More like Chargelawl

Sorry I haven't updated in a while I've (insert lame excuse) .

The last game we had from Crazy Monkey Games was their fun disease the world game Pandemic II. I popped over to their site this morning and found another fun one.

Chargeball is a nice spin on an old block breaker concept. Give it a few levels and it really takes off and gets interesting.

Fart on, sweet prince

Do you think farts are funny? Of course you do. That's one of the reasons Puzzle Farter is so endearing. If you have the sound on and you aren't at least chuckling by the end of level 3, then just go back to your knitting or whatever you were doing.

There are definitely some things wrong with the game. The lack of a save feature or checkpoint system really hurts the replay value. It's incredibly difficult to get to the end with very limited lives, but it is fun trying to get there. Puzzle Farter gave me a really strong Mario vs. Donkey Kong vibe, which I think is a concept that works pretty well. The fact that it's "too hard" shouldn't keep you from playing it over and over.

The developers of Puzzle Farter are also available for suggestions on their forum, so you can get a front row seat for future updates and level packs for the game. Go let one rip.

Where's Smokey when you need him?

We all can appreciate a good brush fire, which is why Scorching Earth makes for a pretty fun, if not frustrating, puzzle game.

I'm not going to lie to you. This game can and will kick your ass at some point. I described the first level of Scorching Earth to a friend like this: "This game does not hold your fucking hand." It's true folks, I got stuck on the first level and had to play it 6 or 7 times in order to win. This is partly to do with a lack of any coherent instructions and partly because Scorching Earth actively hates you and your family.

In gameplay, you spread a brush fire around a piece of land divided into squares. Fires burn a certain amount of time depending on what kind of area you land on. Trees burn long lengths, dirt for shorter. You can spread or jump your fire, rain on enemy fires, and call down a meteor depending on how many points you've accrued from your active fires. I know it's weird in text, but just play around with it and you'll start to get it.

I've enjoyed Scorching Earth, but let me tell you it's not a game for the weak of will. Oh and the music is fucking terrible. Turn it off.

Burn the bodies!

Well all know one simple truth, destroying humanity is an awful lot of fun. This fact is the reason I'm excited to say that Pandemic II has finally been released by Crazy Monkey Games. Don't worry if you haven't played the first one, you'll catch on fast.

Let me talk about the good first: lots of upgrades to customize your disease, great looking interface and menus, and a fair amount of actual strategy make this game a whole lot of fun. The bad is that the game is essentially broken in one key aspect: Madagascar.

There are enough people that have been derailed by Madagascar to warrant the creation of this. It is possible to infect the island nation and I know that the game shouldn't be a cakewalk, but making it so that infecting Madagascar is nothing but dumb luck definitely takes away from the fun of mass genocide.

Go kill some people.

Bear + Umbrella =

Anybody who knows me knows that there are two things that I love in this world, bears and umbrellas. Well, now there's a home for my passion.

Sunny Day Sky has you kiting your little bear friend through oncoming traffic and rogue ducks for huge combos. The more cars you pass in a single flight, the more points you get. Let me tell you, it becomes pretty fucking scary when you're working on a 200,000 point combo knowing that if you fall, you get nothing and the game resets.

Grand re-opening in a few days... see you there.

Click faster, bitch!

Got a great timewaster for ya. Click 10!

Warning: This will break your fucking clicker finger off.

Time wasters

Just wanted to share a couple simple flash games that my friends and I call timewasters. Just because they're timewasters doesn't mean they're not fun.

The first is by one of the goons on the Something Awful forums.

Go play People Bucket.



The second is Fruit Mystery. Fucking Fruit Mystery.

Run Dino, Run

I fell in love with a little flash game today called Dino Run from Pixeljam, where players take control of a little dinosaur and attempt to stave off extinction. There are seven main levels, with some speed runs available as extras. In other words, enough to keep you busy for an afternoon.

You maneuver your dino from left to right attempting to escape a wall of doom (which we can only assume to be extinction). Along the way you'll encounter other dinosaurs on the escape route as well as smaller animals, which you can eat for extra points. There exists just enough frustration to keep the game from being a cakewalk, but easy enough as to keep you moving through the levels.

The kick ass 8-bit sound compliments the lo-fi graphics amazingly well. I really recommend this game for a lazy afternoon.

tl;dr

Concept: A hectic escape from doom has you running for your life.
Controls: Arrow keys, anyone?
Sound: Awesome retro 8-bit.
Graphics: Beautifully rendered lo-fi.

Overall: 8/10

ESSENTIAL LINKS
http://www.pixeljam.com/
http://www.pixeljam.com/dinorun/