Casual game – WildTangent games

Before I started my diploma in Republic Polytechnic, I never had the opportunity to own a console or laptop. All I had were board games and my precious home PC. Basically I spent my time playing games on websites like postopia.com, Yahoo games and other indie game websites. In HP computers, at times they provide free games for a short period of time.

At that time, I decided to try out cooking academy game. At that time, I enjoyed playing it as it was straight forward and I was a fan of cooking. It wasn’t like a cooking game you will find in random game websites. It made me feel like as though I really walked through an interactive tutorial. Once I ran out of Wildtangent coins, I stopped playing it.

Recently, I bought “Cooking Academy Fire and Knives” from Steam because I used to play the game and I wondered whether would I still enjoy playing the game. “Cooking Academy Fire and Knives” consist of Cooking Academy (First game in the series), Cooking Academy 2: World Cuisine, Cooking Academy 3 Recipe for Success.

After playing for a while, I realised that I still enjoyed playing and didn’t find myself disliking it to any bits. (It could be partly because for my love food.) I believe it’s because the game is very suitable for casual gamer. There are few reasons why.

Firstly, the game is simple to play. The game is not complicated. It’s very straightforward and easy to play. All player is required to do is to choose a recipe they would like to cook and start cooking. Even if they are not familiar with the recipe, the gameplay progress you through step by step.

For an example, if you are supposed to dice onions, there will be arrows to guide you on how to slice the onions. These simple indications allow player to have a better understanding of the game, thus giving them a positive urge to continue playing the game.

That makes a game simple to play for a causal player as it is not too complicated. Thus, the game can be addictive for the player.

 Secondly, the game is realistic to a certain extend. It’s not like other cooking games where things get a little different. The recipes are very similar to the actual ones and you also get to learn different cooking methods. I discovered an interesting recipe when I played Cooking Academy 2. Out of curiosity, I went to search for it on Google. True enough, such recipe exist and the ingredients provided in the game were the same as the recipe.

Name of the dish and picture

Casual gamers, who have interest in cooking, would definitely like this game a lot. I recommended this game to a colleague (who is a student too). She loves cooking and she is also a causal gamer. When I told her about this, she decided to go and play. Within a week, she had progressed through the game more than I did.

Finally, there is a clear progression and sense of achievement in the game. The game has a very clear progression in the game. If it is the player’s first time playing the game, then only one section of the recipes are available for the player. Once player hits a minimum criteria and progresses well through the game (gets C- grade and above), he or she is able to unlock the next set of recipes. 

Exams are only available once you have completed most of the recipes 

This is a form of progression where a player’s effort and achievement allows to progress more through the game. Player then able to understand that they are doing well and feel motivated to play more.

Due to these reasons, it appeals to casual players like me.  Cooking academy is a solid and polished game with all the necessary elements of a 2D game. To me Cooking academy would definitely be an ideal casual game I would recommend to other fellow causal gamers out there.

PS3 - Just Dance 2014

Just Dance 4

I recently purchased Just Dance 4 for my PlayStation 3. Just Dance 4 is developed and published by Ubisoft. To play Just Dance 4 in PS3 console, you would require the PlayStation move which consist of the eye, and the PlayStation motion controllers.

Motion Controllers 

 How to play the game? It is very easy. Once you have calibrated your motion controller with “The eye” camera, you are off to play it. There are two modes in the game. One is Just Dance and other is Just Sweat.

In Just Dance, there will be series of songs. Some songs have one character in it, some songs has more than 2 characters in it (maximum 4).  For such songs, you are allowed to choose a specific character to dance as and the rest is programmed as AI.

Player has to select a song. Once a song is selected the game will load. Player has to hold the motion controller on their palm while dancing. Player has to initiate on screen dancers dance movements to a song. Sometimes when players reach another level, they can select a new gift (a song) from a random set of songs. Some of these contain dance battle routines.

Battle routine

Player can also unlock Dance quest in order to unlock the mash up of each song by completing the entire quest for that specific song. Each song has a difficulty bar that indicates the level of difficulties.  Player can choose song based on how challenged they would like to feel.

The next mode is just Sweat. In just sweat there are 5 types of workout. They are Aerobic in Space, Cheerleaders Boot Camp, Electro Body Combat, Sweat Around The World and Swingin 60’s workout. There are three levels in these which consist of timing. There are 10 min level, 20 minute level, and 45 minute level. Player has to select the timing. There is also a calorie counter that counts how much of calories have you burnt based on your intensive moves.

There is also a cool down mode and intense routine. Based on your performance of the previous song, the game would then assign you a song that it either intense or cool. In between every song, there will be a warm up session where player stretches their body by following the on screen character.

Just Dance 4 is amazing game. I love to dance as it is very entertaining and suitable for a rainy day. When you can’t go out, you could work out at home. What I am unhappy about is the fact that Just Dance 4 does not detect all the movement a player does.

We are only allowed to use one controller to play the game. Hence, I only need to move one part of my body in order to win the song. I have tried before. I could stand in one place but move my right arms around wildly and I had four stars.

I understand it also got to do with the console as The Playstation Move requires the usage of one controller only. I mean that purpose compared to Wii where they use two controllers. Anyway, I personally felt the game could have given the option of holding onto at least up to two controllers per player.

By giving this option, players can decided whether they would like to play with one controller or two motion controllers.  It sort of allows the player to choose the option. If he wants to hold on two motion controller, he can. That option seems fairer.

Besides that, the game alone is perfectly fine. It’s a suitable game to play with your friends when they come over to your house. It’s also suitable for days where you prefer to stay indoors and exercise in a fun way.

***I do not owe any of the pictures. ***
Credits:

http://www.themarriedgamers.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/11/Just_Dance_4_Just_Sweat-e1353301904652.jpg

http://123kinect.com/wp-content/gallery/just-dance-4/jd4-screen-kinect-battle01-0007-gamescom.jpg

Unholy Heights

Unholy heights is a game created by Petit Dipottto. It a strategy game, the player plays as the Devil who will spend his savings on an apartment to rent it out to monsters. The purpose of renting out to the monsters is to make sure that he can defeat the heroes who are planning to destroy evilness.

The monsters are the tenants for the devil .

Instruction about apartment

Instruction about Apartment

They are expected to pay rent and also fight whenever a battle is coming up. The player has to tap on the door to alert the monsters who did not notice the battle. 

The player is allowed to upgrade each apartment and change the pricing for each apartment. Also once the player has sufficient cash, he is allowed to build another floor. The only challenge in this game is to attack stronger monsters.

Weak monsters are perfectly fine but the problem is they do not last very long in a battle or they tend not to fight for the landlord. To attract a stronger monster, player has to build a good apartment by filling it with good furniture’s.

Landlord moving towards the stairs 

Each apartment shows which type of monster is living there, how much is the house rented out for and tenant’s satisfaction. Also it displays whether they paid their rent or whether they owe you rent. Sometimes tenant starts a family. 

Once they have a child, the child will be stronger than the parents.

These are the basics of the game. I personally think that this game is mixture strategy and simulation. Strategy in terms of tower base defence type where you strategically plan to protect your base.

Simulation in terms of hotel games where you upgrade the rooms and make it better for your tenants to live in. The better the room, the better the greater the rental fee will be. I feel that this game is actually entertaining and worth paying $4 on steam.

It’s worth purchasing because the game is simply not boring. It’s straight forward and easy to understand. There is certain level of challenge when it comes to managing the cost and expenses. It’s tough to attract the right tenants and meeting their criteria.

However, to me, it’s not addictive enough to make me want to play it even more. I only played it a few times and I got bored of it. Different people will have different opinion. I would say Unholy heights has a twist in their game concept which makes it a little interesting and it’s worth the $4 you pay for as it gives you a long period of game play time.

 

Currently a tenant living in the apartment and potential tenant viewing the apartment.

The Stanley Parable

Recently, I came across a game called “The Stanley Parable”. It’s a mod game created by Galatic Café. Currently it is available in steam. I always had mixed feelings about this game as it depends on how you play this game.

The Stanley Parable is an interactive story based game. The story telling is a little different from the games that I have played before. Usually in story based games, you are given the freedom to make decisions and it will lead to another pathway.

It is very similar to The Stanley Parable too. Different decisions leads to different pathway unless you listen to the narrator. If you listen to the narrator, you get to finish the game in the simplest way.

If you don’t listen to the Narrator, that’s way your life starts to get tough. If you listen to the narrator, he does not laugh at you.  However, if you do, he mocks at you, teases you or even get angry at you for not listening

Sometimes, when you take a different pathway, the narrator tries to take a different route in the narration and attempts to bring back the story by bringing the player to the next planned pathway.

Once I decided not to listen and the narrator got angry at me. He mocked at me by closing the entire pathway and made me run around the square parameters. I felt trapped and I struggled to find a pathway. While not able to find a pathway, he mocks at my stupid decisions.

It’s quite surprising that there are more than 10 ending for a small built game. The gameplay is actually very simple. All the player has to do is to use the keyboard to move and mouse to select items. Most importantly, listen to the narrator too.

I felt that this game was unique as it directly forces you to play along with the story. If you don’t then you have to face the consequences. To me, the game came up with a different

approach of telling a story and indirectly daring the players to try out a different pathway.

It actually stirs the curiosity of a player where they ponder on what will happen if they took a different pathway. Some might even take it as a challenge as they attempt to defeat the narrator.

I did enjoy playing this game and I am glad that I discovered this game. However, to me this game is more to fill up the space during your bored period. It’s a game that you will play when you are feeling bored from your other games.

Favourite Simulation ever

I absolutely love The Sims.  It’s my favourite game and it’s the only game that I can sit down on a chair without moving for anything (except for wash room breaks) and play throughout the night. That’s how much I appreciate this simulation game.

I am going to talk about The Sims 3 for this post because I have yet to get my hands on The Sims 4.  Let me summarise as much as possible about the game. The Sims 3 is the third part to the previous The Sims game.  The sims is a simulator of a human’s virtual life.  You are allowed to create a character or a family which you would control in this whole game.

Creation of a sim character 

You are not allowed to start a game as a toddler alone. You need an older figure to start the game. Or you could start within built characters.  You are also allowed to choose the characteristics and goals In each character’s life.  All you got to do is to be like a nanny for the Sims. You have control their life.

All Sims have basic human needs, they need to eat,sleep,bathe,socialise, visit the washroom, a job, fun, parties.  You as the player get to control them. You can make their life fun or miserable as hell. It’s just real life in a virtual world. It’s almost like playing the “God” game.

The sims can find a job and work, they can socialize with strangers, pick up a hobby, go to gym or swimming.  They need to work on their skills. If sometimes breaks in their house, like water pipe, they can fix it by themselves (for free) or call a repairman. 

Simoleans (Money Currency In their world) are very important in this game.  In real life you need money to lead a life. It’s the same in Sims. You need money to buy furniture’s in your house, you need food. You have expenses if something breaks down in your house. Thus, a job is important unless you are rich. If you are rich you don’t have to work or you could work for the sake of spending time.

Communication between one character to another is through speech bubbles. When the player clicks on another there are few action words used. For an example, you want to introduce your character to another character; you have to click on the other character and select “Introduce”. That’s how you communicate with other Sims character.

Select an action to take for the character. 

Player could move from place to place through various ways. All player has to do is to go to their map and select the location. Depending on the character’s availability of vehicle, the character could travel with ease. If the character does not have a vehicle, he/she then hails a cab to reach the selected destination.

You are also provided a cell phone to contact your other Sims or to call  for services like adoption, pizza delivery and others.  You could also call your other Sims friends to chat, invite them out, or invite them over.  Even you could plan a party and select who you would invite for it.

There are also expansion versions of this game where you could add on to your base game.  Expansion games like The Sims pets, Late night, Katy Perry and many others that are available for players to play in a different situation.

 There are tons of other things I could go on about The Sims and still won’t be able to complete this post. That’s how detailed this simulation is.  I love to mess around in The Sims. Initially, I would play few serious rounds of it.  Once I am done with the serious playing, I start to mess around in the game.

I would try different possibilities in the game. Once I called The Sims character out to the garden then built a wall around the character without any doors or facilities in the small room.  I know this is sadistic but I was really curious.

The character called out for other family members in the house. Surprisingly the family members came out to help, but I cancel their task and assign them other task. Thus, they could not reach out to her. The character died in the end and all the family members went through emotional pain (Could be seen through their mood meter).

I know that was sadistic, but I was very curious on the reaction.  I always wanted to try it out on a most hated person in the family but I never had a chance to try it. I wonder whether the Sims will come out to try their best to help.  

I also like to mess around in various ways and see how the game reacts to my decisions. I love how they have so many actions to any possibilities a player could think off. It’s not the same reaction all the time.

The A.I. are really good in this game. Most of the time, they have the capability to look after themselves. Occasionally, they require the player’s help. For an example, if I am a child, I would go to school and do my homework and do stuff. However, my mood gets affected because I feel lonely. Thus, my mood meter drops.

A possible scenario that will affect a sim's mood.

I like how they alert the characters need’s to a player. At the left side of the screen, there are few boxes with the character’s picture. If the background of the box is green, the character is perfectly fine. If it is yellow, then the characters have some problems but still can manage it. If the box turns red, the character is extremely moody and they are at the peak of negative moments.

Not only there is a colour indication in each box to express the character’s situation, the face in the box changes according to the colour too. If it is green, they are happy. If it is yellow, they will look slightly annoyed. If it is red, they will look unhappy.

Once you see this you can click on the box which the camera will immediately zoom to the player location. At that moment, you are able to see what could be the possible reason of your unhappiness of your Sims through the mood meter section.

This game tend to be unrealistic like you could be enemies with another character but you could talk or high five and hug till you become buddies. Or on how you could cheat by aging the younger characters by celebrating their birthday every day till their reach a certain stage.  Or even how a chair could block a player way and he can’t find another way to go other side.

Other than some factors, the game is realistic in many ways. It’s like a game that meant for player’s to live the way you want to if you are given an opportunity in life. You could party away and not work.

Or the player could make the characters work till they have reached the highest position. They could become rock stars. They could make friends with anyone. Players can build any dream house they want (if they don’t have money the common cheat to use is Motherlode) or buy any dream house.

Top down view of a simple house

To summarise in quick sentence, The Sims 3 is simply amazing because it’s a well-developed Simulation that is realistic to real life and has different types of reaction towards a player’s action.  It might not suit all types of players but I do believe it is very idealistic girl’s game. The Sims games are definitely worth a shot to spend your time on it.

FYP game - Angus the Shape Shifter

Angus the shape shifter is a 15 a week Final Year created by myself and my fellow team members. The four member team worked together to create a story based puzzle platformer game. In a fantasy world, Angus a scientist Cat knew that another dimension exist in this universe.

Being determined, he did various researches on it and learned about a 2D dimension. He created a portal that allows him to teleport to this world he found out. Angus goal was to collect sufficient evidence to prove his theory is correct all along.

This game idea was thought by the game designer and moulded into a finer shape by my Final Year Project (FYP) Supervisor.  In this game, player has to collect Tangram pieces to form a specific shape and obtain the ability.

There are four ability; which consist of ape, rabbit, bear and mole. Initially, player starts off as Rabbit and finds his way around the world to collect other shapes and use it according to situation.

There is also a new objective that will appear upon collecting all tangram pieces. Player has to find oil as his portal machine ran out of fuel. Player then uses all his abilities to obtain the oil and leave the dimension.

These are overall details. I as the level designer took a while to come up with the level design. Initially the game was extremely challenging to the point that players refused to complete the game as they felt frustrated.

Noticing their frustration, I redesign the level and tried to make it easier for the players. After going through Beta testing, players had a better reaction but still managed to play most of the levels.

 Using their feedback, I worked with my team to modify the levels to a simpler level. It way better to previous complains but players feel challenged while playing the game but they are more than willing to complete the game.

I wanted to blog about this game as I felt proud of it. My team and I worked together to create this game and it was very challenging to pull through when all of us have different view of the game levels.

However, my team members were very supportive and gave me productive feedbacks that allowed me to improve the level and also the sound effects in the level. I was the sound designer for this game too.

The game trailer : 

For further information and to play the game (The game is at the bottom of page), Please visit:
http://durgadevi140894.wix.com/myportfolio#!fyp/c19vu

Board game - Pass the Bomb

Recently, I went to a board game café known as the “Mind café”. They have a variety of board games available to play.  One of the workers there recommended “Pass the bomb” game as there were 6 of us.

This game was extremely entertaining as all of us refused to be the loser. In this game, you are provided three items. A deck of cards, a three sided dice and one bomb are the only things you need in this game.

The purpose of the dice is to see whether are you allowed to use the first few letters or last few letters. The cards are meant to tell the players on what alphabets can they used to form a word. Most importantly, the bomb is a timer. Once a player says the correct word, the player has to pass the bomb to next person. This routine continues until the bomb goes off. (With a kaboom sound. Nothing freaky.)

To play the game, all the player need to do is to shuffle the cards and then count out 13 cards and place it in a pile. After that, roll the dice and see what’s letter can be used. The first person to say the word has to start the bomb says the word and pass to the next person.

I just want to go a little in-depth with an example. Ok so I draw out a card first that indicates GR. I roll the dice and it states that I cannot use the letters at the end of a word. This means I can only use GR in a start of a sentence instead of an end.

So I as the first player start the timer and shout out “GRow” and pass the bomb to the second person. The second might shout “GRumpy” and it goes on till the bomb goes off.  The players are not allowed to repeat the word mentioned by themselves or by other player in a round. Thus, it is important to remember what other players have mentioned.

The last player holding the bomb does not come up with a legit word, then the player loses. Therefore, the player has to keep the card. However, if the player manages to say a word a second before the bomb goes off, the next player in line loses. Those with most number of cards lose the game. Those with least cards or none at all are the champion of the game.

To win this game, players should know a decent amount of words to be used. If your language is weak or you do not know a variety of word, then the player might suffer. It is not necessary to use complex words, because simple words will do as long as it fits the criteria in a round of a game.

When I played this game, I felt very tense even though I know that the bomb is not real at all. It’s just when you play the game, there is this tension in the group where everyone is trying their best not to lose and determine to have the least number of cards.

Not only that, none of us have any clue on when exactly the timer is going to end (even though the bomb gets slightly faster to the last few seconds) and once you feel insecure, we toss the bomb to the next nearest person in ultimate speed.

This game is suitable for family games night or to pass time with your peers. This could also good for gatherings or small parties where not everyone knows each other. I really enjoyed this game as it suits those who enjoys playing board game and those who does not enjoy board games as it challenges them through time and knowledge.

 More information on Mindcafe:

http://www.themindcafe.com.sg/


Credits : I do not owe the picture above.
Resource:
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51pLWD1TPTL.jpg

Sega: All stars racing transformed

Sonic All star Racing Transformed

I owe a copy of Sonic & All-Star Racing Transformed for my PlayStation 3. It’s a racing game published by Sega. I personally feel this is a fantastic multi-player game for my PS3 in racing genre.

In this game, players simply race against each other. There are various characters from Sega publish and also "Wreck It Ralph" from Disney movie. There are many different tracks and worlds for players to choose from. Certain race tracks require players to control different types of vehicle like Planes and boat.

Plane requires players to control the elevation and movement. Also there are many obstacles that does not allow the players to have a smooth ride. Planes have the capability to drift in air, and also perform rolls in order to avoid snowball attacks by opponents or dodge obstacles.

Plane mode

For boat mode, player has to control the boat movement and also control the boat when there are huge waves. At this moment players at times are given opportunities to perform stunts.

Boat mode 

For car mode, is very similar to normal racing. It is able to perform stunts when it switches from plane to car mode. It’s also able to drift to avoid obstacles or to collect weapons or powerups. It’s similar to a normal racing car.

Car mode 

During the race, players are able to collect weapons to attack other players such as snowballs, blowfish, hot rod engines that explode at a press of a button, etc. Players are able to collect golden coins during the race (or when they attack the opponents) which can be used to get a weapons before the start of game or certain types of bonus such as quick recovery from an attack while the track is loading.

There is multi-player mode where players can challenge on another. In such situation, the screen would split itself according to the number of players. In online mode, players can meet their online friends and play the game in four different modes. There is no split screen in online multiplayer game.

There are also few campaigns like career mode. Also players are required to unlock selective characters by using the stars earned. Stars are earned upon completion of the track. Players have to complete each track based on the criteria. Once stars are earned, player can used those to unlock characters

I really like this game because the game is not overly challenging. It is well developed (from the previous ones) and it does not have any problems. The game runs really well in the game and it reaches to general players. It’s also fun for those who want to play a game for a short while.

I liked this game because it’s fun and easy to play. It’s not overly challenging that makes me want to throw away my controller or to rage. It’s challenging enough to agitate me occasionally whenever I lose but it does the element of making me want to beat the challenge and go on with the game.

The challenge is beatable and it’s not impossible type of challenger where it requires you tons of skills. If you understand the mechanism of the game works, then the player can start playing. The game is fair and the tracks are not random.

The coins and pickups are spawned in same area. The only challenge is the other players or the other bots that races with you in the tracks.I am really glad that I purchased this game as it is a pretty impressive kart racing game. I like the graphics, sound effects and the weapons I use to attack the other players. 

Gone Home

I am huge fan of story based games. I mean I do play games with no storyline but games with storyline make me get attached to more quickly than games with no storyline.  Recently, I discovered a game called “Gone Home”.

Gone home

I got hold of a game copy and played it. Basically, in this game all you need to do is go around the house to learn about yourself and to have a better understanding on what’s going on at home while you were gone for a year. 

The player views the world in first person point of view. As the character, the player has to go around the house to find for interactive objects and examine it. Some of this interactive objects tells a story which leads to a better understanding.

Room with interactive objects like cabinet and lamp table. 

For an example, the phone voice mail tells us information on what happened in the year the player’s character was away from home. This gives more clues to the player as he/she does not have any idea on what’s going on.

Interactive phone. 

There are no specific missions or time frame to complete the game. You are in a house with tons of objects to look at and try to figure out on what’s going on. That’s all. While you are going around, you are able to uncover more mysteries that lie in the house.

The story is light even though it covers a taboo topic (It’s considered taboo in Singapore). I like the approach of narration and storytelling. It’s similar to point and click adventure but it’s in 3D.

This might not be interesting for all as the game does not contain challenges that keep a player going. It’s all about seeking the truth and finding for the missing puzzle piece to complete the puzzle.

I don’t really want to go to in dept with the storyline because the whole game is about the storyline. Overall, I could say that this game is suitable for casual gamers and gamers who wants to spend their time 

Mountain

There is a game called Mountain. It can be purchased on steam or Humble bundle. I bought my copy on humble bundle for 99 cents. Mountain is a simulation game and it’s unique in its own way. In this simulation, you get to watch the mountain go through different seasons.

Mountain is a game that made me think a lot. I didn’t exactly think about how to go about playing this game in order to win. It was more on pondering whether is it game. Let me explain to you why I thought so.

Basically, in this game, you do not have any controls. At the start, there will be to questions ask and you have to draw out the answer. Once you get pass the stage, you will see a mountain and the game begins. You are the mountain and you see it in a third person’s point of view.

Throughout the game, you just get to be a mountain. There are no inputs. The mountain spins by itself and at times seasons or weather changes. While the game is going on, you are allowed to press certain keys to play piano notes. You can also spin the mountain to a certain angle, zoom in and out to see the mountain in different angle and also move around unnatural objects (such as trashcan) to a different part of the mountain. All these inputs do not affect the growth of the mountain.

Changes in the season

Zoomed out view

Thus, you can still do your work while your game is still running on your computer tab.  On top of that, the game has auto save function. Basically, if you close your game by accident, you can continue from where it ended.

Is Mountain really a game? Honestly, in my point of view, I really think that mountain is a game. As I have mentioned before, Mountain is like a simulation game. I believe the creator is trying to make the game as realistic as possible.

Player gets to be a mountain. As a mountain, you are not able to do much. You are not able to protect yourself from bad weather or anything. As a mountain, you have no controls. You watch things grow and die. You watch how seasons change the appearance of the mountain.

Mountain is one of the unique games. Maybe, it might not be a game that would break through the current game industry and be extremely popular. It’s better not to compare it with other simulation game as Mountain itself could stand alone in this category. It may seem like a complete waste of money but if you look at the art, the music and able to see occasional thoughts of the mountain, it’s not that bad after all.

Mountain is a game that might be abandoned in the dark of my games library. It’s definitely a game I would never feel excited to play it again, but I can confidently say that the I would not forget about this game. 

Detective grimoire

Detective Grimoire is a mystery game created by SFB game and published by Armour games. I’m not talking about the new Detective Grimoire game (I read that a new one is going to be out soon in steam and humble bundle). I am talking about the free online version Detective Grimoire.

This game is actually the usual point and click adventure game. You click on the area to interact or to move around the map. The graphics is quite decent and there is no voice over. There is definitely some music that changes occasionally. Most of the time all you could hear from the characters are “Ahem” or “Hmmm.” I am pretty sure there are no other noises from the character itself.

Besides all of that, I like the storyline behind this game. It’s simple yet a little in dept. The player has to play as the main character known as Detective Grimoire. One of the characters has died in the game and the detective has to find out who killed the victim.

There are six characters in the game. They are; Two Mascots whom have problems with each other, One repair technician who handles the whole park technical problems, a student who looks after a game stall (also the technician’s niece) a cleaner who is young and has a crush on the student that manages the game stall and the manager who is a little ignorant about the job he does.

Player has to explore the place and talk to each suspect to find out on who is the right killer. Player has to read the lines, look at the clue list and profile. Occasionally they need to find for the clue in the NPC’s area.

With those clues they could use it on the suspects and try to find out the clue. Once the Detective feels suspicious, he uses the “stare” to get out the truth. While the suspect is talking, there will be a white flash. Once it flashes, player has to move the cursor to the right quickly. If you miss the timing, then the suspect will not get a shock and will tell a lie.

I would say that this game is suitable for those who want to play a game for a short while or those who simply love story based game. You could finish the game in less than one hour and its does requires a lot of detective skills like scanning for thumbprint. It's all about the story.

I have included a short video of the gameplay (Just the first five minutes of the game) Please feel free to view it or to play the game: http://armorgames.com/play/200/detective-grimoire . It’s worth a shot. 

To watch the video: http://youtu.be/fcIA58g9DD8

Sega Game - Crazy Taxi

Crazzzzzzy Taxi

The first time I ever played Crazy Taxi was at the arcade. It was this machine that has a brake paddle and a steering wheel. There is no chair attached to the machine. This game got me excited then and I was like "Man. I wish I can play this every day."

Crazy Taxi machine

If I am not wrong, this game used to be a massive hit. Everyone knew this game. It’s a racing game but you could drive around recklessly. When the player starts the game, he/she is given an option to choose between four characters.

Basically the player is the taxi driver and he has to pick up passengers and drive them to their location before the time is up. Once they reached the location the driver have to stop at the marked area. If he stops outside the marked area, then the passenger will not get down.

That allows the driver to earn the money. 

The amount is dependent on the performance of the driver in a journey. Also if the driver does not drop off the passenger within the given time frame, the passenger will jump off the taxi.

There is original version and arcade version in this game.  In both there is an 3 minutes, five minutes and 10 minutes mode game (and play by arcade rules).  In arcade rules, the driver is given a specific time frame but can be increased if the driver picks up and deliver the passenger before the initial time runs out.

There are also mini games in Crazy taxi. It is known as Crazy box. Each box has a specific challenge that requires the player to complete.  For an example, driving down a steep road to jump over and land at a specific spot (counted by distance of jumping)

What makes it fun is you could drive around recklessly, crashing other cars and not going through any damage. If you manage to dodge the other cars that would allow you to earn money or carrying out stunts also increases the money.

Driving around the town in high speed

 You could also drive around the big world around aimless without picking up any customers but they would cause you to go through loss for that round.

The only problem with this game is that it is not very high in repetitiveness. It’s fun for a while but after an hour later, it’s no longer fun. It gets a little boring. Maybe it could be improved by adding more challenges to It. Different types of mission instead having different time mode.

Maybe have a mission like you have to pick up passengers who are wearing black tops. Or have a mission where you have to drive without hitting anything or can also have mini game while driving around the passenger such as collecting something to earn more coins.

Besides that, it’s a game worth keeping in my game library but not something that I would recommend to play for a reason. This game is more suitable to pass your time thus making it a very suitable arcade game (It was an arcade game initially) but never a console game.