At Home: A casual gamer, and proud of it
Two new titles likely to intrigue young and old
By ANNE REEKS
For The Chronicle
Want to rile up computer geeks? Call 'em casual gamers.
The label is probably a greater affront than a Celeron processor and dial-up Internet. But there's no shame in being less than a die-hard gamer.
In fact, it's a great time for spur-of-the-moment sorts. More small companies are coming out with intriguing programs that don't take much time, money, bloodlust or hard-disk space to play.
None compares with the mother of casual games, Solitaire for Windows. However, the following two new titles tease the brain, tickle the fancy of young and older players, download quick as a wink and have decent trial versions.
So go ahead: Wear that casual-gamer tag with pride. Your carpal tunnel will thank you, as will family members waiting to use the computer. They won't even need to send an IM to say it.
Memonix 1.4 (Age 4 and up, $14.95, Viewizard, Windows, www.viewizard.com) Visual recall is what this four-game collection takes, tests, twists and spits out sharper than before. You're shown geometric shapes or pictures on a grid for 30 seconds, and then they disappear. The challenge is to replace the various elements by memory, trial and error, process of elimination and raw guessing while a timer counts the seconds.
Mosaic, which involves colored shapes, is my favorite for its fiendish simplicity. Next best is Builder, where players recreate quaint houses from composite parts, including a cat on the roof. Pair and Jig-Saw are little-kid fodder, akin to typical memory-matching and puzzle games.
Lots of options stir the pot, including five difficulty settings (facile to insane), four grid sizes (2x2 to 8x8) and add-on packs of construction materials and pictures. But be sure to turn off the circus music, an affront to ears and concentration.
Fashion Cents 1.6 (age 5 and up, $19.95, My Game Company, Windows, www.mygamecompany.com) Suppose Tetris involved clothes instead of colored blocks, and they had to complete outfits on models, not lines in the pit. The result is a dress-up game of strategic proportions.
When random tops, bottoms and accessories appear in a window, girls have to put them on one of 10 custom-created dolls and keep each color-coordinated to perfection.
Finishing a head-to-toe ensemble scores points, and that doll disappears and is replaced by another. As they ascend game levels, virtual fashionistas get more finery to mix and match and tools to use in a clothing crisis.
The smooth-jazz soundtrack is pleasant but can't soothe the pain of being taken down by green capris that clash with everything.
HoustonChronicle.com - At Home: A casual gamer, and proud of it
By ANNE REEKS
For The Chronicle
Want to rile up computer geeks? Call 'em casual gamers.
The label is probably a greater affront than a Celeron processor and dial-up Internet. But there's no shame in being less than a die-hard gamer.
In fact, it's a great time for spur-of-the-moment sorts. More small companies are coming out with intriguing programs that don't take much time, money, bloodlust or hard-disk space to play.
None compares with the mother of casual games, Solitaire for Windows. However, the following two new titles tease the brain, tickle the fancy of young and older players, download quick as a wink and have decent trial versions.
So go ahead: Wear that casual-gamer tag with pride. Your carpal tunnel will thank you, as will family members waiting to use the computer. They won't even need to send an IM to say it.
Memonix 1.4 (Age 4 and up, $14.95, Viewizard, Windows, www.viewizard.com) Visual recall is what this four-game collection takes, tests, twists and spits out sharper than before. You're shown geometric shapes or pictures on a grid for 30 seconds, and then they disappear. The challenge is to replace the various elements by memory, trial and error, process of elimination and raw guessing while a timer counts the seconds.
Mosaic, which involves colored shapes, is my favorite for its fiendish simplicity. Next best is Builder, where players recreate quaint houses from composite parts, including a cat on the roof. Pair and Jig-Saw are little-kid fodder, akin to typical memory-matching and puzzle games.
Lots of options stir the pot, including five difficulty settings (facile to insane), four grid sizes (2x2 to 8x8) and add-on packs of construction materials and pictures. But be sure to turn off the circus music, an affront to ears and concentration.
Fashion Cents 1.6 (age 5 and up, $19.95, My Game Company, Windows, www.mygamecompany.com) Suppose Tetris involved clothes instead of colored blocks, and they had to complete outfits on models, not lines in the pit. The result is a dress-up game of strategic proportions.
When random tops, bottoms and accessories appear in a window, girls have to put them on one of 10 custom-created dolls and keep each color-coordinated to perfection.
Finishing a head-to-toe ensemble scores points, and that doll disappears and is replaced by another. As they ascend game levels, virtual fashionistas get more finery to mix and match and tools to use in a clothing crisis.
The smooth-jazz soundtrack is pleasant but can't soothe the pain of being taken down by green capris that clash with everything.
HoustonChronicle.com - At Home: A casual gamer, and proud of it
posted by hkghkghk at 10:42 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home