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| | April 17, 2006
Spring Break!
It’s that time of year again, when carefree students and tired businessfolk alike head for the beaches, or the theme parks, or the lakes, or in some extreme cases, the furthest possible place from wherever they call home. Not that I scampered off anywhere for the occasion, but it’s been nice and quiet around here the past week. | |
| Now that everyone’s trickling back from exotic locales such as Hawaii, California, Japan, Florida, and St. Louis (okay, maybe they’re not all so exotic), the halls are full of travel stories. Modern times being what they are, though, about a quarter of those stories seem to involve waiting around at the airport, crawling slowly through Customs, or dealing with interminable delays at some other point of the travel process.
I’m sure you can guess where I’m heading with this thought…
Moxie’s tip for traveling: first, get a laptop (you can rent one just for the trip!). Second, before you leave, download a whole bunch of trial-version games. Heck, maybe even grab a few that you wouldn’t usually try playing. That way, it won’t matter if there’s an Internet connection where you’re going: you can just flip open your laptop on the plane, in the hotel… at the car rental place where they’re trying to figure out what happened to the mid-size coupe that you distinctly remember requesting… and try out a few fun games. It’s like the digital version of an appetizer sampler platter, with just enough of each game to give you a taste for it.
For a really diverse playing experience, I recommend nabbing 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, Filler, Acropolis, Hotel Solitaire, Professor Fizwizzle, Qbeez 2, and Sudoku Quest. | |
| Yo Ho, Yo Ho, A Pirate’s Life for Me
If there’s one thing you’ll never hear anyone from the Pacific Northwest say, it’s “I wonder why nobody flocks to our beaches for Spring Break?” We love our region, but we’re generally sensible people who realize that it’s cold out there on the water right now. So hey, if I was going to be seeing any sunny beaches and visiting tropical ports this past week, they were going to have to be virtual. Hence my three-day obsession with the download version of Tradewinds 2.
I’ve always been a fan of sailing-and-trading games; the classic 1987 game Pirates! and 1995’s High Seas Trader hold fond memories a-plenty for me. Tradewinds 2 has a similar feel, as you sail from port to Caribbean port, buy and sell various trade goods, fight off marauding pirates, and do the occasional favor for local governors. Surprisingly, though, the best part about this game isn’t the chance to build a far-flung trading empire. It’s not the primal joy of blowing holes in pirate ships. It’s not even the rather odd fact that fish never seem to go bad in your hold, no matter how long you haul ‘em around looking for a good price.
No, it’s the humor. Easily half the fun of Tradewinds 2 is the dialogue and descriptive text: the writers obviously had a blast coming up with it, and that shows through when you play. From the head-scratchingly random nature of the errands you’re asked to run (fetching, for example, a legendary amulet that prevents pimples) to the extra items that appear in your to-do list (“Socks first. Then shoes.”) and even to some of the game commands and menu screens (“Do you want to quit? – Yaarrgh – Naargh”), the game is just plain fun to read. And that’s so rare these days that it’s worth mentioning.
Now, it might be a little dangerous to play this one at work, since some of the dialogue is so wonderfully outlandish that you’ll literally laugh out loud… not advisable if the guy in the next cube thinks you’re looking over his financial spreadsheet. But I had more than my share of audible giggles while playing, and I appreciated every one of them. | |
| Tech Time
Today’s question is from an MSN Games player named Barb. It’s not technically a technical issue (hmmm, that sounds weird), but it happens often enough that I figure this would be a good place to mention it.
“Dear Moxie: Several months ago I purchased Cubis Deluxe. My computer has died and I purchased a new one. How do I get Cubis Deluxe on this one?”
Not to worry. Once you’ve purchased a download game, your registration key is recorded somewhere. Where just depends on when the game was originally purchased. Take a quick peek at this support document for all the info, then kick back with a few games of Cubis!
See you next week! | |
