from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Flash] Auditorium is a fantastic new puzzle game of music and light. Solve each level by manipulating the flow of light to create the perfect balance of music. The streams of light represent sound particles that you bend toward boxes until the audio levels are full. When the flow is correct, the audio levels fill up with the proper color and all the parts of the music will play. Delightful, brilliant and stunning.
from Casual Gamer Chick
Hour Maze is a flash based puzzle game. The goal of the game is to use all of the numbers from one to twelve twice on the puzzle board. Each number can only be next to the number it would appear next to on a clock, which is where the puzzle element comes into play. 
The board is a grid with thick black lines on a few of the squares. The think black lines mean that there is a divider. The divider allows a number to be next to another number even if it is not next to it on a clock. In other words, you could have a three next to a twelve, which is the maze element.
Each puzzle starts out with a few numbers already on the board. The numbers give the players a starting point. As the puzzles increase, the starting numbers are fewer. Eventually, the puzzle boards themselves get bigger and you have to use each number three times.
Hour Maze is really challenging, but fun. Initially, I was stumped and couldn’t really figure out where to start. After a while, I got the hang of it. There is a solution feature so if you are completely stuck you can hit the solution button and see what the solution to that puzzle is. If you like puzzle games, you should definitely check out Hour Maze.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Flash] Buggle Stars is a well-executed platformer with tight controls and over 15 interesting levels and 4 mini-games to unlock. Each level presents a sequence of stars that you must collect, in order, to advance. A variety of goals change up the gameplay just enough to keep each level interesting and addictive, and a bit intense at times.
from Game Producer
Anthony Flack, one crazy (in a good way) indie game developer has been “animating” clay (yes, you read correctly: clay) graphics in his game. In his blog entry he mentions that this is indeed a clay-animated game. Which means that all the graphics in the game are made from real clay models - they are NOT CG renders made to look like clay. (I wonder how much time it has taken…)
Didn’t see that coming.
Take a look at that blog. The pics are awesome.
from Casual Gamer Chick
Fitness Dash is the latest time management game from PlayFirst for the PC or Mac. The game takes place in Diner Town, the same setting of most of the “Dash” games. In Fitness Dash, players are helping Jo get Diner Town fit and compete against the surrounding towns. The game is a time management game, but also has matching and puzzle elements mixed in. Whenever there is a competition against another town, the competition is a mini-game. If players manage to beat the mini-game, diner town wins the competition. 
The player has a lot of things to manage in the levels. Gym participants, or customers in a sense, come into the gym and they either want to use a cardio machine or lift weights. The player has to put the customer on the piece of equipment they request. Some gym members will want to do both cardio and weights. There are rowing machines, eventually, for these people, but until you get the rowing machines you will have to put the person on cardio and then weights or vice versa.
On top of putting the gym member on the correct machine, the player has to clean off the dirty machines when people are done using them, get the gym members a towel when they want one, put the members in the shower, “fix” the shower when it gets clogged, get rid of trouble makers, pick up the used towels and get juice. As you can see, there is a lot going on and always something to keep track of. The number of things to do can get complicated in higher levels. I think this is the most I have had to keep track of in a time management game.
The levels increase as the game goes on. The levels start out simple and the first few are your tutorial levels to let you know how to play the game. After a few levels, you are able to upgrade your equipment or purchase new equipment. Each gym item can have up to three stars. The more stars an item has the more it cost, but the faster the person gets their work out done.
A nice addition to Fitness Dash is the option to speed up someone’s work out. If you have three people and they are all waiting for the weight bench you can stand next to the weight bench. Standing next to the weight machine or cardio machine will provide personal training, which speeds up the work out.
The graphics are the same as most Dash games. The story line is depicted in comics and the gym equipment looks like gym equipment. The lowest level of stars on the item makes the item look really basic and old school. Once upgraded, the equipment starts to look like gym equipment, instead of home equipment.
Fitness Dash is fun, but does provide a lot of challenge. There are a lot of things to keep track of and some levels get overwhelming. The challenge is the right amount and doen’t get too frustrating. Fitness dash also offers the mini-games, which adds a slight variation to the game. If you like time managment games, Fitness Dash is definitely worth the $19.95.
from Game Producer
Those pondering what kind of architecture (code design) their game should have, might benefit from checking out GameArchitect.net. Good stuff there.
I'm sure many of my out of town readers missed the Virtual Goods Summit 2008 in San Francisco a month or so ago. I was there and missed most of the sessions due to intensely interesting lobby convos. So I suggest we both watch them. Believe me, no matter what it'll be more entertaining then this season of Heroes.
Check out the Virtual Goods Summit videos here.
And my notes from the summit (previously published) here.
BTW, just found out my parents finally discovered that I have a blog (I blame Google).
Hi Mom! Hi Dad!
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Flash] NASCAR fans and origami collectors unite! Grab your paper cranes and giant foam fingers, and prepare for one of the most beautiful races you've ever seen. Scenic elegantly combines digitally-rendered landscapes with F-Zero-style racing, and delivers it all in using an impressive 3D engine in Flash.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Flash] Escape from Test Kitchen 2 is a standard escape-the-room game from Japan, somewhat reminiscent of a game from the gotMail folks. Players must collect bottles and mixers, pieces of a map, safe combinations, and the like to find a solution and escape from what appears to be a small cozy restaurant.
from Casual Gamer Chick
Tales Runner is an adventure racing game by Gala-Net Inc. They have just published a huge update for the game. The update includes twenty five new maps and over 100 new items.
The goal of the game is to join races and win, but these are not car races. The races are jumping, dodging, skiing, running and swimming. There are multiple ways to race from four against four to relay type races. Up to thirty people can race at a time. The races take place in different worlds so players can choose the world they like.
The new update addes even more maps to compete on and new items to achieve. One of the new items is a festive Turkey Shaped Capsule that can be used to defend players from their opponents.
Tales Runner sounds like an interesting take on a racing game. If you are interested in playing or seeing the latest content, head over to Tales Runner and check it out.
from Casual Gamer Chick
Goal Maniac is a flash based number puzzle game. The goal of the game is to put the picture back in order. There are twelve different pictures to choose from. The pictures are different soccer “babes”. Players pick a picture, the picture is scrambled and the player has to put it back in order. 
Don’t worry, you don’t have to have a photographic memory, there are little numbers at the top of the squares. Players put the numbers in order and will complete the picture. To put the numbers in order you have to arrange them by moving one square at a time. There are 15 squares with one opening to move the squares around.
Goal Maniac reminds me of the little plastic games I use to play as a child. The plastic games were the same only there were no pictures. There was just a plastic board that contained fifteen numbers from one to fifteen and you had to put the numbers in order. I loved these games and it is great to have a number puzzle in flash.
If you like number puzzle games, you should definitely check out Goal Maniac.
from Game Producer
Friend of mine (expert 3d artist in my opinion) said he’s going to prepare a model pack (3d characters) and I agreed to help him get some information about what sort of models & animations he could start doing.
The guy can do really slick looking 3d models & animations, so if you want to say your opinion about what kind of models the first pack should contain, please tell your suggestions. I already told him that I’d be after a “general 3d model” (and then of course several zombie textures ;)) and different type of movements and some animations.
So, what kind of 3d models (and animations/textures) you’d want? Fantasy? Modern? Sci-fi? World war style? Monsters? Humans? What kind of textures? Cute? Horror?
Here’s Robert’s reel from 2007 (also including work from 2008):
A special treat today, I actually liveblogged (kinda) the Level Up: What's Next for Gaming? session at the >Play conference on Saturday. It's not word for word, because frankly some discussion points weren't interesting enough for me to write down. You'll notice that Mitch Lasky is quoted a lot. It's basically because I developed a mancrush on him as the session went on. You'll see why. What follows is a best-of. Enjoy.
Moderator: Dean Takahashi - Lead Writer on Digital Media, Venturebeat
Panelists:
Rajat Paharia - Bunchball - Founder, CEO Frederic Deschamp - Trion - Marketing Guy Mitch Lasky - Benchmark Capital - General Partner Manuel Bronstein - Microsoft Interactive Entertainment Business - Director, Xbox LIVE Primetime Kevin Bruner - Telltale Games - CTO, Co-founder |
from Casual Gamer Chick
Memory Mayhem is a flash based, multi-player, memory game. The concept is very interesting. Players play against multiple people at a time and they try to make as many matches as possible. The player with the most points at the end of the game wins the round and gets awarded the points. 
In case you have never played memory, the goal of the game is to match the cards on the board. All cards are face down. Players flip over the cards two at a time in an attempt to make a match. Players have to remember where the cards were to be able to make the matches, hence the name memory.
Memory Mahem takes it up a level. Instead of playig against the computer or one other person, there are multiple people playing in one room. Each match you make gives you points and the player with the most points at the end of the game wins.
It is not as simple as making matches, though. There are bonus cards thrown in the mix too. The bonus cards are marked by swirling blue in the background of the card and they allow players to pause their opponents game and do other horrible things to their opponents.
If you like Memory, you should check out Memory Mayhem. It is a lot of fun.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Download (Windows)] HipSoft has just released Build-a-lot 3: Passport to Europe, the latest installment in the excellent Build-a-lot series of tycoon-style real estate sims. The series has found the sweet spot between keeping a successful formula the same and adding new elements to bring players back for more. I've already spent some time with this game and it's just as addictive as the previous titles. Look for a full review this weekend. In the meantime, start playing!
from Casual Gamer Chick
Astraware and Handmark have announced My Little Tank for Palm OS, Windows Mobile, S60 and BlackBerry smartphones. My Little Tank has been updated with new levels and is available for free to previous owners.
Players now have the option to play 20 additoinal levels. Add that to the 60 already available levels and players have 80 levels to challenge them. The goal of the game is to destroy your enemy before they destroy you. Players have to shoot at enemy tanks, bases and radar stations.
If you didn’t own the first version of My Little Tank, you can pick it up for $9.95.
Press Release Follows:
Staffordshire, UK - November 18th 2008 - Astraware(R) - the Handmark(R) Games StudioTM is excited to announce that its highly acclaimed miniature tank game, My Little Tank, has been updated with new levels and is now available for three new platforms.
My Little Tank is a fun arcade blaster in which players can navigate through the original 60, and now 20 additional, action-packed, increasingly challenging levels as they shoot enemy tanks, defend their base, and destroy enemy radar stations and bases. Lovingly crafted miniature terrains include snow, swamp, plains, and deserts. The game also includes a range of power-ups to aid players in winning each mission.
The update for Palm OS(R) and Windows Mobile(R) adds support for newer devices and new resolutions. In addition, My Little Tank is being released for S60(R) and BlackBerry(R) smartphones for the first time. A version for iPhoneTM and iPod(R) touch is now available on the App Store.
The update is FREE for existing registered owners of the game, or players new to the game can purchase for just $9.95. There’s also a special discount for Club Astraware members during November - just login to check it out!
For more information on My Little Tank visit: http://www.astraware.com/mlt.
from Game Producer
MMOBay purchased a paid review, and since I haven’t done review ads for some it’s about time we head for “commercial break”. (There’s some good stuff also for those who don’t care about the ad side of this post).
Site layout
I’d prefer a ‘warmer’ style for a MMO store. While MMOBay is clean, it has this bit ‘cold’ gray style, and it has quite a lot of content. On the good side, it’s good that they let players upload images. That’s a plus. No broken links and pages loaded fast so on the technology side things look good. Overall impression is fine: even the ads didn’t bother me on their site.
I wonder how long they can keep selling MMO accounts?
The first impression that MMOBay gave me was that there’s loads of games supported. You can buy and sell accounts for different games (World of Warcraft being the most popular). For example, there I saw somebody selling ’sexy priest’ for $500.
My initial thoughts were:
MMOBay keeps selling this stuff
One thing is sure: MMOBay keeps selling (auctioning) these goodies. Their news item says that today they’ve made their 100,000th auction (don’t know if that’s true, but not saying it wouldn’t be). I think they are having a nice business there (can’t blame for that): they sell (help selling) stuff people want to buy.
Thing worth learning from MMOBay: free credits
Free is good, and MMOBay uses a nice tactic to get people to sign-up: they give free credits. This same method is used by many other sites (such as gambling sites, and very many different stores) where the user gets free credits when he signs up. It’s a good marketing tactic for getting people to sign-up and try your products.
So why aren’t developers doing this?
MMOBay keeps selling Warhammer Online accounts, Warcraft accounts, and so on and legally it’s fine - as long as they don’t scam people’s money they won’t go to jail for selling those accounts. On the other hand, for example World of Warcraft rules say that you cannot buy an account (at least the last time I heard about this) which makes me think why they aren’t getting into this account selling bandwagon? Some games are doing this, and of course there’s balancing issues, but since it happens anyway why not change the rules?
World of Warcraft could have its own marketplace for selling stuff - and it could work according to the rules of the markets. Prices could go up, inflation could take place… and people could buy more credits with hard earned dollars. If balancing is an issue, then perhaps make areas where only “non-sold” accounts could be used? It could actually get by getting sites like MMOBay to partner with them. If people want to buy something, why not sell it to them?
In this sense I don’t blame MMOBay (nor other similar sites) for selling/auctioning accounts. If it’s a good business and there’s clearly a demand, then it starts to feel more like serving the customer. There’s already systems in games that if you buy an account, your reputation might be gone - and you’d never get to do campaigns with others. So, the system for stopping selling is formed by the community.
Why are they pretending to be something they aren’t?
It says in their site footer that “MMOBay.net is the #1 MMORPG auction site to buy warcraft accounts”. From what I’ve learned about marketing I’d say this is a bad idea. The more sites I see having “the world’s greatest whatnot” I immediately think they are lying. I suppose if when your company is big as Microsoft you could perhaps sometimes say that, but otherwise it feels just sad.
In my brain it goes like this: if they are lying about small things, then are they lying about other things - and if they are lying, can I trust my money on them?
Why say something like this if it clearly isn’t true? In my eyes, the site value goes downwards (especially since every other MMO seller is saying the same thing - somebody must be lying there).
So, is it secure?
I don’t know. Maybe, maybe not. The only thing they say in MMOBay about page that “MMObay.net is the #1 auction site for virtual gaming items, including all of today’s top MMORPGs. We offer a quick and safe way for users to buy and sell their items.” I suppose if you know them personally and have traded items there earlier it can be fine, but since there’s no company info, no business ID, no company address or any person names, it’s very hard to think it would be reliable place to buy stuff.
I’d recommend them to give information about who is operating the site. That would help make it more reliable in the eyes of the potential customer.
Another point to concern would be to explain how the site is trustful, and how the transactions are processed. For a somebody who hasn’t bought accounts earlier it might be quite difficult to know how the site operates.
Sexy priest
Almost forgot this one, so here you go.
The priest is in the middle of the picture.
Yes, he is in sale for $500. Poor fellow.
Bottom line
I’ve said it before and I say it again: This is a paid review ad and I recommend everybody to be careful when buying or selling accounts online. It can be against the game rules and might lead into banning your account - or even losing your money. I’m doing a review here, and expect you to use your own brain for what it comes to using their site. Yeh, I know you already knew that, but just wanted to make sure we both are on the same line here.
For those who want to buy Warcraft accounts or more information about buying game goodies, could check out their website.
That’s it folks.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Flash] Violet is a richly engaging one-room puzzle game from this year's annual Interactive Fiction competition. The problem? You're a graduate student working on your dissertation, but you haven't gotten any writing done in months. Your girlfriend Violet has put her life on hold, waiting for you to finish, and she's getting fed up. If you don't get a thousand words written today, your relationship is over and she flies home to Australia.
from Casual Game Guides
I remember helping my mom do yard work and tend the garden when I was growing up. She taught me just the right way to pull weeds so that you get as much of the roots as possible. I really enjoyed those times in the garden with her and remember the sense of fulfillment and accomplishment I felt afterward. Now, my family and I live in an apartment so I haven't had much of an opportunity to utilize my "green thumb", but eventually we're hoping to move in a house where there will be plenty of yard tending needs. So when I saw the game, Alice Greenfingers 2, I thought this could be a way to enjoy a little gardening without actually needing a yard. And enjoyable it was! Alice however, is not merely dabbling in gardening, she is trying to maintain a business in farming. This time management game will definitely challenge those green thumbs (and the rest of your fingers for that matter) as you try and keep up with the demands of your crops and animals as well as growing your business. The graphics are well done and the variety of objectives and upgrades really enhances the gameplay fun. I really liked that you can send your products to the market and sell them yet still be able to work on your farm at the same time. If you are looking for a new time management game to check out, give Alice Greenfingers 2 a try!
from Casual Game Guides
Hey gamers - even though my computer science classes are crazy this semester, I've found some time to play a new game Forgotten Lands First Colony. This is a resource management game that will definitely activate those pleasure sensors in the brain for those looking for a distraction from life. Your homeland runs out of resources, so your villagers are forced out to explore the unknown and rebuild their society. Check out this game for some fun colony building adventures - some of the levels will definitely challenge you. I've compiled a list of helpful tips if you get stuck.
from Casual Game Guides
I am sitting at my desk ,looking out the window and watching it rain. It is really coming down.A perfect day . Especially since I don't have to work in it. When I was a young girl in the forties, long before Television was a common household appliance, I love to lay in bed and listen to the rain on the roof and the mystery programs on the radio . There were 3 or 4 that were on Sunday nights. I couldn't wait for it to be bed time so I could snuggle under the warm quilts and listen to the stories. The last one that came on was the scariest for me. It was "The Shadow". The announcer would ask "Who knows what evil lurks in the heart of man?" Then in a real deep voice he would say "The Shadow Knows". That would scare the dickens out of me and I would run and jump in bed with my Grandma. I would finish listening to the program in her bed. The same thing happened every week, but I still love mysteries. If you're a mystery fan also then you are going to like to play The Mystery of the Crystal Portal . It's a fun game with some hidden objects that are not too hard to see and some puzzle games that are fun to solve. Be sure you read all the instructions when you first start the game or you might get stuck. They will tell you all you need to know. I don't want to spoil the fun for you. And I promise it won't be too scary! Give it a try.
from Casual Game Guides
Hi all! I finally got a guide done between being sick, midterms, research papers, and everything else! The game is called Samantha Swift and the Roses of Athena. This is a neat little game, with all the graphics hand drawn. It's also a fun game with an intriguing story and lots of mini-puzzles. I thoroughly enjoyed the game and I hope you do too! While I've been missing in action, about a dozen new HOG's have been released at BFG! I've already demo'd each of them and wrote a quick review on them all for you and... chose my next game guide to write! So keep your eyes peeled and until next time, ciao!
from Casual Game Guides
Dr. Lynch Grave Secrets This is a fun hidden object game with a fun storyline. It has great graphics and it appears to have several mini puzzles. I only demo'd the game for about 40 minutes and thoroughly enjoyed everything. The mini puzzles I cam across were fairly easy while the hidden objects I would say were of medium difficulty to find. The hint bonuses are a lot of fun and small mini games themselves. Cassandra The Legacy of Nostradamus This game just didn't appeal to me. I didn't like the graphics and I the storyline was so-so. There is a section that you can unlock where she'll read your fortune in various ways which is interesting but beyond that the game was just slightly boring to me. Scrapbook Paige This is a really cute game that sort of reminds me of Yard Sale: Sunnyville. After so many rounds you get to make a scrapbook page which is a lot of fun. The game itself however is very easy and except for the creating of the pages is just your basic hidden object game. Lost Secrets: Bermuda Triangle I'll be honest, this is a cluttered game so I didn't demo it very far before I got totally frustrated. The one mini game I did get to was very easy. The storyline was okay but not great. The graphics were actually decent but like I said before, too cluttered for my taste. Miss Teri Tale Vote For Me I was excited to see this game but once I played it for 20 minutes was sorely disappointed. What could have been a sequel, turned out to me like a re-do of the previous game. Most of the areas are exactly the same as the first game with some stuff rearranged. The plot is just no fun, at least to me. There are now mini-games which are really cheesy, what does it matter what outfit I put Miss Teri Tale in and why am I using a wrench to clean a dog?! If you loved the previous game, I don't recommend its predecessor. REDRUM I really can't comment on this guide much, I played the beta version and it was so scary that I didn't get very far! What I remember was that it was defiantly a horror HOG, a first for HOG fans, but graphic wise nicely done. I suggest you demo it for yourself before deciding, unless of course you love horror genres. Musaic Box I found this game utterly confusing. From what I could make out of it, you have to search the room(s) for pieces of your grandfather's music. Once the pieces match you click on them. Then a box pops up with shapes and symbols inside. You have to listen to the music (such as Mary Had A Little Lamb) and put the symbols/shapes (think Tetris) in the box to play the song back correctly. There aren't a lot of directions on the game so it's a lot of hit and miss. However, after just 10 minutes of attempting to play and understand this game I decided writing a term paper was easier. This is much more puzzle than it is hidden object and I'm not even sure why it's classified as one. Hawaiian Explorer 2 Lost Island I didn't like the first game in this series so I didn't think I'd like the second, I was right. This is another very cluttered game, it looks like they took and image and them just randomly threw stuff around it to make it "hidden". The items are at the top of screen, instead of the side like usual, and the print is really small. Interpol 2 Most Wanted This was another game in which I didn't like it's predecessor but was surprised by the sequel. The graphics are very nice, it has an intriguing storyline, and its challenging. The mini games seem to consist mostly of "find x amount of the same object" and I suggest you save up your hints for these. Hidden Mysteries Buckingham Palace This game is okay, the graphics are decent although not "wow"! The game play is fairly easy, including the puzzles. I did like the hint system though, you start out with 20 credits (with chances to earn more) and can pick to either see the silhouette of the object, the actual image of the object, or have it show where it is. Each of these cost x amount of credits. While I didn't get stuck on finding anything but once or twice, it seems the silhouette was enough to help me locate it. Mushroom Age This game is very addicting, I actually played the entire 60 minute trial and plan to purchase it! I will tell you that it is not overly difficult at all, in fact I think I may get it for my younger cousins also, but it's so much fun! Let's face it, who doesn't want to talk to a dinosaur? If you haven't tried this game, try it! It's for ages young and old! Neverland This game is very different. Its totally cartoon like and a lot of the elements jump and bounce about and often ask you to find them things. So not only are you trying to find items on the list, but trying to find items for other items! I found it big too busy for my taste. Veronica Rivers Portals To The Unknown This game is very challenging when it comes to the hidden objects but not the min games, at least not I the amount of time which I demo'd it. The story line is okay but the graphics are stunning! There are some unique ways to find items, taking pictures, xray, etc. which add a new element not seen in other HOG's before. The Treasures of Mystery Island This game is a lot like Magic Encyclopedia. In other words, if you like that game, you'd probably like this one, if you didn't... well, skip it. However, because I wrote the guide for Magic Encyclopedia, I obviously enjoyed it so... keep and eye out, this game will be my next guide! Please remember that these reviews were done on a 60 minute demo basis and are my opinions. You may actually enjoy some of the games I do not. The only way to find out is to demo it yourself, I find that 60 minutes is more than enough time to decide whether or not you want to buy it, sometimes even 10 minutes is enough! Do you have a comment on one of these games? Good, bad, or ugly share your thoughts with other players. Maybe you enjoyed a game I didn't like, tell us why, post your own mini-reviews.
from Casual Game Guides
There haven't been any new Match 3 games out in quite a while so I have been shopping around Casual Games for something interesting to play. I like a game that I can play over and over but still holds my interest. I like to get my money's worth when I get a new game. Amazing Adventures fits the bill. I have been playing this game for 2 weeks now and haven't been bored with it yet. It is a hidden object game but it is not loaded with a lot of clutter so the objects can be seen quite well. Even though some of them are right in front of you sometimes it takes a few minutes to find them. There are 25 levels all over the world. There are also "Spot the Difference" games and puzzle games that are fun but you don't have to be a Rocket Scientist to solve them. They have a journal at the end of each country you visit that tell you interesting facts about where you have been such as the Statue of Liberty and the Great Wall. The graphics are bright and clear. This is an older game that has been out for quite awhile but if you haven't played it yet give it a whirl. It is a lot of fun and I guarantee you will not lose interest after you have played it one time. You will want to go back for more and this game is set up so you can do just that. If you don't play hidden object games because you don't see that well you don't have to worry about that here. Most of the objects are quite large. And if you get stuck there is a hint button that will show you where it is. They give you plenty of time to find the objects and there is a warning bell when the time is about up so you can use the hint button if you need to. Some of the objects are in the shadows and a little hard to see but after you play awhile you will learn where they are and just click in the vicinity. That is what I do and it works out pretty good. I recommend this game highly and I hope you like it as much as I do.
from Casual Game Guides
Swarm Gold is a revision of the old Swarm from days past. This version is much better, with a ships that drives beautifully and nice gun attachments. Its also nice they give you the chance to get the "star clubber" on every level, which is a lot of fun to use once you find it. If you like shooter games, you'll definitely enjoy this title. Check out our guide for some tips.
from Casual Game Guides
Hey all, it's been awhile since my last guide but great news, here's a new one for ya! The game is called Magic Encyclopedia: First Year. If you are a Harry Potter fan, you'll notice the similarities in the academy in the game and Hogwarts. This game was fantastic, it's a little bit puzzle, a little bit hidden object. Think Dream Chronicles. Now its not nearly as hard as Dream Chronicles, but its fun! The graphics are wonderful and the storyline is intriguing, so... if you haven't bought this one yet, do it now, you won't be disappointed! The game guide I wrote is very detailed, every object is circled so no need to use up those hints if you get stuck. I'm sorry I haven't gotten something out there sooner but classes are keeping me busy. Homework, reports, studying for the upcoming mid-terms, football games... hey, a girl has to have some social life! I hope to start another guide soon in between all of the above, there has been several new HOG released in the past week alone and I plan to pick one of them for my next guide, so keep your eyes peeled! I'll be seeing you soon and for all those who experience the change of seasons, enjoy Autumn!
from Casual Game Guides
I am not a big fan of gambling. I don't have a problem with other people gambling but I just can't make myself put money in a slot unless it is going to wash my clothes. The last time I was in Reno was when my youngest daughter got married. The whole family went and we had a wonderful time but I don't remember anyone spending a lot of time at the tables or slot machines. Anyway that is what my review is about this week. A Combination of slots and Bingo. I like to play Bingo online once in awhile when I am looking to just pass the time and don't want to put a lot of thought into playing a game. Slingo Supreme is fun to play. You have a lot of choices for different games. They are all explained to you in great detail so there is no need for me to explain them to you. The graphics are great and of course there is the Devil to deal with to make things interesting. You can play simple games or ones that are a little more complicated. There are three different choices. You can also play against other players. I heard the Honkers coming in from Canada this morning when I was walking the dog so winter weather is on its way. This will be a good game to play on a cold winter day.
from Casual Game Guides
I'm a huge fan of chocolate and obviously a great fan of casual games. So when the two came together in the Chocolatier games, I was thrilled. They have to be some of my all-time favorite games, and are probably responsible for reeling me into the world of casual games. So, of course, when The Great Chocolate Chase came out I had to give it a try. This game is a time management game is based on the Chocolatier sim games. Some familiar faces appear in this game, like Evangeline Baumeister, as well as some new friends from around the globe. The graphics are well done. I love how the machines look like they could be from that period even though they are supposed to be futuristic in technology. I also enjoyed the storyline and the way it was presented as entries from Evangeline's journal. The game play is definitely challenging and will keep you on your toes as you try to keep up with all the chocolate orders. The Great Chocolate Chase is a great game to try if you are a fan of the Chocolatier games, or even just a fan of chocolate. Happy gaming!
from GameDevBlog
Another year, another great conference.
You can read all the talk summaries here - http://www.igda.org/leadership/- video and DVD's will be made available in a few months.
A highlight for me was Mark Cerny's keynote - he really is a kickass speaker, and he went to the trouble to make his slides animated and multimediaish. The important take-home is that "culture trumps process": a culture that values the believer and permits failure is good. "Kill a project with love", he said, or something close to it. (A good culture would adopt good process, it occurs to me, a la Bioware. Even though their games almost always rock they keep trying to improve.)
My own talk (which he sat in on, which stressed me out a bit, because I referred to his DICE talk and had this one teensy little disagreement with it) seemed to go well. Ben Hoyt wrote it up quite well here.
"So what'd you hate about my talk this time?" Mark Cerny asked me. Since my whole talk was about bringing back "grey box prototypes" and his talk had a bit about how "grey box prototypes don't cut it anymore" you'd think I'd take issue with that, but really we're talking about different games. I'm talking about radical new experiments like Wii Sports or Guitar Hero or GTA or The Sims, where what you finally ship isn't really all about the graphics. (Sure, the GTA franchise has awesome graphics *now* - but it took them a while to get there.) He's talking about games like Uncharted and Gears where gameplay innovations, while present, take a back seat to the new challenge of capturing and rendering human motion.
And I got to meet Curt Schilling which was cool even though I'm not much of a baseball fan. (My dad was suitably impressed, anyway.) What I liked about Schilling, the fact that he's willing to say, "I'm not the great game designer I thought I was," is incredible to me. Almost everyone thinks they can design. It's so nebulous, how would you even know if you can't? How would someone prove it to you? (I like to think I can design, but I have no real proof, and as many failures as successes.)
The surprise talk for me was a panel on CMM, PMI, and Scrum; three different methodologies. CMM has a rep for being the sort of waterfally bureaucratic process that gets made fun of by Dilbert and Joel Spolsky, so it was interesting to see Tobi Launier had used one of their programs succesfully to get a DS spider-man game out the door in a mere four months. And Rich Vogel wins my award for best culture-changing tactic: You want people to come into work on time? This was something we wrestled with endlessly at Treyarch, whose culture started as a mosey-into-work-whenever-and-work-late-into-the-night shop. Here's how you do it: serve breakfast, but not quite enough for everybody. The strategy (more flies with honey) is well-known but it never occurred to us to apply it.
My biggest take-home: we need to do two or three orders of magnitude more kleenex / blindtesting. Not QA. The first Cerny method games (Crash Bandicoot, etc) had 200 people play them start to finish, with metrics. Then, Curtis Creamer, in his talk, said Halo 3 had even more. When they were done, four and a half months before ship, 7 groups of 20-40 people each played through the game in its entirety - and that's not counting all the playtests they did on the way to alpha. By way of comparison, with Spider-Man 2, we invited about six people in to play the game all the way through one weekend.
And with Schizoid we had one person play all the way through, on his own time - we weren't even watching. These big playtests are something Torpex isn't equipped to do (we don't have that many friends!) so we may need to consider outsourcing...
I asked myself, is that how you get 90% on gamerankings? I talked to another friend who recently worked on a 90+ game and said they didn't do much, if any, blindtesting, and relied more on everyone playing in the office and the gut of the lead designer. So it is possible to get the 90+ without it, but I expect most games did the big playtest.
from Casual Gamer Chick
Handmark has announced My Little Tank, their newest game for the iPhone/iPod Touch, is now available from the Apple App Store. My Little Tank is an arcade style tank shooter designed for the iPhone/iPod Touch. Players can choose their method of control. They can use an on screen d-pad, tilt control using the built in accelerometer or swipe to move the tank.
My Little Tank contains 80 different levels of game play with increasing difficulty. The goal of the game is to obliterate your enemy’s tanks and base stations before they obliterate yours. The terrains change as players progress through out the game.
My Little Tank will set you back $4.95.
Press Release Follows:
Kansas City, MO - November 17th, 2008 - Handmark(R) today announced its newest game for iPhoneTM and iPod(R) touch, My Little Tank, is available on the Apple App Store.
My Little Tank is a casual-style, arcade blaster fully optimized for play on the iPhone and iPod touch. The game includes a choice of control options including an onscreen virtual d-pad, swipe to move the tank, and accelerometer-based directional tilt.
After choosing a tank color, players can navigate through 80 action-packed, increasingly difficult levels as they shoot enemy tanks, defend their base, and destroy enemy radar stations and bases. Beautifully crafted miniature terrains include snow, swamp, plains, and deserts. The game also includes a range of power-ups to aid players in winning each mission.
My Little Tank is available for $4.99 from Apple’s App Store on iPhone and iPod touch or at http://www.itunes.com/appstore/.
More information and a demo video is available at http://www.astraware.com/iphone/mlt.
from GBGames
Last night I got back from over a week-long vacation. I visited friends in Des Moines, and it was very relaxing, aside from hurting my back and seeing the chiropractor four times. I walked around downtown Des Moines, visited the historic Capitol Building, went to a dueling pianos show, watched a couple of movies, danced [...]
from Game Producer
During the last weeks I’ve been checking out how BlitzMax works and done little bit of coding (setting up things to port my project to BlitzMax, that’s another story to which I won’t go in this blog post). There’s one tiny thing in BlitzMax that’s getting bit annoying.
The default editor uses Control+Arrow keyboard shortcuts in a really different way than one might expect. When you are editing some text and you press Control+Right Arrow in your keyboard, you’d expect that your cursor moves to the end of the next word. Instead of moving your cursor, BlitzMax IDE opens the next tabbed file there is. It didn’t take me more than 10-20 minutes to get annoyed about this “feature”.
I wonder why they wanted to torture me like this. What bad have I ever done to them? I can bear with all the bugs and delays, but ruining my IDE can’t be forgiven. (Well, luckily you can use other IDEs so you aren’t stuck with the default one - and besides, as far as I know, it might be even possible to change those keyboard shortcuts somehow.)
Funny how such a small thing can have such a big meaning. I suppose the lesson here is that one should follow certain existing & well-working guidelines when doing user interfaces.
On the good side: I really enjoy all the stuff that BlitzMax has - with my long Blitz3D background, moving into BMax looks so far really, really simple. And all the juicy Object Oriented stuff is there! Maybe I’ll forgive this tiny UI glitch after all…
from Casual Gamer Chick
Gunbolt is a run-and-gun style shooter from Stratobit for the PC. In exchange for the worship of the villagers of PeaceVille, the giant penguin, Pingoo, grants them a bountiful harvest every year. One day, however, the evil Dr. Birdbreath and his army of evil mutants and robots attacked PeaceVille and kidnapped Pingoo. Luckily, the villagers where able to call on the help of Chipfox and Mainkid, MK 3000, to help rescue the penguin and save the village.
Gunbolt’s game play is straight forward and simple: shoot everything that moves. Which is good, because in this game if it is moving it’s out to get you. A classic type of Run-and-Gun game, there are plenty of power-ups to collect and bosses to fight as you progress through the game’s multiple levels. You can choose to play one of the two main characters, Chipfox and his robot ally, each bringing something different to the table.
Gunbolt’s graphics are bright and colorful, with lots happening on the screen all at once. The game looks a bit like a Sonic the Hedgehog game and plays like Contra. The graphics are great for a casual game and any fan of classic 16 bit systems will feel a tug of nostalgia. The controls take some time to get used to, especially considering the break neck pace of the game, and a joystick may help you get the most out of your game experience.
You can purchase Gunbolt for $14.95.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Flash] Spiky-haired Hector has returned in a new Phantom Mansion series, Treasures of the Seven Seas. Having found a map, complete with a glowing red X, Hector is sailing the first sea, the Black Sea, in search of treasure. Before he can get to the treasure, he must first find his way through a maze of locked doors, moats, and puzzles. The Black Sea offers 20 new and challenging levels and fun for all ages.
Another question I get from developers all the time: how much money can I make on Facebook?
Shocking, I know that some people care about money when it comes to Facebook apps. <cynicism>Wait...I think that's all most developers care about. </cynicism>
At the moment, there's only one publicly traded app developer, SNAP Interactive. <cynicism>Keep your fingers Max Levchin (Slide), it'll happen for you too one day, I'm sure of it!</cynicism>
Fortunately for us, SNAP Interactive has to publish their revenues, which currently comes exclusively from advertising on the dating apps on Facebook. Those apps: Are You Interested? (#1 dating app on Facebook), Meet New People, and Flirt With Me.
Here's the numbers from the SEC filing:
Revenue increased from $286 for the six months ended June 30, 2007 to $1,053,159 for the six months ended June 30, 2008, an increase of $1,052,873.That's right, zero to a million in revenue in one year. Not bad. Especially, if you look at the expense side.
Operating Expenses for the six months ended June 30, 2008 increased to $717,349 from $277,634 for the six months ended June 30, 2007, representing an increase of $439,715.
Hosting Expense for the six months ended June 30, 2008 increased to $87,512 from $0, representing an increase of $87,512. These increases are attributable to the need for substantial hosting infrastructure and server capacity to handle the high volume of traffic that our applications receive. Our need for a customized hosting solution was minimal at this time last year.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Download (Windows)] Out of Order is a humor-oriented, mouse-driven adventure game in the style of the old Lucas Arts and Sierra titles. You play as Hurford Schlitzting, an ordinary human being in a green bathrobe and bunny slippers. Late one night he's awakened by a storm and goes to get a midnight snack. And then the game ends... wait, no, it doesn't, or we wouldn't have much of a game.
from Casual Gamer Chick
Legacy Games is running a contest where the contestants can win a free copy of Pet Pals: New Leash on Life. All you have to do is find the hidden link, some where on Legacy’s game pages. The link will lead contestants to a dog video. Once contestants have found the correct link, or what they think is the correct link, they can send an email off to Sofun by Dec 1st.
The correct video has to have the correct puppies in the video and there are a lot of videos on Legacy. The correct dog picture is seen to the right. There will be five winners picked on Dec 5th.
Head over to Legacy Games and try your luck at finding the correct link and win yourself a free copy of Pet Pals: New Leash on Life. Hint: the correct link can be found on an animal game page.
from Game Producer
I’ve been asked some insight on how to get a job as a game producer. While I have not worked as a producer in a “big gaming company”, I have discussed this topic with other producers, some guys have got inspiration through this blog (and got a producer job) and I’ve got job offers, also from a “big gaming company” so I think I can provide some insight on this matter.
I’m not going to say how to write your resume, but here’s some tips on getting a job.
Show rather than tell
I’ve been involved in recruiting processes and one thing that really catches my eye are “portfolios”. If you can show that you’ve finished games, involved in projects or done something relevant in gaming (like writing a programming blog) then show that to others. If you have done a game, show that (or a short video for example) and tell how you were involved in that project.
See how other producers have got their jobs
We had a lengthy interview about breaking in the industry and if you haven’t checked that (at least 3 times) it’s about time to do so. From that blog entry you’ll get pretty much all the crucial information about getting a job.
Ask for the job
One guy once emailed me how he got inspired about game production after reading this blog, and he said that this gave him the spark to ask for a job. Luckily, he got a job as an associate producer and enjoys every moment. Nobody is going to knock your door and offer you a job unless you actually do something.
Start a blog and write until your fingers bleed until you get a job offer
That’s how I did it (except that I actually continued writing since I never accepted a job…). I knew about game production much less 3 years ago than I know today, but that didn’t stop me from starting. I simply started writing (since I enjoy doing this), learnt helluva lot and slowly things started to move forward and lots of good stuff happened.
Word of warning though: no point doing anything that isn’t fun. If you don’t like writing about your project (and related stuff), then writing a blog does no good. Instead, you could start doing games on monthly basis (like Petri at Kloonigames whose got loads of success thanks at least partly to his experiments) and write blog entries about those games.
The key, I think, is to simply start taking steps towards your goal of getting a job. And keep doing that until you get your producer job.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Download (Windows)] There's nothing quite like a day on the farm: the smell of freshly tilled soil, tender plants sprouting, and honeybees buzzing in search of nectar. Some call it work, but if you've ever met Alice Greenfingers, you know it's more like play. The lovable pig-tailed girl is back, tending her Uncle Berry's farm in Alice Greenfingers 2, a sequel that does nothing but improve upon the original.
from Casual Game Guides
Better graphics and sound make this game a worth sequel to the first. And you'll need more ruthless business sense as well. If you played the first, you'll likely enjoy this sequel, and if you've never played before, don't be afraid to start with this title. If you get stuck (level $300,000 anyone?), check out the walkthrough.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Download (Mac, Windows)] I compose this edition of Weekend Download with the sound of leaf blowers screeching through my windows. Not only does half my neighborhood believe leaves in their yard are evil, but apparently creating hours of noise pollution for everyone in the area is an acceptable price to pay to shove them in the street. I miss the good old fashioned, non-air-and-noise-polluting leaf rake...
from Casual Gamer Chick
XIDER Games has announced the release of Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King for the Nintendo DS. Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King is an adventure game that has players attempting to lift the Mummy’s death curse. 
Assil, the main character, likes to party and get roudy. One night he partied too hard and had a lapse of reason and broke into a pyramid. Assil found a peaceful sleeping Mummy on the other side of the pyramid and he was not too happy to be disturbed. Assil was cursed and thats where the adventure starts.
Players have 24 hours to expell the curse. Players solve puzzles to progress through the different levels and meet all types of characters. All levels must be completed before the 24 hour time limit runs out or the curse will be permanent.
Press Release Follows:
Ever the party animal, Assil’s wild ways lead him to break into a pyramid to enjoy an all night party with his friends. However, on disturbing a peaceful, sleeping Mummy he is immediately punished with a lethal curse. Enjoy classic gameplay using the stylus to help Assil discover the remedy and break the curse within 24 hours to avoid his fate.
Feel the sand beneath your feet and the hot sun blazing down from above as your adventures begin in the mysterious land of ancient Egypt. Become immersed in the beautiful and vibrant Egyptian locations, travelling through bustling cities, exotic bazaars and tropical dense undergrowth.
Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King features many colourful and humorous characters, including the lovable delinquent Assil; the Pharaoh, who would rather party than govern; his beautiful daughter Thara; the gossip loving Mummy, George; and Thor, the practical joker. Not all the characters are good natured though; beware of Seth, who enjoys a good ruckus, and Osiris, God of the Underworld.
Providing fun and excitement for players of all ages, Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King features many engaging puzzles that must be solved in order to progress. Enjoy and experience the vivid and enchanting surroundings on your adventure, but don’t forget the task in hand, Assil’s life must be saved before his time is up!
Ankh: Curse of the Scarab King DS is available in stores today.
from Game Producer
I was hunting a stapler online, and of course clicked those fancy google ads that appear on search pages. Three out of three attempts to buy a stapler failed. All these cases can happen in gaming world too. If you are selling something online, better check out these lessons:
#1 - In shop one, the stapler page could not be found
The first ad directed me to a front page of some site. There I clicked “products” just to get error “page not found”. I didn’t waste any more seconds on that shop. If they want me to buy stuff from their site, they should make sure their site is accessible.
End of attempt number one.
#2 - In shop two, no staplers here
In the other shop, I couldn’t find staplers. Why advertise staplers if you don’t have them?
If it’s fun to spend money advertising something you don’t have, why not also make a bonfire using dollar bills?
#3 - Third shop, horrible shipping costs
The third shop was more promising. I found a stapler that was said to cost 11 euros. There was technical information about the stapler and I was pleased. I was wondering why they didn’t mention shipping costs anywhere, but since the site was located in Finland (where I live) I thought it wouldn’t be many euros anyway.
So, I took some time and wrote lengthy details (shipping address etc.) and was finally one click away from the purchase. There they said that shipping costs are like 20 euros (or something like that) which made me both laugh and cry at the same time.
Hiding costs is something, but if the shipping cost is like 20 euros then why not simply put that shipping cost in some place where I can see it easily. Would save everybody’s time.
The hunt for the stapler continues.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Download (Windows)] Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold is another superb hidden object adventure game from Artogon Games, creator of The Mystery of the Crystal Portal. Both titles share a unique design among hidden object games where you are presented with contextual search clues instead of generic lists of objects. In essence, your goal is to explore the physical objects in each scene and collect items to solve individual puzzles. It's a new and interesting take on the genre that opens up many new puzzle possibilities.
from Casual Gamer Chick
MumboJumbo announce the next release in the 7 Wonders franchise, 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven. The 7 Wonders series are match three games, but the newest game in the series adds a rotating feature to the game. At certain points in the game, the player has to rotate the entire playing board. 
7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven has players matching runes of the same color. When three of the same color runes are matched, they disappear revealing a lock, pathway and keystone. Players have to guide the keystone down the path towards the lock by matching the runes under the keystone. Ocassionally the keystone will fall off the path and the player will need to rotate the entire game board to keep the keystone on the path. The level is done when the player manages to get the keystone to the lock.
7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven sounds like a fun game and with the new board rotating feature it sounds a bit more challenging. If you are a match three fan, you may want to check out the newest game in the 7 wonders franchise. The game is available at retailers and game portals for $19.99.
Press Release Follows:
DALLAS (November 13, 2008) – MumboJumbo, leading developer and publisher of casual games, has unveiled 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven for the PC. This is the third chapter in the 7 Wonders franchise, the first two installments of which enjoyed extended stays on a number of portal Top 10 lists. 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven will retail for $19.99 at retailers and leading game portals.
7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven features an all-new twist on the classic Match 3 genre—now players are able to rotate the playing board during certain parts of the game to make matches easier and enhance power-ups. In this latest episode, there are nine wonders to build and keystone and lock puzzles to solve on each level.
“In the new 7 Wonders: Treasures of Seven, we’re elevating the Match 3 genre by introducing an all-new rotatable game board,” said Mark Cottam, CEO of MumboJumbo. “We really wanted to give players multiple puzzles to solve and round out the experience. Fans will really love this latest chapter.”
By matching like-colored runes in 7 Wonders, players make matches and clear blocks. When all of the blocks are cleared, a pathway will appear along with a keystone and a lock. The player must then make matches below the keystone to drop it along the pathway, guiding it toward the lock. In order to place the keystone in the lock, players will have to rotate the playing board clockwise or counter-clockwise in order to keep the keystone on the path. Once the keystone is in the lock, the level is complete, revealing the hidden inner cube.
Treasures of Seven is the follow-up to the hit 7 Wonders II, which was downloaded more than 1.5 million times when it launched in 2007. The game is rated E for Everyone, and is available at retailers nationwide and online.
David Perry, super awesome developer and games industry thought leader, and if you ask me the most honest panelist ever, has a great site compiling data on the games industry.
Here's some highlights:
A list of every known MMO out there. Around 650 MMOs and counting.
A list of all games industry acquisitions and investments.
And the venerable games industry map, which shows the location of 1000+ game development studios worldwide.
It's fueled by users, so if you notice some missing info, submit it.
from Jay Is Games
With such an amazing week of free browser game releases, it's a wonder anything is left over for Link Dump Friday! Thanks to my armies of trolls, hermits, little bits of aluminum foil and people I've set on fire (you know who you are), we've come up with a nice list of games to keep your Friday from getting boring.
from Jay Is Games
[Platform: Flash] You are the CEO of a major international oil company, your job is to make money: Democracy, environment, and global economic health are irrelevant. Explore, drill, corrupt governments, hire mercenaries, engage in covert operations, fix elections (which are clearly broken without you) and most of all: have fun.
from Game Producer
Crunchgear writes that Microsoft is going to battle against Valve’s Steam in digital distribution. They hope to grow a marketplace around things not currently offered by Steam, for example Games for Windows Live branded DLC, which would be made available exclusively by Microsoft.
My personal opinion is that even though Microsoft can pour loads and loads of money into this battle field, it will take them something around 5 years before we’ll see a solution that really works. Microsoft already has pretty good stuff on Xbox Live (not to mention XNA Creator which is also improving), and they have the resources to make this work, but it takes time. Steam wasn’t an overnight success.
The bad news (for Microsoft) is that Valve’s Steam is a solid brand, the place where gamers are used to go to. I predict Microsoft to mess up things first with bad digital rights management (which takes about 1-2 years), then they spend couple of years in heavy marketing and finally after total of about 5 years they have built a decent system… meanwhile Valve has gone steps forward. Tough place for Microsoft.
Perhaps they could simply try buy Valve…
from Casual Gamer Chick
Merscom has announced they were chosen as the publisher for Color of Murder, the most recent mystery/adventure game in the Carol Reed series. Merscom has successfully published other games in the Carol Read series earlier this year and all those games have reached the top 5 positions.
In this point and click game, players have to help Willy, the main character, find his son. Willy soon finds out his son has been tied to another man that was recently murdered. Players travel through Norrkoping, Sweden trying to track down clues and determine what happened to Willy’s son.
Press Release Follows:
Merscom announced today it is the online publisher of Color of Murder, the most recent adventure game in the Carol Reed series developed by MDNA Games. This release follows on Merscom’s success with Blood Ties, Righteous Kill, Ghost in the Sheet, East Side Story and Time Stand Still, all of which were launched earlier this year and reached the top-5 on major casual game sites.
In Color of Murder, an old friend named Willy has lost contact with his son and needs Carol and the player’s help in finding him. What starts as the search for a missing person quickly becomes something more sinister as his ties to a local man who was murdered last week become apparent. Once more, Carol must journey through the beautiful city of Norrkoping, Sweden, in search of answers.
Key Features:
Color of Murder can currently be downloaded at http://www.bigfishgames.com/download-games/4365/the-color-of-murder/index.html<; o:p>
~The Carol Reed mystery games have really resonated with our audience,~ explained Lloyd Melnick, Chief Customer Officer at Merscom, ~and we feel Color of Murder is the strongest title yet in the series. The tutorial and hint system we implemented should open this game up to even more gamers who previously were reluctant to try adventure games.~
