Gamezebo: Reviews | Card, Board & Mah Jong

Once Upon a Time in Chicago Review

erin — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:03:29 -0500

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.

The main gameplay mechanic that uncovers mini-games is similar to Bingo or Keno. You'll be given six different numbers each round, and you'll match those numbers to another set of numbers displayed on the mini-game cards. When you match all the numbers on a card, it flips over for you to play one of the mini-games.

Scrabble Plus Review

joel — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 08:40:28 -0500

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."

Room Boom: Suburbia Review

joel — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 09:22:27 -0500

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.

Faerie Solitaire Review

erin — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 19:54:54 -0500

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.

Jewel Quest Solitaire 3: Klondike Review

erin — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 09:11:34 -0500

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.

Hexagon Mahjongg Review

erin — Thu, 12 Feb 2009 06:50:07 -0600

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.

Solitaire for Dummies Review

erin — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 09:38:15 -0600

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.

Similar to the other Dummies titles from Beanbag Studios, Solitaire for Dummies is an easy way to learn many versions of the game. And boy, are the a lot of ways to play. The game offers ten different modes: Klondike, Pyramid, Scorpion, Penguin, Free Cell, Canfield, Yukon, Monte Carlo, Accordion and Golf.

Mahjong: Mysteries of the Past Review

erin — Thu, 08 Jan 2009 08:55:17 -0600

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.

Liong: The Lost Amulets Review

erin — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:56:33 -0600

Successfully blending mah jong with Zuma and bingo, offbeat puzzler Liong: The Dragon 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.

Heartwild Solitaire Review

erin — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 08:50:29 -0600

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.