Thursday, June 21, 2007
Untangle Your Way Out of Subway Scramble
Improve Puzzle Skills with Platinum Sudoku
I guess I had never been all that good at puzzle games, but maybe it was for that reason that Platinum Sudoku really appealing. The hugely exciting thing (for me at least anyway) about being able to play a game on my mobile phone was the fact that I could just access it any time, any place, anywhere! And in as much as you can do that with a computer too, it is only to a certain extent. Plus, I enjoyed the privacy aspect (nobody could see me playing) and the fact that once I had made the initial payment, I could play as many games as I wanted and it felt like it was for free! That gave me the ability to practice a lot. And with Platinum Sudoku the old adage of practice makes perfect really does ring true.
I started off on the first level (there are 5 levels to the game). What is great about that is that even for someone like me I did not feel intimidated or useless; it was easy enough for me to understand and although the first game took me a while, by the fifth game I felt like I was an old hand at it. That was nice as it encouraged me. Like I said, puzzle games had never really been my thing, so seeing that I could be successful on this game pretty much straight away, was indeed very encouraging.
I know that I will never get bored of Platinum Sudoku either. There are hundreds of thousands of grids to choose from so the game goes in to eternity! The draft option (which let me try out different options before committing to the Sudoku grid) was really helpful and again added to my confidence. So if you want a challenge that is a lot of fun, download Platinum Sudoku on to your mobile phone; it is not surprising it is such a popular game.
Thursday, June 14, 2007
Untangle Your Way Out of Subway Scramble
Well indeed! How many times have I been on the subway, only to get totally frustrated by an annoying message from the driver, detailing some lame excuse as to why the train is yet again delayed? How many times did I myself want to be in his seat, convinced I could do a better job as surely I would not let a lone leaf on the track stop me for progressing forward and transporting my subway sitting customers from point A to B.
Well, in Subway Scramble that is exactly what I am able to do. I am living out my fantasy of being the train driver! I am trying to guide my train through different areas of New York including Bowling Green, Columbus Circle and the Rockefeller Center so I get to see America too (well I would if we were over ground).
Apart from being able to enjoy New York and other areas of North America through Subway Scramble the reason I really like the game is because it challenges me through its puzzle maze type style. I have to guide my train through all sorts of challenging twists and turns and I guess trying to do that gives me a little bit of insight in to what the driver of my regular subway train is attempting on a daily basis. There are two modes of play here: Around the world and Rush Hour. There are over 40 levels of play too.
So the challenge of the game is to guide your way around and the trick is to drive well and not get caught up in the difficult driving areas which I sometimes do.
Monday, June 11, 2007
Hated High School? Surviving High School Now
I took up the challenge of the adventure-based Surviving High School simply because I liked the name of it and I had experienced great difficulties in high school myself. I had always been the 4-eyed kid they picked on but this kid had different problems ? he had been transferred in the middle of school. You see how he tries to adapt and your heart really goes out to him as you know how difficult it must be. Surviving High School gets you really involved.
The aim of the game is, well, to survive and it is split up into different chapters, the first one being Football in which you (the transfer student) have to make the football team. You also have to try and find a dream date and win the homecoming crown ? all those terrible events that set you yourself back in your teens and no doubt filled you with dread, unless of course you were one of the cool gang, which most of us were, sadly, not. You do get a bit of a helping hand from the school guidance counselor who asks you about your likes and dislikes, at which point the game adapts to these responses.
You have classes where you have to answer questions correctly and thus improve a grade; social opportunities with fellow students; choices during the day of what to do with your free time; flirting; and all the other things high school kids have to do. It is your choice ? correct or incorrect that will determine the amount of points you get.
You really do feel like you are back in those old teenage years as Surviving High School even uses the lingo of teens. It is a nostalgic place to be, or for others can be a dreadful reminder of those terrible teens. It is a long game and the choice of how to view it is entirely yours but for me it did bring back memories that for the most part bought a smile to my face, despite my horrors in those days.
Wednesday, June 6, 2007
Mobile games for fun
I wasn’t sure exactly what I wanted the last time I bought a cell phone, so I just told ‘em to give me all the bells and whistles. I don’t even know what model the phone is, just that it’s a tiny flip phone with an over-sized screen. After I got it, I started playing with it, to learn the features, and that’s how I found out about mobile games for fun. My phone had a great little game called “Snakes” on it, where I just had to move a snake around the screen, eating up the little foodballs that appears, and avoiding eating my own tail. I scored over 200 the first time I played. After that, I was hooked, and started googling all kinds of mobile games to download to my phone.