A really nice melody maker. Click on the boxes to light them up, and then listen to the music it produces. Toggle more boxes on and off until you've got a tune you're happy with and then... um, well there's not really a then - you can just listen to it. Anyway I thought it was really cool, and it uses the pentatonic scale which is also cool.
Shift 4 shares much with Shift, Shift 2 and Shift 3. Once again you are stuck jumping around in a maze of walls and not walls, which become not walls and walls (respectively) as soon as you hit the shift key. However this time there is the added complication of more people to control. A great game with an almost comprehensible "rescue the family" plot line; I give it five stars.
If you're more a fan of game play than graphics and you like games that need you to explore and think and explore some more, then NetHack could be a game for you! Filled with far too many different weapons, potions, creatures, tools, clothes and ascii characters NetHack is probably impossible to complete, but very fun to die trying. You have a choice of thirteen different rolls (Wizard, Archeologist, Tourist, Knight, ...) in five different races which all play very differently from each other. Admittedly learning the keys takes a few games, but you can see a list of the keys by pressing '?'. I've been informed that there are a lot of spoilers on the web, but have been quite content playing the game for the last two weeks without looking beyond the guidebook text file it comes with. NetHack generates a new world each time a new game is started - so no two games are ever the same.
One of my favourite games from last year was the addictive tower defence game GemCraft Chapter One. This year the makers have created the prequel to it - Chapter Zero. If you're anything like me then you'll have forgotten that the original game was loosely fitted around a storyline - and this game is a continuation of the same storyline backwards. I for one was certainly wondering how all these gems obtained magical powers and this instalment sheds exactly no light on my puzzlement.
Anyway, Chapter Zero is very similar to Chapter One, but with a load of new levels, a load of new enhancements and a load of new bonus towers on each level.
The title of this, the third game in the Shift series, won't come as a surprise to many; Shift 3 is incrementally titled after Shift and Shift 2. It introduces a new element of adventure with the PDA powered map. There are also a load of new achievements to attain and even a couple of secret characters to unlock.
It turns out that Stickman Odo was actually Stickman Odo 2. Stickman Odo is shares the same level of random guesswork as its older brother. However it's also humorously violent in a cartoon violence way and only takes about five minutes to complete, so is well worth a look.
If you're interested in board games then this site will no doubt be of interest to you. There are many many games listed on here from traditional games such as chess and Monopoly, through to more modern games like the Settlers of Catan and Puerto Rico.
A clever platform game where the floor is the roof and the inside of blocks is also the outside... Umm... Control the character with the arrow keys and then use the shift key to invert the man about the floor he is currently standing on. Collect keys to open gates and avoid the spikes (both sides of them). There is an in game timer from which you can find your score and plenty of in game text about the in game timer (almost all of which can be completely ignored :-)
The aim of the game is to "unlock" the 100 achievements by achieving them. The game is, in my opinion, brilliant although one of the achievements (#55) requires some rather specific knowledge, or a lot of luck.
Also I have no idea why you play as an elephant.
The sequel to Meeblings - this game is very similar to the first, but with better graphics. Also the option to create your own levels.
Use the special powers of the various different "Meeblings" to bounce them to the exit. Yellow attracts, blue repels, ... you can pick up the rest as you play. Click and hold on a Meebling to activate their special power.
This game reminded me a bit of Lemmings.
Create a machine that will get the pink shape to the finish zone. Similar idea to The Incredible Machine, only with far far less parts you can use.
Possibly the most frustrating thing about this game is that once you have completed a level you can click on the "Other Players' Designs" button and see a thousand solutions that are much simpler and more efficient than the one you just came up with!
Using the mouse catch random shapes to score points. At the same time listen to chilled out music (although this second step isn't essential it does improve the overall experience!)
Yellow shapes increase your size, while red shapes decrease your size. Purple shapes give you bonuses (plain purple make you act as an shape attractor and flashing purple turn loads of the shapes yellow).
Bounce one ball around a maze using a larger ball. Sounds simple? Well, it probably doesn't sound very simple really. And it's not! Well, after the first 20 levels it starts becoming less simple.
I stopped after 40 levels (and 142 lost balls).
If you like board games then you'll love AsoBrain. They have Carcassonne (called Toulouse) and Settlers/Seafarers of Catan (called Xplorers).
You do have to register to play, but it's free. You can play against friends, or if no one else is online, against the computer. Hello Carcassonne, good bye spare time!
Some of the rules are different than in the version of the board games that we have. In particular the points for farmers are 3 points per city (instead of 4 points).
At last, another game in the Grow series of games! Although it looks simple it's actually quite tough still. Anyway the game pretty much speaks for itself.
A very simple game where you have to find Barack Obama. He has been photoshopped into fifteen pictures and it's your job to find him.
An awesome game, but incredibly hard. If you were a fan of games from the early 90s then you may well also be a fan of the aptly titled "I Wanna Be The Guy". I have put maybe an hour into playing this, and I'm up to the 6th or 7th level now, but I did have to resort to a walkthrough for a couple of hints.
On the downside you have to download it to play it, but on the upside it's very entertaining if you like very frustrating games!
