What's New in Gamezebo
The Price is Right Review
Casual gamer, come on down! You're the next contestant on The Price is Right. Yep, one of the most popular television game shows has gone interactive with Ludia's first computer game offering, The Price is Right, that looks and plays like the real deal - though without Drew Carey or Bob Barker.
Where are all the Real People?
Listen to me now. A black man is close to becoming President of the United States. A black woman is Secretary of State. A black man just became Governor of New York. Oprah is arguably the most powerful media personality in the world. Yet when was that last time you saw black face in a game? A real black face. Oh, there are a few, in the background. There's a couple in Wedding Dash. There might be one in Shop Mania. But the fact is that Sasquatch sightings are more common. Unicorns outnumber people of color in casual games at least 10-1. What's going on here?
Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier Review
When it comes to westerns, gamers, like prairie dogs, have been left to perish in a sun-parched desert. Few developers have seen fit to address the paucity either. Thankfully, Sandlot Games just rode into town with a saddlebag full of goodness in the wild-west sequel, Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier. Like its forbearer, Westward, this ant-farm-filled-with-gunslingers serves up a tasty tin of casual sim and real-time strategy fun.
Friday Casual Games Weekly News Roundup
The USA Network and SciFi.com are the latest companies to launch casual games on their websites; Mytopia - a platform that allows people on different social networks (i.e. Facebook and MySpace) to play the same games together - launches; and The Escapist's Andy Chalk writes about his newfound obsession with casual games in Keeping it Casual. These articles and more in our weekly news roundup.
Cooking Academy Preview
Even the greatest chefs have to start somewhere, and that's what Cooking Academy is all about. An upcoming game from Fugazo - the makers of Fashion Fits - the game takes place in the prestigious Culinary Academy, where you've enrolled as a freshman to learn how to prepare delicious meals.
Ice Cream Mania Review
Don't glance at our 3 out of 5-star rating for this game and write it off as a waste of time - on the contrary, we had fun with Ice Cream Mania - but it plays just like the other five dozen time management games available today. In the end, it's simply an average yet entertaining downloadable diversion that, at the very least, is worth playing the 60-minute free trial.
Elias the Mighty Review
Ever notice how most great movie villains have foreign accents? Russian, German, British... it usually depends on when it was made, but the common thread is there. Animated films are particularly notorious for this. You will find plenty of Russian villains in Elias the Mighty, but also some Russian heroes too - in fact, the game is based on a Russian folk legend.
Spring Up! Review
Wikipedia defines a computer game as software that "involves interaction with a user interface to generate visual feedback on a video device." Although that sounds cold and technical, if you apply it to the new casual offering, Spring Up!, then Frozax's release would certainly qualify as a computer game. Unfortunately, despite a sincere effort on the part of the developers, it's about as fun to play as reading a dictionary.
Jane's Hotel: Family Hero
Move over, Paris Hilton - in Jane's Hotel: Family Hero, you're an heiress who actually works hard at her family business! Jane vows to stop the foreclosure of four hotels by borrowing money from the bank and then working at each one until enough cash is collected to help pull her family through. Through this ambitious venture you'll work at a beachfront resort in the Canary Islands, a castle in England, a fancy French inn and a traditional Japanese hotel.
15 Minutes of Game: Patchworkz!
A game about making quilts is definitely something you don't see every day, and it's why we chose Patchworkz! as our featured web game of the week. Fill in the lovely patterns by fitting together the correct pieces of fabric so that the shapes interlock. Click here to play Patchworkz!
Better games, please!
Chock it up to growing pains - maybe. Some great games have come out over the past couple of weeks, but at the same time, it seems like Gamezebo's writers have handed out more sub-par scores than we have in the entire history of the site. And trust us, that's not because we've just arbitrarily decided to get tougher on games. It's because so many of the new games being released are just not up to the standards we've come to expect.
Hidden Wonders of the Depths Review
As any keyboard jockey worth their weight in hard drives knows, there are casual games - instantly-comprehensible titles which appeal to a broad audience - and then there are casual games, the sort so leisurely and undemanding you could practically fall asleep playing. Falling firmly into the latter category despite offering a wealth of different gameplay styles and colorful undersea realm in which to play, Hidden Wonders of the Depthsbpredictably manages to entertain, but, as you might imagine, won't set the desktop world aflame.
Gems Quest Review
It can't be easy anymore for casual game developers to come up with new ideas for match-three offerings. In fact, with hidden object and time management releases ruling the roost, one has to wonder why a company would even try. I'm glad the developers at Sulus Games were more optimistic, because if they hadn't been, we wouldn't have Gems Quest to play.
Friday Casual Games Weekly News Roundup
Casual games will weather the economic recession, according to MSNBC readers who say they'd rather cut back on traveling and eating than playing games. Reflexive Entertainment launches more than 70 Mac games, npost interviews Sandlot Games founder Daniel Bernstein, and Advertising Age gives us an interesting primer on in-game ads. Read these articles and more in our weekly casual games news roundup.
Fashion Solitaire Review
Trivia question - how many fashion games have been released in 2008? I count nearly a dozen. Most of these are time management, only a couple let the player dictate the fashions, and none let the user design her/his own clothes... until now! Fashion Solitaire takes the basic concept of solitaire and turns it into a vogue designing experience. Brace yourself for some fresh air.
Steals & Deals
PopCap - Save 25% when you buy Bookworm and Bookworm Adventures together, and save up to 50% on all Mac games.
Reflexive Arcade - Free copy of Big Kahuna Reef for Mac.
Sandlot Games - 50% off Cake Mania 2. Offer ends March 24.
WildGames - 50% off Build-a-lot, Virtual Villagers: The Lost Children, Polar Golfer, Slingo Deluxe and Blasterball 3. Offer ends March 31.
Just In: Fashion Solitaire and Jane's Hotel: Family Hero
Two new games have been released: Fashion Solitaire and Jane's Hotel: Family Hero.
Our reviews are coming soon, but you can download free trials of Fashion Solitaire and Jane's Hotel: Family Hero now.
Pet Shop Hop Review
If you thought owning a dog, cat, bird or rabbit was hard work, try selling them. These pet lovers can be pretty demanding at the best of times, and you'll get a taste of this firsthand by playing through Pet Shop Hop, the latest time management game from PlayFirst.
Megastore Madness Review
Only in America can you buy car tires, underwear, plastic flamingoes, and bean burritoes in the same shop. It's a cultural phenomenon known as the "Megastore." Offering dirt cheap prices (and cheap imports), these megastores manage to make themselves a regular part of our weekend to-do list. Megastore Madness is a time management game that lets you play manager at one of these one-stop-shops.
Can You See What I See? Review
You may not have heard of Walter Wick, but he's the genius responsible for arranging and photographing the scenes in the wonderful I Spy book series - so in a way, you could call him one of the founding fathers of hidden object games. Can You See What I See? features some of Wick's most striking scenes in a charming seek-and-find adventure game.
15 Minutes of Game: RingShot
RingShot is a bit like a cross between billiards and the fine Canadian sport of curling. The goal is to activate colored rings by launching orbs of the same color into them. The game definitely starts to get addictive once you've gotten the hang of the physics. Click here to play RingShot.
Just In - Megastore Madness
There's a horde of customers crashing through the door and nothing's going to get between them and the sales. Restock shelves, help customers, handle security issues and manage Super Sale blowouts in the new time management game Megastore Madness, which has just launched on Big Fish Games. Click here to download it.
Treasures of the Ancient Cavern Review
Trust us: It's never a good sign when you confuse a game for half a dozen others before you load it up. And certainly, new pattern-matching puzzler Treasures of the Ancient Cavern lives up to expectation in this regard, delivering predictable thrills in a beautifully-packaged, but ultimately largely forgettable attempt to build on the old match-three equation. Nonetheless, to be fair, we should also admit it proves an unexpectedly competent take on an oft-used motif (shifting tiles to group rows of similar objects) that's worth tackling in short spurts.
First Look - Airport Mania: First Flight
If you've had your fill of waiting tables, sewing dresses and babysitting (and even if you haven't), Reflexive Entertainment has something a little different up its sleeve with the upcoming time management game Airport Mania: First Flight.
ZoomBook: The Temple of the Sun Preview
MumboJumbo's and QB9's Zoombook: The Temple of the Sun is either an interactive storybook or a jigsaw puzzle with one heck of a plot. We'll leave it up to you to decide when the game launches in June. Either way, the idea is a neat one, and we were pretty intrigued when we got to test drive the game a little early.
Just In - Can You See What I See?
Can You See What I See? has just launched on Big Fish Games. You guessed it - it's another hidden object game! This particular game has a bit of history though: the artwork in the scenes comes from the Can You See What I See? books by Walter Wick, who also photographed the classic I Spy book series. Click here to try the game and stay tuned for our review and strategy guide.
Friday Casual Games Weekly News Roundup
The rumor is that THQ is acquiring casual game retail publisher Elephant Entertainment. Mochi Ads (think Google Adsense for casual games) raises $4 million in funding; that's not a rumor.
In other news, there are more articles about casual games and women, and casual game developers are going ga-ga over the iPhone SDK.
Escape the Museum Review
Museums tend to be rather quiet, studious locales apart from the occasional grade schooler visits (and, not counting the events of Night at the Museum with Ben Stiller). But, not today. All h-e-double hockey sticks has broken loose at the National Museum of History following a 7.6 magnitude earthquake that rocked the city. In fact, it's a frantic room-by-room search and rescue in Escape the Museum.
Penguins' Journey Review
Every once in a while (e.g. during the present deluge of cut-rate hidden object titles), we casual game reviewers put the call out, begging publishers for something fresh and original... a little left-of-center, even. Thankfully, every so often (i.e. here, in one of the most clever and adorable mouse-mashing puzzlers seen in months), the powers that be actually listen, blessing fans of the hobby with first-rate outings like Penguins' Journey.
Interview with Dave Gilbert, Wadjet Eye Games
Dave Gilbert wasn't intending to make games for casual audiences when he created The Shivah, The Blackwell Legacy and Blackwell Unbound in the style of the classic adventure games of the late 80s, but as it turns out, casual gamers love their point-and-click adventures too. Gilbert recently spoke to Gamezebo about the renaissance of adventure games, his early days as an indie developer, and his recent deal with PlayFirst.
Rainbow Web II Review
Puzzle fans, listen up. If you didn't get around to playing though Sugar Games' fun and challenging three-in-a-row game, Rainbow Web, then you should download the new Rainbow Web II, which offers more of the same and a couple of added twists.
Curse of the Pharaoh: The Quest for Nefertiti Review
The second most famous Egyptian queen, behind Cleopatra of course, is the beautiful Nefertiti. Her death and burial remain a mystery that archaeologists and historians around the world would love to solve, and Curse of the Pharaoh: Quest for Nefertiti explores that in a unique adventure based a fictional search for her tomb that centers on step-siblings Anna and William.
The History Channel Lost Worlds Review
The idea is a clever one: take popular casual game mechanics and add a historical component and you've got The History Channel: Lost Worlds, an educational title that, while not really offering anything new, proves to be an enjoyable collection of puzzle games.
Magical Forest Review
If you have any deadlines today, such as submitting a game review to your editor, don't download Magical Forest. If you do, kiss the next few hours of your life goodbye. You should also grab two Popsicle sticks and some dental floss for when your finger goes numb from all the mouse clicking.
Animal Agents Review
The little rabbit Fridolin is the latest in a long line of pets to go mysteriously missing in what is becoming a common theme in hidden object game storylines. (Not that we're complaining - only a cruel, heartless person wouldn't jump at the opportunity to rescue cute animals.) In Animal Agents you'll do just that, with the unique option of playing as either Anna or Justin and exploring the story from two different points of view.
Slingo Quest Hawaii Review
Say goodbye to your significant other, drop the dog off at the kennel and prepare to kiss your free time goodbye... Slingo Quest Hawaii, latest in the multimillion-selling series - and the first and best to successfully fuse the two all-consuming pastimes of slots and bingo - is finally here, and it's about to rearrange your entire life. Just one caveat: Much as newcomers can't help but be charmed by the outing, series veterans should expect simply incremental, not revolutionary, gains over past iterations, making it a welcome, albeit hardly earth-shattering upgrade.
15 Minutes of Game: Guitar Masters
Turn your computer keyboard into a shredding lead guitar with Guitar Masters, our featured web game of the week. By pressing the right keys at the right time, you can play along with the musical tracks and watch your guitar-wielding avatar rock out on screen. Click here to play Guitar Masters.
Westward II Video
Sandlot Games has made a little video to promote Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier, which shows off the game's new enhanced 3D graphics and other features. Click here to watch it.
Just In - Curse of the Pharoah: The Quest for Nefertiti
The hidden object games just keep on coming! Curse of the Pharoah: The Quest for Nefertiti launched today on Big Fish Games, although to be fair it looks to be an Dream Chronicles-style adventure game with some hidden object elements thrown in. Stay tuned for our review.
Magic Farm Review
The casual game industry has unearthed another farm / gardening game. Magic Farm - not to be confused with Magic Seeds - makes a nice entry into the world of sims and role-playing games (RPGs). Gameplay and scenery resemble both the recently released Bloom Busters and Grimm's Hatchery, but although the game isn't original, it offers many elements to avoid being just another clone with a new theme.
Supple Review
Supple is a premier magazine for single, urban, professional women. Arin works there as an Associate editor, but she has bigger aspirations. In this life simulation game, your goal is to get Arin the coveted position of Style Editor, which has recently come up for grabs. Hugh, Arin's co-worker, also has his eye on the job, so expect a bit of competition. You have to achieve your goal by Friday, and beat out Hugh by passing your daily performance reviews.
Haunted Hotel Review
As a concept, a hidden object game set in a spooky old hotel is just oozing with potential - after all, not that many casual games have chosen to explore slightly darker subject matter like horror and the supernatural. It's the spectacular failure to deliver on such potential, however, that makes Haunted Hotel all the more frustrating.
Build-a-lot: Town of the Year Preview
Gamezebo saw a lot of cool games at last month's Game Developer's Conference, but one of the highlights was getting to sit down with HipSoft as they walked us through a preview of Build-a-lot 2, subtitled Town of the Year. Although only four of the eight towns were playable, we could sense that the game was already on its way to being as challenging, accessible and fun as the original - if not moreso.
Diamond Drop 2 Review
As journalists, we thought it was our job to dig up the dirt on casual games. But in Diamond Drop 2, sequel to the popular pattern-matching mind-boggler, that responsibility falls more to Gary, a mole miner known for his way with gems. Thankfully, there's no sense splitting hairs here, though - amusing and fast-paced as the title proves, you won't care either way.
Friday Casual Games Weekly News Roundup
Among the top headlines this week: Big Fish Game and flash memory manufacturer SanDisk have launched a web site offering casual games that can run off of portable USB flash drives without being installed on a computer. Next Generation does a great job of dissecting the results of an Interpret research study focused on casual gamers, and according to the Electronic Software Association 38% of gamers are female - not bad!
Scrabble Journey Review
We've got to applaud developer Republic of Fun's latest effort Scrabble Journey: It cleverly takes the classic tabletop favorite and attempts to marry it with original adventure game elements. Unfortunately, although the title does offer some challenge and occasional standout moments, like the company's other recent effort Merv Griffin's Crosswords, a lackluster presentation and largely forgettable play bar the outing from greatness.
Gift of the Magi: How Gamenauts found the right spot for Cate West
As you could probably imagine, most casual game developers set out from the beginning to make a game. After a time, it's inevitably required that said game be encased in a story, some narrative thread propelling the player from level to level.
But Gamenauts' Cate West: The Vanishing Files arrived a different way entirely. Stanley Adrianus, founder of the company, had a lead character and a story he wanted to tell about her -- he just needed the right game for the job.
Spandex Force Review
Whoever said you can't create something fresh from an existing concept obviously hasn't downloaded Spandex Force, an entertaining 3-in-a-row puzzler wrapped up in a run story-driven role-playing game (RPG) theme.
KinderGarten Review
Talking care of children has got to be one of the toughest jobs in the world. It's amazing how much adventure, drama, comedy and tragedy can fit into such a little package. Oh yeah, and horror - have I mentioned that? Try babysitting at 6pm, also known as "witching hour" or the "six o'clock screamfest" and you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. And yet, despite this, there is a never-ending line of people happy to sign up for the job.
In KinderGarten, Mila runs a kindergarten (no surprise there), and hopes someday to make it really big and famous with the best kindergarten in the city. Strictly speakings, its more of a daycare facility than a kindergarten, since your clients are still babies. Your goal is to help Mina expand her business and achieve her aspirations.
First Look - Jane's Hotel: Family Hero
Realore Studios is hard at work on the sequel to Jane's Hotel with a new time management game called Jane's Hotel: Family Hero. Details are scarce, but we do know that Jane will have two assistants - a maid and a porter - to help her turn her chain of family hotels into the best in the city. In addition to dozens of upgrades to purchase, you'll also be able to offer souvenirs to your customers, take pictures with a digital camera, and explore new locations all over the world including Hawaii, England, France and Japan. Click READ MORE to check out the screenshots.
Just In - Haunted Hotel
Haunted Hotel has just launched. Click here to play the creepy new hidden object game from Big Fish Games.
Behind the Game: Diner Dash Hometown Hero
With its challenging click management gameplay and spunky hero Flo, the Diner Dash series is the crown jewel in PlayFirst's game catalogue. However, after 200 million downloads, two successful sequels, portable versions for the Nintendo DS, Sony PSP and mobile phones, and a SpongeBob Squarepants-themed spin-off, the big question for PlayFirst heading into 2007 was "what next?"
Not content to rest on its laurels, PlayFirst looked closely at websites like Gaia Online, Maple Story, Pogo and Puzzle Pirates for inspiration for the next Diner Dash game. The result, Diner Dash: Hometown Hero, introduced micro-transactions, user-generated content and multiplayer modes to the series.
Tumblebugs 2 Review
Its been argued the best way to create a successful casual game sequel is to deliver much of what made its predecessor worthy of a follow-up, yet introduce new features to justify the purchase. Tumblebugs 2, from Australia's Wildfire Studios, concentrates too much on the former, delivering very much the same experience as the first game despite a couple of new additions. This sequel to one of the best-selling 2005 titles is indeed a fun diversion, but it'll likely feel like a case of deja vu for many players.
Ancient Wonderland Review
Contrary to popular belief, we here at Gamezebo Towers are easy to please: All we require for a title to score highly in our rankings is that it be fun and accessible. Unfortunately, familiar and engaging as its base concept proves, new tile-matching puzzler Ancient Wonderland is forcing us to add new criteria to the list: Namely, that games submitted for evaluation be comprehensible and in English to boot.
15 Minutes of Game: Aquanaut
Explore the underwater depths in your submarine, collecting treasure and avoiding obstacles like jellyfish, crabs and spikes in our featured web game of the week Aquanaut. Click here to play.
Miss Teri Tale Review
Teri Tale is an author who moves away from the bustle of New York to Peeking Town to work on her next book. Not surprisingly - at least to anyone who has played a hidden object mystery before - Peeking Town is not the quiet suburb that it appears to be on the surface. Things go sideways when Jason, a purebred Chinese Crested Dog and beloved pet of Teri's new friend Abigail, goes missing. Teri takes it upon herself to find the missing pup, and voila - the premise for Miss Teri Tale.
Magic Match Adventure Review
The adorable imps return for a third time in Magic Match Adventures, the latest game in the quirky Magic Match series. This time, rather than just telling a story, we peek inside the imps' lives in the land of Arcania and give them a hand when they need it. Just wave the wand over the troubled imp and everything's A-OK again.
Build-a-lot 2: Town of the Year Preview
Gamezebo saw a lot of cool games at last month's Game Developer's Conference, but one of the highlights was getting to sit down with HipSoft as they walked us through a preview of Build-a-lot 2, subtitled Town of the Year. Although only four of the eight towns were playable, we could sense that the game was already on its way to being as challenging, accessible and fun as the original - if not moreso.