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I am tired of election season, ladies and gents, because the closer we get to Election Day, the more my morning newspaper starts to resemble an elementary school playground. “You’re a liar.” “Oh, yeah? Well, you’re a doody-head.” “Am not!” “Are too!” “Well you’re best friends with the stinky kid!” “Nuh-uh!” “Uh-huh! And you cheated on the spelling test.” “Well, at least I can spell my own name!” “I can spell your name, too: D-O-O-D-Y-H-E-A-D.” “I’m gonna tell!”
Gaahhhh!
It doesn’t even matter which section I’m looking in! National news, state news, city news, the editorial page: playground meanness is everywhere. My fondest wish in the whole world right now is to round up every single candidate for every single political post – no matter their platform, current position, or party affiliation – and put the lot of them in “time out” until the polls close.
I know I’m going to need to find a lot of corners and buy a lot of chairs, but that’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make. For the sake of my sanity, and yours.
Who are you voting for?
Of course, I suppose most folks are keen to get on with the elections because they’ve picked their favorite candidates and want to cast their votes. We here at MSN Games have always been great proponents of the democratic process; heck, we even let you vote on your favorite badges! So we weren’t about to pass up an opportunity like this.
Are you a fan of McCain and Palin? Or a supporter of Obama and Biden? Do you favor the elephant? Prefer the donkey? Or are you still undecided?
No matter how you’re leaning, we’d like to give you the chance to cast a mock “vote” for the next President of the United States… and test your knowledge of your favorite candidates at the same time. To that end, we have lovingly hand-crafted this Election Trivia Face-off, If you’ve already chosen a candidate, then play their trivia game to “vote”! If you’re undecided, then just play both games (we promise not to tell). Each weekday, we’ll tally up the votes and see who’s ahead so far.
It may not be a scientific poll, but it has games in it. So at least we’re much cooler than Gallup.
By the way, now that I’m thinking about it, why are we still representing our political parties with such outmoded animals? An elephant and a donkey: okay, that’s… nice, I guess, but not particularly cool. How about a tiger and a wolverine? Or a stallion and a reticulated python? Oh! A grizzly bear and a timber wolf: not only high on the cool-o-meter, but native to North America.
Vote Timber Wolf in 2012!
Late-night fever
Peggle is one of those games that I’ve never quite understood. You aim a ball into a field of colored pegs, let it go, and then just watch where it goes. Once that ball is in play, you have no further control over it, and you’d better hope that you timed things properly and steered it well. Sometimes, I think that Peggle isn’t even a game, really.
So why do I still play it from time to time? And why was I so quick to download the sequel?
Yes, there’s a sequel: Peggle Nights. Not much difference between the original and its successor, at least in terms of gameplay. There is a new theme, though, and the backgrounds and peg layouts are very well-done. And cute. Sometimes really, really cute. Remember all the animal helpers from the last game? Well, this time, the levels are based around what they dream at night. The designers let their imaginations run wild with this one, and the end result is more visually compelling than the first Peggle.
My question still stands, though. Is this a game? And if not, what is it? Although it’s not particularly interactive, it certainly triggers all the same emotions as a more hands-on game: excitement when you’re doing well, frustration when you’re not, triumph when you snag that long-shot bonus or a max-point fever score. I distinctly recall shouting “HAH!” out loud at my laptop when not one but both balls from a multi-ball shot landed squarely in the free ball hopper.
I don’t think there’s a good answer, honestly. It’s like the difference between pinball and pachinko. Pinball aficionados might go crazy at the notion of a silver ball zipping through pins without any levers to guide it. Pachinko fans might be equally annoyed with the thought of needing to whack the ball around manually after letting it go. The fact is, Peggle Nights is enjoyable and oddly compelling, and probably doesn’t need to be shoehorned into a definition.
(I’m still going to wonder, though.)
A rose by any other name…
…would be just as hard to find. And that’s exactly how I like it!
Seriously, this is a great time to be a fan of hidden-object games. It’s not so much a question of how long it will be until another game is released; it’s more about which one you’re going to choose to play this week, when so many new games look so good. The sheer variety of themes, art styles, settings, and genres is rather dizzying, but they all seem determined to give you hours of enjoyment and a permanent squint.
Of the current batch, I decided to try Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena. First, it wasn’t part of a game series, so I figured it would have a unique flavor compared to the others I’d played lately, second, it’s from MumboJumbo, the folks who developed the very excellent Luxor 2 and 7 Wonders of the Ancient World, and third… well, honestly, I’m a sucker for female protagonists. What can I say? When I was a kid, nearly every game either featured a male hero or was vague on the subject, so hey, I still get a bit of a thrill when given the chance to be a digital girl.
And I’m off-topic again, sorry about that! Anyway, I went with Hidden Roses of Athena, and it seems so far that I’ve made an excellent choice. This is one of the brightest, most cartoony hidden-object games I’ve seen, and there are relatively few red-herring items on each screen. Rather than relying on dark colors and a confusion jumble of objects, this game hides objects in plain sight by simply making them the same cheery colors as the landscapes in which they’re sitting. (On the downside, when you can’t find something for five minutes, you do feel a bit more foolish than usual.)
To make up for the easier challenge, Hidden Roses of Athena also uses an inventory system: some of the items you find are tools, and must be used in certain places to reveal the remaining items for the screen. For instance, you may need a shovel to dig something up, or a brush to clear away dust from a symbol. Some of these situations are straightforward, others are amusingly devious.
I’m not very far into the game yet, but I can already tell that this is one I’ll play through to the end. I’m looking forward to seeing where Samantha Swift’s expedition takes her next.
October, now with 50% more Moxie
Just a quick heads-up: look for a special Coffee Break next week, complete with a roundup of my favorite Halloween-y games, Mum’s recipe for oven-toasted pumpkin seeds, and adorable photos of my coworkers’ kids dressed up for the big day. Seriously, it doesn’t get any cuter than this!
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