Mike Hommel: 7

Maybe it's growing on me, or maybe this episode just made you plow through less "tedious dialogue trees" (as mentioned by one of the characters) than the last. I liked it better! It seemed to let me get to the puzzles more easily, or maybe I just stopped trying to look at every single thing (and stopped trying to cover every branch of the dialogue tree) and only went after stuff that had to be important. Nonetheless, as the number at the end of the name implies, this is absolutely more of the same - if you like the series, get them all. If you don't, avoid them all. I had serious technical problems with this: no music at all, even when the game stopped for an entire song & dance routine, and about half of the dialogue was simply silent. That didn't affect play at all, but it sure impinged on my enjoyment - back down to a 7 with you!

Brian Clair: 9

I'm tempted to believe that Max and I are long lost brothers, except for the fact that he's a video game rabbit and I'm not (so far as anyone knows). Reality 2.0 continues the season 1 episodic journey of the game's two detective protagonists in grand fashion. This is the first Sam & Max episode I've played and I was very impressed by just about everything I saw. The presentation and sound is excellent, the gameplay and control is solid, the voice acting is good, and the story is interesting. For $8.95 per episode or about $35 for all six episodes in season 1, every gamer who has an irreverent sense of humor, should experience Reality 2.0.

William Usher: 8

So the President's head was severed after the explosion in the last episode and Max is now in charge of the United States. No worries, though, it was a severed puppet's head. Anyway, Sam and Max, the unlikely dynamic duo, return in this latest episode to thwart the power surge in their neighborhood, which has caused major problems for computers, electronics and the internet. With Max's impeachment impending, and the economy in absolute disaster, it's up to gamers to guide the dog and rabbit tag-team to uncover the power-surge plot... and possibly save Max's presidency? Well, I'm not going to give everything away. I will divulge that the game is as comically charged as ever, and the dialogue and music are as top-notch as the previous episodes. My only complaint is that these series of episodes contain gameplay mechanics that are very straightforward. It's not a bad thing, however it does follow an unorthodox, but repetitive formula. That doesn't stop this from being a good game, and it's definitely worth checking out if you're an adventure-game fan.

Caspian Prince: 10

My God, are these guys really indies??? I'll get me coat. This outrageously polished, funny, intriguing point-and-click adventure is just plain brilliant fun (provided, of course, you enjoy point-and-click adventure games). Actually even if you don't think you do, you'll probably think Sam and Max: Reality 2.0 is just such a laugh and so well executed that you'll want to buy it anyway either for yourself or for your kids. It reminds me of the sort of level of quality we're used to seeing from Nintendo, and I haven't had so much fun since Day of the Tentacle. Really. Don't delay. It's just excellent.

Mike Hommel: 7

This game is both good and bad. I like to do the bad, so here goes! First, the voices are the most annoying in the history of sound coming out of a computer - I've complained about up-pitched voices before, and this is the worst yet. Second, everything that can hurt you is instant-death-restart-the-whole-level, and to add insult to injury it forces you to sit through about 5 seconds of fading and animation before you can try again. That really adds up and annoys. Thirdly, the instant death thing I just mentioned - there are lots of interesting puzzles to do, but you don't just have to solve them, you have to time everything just right as well, so even when you know exactly what to do, you still get to repeat over and over and over as you just miss the timing on a flamethrower (yes, I wrote a game with the exact same problem!). So where's the good? The game. It's a good puzzle with lots of interesting elements, and the adventure bits tie it together in an interesting way. It is a good game, you should get it, but be prepared to yell at your monitor or possibly break the mouse. And play with sound off.

Brian Clair: 8

I've played other Wonderland releases in the past but none have impressed me as much as Wonderland Adventures. As its name implies, this is an adventure game set in the world of Wonderland that is undergoing some bad changes. It's your job to figure out what's going on and stop it if you can. While this title is certainly aimed at kids, older players may enjoy it as well. In many ways Wonderland Adventures is like a console game in terms of its style - which works really well. The presentation is also great, with appropriate music for the various areas, good level design, and excellent voice-overs. If you're looking for an adventure game that is very approachable, Wonderland Adventures is worth checking out.

William Usher: 9

A game that will completely knock you off your feet - and then steal your socks - is Wonderland Adventures. This game kicks off its intro with an amazing orchestral piece that just sets the mood right. The create-a-Stinker (or character) feature is very snazzy, and the actual game - which is more of a point-and-click affair - works like a wonder. Amazingly, there is no platform jumping even though there are lots of platform puzzles. I think that's what makes this game very hard to classify. Nevertheless, it's extremely fun, colorful, easy on the eyes and relaxing for the ears. Everything that needed to be done right, was done right for this game. The colors, musical themes and happy-go-lucky sound effects are almost guaranteed to appeal to young gamers. The only thing I think is worth mentioning - though not something I would consider to be bad - is that the difficulty for some of the puzzles maybe a little too edgy for anyone under the age of 10. Still, that doesn't mean the entire game experience can't be shared as a family affair.

Russ Carroll: 8

For anyone who loves logic puzzles, like those found in the dungeons of Zelda, Wonderland is your game.  The graphics are a vast improvement over previous versions, and though they are still pretty primitive 3D, they don't take away from the fun adventure of the game at all.  There are a lot of different characters (in the land of the stinkers) that give the game a nice level of depth, but I couldn't help feeling like I wanted something a bit more exciting or gripping.  DROD is a little more my style for puzzle-adventure games, but for anyone looking for a nice wide-open game with a good variety of puzzles, Wonderland may be just the place for you to settle down.

Mike Hommel: 8

Good news if you liked the first Virtual Villagers! If not, you will not like this. It's a straight-up refinement of the original. Mostly, it's the exact same game, but there's little improvements all around, and there's definitely more stuff to do. If you did like the first game, then this upgrade is well worth it. Another set of mysteries to unearth, and more villagers to take care of. There's hardly any actual puzzle or thinking to the game, but it makes you feel like you're accomplishing something when you 'cleverly' drag your villager onto an obviously strange looking object. Smart game design! The way it presents you a world with stuff that looks like it will be useful once your villagers get smarter is a real draw to keep coming back. Nonetheless, I forgot to come back for two days and was greeted by a screen full of corpses.

John Bardinelli: 8

The sequel to the first casual village sim plays it safe and doesn't deviate from the original formula in the slightest. Instead, VV2 puts you in a new location with tweaked technologies to research and new villagers to manage. It's every bit as simple and captivating as the first, making it an instant addiction. Games play out in real-time, meaning there's very little to do each time you fire up the program. Set the villagers to work, then go have a sandwich and see what they've accomplished later in the day. This forces a casual attitude and makes you pace out your experience. But it also works against the game, as sometimes you'll have that Virtual Villagers itch and have no way to scratch it.

William Usher: 8

Managing the lives of an entire civilization seems like a daunting task. However, developer Last Day of Work managed to create a challenging, fun experience for anyone looking for a casual game to play off and on, or over a long period of time. Virtual Villagers has lots to uncover, numerous tasks to complete and an incessant cast of characters to keep the island populated. But at first - I should mention - the game requires a lot of the player's attention. Leaving the villagers alone for any long period of time within the first couple of hours of gameplay will render them as fodder for the crabs. But after putting in enough time and ensuring that they have a decent food supply (and a couple or two who can reliably keep the island populated) Virtual Villagers is about the perfect pop-in-and-play experience. That's not to mention that the online rankings and excellent contemporary jungle music add an extra flavor to the overall experience.

Russ Carroll: 8

I've debated it back and forth with myself quite a bit, and I'm not sure that this is as good a game as the first Virtual Villagers. My struggles really come from the pace of the game, which requires a lot more interaction than the first game. One of the things I liked most about the first game was the ability to check in on my villagers every 8-12 hours and see how things had progressed. My play times were about 15 minutes each. With the new game I play for 30-45 minutes each play and feel that I need to play every 3-4 hours or EVERYONE DIES! That said, the playing is good fun and the puzzles are great fun to figure out. A lot of the additions, such as the parent tracking, the additional objects and the soups are absolutely fantastic additions the make the game a lot more fun to play. It's like a demanding girlfriend that you are too fool to turn away from.

Mike Hommel: 7

On the plus side, this is an Insaniquarium game wrapped in a fairly detailed crunchy RPG shell. On the minus side, the Insaniquarium part is pretty bad. Specifically, it's extremely repetitive - every time it's click on eggs, click on hungry pets, click until your fingers bleed on angry monsters that always come from the same spot. No special items or tricks to liven that up, just those 3 things to click on. And more fundamentally, something that just killed it for me: the click recognition is really bad. You'll click 3 or 4 times to get one egg sometimes (this is a problem in menus too, where you can only click on, say, half of a picture of an egg to select it), and other times you get 3 eggs in one click. If the clicking were not so troublesome, this would be a very good game, easy 8. If it also kept up with new stuff to do in the hatchery portion regularly, it would be a high 9.

John Bardinelli: 7

Not an original concept in casual games (see Insaniquarium), Grimm's Hatchery nevertheless scores points for a lush, fantasy-style setting that draws you into the game. The goal is to raise money by hatching and selling magical pets. As you earn cash through your work you can buy items to make your farming easier and eventually progress through the kingdom to new areas. There are lots of side-quests going on to keep you interested, but the troubling fact is the game is horribly linear. Even though you feel like you can do whatever you want, in reality beating the game means walking a narrow line of success or defeat. Egg gathering later in the game becomes a nuisance, as there are so many things you have to click you'll be lucky if your mouse survives the torture.

William Usher: 7

What if Pok_mon was an RTS game? Well, it would be Grimm's Hatchery, a breed-e'm-and-sell-e'm strategy game that manages to be as fun as it is thought-provoking. The general concept of breeding little monsters/pets is to either sell the eggs, or further expand your breeding ground by hatching the eggs and repeating the breeding process. But it's not all about making money on some little critters' babies. There's also designated missions that keeps the tension high and the replay values intact. Just as an added note, I found myself strangely addicted to wanting to complete this game's main quest. I guess the non-stop gameplay and constant requirement of undivided attention really added a necessary element of intrigue. That's definitely a good thing for this game. Although, when it comes to the sound effects and music, Grimm's Hatchery manages to set up a meager standard to keep majority of audiences entertained. But even though the aesthetics aren't remarkable, they are fairly acceptable for a fairly entertaining, but highly addictive game.

Caspian Prince: 7

Here we have a game for which we have finally found a legitimate use for the word "dichotomy". Grimms Hatchery is an odd combination between frantic but somewhat repetitive and dull mouse thrashing, and labouriously slow management made slightly irritating by a rather clunky user interface. The fundamental game concept is quite sound and the storyline, though solid, is straightforward enough for you to know more or less what to do. The trouble is that it takes so long to progress a single game and you get no feedback whatsoever as to whether you're likely to succeed or not with whatever your current management tactics are.

There are plenty of cute little surprises hidden in the management part of the game to make it a bit less repetitive and tedious but the other half of the game - the mouse thrashing bit - never gets any more exciting than the most trivial of free games found on the internet.

This game is essentially a rip-off of Feeding Frenzy wrapped up a different way and as such it's portal-fodder: the game equivalent of a Big Mac and large fries. Ultimately it doesn't really satisfy but I expect it will sell in large numbers.

Mike Hommel: 3

Unplayable. A great idea, a real fun concept, with incomprehensible execution. It's like it's almost a great game, but instead, it's horrible. Two things really define this game: absolutely constant interruption as people come up and yell at you every time you take a step (pausing the game and making you sit through dialogue, which you can skip, but only slowly), and working around absolutely insane AI. The guards fight each other at random (no inmates needed!), a guy tried to shoot a basket with a baseball bat, and another guy asked me to watch his back and then yelled at me for not doing it 5 seconds later. I get it, it's a simulation. A simulation gone completely mad.

John Bardinelli: 8

This is definitely one of the most technically impressive indie games I've played in a while. You play a character thrown into an experimental jail for just under two months. It may not seem like a long time, but as the judge says, it's HARD time. The prison is wrought with violence and you must carve out a life in this miniature environment. Follow the rules and play it safe by serving food in the cafeteria or raising your intelligence in the study, or jump in with fists flying and start dominating early-on. Gameplay is open-ended, which, as always, is both a blessing and a curse. There's a wide range of paths to choose from and ways to reach your goal, making the game feel like a low-polygon Grand Theft Auto... in prison.

William Usher: 10

MDickie does it again! Wow, I actually think this is his best work yet. I loved Wrestling Encore, don't get me wrong, but Hard Time is so much more intense. The difference in the gameplay is that Hard Time focuses more on in-the-moment encounters. Wrestling Encore and Grass Roots had sporadic segments of character interaction and story progression, while Hard Time puts gamers right there in the shoes of a prisoner who just can't seem to cut a break. The grappling/fighting system works superb, and the shootouts - while usually one-sided - are still fun to play through. The theme song is completely fitting; the sound effects are on-par with previous MDickie titles; and the mini-games, though sparsely interactive, add a necessary touch to the often times violent encounters. I have to say, hands down, Mike Dickie has out-done himself with Hard Times. I've always thought of him as the Rockstar to independent gaming, and he definitely doesn't disappoint with this title. You'll have a bloody good hard time with this game.

Caspian Prince: 6

An original 3rd person perspective game about doing a short stretch in a particularly violent and unruly prison.

The first thing that struck me about Hard Time was the lack of mouse control, even on the menus. Who knows why they decided that was a good idea.

There are lots of fun options to set up your character in the game which helps you get into the atmosphere of it all but the cutscenes, which are liberally peppered throughout the gameplay to move the story on and give you objectives, are unskippable and soundless, and that's a shame because some proper recorded dialogue would have gone a long way to helping immersion. As it is the slightly cranky graphics do a reasonable job although it's a shame the shadows weren't a bit better done. Nice camera work. The sound is unfortunately sparse throughout. And the AI of the other inmates is sometimes a little embarrasing. All in all it looks like it got rushed out before it was properly finished and polished up.

A memory access violation too many halted play but all in all I rather enjoyed this game for its originality and wanting to know what happens next in the story - 34 days is a pretty long time. What it needs is a few iterations of polish to let the concept shine.

Mike Hommel: 5

It is both nonsensical and frustrating that the basic enemies in this game move faster - a lot faster - than your bullets. I realize it's a game of skill, and they can be shot, but that doesn't mean it's fun. In fact, watching them whiz around at light speed while you putter in the middle and plink away is really annoying. It also defaults to the horrific control scheme of Gunstorm 1 (but does let you choose a normal mode instead), and still has the inexplicable "ESC=instant game over" button. Limited ammo on all the weapons that are remotely useful is also not a favorite of mine. Overall, it manages to feel slow and boring, while being incredibly hard at the same time. A remarkable balance to strike!

Brian Clair: 5

Gunstorm II is an Asteroids-style game where you command a single ship who must fight against countless aliens. The play style is about what you'd expect as well, with your ship remaining stationary until you use your thrusters to propel yourself forward, and enemy ships coming in from all around you. Unfortunately, I found Gunstorm II's controls to be a major barrier. You're pretty much stuck using the mouse for nearly all functions (there are some keyboard controls but they are minor), and I desperately wanted to use the keyboard for all movement and the mouse for aiming/shooting. Needless to say, this ramps up the difficulty level extremely high (enemy ships enjoy kamikaze runs) and I was never able to get very far due to repeated untimely death. The power-up graphics in Gunstorm are also pretty basic - essentially just color-coded shapes - which I didn't think conveyed enough useful information on what they did (certainly the case for weapon upgrades, though all are powerful and will get the job done). A definite highlight of Gunstorm II are the sound effects and music, both of which are quite good.

William Usher: 6

After being lured into the general appeal of the game's original intro song, there's not much else to keep you glued to your seat and your eyes stuck on the monitor. Gunstorm II is more like a stylized version of Asteroids. There's some cool weapons to collect and neat special effects, but the stagnate pace and lacking in-game music really strip away from the game's aesthetics. The actual gameplay, however, is evenly balanced with a simple control scheme and a good variety of both devastating and unique weaponry. Still, I felt like this game was lacking the depth it needed. The battle encounters required a good amount of player skill, but they also seemed like they were mired in apathy. I almost felt like the game was lacking soul. Maybe a multiplayer mode would have saved some face, but I can't say this wasn't anything above an average title

Russ Carroll: 8

A really cool arcade-throwback shooter that does a lot of things right (weapons you want to risk your life to get, cool synthesizer voices, great cheesy theme song at title screen) and a few things wrong (minefields just flat out suck and where is the in-game music?). Unfortunately, I think most players are going to miss what makes this game special, because they won't give it the hour plus it takes to 'get' the game. It's certainly hard, it will take you more than a few tries to get through the first level, but as you are building towards unlocking sub-games and special features even when you die, it doesn't feel as punishing as some shooters. One of the few shooters I've played recently that didn't leave me feeling quickly bored by redundant aliens, Gunstorm 2 kept me playing for a long time and that is honestly the best compliment any game could ask for.

Mike Hommel: 7

This game was a very pleasant surprise! Adorable little Lego Romans tossing around ye olde pigskin. I don't actually care for football games, but simplify it enough, as this game does, and it's fun stuff. The big black mark against this game is an absence of any play other than simple single matches. There's a "Playoff" mode, but it's just your choice of a few single playoff games, not a tournament of any kind. There's also no multiplayer. This is definitely something you could have a blast with another person, if it supported it (in these days of USB, two mice go in a computer easily!). The gameplay is there, the options aren't.

Brian Clair: 5

Football is a pretty straightforward sport to understand once you get the basics down, which is why I was surprised when RomanBowl opted to present a lite version. Instead of the team on offense having four downs that renew every first-down, in RomanBowl you get five downs only per turn. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, since it simplifies gameplay quite a bit for those unaccustomed to football. What is bad is how RomanBowl pastes its translucent score/time/down strip right across the middle of the screen. This turns what could have been a decent release into something of a hassle, since it partially overlays the play selection boxes, the main game window, etc. I also have to question why RomanBowl only includes exhibition and playoff game modes. What's the point of playoffs without any season leading up to it or the ability to create your own team?.

William Usher: 6

Abating the long, timely and often boring simulation process found in most interactive football games, Roman Bowl brings football right on down to the casual level of gaming. There's not a lot of whistle blowing; there's no unnecessary roughness calls; there's no fouling, there's just football. You can pass, tackle and make decisive playbook strategies - using casual tactics, of course. Accompanying the easy-going gameplay are some easy-on-the-ears sound effects - mostly consisting of player grunts and some jeers and cheers from the crowd. Visually, Roman Bowl holds its' own with well animated sprites, and characters that you can at least spot on the field without any problems. The only downfall to this game is that there's not a lot of weight to the modes or gameplay. Still, the three available game modes work well enough for a decent, casual pastime.

Russ Carroll: 6

A game that seems like it should be fun and cool, but it only delivers on the cool. It simplifies football with a fun theme (ala Cyberball) and mouse control. The trouble is that the game feels sluggish and is more difficult to play than it seems like it should be. I found passing to be very difficult, which lead to me only doing screen passes or running the ball. This in turn got to be rather boring and wasn't aided by the frustration I felt on the defensive side of the ball (could anyone else on the team TRY to cover someone...anyone?!). Fun for a few minutes, I really enjoyed the player models and idea, but in the end it fell a good bit short of the goal line.

Mike Hommel: 6

I like cute games, so I don't see the need to turn Bomberman into a dark and bloody interstellar romp. Really, the 6 says it all. This game is okay, but nothing special. It's really lacking in the information department, like no indication of how many bombs you have or what their blast radius is, and the controls have a little hint of clunkiness that will get you killed. All in all, it would be better if it was cute like Bomberman.

John Bardinelli: 6

While the concept is good -- a "better" version of Bomberman with a new setting and nice graphics -- I don't feel Mars Miner lives up to its claims. The visuals are unique, which is refreshing, but the meat of the game isn't anything new. Walk around, collect power-ups, and blow stuff up. Mars Miner does keep things lively by introducing new gameplay modes and challenges, but in the end I still feel like it's trying to emulate Bomberman a little too much.

William Usher: 6

A space traveler getting stranded on a Bomberman-esque Mars sounds like fun, eh? Well, it is. Except, things aren't so great for the unlucky space traveler trapped on the red planet. But players get some fun frills and thrills with some unique stage designs and challenging AI opponents in Mars Miner. The beginning of the game starts off with some Marcross inspired asteroid dodging, as you fly the destined-to-crash spaceship to Mars. But right after crash landing players must use their wits by planting bombs and destroying insectoid space aliens while trying to find a way off the planet. It's like when Starship Troopers, Damnation Alley and Bomberman get puréed in a blender. The added survival mode is a feature I personally found to be more interesting (and challenging) than the stage mode. Still, it's not too bad a game...and its solid design and snazzy visuals keep this title a little above average.

Russ Carroll: 6

Hmm. Well it's Bomberman. Themed with a pretty cool futuristic theme (didn't Hudson do that recently?). Did you know that every Bomberman '93 has had a single player mission mode. Do you remember any of them? Why is that? I think therein lies the problem with Mars Miner. In a single-player survival game you don't want to be launching bombs like Metroid, you want to have a gun to blast things! As a huge fan of Bomberman I have to say I'm not sure who this game is for. If I was going to play Bomberman multiplayer, I would do exactly that. As a single-player, Bomberman simply isn't a great idea. So this is a very well-executed bad idea.

Mike Hommel: 4

You know what was surreal? When I walked through a wall and ended up in the space outside the level and couldn't get back in for 2 minutes, during which I discovered that you can't exit the game until you've completed the first 2 'puzzles', one of which is a completely random clicking exercise and the other of which is a typing test. Wow, I managed to cram a lot of complaints into that sentence! Well, listen up friends, because that's not enough! This is a bad game that manages to extend the 'surreal' part of its name throughout every part of the byzantine interface. Also, its author spammed my forums. It's harkening back to Myst and its ilk with full motion video and strange scenery, only without the puzzle design or playability.

John Bardinelli: ns

Couldn't get it to run on my PC.

William Usher: 6

Man, this game is strange. It's probably not the best way to start a description of a partial free-roaming, puzzle adventure title. But it's just really weird...in a good way, of course. The music, done by Guido Raffinatore, is as surrealistically pleasing as the almost ethereal atmospheres. Graphically the game is rather amazing; the cramped corridors emitted an eerie feeling of tightened quarters, while the outdoor areas were seemingly picturesque. As for the puzzles...I found that some of the tasks were quite easy, others were difficult and some were just odd. My biggest problem with this game, strangely, is not with any of the puzzles but with the fact that you have to earn points to save the game. What's up with that? I had to play for an extremely long time just to earn enough points to try to save the game. So I can't think of this game as being a great casual experience when you can't casually drop-in and duck-out as you please. I'd like to give it a higher score for being so darn original, but the final verdict reflects my overall feelings for this game.

Caspian Prince: ns

A dialogue box pops up on my system: "DirectX 9.0 Installed (589824). Requires DirectX 9.0c (December 2005) or later." Seems a pretty steep requirement. I tried to download DirectX 9.0c direct from Microsoft and installed or, or at least, followed their instructions, and it reckoned I already had DX9.0c installed, which is good, because that's what I thought too. So I gave up.

Multiblocks pulled out of our April review panel very late in the month. The developer has created an even newer and better version of the game that you should check out. Unfortunately, due to the number of games that the panel receives we weren't able to reschedule the game for a future panel and so, we thought we'd instead just give you a link over to it to go and check it out yourself. Enjoy!