What is the game about?
The Asylum is a casual Point-and-Click game where the player is expected to analyze the odd behaviour of abused cuddly toys and solve their deep-rooted problems. The player is expected to to work their way down the checklist of therapies and get to the root of each toy's unique problem by making choices on the forms of therapy listed on the clipboard given to them.



How do you play it?
You start of in the lobby of the clinic, and have to go into the Patient's Lounge. Upon entering, one comes across a group of stuffed animals for u to choose from. Each animal shows various signs of mental disturbance and the player has to pick one to begin with. After choosing your character, you can then proceed into the therapy room to attempt to help them.


As shown in the screen above, you, as the doctor, have a few courses of action to choose from on the clipboard.

Many of the actions vary from plushie to plushie, but the courses of action that remain constant are;

--

Medical Examination: This is a general physical examination to see the condition of the plush toy.

Dream Analysis: This involves putting the patient under hypnosis, and then using their dreams as a way of interpretation.

Therapeutic Interview: In which a third-party element (in this case, a sock puppet), is introduced to help to make the plushie open up.

Administration of drugs: A somewhat extreme resort to turn to when the patient is showing extremely erratic or agitated behaviour.

Professional Assistance: This is a journal that you can refer to in order to get hints to help reveal the order in which you are supposed to do the actions.

--

The rest of the activities vary, but all of them help to trigger flashbacks in the plushies that may help to unravel their problem.


There is also a Therapy Progress bar located on the clipboard, to help you monitor the progress of the patient. A right decision will fill the bar, whereas a wrong decision would cause the progress to go into decline. Once it hits zero, the patient is considered to be completely frazzled and it may be necessary for you to use electroshock therapy to "shock" them out of it.





What makes this game so compelling?
The Asylum is one of the most emotionally moving interactive narrative experiences I have ever come across. It makes the player empathize with the stuffed toys and form a bond with them. After seeing

Is it fun?
I think that it's very fun, because there are not many games that can engage you on such an emotional level. You actually begin to feel sorry for the plushies and begin to actually feel the need to help them out of their funk. Another drawing point of this game is the fact that it actually requires you to THINK, rather than to just DO.

Is it hard?
To a certain degree, yes. Alot of the decisions you make are actually based on guesswork, and you have to solidly rely on the "Professional assistance" button and the Therapy Progress bar to make sure that you're on the right track.

Synopsis
- Casual point-and-click game
- You play a psychiatrist, who has to analyse the psychological problems of abused stuffed toys to help them recover.
- You have a list of actions you can take, and they will either have a positive or negative effect depending on what order you do them in.
- Once the Therapy Progress bar is filled, the patient is considered as recovered and can be released.


Author

WE ARE PETS OF OUR OWN

Pet Society by Playfish

Pet Society is a real-time-based game where you create a pet and try your very best, to take care of it. Sound simple, but I find the game is challenging and difficult to some extend, as the perfectionist in me could never be satisfied with this western tamagochi.

The game is pretty much simple. First you create a pet, with your own choice of colors, ear shape, facial shape, eyes, etc. Then you'll name it. Once you do, you are given a house, starting with a few rooms and you'll gain new rooms as your level increases. Next, you are able to furnish your rooms, buy clothes, toys, and even fishing. The main mechanics of the game is to collect things. Whatever that you do, regardless whether you are playing balls, racing in the stadium or fishing at the pond, you'd gain something. You will receive either coins or items, as an exchange of your time.

It is a real-time-based game afterall. Means, if you plant a seed and it says 24 hours to grow, come back the next day, your flower would have bloomed. Coming back before the specified time, would leave you waiting for it. This time-based factor adds another layer of excitement and contribute the the extreme difficulties of the game. You'd lose money, opportunities and even special items when you miss the time frame. Remember too, that this game is all about collecting, the rarer the items are, the better your pet would look like, and that leads to, the better player you are. 

Pet Society is not just a game for leisure. But it becomes a trend, a part of gamer's life. It is almost impossible to stay in the game for a consecutive 1 hour or so, as it is boring. But once you log off, do some other things, and for the next 3 hours, you'd want to come back. You'd want to fish more, you'd want to check if the food is cooked. You'd want to get money. And with money, you'd want to get rare finds. 

The brilliant outcome of the game, is its possibility of being a habit. Being a time-based game, Playfish, the company also adds and discards items from the shop regularly. If the items are removed, it becomes rare. Items that are special for Christmas, Halloween or Chinese New Year becomes an extreme novelty. Owning them, means everything.

It has become a habit for many people, and this leads them to spend real money, to get exclusive items. Through dollars and cent, you'd be able to purchase Playfish Coins which can be used to buy special items. When a player has spent real money in the game, he or she has turned the game into an investment. Not only money, but also time. 

This game too has created new languages and form of communications. In the forum, many would want to buy rare items with code such as 4*999, 7*9999, 6*99 and so on. It is meaningless to others but to this gamers, it is a symbol. For example, 4*999 means 4 items which cost 999 coins. 999coins-items are extremely rare, and cant be found in the shop. They are, limited edition. 

After you play for quite some time, you'll start to realize that you have bought many items. And every items that you buy/get, you are proud of it. You would want to showcase them and when other players get into your house, they know how good you are. So you'd start placing all items in the room. Messy. This has become a reflection on human nature to pick things up, like flyers, old items and place them in their rooms. For me, what I am seeing now in my pet's house, its like a virtual form of my own rooms. This brings the game into a direct social comparison, despite it looking childish and pretty useless.

So, Pet Society is not merely game, but also a habit, an investment, an education, a research and a social commentary of today's society. It makes you feel as if you are a pet of your ow in the real world. An interesting game, indeed.

Play the game here : http://www.playfish.com/

Kelvin

It's hard to imagine now, the sort of impact Chrono Trigger must have made in the gaming community in 1995 when it was released. It featured the most vibrant graphics ever seen on the aging Super Nintendo hardware, a memorable and inspiring soundtrack, and an immersive and an epic storyline that still puts many modern Japanese Role-Playing Games (JRPG) to shame.

What Chrono Trigger is about?

Chrono Trigger is a Japanese Role-Playing Game (JRPG), published by Squaresoft (in the present now merged with Enix to form Square-Enix), as famous for its JRPG and Final Fantasy franchise in the past as it is today. Yet Chrono Trigger was not part of Squaresoft's Final Fantasy stable, or any other franchise under the company's name at that time.

You play as Chrono, a simple farmboy attending a local fair with your inventor friend, Lucca. Chrono accidentally bumps into a strange girl called Marle, whom she shows around the fair. Unfortunately, an accident with Lucca's transporter opens a hole in time that sucks Marle into the past, and Chrono and Lucca must save her. In the process however, they discover their past, their future, and a slumbering alien deep in the earth that awaits them at The End of Time. As they discover new enemies, they discover new allies and friends as well through their journey from prehistoric times to a post-Apocalyptic future.

Exploring and Battling

 As a JRPG, Chrono Trigger's gameplay revolves around world exploration and battling creatures, predominantly the latter. When not in combat, players control Chrono and any 2 of his companions and can move around the game world, interacting with select objects and talking to Non-Player-Characters (NPCs). Depending on the environment, players would have to solve puzzles or find certain objects and NPCs in order to advance the plot.

Battling is handled more dynamically and immersively than in previous JRPGs by Squaresoft and those seen on the SNES. A key feature was the lack of loading screens. Previous JRPG games would require the game to spend some time loading a separate screen on which the monsters and players would battle. In Chrono Trigger, this was done away with and the on-screen exploration screen served as the battle screen as well.

Another difference was how monsters and players sprites were arranged. In the Final Fantasy games for example, monster would be on one side facing the player and his party companions; in Dragon Quest, a first person POV style was used with no characters shown but a frontal view of the monsters instead. Furthermore, all the sprites used for the monsters and characters were static or with very minimal animation.

Chrono Trigger was visually superior, with fully animated sprites with idle animations and various different 'move' animations. Instead of a static arrangement, battles had the monsters and characters spread out randomly, though with the player having no control over the arrangement.

This feature had a tactical property. Players had 3 choices in combat. The standard Attack, using Items, or using Tech. Tech included the standard 'magic' style attacks, as well as special combo moves. These combo moves changed depending on the party make-up chosen by the player, and would include from 2 to 3 different characters. Several of these Tech moves had a certain area of effect, hence positioning would affect the effectiveness of certain moves.

This gave players unparalleled tactical flexibility that was not seen yet in JRPGs. The lack of loading screens made battling feel all the more immersive, and the fast pace of the battles meant that battling in Chrono Trigger felt more action-oriented than in the other JRPGs of the time.



The First 15 Minutes

It opens with a panning shot of a large town near the coast. Balloons and fireworks float past the screen as they rise up to the sky, past the idling clouds that move with the sea winds. There's the sounds of celebration far below, and then the horn and chugging of a ship entering the port.

You talk with your mom, who hands you some money and you meet up with your neighbour and friend to head to the fair.

It's a huge fair, with many, many things to do, you just can't wait!

Until you bump into a strange girl who ran out from nowhere! Thankfully, she's unhurt, and you spend the rest of the time at the fair with her as a companion as your explore it.

Unfortunately, at the last moment when you went to watch Lucca's demonstration of her transporter, a hole in time appears and sucks the girl, Marle, away. Even more unfortunate, she was the princess.

You get pulled into a courtroom, and a list of your deeds, good and bad are read out. This is where you find out that ALL the various actions you've taken throughout the game till now, was being monitored. For example, when you bumped into Marle, whether or not you helped her up first or picked up the shiny amulet she dropped first is brought into question; with the latter being the worse reflection of your character. If you had lost health from one of the trial battles you could take part in earlier, and you saw a lunch left on a table and ate it to regain health, the owner of the lunch accuses you of theft within court.

This is the point perhaps, that best exemplifies Chrono Trigger's scale of story and immersion. You the player is being judged on your actions, and actions that in other JRPGs, have no consequence. In a typical JRPG, the player could basically ransack any house or object for something usable. In this scene, you are judged on your character based on that action. This form of almost karmic retribution would be used in many Western RPGs that would expand its impact on the player game wise - e.g. in the Elders Scrolls series, Fable series, and RPGs created by Bioware - but to my knowledge, has not reappeared in any other JRPG since.

This court scene is also a precursor to the cause-and-effect consequences when the player eventually can jump through different time periods at whim. Doing something in an earlier timeline would then have a visible alteration in the later timelines.

A Hallmark

Without a doubt, Chrono Trigger is a hallmark of game design and scope. Despite being in the declining years of the SNES, the veterans of the JRPG genre, to name a few - Hironobu Sakaguchi, the father of Final Fantasy and arguably the JRPG genre, Nobou Uetmatsu, famed music composer of nearly all of Squaresoft's JRPG games, and Akira Toriyama the famous manga artist of Dragon Ball fame - combined their talents to create the last swan song for the game system.

In 2 years from Chrono Trigger's release, Final Fantasy VII was released on the Sony Playstation, ushering in a new era for JRPGs on 3D consoles. However, noone would deny Chrono Trigger's place in video game history for it's successful melding of an action-oriented and tactical game system and compelling and touching story in a brightly animated and colorful world.

Even now, in the top 100 or top 10 lists of various gaming websites and magazines, there is a guarantee that Chrono Trigger would make an appearance. It has also been re-released on the Nintendo DS, virtually unchanged (after all, nothing was broken), giving a whole new generation a chance to experience it for themselves.

Low down on DOODLEJUMP
Author Hasbullah


What is the game about?
The game is about this alien dood whos called doodle and he does nothing but jump his way up to his home. However the only way for him to get up his home is to jump at randomly placed platforms which serve as steps to his homeland. There are monsters, moving and breaking platforms, alien ships sucking you, holes which u can fall into. All you need to do is simply shoot the monsters, choose the platforms quickly and wisely and oh yeah, there are springs, flying hats, rocket jet packs and trampoline to get doodle to his home just a teeny bit faster.

What makes this game so compelling? 
Doodle Jump is a perfect representation of my favorite kind of iPhone game – the kind that begs you to play it over and over again. And not because there’s some elaborate storyline that keeps you on the edge of your seat, but because you want to beat your own high score for a game that requires just a couple of simple, repetitive actions. 

Is it fun?
Hell yeah! You will play this game even on the toilet seat! Oh i bet you will!

Is it hard?
As general rule of thumb, most games are pretty easy at first and it gets harder as you progress.This game follows the rule of thumb but it gets frustratingly fun because just when you think you could beat your previous score, voila; you fall back to earth in all sense of the word!!

Put it all in a doodle wrap.
1)It will addict you more than nicotine will.

2)Manual? What manual?? Super easy to understand.
3)Only cool kids play.
4)what? U still have not played.
5)Stop reading this and go play!
6)Oh ya, u need an iphone to play.
7)Sarah you can borrow your mom's iphone.
8)and while you are at that, beat my high score. PM me to noe it.

peace.

 

ROCKBAND

Review on Rockband

By Sarah Ab Kadir

Ok so most of you are looking at this picture and going... WTH SARAH?? YOU'RE STILL PLAYING ROCKBAND? Some off you who have the specific consoles for this game have probably stuffed this under your bed or something, waiting for your friends to come over and then you'll pull it out and show off your bass slapping/ double peddling/ guitar picking or Axl Rose vocal skills or something.

So basically I'll steal Yuniza's idea of breaking down the review into several parts. Here goes.

What is the game about?
It's about being rejected in the real world. Hell yeah!!!! Nono.. ok actually Rockband is a music video game developed by Harmonix Music Systems and published by MTV games Electronic Arts. It allows up to 4 players to simulate the performance of popular rock songs by playing with controllers modelled after musical instruments. These instruments include a mic, 2 guitars(lead/bass) and a drum set. Players have to match the scrolling musical notes to the instruments that they are playing in order to score points.

What makes this game so compelling?
Well this game is for the wannabes. And by saying wannabes(YES YOU TOO...) I mean for those who have always thought that they were musically inclined SOMEHOW... Even for those karaoke bengs and lians. This game is VERY MUCH for you to channel your Sylvester Sim(SGidol1) aura. You can also attempt to mimic certain bands like No Doubt and Nirvana and feel as if you were Gwen Stefani or Kurt Cobain in your after life(that's to come). Basically, you can BE A ROCKSTAR without the extra baggage of suffering the consequences of what real rockstars like Steven Tyler go through... (drugs, women, boozing, etc etc etc). And trust me, once you get the hang of this game, you seriously feel like you can just pop by a local jamming studio and jam like a freakking pro... Though I totally recommend you to seal the glass windows shut in case the manager pops by to see how you're doing..

Is it fun?
This game is far beyond fun. This game is God. Because it makes you feel immortal everytime you hit a perfect 5 stars for matching the notes to every 'strum' on the guitar. You can freakking air jump and act like you are Wes Borland and nobody will laugh at you because you have the power to shut everything off once you fail a game. You don't have to face jeering crowds with frowning and disappointed faces or have tomatoes and cabbages thrown on stage. You can just switch it off in 2 seconds and surf on your rocking bed... Oh wait...no. You are an aspiring rockstar, therefore you sleep on the cold hard floor.

Is it interesting?
Well it's interesting because there are multiple platforms to this game. Instead of just jamming in multiplayer mode, you can 'go on a tour', or maybe even personalize your dressing/instruments(online)/style/hair/tattoos and whatever... ANOTHER REASON why the game is so great of course. Because you can be whoever you are not, and you're parents won't yell. You can also battle individually or as a band through an online portal that connects your gaming console straight to the internet(if i got that explanation right). This is when the rap breaks down... you can finally show off who is much more geekier. The only thing lacking right now is the webcam that shows you who you're battling with. But thank God for that. Also, you can purchase point cards at gaming shops to which you can redeem them and exchange them(connecting the game through the online portal) for new songs that are released almost every week. This makes sure that the player does not get bored of the game and is constantly practising 'updated' songs...

Is it hard?
The game has 4 difficulty settings.
Easy/Medium/Hard/Expert.
From what I heard, the drumming scores almost exactly match the REAL drumming scores of some of the songs. So seriously, if you are good in drumming thanks to Rockband, you can probably go and apply as a drummer for Avenged Sevenfold since 'The Rev' has passed on.
The game is SO foolproof because when I started out playing it, I went through the tutorials provided and I breezed through the easy level. The instructions given were clear, precise and not complicated at all. Once you have gotten the hang of it, you would easily slip into Medium. Certain songs are difficult to play because they require more skills (Just like how Metallica is defi more skilled and experienced than Panic at the Disco) therefore you need to keep practising for awhile. Right now, I'm in my transition from Hard to Expert (OK TIME FOR ME TO ACTION HAHAHAHA) so I'm pretty much exuding Slash from Gun's N Roses.

IN A WRAP PLEASE?
So in a wrap,
1) Easy manual and instructions that lead to pleasant gaming experience.
2) Multiple platforms of gaming therefore game is continuously updated
3) Several instruments to play so that you won't get bored (I started playing in the last quarter of 08' and its early 2010 so yeah!!!)
4) ESCAPISM!!!!

So yeah if you are keen on forming a band with me please do send a letter to Ms Lilia Contrare, my Rockband manager who will gladly fill you in... Kthnksbye!!!

Passage
Platform: Win/Mac/Linux/iPhone
Website: http://hcsoftware.sourceforge.net/passage/

A brief introduction to the face behind the game, Jason Rohrer. He is well known in the indie game scene for making art games, games fueled with metaphors and philosophy that challenge the notion that games are not art. Passage is a fine example of that.

It is a memento mori, a reminder that death comes to us all. The entire game level spans across the screen but only a narrow portion of the screen is used. As the title implies, it is a passage, a passage of life itself. Your character starts out at the left of the screen. You could control his movement with the arrow keys but that's all there is to the game play. You navigate your way around the maze-like environment, occasionally popping open a treasure chest. Sometimes a blue star appears out of it, sometimes it fizzes disappointingly. On the right, just above the passage, is your score. It slowly increases over time but finding a blue star jacks it up a bit.

You are free to move your character whichever way you like. It's a kind of freedom that's rarely seen in commercial games where levels are littered with guide arrows and gold rings. Exploring further to the right reveals another person. The first time I played through Passage, I walk my character right up to her and both of them are joined at the hips. Literally. She symbolizes his love, partner and soulmate. For the rest of the game, I navigated both of them with difficulty. My character slows down slightly and I find that it's impossible to pass through smaller gaps. It's even harder to obtain those treasure chests. At one point, my character could not get to the treasure chest just in front of him as his partner is in his way.

As time passes, the characters themselves are transformed as well. Their hair turn grey and my character experiences male pattern baldness. Their movement slows down significantly too. Eventually the spouse dies and leaves behind a tombstone. I walked my character on but his death is inevitable too. Death comes to us all. And with that, the title screen fades in. The ending seems trivial for such a tedious journey. No cinematic movie celebrating your victory, not even a line of text congratulating your completion of the game. What are the treasure chests for? My score was 496.

The second time I played, I chose to forgo having a companion on the side. It was rewarding at first. My character was more agile, easily reaching through spaces, accessing treasures. He was faster too. I could explore the areas towards the south this time. The deeper I go, the more walls I encounter. Soon, my character ages. Without his spouse, I paid more attention to his aging. He starts out initially on the left side of the screen, with a generous view in front of him. Now, he could hardly see what's in front (interestingly enough, that's what happens when we grow old) but could instead reminisce the past. Here is a shockingly well thought metaphor for life integrated into the level design. And of course with his limited vision, rewards are harder to obtain and I got lost in the walls at times. It was a frustrating experience which frankly, also left me feeling a little panicked. The end is approaching and I can't get my reward, I'm literally walking in circles trying to reach a chest at one point. Then bam, I'm dead. It was very unsatisfying. In fact, going through the passage with a spouse was much more fulfilling.

Still, I easily reached the 500 mark halfway through my "passage" and I obtained far more rewards than I would have had I chosen get a life partner. It does make one question, what's more important? Going far in life or living it out with your loved ones? What is life's final reward?

The lo-fi graphics in Passage is typical of many indie games but it suits the abstract nature of the theme perfectly. An interesting element in the level design is the compression of the later parts into vertical slits that slowly stretch out as you venture onward. The music is somber and rather depressing, sounding like a death march; every step brings you closer to the end.

The truth is Passage as a game is not very accessible. It's not fun either. I found it frustrating and even mundane at times (the repetitive soundtrack, the game play limited to just walking) but those reactions count towards the experience of the game. If everyone dies in the end, isn't life just a pointless pursuit of happiness, an exercise in frustration? Or from another perspective, we can find joy in even the simplest things in life. You might have a different interpretation. That's what makes Passage such an excellent art piece, it evokes thought and reaction of its subject matter.

Like Braid, another indie gem, the game play serves as metaphors, linking the narrative to the user's in-game actions. Passage shows that games could have an enormous emotional impact on the user without relying on overblown storylines and orchestra music. Commercial games today could certainly learn a thing or two from indie games instead of rehashing the same tired Hollywood formula.

-- Benjamin

Fragger is an extremely simple yet addictive game.

The goal of the game is simple - Blow up the bad guys with grenades.
Like the goal of the game, the controls are extremely simple too. You just point with the mouse and click to release the grenade. Your position of the mouse on screen will determine the power in which the grenade is launched with. It's more simple than it sounds really... you just gotta play it and you'll get it just like that. (If you don't.. seriously..)

Actually, I found a better description of the controls:

MOUSE - Aim and shoot by moving the mouse and clicking.
Set the power by dragging the mouse towards or away form the grenade's origin.
SPACE - Cancel a thrown grenade.
R - Retry the level.
M - Return to Level Select menu.
Q - Toggle rendering quality.

The game's really fun mostly because of how easy it is.... to play. It get's difficult though and can be frustrating. The game spans across 30 Levels which get tougher due to various additions and limitations as the game progresses.

For instance, walls are added which cannot be blown up and grenades that hit them bounce back... nasty.

In some levels, the angle and power have to be so precise to the point that people with parkinsons should really just not play this game.

Also, the game is kept interesting by bonuses and achievements that one can.. achieve?

 For example, if you blow up two guys with one grenade, you get an "achievement"! No, you can't buy anything with it but it makes you feel all macho and stuff inside.. well at least for some of us...

With more difficult feats, you get better achievements!

Limitations:

As there are only 30 levels, the fun doesn't last forever and trust me, it's really not that fun replaying levels.
Some levels can seem a tad repetitive.

What could make the game better:

I'm thinking, yes, the main concept of the game is to use grenades to blow up ppl. However, it wouldn't hurt to pack in more powerful weapons as a 'reward' for your awesome fragging skills. (Because seriously, nobody's gonna print out their little "achievements" and hang it on a wall..)

Also, maybe "wind" and other forces can be added in to make the game tougher and more interesting. While this would definitely transform the game's simple interface into a perhaps more complex one, it would be more captivating and posses greater potential to have more levels to remain interesting to the player.

Overall though, Fragger is an enjoyable game that can be played at any terminal with Flash and is a great way to pass time. (Be it while waiting for a friend to send you a document, for your pregnancy test results or during Ken Feinstein's game design class)

The game has great potential for expansion into the mobile market and it can be enjoyed by people of all ages.




Pravin Mahtani

Platform: PC and Mac
Developer: The Learning Company
Release: 1992

This was one of the first education games introduced to me by my primary school. Like any seven year old kid, playing a game on a computer during school hours was already the equivalent of a miracle in 1995.

The story is simple, an evil scientist uses a machine to freeze an entire mountain. Players have to scale up the mountain which is divided into three levels. Each with level have their own challenges- level one is on how to tell the time, level two is on number equalities while the last is on counting and a guard you have to get past by solving his question on number patterns. Along the way there are elves that gives you money or hints whom you can catch by using nets. These nets are perishable items that has to be restocked at a shop. You can use the money to buy parts to help you get up to the next level of the mountain though you can earn them. Getting to the top of the mountain will lead you to the evil scientist who will give you a treasure before sending you back down the mountain to start all over again. Winning the entire game is to collect treasures until you fill up your chest. The game can be played with the option of having evil flying snowball monsters that can attack you. The difficulty of the math problems will rise as the player progresses in the game.

Graphic wise though it may not be as amazing as the visuals found in games nowadays like the Final Fantasy series, the simple graphics and animations were good enough to keep the attention of children below the age of nine to continue playing. The visuals are simply nostalgic to especially those who played these education games in school.

Overall I think it is still a fun game for young children just learning some of the basics of maths. Though given at how children are now more exposed to computer games or any other digital games at young ages, they may not share the same experience as the kids from fifteen years ago.

The gameplay plus ending:


Anyone else played this game before?

Geraldine Ghwee

I never own a PSP but this is one super addictive game I played on my friend's PSP for weeks :X

Locoroco is a super adorable game, the little wobbly character is on a quest to save its own planet from the evil Moja (black jellyfish). The Moja is a monster that capture and feed on little locoroco. Locoroco is a happy singing character, thus the cheerful music and singing at the background of the game to brighten your day up!

At the start of the game the character is just a tiny ball, its grow bigger whenever it consume a special orange berry. The character can break itself into many smaller self (depend on the numbers of berries it ate) or group itself back. Its easier to move in one big ball as the small little one might lost their way or get capture by Moja. In the game each little character sings a part of the song, a maximum of 20 little character can be gathered in a game and form a complete background song. There are different colours of character to unlock after completing each level. Each character sings different and has a different personality.

The mechanic of this game is very different as compare to the usual 4 directional move. In this game, instead of the character moving, you actually tilt the world inside the game so that the character can roll around. There is only 4 simple move for this game, tilt the world left, tilt the world right, jump and group/break the character. It can be a fast game depend on how many berries you want to collect on your way to the safe destination or it can be a longer game. You can explore the hidden cave, collect more tiny pink berry (score), play little bonus game or rescue the charcter's best buddy muimui for a higher score. At the end of each game, a special asset will be given, you can use the assets to build a muimui playhouse for your charcter to roll around.

Something which i don't like about this game is the limited numbers of level, and after playing for quite some time, you will realize that some parts are repetitive. The tilt screen control sometimes makes you dizzy because of the tilting world but after getting used to it, its still a great fun after all =)

Watch the game trailer!




Ping Ting

REVIEW - This Is The Only Level

http://armorgames.com/play/4309/this-is-the-only-level
created by jmtb02

Wed, 13th Jan 2010

As the title suggests, this game consists of only one level (the elephant has forgotten the rest of the levels). The entire game, played 30 times over the same level, may sound boring. However, this opens up the creative palette of the game designer, who has managed to bring us 30 levels of fun.

This game barely lasts 10 minutes, but every second spent was quite pleasurable. The rules are simple: the player controls an elephant that has to jump up a few blocks (a la Super Mario Bros), push a red button that opens a gate, and pass through that gate to enter a pipe that also oddly resembles that from the Super Mario Bros, all the while trying not to land on spikes which kill the elephant. There are no death limit, and players can take their time figuring out how to beat each level. However, the constant presence of a large timer ticking away pushes the player psychologically to complete each stage as fast as possible. Visually and aurally, the game is simple. Which is a good thing. The player tend focuses on the gameplay rather than be enthralled by the graphics and music. But of course, the overall game feel would have been better with a tee wee graphic enhancement.

Most levels are completed via different methods, from changing the peripheral used (keyboard to mouse) to reversing the controls. Players are not told the way to complete the level, but a tiny, cryptic clue written at the corner of the screen gives the player enough hint to keep him occupied for a couple minutes. Personally, this is interesting because the player is left to experiment on his own to find out the way to complete the level. That introduces the element of exploration and chance to the game, which allows the player the freedom to find the key to unlocking the puzzle of every level. And the player will gladly do so, as there is no punishment for death, only a quick respawn.

However, after a single walkthrough, we cannot help but sense that the creative juices of the game designer were squeezed dry. There were a few levels that technically had the same 'level' design save for a couple tweaks . There was a level where the screen was entirely white, preventing you from knowing where the traps are, and a similar level later on the game, except that now it was all blacked-out. There was also no progression in difficulty. Level 26 could be as easy as level 1, and level 5 could be as tough as level 24. The lack of difficulty progression prevents the player from feeling a sense of accomplishment as the game progresses, and puzzled as a particular level was too much easier than the previous one.

All in all, this game has showed and reiterated what was taught during lesson today: that the rules and level design need not be too complex, and how players attempt to stretch the rules of a game. Also, the creative process behind a simple game that looks simple, may not be so simple after all, but I am told not to tell you any more than that. The elephant says so.

- Timothy Tan Jiat Meng

HELLO!


Okay I chose a very simple game for this week. It's a game that I used to have fun playing last time and I decided to share this one because it's simply... fun! You can go bonkers playing this game.


It's called FOWL WORDS. (There's a version II of it also)


This game can be found HERE.

SO.. WHAT IS THIS GAME ABOUT?? It's basically a simple English word game.Nothing too hard but nothing too simple either.I'm sure everyone has played this before - you get a number of random letters....And the aim is to form the most number of words you can from the given letters.

WHAT MAKES THIS GAME COMPELLING HUH??Personally I feel this game makes you wanna play it due to:
1) You get to test yourself on your knowledge (ie: how many words you know)2) If you do get the words right, you gain points, making you feel better about yourself3) Interesting sound effects4) Pleasant aesthetics5) Makes you challenge yourself6) Makes you think (it's good if you're a thinker)

IS IT FUN?Yeah!

IS IT INTERESTING?It is to me because I personally like vocab/grammar exercises, haha.

IS IT HARD?Not really.There are levels that you can choose to suit your needs.But as the game progresses, it does get harder to think of more words.

ANYTHING BAD ABOUT THIS GAME EH?Hmmm, maybe the attention span that this game holds.One can get bored of it if you're not interested in coming up with words.

OKAY, HOW TO PLAY?? (AND LET'S LOOK AT SOME FEATURES OF THE GAME)



At the start of each round, you are presented with this screen.As you can see, you can choose which limit you want.If you think you're very smart, you choose the higher level (13 words)If you think you're not so smart, you choose the lower level (8 words) - but I'm sure everyone can come out with more than that?!Once you've done choosing, you must make sure that you achieve the limit, if not you lose!




Okay this is the main screen of the game.1) The letters are there for you to form words with2) On the right: there are certain extra marks that you can obtain:When one of the 3 choices start to blink and you form a word with the highlighted letters, you earn extra marks!(Okay you gotta play it to know exactly what I mean)




To enter a word, you can either click the ENTER button there or press the ENTER on your keyboard.To clear whatever you type, you can either click the CLEAR button there or the SPACEBAR on your keyboard.The chickens will keep clucking all the way.




Another feature of the game: The SCRAMBLEREverytime you click on the SCRAMBLER, it'll scramble the words for you; this might help you figure out more combinations
And there is a time limit to the game.If you do not reach the limit that you've set for yourself, GAME OVER!

So why not try the game now?! I really do think it's quite fun eh.Get off facebook for a while and play this game!(I sound like a salesman. Okay bye!)

Platform : Nintendo Famicom/Wii Virtual Console
Developer : Konami
Release : 1987

In Getsu Fuuma Den, you take on the role of a samurai, Fuuma, whose 3 brothers were slaughtered by the evil Dragon Master. The next natural thing for a samurai to do is to destroy the Dragon Master and get rid of all its evil minions for sweet revenge. Unfortunately for him, the Dragon Master can only be defeated by the 3 Wave Swords that were lost when his 3 brothers were killed. The search for the Wave Swords thus begun and that is also where the game begins.

The game plays mainly like an Action Role Playing Game. You get thrown into a huge overworld with multiple paths and levels to explore. The game also features an inventory system, which is used to manage the items and weapons found throughout the game. Shops and tents scattering throughout the overworld not only provide essential items to aid through your quests but also as a mean to continue the game’s narrative through conversations that happened inside them.

What sets Getsu Fuuma Den apart from the other games of its time is the clever idea of having multiple viewpoints in different situations throughout the game. The game is presented in a top down perspective during exploration mode in the overworld. Once upon entering a level marked by a Japanese Torii gate, it switches to a side scrolling action platformer similar to Castlevania. And then there are the dungeons. They are presented in glorious ‘3D’ over-the-shoulder viewpoint and plays like a restricted version of Wolfenstein 3D.

Controls of the game are simple. One button is used for attack and the other for jumping. The inventory system also allows for weapon and item change and they will be mapped to the same attack button. The directional pad is used to move the character around the screen. They are very responsive which makes jumping over platforms a breeze. Yet, this does not mean that the game is easy. In fact, this is an incredibly hard game to beat. The game features a Sword meter which denotes the damage you will be unleashing to the enemies and the meter will fill up as you progress through the game defeating multitude of enemies and bosses much like leveling up in any RPG. The game starts with the meter empty, making you very weak. The enemies and bosses are also very unforgiving in this game with some of their attacks almost impossible to dodge. You would think that these 2 frustrating factors will be enough for you to pull out your hair. You are wrong as the designers have to go one step further. Apparently, they thought that it will be fun to respawn the enemies if you decide to back track a few steps in the levels. And then there are the dungeons again. The dungeons are really just huge mazes with enemies scattered inside them. The game does not provide maps for the dungeons and the player is expected to map them out with pen and paper or he will soon realize that he was moving in circles for the past hour. The game also does not contain a save game feature and instead uses a password, that will only be generated if you decide to waste all your lives and quit, to track your progress in the game.

The character design in the game is fantastic. There are a number of memorable enemies and bosses. Graphics are also very good for an 8-bit game and are displayed smoothly throughout the entire game. The sound works well in the game with some catchy tunes.

Getsu Fuuma Den is a great game for its time. The awesome and challenging boss fights overcomes the frustration that plagues the beginning portion of the game when your character is still weak. The characters in the game are also interesting and well designed. Downsides to the game are the unforgiving difficulty and no proper save feature.

Rating : 7/10

Author
Weiwen

01 Game Review for Dino Run

What is it?
Dino Run is a simple 2d casual game which provides entertaining game play experience. This is a game whereby player role plays a dinosaur. Your goal is to escape /survive from the meteor before the meteor swallows you.

What’s good about this game?
-Simple goal

Player has to survive from the coming meteor by running to the exit. Simple and direct goal makes the player understand what they have to do in the game. Though the goal of the game is simple yet it is flexible, allowing the player to explore the game while trying very hard running from the meteor.

-Interaction
In this game, Players can simply use the [arrow] keys to move, jump, and attack. Along the way, players can find themselves interacting with the other assets in the game. Some can be beneficial to the player while some can hinder the player’s escape from the meteor. Players discover that they can collect eggs, tunnel into volcanoes, catch rides on larger dinosaurs/ Pterodactyls and rolling meteorites, and gulp down anything smaller than the player (dino) for score bonuses. However, players can sometimes be hit by flaming birds/ flaming rocks which might hinder the speed of the player. One thing to note is that player must keep running and running or else the oncoming meteor might swallow the player and the game ends. Each time the player completes a level, a chance will be gain and each chance allows the player to retry the level if the player fails to complete that level previously. Although there are three modes of play (Challenge, Speedrun and Multiplayer), the idea is basically the same: run as fast as you can from the meteor. In addition, you can also earn DNA points, which you can then use to upgrade your dino: make them faster, stronger and more agile (player upgrades). Hidden super eggs can be collected to earn grant large bonuses in all areas: score, bones and DNA.

-Graphics/ animation
I love the retro look and feel of Dino Run. This game uses this pixelated kind of look and feel in the entire game which reminds me of games like super Mario etc. Right now, most of the games uses 3d graphic and I somewhat misses the pixelated look and feel in the older games I played when I was young. In addition, I like how every elements in the game interacts with your dino. For example, the pterodactyls will carry you for a short while, boulders and meteorites can be pushed into other dinos and ridden down slopes, flowers and little creatures are for eating, and big dinos acts as bridge or riding vehicle etc. Players are considered being bombarded by the different interaction it can do with the game while trying to fulfil the goal of the game- To run from the meteor.

What’s bad about this game?
Though the game has a simple goal yet it has a challenging game play. This is because I have yet completed the whole game. Right now, I have reached level 5 and I fail to complete level 5 so I do not know the total number of levels in this game. I guess this is the drawback of this game as I have not completed the whole game yet. However, I still love this game and I will continue playing it to complete this whole game.

I remembered playing this game ages ago and it is always comes to mind when i think of PC games that i particularly enjoyed… kind of addictive at that point of time and here are a few reasons why. Firstly, the 3D graphics are captivating (at that point of time although it appears blocky now when compared to the 3D capabilities these days of course, though still interesting) and the setting is reminiscent of the jazz era e.g. the main character a skeleton in a zoot suit with mexican accent or rather ‘Spanglish’ which is a mix of Spanish and English. I like the location design visually as well as the different background music that changes in different scenes for example the blues cafe, at shipyards, tattoo parlors, etc. Sometimes, new scenes will open up new abilities such as driving a car. The game plot is good as well with an interesting story line as it occurs in the land of the dead yet things are just as lively or even livelier than the real world with many colorful dead characters.

Grim Fandango is produced by LucasArts. What makes it so engaging is the drive to solve mysteries, putting pieces together in order to progress in the game which will lead to new destinations and meeting new interesting characters. It is controlled by keyboard and mouse or joystick. He is able to collect items or inventories which can be used with other objects in the game to solve puzzles.

The drawback is the long waiting time for the game to load or in the transition of scenes which can be frustrating. Other than that its one of the best classic games I’ve played.

-Sarah ZA-