games posts

Filed under: Fun, Games, Microsoft, Freeware

Tinker and Hold 'em coming to Games for Windows - for free!

by Lee Mathews Nov 11th 2009

Have you taken the time to poke around your Windows 7 start menu yet? If not, you may have missed the "More Games from Microsoft" entry under the Games folder.

Click the shortcut, and you'll be whisked away to a web page offering some additional games you can download. Right now there are three: Peggle, Ranch Rush, and Bumper Stars.

Two more titles are coming soon. Tinker (the awesome puzzler you can see in action in the video above) and Hold 'Em (for you poker fans out there) are set to be released in the very near future.

Now, this news isn't going to make all Windows users smile. It's probably going to rub some Vista Ultimate owners the wrong way - since Tinker and Hold 'Em were two of the oft-talked-about-and-rarely-seen Ultimate Extras.

[via Paul Thurrott]

Tags: games, hgg, hold em, HoldEm, tinker, ultimate extras, UltimateExtras

Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters

Phytrix: a Tetris-Meets-Match-3 Time Waster

by Jay Hathaway Nov 10th 2009

Phytrix is another entry into the venerable genre of falling block games. Pieces in various shapes and colors descend from the ceiling, and your objective is to rapidly organize them so that three or more blocks of the same color are touching, which makes those blocks disappear. Yes, it's two classic games - Tetris and Match 3 - rolled into one.

That's not all, though. Each level of Phytrix has its own rules. For example, maybe you need to clear 40 blocks without removing any purple triangles. This sounds insidiously challenging, but Phytrix doesn't punish you very harshly for breaking the rules. Instead of losing the game when you make the wrong piece disappear, you just get a row filled in at the bottom of your screen, pushing your pile of pieces upward toward certain doom.

It's like Tetris, except that those filler rows aren't permanent. You can remove them by clearing more of the right pieces. As a result of this leniency, Phytrix doesn't get tough until several levels in. It's a neat idea for a game, and it's fun to play for a while, but it could offer more of a challenge.

Tags: blocks, games, phytrix, tetris, time-waster

Filed under: Developer, Games

Unreal Engine developer kit now freely downloadable

by Sebastian Anthony Nov 6th 2009

In BIG news -- really, this is the kind of thing that could change the landscape of casual and indie games for ever (and for good!) -- the Unreal Developer Kit (UDK) is now available from Nvidia.

The Unreal Engine has historically been very hard to get your hands on with large license fees and other barriers to entry. And now, just like that, it's being made freely available to everyone. Whether for educational or non-commercial purposes, or to make your own commercial game, you can now use the UDK and get started with the fun bit -- the game creation -- immediately.

The catch? For non-commercial purposes: there is none. Students and those of you that are quietly working away on the next Big Thing in a garage or basement somewhere -- REJOICE!

For commercial developers: it'll cost you 25% of your royalty on any revenue revenue over $5,000 (see the full licensing details for more info).

And for everyone else -- the gamers! -- be ready for a lot more Time-Waster games powered by the Unreal Engine in the next few months!

Tags: games, nvidia, unreal engine, UnrealEngine

Filed under: Games, Freeware, Time-Wasters

RunMan: proof that shiny graphics are not required to make a good Time-Waster

by Sebastian Anthony Nov 5th 2009

What's 20 megabytes, has awful graphics, awful sound, and is vaguely reminiscent of Super Mario Brothers 3?

Why it's RunMan: Race Around The World of course! The website, you assume, is trying to be ironic. 'The game can't actually look like this, surely...' But... well... it does.

The game's visuals look like they were created in MS Paint. In fact, they probably were.

So it looks bad, and the sound effects are pretty awful. But the gameplay is actually quite good. You play as a little star-thing who runs around. Your job is just to make it to the other end of the level at the highest speed possible. The faster you go, the higher the score multiplier. You lose points for falling in holes and hitting enemies, just like in real life.

Tags: donationware, games, time-waster

Filed under: Games, Features, Lists

Holiday Gift Guide: five awesome Steam games that make great gifts

by Sebastian Anthony Nov 4th 2009

With Halloween out of the way, it's now officially time to look towards CHRISTMAS!

Stop right there! Let me turn those groans of yours -- those Scroogeish grunts of displeasure -- into smiles and laughter! For this year, how about giving the gift of game with Valve's Steam? OK, so they might not be your smiles nor your laughter, but what feeling of joy is greater than seeing someone's face light up with happiness and the glow of a widescreen TV)?

For $10 to $20 you can give someone a game that will provide hours and hours of pleasure and fun this festive season. Think about how much your son would love you if you gave him an excuse to leave the dinner table early, to play with his new toy? Or if your wife could bus virtual tables, rather than real ones? Perhaps you just want to treat yourself to some brain-scratching, finger-contorting goodness. Any way you want it, the best Christmas presents this year will be video games.

Read on for the five best games currently available on Steam. They're all cheap. They're all fun. They're all a complete steal.

Share

Tags: adventure, casual, games, hgg, holiday gift guide, HolidayGiftGuide, puzzle, steam, valve

Filed under: Games, Windows, Macintosh, Linux, Open Source

Egoboo is a fun 3D Rogue-like game for Windows, Mac, and Linux

by Sebastian Anthony Nov 4th 2009

I have no idea if Egoboo's original creator named this thing, or if the name came later on after the mantle had been handed down a few times -- and I had absolutely no idea what that word meant... until I punched it into Google! Check out the definition, if you feel the need to know. If not, read on!

Egoboo is a (90 megabyte!!) 3D Rogue-like game. Rogue is a very, very old game -- the original adventure game, really -- and Egoboo builds on its legacy, throws in a little hack-and-slash... and it's even a bit of a RPG! There is loot, there are gribbly monsters that are out to eat your face, and there are plenty of pretty zones to explore (plus there's a map editor!)

To top it all off, it's fully cross-platform (Windows, Mac AND Linux) and has a thriving forum community. It's free of course. Oh, and It's quite brutal. I died several times very quickly, so I'd recommend reading the guide before you jump in.

Download Egoboo (yes, their site is so old it even uses frames! OK, iframes, but still...)

Tags: adventure, free, games, open source, OpenSource

Filed under: Fun, Games, Internet, Time-Wasters

Scare yourself senseless with Inculcation -- Halloween Time-Waster

by Sebastian Anthony Oct 30th 2009

I didn't really know what to expect as Inculcation loaded up. 'Best played in the dark with your sound turned up loud' the loading screen tells me. Gulp. I'm not a fan of horror films or games. I accidentally scroll down a bit while it's loading and see a small snippet from the game's author: 'A Point & Click survival horror inspired by Silent Hill, Resident Evil and Exmortis.' Oh shi--

Unsurprisingly, you start off in a room with nothing. It's the de facto rule that all of these Room Escape puzzles share: you don't know how you got there, or why you're there, but damnit -- you're there, and you need to find a way out!

Inculcation is the first room escape game that I've played with real-time combat elements. There are actually monsters -- zombies? -- that pop up and require shooting. Fortunately it's very easy to shoot them dead, but it does mean that you occasionally lose health. There are syringes about the place that can restore your health.

Mostly the gameplay is what you'd expect from such games -- pick up objects, open doors, solve rudimentary riddles that involve some observation skills. It is nothing special in this regard -- in fact, some of the puzzles feel a little random and rely on guesswork rather than applying your knowledge of the game.

I played through the first house in Inculcation, and I can tell you this now: the enhanced elements of music, artistic direction and creatures that can actually kill you really add to the tension, the danger. I admit I yelped out loud a few times. I admit my hand slipped off the mouse a few times when attacked by zombies. I admit I'm a wuss when it comes to the horror genre.

There's one part in the first house where a door shakes -- as if something is behind it, desperately trying to get out -- and it keeps shaking. Over and over. Louder and louder. And when it finally comes to open the door... well... you're in for a big surprise. Give it half an hour of your time at least -- you won't regret it...

[via JayIsGames]

Tags: flash, games, halloween, horror, room escape, RoomEscape, scary, time-waster

Filed under: Games, Internet

Halloween sale at PlayFirst -- games 50% off

by Sebastian Anthony Oct 30th 2009

Good for only a few days, until 2 November 2009, PlayFirst are offering great prices on most of their games.

You might not even have heard of PlayFirst, but perhaps you've heard of their world-renowned games? Diner Dash, Wedding Dash, Dream Chronicles or Chocolatier? Either way, if you're looking for some fun, casual games -- usually ones with a great story too! -- either for you, your kids, or a loved one, now is obviously a great time to pick up a few of their games.

I would recommend you start with Diner Dash or Chocolatier if you've never played their games before. You can even give it a go for an hour, for free! The discount is applied at the checkout stage, if you're wondering why the discounted prices are not shown on the game's individual page!

[via GameZebo]

Tags: casual, games, playfirst

Filed under: Games

1 in 5 UK gamers prefer to download their games

by Sebastian Anthony Oct 28th 2009

Findings in a recent report presented at the London Gaming Conference last night show that 7% of console - and 14% of PC-gamers prefer to download their games in digital, no-box-or-paper-instruction-booklet format.

This isn't as big news as it seems though, as many PC owners also own consoles, and vice-versa -- and I bet there's some cross-over in the demographics.

But, with the recent take-off of digital-only download services like Direct2Drive, Valve's Steam, and Microsoft's LIVE Marketplace, it's no surprise that gamers have been enjoying the lower prices and quicker delivery times inherent to such services. As game developers continue to jump on-board with these services and reap the higher profit margins, we can expect the trend to continue.

As always though, when there's a shift in sales, someone has to lose out -- even if it's not the customer.

In this case it's the real-world shops like EB Games and Game. They've often relied on value-added deals to turn a decent profit -- buy two games, get a third free, that kind of thing -- and with more and more people staying home (really, the number of reasons to leave your home is getting quite low...), I think game stores will soon have to mix things up, or die.

[via Neowin]

Tags: digital delivery, DigitalDelivery, distribution, download, games, uk

Filed under: Fun, Games, Windows, Linux, Open Source

Off the clock: Unknown Horizons is a free, open-source RTS for Settlers fans

by Sebastian Anthony Oct 25th 2009

It's Sunday, and we're off the clock. Time for a little open-source RTS fun with Unknown Horizons! Though it claims to be a clone of the Anno series by Sunflowers/Ubisoft, you will probably associate this game more with the Settlers games -- a very popular, age-old series of 2D real-time simulation games.

The premise from their own website: 'The player starts with a ship somewhere amid an archipelago. The goal of the game is to found some cities on the islands and to earn money.' Such a simple concept. But as we all know -- the simple games are often the best and last the test of time.

And, believe it or not, defying most open-source expectations, Unknown Horizons actually plays rather well. If you don't mind hammering away at a very, very nascent user interface, this is a great game to have running in the background while you browse your favorite after-hours websites.

Tags: free, games, open gl, open source, OpenGl, OpenSource, python, sdl, settlers

Filed under: Fun, Games, Internet

Civilization is coming to Facebook

by Sebastian Anthony Oct 23rd 2009

Well, that's that then.

Gone are the days when you actually did stuff.

Forget actually getting work done in the office.

You've turned your last steak in CafeWorld and milked your last cow in FarmVille -- because ladies and gentlemen, Sid Meier's Civilization will soon be available on the world's largest social network: Facebook. (In fact there's already a Facebook group that you can join for up-to-date news!)

I don't expect this to appeal to all of you -- in fact, those of you under 20 probably haven't even heard of the Civ franchise, but for those of you that have played it, you'll understand the awesomeness of this release.

I leave you with Overlord Meier's own words:
"Civilization Network will allow you to join together with your friends to create the world's most powerful, richest, smartest, or just plain coolest civilization."

[via CNET and Gamasutra]

Tags: casual games, CasualGames, civilization, facebook, facebook apps, FacebookApps, games, gaming, sid meier, SidMeier

Filed under: Games, Video, Features, Microsoft

Windows 7 and DirectX 11 - not just good news for gamers!

by Sebastian Anthony Oct 23rd 2009

Let me begin with some common knowledge to put us on some common ground. Vista sucks. By association, DirectX10 sucks. In fact, you might not even know what DirectX is -- and you would be forgiven!

DirectX is the piece of software that sits between your computer, and your video games. If you don't play games, you won't have heard of it. When you play a game on your PC it goes through DirectX. And until now, that's all DirectX did.

It's true: DirectX 10 premiered some nice new technologies. But because they were only available on Vista, which as we all know sucked more than a Hoover with a fresh, high-suction bag, DirectX 11 will be the first time most of us get to experience these new, funky technologies.

Tags: directx, directx11, dx11, games, gaming, graphics, technology, windows 7, windows-7, Windows7

Filed under: Fun, Games, Time-Wasters

Graveyard Shift - zombie-busting Time Waster

by Jay Hathaway Oct 21st 2009

With Halloween fast approaching, it's a great time to get in some practice defending your territory against zombies. In Graveyard Shift, you take aim at zombies and other creepy-crawlies, blasting them into splatters of cartoony green guts. It's a casual first-person shooter, and it's very easy to get the hang of - use the mouse to aim, click to fire. Graveyard Shift has at least 15 levels, and it might even have some secret stages I haven't unlocked yet.

They key to getting good at Graveyard Shift is learning to use the shield. Some enemies throw projectiles at you, and your health will disappear quickly if you don't use the space bar to block. Of course, you could just try to blow away everything on the screen before you get attacked, but your gun is unfortunately pretty lame, and overheats if you start clicking too furiously. Good luck protecting yourself from the undead hordes!

Tags: first-person-shooter, fps, fun, games, shooter, zombies

Filed under: Games, Linux, Open Source

Off the Clock: djl is a must-have app for Linux gamers

by Lee Mathews Oct 10th 2009

Now that I've managed to pick up a spare laptop on the cheap, I finally have a dedicated Linux machine to experiment with. Priority number one since I'm Off the Clock for the weekend: get some games installed that are more fun than the ones Ubuntu ships (sorry Nibbles and Gnometris).

Enter djl. Think of it as a kind of FOSS version of Steam. Except, of course, that all the games are totally free. Currently, djl's repositories warehouse about 120 games -- all of which can be installed with just a few painless clicks. New games are submitted frequently, and you can read about them on the app's news tab.

Just about every popular game you can think of is available: Battle Tanks, Cube, Hedgewars, Numptyphysics, OpenArena, Urban Terror, Warsow, and many more. If it runs on Linux, you can probably install it with djl. Games you download are added to the -- you guessed it -- games tab. Uninstalling and updating is also a breeze, making djl an awesome way to manage your collection.

There's even a built-in chat where you can talk to other djl users: find out what they're playing, or maybe find yourself an opponent for some head-to-head combat.

[via Unixmen]

Tags: djl, downloader, games, gaming, installer, linux, manager, off the clock, off-the-clock, OffTheClock, ubuntu

Filed under: Developer, Games, Adobe

Adobe Flash CS5 converts Flash to iPhone apps

by Jay Hathaway Oct 6th 2009

Flash is coming to the iPhone! Well, sort of. Adobe is showing off a new feature of Flash CS5 Professional that will convert Flash/Actionscript into iPhone apps. The public beta of CS5 with Flash Platform is due out later this year, but for now, you can test out some iPhone games that were created with the new system. For comparison, check out the puzzle game Chroma Circuit on the web and then on the iPhone.

This is good news for Flash developers who want to get their games into the App Store without having to write iPhone-native apps themselves, especially because it allows them to reuse the same code on the web or on Flash-friendly mobile platforms. This might mean that we'll see some of our favorite Flash time-wasters on the iPhone, too. There's also the possibility that the App Store will be flooded with the same awful Flash games that plague the web now. Developing a lame Flash game for the web doesn't have the same $99 pricetag that signing up for the iPhone developer program does, though, so that might keep the quality of iPhone game offerings from taking a huge dive.

Tags: adobe, cs5, flash, games, iphone

The World's Hardest Game 2.0 - Time Waster

So, just how good at time waster games are you? Think you've got the stuff? Well, The World's Hardest Game 2.0 doesn't think you do. Yes, amazingly, it's possible to have a sequel to a game called "The World's Hardest Game". It doesn't seem logically possible, since if the first one was actually the world's hardest, how could another one come along and share the moniker? It made me doubt the name in the first place. That is, until I tried the game. The mechanics of the game are very simple. You are a small red square, ...

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