankfully, there are fresh new games like Azada to keep the casual game genre from imploding.
Gamezebo News: Nintendo Wii Ware no longer a pipe dream
Nintendo has announced Wii Ware, that'll enable you to download games on the Wii and pay with Nintendo points, earily similar to how Xbox Live Arcade works.
That's the good news, especially for casual game developers. The bad news for the rest of us is that we should not expect any downloadable games on the Wii until next year.
Comfortably Numb
The Sopranos finale, 9-11 and the rise of casual games. It sounds like a dissertation but it's really just an observation, something you notice, not when you're paying attention but when you're not. It's human nature to make connections and look for patterns, and there's one here. The world is a lot different than it was six years ago, the term that comes to mind is sea change, so it's no accident that we've latched onto light, happy, mindless games.
15 Minutes of Game: Featured Web Game of the Week
Shoot the light to shine on all stars. But, you only have one shot per level.
Check out Starshine, developed by Hero Interactive and discovered on FreeGameNews.
Mahjong World Review
Casual gamers who want a relaxing time-waster won't find anything more therapeutic than a Mahjong game.
These ancient Chinese solitaire diversions are a perfect way to melt away the day's stressors, whether it's during the last few minutes of a coffee break at work, at the end of a hectic day at the office or on a rainy Sunday afternoon.
Jungo Review
Forget everything you know about Bejeweled and the five hundred other 3-in-a-row games on the planet (and that's a conservative number).
Jungo has changed the rules of the game and added a clever animal theme, great graphics and unlockable goodies worth working towards.
Travelogue 360: Rome - The Curse of the Necklace Review
Undoubtedly, in the world of hidden-object games, the Travelogue 360 series stands out by nature of its more immersive, 360-degree interface featuring a patent-pending mechanic that employs photos of historical locales to create a more authentic environment. In essence, it places you at the center of the experience.
Where did it start? First came Travelogue 360: Paris, a panoramic object hunt for baguettes and baggage in the City of Love. The second installment, Travelogue 360: Rome - The Curse of the Necklace, transports players to exciting landmarks that only Rome has to offer.
Weekly Casual Games News Wrap
It's Friday, so it's the day we tell you about all the news in the world of casual games. MumboJumbo plans to create casual games based on The Office, there's more news about EA Casual, and Singapore funding casual game development. Excuse me, while I buy my one-way ticket to Singapore. . .
Venice Deluxe Review
It's not easy being PopCap Games. Sure, they're one of the most successful casual game makers in the business - and deservingly so as they continuously publish critically-acclaimed and commercially-successful games. Need proof? How about Bejeweled, Chuzzle, Zuma, Insaniquarium, Feeding Frenzy, Bookworm Adventures and Peggle, to name a few.
But as a result, gamers grow to expect nothing but greatness from them each and every time. They've raised the bar not just for the industry but for themselves. Venice Deluxe, their latest release, falls short of this greatness. It's good - but far from spectacular.
Sneak Peak: Azada, New Adventure Game Coming from Big Fish Games Studios
We just got our hands on Azada, a new adventure-style game from Big Fish Game Studios with beautiful graphics, clever puzzles, and a great story. Check out our screen shots (courtesy of Big Fish Games)
This comes on the heels of our Dreams Chronicles review and Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor preview. That's 3 adventure games we've seen so far in June. . .do I spot a new trend in casual games? If so, me likey.
Sign up for Gamezebo To Go to be first to play this game. We will have our review up the second this game is released.
Dream Day Honeymoon Preview
In Dream Day Wedding, you were the best friend working behind the scenes to make sure the wedding of your friend Jenny's to her beau Robert went off without a hitch (pardon the pun). The story of Jenny and Robert continues in Dream Day Honeymoon, where the new couple travels to a tropical beach paradise and you get to relax and read postcards as Jenny searches for the perfect souvenirs to take home.
Gamezebo News: Interview with EA Casual
We've been working on getting an interview with EA to shed more light EA's foray into casual games, but looks like Newsweek beat us to it (hmmm, maybe they are a bigger news outlet than Gamezebo, but we are more targeted). We'll keep working on it.
Right now, you can read Newsweek's interview with Kathy Vrabeck, ex-Activision exec and new President of EA casual to find out what is going on at EA.
Mahjongg Investigations: Under Suspicion Review
Mahjongg Investigations: Under Suspicion can best be described as a combination of the ancient tile-matching game of Mahjongg (also referred to as Shanghai) and the classic whodunit board game of Clue.
That is, not only do you need to pair up identical tiles on a 3-D board but you're playing this game at a crime scene, in the hopes to unravel enough clues to pin the charge on a suspect. This interesting fusion works -- for the most part.
Gamezebo News: The Office. . .Coming to a Casual Game Near You!
Usually, we don't hype up games until a few weeks before they come out. However, in this case, I have to share the news just because it involves one of my favorite TV shows.
MumboJumbo is working with the Universal Pictures Digital Platforms Group to create casual games based on the TV Show The Office launching this fall. Now, if there was only a casual game based on Borat coming out, my life would be complete.
In other news, ESPN has announced their own casual game initiative.
15 Minutes of Game: Featured Web Game of the Week
There's more to redneck culture than deer stackin' -- acrobatic mud divin' too!
Check out Comedy Central's Redneck Games 2, 2 Web games that are both fun and amusing.
The Magician's Handbook: Cursed Valley Review
So many hidden object games are out now, you could make one concealing just the names of all of the hidden object games, and have a pretty beefy release. So how can a developer attract players already stuffed to the gills with such offerings? BC Soft Games hopes the hand-painted backgrounds and eerie atmosphere in The Magician's Handbook: Cursed Valley will do the trick.
Concentration Review
When I sat down to play Concentration, the new casual offering from Freeze Tag and Universal Studios, I thought about the hours I spent as a child watching the show. I loved trying to solve the puzzles before the contestants, and would do my best to work out the solutions before my mom. As I reminisced, I wondered if the interactive version would have the same appeal.
Steals & Deals: Father's Day
It's Father's Day this weekend and no one cares in casual game world.
But wait, Big Fish Games does. 30% off casual games for Dad this weekend at Big Fish. PlayFirst also has a bundle discount deal.
Update: PopCap is offering Heavy Weapon for $5. Thank you Jeremy for that tip!
Ricochet Infinity Preview
Get ready for one of the most wildly frenetic "Breakout" games ever released: Ricochet Infinity from Reflexive Entertainment is poised to redefine the "brick breaking" genre with incredible 3-D graphics, imaginative levels, awesome power-ups and virtually limitless replayability.
Tic-A-Tac Royale Review
Some things simply go well together: Coffee and chocolate. Rock music and driving fast. Wine and cheese.
Evidently, Tic-Tac-Toe and casino games are also a fine combination - as you'll find out in Tic-A-Tac Royale from [add here].
Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor Preview
Hidden-object games are a hot commodity in the world of casual gaming. In fact, it seems like a new iteration appears on a weekly basis. This we can attribute, primarily, to the popularity of the Mystery Case Files games.
Some are mere clones, stuffing the tried and true mechanic into a new suit of clothes (in this case, different rooms). Others offer a unique twist causing them stand out from the crowd and, hopefully, improve the genre. Mortimer Beckett and the Secrets of Spooky Manor is destined to be one of the latter.
Kill the 60 Minute Trial
Casual game portals are like gas stations.
It doesn't really matter where you fill up your tank. Gas is gas. Yeah, it may have Techron or some other additive to clean your fuel-injectors, but if you're like me, you wait till the gauge is clearly on E, you pull into the nearest station and fill up your tank. Gas stations are really only differentiated by two factors - price and color scheme. BP is yellow and green. Shell is red and yellow. Chevron is red, white and blue. And I am influenced by these colors, by the personality of a gas station, more than I am their prices. I feel more comfortable at a Shell than I do at a CITGO, and it has nothing to do with the latter's ties to Venezuela's state run oil monopoly. It's because Shell's colors appeal to me, and I dig their logo. A nice, simple, yellow scallop. Shell is mellow, and cool, and I like the way their stations look at night.
It occurred to me recently that casual game sites are fundamentally similar to gas stations.
Charma:The Land of Enchantment Review
A seasoned casual gamer will take one look at Charma and immediately write it off as a Chuzzle clone.
After 5 minutes of play, however, you'll see it's not the same game, but rather a cross between Chuzzle and casual games like Zuma.
15 Minutes of Games: Featured Web Game of the Week
Who's more famous? Click the celebrity who you believe is more famous, game ends when you get 1 wrong.
Sounds simple, but the game is very addicting if you are a fan of celebrity gossip. Click here to play PopSugar's Celebrity Face-Off.
Dream Chronicles Review
Frequently, descriptions accompanying new games include a good dose of hyperbole, exaggerated promises and more. Phrases like "stunning artwork, enveloping music and prose worthy of the masters" are spun by marketing mavens you'd swear have never even seen the title they're hawking. On occasion, however, the "overstated" is actually true.
That's the case with Dream Chronicles from KatGames and PlayFirst. In this instance, "gorgeous Art Nouveau artwork, mesmerizing music and a gripping storyline" accurately illustrate the experience that lies ahead.
Birdies Review
What do you get when you cross Diner Dash with, um, birds?
The answer is Birdies, a new multitasking/micromanagement game that lets you play as a babysitting stork - no kidding - who must look after birds dropped off by their parents. While unoriginal (um, except for the bird part), this casual game is mildly fun - especially for younger players and newcomers to the genre.
Alice Greenfingers Review
We now have casual games about weddings, nannies, bird watching and flipping burgers - so why not farming?
You can indeed get your hands dirty with Arcade Lab's Alice Greenfingers, a new strategy/simulation hybrid that will have you tending to a farm and selling your goods so you can afford better equipment, new kinds of seeds and other aids to help nourish the soil.
Behind the Game: Little Shop of Treasures
When Mike Dietrich, GameHouse creative director, started looking for the "next big thing" in casual games, he had no idea that he was actually searching for next big things: Item hunts and customer service games.
"I realized that we might actually be able to combine those two elements into one game, and compete with some other stuff that was out there at the time," Dietrich said.
It was a peanut-butter-and-jelly pairing that would produce, to continue the analogy, a sandwich called Little Shop of Treasures.
Risk Review
"Everybody wants to rule the world" - Tears for Fears, 1985.
For those with nostalgic memories sitting around engrossed in a game of Risk - you know, that classic "world domination" board game played with cunning tactics (and a bit of luck) -- a brand new "casual" version from iWin is a new and faithful reproduction worth downloading.
Spinword Review
Do you ever feel guilty while vaporizing aliens or matching colored gems on your computer? At least when you play a word game, you're exercising your brain, allowing you to both have fun and work out your grey matter. While most word games offer the mental equivalent of a relaxing stroll on a treadmill, playing the new Spinword from Slam Games is like setting the machine on overdrive.
Kudos: Rock Legend Review
If we're honest, most of us have yearned to be rock stars at some point in our lives. The fame, the money, the adulation, the not having to get up till three o'clock in the afternoon, stadium extravaganzas and enough money to fuel a bonfire for a year. Well, if like most of us your dreams of superstardom disappeared years ago, fear not, because thanks to Kudos: Rock Legend you can now live out some of your starry-eyed fantasies without ever having to step into a rusting tour van that smells of feet.
Mahjong Quest II Review
Has a casual game ever left you feeling shortchanged? Perhaps you burned through the story mode too quickly or there weren't enough extras to keep you interested after you'd completed the main part of the offering. That's not a problem with Mah Jong Quest II from iWin, a sequel that could keep you matching pairs for weeks on end before you see everything the game has to offer.
Gamezebo News: Electronic Arts Announces New Casual Games Unit
Electronic Arts (EA), the number one video game publisher, announced today it has created EA Casual Entertainment, a new division to develop and publish games for the fast-growing casual game market.
According to news reports, the division is likely to include Pogo, its super-successful casual game subscription service, and Jamdat, its mobile gaming unit acquire last year.
It'll be headed by Kathy Vrabeck, former President of Publishing at Activision as lead. More news here.
So far in 2007, this would make 4 major publishers (EA, Ubisoft, Vivendi, Eidos) announcing casual games initiatives. Now, let's see some games already. . .
Nertz Solitaire Review
Aw, Nertz! No, that wasn't a cuss. This is a family website after all. Nertz is a favorite card game also known by the names Nerts, Peanuts, Squeak, Squinch, Grouch, Hallelujah and others. It's a real-time, fast-paced diversion similar to Spit and Solitaire where multiple players each have a separate deck of cards.
Never heard of Nertz? Don't feel bad, you're in good company. It would be a shame, however, to miss Nertz Solitaire, a new, nutty twist on competitive solitaire play where your opponents are a family of squirrels.
Gemsweeper Review
We know many Gamezebo fans have spent countless hours clicking away at "Minesweeper" over the years, that deliciously simple yet mind-frazzling game of deduction built into the Windows operating system.
Well, it's about time someone took this game concept a step further - and MumboJumbo and Lobstersoft were the ones to take the plunge. The result is Gemsweeper, a highly-polished puzzler that is as fun as it is tough.
High Seas: The Family Fortune Review
Many of us who are stuck in a dead-end job can't shake the feeling life was supposed to be more exciting. This is exactly what went through Tricia McDormand's mind as she unhappily trudged along at her father's company. But as fate would have it, Tricia one day stumbles upon a mysterious map handed down from her late grandmother, who was a daring explorer, and so Tricia decides to sail the seven seas on a magic ship to seek out the secret treasure.
And so this is how High Seas begins - a new casual game that offers 4-in-a-row puzzle solving, set against the backdrop of a magical quest to discover a family fortune.