When someone's bored... and the week's too long... who ya gonna call?! LINK DUMP FRIDAY! This week's installment brings you an oddball assortment of games featuring all manner of strange creatures and dangerous situations, from a world-devouring purple beast kept at bay with puzzle blocks, to a fairy-tale gone wrong where the fluffy woodland critters think your kneecaps would taste mighty fine. Enjoy!
- Tree Fender - Gardening is hard work. Not only do you have to contend with fuzzy, cuddly, infuriating animals deciding they would like to sup on the fruits of your labour (literally), you also have to worry about irrigation, nematodes, soil quality... golems. In this action defense hybrid you control a warrior trying to protect a tree from hordes of golems. Click anywhere on the ground to move there, and your hero will automatically slice through whatever's in his way. The concept is interesting, but the execution is a bit clunky, as controls can be frustrating and the levels can get repetitive fairly quickly. Still, it's fun for a while. Golems?! Ahmed Hassan never has to deal with this!
- Supermax - There's something decidedly NES-ish about this stealth arcade game. You play a cue-ball prisoner who did... some... thing trying to escape from a prison some... where. But you don't do this by engaging in fisticuffs with the guards, or even a good old-fashioned shanking like Mom would've loved. Instead, you've got to sneak around each level gathering the keys you need and avoiding the guards who are thoughtful enough to march in predetermined patterns. While it's fairly simple, Supermax is still cute as a button. Presumably the fashion police threw you in there after they saw your orange spandex bodysuit. Zing!
- Tetravalanche - You'll never look at Tetris the same way again. In this arcade platformer, you control a tiny hero leaping and punching his way up through falling blocks, trying to stay one step ahead of the massive purple monster that wants to eat him. Earn power ups and try to survive as long as you can while the blocks fall faster and you keep climbing higher. While fairly simple and a little frustrating to get the hang of initially, it can be surprisingly addictive. Although, if that purple monster isn't nightmare fuel of the "something is after you but you can't move" variety, I don't know what is. Maybe... with a clown mask?... n-noooo! Oh, God, why do I do that to myself?!
- Snow White: Dark Curse - You know that one scene in Shrek where Snow White goes all hardcore and totally kicks everyone's butt? This is like that, but with less wrestling moves, and more cursed mutations. In this side-scrolling brawler, you play Snow White, who isn't looking quite as fair as she used to after the jealous queen lets loose a spell that turns the entire land (and its inhabitants) dark and twisted. As new (radder) Show White, you'll have to deal with ferocious woodland beasts and boss monsters as you punch your way through the stages. It's fairly short, and unfortunately fairly repetitive, but it's a great twist on the classic fairy-tale genre that is well worth a look.
- Underworld Army - Episode 1 - In this point-and-click puzzler, the infamous Professor Pain has just blasted off in his adorable little rocket, and it's up to you to break into his house and find a way to deactivate his robot army, currently poised to destroy the world. (Nooo! Then where will I get my cappuccinos?!) Although the interface is a little clunky, this is a fun, silly little adventure for your coffee break. Who else can say they saved the world before lunchtime? Nobody, that's who!... Though, really. Who's to say Professor Pain isn't a victim himself? With a name like that, you practically have to be a supervillain. Just as Casanova Frankenstein.
Oh my god...underworld has so many doors...and that ending.
Whyyyy...all that clicking for that?!
Fair warning to everyone: The ending
has a bit of a shock-horror moment.
Any way to
reset the nuclear robot
in Underworld Army?
Ethbay,
you mean resetting the bulbs so that none of them is on? I found no way to that either. I was lucky enough to beat that puzzle by luck in about 3 minutes... I was just about to sit down with a sheet and a pencil to work out an algorythm when blind clicking got me the slution :)
Right now I'm stuck a bit, but it's good to see logic puzzles back in a point and clicker. I remember the times when they were almost compulsory ingredients for them, but those those times seem to be gone for good...
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Oh man, Tetravalanche is going to give me a heart attack. I found it to be incredibly fun, and managed to make it to the last unlockable floor. When I start from there, though, I only manage to make it 30-100 meters! Every time, I end up with a tall collumn of bricks shooting up one side quickly, with nothing dropping on the other side. This is the only game that's managed to make me physically shake with frustration for quite a while -- but it could only do that because it's so engaging in the first place!
My only real complaint is that the character is too "floaty". After each jump, I always find myself wishing he'd hurry up and land already! too much of the game is spent dodging blocks in midair while you wait for what feels like hours for him to actually fall and land so he can jump again!
Anyone knows where to get the
light pattern for the Train Battery
in Underworld Army?
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Never mind, found it.
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Yeesh, I agree with @gmpilot, way WAY too many doors (and door-switches) in Underworld!
It is nice to see logic puzzles - the kind that actually use normal Earth logic - back in a point-and-click setting, though.
anybody else encounter a massive memory leak in Snow White: Dark Curse? It locked everything up tightly enough that I had to do a hard shutdown. The first few levels were fun, but then the whole system froze.
Don't bother finding a solution - it's the first time I've ever had that massive a game failure, and I have no intention of going back to see if it does it again.
I really liked the underworld army game! Maybe a few switches too many, but good little logical puzzles.
Supermax isn't too bad either, but a bit monotonous.
I love the summary of Supermax. Tee hee XD
Dunno, I don't thnik there were too many doors and switches in Underworld army...
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I need help with the
train light pattern
desperately!
@jh:
The pattern's in the slot where the train battery belongs. If you haven't gained access to the station yet, forget about it.
In Underworld, the way to reset the bulb-puzzle is: Leave the room and come back.
@jiguest: I had that problem too. My computer flirted with crashing every time the pre-level loading screen appeared.
From Underground Army...About the
Shock/horror moment
If you are a scaredy cat (like me)
after you finish the game and the robots start clearing out, CLOSE YOUR EYES.
About Underground Army and
the shock/horror part, for scaredy cats like me
When you manage to finish the game and the robots start clearing out
CLOSE YOUR EYES.
At the end at the scare-ish moment,
Those teeth are freaky! It is just a jump scare.... With FREAKY TEETH!!! Seriously. those teeth are the only scary part.
Supermax has an interesting idea, I love stealth games! I quit playing in a level with too many guards and boxes.. got overwhelmed and didn't even tried. Maybe later :P
Underworld is a nice point and click. Those japanese games pushed me away from point and click games, with the usual exaggerated puzzles and pixel hunt. This is a refresh! A little scary to see all those doors and such, but it flows very naturally.
@StephenM3
The game didn't mention this anywhere I could see, but you could press down to drop faster, just like in the original Tetris!
My favorite part about tetravalanche is when i hit control and sometimes my guy doesn't do anything and then I get eaten by the monster. Or getting stranded at the bottom by no fault of my own. It's awesome.
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