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Multiplayer Game Reviews
April 17, 2010
Spectraball is a game that requires quick thinking, dexterous fingers, and the ability to remain clear headed at a fast pace. All that being said it’s really no wonder that I blew chunks at this game. Really, it was almost painful to watch and even more painful to realize.
 Still, I have to admit the game itself is pretty fun. You play as a ball, a marble really. You’re entire mission is to roll around through obstacle courses in order to reach checkpoints and goals. Now, I’m sure you’ve heard of games like this before. We all have, it’s not a new prospect but even still, that game was pretty good!
First of all, the graphics in Spectraball are amazing. 3D landscapes and soft music make you feel like maybe you really are just a big hamster trapped in one of those little monster clear balls. Even when you end up in a vat of lava or off the edge of a cliff you’re not exactly angry as much as you are…disappointed. The game is challenging but with the choice of music and the beauty surrounding you it’s not so pumped up that you feel like a failure that should die in a fire when you don’t quite make it in time.
As I said before, Spectraball really is a game of skill. You use the W, A, S, D, keys to maneuver along with well timed jumps and strips of arrows that give you boosts of speed. It’s not really something people usually look forward to in video games but I love the way that gravity and physics have a place here. It’s fairly easy to know how much force and speed you will need in order to make it to your goal, be it a jump or a hill you need to make it up. The numbers of your speed are caringly provided for you so you don’t have to guess how fast you’re going either.
 All in all, I think this is a fantastic game. It’s challenging but relaxing. I played it for a little while and was never bored and only mildly frustrated (in a good way!). Though, as it is a 3d game I couldn’t play it for very long or very frequently. The vertigo is very there and it is very real. If you’re one of us poor motion sickies be prepared. It’s not going to be pretty but I promise you, there are worse ways to spend an afternoon, even if you find yourself in bed with a tummy ache for the rest of that evening.
Game: Spectraball — http://www.flashcubestudios.com/projects/spectraball/ | Developer: Flashcube Studios: — http://flashcubestudios.com/pages.php?page=news
April 16, 2010
Youda Sushi Chef is a fantastic little time filler, which will test out your patience skills and timing to the maximum!
The point of the game is to run a well-oiled and maintained sushi restaurant and keep every single one of your customers happy.
Don’t worry if you have no experience of creating sushi or even if you have never eaten it before because there is an in play recipe book to help you as the orders start to pile up in front of you.
 Keep those customers happy! In terms of controls the game is very simple and easy. You just need a mouse and a few keyboard skills to negotiate your way to a higher level. Once you reach these higher levels, you need to be very quick so touch typing and mouse skills help.
Game play can become a little irritating after a while but there is a simple option to turn off all sound and character noises. This will mean you do not have to put up with impatient customer grunts as they wait for their sushi!
The game will also handily save each time you close your web browser. This means if your boss is walking around the office while you have a cheeky little play then you can just click the x and come back at a later point.
The graphics of the game are very good. Bright colours and crisp 2D images are all the game offers up but it does this very well.
 Look up recipes you are not sure about There are many internet games like this on modern web gaming sites but the developers of this game have to be praised for bringing something a little extra to the table.
The Café Worlds of this time and age have already rocketed to popularity and this game does well because it doesn’t try to be any thing like that. It sticks to the concept of fast paced and popular action, which keeps a gamer hooked on the game long enough for the developers to be able to score some vital statistics.
All in all this is a cracking little role play game, which will keep you entertained for hours. If you ever wanted some vague idea of how the pressure of running a restaurant would feel then this is a nice place to start. Enjoy.
Game: Youda Sushi Chef http://www.unlimitedwebgames.com/game/youda-sushi-chef | Developer: Mini Clip http://www.miniclip.com/games/en/
April 15, 2010
 Yeah, hit them blocks. Blosics II
It doesn’t get much more straightforward than this. Huck balls at a tower of bricks and try to get them off-screen. Every green brick that goes off screen gets you a point. If you knock a red block off, you lose a point. You also lose points based off of the size of the ball that you lanch. I’ll explain. Speed and direction of the ball is decided by clicking and dragging the ball. In addition, the ball grows bigger depending on how long you last. This is a physics based games, so ball size is a significant issue. You advance to the next level once you get a certain number of points.
Gameplay
Yeah, in the beginning, you pretty much just smash as many bricks as you can. Not much finesse. Later on though, your mouse handling skills will be put to the test. This game is really a combination of puzzle solving and reflexes. I played this game easily with a trackpad, but it is certainly easier with a mouse.
 Don't hit the reds! This is one of those games that has a simple premise, but gets developed to a very intricate degree. This game ate at me. You look at a level, and you say too yourself, meh, I could beat that. But there are many levels where it took me too many tries to try to pick up just one or two blocks.
Aesthetics
The game is a bit bland. Sure, everything looks right, it’s just that, visually, it’s a bit boring. The excitement of the game comes from the layouts that you have to beat, so I guess it really doesn’t matter.
Final Verdict
This is a fun game to start, and you will be very surprised at how frustrated you get at it. If you do 5 tries without winning, just stand up, get some fresh air, maybe some coffee and then get back to it.
Game: Blosics II | Developer: Igrek
April 14, 2010
 Now, I know that the games reviewed on this site are meant to be the best of the best: the cream of the crop, the pick of the litter. This makes me proud as heck to be someone who is working to put this collection of reviews together. That being said, a little while ago I was asked what kind of game actually falls under the category of the best.
At first I was a little confused but ultimately I was able to answer. A really, really good Indie game has to be replayable. It has to be something that is going to keep me entertained for a few hours, suck me in, offer me some kind of challenge, and leave me feeling a little better after I finish playing. It has to be fun, visually stimulating, and it cannot be tedious. Personally, I like something that makes me laugh too, but that’s not really necessary for it to be a good game.
That was my answer, and in response my friend nodded and took over my keyboard, typing in an address. That address led me to quite honestly consider banning my friend from ever touching the internet again. Ever.
Still, I decided to give it a try and was surprised, truly surprised, to find that Bear Gunner fit all of my requirements.
 Bear Gunner is a simple, almost disturbing game in which you quite literally gun down bears and save girls from being mauled (if you want to, it’s just as much fun to watch them get dragged away). The music in Bear Gunner is upbeat and lively and while the animations are crude at best they’re still amusing enough to hold my attention.
The mechanics of Bear Gunner are simple as well. You point and click. The pace moves up the more girls you save and thus, you gradually find yourself gunning down a large number of bears in a short amount of time after the tenth savee.
Now I cannot stress enough that Bear Gunner is not for children. It’s bloody, kind of morbid, and it’s riddled with adult jokes. It’s one of those games that you start off not taking seriously and before you know it you’re staring at your screen, pushing to break your last record. It’s shameful addiction, really.
If you’re a hardcore gamer, don’t poo-poo Bear Gunner without giving it a try. There is a certain amount of skill involved, and while you may not be as enthralled as I was, it’s still worth a few hours of your time. Casual gamers (especially those with a morbid sense of humor like me) you’re going to love this!
Game: Bear Gunner | Developer: Androgynous
April 13, 2010
Red Remover is a quaint Flash puzzler that has players try to rid the screen of red objects. There is a catch though: every green object must remain. If even a single greenie falls off the stage, you lose. (Blue objects are completely neutral. Save them or drop them, it won’t affect whether you win or lose.) Simple enough, right? Well, these objects are so stubborn that even gravity must yield to their personal whims. Whichever way a particular object believes is down determines which direction that object will fall when pushed off a ledge. This makes for some real head-scratching puzzles.
 Forget the way gravity is supposed to work. There are plenty of stages, and enough of them are challenging enough that Red Remover should last quite a bit longer than most of the Flash puzzlers out there. On top of the 45 stages (40 regular stages and 5 bonus levels), each stage has a par – a recommended number of moves required to satisfactorily complete the puzzle. You don’t need to meet par in order to move on, but scoring par or better on every course is one of the requirements for unlocking the bonus levels. And if that still isn’t challenging enough, there is a bonus mode that reduces visibility considerably.
With all of these stages and modes, it will take a fair amount of time to completely clear out the game. But for those who want even more, Red Remover includes a level editor that allows you to create your own mind-boggling puzzles. Within the game, there is a link to a forum where users post their creations. Some of them are even harder than the most difficult in-game puzzles.
 Things aren't looking so good for that little green guy. The visuals are stripped-down, but arguable not as much as they could be. Considering that you are completely working with simple shapes – squares, rectangles, and circles – there is actually a fair amount of detail. Each shape has a face and the facial expressions change from happy to nervous whenever a particularly hairy situation occurs. They will all even cheer for you when you win.
 Remove the little blue square and send the red guy rolling. With its variety of stages and modes piled on top of an easy-to-use level editor, Red Remover is a game that will remain enjoyable for a very long time. Though there isn’t any real multiplayer, per se, the level editor allows you to build whatever insane puzzles your mind comes up with, and then challenge your friends to solve them.
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Game: Red Remover | Developer: Gaz
April 12, 2010
There are very few puzzle and skill games currently on the internet which combine simplicity and entertainment.
Spin The Black Circle is exactly one of these. Unlike the Pearl Jam song of the same title, there is no rock and roll to this game, it’s very simple and relies a lot on the user taking the time to complete all of the levels.
The controls of the game are not difficult at all. All you have to do is guide a little black ball around a series of obstacles in a circle. There will be a little blue port where you have to guide the black ball to.
 Combine skill and timing to complete each level However, be careful because the slightest mistiming of rotating the circle (using the arrows) will cause the ball to slam into one of the spikes and explode, meaning you will have to start all over again.
Graphics are basic as is the typography, which comes with the game. This holds the game back slightly because the developers could have easily jazzed this up a little bit and made it more appealing.
However, this is clearly a well-liked game because it has produced a sequel version. This has to be due to the simplicity of the game, which allows you to complete a few levels without even breaking a sweat.
 Each level gets trickier! This is aided by the fact that the game will automatically save your position each time you leave the game, so you can go back to it at any point and carry on where you left off.
There are very few games like this, which trick you into thinking it will be easy to complete. The point is that you are drawn in because of this, but then you quickly realize that the game isn’t as simple as you first thought and you feel the need to keep playing in order to prove yourself correct.
All in all, you could do much worse than playing this game. It will never have all of the things which make role-playing games successful but it’s much better than some other half finished attempts at internet games currently being played.
If there were some sort of multiplayer version of this game, then it would be fantastic entertainment. It has improved since the first effort and if there is going to be a third, it should be even better.
Game: Spin The Black Circle II http://www.addictinggames.com/spintheblackcircleii.html | Developer: Addicting Games http://www.addictinggames.com/index.html
April 11, 2010
Hot on the heels of Dr. Zed’s Zombie Island and Mad Roxxi’s Underdome Riot, Gearbox Software has released the third (and supposedly final) DLC for Borderlands – The Secret Armory of General Knoxx.
Right at the start, you’re thrown into a mess when you discover that a bounty has been placed on your heads by Atlas Corporation. A rather sizable one at that. Never one to sit back and take it, you and your companions take on a mission to strike back at Atlas. You’re aided in this quest by some new friends and some old ones as well, including Scooter who has setup shop nearby.
 Stepped Right into Trouble... Secret Armory introduces a few changes to the game. Foremost among these is the Level Cap which has been raised up to Level 61 (a subtle nod to Spinal Tap and their amps that go to 11). The first missions start out at level 50 and believe me when I say, you need to be at Level 50 to try it. My level 45 Soldier died repeatedly until I managed to play through the original game once more to raise some levels.
Also added is a plethora of new loot (including a new type of chest), incredibly powerful weapons, new missions (and side quests), and impressive enemies that keep you on your toes throughout the game.
Like Zombie Island, Secret Armory has only one Fast Travel location and it’s far more spread out than the island. Thankfully, there are three new vehicles to take advantage of the wide open space. One of these, the Lancer, seats four. Yes, Gearbox answered their fans and came up with a vehicle that everyone can rid in. It’s a blast.
 A New Ride Graphics and Sound have not changed since the original Borderlands with the exception of new dialogue for Scooter and a handful of new characters. As in previous installments, it’s great. The voice work is well done and adds a lot of humor and atmosphere.
For just ten bucks, The Secret Armory of General Knoxx is a sure bet. Pick up a copy and get blasting with your friends.
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Game: Borderlands : The Secret Armory of General Knoxx | Developer: Gearbox Software
April 10, 2010
Ah, electricity, that powerful force that fascinated Benjamin Franklin and was battled over by Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla. What would this modern world be without electricity?
Electric Box is a quaint puzzler that exploits the idea that “electricity is pretty cool.” The object of the game is to send electricity from a power source to a target. It’s not as easy as it sounds though, since the electric wire tends to be broken up in places. To compensate for this, players must insert a wide range of gadgets into the power grid. There are light bulbs, solar panels, waterwheels, windmills, laser beams, and plenty of other items to transport energy from one place to another.
The puzzles are challenging. The final few are ridiculously brutal. Though there are only fifteen levels, hardcore gamers will delight in the sheer difficulty. Since puzzles are a heck of a lot less fun once they’ve been solved, Electric Box includes a level editor to add some more depth to the game. Create levels as frustratingly hard as your twisted mind can come up with, and then laugh at your friends for not being able to solve them. Or make something easy enough to relieve the stress of solving the final few brain-busters in the actual game.
Electric box isn’t nearly as pretty as some of the other flash puzzlers out there. It has a simplified look, which appears more generic than stylized. Since it is less fun to look at, it doesn’t hold your interest as well as it could. And since the puzzles are so ridiculously trying, many gamers will probably put this one down before they finish it.
The music is interesting though. The electronic sounds intermingled with some flute-ish noises definitely add a dimension to the game that the graphics fail to. (Every time the flute comes in, my eyes are automatically drawn to the teapot.) Kudos to whoever composed it.
Electric Box is simple, yet falls short visually. Though the level editor makes it worth coming back to for some gamers, it’s not likely to hold their interest for very long.
 Steam, water, and light are your friends!
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Game: Electric Box | Developer: Twinkle Star Games
April 9, 2010
 Join a friend for some two player co-op.  What is a slugrat? Well, it's exactly what it sounds like. Steampunk is just plain cool. Remnants of Skystone takes this idea and mixes it with retro side-scrolling gameplay. This formula works exceptionally well, and the unique blend of old-school and new-school elements make this game a must-play.
There are three classes to choose from. Aeronauts have steam-powered jetpacks and Mega Man style arm cannons that shoot bursts of steam. Ferrics are equipped with nasty blades on their arms, which allow them to slash enemies and cling to rock walls. Crags, like Indiana Jones, have whips which they can use to attack or to swing from ledges. Impressively, these three classes are very balanced. Each has its own advantages and disadvantages, yet no class completely overpowers the other two.
Players will find themselves in the floating city Nidaria, where they will be given missions to travel to the surface and perform various tasks. These missions can get a little repetitive, since they tend to re-tread old ground, but they do so in a Metroid-ish way, where certain areas are blocked off to players until a certain requirement is met. Each mission tends to take you into at least one or two new areas.
 Every game should include at least one giant eyeball boss. The multiplayer mode is great. There are two-player co-op missions in which players must work together to clear the stage of the dreaded haze and then fight a boss. After the stage, players are given a score based on how well they did, and these scores are put into a leader-board. At the end of each week, the top score will be announced. There are only three co-op levels to choose from, but each level is only around for a week. After that, each is replaced by a brand-new stage. That’s right. Three new levels every week.
The only complaint I have about this game is with the art design. Don’t get me wrong, Remnants of Skystone looks incredible, but the color palate is a little thin. Everything is some muted shade of gray, forest green, or brown, with splotches of purple tossed in here and there. The world within the game legitimately should be dark and overcast, but there are plenty of sneaky excuses to toss some color into the mix. I would love to see some flashing red beacon lights, or enormous Tesla coils shooting 40 foot blue and white lightning bolts. Admittedly, though, this is only a problem with the single-player missions. The co-op missions have a lot more variety, especially with different sky colors.
Remnants of Skystone is a great game, filled with steampunk, weird creatures, Metroid-ish sidescrolling action, and a very entertaining co-op mode. Play it now. I’ll see you in Nidaria!
 This big guy may seem tough, but just think of him as everything you've fought so far put together. Wait, that doesn't help much, does it?
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Game: Remnants of Skystone | Developer: Flipline Studios
April 8, 2010
Have you ever bought Vitamin Water, strictly because the witty sarcasm on the side of the bottle made you laugh? If so, you’re going to love Kingdom of Loathing. Chalked full of clever satire and a sort of subdued enthusiasm, Kingdom of Loathing is a free, browser based game that teleports you to a world filled with crazy clowns, lazy ghosts, and the ever impressionable door blocking “bar.”
In Kingdom of Loathing you play as a stick figure that must save the kingdom…or not. You really don’t have to actually help, you can run around the game collecting loot, beating up bad guys, and eating strange objects just as easily. Even then when you’re not actually doing anything productive you get the distinct feeling as if the game understands  your laziness and doesn’t really mind.
Kingdom of Loathing is a wide open world of possibili ties but it doesn’t allow you to just sit down and grind out the entire experience in three days with the help of Cheetos and Mountain Dew. Instead you are given a strict amount of “adventures” a day and that is how many activities you can accomplish before the next allowance period. There are many things you can do to increase your number of adventures daily but you’ll still end up with an iron clad limitation. In that, you are pulled back to the game every few days in order to complete quests, find items, and to get the most out of your time.
Kingdom of Loathing is primarily a single player game. You play by yourself and even when you’re in the arenas you don’t see anyone else who is actively playing. That being said there are still guilds and chat rooms that can provide a person with companionship and the perks of working with others.
I’ve been playing Kingdom of Loathing for over a year and a half now and I’m still not bored. As with games of this nature I have sometimes taken a break from it, only to go back a week or two later and continue right where I left off. You lose some of the adventures you could have gotten (the pool caps out at two hundred, no matter how many days you don’t play) but the game is still interesting and a hoot and a half.
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Kingdom of Loathing — http://www3.kingdomofloathing.com/login.php?notloggedin=1
| Developer: Asymmetric Publications, LLC — http://asymmetric.net/
April 7, 2010
Winter Escape is an innocent little reminder of the freezing cold winter many of us have just had.
The game classes itself as a puzzle/adventure game, which requires you to find hidden objects and sole small puzzles as a way of gaining entry into a warm hut, which will stop you from freezing!
It is a great game to test your brain skills and reaction time if you are a little bored of doing your duties around the office. There are not many controls to get a hang of, all you need is a good knowledge of how a keyboard works. It’s actually a lot of fun once you get into the game.
 Get that door open before your fingers fall off! You can satisfy the inner child within yourself by driving a huge snow plough into the side of the hut as a way to try and break in or even use a shovel to try and break down the front door.
However, it is actually much easier if you spend some extra time just trying to find the key.
There is nothing in the way of technical gameplay and you can tell this just from looking at the two dimensional graphics and the rather limited title screens that do not play up to the imagination.
The game has nothing on other winter related classics such as Whack a Penguin, which have become examples of a generational cult.
 Snow plough your way inside.... literally There need to be more addictive puzzle solving games on the internet, which actually require you to use a little bit of intelligence and observation as a way to complete your way through each level.
You need to remember with this that you are working against the clock and there is no way out, if you do not complete the task in time, you have to go back and do it again.
There is no option to hit refresh and start where the game last saved, which is now a given on many internet games. If you mess it up, you start again, it’s that simple.
Winter Escape is a game, which is like the When September Ends of winter songs. For those of you out there who actually enjoy long and bitter winters then sit down with the fire on while it’s still a bit chilly and play away to your heart’s content.
Game: Winter Escape http://www.addictinggames.com/winter-escape-game.html | Developer: Shattered Games http://www.shatteredgames.com/
April 6, 2010
 I finished six games today and wrote reviews for all of them. I’ve been playing games like these for a while now and I’ve fallen in love with each and every one of them for their own unique draws and charms. Even with all of that under my belt and all the sugar I have gushed at the previous games this one is without a doubt my favorite.
Crayon Physics Deluxe is a game whose title speaks infinite volumes. It is exactly what it sounds like. A sort of…puzzle slash creation game. Here is an indie game that is beautiful, simple, fun, and leaves you feeling good after you’ve finished playing it. The learning curve for this game is wonderfully gradual. You are introduced to new methods of working out the puzzles (for which you literally use gravity and your own imagination to complete) and the chance to learn them are there but if you’re feeling cheeky (which I frequently was) you can also ignore suggestions altogether and come up with your own way of getting your apple (a nod at Sir Isaac Newton, if I’m not mistaken) to the stars.
The art of Crayon Physics Deluxe is, again, exactly what you would expect. It’s drawn as if it were put together with crayons with a background like looks a lot like construction paper. The music is mellow and inviting, never rushed or hurried. This is definitely a casual game that you can allow yourself to get addicted to by slow amounts.
 Crayon Physics Deluxe also provides the option for players to create their own puzzles and worlds. This kind of thing usually doesn’t do it for me but it was worth the time and effort. Putting together puzzles of my own was a joy and not a chore, as I frequently find it to be. The building blocks are straight forward and easy to use and understand. A basic knowledge of gravity is really all you need to enjoy Crayon Physics Deluxe.
I’ve been all about the children tonight but I have to say this really is a good one for the kids. I don’t have any, but it seems like it would be pretty and familiar enough to catch and grab their attention while still teaching them something. I really enjoyed playing this and I’m pretty sure that gamers of all categories will too.
Game: Crayon Physics Deluxe – http://www.crayonphysics.com/ | Developer: Kloonigames — http://www.kloonigames.com/blog/
April 5, 2010
You may spend hours and hours searching through websites in failing attempts to find brilliantly fun web based fighting games.
St Pattack is exactly one of these and it really is one of the best laughs you will find in an innocent, battling and fast paced web game. The game is focused around St Pattack who has to battle his way along various challenges and stages, beating one and all in his path who dare to get in the way.
On the surface you may think the game was designed by a Scot or an Englishman because of every single Irish stereotype appearing at some point in the story. However, this should be taken tongue in cheek because the game is not serious.
 Fight off everything that comes at you! The graphics are fairly limited but are solid, fun and entertaining. Everything is in two dimensions, which means you can see all of the oncoming dangers in front and behind you in real time game play.
The controls are equally basic although the attack sequences can be a bit confusing if you are trying to defend yourself from an ambush while trying to sync your fingers on the keyboard to attack at the same time.
It’s really worth trying out for a few hours in order to see how far you can get. Some of the later challenges get so difficult that you are literally tapping the keyboard trying to fend everything and everyone before it’s too late.
There are brilliant attack combinations, which you can earn from fighting off more opponents and winning more gold. This all adds to your dominance on the game and will count as you reach later stages.
 Spin to become invisible for easy attacks Do not worry either if you cannot complete the game in one game. For some reason only certain websites will automatically save the game each time you leave, allowing you to pick up from the same spot later on.
So the bottom line with this game is to just sit back and let yourself have some fun. Remember that it is not intended to offend any Irish men or women. It is also not intended to cause religious offense. There are probably other games out there you can seek retribution through if you are offended.
It is meant as a laugh and a joke and to be honest it does this very well.
Game: St Pattack http://www.gamenode.com/action-games/st-pattack/ | Developer: Phantastic Games http://www.gamesfantastic.com
April 4, 2010
I won’t beat around the bush or lie to you guys. Madballs in Babo:Invasion is not my kind of game. It’s an aggressive, rolling game in which you are a member of a strange army. The game is, indeed, just as it sounds, a bloody war based thing. Its focus is a command and conquer thing (Editor’s Note – Actually, it’s much more of an action-y shoot-em-up, command & conquer was a strategy styled slugfest. :-p hehe), something that you play in order to be the top dog.  There were times I was confused, the mechanics of Madballs in Babo:Invasion are a little difficult but they’re also perfect for the story. You actually feel as if you’re a ball with a gun, shooting down and rolling over enemies. It’s not ideal but it works for the game itself.
The music in Madballs in Babo:Invasion also does what it is supposed to. It keeps you pumped up and eager to kill and maim. It’s a good and fine mixture as it is, though I at times felt the need to get up out of my chair and shout for no reason. That isn’t to say that the music is overbearing. That’s not it at all. At times you may even forget the music is playing in the background, instead it sets a thriving atmosphere that encourages you to be the best little BDI soldier you can be.
I don’t usually enjoy games where the point of it is to destroy as many things as possible, but for what it was Madballs in Babo:Invasion wasn’t bad. It wasn’t as bad as I expected, but nor was it something I would have played without the need to review it.
 Again, I have to stress that Madballs in Babo:Invasion is a fine game, it’s just not right for individuals who game like I do (yeah, I’m a little bit of a pansy, but so what?) but I did suggest my husband try it out and he liked it plenty.
Madballs is something I would definitely put down on the list if I were a little more bloodthirsty. War isn’t really my cup of tea, but when done well enough I can play it just like anything else. That being said, I was able to play it long enough to get a solid idea of it.
It’s something new and inventive, a game that you play as a demonic ball from hell, spewing damage and hurt. It’s a gorgeously rendered adventure that lets you use a host of different weaponry and special skills to accomplish your goals, be that capturing the enemy’s flag, holding a control point, or just killing as many enemy balls as you can!
Game: Madballs in Babo: Invasion http://www.playbrains.com/babo/ | Developer: Playbrains http://www.playbrains.com/
April 3, 2010
 Let there be light-Bot. When I think about light-Bot, I imagine it being created by some frustrated programmer who was tired of putting up with deadlines and annoying criticisms from non-programmers. Revenge. Make a game that shows people the torment of being a programmer. Make it cute. Make it addictive. Make it easy at first, but let it eventually ramp up in difficulty until it gets pretty puzzling. Make the final two levels real doozies.
Whether or not that was the actual creative process behind the game, light-Bot wound up becoming a very clever little Flash puzzler. The point is to light up every blue tile on each stage by giving a light-Bot a series of commands. Sound easy? Well, your light-Bot is only capable of retaining a limited number of commands, and each stage must be completed in a single set of these commands.
 This is your command screen. The f buttons trigger your functions. While most of the commands are simple – turn left, turn right, go forward, hop, etc. – after a few stages, you will find yourself running out of memory in your main method panel very quickly. In order to counter this, you must program reusable functions that can be accessed from the main command string. Sound confusing? Then thank your friendly neighborhood programmers, because this is an extremely simplified version of what they do at work every day.
There are twelve stages total, ranging anywhere from ridiculously easy to fairly difficult. The last two are especially mind-bending. Remember, you must think like a programmer.
Light-Bot uses cute, stylized graphics that work very well. Even when you get frustrated that the later puzzles are so challenging, you will take comfort in the soothing visuals. Your may even forget about punching that computer screen.
The music is a perfect fit. The electronic sounds will make you feel like you are actually in a factory controlling robots. But it is very short and plays on an infinite loop, so you may find yourself turning off the volume by the time you reach the finale.
Light-Bot is unique and challenging, but only has twelve stages. If it were longer, it would be an amazing experience. This short little game is still incredibly fun. It may even make you want to hug a programmer.
 The first few stages are fairly straightforward. But it gets tougher later on. Trust me. Game: light-Bot | Developer: Coolio-Niato
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