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I'm a video game critic, game designer and obsessive gamer. I play everything, but my real love is old school point-and-click adventure games so when the zombies come, I'll be hunkered down in a bunker with my Keurig, my dogs, and a copy of Gabriel Knight: The Beast Within.
  • Rabbids Big Bang Review
    Reviews
    • Android
    • iOS
    Rabbids Big Bang Review

    By

    The wall-eyed, buck-toothed Rabbids have had us doing silly things for years, and now these loony lapins have us hurling them through space. In Rabbids Big Bang, we take part in the Rabbids' very own space program (which consists mainly of trying to collect floating coins and bouncing off planets) and learn to use their proprietary methods for intergalactic travel. Although fun at first, in mastering the game's surprisingly challenging physics-based proceedings, too many similar missions make for quickly-developing monotony.As we all know, the Rabbids are doers, not thinkers. In Rabbids Big Bang, what they're doing is seeing how much adrenaline they can get out of flying around the Universe, powered by nothing more than a strapped-on soda bottle. There's no story to Big Bang, so don't look for one. You simply begin with two Rabbids standing on the surface of a planet, one wearing a jetpack and one holding a baseball bat. Around the planet float other planets, fuel bubbles, gold coins, UFOs, cows, and other weird and inappropriate things, and your goal is to land on, collect, or run into each of these.At the start of every mission, you tap and hold on a round aiming reticule that determines your jet-pack Rabbid's trajectory. Once you let this go, the Rabbid with the bat slugs the Rabbid with the jet-pack, sending him shooting into space. Tap-holding again activates the jet-pack, as long as there's fuel to be had in the on-screen fuel gauge, and allows the jet-pack Rabbid to keep traveling in whatever direction his head's pointing. It sounds simple, but it's extremely unwieldy at first. In fact, many players are likely to spend the first half hour watching in horror (or laughing diabolically) as their jet-pack Rabbid repeatedly slams head-first into its home planet.
  • Pocket Titans Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    Pocket Titans Review

    By

    Known for convoluted skill trees, multiple-layer menus, and complex gear load-outs, role-playing games can be daunting to the casual gamer. With Pocket Titans, new indie developer Noisy Orc Games removes much of what generally bars the way for players unfamiliar with RPG mechanics. What's left is a fast-paced, streamlined fantasy role-player that, though repetitive and largely automated, is a fine introduction to one of the game industry's most venerable genres.Briefly, Pocket Titans' narrative involves a group of young apprentices attending the Titans Academy where they hope to become full-fledged heroes. The gameis built upon a foundation of fantasy archetypes, but rather than coming up with thinly-veiled terms for them, Noisy Orc presents them as literally as possible. For instance, characters announce themselves not with bombastic titles like "Tim, the Nefarious and Deadly Enchanter," or "Rothelm, the One-Eyed Orc-Beater," but simply as "Mage" and "Warrior" (or Healer, Ranger, Paladin, Hunter, Warlock, and Rogue)."These practical-minded mercenaries sign up to help their king defeat an evil Orc horde, and as such, must fight their way through swamps, skeleton-filled passes, and forests until facing down the Orc King in his castle. In a typical role-playing game, this process would be fairly elaborate. Before battle you'd choose your party members, equip them with the best weapons and armor possible, set them to perform certain actions by assigning their skill points, and maybe even spend time crafting healing potions and other useful items. Some gamers love this kind of micro-management, but for others, it's an unnecessary delay that prevents them from jumping into the action.
  • har•mo•ny Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    har•mo•ny Review

    By

    With two apps under its belt - puzzle game Blendamaze and weather forecasting app Foresee - developer borderleap is still relatively new on the mobile app scene. Even so, it's established a distinct aesthetic that's carried forth in its third release, harmony: a sleek, colorful puzzle game. harmony's main boast is that it contains over a thousand levels; unfortunately, too many of those feel like  padding.Like other borderleap apps, harmony employs a clean, minimalist approach to graphics. Each level consists of nothing more than bands of color that call to mind the Pantone paint swatches used by graphic designers. When the game starts, you're confronted with several slightly jumbled color bands and are given a simple, three-step tutorial. The gameplay concept is simple: each colored block contains one or more dots indicating how many moves it can make. Blocks can be swapped (within a certain range) by tapping first one and then the other. In order to solve the puzzle, not only must all the colored blocks be placed correctly, but every one of their collective moves must be used."The game is a lesson in streamlining, and its interface contains only the four simple button icons needed to restart a level, undo a move, skip a level, or preview what the finished puzzle should look like. As simple looking as each level is, the color combinations and trippy electronic soundtrack make harmony into aBejeweled-like form of stress reduction. Levels start out extremely simple, with only three or four bands of color divided into twelve or sixteen blocks respectively, and the puzzle aspect at that point is gentle and, in general, based on making a correct first move.
  • Haunted House Mysteries Review
    Reviews
    • Android
    • iOS
    • PC
    Haunted House Mysteries Review

    By

    Hidden object games are best-suited for desktop computers, mainly because a large part of the gameplay involves searching densely-packed, highly-detailed scenes - a task that's clumsy to perform on a smaller screen. Moreover, the complex puzzles of adventure games are also better-solved with a mouse than with touchscreen controls. Haunted House Mysteries for iPad is a nice-looking game that suffers by appearing on an inappropriate platform.As so many hidden object adventures do, Haunted House Mysteries begins with a terrible tragedy. A famous archaeologist and his family are murdered in their New England vacation home, presumably because of a rare artifact being kept there. Years later, Nancy, a young graduate student writing a thesis on modern-day superstition, is called to the home by her elderly aunt. On the surface, the invitation is for Nancy to enjoy a few days' R&R, but she soon discovers her aunt's true intention is for her to investigate the site's alleged paranormal activity."Haunted House Mysteries was obviously made by a team of talented artists, since from the first spooky scene it makes a good impression. Nancy and her aunt are sharp and attractive by design, and so are all of the game's locations. (I'm fairly sure the exterior of the main house is the Norman Bates Psycho house.) The game also sounds pretty good thanks to a nice music score that effectively augments the lugubrious Victorian interiors.
  • Candy Blast Mania Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    Candy Blast Mania Review

    By

    It seems for every mega-hit game there are ten shameless knock-offs. Match three game, Candy Blast Mania is an obvious riff on the absurdly popular Candy Crush Saga, complete with candy-colored icons, characters, and effects. Although there's some fun to be had here, Candy Blast Mania ultimately feels like Candy Crush's awkward younger sibling—less mature, less polished, and noticeably less interesting.Continuing to mention Candy Crush could sound like belaboring a point, but it's well-nigh impossible not to make comparisons between the two games so bear with me. First, let's acknowledge that the Candy Crush magic is based on several things: the music, the story, the maps, and the unusual, graphic look of the game. Candy Blast Mania seems to get this too and does its best toborrow from the Candy Crush style book. Even so, it never achieves the same impact."To begin with, the game's music is appropriately spritely. The problem is it's also repetitive and not particularly distinct. Lack of distinctiveness can also be attributed to the game's story, which is more or less nonexistent. While Candy Crush isn't exactly War and Peace, it does contain a simple little narrative which it conveys through cute, 2D animations, and by delineating different areas of its fun little map. By contrast, Candy Blast Mania'sstory is barely hinted at through periodic boss-battles. Winning these battles doesn't award you with anything, neither fun little story blurbs nor map changes, so you move from level to level with nothing to create a sense of achievement or progression.
  • Dragon Academy Review
    Reviews
    • Android
    • iOS
    Dragon Academy Review

    By

    Match-three game Dragon Academy sets itself up as a sort of Hogwarts for dragons: contending that via match-three (or as they call it, "hatch-three") play, you can train up your own little fire-breather. Although you do indeed spend the majority of your time matching three or more colored icons, the dragon evolution that's supposed to be the other gameplay headliner doesn't really amount to much. Even worse, Dragon Academy plays host to a variety of fun-blocking bugs.Dragon Academy starts with a fairly confusing comic-book-style intro full of disjointed images that are often cut off by the game's display. The attempt at storytelling here, slight as it is, makes little sense. Fortunately, the game's name tells you all you need to know; the point is to take your cute little starter lizard named Melty, and help him gain access to dragon school. There's nothing particularly innovative about the gameplay here—in a nod to the game's theme, Melty is your main power-up and you charge him by matching icons the same color as he. Once he's charged, you can click him to sweep away whole rows of icons at once.Like many social match-threes, you're given five lives and can continue to play as long as you manage to meet each level's objective. You might have to reach a certain score, make potions drop to the bottom, or remove obstacles called "goo." As each level is cleared, you'll see little Melty move around a map, his overreaching goal being to defeat the Wobblins (a collection of weird reptile/goblin creatures who, for some reason or another, enjoy harassing dragons). As you progress, your dragon evolves and gets bigger and...that's it. There's not much else that happens with it except that its power-up has broader effect. As you go, other dragons unlock, which makes for some variety since they come in different colors and boast different power-up abilities.
  • Battle Camp Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    Battle Camp Review

    By

    Social games get a bad rap, but in condemning them, critics often miss the creativity and fun to be had from such games. New match-three RPG Battle Camp has to plead guilty to everything the genre is vilified for—repetitiveness, microtransactions, and invasive social media mechanics—but it also contains a goodly amount of light-hearted entertainment as well.Despite having a good portion of fun to offer, Battle Camp makes a poor first impression by immediately slapping you with multiple registration prompts. These aren't necessary, but they look as if they are, and their sheer number could be enough to prevent some gamers from playing. Also oddly off-putting is the utter lack of intro. The game just starts with a tutorial, providing no sort of "how do you do?" and nothing to contextualize what you're doing. If you manage to get past this obstacle-strewn, awkward start, however, there's some interesting stuff in store.After creating a character from a handful of male/female presets, you find yourself at camp learning the game's basic mechanics from a cute little penguin. In your possession are a handful of cute little elemental monsters, and the idea is to wander around challenging other people's cute little monsters to fight. Each battle you engage in costs one energy (yes, Battle Camp uses the insidious energy system), and in a turn-based setup, each side attacks by matching three or more elemental icons on a 6x5 board.
  • Flights of Fancy: Two Doves Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    • PC
    Flights of Fancy: Two Doves Review

    By

    Having had some development ups and downs over the last year, ERS Game Studio fights its way back to the top of the genre with Flights of Fancy: Two Doves. This high-class, high-fantasy hidden object adventure offers beauty, magic, wonder, and best of all, surprises—all of which (despite one sizeable flaw) remind us why the name ERS is synonymous with adventure game excellence.Two Doves won me over from the start by casting me as a countess: an unusual choice of heroine that veers from the usual princess/detective/reporter/psychic idea. The narrative ball gets rolling when the countess is away from home, attending an engagement party for the king. She gets back and finds that her castle's been violated by persons unknown. It appears they've stolen a magical dove (a twin to one owned by the king) necessary to protect the kingdom, and have turned her vassals into shiny little figurines. With the help of her last remaining servant, she combs the castle for clues and what she uncovers is deeply unsettling.Considering the doom hanging over the countess and the kingdom, Two Doves' astonishing beauty is something of a paradox. It's clear thatERS let the art team go full throttle here and gave them free rein to add as much creativity, color, and detail as their hearts desired. Amazing attention is paid to the game's interface (the animated inventory items and unique scroll journal for instance) and overused fantasy themes are freshened up by extraordinary inventiveness (two words -"Viking plant"). Playing Two Doves brings to mind the magic you felt as a kid reading fairy tales for the first time: the feeling that around every corner will be something new, strange, and possibly dangerous.