While summer might mean endless days of lounging in the sun for the more affluent among us, one pair of siblings, Katy and Bob, are learning the hard way that money doesn't magically appear out of thin air. In Katy & Bob: Way Back Home, these spoiled young adults are tricked into taking a "relaxing vacation" that turns into more of a glorified work camp, as they're stranded on a island where credit cards mean nothing, and must work for their money to get back home.
A common theme for hidden object games is the search for missing people. At this point, having looked for countless villagers, patients, kids, parents, damsels in distress and significant others, I was hoping upon firing up 1 Moment of Time: Silentville for a new spin on the "missing persons" idea. Alas, while Silentville does offer an interesting approach to cinematics and a few interesting puzzles, in the end it fails to bring much new to an overused story concept.
What to make of Resonance? It's a competent old-school adventure that deserves credit for trying something different, but it stumbles over that boldness as much as it succeeds. The slow-boiling mystery ultimately makes it a worthwhile investment, but I can't help thinking that it's held back from true greatness by the very system that makes it so unique.
You've been thrown into the dungeon for the crime of practicing witchcraft, and now you must escape! Fortunately, you're an escape goat - and you're playing Escape Goat, the 2D puzzle-platformer that made its debut as an Xbox Live Indie Game last November and is now available on the PC - so this sort of thing comes naturally to you.
You know what we can't stand? Video game tutorials. Nine times out of ten a tutorial will either be walls of text that we're clearly not going to digest properly, or half an hour of "do this simple thing", "now do it again but with an added element" and repeat until fin. The best tutorials are those which either incorporate the teaching into the gameplay, or let us figure it all out for ourselves.
Life is full of rough choices. Burger King or McDonalds? Cake or Death? Dogs or Cats? Well, Pettington Park for isn't going to let you wuss out on that last choice. If you want to play this park building/RPG hybrid, you need to take a side and do your part to prove the superiority of your species. No surrender! No mercy! Arrwoof-woof! Meow!
The quiet, peaceful slumber of the mountain town of Martlet has been disrupted by a magical force, bringing the town's statues to life. Large or small, evil or friendly, every statue now has a mind and will of its own, with the most nefarious gargoyles capturing the town's citizens for an unknown purpose. As a royal detective, you'll be called in to investigate why and how the statues have come to life and what this all has to do with a young orphan named Princess.
There's a theory that because of video games, movies, and television, we've all been over exposed to violence and no longer view it seriously. Perhaps nothing better tests this theory than a game like Tiny Troopers, a war game that mixes puddles of blood and piles of bullets with cute visuals and quirky humor. Is it innocent or offensive? Is it clever or insensitive? Most importantly, is it good?