Casual Games Galore

Little Farm

2008-08-09T07:49:00.000-07:00

What it's about: Help Steve and Martha make the most of teh farm they just won. Help them harvest vegetables and load trucks to sale to the market by matching rectangles on the vegetable grid. The only restriction: all four corners of the rectangle have to be the same vegetable. Have fun!

Highs: For some reason I absolutely love the idea the game is based on :) (not of the people moving to a farm and learning to harvest but the way the harvest is made).

Lows: The rabbits get a bit annoying towards the end but oh well. :)

Recommend: Yes :)

Jojo's Fashion Show

2008-08-09T07:19:00.000-07:00

What it's about:Obviously, a fashion show. :) Dress up your models and send them on the catwalk under the scrutinizing eyes of the audience. Do you have what it takes to put up a five star show?

The game is quite easy to play, on one hand you have the clothes to dress your models with and on the other you have the clothing styles (such as racy, country, beachwear, winter clothing, bridal wear and so on). You have to dress each model with clothes corresponding the requested style. In order for a model to be sent on stage she has to be wearing a top, a bottom and shoes (accessories are optional). Every round you'll be presented to three signature outfits which will get you extra points if you replicate them.

Highs:Everything. I fell in love with the game at the very first sight (but hey, I'm a girl, I love dressing up :P )

Lows: I was a tad disappointed to see that all clothes were automatically added to my closet. I thought you have to use them in signature outfits in order for them to be placed there, which would have added a tad more challenge to the game. As it was I lost my appetite for signature outfits as I found them nothing but a nuisance (not that it wasn't really fun to try to match them and all :) ).

Recommend: It's one of my favorite games so yes, of course :)

Magic Seeds

2008-02-15T23:12:00.000-08:00

What it's about:The plot is very simple: Jane has a garden and Jane wants to make money out of it by growing plants and selling them :)

The game is sort of a crossbreed between Plant Tycoon and Alice Greenfingers. At the beginning you have a number of flowerbeds (you can buy more later) and one type of seed to grow (you can discover more later, by cross-breeding the types you already have, for example by cross-breeding a sunflower with another sunflower). You have to take care of your plants, to water them and guard them from the predators that are everywhere, in order to sell them when they grow for money that you can use either for helpful appliances or improvements to Jane's house.

Highs: I have found the cross-breeding chart (a chart showing you what new breeds you have discovered and how to obtain them) both helpful and stimulating, meaning I had a lot of fun breeding things in order to fill it in. Did you know that by cross-breeding you can obtain a plant that has bread as fruit? :)

Lows: It can get a bit repetitive especially in the first (in-game) days. Oh, and the mice are truly everywhere, you hardly get rid of ones and others show up (adding to the challenge, to look at the bright side :) )

Recommend: It's a fun game for those who like these click ahead kind of games, so yes. :)

Click here to start growing your garden :)

Grimm's Hatchery

2007-10-20T02:19:00.000-07:00

What it's about: The story in itself is very simple: you can get back your father's kingdom if you manage to raise 300,000 gold coins in 30 days. How? By breeding and selling all sorts of egg-hatching creatures: geese, dragons, etc., while also protecting them from monsters. You start with a poor farm and only one measly dragonfly. Do you think you have what it takes?

You also have to interact with the townsfolk via some static screens. You can talk to them or trade with them by clicking on their image, and you can also find items, if you're lucky, by looking into the possible hideouts (pots, bunches of hay, etc)

Highs: I absolutely love the imagery. Plus I like the idea it itself very much (and also the fact that there are plenty of animals for you to play with :P you can even crossbreed the ones you have to get more breeds :) )
Lows: The bloody time limit!!
Recommend: Yes, this is one of my favorite games :)

Start hatching :)

Storked

2007-10-18T10:48:00.000-07:00

What it's about: Storked is the story of four penguins: Murray, Milton, Tony, and Lilly. One day they meet a stork who had an unfortunate accident which prevented her to deliver a very important egg to its recipients. Luckily the penguins were there to save the day and protect the egg (in exchange of a quantity of fish).

It's all a matter of teamwork, as each of the penguins has its own ability: Murray can throw snowballs, Milton can use gadgets, Tony can lift heavy boxes, and Lily can jump over obstacles. The penguins can only move the egg by hitting it and making it roll (by pressing Shift) - not a very nice way to treat an egg, is it? Occasionally, when hit too hard or rolled over too high a cliff, the egg breaks and the level has to be started over again (or you can press Backspace to undo the last moves). The levels also contain fish (we don't want our penguins to starve while rolling the egg, do we?), and if the penguins manage to gather them all they get a medal.

There are 6 gadgets meant to help bringing the egg home, ranging from a jackhammer to a diving suit. My favorite one was one that released a bubble enveloping your egg to help it land safely.

The full version of the game has 3 worlds and no less than 100 levels. There is also a level editor in case you just can't get enough of those penguins :) The creators of the game (Graduate Games) took pains in making the game as frustration free as possible: there are no time limits, no enemies to threaten you, infinite lives and the possibility of "rewind" a bad move. Relaxation at its best.

Highs: I absolutely loved the cute retro graphics. I also find the idea of having four penguins kicking and rolling and egg quite funny :)

Lows: The writing on the interface is a bit hard to read (it's a fun font though). Also I had a bit of a hard time at first when choosing the level to play, I played the first one twice as I expected it to move to the next one by itself. :) After I realized the idea behind the menu I no longer had any problems.

Recommend: Yes :)

Download the Storked Demo and start rolling :)

Forgotten Riddles: The Mayan Princess

2007-10-06T09:35:00.000-07:00

What it's about: Do you have what it takes to solve the forgotten riddles of the Mayan people? Each level you will be presented with a scene with a bunch of objects and with a number of riddles. To move past the level you'll just have to solve the riddles by clicking on the object they refer to. Easy-peasy, right? Every once it a while there are also codes you have to solve, by placing tiles in certain locations, and there are also some image puzzles similar to the jigsaws. You won't get bored :)

Highs: The original idea gives a lot of charm to the game; also the exotic sceneries and music. And, of course, the number one "charm giver" are the riddles themselves, I've no words to say how much I enjoyed solving them.

Lows: Haven't found any as of yet :)

Recommend: Absolutely, I totally love this game :)

Solve the riddles.

Chocolatier

2007-10-06T03:07:00.000-07:00

What it's about: At the beginning you're the owner of one chocolate factory and your main goal is obviously to manufacture and sell some chocolate. This implies obtaining recipes and ingredients (some ingredients more exotic than other). While you travel around the world for the aforementioned items, sometimes you run into a chocolate factory that's for sale (having more than one factory enables you to manufacture more than one type of chocolate at once). You also have to find clients for your products, and thus earn some money to buy stuff. Will you be able to become the most world-renowned chocolatier there is?

Highs: A variety of actions to fulfill, always keeping you on the edge of your chair, especially as your number of factories increases as you have to keep them all well supplied.

Lows: I find it a little bit difficult to keep track of all supplies needed for all the factories for all the chocolates they're making; but to be honest that's probably part of the charm of the game :)

Recommend: Yes.

Enjoy the exotic chocolate :)

Build-a-lot

2007-10-03T10:06:00.000-07:00

What it's about: You just have to build. A lot. Doh.
You start by being the owner of a small construction firm, and each level the city mayor hires you to build a certain amount of buildings. For each building you own you get to earn some rent, however the expenses aren't finished by far when a building is finished. There are taxes, repairs, improvements, and so on. Will you be able to find an equilibrium between earning and spending so that you'll keep building-a-lot?

Highs: The suspense, the tension :P The way your fortune is growing bit by bit :)

Lows: The fact that halfway through the level the challenge is sometimes gone as you get all the money you need and more just from the rents. Well, nothing's perfect.

Recommend: Yes, I had fun with it.

Click to start building.

Plant Tycoon

2007-10-02T11:40:00.000-07:00

What it's about: Become a plant tycoon by growing and selling your own plants. You have a certain number of pots and it's up to you to choose what you want to plant and where. Also you have to remember to water your plants and protect them from bugs (bugs that you want to catch and add to your lovely bug collection). When your plants have matured you can pollinate them for seeds or you can sell them for money (or you can pollinate them, get the seeds, and then sell them for money). Money for what, you may ask? Why, for upgrades of course. :)

Highs: The fact that you can "breed" your own seeds and species by cross-pollinating them, it's very cool as you never know what you are going to get.

Lows: The fact that you have to wait quite a while (more than 20 minutes at the highest speed) for a plant to mature; the fact that you have a limited space to store your seeds and as there's no way you could sell them you just have to throw quite a lot of them away.

Recommend: 75% yes. Especially if you are a very patient person.

Start growing your own garden :)

Jane's Hotel

2007-10-02T11:09:00.000-07:00

What it's about: As you probably realize from the title, you are playing as Jane, the new owner of a hotel. Take care of your customers and keep them happy in order to keep your popularity and your profits growing. Each level is slightly more difficult than the previous one, making for an entertaining gaming experience :)

Highs: There is also a maid and she's the only one that can do some of the chores. Playing a game with two controllable characters is quite a new experience.

Lows: The lateral scroll at some later levels is a bit rough, which is annoying especially as you are very much in a hurry by that time.

Recommend: Yes, I enjoyed playing it quite a bit. It can be a pretty good way to exercise your mouse moving speed by the way.

Click.

Secrets of Great Art

2007-09-06T04:13:00.000-07:00

Discover the great works of art in this colorful hidden objects game. Each level you are presented with a famous painting, where you have to find the hidden objects or find the differences between two seemingly identical copies of it.

This is a very good game as far as hidden-objects games go, due to the variety of items and scenes, few of them actually repeating even if you play the game multiple times. Also, you are only presented with a list of five items to search for, and each time you scratch one another one appears and so on until the end of the level; unlike the other hidden-objects games I have played that gave away a big list all at once which made it (statistically) easier to spot some of them. You have also the chance of discovering paintings you didn't know about, paintings that you might actually enjoy seeing ('cause who doesn't like a truly beautiful painting).

Start discovering. :)

Yumsters!

2007-09-03T06:42:00.000-07:00

What are the Yumsters? They are colored fruit-eating cute-faced worms. They are very picky and each one of them only eats fruits that matches its color (the yellow one eats only pears, the orange one eats only oranges and so on). They are also very sensitive to touch, meaning they cannot eat when they are touching each other. Your job is to keep them content and happy by feeding them. The game ends when there is no room for new fruits to appear.

This is a fast-paced and challenging game, which I definitely enjoyed. The Yumsters are quite cute characters, adding charm to the game. The idea was also completely new to me, and that is quite a bonus.

Meet the Yumsters :)

Avernum 4

2007-08-28T04:55:00.000-07:00

"In Avernum 4, Avernum is an established nation at peace with the Empire. Some come to Avernum to work the mines. Others come to hunt monsters for their treasure. And some risk life in the underworld because it is the only place where a person can be free from the total rule of the Empire.

But then everything goes wrong. The monsters that hide in the lower caverns start surging out, attacking people everywhere. Huge shades, shielded by powerful magic, have taken up residence in the cities, and are wandering and killing at random. And normally peaceful citizens have been afflicted by a strange, overwhelming paranoia that makes even regular townsfolk unpredictable and dangerous.

And the player is the one who manages to stumble upon a clue to what's going on, and gets sucked into the adventure."
The quote is from an interview with the President and Designer of Spiderweb Software, Jeff Vogel. I definitely couldn't have said it better myself :)

The game is one of my absolute favorites and I cannot stop playing it. Especially given that Avernum is an absolutely huge world and after (many many) hours of playing I have yet to reach its Western border :) It does get a bit tedious at times, but the highs far outweigh the lows. Just remember that this is a casual game after all so don't complain about the lack of 3D graphics LOL.

Enter the underworld :)

Beauty Factory

2007-08-18T06:10:00.000-07:00

You play the CEO of a cosmetics company and as such you get various tasks and challenges (like reach the top ten of cosmetics companies or earn a certain amount in a given time). You get to control he products from their earlier stages, actually having to "discover" them before being able to sell them (and the fun of it is that they have to be trendy and the trends change every few weeks, LOL). You can also improve your (Sims-like) offices and you have to pay some attention to the moves of your competitors.

All in all a fun game with some original touches that makes time fly by.

Click here to try it.

Ice Cream Tycoon

2007-08-17T05:20:00.000-07:00

One day at a park you encounter and old ice cream cart seller who offers you his business in exchange for your dog. You gladly agree and that's how your ice cream empire started :P Each day you go with your cart in the neighborhood of your choice, trying to sell as much ice cream as possible. Just remember to take the weather forecast into consideration when building your stock, and also people's preferences (they say that each neighborhood has a particular favorite ice-cream but I have yet to discover it).

A likable enough game for people that enjoy building empires :P

Click to try.

Fever Frenzy

2007-08-17T04:14:00.000-07:00

A fun game with a medical twist :) . You get to be either a male or a female doctor and your job is to cure your patients of their funnily-named diseases (like "horse throat" or "mad cow disease"). As the levels get more and more difficult you only have your abilities (and some helpful upgrades) to help you advance :P

I have to say I enjoyed this game, not in the least because of the illness-related sound effects :)

Try it.

Carrie the Caregiver

2007-08-17T02:25:00.000-07:00

Carrie is a nurse that has to care for the newborn infants in her maternity ward. She has to warm up their bottles, change their diapers and other such things needed by small babies. She also has to take care of her hygiene level by washing her hands as often as possible and of her energy level by grabbing a bite once in a while. The babies have different personalities, some want more food, some are more fussy, some are more sensitive to germs and so on.

Although this might seem like a game that appeals only to baby lovers, it is not. The babies are quite cute and so are the sounds they make, and the gameplay is similar to Dinner Dash. If you are a fan of the genre you really should give it a try :)

Click here to see for yourself.

Magus: In Search Of Adventure

2007-08-15T12:42:00.000-07:00

You (predictably) star as Magus, a young mage, and your job is to collect all the precious stones by walking, climbing, digging, etc. (however no jumping is allowed). You also have to protect you and yourself from monsters, either by trapping them into holes or by using your magic on them. The game becomes more and more difficult, taking you to a total of three worlds and 90 levels.

A pretty enjoyable and colorful arcade game, Donkey Kong style. You really should try it sometimes. :)
Click here.

Nanny Mania

2007-08-06T06:47:00.000-07:00

You play the nanny of the mayor's kids. As such you're supposed to clean the house and take care of everyone's needs. Simple as that.

I do like the game quite a bit, only thing that I don't like about it is that at the later levels there are too many clothes to wash, making it necessary to repeat some tasks (for example while you wait for the clothes the toddlers make a mess of the books and flower vases you've just cleaned, not to mention the father who insists on not wiping his feet at the door). A bit more variation would have also been nice but all in all it is a likable enough game (for example I am always curious what will be the next stage of the kids' development and what new things will they learn to get messy :P). Do try it, you'll probably like it. :)

Click.

Teddy Factory

2007-08-06T06:37:00.000-07:00

You work at a toy factory that makes teddy bears (and other plushies) for the kids in orphanages. You are the one that is supposed to assemble and pack the plushies. You sit near a conveyor belt where pieces of teddies pass you by and you click on them in order to group them properly (one left paw, one right paw, a body, a head, and two feet, all these in the same color). There are of course power-ups that help you and sometimes you get to assemble more special plushies, such as one dressed in Elvis, that'll go towards your trophy room.

All in all, a colorful game with nice music. You should give it a try.

Click here.

Kasuko

2007-08-05T12:25:00.000-07:00

The concept of the game is very simple: you're presented with a board of digits and you're supposed to choose those groups of neighboring ones which added give one of the three numbers presented in the upper left corner. Piece of cake but each level is slightly more difficult than the previous one, especially if you play against a timer.

The overall feeling of the games is quite peaceful, with nice colors and nice sounds. If you have a kid just learning to add small numbers you definitely should show him or her this game :)

Click here.

Qbeez 2

2007-08-05T11:43:00.000-07:00

Meet the Qbeez. What are they? Why, isn't it obvious? They are colored cubes with eyes. At the beginning of every level you are presented with a square board filled with such characters, the purpose being to clear as much of it as possible. To do that you only need to click on a group of three or more Qbeez of the same color. There are also some very useful help moves that you can use, moves that I for one have never seen anywhere else until the first Qbeez game and that really enhance the game experience (at least they did so for me).

I consider this one of the best games of the kind. An extra dose of charm is given by the sounds, the voices of the Qbeez always making me smile ("Qbeez together" :P). You really should try it if you're into puzzle games :)

Click to see for yourself.

Tasty Planet

2007-08-05T11:34:00.000-07:00

Initially you play the role of a molecule of a newly discovered substance, one that is always hungry and that eats anything smaller than itself. Obviously because you eat so much you grow, and the more you grow the more items you're capable of eating. You'll end up eating cars, people, tanks, planes, and even more. It's a tasty planet after all :P

The gameplay is quite easy, you only have to move the hungry particle towards its targets with the mouse, simple as that. It's an enjoyable game though (especially for me as I was eternally curious what I would be able to eat in the next level :) ).

Click to try.

Lego Chic Boutique

2007-08-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

You have to match three pieces of the same color on the board on the left side of the screen in order to make them disappear. The trick is that by doing so you fill in the stocks of your chic boutique, allowing it to grow more and more. You have to pay attention to your customer's needs in order to always keep them satisfied. Easy as that.

While the game is quite simple, it is also quite enjoyable. Especially if you have a kid you think you might like it (perhaps a girl who likes pink and chic accessories) you definitely should give it a try. :)

Click here.

Granny In Paradise

2007-08-04T16:43:00.000-07:00

Granny and her cats are enjoying a well deserved vacation. unfortunately the cats get lost and are in danger to be caught by the natives! It's up to granny to get through level after level of cat searching in order to get them all somewhere safe.

As you can probably see in the pic the game is very similar to the Donkey Kong series. I totally loved it, especially the way the cats meow when rescued :)

Try it here.