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Nobody’s actually sure how it got started, but these fine folks have been getting together for six years now to celebrate the big weekend with a potluck cookout, an excellent hilltop view of the airshow, and plenty of Scrabble boards for everyone to enjoy. The house rules for the day are: invite any new neighbors, bring your own beverage, keep an eye on your kids, and all Seafair-related words count double on the board.
Before the first of these now-annual events, the families on that street barely even knew each other. These days, they’re a lot more neighborly. Never underestimate the value of a good party, or a good game!
Let’s do the Twist!
Okay, just let me get this out of my system.
*insert sounds of cheering, squealing, and dancing madly around the office*
Of all the games on our site – actually, of all the games in the world – there’s only one that I can honestly say I’ve played at least once a week, every single week since I first discovered it years ago, and that game is TextTwist. I am an addict. Even though I probably know the game’s dictionary backwards and forwards by now, even though I could likely play it in my sleep, I simply love TextTwist too much to ever stop noodling with it when I have a few spare minutes. But that’s just the thing: it’s been so many years since the original came out that I figured nobody would ever make a sequel.
I have never been so happy to be wrong!
The day I pulled up our front page and saw the name TextTwist 2 in the New list, I actually did shriek out loud. (Just a bit. And it was early, so nobody came looking for me.) At last! New combinations! New game modes! An expanded dictionary! And an end to my colleagues shaking their heads over my obsession with an eight-year-old game. Best of all, everything that I love about the original has been preserved for the sequel. (In particular, the dictionary is composed mostly of words that an ordinary human being would consider valid, so you actually have a decent chance of completing a whole list.) If I could give some sort of trophy for Proper Design of a Sequel, I’d be awarding it to GameHouse. And if you’re a fan of word games at all, this is the one single title you absolutely must-must-must download.
All right, hyperventilation over. But the recommendation still remains. I love TextTwist 2!
A horse! A horse! My kingdom for…
…the princess? Hmmm. Well, okay, I was pretty sure the quote went otherwise, but this game is definitely My Kingdom for the Princess. Have you ever picked up a book just because the title made you scratch your head? Same thing with me and this, really. But after a few minutes of play, I realized that I’d found a keeper.
Let’s set this up: a princess (of the young and beautiful variety, of course) goes to visit her uncle. Whilst she is conversing with him in his castle, an Oz-worthy tornado descends upon the land, destroying roads and buildings, dislodging giant boulders, waking ghosts from their sleep, and otherwise causing major headaches for the peasantry. Meanwhile, back home, the princess’ father is struck by lightning. Disregarding for a moment the question of how she could have gotten this news when the bridges were out, the roads were destroyed, and the ships were sunk, the princess immediately decides to return home. So you, a knight (of the young and handsome sort, of course) are sent along to protect her. Oh, and to rebuild the entire kingdom along the way, since – as (the royal) We already mentioned – the roads were out and so on and so forth.
In effect, My Kingdom for the Princess plays much like a stripped-down Age of Empires or other resource-management game. Imagine Westward without the open map. In order to move through an area, you (which is to say, the local peasants, since your knight can’t be bothered with manual labor) must rebuild all the roads and bridges. To do that, you need to gather resources, and repair or upgrade essential structures. Get everything done by nightfall, and you’ll win an upgrade to the castle you’ll eventually receive for saving the princess.
It’s cute, it’s quick to learn, and it’s surprisingly addictive. If you enjoy resource/strategy games, you’ll probably want to check this one out!
Beetles and hornets and snails, oh my!
It’s been unseasonably hot in Seattle for the past month or so, and I have to admit that my flower boxes are looking pretty shabby. Our plants up here just aren’t designed for the sort of summer weather you’d expect in Texas. So to soothe my gardening itch, I thought I’d try a few hours of Magic Farm Ultimate Flower.
Now, I played the original Magic Farm when it first came out, and I recall having quite a bit of fun with it. The gameplay is much the same as another of my old favorites, Chicken Chase, except that you’re growing plants instead of raising poultry, and of course you’re more concerned with slugs than with marauding crows. Spend money to plant seeds, water your plants when they need it, harvest the flowers or fruit, keep the bugs off, sell bouquets for more money, and repeat until rolling in cash. A small dragon will help around the farm, but you need to take care of most tasks yourself.
Magic Farm Ultimate Flower is basically a remake of the original game, with a few new tricks to keep things interesting. So if you’ve played before and enjoyed it, this is the good sort of “more of the same.” If you haven’t tried the original, no worries: Ultimate Flower starts off slowly so you have plenty of time to learn the ropes. And either way, it sure beats gardening outside in 90+ degree heat. Whew!
Next time on Moxie’s Coffee Break…
…I try to figure out how the heck I missed seeing some truly amazing games when they were first released. I know, I know: so many games, so little time. To me, our site is what my hardcore Halo friend refers to as “a target-rich environment.” But still, I am almost ashamed to have neglected these three until now!
What are they? Nope, I’m not telling. Check the next Coffee Break to see!
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