G+ Games review
Sep. 15th, 2011 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
janestarzGoogle+ added games to its social network recently, and I've been sampling the goods (quite intesively for some).
Monsterworld
The first one I tried. Looked a bit like Farmville and I wanted to see what that hype was all about. It starts off pretty adorable, with Lemonade Bushes and Glass Flowers, but do not let its cute exterior fool you! This game is hard-core, evil, addictive fun!
You get some objectives to fill, and before you know it you're expanding your garden, plowing more plots, buying decorations and spending way too much time in this sugar & candy coloured world.
Harvesting and planting gains you XP and every level you go up is interesting.
Big Plus: The game stays interesting even when you're growing stuff that takes 2 days to mature. There's new crops to explore nearly every level and the objectives and trades keep it interesting no matter how long you've played.
Minus: The gifting system doesn't work as advertised and gifts are not saved, so gift objectives cannot be completed.
Conclusion: Very addictive, low-threshold game which is fun if you can spare the time to return at least once every day.
Zombie Lane
The zombie apocalypse is here to stay and your street is overrun. Again an objective & experience game where you get new missions to do each day. The missions range from the absurd to the practical.
Zombies are running around and actually rise from the ground while you play. Cleaning the neighbourhood is not an easy task! Grass to be mown, crops to be grown, neighbours to be helped and of course, wouldn't you know it, your spouse refuses to come home unless you find him candy (which the zombies carry!) of all things.
Creative use of weaponry, I especially like the electric rake (garden rake + car battery) and the flamethrower (supersoaker + gasoline).
Big plus: Friends can give eachother energy foods, which will allow you to get a lot of things done, so having many friends (and visiting them) and exchanging gifts will make playing the game a lot easier. Also: hilarious characters.
Minus: You cannot die, and if zombies attack you there are no harmful side-effects except for being dazed for a moment.
Conclusion: Addictive game that does not require a lot of commitment to play and is a lot of fun.
Edgeworld
At first I was a bit sceptical about Edgeworld. Again with the objectives & experience, but early on I noticed one of the objectives was to attack a player 10 levels below you. This did not sound like a lot of fun to me. As it turns out, being attacked by another player does not have the neceessary negative side effects I had anticipated.
After the initial introduction, the story seems to be completely gone. You build a base on a planet far, far away and fight other factions, collecting raw materials and building an army to attack another base.
At this point I'm stuck upgrading my cannons and buildings, which takes a lot of time, in order to be able to research, which takes a lot of time, so I can build better units which I need to attack other players which will allow me to upgrade my cannons and buildings.
A self-sustaining circle, so to speak.
Conclusion: Fun, but really not quite worth the effort.
City of Wonders
At first, City of Wonders struck me as being puppeteered by an advisor, but it turns out this is just the tutorial to get you started. Once you build a few houses, a few markets and some shrines, the advisor leaves and you're stuck on your own to build your city and gain XP. Again with the XP. I'm unsure where the levels lead, though, because so far it only leads to more money, which you need to research new knowledge and build things.
One of the major bores of the game is that a high population count demands a high number of cultural buildings or your people get very bored and you're not allowed to explore other cities anymore (which will get you more XP, which leads to more money, which allows you to build more cultural buildings -- self-sustaining loop).
Allies will help you build wonderful buildings like Stonehenge (thank you, Laiv and Nathreee!) to grant you extra perks. Ally missions are stupid, things like "help an old lady cross the road"; the congested streets might just be a grave danger to my ally, but I am skeptical. It will get me some 200 silver coins every time I help out, so I keep doing it.
Plus: Nice graphics and lots of variation.
Minus: You need multiple allies to buy a larger tract of land to build your city on, so you end up selling older things in order to build newer things your city needs. Just like real life, but I personally would have liked to keep the "straw hut quarter" as a remembrance of Days Past.
Conclusion: Can be entertaining enough if you balance your income and your growth properly. I am curious to see where it leads when you actually get to research stuff like robotics.
Bejeweled Blitz
Good, old Bejeweled, always fun. But what is it with the XP? Why do I need to 'level up'?
I like the special gems, but I dislike the time limit of 1 minute. Too much fluff around this excellent time-waster.
Flood It!
Excellent puzzle game which could no doubt keep NoKey entertained for years on end, but after three games I just get plain frustrated.
Bubble Island
Another bubble-shooter. I love bubble shooters, but these levels look a bit too familiar, like they're using a GPL-licensed level set. Also: the other graphics are redundant and can get annoying (like the little raccoon 'helping' me with loading the gun? Very annoying!)
Wild Ones
Seen this in Scorched Earth, and again in Worms. I really don't need another clone of a trajectory-based game when Angry Birds is also available. It's pretty cute that I can customise my pet, but the whole concept does not keep me hooked. Especially not if I can only 'practice' on my own and HAVE to interact with other people in order to get somewhere. What will I do when I can't sleep and I play games at 4 am? Well, I won't be playing Wild Ones.
Crime City
Similar to Zombie lane, with similar graphics. Customise a character and head out into the city. Downside to this game is that it's mostly fit for 8 year old kids, who can laugh their asses off at beating people up.
The game has a very low threshold, but that's about at the same level as the fun is in this game. The missions include sabotage, beating people up, robbing stores, stealing cash, apprehending cars, and killing people. It's not my kind of juice. It also wants to get its grubby mitts on my friends. No, thank you.
Collapse Blast
Fun collapsing game where same-coloured blocks can be clicked and you can summon more lines of blocks by the space bar. Once you get the hang of it, it can get really intense and lots of fun!
Minus: What's up with gaining experience? It's a fun, quick-paced timewaster. I really don't need to level up in a time waster.
I haven't tried all the games available yet, but I pretty much got the gist of these. One thing they all have in common is that they try to get you to spend your dollars (or euro) on extra's. Zombie lane is very annoying in urging you to buy more energy once you run out, but City of Wonders plays the emotional card on saying "you're missing out!".
And every one of them wants your friends to sign up too, because if you're not spending money, maybe they will...
PS: Feel free to add me on Monsterworld, Zombie Lane, or City of Wonders. My G+ username is 'Annet N'
Monsterworld
The first one I tried. Looked a bit like Farmville and I wanted to see what that hype was all about. It starts off pretty adorable, with Lemonade Bushes and Glass Flowers, but do not let its cute exterior fool you! This game is hard-core, evil, addictive fun!
You get some objectives to fill, and before you know it you're expanding your garden, plowing more plots, buying decorations and spending way too much time in this sugar & candy coloured world.
Harvesting and planting gains you XP and every level you go up is interesting.
Big Plus: The game stays interesting even when you're growing stuff that takes 2 days to mature. There's new crops to explore nearly every level and the objectives and trades keep it interesting no matter how long you've played.
Minus: The gifting system doesn't work as advertised and gifts are not saved, so gift objectives cannot be completed.
Conclusion: Very addictive, low-threshold game which is fun if you can spare the time to return at least once every day.
Zombie Lane
The zombie apocalypse is here to stay and your street is overrun. Again an objective & experience game where you get new missions to do each day. The missions range from the absurd to the practical.
Zombies are running around and actually rise from the ground while you play. Cleaning the neighbourhood is not an easy task! Grass to be mown, crops to be grown, neighbours to be helped and of course, wouldn't you know it, your spouse refuses to come home unless you find him candy (which the zombies carry!) of all things.
Creative use of weaponry, I especially like the electric rake (garden rake + car battery) and the flamethrower (supersoaker + gasoline).
Big plus: Friends can give eachother energy foods, which will allow you to get a lot of things done, so having many friends (and visiting them) and exchanging gifts will make playing the game a lot easier. Also: hilarious characters.
Minus: You cannot die, and if zombies attack you there are no harmful side-effects except for being dazed for a moment.
Conclusion: Addictive game that does not require a lot of commitment to play and is a lot of fun.
Edgeworld
At first I was a bit sceptical about Edgeworld. Again with the objectives & experience, but early on I noticed one of the objectives was to attack a player 10 levels below you. This did not sound like a lot of fun to me. As it turns out, being attacked by another player does not have the neceessary negative side effects I had anticipated.
After the initial introduction, the story seems to be completely gone. You build a base on a planet far, far away and fight other factions, collecting raw materials and building an army to attack another base.
At this point I'm stuck upgrading my cannons and buildings, which takes a lot of time, in order to be able to research, which takes a lot of time, so I can build better units which I need to attack other players which will allow me to upgrade my cannons and buildings.
A self-sustaining circle, so to speak.
Conclusion: Fun, but really not quite worth the effort.
City of Wonders
At first, City of Wonders struck me as being puppeteered by an advisor, but it turns out this is just the tutorial to get you started. Once you build a few houses, a few markets and some shrines, the advisor leaves and you're stuck on your own to build your city and gain XP. Again with the XP. I'm unsure where the levels lead, though, because so far it only leads to more money, which you need to research new knowledge and build things.
One of the major bores of the game is that a high population count demands a high number of cultural buildings or your people get very bored and you're not allowed to explore other cities anymore (which will get you more XP, which leads to more money, which allows you to build more cultural buildings -- self-sustaining loop).
Allies will help you build wonderful buildings like Stonehenge (thank you, Laiv and Nathreee!) to grant you extra perks. Ally missions are stupid, things like "help an old lady cross the road"; the congested streets might just be a grave danger to my ally, but I am skeptical. It will get me some 200 silver coins every time I help out, so I keep doing it.
Plus: Nice graphics and lots of variation.
Minus: You need multiple allies to buy a larger tract of land to build your city on, so you end up selling older things in order to build newer things your city needs. Just like real life, but I personally would have liked to keep the "straw hut quarter" as a remembrance of Days Past.
Conclusion: Can be entertaining enough if you balance your income and your growth properly. I am curious to see where it leads when you actually get to research stuff like robotics.
Bejeweled Blitz
Good, old Bejeweled, always fun. But what is it with the XP? Why do I need to 'level up'?
I like the special gems, but I dislike the time limit of 1 minute. Too much fluff around this excellent time-waster.
Flood It!
Excellent puzzle game which could no doubt keep NoKey entertained for years on end, but after three games I just get plain frustrated.
Bubble Island
Another bubble-shooter. I love bubble shooters, but these levels look a bit too familiar, like they're using a GPL-licensed level set. Also: the other graphics are redundant and can get annoying (like the little raccoon 'helping' me with loading the gun? Very annoying!)
Wild Ones
Seen this in Scorched Earth, and again in Worms. I really don't need another clone of a trajectory-based game when Angry Birds is also available. It's pretty cute that I can customise my pet, but the whole concept does not keep me hooked. Especially not if I can only 'practice' on my own and HAVE to interact with other people in order to get somewhere. What will I do when I can't sleep and I play games at 4 am? Well, I won't be playing Wild Ones.
Crime City
Similar to Zombie lane, with similar graphics. Customise a character and head out into the city. Downside to this game is that it's mostly fit for 8 year old kids, who can laugh their asses off at beating people up.
The game has a very low threshold, but that's about at the same level as the fun is in this game. The missions include sabotage, beating people up, robbing stores, stealing cash, apprehending cars, and killing people. It's not my kind of juice. It also wants to get its grubby mitts on my friends. No, thank you.
Collapse Blast
Fun collapsing game where same-coloured blocks can be clicked and you can summon more lines of blocks by the space bar. Once you get the hang of it, it can get really intense and lots of fun!
Minus: What's up with gaining experience? It's a fun, quick-paced timewaster. I really don't need to level up in a time waster.
I haven't tried all the games available yet, but I pretty much got the gist of these. One thing they all have in common is that they try to get you to spend your dollars (or euro) on extra's. Zombie lane is very annoying in urging you to buy more energy once you run out, but City of Wonders plays the emotional card on saying "you're missing out!".
And every one of them wants your friends to sign up too, because if you're not spending money, maybe they will...
PS: Feel free to add me on Monsterworld, Zombie Lane, or City of Wonders. My G+ username is 'Annet N'
