Game Review by Daniel Kerins
Game Rating = 4/5
In recent times, the Internet has become awash with puzzle games designed to captivate their audience for short periods of intoxicating fun. Mole Control, designed by Remode Studios, is a perfect example of a generic, yet very fun, addition to the PC puzzle game family.
Wildhollow Game Review by Josh Komon
Game Rating = 3/5 Balls
WildHollow, by Karjasoft is a new take on empire building. The story is a mix of bizarre and contrived, but the dialogue indicates that the game’s creators are fully aware of this. The game is littered with tongue in cheek humor. The idea is that the hero returns to his or her home town to find that the family farm has been destroyed, and that mom and dad are no where to be found. This hero needs to simultaneously rebuild the farm to its former glory, and find and possibly rescue the parents.
GAMEPLAY
For the most part, Wild Hollow is a point and click game. There is a world map, with plenty of locations, and plenty more which can be unlocked. Within each of these locations, there is a still frame of the town, farm, orchard, or whatever the location is. At these locations, there are people and buildings to click on, each of which starts up a conversation. The player is given plenty of options for what to say or ask the people of the towns. Through these conversations, the hero is given quests to undertake, each of which is rewarded with money or items. There are a few other things that can be done at each of these locations. Items are sometimes hidden in the scenery. Some of these are quest items. Others are statues which the hero keeps as part of the collection. Lastly, there are a few mini-games which can be played at some of these locations. These are incredibly simple, and a bit stupid, but at least they are a change of pace from the monotony of point and click.
All of these actions ultimately lead to the acquisition of money. This money can be used to buy things, but most importantly, to help rebuild the family farm. Once the first repairs have been made, the hero can start to keep animals, feed them, raise them, and sell them.
GRAPHICS
While most graphics in Wild Hollow are still images, they do have a polished look. The design for the characters are very creative, albeit a tad on the intentionally cheesy side.
AUDIO
The music changes by location, and while the sound designers tried to put a bit of a modern twist on it, the game still sounds like every other medieval game.
CREATIVITY AND INNOVATION
Wild Hollow tried a few new things, and to some degree they worked. But all in all, this was a pretty unoriginal game.
THREE REASONS TO BUY
-The game is loaded with humor.
-The character designs are quite colorful.
-There are plenty of things to do.
THREE REASONS NOT TO BUY
-$19.99 is a bit much for a point and click game.
-The game is mostly devoid of action.
-The game play can be monotonous.
OVERALL
Wild Hollow is an average gaming experience, but just is not worth the time and money. It receives a 3/5.
Developed by Rockstar Games in 2001, GTA III is a sarcastic romp around the seedy underbelly of Liberal City. Say what you like about the penchant for hooligan violence, but GTA III is steeped in clipping humour. Available on PS2, PC, and XBox, the GTA series adds sardonic entertainment to sandbox gaming.
http://www.rockstargames.com/grandtheftauto3/
Developer: Sonic Team. Publisher: Sega. Year Published: November 16, 2004. Platform: NintendoDS
Feel The Magic is a unique story following a young man in his attempts to impress a woman. And what better way to do that then by making people puke up goldfish and riding unicycles across skyscrapers!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Rub
Klei Entertainment, 2006 (Windows, XBox Live)
A riotous 2D puzzle game in which you can alter the emotional state of a little bunny creature by firing food at it to guide it to a safe exit, Lemmings-style. Huge amusement can be derived from annoying the little creature by repeatedly hitting him with objects.
BurstStudio.com 2005, addictinggames.com
Perhaps only for the sadistic, Kitten Cannon is pretty self-explanatory: Players fire a kitten out of a cannon, and see how far it flies and bounces. While it loses its novelty after a hundred tries or so, the first time you realize that hitting explosives makes the cat projectile travel farther is pure cruelty gold.
Refreshingly psychedelic, the Katamari Damacy series is epic in its chaotic ridiculousness. Released in 2005 by Namco for the PS2,this game is the story behind our favourite fop, the King of All Cosmos. Situational humour comes a long way, if you can get past the rave-like absurdity, this game is worth all the giggles.
http://www.katamariforever.com/
Legend of the Seven Stars
Developer: Square. Publisher: Nintendo. Year Published: March 9, 1996. Platform: Super Nintendo, Wii virtual Console.
What makes this game stand out, is that it was the first Mario game where he just isn’t jumping over goombas and kicking Koopa shells. The addition of dialog (very funny dialog) adds a lot of charm to the game, even though many of the funny moments come from our mute hero.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Mario_RPG:_Legend_of_the_Seven_Stars
Alasdair Beckett, 2007 (Windows)
http://nelly.johnsendesign.info/
In which our heroine meets a dead pirate who urges her to save endangered seabirds. A lot more fun than it sounds, another witty adventure game in the Monkey Island mold, even down to including pirates!
Atari 1978, http://www.gamefaqs.com/console/a2600/data/584686.html
Best appreciated at 3 a.m. after chugging a few caffeinated beverages, Dodge ‘Em is a two-player contest that pits two racing cars in a laned, circular track with goals to grab. So, basically, it’s like Pac-Man with head-on collisions. Hilarious!
Developer: Capcom Production Studio 1. Publisher: Capcom. Year Published: August 8, 2006. Platform: XBox360
Frank West is a photo Journalist who never fails at getting the perfect shot. Sometimes that shot involves throwing pies, or putting silly masks on, or suplexing the undead purseing him. In Dead Rising there are thousands of hilarious ways to destroy your undead attackers.
http://www.capcom.com/deadrising/
YetiSports Screenshot
Chris Hilgert, 2004 (web)
Games of few words, but huge laughs, as an athletic Yeti batters and abuses penguins in a variety of ways, to their apparent delight. Smack them with a baseball bat in the original, or with a flamingo acting as a gold club in Flamingo Drive, or just launch them into the air to be slapped around with seals. Simple, addictive, frustrating fun.
Funniest Games #35 to #18
Funniest Games # 27 to #18
Funniest Games #17 to #9
Funniest Games #8 to #1
Kenneth Andrews, Daniel Giammano, Eric Bailey and Marai Rataj contributed significantly to this list of the funniest video games of all time.
Here’s a game trailer for a point and click adventure game called Threads of Reality. It looks pretty unique. The game dynamically generates music.
Game review by Joseph Van Buren
BrainPipe: Simple, Psychedelic, and Sub-Cerebral
The independent developer Digital Eel has a history of creating games that go beyond the conventional familiarity of gamers’ expectations. After all, this is the company responsible for Weird Worlds, which was known for its “weirdness” (yes, an appropriate title indeed) yet won an Independent Games Festival Award in 2006. Their latest venture, BrainPipe, is another example of visual brilliance and non-traditional subject matter.
Playing BrainPipe is like traveling through the Matrix on acid. In a first-person view, you travel down a psychedelic wormhole, a twisting tunnel into the deepest parts of the mind, rendered in colorful 3-D graphics. You navigate through the levels collecting glyphs and avoiding obstacles. You also have the ability to temporarily slow down time, which is helpful especially as the movement through the wormhole becomes faster. A combination of atmospheric ambient music and classic arcade-style sound effects compliment the trippy visuals perfectly. The gameplay is simple, involving only movement of the mouse and left click to employ the time warp. So, instead of frantically looking down at your keyboard to find the right key to hit, you can focus on the intense theme of self transcendence that the game is strangling your subconscious with. That is perhaps the strange duality of the entire BrainPipe experience. On one side of the coin, it is seemingly a simple game of hand-eye coordination. But if you take the red pill…
As you go through the levels, BrainPipe becomes challenging, both visually and in gameplay. Gaming vets will enjoy the increasing speed; for casual gamers, the possibility of sensory overload may be very real. There is an addiction potential here too, as you restart again and again to beat your last score. Do you need another sensation of reward from the dopamine being released in your brain? Are you truly trapped within the freeway of consciousness in your mind? Who knows? Maybe the fact that you keep restarting is just a result of the game’s replay value (obstacles do not always appear in the same spots) and lasting fun factor. Even the menu was entertaining; the icons are all eyeballs that follow your cursor as you move it around the screen.
BrainPipe is a great experiment and well worth the $14.95 that Shrapnel Games is asking for it. You reach “Confusion” as an achievement in this game – that’s a testament to Digital Eel’s sense of pushing the envelope in game design and content.
Day Care Mini Monsters Game Review by R.L. Hanlon
Game Rating = 3/5 Balls
If you’ve been searching for the perfect game for your preteen or young adult, then look no further than Daycare Nightmare: Mini-Monsters. This fast paced and at times challenging game will have the budding nanny running around after her charges, and dealing with baby monsters it can become a tad dangerous.
The storyline revolves around a young girl who has begun a daycare center in her neighborhood caring for the monsters that live in the area. Yes, monsters that are living amongst humans but are disguised as average humans.
Follow and guide your character in getting to know each of the little monsters and becoming more proficient at caring for the strange little beasts. Each baby monster has it’s own particular needs and some can create havoc if you fail to take care of these needs quickly.
At first glance, Daycare Nightmare: Mini Monsters appears to be an easy game to play. But as more babies are dropped off and as you run around trying to appease each of their needs (and these can be many) it can become hectic. But be careful, that vampire baby likes to bite when he’s upset and the little witch can create mayhem with your system of care.
The graphics are great but simple, with an easy to use and understand layout and large letters for easy navigation. I found game play could sometimes be a little slow between scenes during the game and sound was sometimes interrupted and affected. Other than these minor flaws, I found the easy mouse use great especially during some of my more hectic sitting moments!
Meeting along the way some friendly and sometimes scary characters keeps the storyline going. It was interesting and original and I enjoyed meeting the characters that I did meet.
Accompanied by a catchy tune that fits well with the story and game play. Sounds that the babies each made were simple and could have been a little more demanding to add to the chaos that could sometimes occur in the daycare center.
The storyline is original and continues to add twists and dilemmas to this sitter’s life. She is required to move apartments often, meet new monsters and is being investigated by an agency for suspicious activity pertaining to monsters. All this is occurring and you still need to maintain the happiness of each baby monster in her care. The change in scenery keeps the game interesting and so does the hectic nature of caring for these interesting little monsters.
The creativity involved in this game could have been a little more advanced. Some more interaction with the monster baby’s may have improved this, as at times I found whizzing all over the place catering to all their needs didn’t leave me feeling fulfilled, only a little stressed.
Regardless of its simplicity, it was fun to play and was a little hectic at moments and would recommend it as a great game to purchase for the above age groups.
Game Review by Peter WY Brown
Game Rating = 4/5 Balls
Playing Singularis is a surprisingly enjoyable experience. The game is quite impressive, with a great amount of depth and game play considering it was made by just one man. At certain points, you cannot help but laugh at the humorous story, and at only $14, the price of the game is also just right for multiple hours of fun. Note: The publishers reduced the price to $7.50 as of November 30th 2009.
Game Review by Kenneth Andrews
Game Rating = 4/5 Balls
Item-based adventure games are the oldest genre of computer games around, dating back to the 1970s, and have developed from text-only affairs to full-motion video extravaganzas.
Avenue Flo is a quirky adventure that takes in the hidden object genre as well as traditional object-based puzzles and character interaction. A wedding is occupying everyone’s mind in Flordia Street, Dinertown, but on the big day the dress, rings, butterflies, cake, flowers and poodle have all gone missing. Flo wanders off to find or replace all of these items in time-honored fashion, and probably to uncover the mystery of who has gone to such lengths to disrupt the wedding.
Here’s a look at the first game play video of Lylian, a side scrolling arcade game from PixelPickle games out of Australia.
Game Review by Megan Murphy
Game Rating = 2/5 Balls
Are you a good person? Find out in Happier Than You, a new game by FunEffect. In this unique game, a player progresses by fulfilling his or her happiness-giving potential and creating inventions to meet the needs of the characters. Learn that giving really is better than receiving!
Story
It is the player’s job to buy and arrange pieces to create inventions that will best meet the needs of the characters. Act as inventor, diplomat, and merchant to gain as many points as possible to win gold, silver, and bronze cups. As inventor, match possible pieces in order to create inventions to satisfy the needs of the characters. As diplomat, manage the happiness of the characters to avoid envy among them. And during all of this, act as a merchant to finance this generosity by buying pieces at low prices and selling them at higher prices.
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