2006 Casual Game of the Year
Certainly
Indie games are known for the casual fare. While Casual games have become
big business, there are still plenty of great Indie games that go completely
undiscovered in the Casual Game business.
This year we highlight another five great Independent casual/puzzle games that you probably
won't hear much about even on the 'so-called' Casual Game websites.
5th Place - Egyptian Addiction
Egyptian
Addiction is an original puzzle game that simply amazes you when you first play
it, both because the presentation is so smooth, and the game is so much at once.
In the game, you have to move a ball across a grid and touch other balls of the
same color to eliminate them. Touching balls of another color will transfer
control to the ball on the other side of the line of balls, much like in those
desktop toys known as Newton's Cradles. The challenge is to find the right order
in which to eliminate the balls of which colors to solve the level in less than
60 seconds.
However, that's not all there is to it. The level architecture may change,
usually in patterns, but sometimes triggered by your actions. The whole level
may reconfigure itself into a different kind of maze every few seconds, and you
will have to recognize the pattern to plan ahead where you can and where you
cannot go in the next five seconds – all while solving other parts of the puzzle
in the meantime!
It's a stressful kind of fun, and a neuropsychological factor called the
"tapping frequency" plays a major role in how often you'll find yourself totally
baffled and unable to even remotely grasp the complexity of the level in front
of you.
Those moments show you how hard Egyptian addiction pushes you to the limit of
your problem solving capabilities. There is almost no random factor in the game,
it's all skill and conscious or subconscious work. Egyptian Addiction is an
outstanding game with stunning visuals and a very new and original puzzle style
that feels refreshingly genuine.
4th Place - Scrubbles
| Developer: Oberon Media | Players: 1 | ||
Website |
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| System Requirements: Windows 2000/XP, 128 mb RAM, 1Ghz+ processor | |||
It seems that you rarely run into a casual game that doesn't feel like a
variation on a game that you have played before.
Scrubbles is no
exception. While you've probably played several variations of this
particular style of game in the past (Bust a Move being the most widely known), this
may be the most fun and funny of this game type ever.
While the arcade mode has different difficulty levels and can be quite
enjoyable, the journey mode is truly where this game shines. Each level of the
journey mode is introduced by some of the different Scrubble characters. They crack jokes while
introducing the level and/or different characters along with a simple story
throughout. The dialog is well done and the humor hits more often then it
misses. The game’s cute and fun-loving personality doesn’t stop with the cut
scenes; the Scrubbles continue with their jabber throughout the game to signify
different in-game events like, for example, saying the name of a special weapon
that is picked up.
You should definitely give this game a try. Regardless of if you like Scrubble’s
gameplay style or not, it’s worth checking out if not only for it’s funny cut
scenes. It's a rare thing to be able to find a game that you can share at the
office just because it is funny, but Scrubbles, despite being a Bust-a-Move
clone, is just such a game.
3rd Place - Blast Miner
| Developer: Cryptic Sea | Players: 1-2 | ||
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Website |
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| System Requirements: Windows, 1.5 ghz, 32mb video card, 256MB RAM | |||
Blast
Miner is an interesting game. There are three different games modes, of
which really only one has shown up in screenshots around the web. That
mode looks and plays a little like Tetris. Players drop various shapes onto a
narrow board, while trying not to stack the pieces too high. There are three
basic types of objects: stones, TNT and gas.
The goal is to use those objects to create explosions in the dirt, which rises
from the bottom, so that gold nuggets that are lodged in the dirt will literally
be blown up the screen to be collected.
It's interesting in the way Triptych is
interesting as you can move pieces as much as you want, slamming them into each
other and the dirt in a physics-based puzzle extravaganza! Unfortunately it just isn't very much fun.
The challenge will be beyond many players and boring to others. The second
of the three modes
is pretty similar to the first, but is multiplayer. It is better because everything is
more fun when it is multiplayer, but still isn't something that will be fun for
most players.
So...how does Blast Miner end up as our 3rd highest rated Casual/Puzzle game
with two lackluster modes? Well, the third mode is flat-out awesome. It's so good
it makes you forget the other modes and even wonder why they exist.
The
third mode is a true puzzle mode that plays more like a physics sim than a game
(think Bridge Construction Set or
Armadillo Run and you'll be in the
right ballpark). Players are given the task of getting the gold to
leave the screen through a specific spot (in the screenshot above the gold needs
to leave by going directly up through the roof). Player's create their
approach to the problem through a simple editor. Each piece costs a
specific amount, which can quickly add up and make it hard to stay within your
budget. The difference between the budget and amount spent is the player's
score, giving plenty of motivation for players to try out zany and original
approaches to each level to spend the least amount of money to accomplish the
goal.
After placing pieces all over the board you simply click 'Test' to watch your
set-up perform. Well placed explosions will destroy obstacles and propel
the gold through the sweet spot. It is every bit as enjoyable as building a
bridge in Bridge Construction Set and
maybe even more so because blowing things up
is FUN! Really fun! Placing gas and TNT in the right spots to create
chain reaction explosions all over the board is really a blast! (sorry, couldn't
help the pun) For physics/simulation fans this is a game NOT to be missed.
2nd Place - Tube Twist
| Developer: 21-6 Productions | Players: 1 | ||
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Website |
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Purchase |
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| System Requirements: Windows 95/98/SE/ME/2000/XP; Pentium III 500mhz; 64 MB RAM -or- Macintosh OS X (version 10.3 or greater); G4 Processor Recommended; 64 MB RAM | |||
Tube
Twist is a game you've played before, to be perfectly honest with you. Remember
Pipe Dream? It's pretty much the same gaming paradigm. However, it is very
unlikely that you've played a game as good as Tube Twist before. From all
angles, Tube Twist and 21-6 Productions deliver a polished experience that is
difficult not to enjoy.
The premise of Tube Twist is completely extraneous, but fun in an irreverent
manner. You're the assistant in the lab of a groundbreaking professor who,
through the machinations of experimentation, has managed to get lost in a time
stream. Your job is to finish experiments that have been left in the wake of
your time traveling boss and jump through time.
Each stage in a particular era gives the player a hole-filled tube track to use
as a starting point, along with a set number of tube pieces to use to fix and
complete the track. Where Tube Twist really shines is in the free-form nature of
the puzzle solving. Many puzzle games have a very clear, singular path that the
gamer must follow to solve the level. Professor Fizzwizzle is an excellent
example of this style of play. In Tube Twist, though, the gamer really gets the
feeling that they can create and find their own path to the end of the level.
Being able to complete the levels without using the preset pieces and paths can
make players feel like a super-genius for creating their own paths, and we can't
help but think that's exactly what 21-6 intended player's to feel while playing
the game.
Does this mean that the game is easy? Well no. Tube Twist is tricky. The energy
balls are difficult to manage and must be helped along on every step of their
path. Thankfully, by flicking an on-and-off switch in the game's interface, the
gamer can test their paths as many times as they need to with no ill effects.
Restarting each level or resetting the energy balls is an instant thing and
makes it very easy to experiment with different arrangements to find just the
right path.
Tube Twist makes quality, polished, puzzling gameplay seem effortless. The game
is easy to pick up, hard to put down and a joy to interact with. It's a
fantastic game that has already won several game awards for being the best of
its class and is well worth every gamer's time.
2006 Casual Game of the Year - Eets: Hunger. It's Emotional
| Developer: Klei Entertainment | Players: 1 | ||
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Website |
Download |
Purchase |
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| System Requirements: Windows 98/2000/XP, 500MHz processor, 128 MB RAM | |||
Pure and simple,
Eets is a fun piece of gaming. Nearly everything about Eets oozes whimsy. The art, the characters, the levels, the sound, the awards.
Everything.
Very reminiscent of the art to come out of the Alien Hominid studio, The
Behemoth, Eets himself is a quirky and endearing protagonist. Eets behaves like
the Lemmings of old and will walk straight ahead at all times, to his doom, if
players let him. His behavior changes according to his mood (angry, happy,
scared), which the gamer can alter by placing mood marshmallows on the ground in
front of Eets (among other ways). He’ll devour whatever lies in his path and
then assume the emotion that particular object confers. Scared Eets will be too
frightened to walk leap off of ledges and will move slowly and silently. Happy
Eets will bumble merrily along and hop off and ledges he gets to. Angry Eets
storms around the the stage and gives a huge leap off of any ledge.
This is probably the key to the charm of the game. True, the art is vibrant and
the characters are all fun and unique creations and of course the variety of the
world art as you move through different lands is quite good. But where player's
will really enjoy Eets is in the fact that you don't feel like you are
controlling a mindless Lemming-esque creature. It helps that there’s only one
Eets, but more importantly, as the player you are messing with his emotional
state. You may find that you don't want to feed Eets scared marshmallows and
hear his frightened squeak, but you have to get the job done. He becomes
something of your little brother, your charge, your little buddy.
With those simple beginnings Eets begins to take shape as a Puzzle game
extraordinaire. Reminiscent of The Incredible Machine, players play by
placing various objects on the screen and then click 'Go' to put everything into
motion. Timing and placement are everything as setting up the correct
chain reaction can be the difference between life and death.
Fortunately there isn't always one right answer, which gives players a lot of
leeway in how they approach the levels. What's more, there is quite a bit
of variability in the objects at player's disposal. Progressing through
the levels, players will be introduced to new items at a reasonable rate, which
keeps the game both challenging and interesting. Many of the 'items' are
living beings complete with their own animations and silliness. Whenever a
game is making you giggle, the developer should be patted on the back for doing
something right.
There
are a fair number of levels to the main game, but that's just the beginning as
the game includes the ability for users to play custom-created maps that can be easily downloaded from the Eets website (about 200
are just waiting for you at this very moment!). The maps expand the life of what was already a game full of life
(and emotion). If you haven't played Eets yet you are missing out on a
great game...the emotional winner of the 2006 Casual Game of the Year award.
Past Winners
History:
2006 - Eets: Hunger. It's Emotional
2005 - Professor
Fizzwizzle
2004 - Revolved
2003 - Dungeon Scroll
By: Russell Carroll
Posted: Tuesday December 12, 2006
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