Latest Reviews

Down on your luck, alone and broke, you can always turn to the one place that can change your luck from downtrodden poverty to stinking rich in a matter of minutes - a casino! Once Upon a Time in Chicago is a rags-to-riches mini-game collection set in prohibition era Chicago. It sounds like it has the makings of a grand adventure, but this is one casino story we're not betting on. Read more»

Scrabble may be universally loved, but it hasn't really offered anything new to spice up crossword formula since the game debuted in 1938.  That's more than 70 years with nary a tweak to the rule book.  Previous releases like 2006's Scrabble Deluxe have done a tremendous job of perfecting Scrabble's board game to video game transition, so what's left to tackle?  If you're behind the recently release Scrabble Plus, the answer is "a lot." Read more»

When most people think of property ownership board games, they think of Monopoly.  My heart goes out to those people.  If their thoughts first go to Monopoly, chances are they have never had the chance to enjoy sublime tabletop experiences like Carcassone or Settlers of Catan.  Room Boom Suburbia is an all new property-owning experience that has far more in common with the latter than the former, even if its virtual nature means there's not actual board involved. Read more»

Some modern solitaire experiences ruin the basic pleasure of the game - which comes from organizing cards into groups based on a simple set of rules - by adding too many complicated power-ups and contrived game-changing variables. Happily, that's not the case with Faerie Solitaire, a dead simple solitaire experience that sprinkles just the right amount of fun twists and tweaks to keep the game interesting without making it too convoluted. Read more»

Notable for the way in which it elegantly combines playing cards with puzzle-solving, the Jewel Quest Solitaire series has long been a favorite of casual game fans. While it's more of a natural expansion for the series than sweeping revamp, the same holds true for Jewel Quest Solitaire 3. Marrying simple match-three action with classic tabletop fun, it’s a surprisingly deep, yet approachable title that won’t leave veterans wowed, but makes for an engaging time nonetheless. Read more»

Solitaire mah jong, also known as Taipei and Shanghai, has kept people busy for decades, especially since the 1990s when Microsoft released Taipei in its Windows Entertainment Pack. Since then, the game has spawned many variations that offer tile designs ranging from sports teams and cartoon characters to flags and holiday themes. Hexagon Mahjongg attempts to introduce something different with hexagon-shaped (six-sided) tiles. Read more»

Ah, Solitaire. How many times have I wiled away the hours with you when I should have been working? I'm sure I'm not the only one with this illustrious past with the old Windows standby. But Solitaire for Dummies shows that there are many different ways to play the game. Read more»

The tile-matching pastime mah jong originated in China, but according to Mahjong: Mysteries of the Past the game is timeless. As you travel through five historical eras searching for pieces of a missing artifact (more on that later), the inhabitants you meet all have two things in common: one, they all conveniently speak modern English, and two, they're always up for a few rounds of mah jong. Read more»

Successfully blending mah jong with Zuma and bingo, offbeat puzzler Liong: The Dragon's Dance was nothing if not ambitious when it launched several months back. Sequel Liong: The Lost Amulets takes an equally innovative approach, mixing hidden object play with typical tile-matching challenges, albeit not always to best effect. Read more»

You don't generally expect to find stories of domestic violence or promiscuity in casual games, and you definitely don't expect to find them in solitaire! When I first started playing Heartwild Solitaire, I was very surprised to see the direction the story was taking. Still, as uncomfortable as it was, I found it very hard to stop playing because I wanted to see where the story went. Read more»

In Las Vegas, the gambling mecca of the world, there are tons of ways to lose your money, or risk it all for that big win. On a recent trip there, I noticed that one of the more popular methods t lose your cash is video poker. I saw people sitting in front of those blinking machines for hours on end at all times of the day, hoping for the computer to generate a winning hand. If this activity sounds appealing, then Piddlepup Pirate Poker is for you. If not, then you may want to think twice before downloading. Read more»

On the tail of UNO Undercover comes SKIP-BO Castaway Caper, a casual game remake of another of Mattel's card games. If you haven't heard of it, Skip-BO is similar to UNO, but while UNO is often compared to Crazy 8s, Skip-BO more closely resembles Spit, or the traditional card game sometimes known as Cat and Mouse or Spite and Malice. Read more»

Looking for a new card game? Magic Aces adds some fresh spins to classic poker, creating an original card game variant that's both challenging for veterans and still accessible to casual poker players. Read more»

Hey, Seven Card Stud, wanna go to Omaha for some Texas Hold'em? Bad pun. Players have the opportunity to learn how to play those three games in Poker for Dummies without cracking a book. Instead, learn the basics, rules, and vocabulary with an interactive tutorial and quizzes covering the basics of poker and simulations that dig deeper into how to play to win. Read more»

Howdy pardner! Y'all love poker, I'm sure, and a new spin on the classic card game has moseyed its way to the casual game space. Yee haw! Governor of Poker folds in a Wild West theme along with a real estate spin, as you can earn enough money to buy buildings in order to become a Texas tycoon. Read more»

Step through the saloon doors into the Wild West, where you'll try to find the gold mine at the end of the treasure map with your six-shooter in one hand and a deck of cards in the other. Gunslinger Solitaire puts a unique cowboy spin on the old solitaire card game that's fun for a while but ultimately has its fair share of tumbleweeds. Read more»

Do you love card games but are tired of playing the same old poker and solitaire? What about a game of UNO instead? UNO - Undercover takes the classic UNO card game and gives it a complete facelift, with a bunch of interesting new game elements wrapped in a quirky and amusing adventure. Read more»

If it looks like solitaire and plays like solitaire, it must be... a '40s-style serial adventure? Unexpected perhaps, but that's precisely the case in new epic, globetrotting head-scratcher Tri-Peaks 2: Quest for the Ruby Ring. Taken as a whole, the number-crunching game - which fuses a simple card-counting play mechanic with attractive animations and classic tomb-raiding elements - happily far exceeds the sum of its individual parts. Read more»

Ahh... Tropico Island... home to the most beautiful butterflies the world has ever seen. In Tropico Jong: Butterfly Expedition, you get to experience first-hand these colorful creatures as you embark on a journey of discovery through this butterfly-scouting mahjong game. Read more»

Mahjong solitaire may be played with mahjong tiles, but it's very different from the traditional four-person game played in Asia. Instead, mahjong solitaire is reportedy based off of an Ancient Chinese matching game called "the Turtle." Mah Jong Quest III follows in these age-old footsteps, with a bunch of new challenges for players seeking a serious mahjong experience. Read more»

Books, movies, television shows, DVD/VCR challenges, the odd children's novel or interactive CD... Since debuting in 1949, British board game sensation Clue (or Cluedo, as it's known to fans overseas) has been entertaining families across the world. Small wonder then the title's received several PC conversions, the latest being CLUE Classic. While a faithful translation of the tabletop favorite which accurately captures the multiplayer whodunnit's excitement and atmosphere though, the outing also suffers from some of the same drawbacks as the family game night staple it's modeled on. Bummer. Read more»

On the surface, the concept of combining the ancient Chinese tile-matching pastime of mahjong with British author Lewis Carroll's classic fantasy story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland seems as far-fetched as... well, a white rabbit in a waistcoat carrying a pocket watch. But thanks to outstanding production values, solid mahjong gameplay, and well-executed hidden object rounds that don't manage to feel tacked on, Alice's Magical Mahjong is a thoroughly charming outing. Read more»

A journey around China in the sandals of young Kwazi is the backdrop for Mah Jong Quest, iWin's foray into the popular Mah Jong category. iWin has taken the time tested mechanics of Mah Jong and put a story to it. You'll travel from province to province as a child hero of indeterminate gender, solving puzzles and restoring the razed remains of the landscape with the power of the Tao. On your way you'll be guided by all the animals of the Chinese zodiac, coaxing you along your Mah Jong Quest with rhymes and riddles. Read more»

Casual gamers who played last year's Hotel Solitaire might get a sense of deja vu while entering the lobby, elevator and hallways of Hotel Mahjong, as this is the second in the series from Zylom to fuse a luxurious stay at a hotel/casino and classic solitaire games. But don't worry - the similarities end once you step into a hotel room to begin hitting the tiles. Read more»

Considering that the classic game that it's based on is literally centuries of years old, at face value, you'd think it would be hard for Mahjongg Artifacts 2 to innovate on a winning formula. Thankfully, you'd also be wrong, as the popular series strikes gold yet again in its latest installment, which offers more tile-matching, treasure-hunting fun for enthusiasts of all types. Read more»

When you see the word "mahjong" in the title of a computer game, you know what to expect: It will challenge you to clear elaborate stacks of tiles by matching identical game pieces. And as you begin playing, you'll instinctively know that in order to select a tile for elimination, it must be free to either the left or right. What you don't know from a game's title are the twists that differentiate it from the crowd. That's how it works with Aerial Mahjong from Enkord, a game that plays on your expectations of what a mahjong release is and then turns them upside down. Read more»

Pop culture meets ancient puzzles in Cafe Mahjongg, the new game from iWin and Jenkat that is sure to give a "jolt" to casual game fans. Read more»

Confession is good for the soul, so here goes: I like watching Antiques Roadshow on PBS. I enjoy seeing someone's jaw drop when they learn the ratty piece of furniture they bought at a garage sale for twenty bucks is actually worth a few grand. These days, that's close to the feeling I get when I play a casual game that takes a worn-out formula and injects it with new life. Case in point: Mahjong Roadshow from publisher PlayFirst and developer Zemnott. Read more»

Stressful, fast-paced and super-challenging aren't three words that normally come to mind when I think about the Chinese tile-matching game of Mah jong, but it's exactly what happens when Mah Jong and Zuma collide in Liong: The Dragon Dance. Read more»

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. Read more»

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. Read more»

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. Read more»

The first Mahjong Escape took players on a jaunt through Ancient China, where they absorbed Chinese history and proverbs while playing the tile-matching game of Mahjong. In part two, the adventure continues in Ancient Japan with beautifully-rendered Japanese settings and lush, authentic Japanese music. Read more»

Small wonder South Florida's such a hotspot for hipsters, vacationers and retirees alike. According to the world of Hoyle Miami Solitaire - set during the heyday of the city's Art Deco Jazz Age - it's a swinging place to be. Read more»

Mention treasure hunters and some folks will conjure up images of Angelina Jolie from the Tomb Raider flicks. Many more, however, will likely identify with the daring archeology professor Indiana Jones or earlier contemporary Alan Quatermain. Regardless of who you associate with, it's an innately dangerous endeavor. Thankfully, Mahjongg Artifacts allows you to do your relic hunting from the ease and comfort of home. Read more»

Not too many games teach you about yourself, but this is precisely what Mahjong Fortuna 2 Deluxe sets out to do - this tranquil tile-matching game separates itself from the many other Mahjong titles on the market by giving players personalized information, such as horoscope, birth stone and flower, element, and more. Read more»

Supposedly created hundreds of years ago by philosophers or debutantes in faraway China, tile-matching game mahjongg remains one of the world's most treasured pastimes. Credit for the hobby's continued popularity is no small part due to interactive tributes such as Mahjongg Fortuna, which cleverly update the ancient amusement for modern audiences by adding novel audiovisual enhancements. Read more»

Mahjong games make for perfect time-wasters: they're easy to learn, relaxing, and can be played for five minutes or five hours. And so it's no surprise casual game makers are seeking to create the ultimate time-matching experience; some add new twists such as 3-D graphics, power-up tiles and a countdown timer, while others fold in themes, such as the Caribbean, deep space or ancient Chinese history. Read more»

You probably didn't know China and the Bahamas have a lot in common. But after clicking around with Caribbean Mah Jong for a few hours, you'll quickly realize the two gel well together. Read more»

As someone who reviewed the first Mahjong computer game in the mid-1980s, when most people had never even heard of mahjong, I never imagined I'd be reviewing another one 20 years later. Obviously, these ancient tile-matching games, also referred to as Shanghai, fares well in an electronic realm, but with the introduction of Oberon's Mahjong Match, it's not the same old, same old. Read more»

If you think "T'ang" is an orange drink and "Zhou" is where animals are put on display, you obviously aren't too familiar with Ancient China. No worries - play a few rounds of Mahjong Escape, and while you won't turn into Confucius overnight, you'll learn a thing or two about Chinese history and be entertained with some relaxing game-play at the same time. Read more»