Gamezebo Archives - February 2011

Mirror mirror on the wall, who will be the Zynga of Mobile Social?

Andreessen Horowitz, a reputable venture capital firm here in Silicon Valley, has placed their first set of bets on TinyCo, makers of Tap Resort Party and Tiny Chef.

It's pretty early to be thinking about Halloween - which is when a lot of the juiciest horror-themed hidden object games tend to come out - but not too early for GameHouse to tempt us with details about the next Campfire Legends game. Campfire Legends: The Last Act.

Viva Media and Polish developer Teyon have just announced a deal to bring the Linda Hyde series of hidden object adventure games to North America. The first game in the series, Vampire Mansions: A Linda Hyde Mystery is scheduled to launch in April. Check out screenshots of the hidden object mystery behind the cut.

The first free content update has been released for Heavy Hogur, the clever puzzle game from Spelagon about a full-figured, treasure-loving dwarf. The update includes more rooms, a new "rotator" floor type, and the ability to undo moves. The update will be available as a patch within the game within the next few days, or players can simply re-download the game and replace the current version. See a brief preview of the new features behind the cut.

Starship Command takes the basic Facebook text RPG formula and dresses it up with richer visuals and a slick sci-fi theme. While you can see your ship as you push it around the map to look for rivals to fight and see representations of places you go to buy upgrades, Starship Command is as much a game about clicking through menus as the original Mafia Wars. Its appeal is likewise much the same, though the richer visuals and music help Starship Command feel a bit more immersive than most text RPGs. Still, if you’ve played almost any text RPG, Starship Command will feel very familiar, very fast.

Slowly but surely all of the major professional sports are making their way to Facebook, and this time it’s basketball’s turn. Like its contemporaries, NBA Legend isn’t so much about playing the sport as managing a team. You can control your favorite squad and guide them through a season and the playoffs, while at the same time you get to create and manage your very own avatar. While it’s lacking the fast-paced action that makes the sport so exciting, NBA Legend is still a great way to get your b-ball fix.

Kim-Mai Cutler at Inside Mobile Apps has written an interesting piece that Facebook and Apple are on a collision course over payments.

Facebook and Apple look like they are making moves out of each other’s playbook. Both have announced that they will take a 30% cut of sales (virtual items and subscriptions) from apps distributed on their platforms.

Where it gets interesting is where their platforms converge.

Welcome the Gemini Rue walkthrough on Gamezebo. Gemini Rue is a point-and-click adventure game played on PC created by Wadjet Eye Games. This walkthrough includes tips and tricks, helpful hints, and a strategy guide to how to complete Gemini Rue.

If I had to classify Gemini Rue - and I do - I think I'd call it a "cyberpunk-noir existentialist thriller." It's a fascinating examination of humanity that unfolds against a grimy, dystopian sci-fi backdrop, where high technology and interstellar travel cross paths with desperate junkies and organized crime in a grim, slow-burning mystery that asks two questions for every one it answers. And it's a fantastically good game, too.

Welcome to the Ancient Secrets: Mystery of the Vanishing Bride walkthrough on Gamezebo. Ancient Secrets: Mystery of the Vanishing Bride is a Hidden Object Game played on the PC created by GameHouse. This walkthrough includes tips and tricks, helpful hints, and a strategy guide on how to complete Ancient Secrets: Mystery of the Vanishing Bride.

Your father has been kidnapped. Thieves have begun a search for a series of magical relics. A mysterious letter is left for you, asking desperately for help. All of these things are connected, but how? In Relics of Fate: A Penny Macey Mystery, you’ll find the answer to that question and more, as you work to save your father, discover the meaning behind the relics, and save your town from a conspiracy, before those responsible can end your journey for good.

Free games are all around us, but they may not be as easy to find as you’d think. We help you sort through the App Store to find the latest price drops and limited time offers so that you won’t have to spend a penny. Today’s free games include a family favourite word game, a gorgeous new CCG title, a battle with robot dogs, and more!

I have mixed feelings about King's Quest III Redux, AGDInteractive's remake of the classic 1986 Sierra adventure game. On one hand, it replicates the gameplay experience of the golden age of Sierra with such fidelity that it's likely to make fans squeal with delight. On the other, it's been 25 years since the original KQ3 was released and it's hard to ignore the fact that in many ways, it just hasn't aged very well.

After meeting main character Liz Allaire a few weeks back, players can now view the first footage of her charismatic partner Dan Murray, the other playable character in Pendulo Studios' upcoming adventure game The Next Big Thing. Brand new video and screenshots behind the cut!

Grey Area, a smart-phone games developer based in Finland has raised $2.5 million, according to TechCrunch.

Grey Area is the developer of the mobile alternative reality game called Shadow Cities, which turns real city streets into a virtual battle zone for players, with missions, casting spells, and mages. Think FourSquare if FourSquare was actually a game, and not some pointless app that you can only use to check-in real-world locations and nothing more.

Nerdy, yes. Cool, indeed.

When it comes to re-publishing old games on handhold systems, Square-Enix is currently dominating the scene. Earlier this week, the publisher revealed that Final Fantasy III will be hitting the App Store in the near future. The news wasn't really that surprising, considering how Final Fantasy and Final Fantasy II are already available for iOS devices – but that didn’t make it any less exciting.

There's a real lack of quality sci-fi RPG’s in the App Store right now, but it looks like fans of the genre are due to get a pretty epic one in the near future. Rodeo Games is going to unleash Hunters Episode One on iOS devices shortly, and it looks like the game might just provide players with a huge amount of content to play through.

Few companies can manage to strike gold on two different platforms with two wildly different titles at the same time, yet Booyah has quickly made a name for themselves over the last year as the creators of MyTown, the iPhone’s top GPS game, and Nightclub City, a music and management game with over 2 million monthly active users on Facebook. Now Booyah is looking to blend these two ideas together with the upcoming release of Nightclub City DJ Rivals for the iPhone and iPod Touch.

Spartacus: Gods of the Arena is a Facebook game developed by Large Animal Games. Purchase slaves and train gladiators to fight a bloody battle in different arenas against other houses. Sway the crowd, rig fights, and ask help from your allies to gain influence and Denarii, to elevate your house and bring out a champion. These are just a few of the things you can do to get started playing Spartacus: Gods of the Arena by referring to this quick start guide.

As much as Apple might like to steer clear of the topic, “theft” has become something of a buzzword surrounding the App Store lately. On more than one occasion hard working developers have seen their work plagiarized – or worse yet out-and-out stolen – only for it to be approved by Apple as a sellable product.