What's New in Gamezebo
Hotel Dash: Suite Success - Just In
Waitress. Detective. Hotel-keeper? Is there anything our friend Flo can't do?
PlayFirst has released Hotel Dash: Suite Success. Our review comes soon. In the meantime, you can download a free trial of Hotel Dash: Suite Success (both PC or Mac), write a review, or discuss the game in our forum.
Escape the Museum 2 Review
When I first sat down to play Gogii Games' Escape the Museum 2 I was expecting to have to, well, escape a museum. Again. And I wasn't terribly thrilled about it. I mean, how many games can you make about escaping an earthquake-ravaged museum before the premise starts to feel contrived and repetitive? I think the answer is probably "one."
Imagine my delight upon discovering that the follow-up to Escape the Museum isn't about getting out of a museum at all, but rather about a father heroically making his way through disaster-torn streets in the aftermath of the quake towards the museum to save his trapped family - in other words, a totally different spin on the same theme!
The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 2 - Developer Diary #2
Hello Gamezebo-ers,
This is Ryan Modjeski again, designer and producer of Legacy Interactive's upcoming hidden object adventure, The Lost Cases of Sherlock Holmes, Vol. 2. Since my last developer diary, things have gotten really hectic around here. Murder, She Wrote just launched (at the time of writing it is #1 on Big Fish Games and Legacy Games) and the energy surrounding that project amplified our stresses as we are quickly approaching our own release date in December.
Westward IV: All Aboard Review
It's a shame that the Wild West isn't a more popular setting in video games. If Hollywood and Louis L'Amor are to be believed, this was the era when cowboys had the same sense of honor as Knights of the Round Table, gunfights were used to settle disputes, and gorgeous steam trains were the way to get around. It was a period of romance and adventure, when the nation was still young and the possibilities seemed endless. Thankfully, the Westward series of games have done the setting proud, and the newly-released Westward IV: All Aboard continues the tradition.
Return to Ravenhearst for $2.99 and other deals
Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst is on sale for $2.99 at Big Fish Games until Nov. 22. (use coupon code RTR299 at checkout.) Westward is still free over at Sandlot Games too, so grab this great strategy game while you have the chance! The Settlers strategy games are 50% off on GOG.com until Nov. 23.
Free Realms
The approach of Free Realms - a casual massively-multiplayer online (MMO) game from Sony Online Entertainment, is a simple and familiar one: pack as much free content into as friendly-looking a package as possible and sell upgrades, unlocks and items for real money off the back of that initial experience. The obvious hope is that you'll become enamoured enough with the free portions of the game to pony up for advantages and privileges against other players, and Free Realms has plenty of content put aside for those who are prepared to pay.
iPhone: Yard Sale Hidden Treasures: Sunnyville
One man's trash is another man's treasure, or so the saying goes. I come from a family of dumpster diggers and garage sale junkies (hey, you never know when you're going to find a real gem!). So, I felt right at home playing Yard Sale Hidden Treasures: Sunnyville from Slapdash Games.
Casual News - Nov. 20, 2009
Big Fish Games announces release dates for Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove; Zynga raises $15.2 milion in new funding; and class action lawsuits could be brewing against social networks over the scam offers scandal. These headlines and more behind the cut.
Gamezebo's Back Up! All is good again!
As they say, you can never keep a good site (or is that man/woman?) down.
The site gremlins were running amuck, but now we are back up. Sorry for the inconvenience. I'll make sure the reason we went down never happens again.
Back to writing and posting about great new games to play (and there are many this and next week!
Do you Beta? You betcha! Join GZ's beta test program
Beta test casual games before they come out and provide developers with your insight. Game developers are looking for your feedback to make their games better and they really do listen and change their games based on your advice. We'll be sending out an email with new games to beta test soon.
If you are interested in being a member of our prestigious beta test program, sign up here. If you are already a member, no worries; you don't have to sign up again.
Natalie Brooks: Mystery at Hillcrest High - Just In
Alawar has just launched the third game in the Natalie Brooks hidden object adventure series. Download Natalie Brooks - Mystery at Hillcrest High, write a review, or chat about it in our forum.
Delicious - Emily's Holiday Season Review
Cook and waitress Emily is back for another culinary adventure in Delicious: Emily's Holiday Season. After deciding to stay in the peaceful and cozy town of Snuggford, Emily and her long-time friend Francois find themselves having to care for five different restaurants. This latest installment of the popular Delicious series again proves to be one of the most creative and unique time management game available.
Luxor Adventures - Just In
Luxor Adventures has launched, a game that takes the Luxor puzzle game franchise in a new hidden object direction. Download the game, write a review, and chat about it in our forum.
Escape the Museum 2 - Just In
Escape the Museum 2 has launched! Download the game, write a review, or chat about it in our forum.
Little Folk of Faery Review
Little Folk of Faery isn't the first game to simulate caring for a tribe of villagers (see Wild Tribe, Escape from Paradise, and of course the granddaddy of them all: Virtual Villagers), but it's certainly the one of the most stylish. Set in a beautiful fantasy realm populated with leprauchans, pixies, dryads and other fairytale creatures, the game is a visual delight even as the gameplay itself is nothing groundbreaking.
Simplz: Zoo Preview
Reflexive Entertainment has announced its next game, Simplz: Zoo, a time management game that will put players in charge of their own zoo and give them a chance to control nearly every aspect of it, from which animals they exhibit to where to put the drinking fountains.
Collapse! Preview
When it comes to classic puzzle games, GameHouse's Collapse! series is right up there with the best of them -- which is why we were excited to learn that the franchise is returning with a brand new block-busting, color-matching title called simply COLLAPSE!
iPhone: World's Hardest Game
World's Hardest Game is an iPhone app that actually lives up to its title. The idea is simple, the mechanics are easy, but trying to accomplish anything is mind-numbingly difficult. That's not to say the game is bad - in fact it accomplishes exactly what it sets out to do. World's Hardest Game offers up an easy-to-learn game that will make your blood boil in its first five minutes.
Monkwerks
Monkwerks is a game about spelling, about taxing your vocabulary. That its title is (presumably deliberately) misspelled should tell you all you need to know before you even load it in your browser. This is an excellent example of how to take a simple, appealing concept and run it completely into the ground through fundamentally bad and lazy implementation.
The Return of Monte Cristo Review
The Return of Monte Cristo brings back Alexander Dumas' The Count of Monte Cristo's Edmond Dante for another hidden object adventure in which he searches for his fiancée's killer. The detectives closed the case without ever finding a suspect, so Dante travels from Spain to Paris in this game with beautiful art work and effects in this clichéd, but eye-pleasing game.
Exclusive - Hotel Dash: Suite Success video
PlayFirst sent us a trailer for the upcoming time management game Hotel Dash: Suite Success, which is launching very soon! The video gives you a glimpse of how elevators will be used in the game to allow Flo to go between floors to reach demanding guests in different rooms of the hotel. Watch the Hotel Dash: Suite Success trailer here, and chat about the game in our forum.
Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove release dates announced!
We can finally share with you the release dates for Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove, the hotly anticipated sixth game in the Mystery Case Files hidden object/adventure series from Big Fish Games Studios. For the first time in the series' history, Big Fish Games will be releasing two different versions of the game: the Collector's Edition will launch on Nov. 25 for $19.99, followed by the standard version in early December which will sell for the usual $6.99.
Fig. 8
Browser-based bicycle rides are few and far between nowadays. Maybe that's the reason Fig. 8 makes us smile so much. Its playful title serves as something of a double entendre, referring to the manoeuvring of the bicycle as easily as it does to the landscape on which you'll be cycling. Rather than riding through picturesque scenery and charming country roads, Fig. 8 will have you cycling through technical schematics on an endless sheet of paper.
iPhone: Cash Cow
When Cash Cow came out for PCs last year, it was one of those titles that was promptly shunted into the, "cute, but not great," category. The coin-oriented puzzle game, while enjoyable, was a little too simple and shallow for some players. In short, it was a no-frills steak dinner. Now, though, Cash Cow is back, having been ported to the iPhone, and it seems to have been fleshed out a bit with better gameplay and more content; adding some sides to the dish definitely make this a meal worth sampling.
Westward for Free!
What's better than Westward for free? Nothing, if you ask me. Click here to download Westward for free from Sandlot Games
While you are out it, check out Westward IV, the latest in Sandlot's saga. Our review for WestWard IV is coming soon.
Lost Realms: The Curse of Babylon Review
Ever walk in on the middle of a movie and find yourself hopelessly lost, but still enjoying yourself? That's what playing Lost Realms: The Curse of Babylon is like if you didn't play the previous game, Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess. You'll have a hard time following the plot, but you'll be having such a good time on your adventure that you won't really mind.
Cat Wash Review
Cat Wash is a quirky time management game that has you washing cats in a disco-themed pet salon. Pet grooming games are nothing new, but cat washing games are rare, combined with a theme that jumped straight out of the 1970s...well, the whole combination is something new.
Spore Islands
Spore Islands takes the species-creation idea of the hit PC game Spore and sets it loose in a science experiment type environment. What would happen if I tweaked their diets? What if I reduced their defences? What if I introduced two more species into their world? Spore Islands is a god game in the truest sense of the word. Create creatures, tweak their existence, and let them run amok to see what happens.
Icycle
Coming out of stasis only to find the world has been destroyed in an all-out nuclear conflict sounds like just about the worst day anybody could have. But coming out of stasis to discover this in winter, completely naked, with nothing but a much-too-tiny bicycle to save you? That's worse. Icycle has you guiding a very chilly, very nude man on a teensy little bicycle across some terrifying terrain in an icy cold future.
Cute Knight Kingdom - Just In
Hanako Games has released Cute Knight Kingdom. Of course, a review and strategy guide shall come soon.
Download a free trial of Cute Knight Kingdom now, write a review, and discuss in our forum.
Just In - Cat Wash
Cat Wash, the time management games about washing dirty kitties to a disco beat, has just launched over at Namco Games. Download Cat Wash, write a review, or chat about it in our forum.
Just In - Westward IV: All Aboard
Sandlot Games has just launched Westward IV: All Aboard, the fourth game in its Wild West-themed real-time strategy series. Download the game, write a review, or chat about it in our forum.
Just In - Casebook Episode 3 - Snake in the Grass
Clocktower Games has just released the third chapter its Casebook interactive mystery series, Casebook Episode 3 – Snake in the Grass. Like its predecessors (Casebook Episode 1 and Casebook Episode II - The Watchers), Episode 3 features unique photorealistic 3D graphics that use footage of real actors and scenery. Purchase Casebook Episode 3, write a review, or talk about it in our forum. You can also pick up Episode 2 for $7.50 and Episode 1 for just $5 at the developer's site. Episode 0 is still free.
A Kingdom for Keflings coming to PC
NinjaBee's award-winning Xbox Live Arcade strategy game, A Kingdom for Keflings, will soon be available to PC gamers as a digital download, the company announced today.
Murder, She Wrote Review
It seems like a match made in heaven: a hidden-object game ("HOG") that has you scouring for clues and solving puzzles to unravel a murder mystery, all based on the coveted Murder, She Wrote television series that ran from 1984 to 1996.
Now available for the PC and Mac, Legacy Interactive's Murder, She Wrote does stay truthful to the long-running show - thanks to excellent writing, plot twists and good voice-acting (led by a convincing Angela Lansbury sound-a-like) - but the fun object-finding puzzles and mini-games also hold their own, even without the MSW association.
Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders Review
Square Enix is a Japanese publisher best known for creating the epic role-playing series Final Fantasy, which is why we were surprised when they released the cute puzzle game Yosumin! as a digital download earlier this year. We were surprised again to see Square Enix's name on the title screen of Season of Mystery: The Cherry Blossom Murders, a hidden object game set in 19th century Japan.
Friday the 13th Sale - Games for $13
Friday the 13th is considered an unlucky day, unless you go to a game site powered by Oberon/iPlay. All games are $13 for one day only (just November 13, 2009.
Here are a sample of the web sites with the Friday the 13th $13 Sale (Yahoo! Games, MSN Games, and Pogo).
Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal Preview
The folks at Big Blue Bubble, the developers who brought us Home Sweet Home and Masters of Mystery: Crime of Fashion, are working on a follow-up to Crime of Fashion called Masters of Mystery: Blood of Betrayal. Keep reading for a sneak peek at this upcoming hidden object adventure.
Millennium: A New Hope Review
Millennium: A New Hope is the latest title from Aldorlea Games, an independent developer that specializes in creating casual or "retro-style" role-playing games. Fans of the genre will find many familiar trappings here, especially if you've played any of the studio's previous titles like 3 Stars of Destiny.
Roller Coaster Kingdom
Ask any veteran of Roller Coaster Tycoon or Thrillville and they'll tell you the same -- managing a theme park is hard work. At least it used to be. Roller Coaster Kingdom takes a trip down easy street and strips the traditionally deep theme park management genre of all of its detail and nuance, delivering a social game from Zynga that feels surprisingly underwhelming.
Just In - Murder, She Wrote
Murder, She Wrote, the hidden object game a lot of us have been not-so-patiently waiting for, has launched! Download the game, write a review, or chat about it in our forum.
iPhone: Scoops - Ice Cream Fun For Everyone
When I was in high school, my first job was scooping ice cream in a little shop called Blum's. It was my dream job. What could be more fun than scooping ice cream all day? And you could always get a free ice cream whenever you wanted. Ice cream is definitely one of my key comfort foods. So, when I saw there was an ice cream-based iPhone game called Scoops - Ice Cream Fun For Everyone, I knew I just had to indulge myself.
Casual News - Nov. 13, 2009
EA buys Playfish for $300 million; PlayFirst announces Hotel Dash: Suite Success; and the developers of Spider: The Secret of Bryce Manor challenges the idea that selling games for cheap is the only way to be competitive on the Apple App Store. These headlines and more behind the cut.
Playdom acquires two companies; raises $43 million
On Wednesday Playdom, the social networking company responsible for Facebook hits like Mobsters and Sorority Life, announced that it had raised $43 million in its first round of outside financing. The very next day the company demonstrated how the money was already being put to use by announcing that it had purchased two game companies: Facebook developer Green Patch, and Trippert Labs, an iPhone and social game developer.
Worst week ever for Zynga
Zynga, the leading social games company and creators of popular games that you've probably have played (such as FarmVille, Mafia Wars, and Café World) is officially having the worst week ever.
Just In - Fishdom: Frosty Splash
If you just can't get enough of Fishdom's match-3 / aquarium building gameplay, Playrix Entertainment has released yet another instalment of the puzzle game just in time for the winter season. It's called Fishdom: Frosty Splash, and like the name immplies you'll get to create festive-looking fish tanks with more than 100 winter-themed decorations. Download the game, write a review, or chat about it in our forum.
Jane's Realty 2 Preview
Realore sent us some screenshots and information for Jane's Realty 2, the upcoming sequel to Jane's Realty. Like the first game, Jane's Realty 2 appears to be a building sim in the style of Be Rich, where you not only get to build up a town from the outside, but decorate the interiors of the houses with furniture and other items. Check out some screenshots, or chat about the game in our forum.
Delicious - Emily's Holiday Season Preview
GameHouse has given us a preview of the time management game Delicious - Emily's Holiday Season, the fifth game in the Delicious series. In it, Emily is celebrating Christmas in the little town of Snuggford, where two guys are competing for her attentions. Who should she choose? Find out when the game launches on Nov. 18. In the meantime, check out some screenshots and chat about the game in our forum.
Farkle
Dice games have been around for thousands of years, yet our fascination with them has never waxed or waned. Sic bo has been played in the east for millennia. We've been playing craps in the west since the time of the Crusades. Even well into the 20th century, new games were being developed that depended heavily on dice. Where would Monopoly or Dungeons and Dragons be without them? Now, in this modern age of social networking, the dice game has been re-invented again with Farkle.
Number Ninjas
If you grew up at just the right time in the 1980's, you no doubt remember sitting around the one lone computer in your fourth grade classroom, waiting for your turn to play Reader Rabbit or Math Blasters. Now, thanks to developer Peter Groeneweg, all the fun of edutainment is back! Unlike the 80's though, this time we mean it. Number Ninjas is fun, educational, and puts out math skills to the test.
