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Nick Tylwalk enjoys writing about video games, comic books, pro wrestling and other things where people are often punching each other, regaardless of what that says about him. He prefers MMOs, RPGs, strategy and sports games but can be talked into playing just about anything.
  • Big Win Racing Review
    Reviews
    • Android
    • iOS
    Big Win Racing Review

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    Sometimes it's smart just to recognize you've got a good thing going. Hothead Games has done that by expanding its Big Win series of sports games to all the major stick-and-ball sports. But just when it appeared there were no more ways to expand the brand, along comes Big Win Racing. It's the tried and true formula of light sports sim plus collectible card elements applied to stock car racing, and it adds up to something pretty good.Your climb to the top of this particular racing world starts out in humble fashion. A pack of starter cards gives your team a foundation, though it's not one you want to rely on for very long. Where the other Big Win titles revolve around building the best possible team of athletes, you obviously only have the driver and the car here (and some people don't consider drivers athletes, but that's a subject for another forum).Big Win Racing handles this dilemma smartly by taking both the pit crew and the parts that make up your race car into account. So while you want the best driver you can get, you also need steering, transmission, an engine and tires for your ride, along with six crew members (two tire carriers, two tire changers, a jackman and a gas man) to service it in the pits.
  • République Episode 1: Exordium Review
    Reviews
    République Episode 1: Exordium Review

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    It's a surveillance society, and we're all just living in it. At my day job, I have to admit that I happily contribute to it. Other times I do wonder about the implications of it all, and the folks at Camouflaj obviously do too. Their sci-fi stealth survival game République explores the positive and negative aspects of omnipresent cameras and a connected civilization, and does it with a storytelling flair few mobile games have managed to date.If setting the mood of a video game was a college course, République Episode 1: Exordium would be the professor. You meet the game's protagonist, a girl named Hope, when she calls you for help. She may or may not have read something she shouldn't have, which is against the rules in the (apparently near future) city of Metamorphosis. The Orwellian buzzwords fly during the opening scene of dialogue - Recalibration, The Arrival, etc. - but it's clear Hope is in trouble, and only you can help."The reason you can help is both a plot device and a nifty gameplay mechanic. It turns out you are hacked into the surveillance system of this particular totalitarian nightmare through Hope's cell phone. You can hop from camera to camera to see where Hope can't, looking ahead to help her evade her captors.And that's just the tip of the iceberg. Using the special OMNI software, you can not only see how the cameras are linked together, but you can also pull off useful tricks like unlocking doors, seeing through walls to find the guards, and finding items like pepper spray. You'll also find pieces of propaganda that fill in the game's world and work as currency you can trade for additional abilities, like scanning the guards' email and causing distractions.
  • The Shadow Sun Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    The Shadow Sun Review

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    As Santa once said, good things come to those who wait. Wait, maybe that wasn't Santa. In any case, mobile gamers have been patiently anticipating The Shadow Sun, a fantasy RPG from Ossian Studios, since it was announced back in 2010. Slowly but surely it's now made it to release, but has it aged like fine wine or like damp bread in the meantime? Read on, adventurers!One big strength of The Shadow Sun is showcased right off the bat. I'm not talking about the dramatic soundtrack that starts as soon as you first fire it up (though that's nice too), but the extremely flexible character creation system. After picking your gender and a handful of appearance options, you get down to the nitty gritty with several points to put into attributes and skills.The effects of the six attributes are well-explained, and while there's no class system per se, making smart choices can help tailor your character to your desired play style. You might go heavy on Strength and Endurance if you fancy a warrior type who can wield two-handed weapons and wear heavy armor, or specialize in Intelligence for magic use. Charisma might be my favorite; higher scores can actually add dialogue options when you interact with NPCs.
  • Fiz: The Brewery Management Game Review
    Reviews
    • Android
    • iOS
    Fiz: The Brewery Management Game Review

    By

    There's something romantic about the idea that someone could start out brewing beer in his or her own basement and wind up taking the world of adult beverages by storm. If you don't think trying to live out that fantasy sounds like good fodder for a mobile sim/RPG, Bit By Bit Studios begs to differ. Fiz: The Brewery Management Game has risen from Kickstarter like suds to the top of a mug, giving you a shot at building your very own brewery from the ground up.Like Drake might say, you've got to start from the bottom of the beer world before you can get on. When a new game of Fiz begins, all you've got is your own character, three buddies, some rudimentary brewing equipment, a few recipes, and some big dreams. You also own a couch (good for sitting on) and what appears to be an eight-bit NES, which is appropriate since the game is rendered in retro pixel graphics. The semi-mystical figure Cyrus Uprum drops by in short order to introduce you to the wonders of beer-making. A menu in the upper-left corner is where the magic starts, allowing you to access the recipes you know and additional ones you can buy or learn. The actual brewing process begins by buying the proper ingredients to fill a given recipe and assigning your team members to one of four tasks: cleaning, mashing and boiling, fermenting and packaging.
  • Club Penguin on iPad takes a big leap forward
    News
    • iOS
    Club Penguin on iPad takes a big leap forward

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    As of today, My Penguin, the mobile companion app to the popular children's virtual world Club Penguin, is no more - but only because it's becoming Club Penguin for iPad.When it launched back in May, My Penguin was designed to give players a way to connect with the web-based MMO while also giving Disney Interactive a chance to learn about how people would interact with the game on mobile devices. Kids could dress their avatars, redesign their igloos and try out a selection of mini-games, but it wasn't the full Club Penguin experience.With its latest update and name change, the mobile version of Club Penguin is ready to take a big leap forward. For the first time, young gamers can play the same way they do online, teleporting to rooms, visiting their igloos, and everything else they've been accustomed to doing on the web.Disney Interactive Worlds Vice President and General Manager Chris Heatherly told Gamezebo that the mobile launch includes about 20 to 25 percent of the content found online, but regular updates over the coming months would get the two versions to be very close to identical before too long.
  • Fingerprint leaves its mark on the educational games space
    News
    • Android
    • iOS
    Fingerprint leaves its mark on the educational games space

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    It's no secret that kids in the U.S. are lagging behind in the STEM subjects - also known as science, technology, engineering and math - when compared to their counterparts in other countries all over the globe. The reasons why are common fodder for both polite and political debate, but rooting out the cause pales in importance compared to finding a solution.Fingerprint thinks it can help. The San Francisco-based company believes in its approach, combining first party content and the curation of top educational games from developers all over the world, all served up on its own platform. Some big brands are on the Fingerprint bandwagon too, tapping it to help create their own mobile kids networks."But that's the macro picture. When it comes to the specific area of STEM learning, Fingerprint already has an impressive group of offerings that attack the problem from different angles. Games like Equator and Cosmic Reactor turn math into a multiplayer affair, while Not Lost in the Universe teaches about renewable energy sources in the course of an interactive story. Other apps tackle business, math, geography, biology, and more, all tested by children and approved by experts before it hits Fingerprint Play.The company has apps that teach letters and language skills as well, but according to Chief Creative Officer Michael Chanover, the more technical subjects have emerged as a primary focus. "We know with the increase in importance in the educational system in the U.S. and beyond how important STEM is becoming," Chanover said to Gamezebo. "We know, especially in America, there's a great big gap to fill with regard to STEM education, opportunities and jobs. It's something we all see as important. And with the mobile content that we develop, the curriculum that we have in a lot of our games, we believe that we're really helping bridge that gap."
  • Galaxy on Fire – Alliances Review
    Reviews
    • iOS
    Galaxy on Fire – Alliances Review

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    It's been said that in space, no one can hear you tap on a touchscreen. Or at least something similar to that was once said. Anyway, it's relevant because Galaxy on Fire - Alliances will have you tapping plenty of times as you try to conquer as much of space as possible. With or without allies, it ends up looking and sounding a lot more fun than it actually is.If the Galaxy on Fire name sounds familiar, there's a good reason for that. The previous games sporting that name were of the action-RPG variety, known for their customizable starships. Alliances is an entirely different beast: an MMO with resource management that is best played by teaming up with others, getting it a "truth in naming" award if nothing else."The galaxy in question this time contains the Shroud Nebula, a previously inaccessible region where three different spacefaring races are vying for power. Each has its own unique racial advantages, and one looks a lot like regular Earth humans. You pick the one that suits your fancy, and then it's off to the tutorial.Your home system contains several planets that allow you to get a feel for core concepts like building and upgrading structures and ships, sending cargo from one world to another, and using drones to unlock single-player missions. In one of the game's best ideas, those starter worlds are completely undetectable at all times. So unlike games of this ilk too numerous to mention, you can't be ganged up on and have all your resources stolen and structures destroyed.
  • Entertaining and Educating: A Journey to Fun Town with Touch & Learn
    News
    • Android
    • iOS
    Entertaining and Educating: A Journey to Fun Town with Touch & Learn

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    Inspiration is just as likely to come from unlikely sources as it is from the most obvious places. In the case of Touch & Learn, a British studio devoted to creating educational games and apps, it relies on a little of both.The surprising part of the equation starts with the Touch & Learn's founder and CEO, James Lewis. With experience as a Hollywood art director responsible for the look of work as wide-ranging as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Band of Brothers, he's not the first person who'd come to mind as a creator of kids' apps.Yet his motivation is both simple and easy to understand: he's got kids of his own, and he watched how easily they were enthralled by mobile devices."I'm a bit of a tech geek, and I got the original iPhone," Lewis said to Gamezebo. "Once I got over the fact that I didn't want to damage it and it wasn't so precious, I let my daughter, who was 18 months old at the time, just interact with it. It blew me away how intuitive the phone was. And then we got the first iPad and it was the same thing.