Fruit Ninja – OVERVIEW

There are extras and combos that you can go for more points, and then there are obstacles that can take away your points. There are weekly tournaments available for skilled players and power-ups available for purchase through both soft currency (your score points, aka “juice”) and premium in-game currency (premium currency also known as “starfruit”). You can use one power-up slot for free and unlock the other two using starfruit.

The greatest thing about Fruit Ninja Frenzy is that there are ways of getting starfruit without spending Facebook credits. The one thing that is a bit less of a draw to playing on Facebook is that the interface works better on a touch-screen, like on an iPhone. It’s not that it isn’t as functional (it is one of the most dependable games on Facebook when it comes to loading), it’s just that the “swipe” motion that is the entire point of the game makes more sense when it comes from the swipe of your finger and not your mouse cursor.

Every day when you return to Fruit Ninja Frenzy, you are greeted with the Sensei’s Wheel, which you can spin a few times for more points or more starfruit. You can also gain additional spins on the wheel, so you can actually be at the wheel for a very long time. It’s not quite as addictive as Fruit Ninja Frenzy itself, but it’s a nice little in-betweener challenge that’s far more exciting than a slot machine or other in-between game tactics that other games use.

It has over four million monthly users – and I am now one of them!

Fruit Ninja – STRATEGY

So the best thing to do to attain a high score in “Fruit Ninja Frenzy” is to just hold your mouse down and swipe around, right? Actually, blind swiping is probably the worst thing you can do. Good eyes and quick fingers are necessary to be a Fruit Ninja Master.

Try to swipe in clean lines, not zig-zags or random patterns.

Keep your eyes peeled for bombs, as well. Bombs immediately subtract ten points from your score, but in the long term you actually lose more, because they destroy all nearby fruit and cause a lull in the fruit-tossing, so you have fewer opportunities to slice.  The best, most fun thing about “Fruit Ninja” is the bananas. Bananas, on top of being delicious, are the “special” fruits in the game. The bananas are easily recognizable by their vibrant striped colours, and offer different score enhancers.  Some bananas “freeze” the screen and cause the fruits to slow down, whereas other bananas might give you a “frenzy” – a whole bunch of fruits at once! And of course, there are those power-ups that you can buy with smoothies.

Power-ups vary greatly in price, and they’re always worth what you pay for. Some power-ups will result in twice the load of fruit from frenzies, some will deactivate the bombs, some will double your bonus points.

The levels progress at a pretty natural rate – sometimes it can feel a little slow, but there’s not really much else that can be done in a game like this. Just more fruit! So your dexterity must sharpen as much as your sword with every new level.

Fruit Ninja – TIPS, HINTS & CHEATS

Texas Holdem – OVERVIEW

The only monetized option there is available is to buy more chips. However, not only are these chips inexpensive, but you can get on just fine without them. It’s very nice to see an online poker game that doesn’t charge at all, because there are some sobering statistics associated with online gambling.  But I digress… now back to the FUN of gambling!

Game formats range from poker tournaments to individual and team challenges. During gameplay you can chat with the people you’re interacting with, and arrange to work together on tournaments and team challenges, even if you don’t know each other in real life. Zynga doesn’t waste any time putting you into the action. Instead of facing off against “the computer,” you’re up against other players from around the globe right off the bat. Now, this means that you run the risk of being put up against some of the world’s best – or someone who’s just learning. And trust me, even if the money isn’t real, the addiction is.

Now, I’m a pro at online poker so I’m sort of biased with my review.  I did introduce the game to a newcomer to the game to get their perspective.  The objective is simple – well, “simple.” Whoever has the best hand wins the pot. My friend has known that for a long time, but struggled in learning what exactly makes a “good hand”.  Thankfully Zynga Poker does have a few in-game hints and tips which helped her out as she went along.

Once two to ten people sit down at the table, everyone is dealt their chips. Hold ‘Em works with a rotating dealer, where each player plays a round as the dealer before handing the duty over to the player to the left. The dealer is determined by each player drawing one card and the player with the highest value card becoming the dealer. Once dealer is decided, the player directly to the left passes out the “small blind” (blind referring to blind bet, the chips placed down before any card values are known). The player one more to the left passes out the big blind (around twice the value of the small blind). The stakes of the game are determined by the size of the blind. The dealer then deals two cards to each player, and it’s time to start the game.  There’s your mini-poker table tutorial.  Learning the game is easy but will require some research.

Texas Holdem – STRATEGY

May the best hand win! So, what is the best hand? Believe it or not, there are some people who make it to adulthood without knowing their poker basics. I tasked my friend with trying out Texas Hold ‘em as a newbie to get a more realistic review.  It took her a few cruises through Google to figure out the basics – which was one of her criticisms of Zynga Poker – that it wasn’t the most beginner-friendly.  She got way more help from outside sources than in-game help. Even though most pro-level or seasoned poker players scoff at it, it’s also not a “learn to play poker” kind of game.

Here’s how to play as my friend describes it: “You determine how valuable your cards are in the preflop stages and decide what you want to do – sit out the round or “fold,” which also wouldn’t see you putting in any chips. “Calling” matches the amount of the big blind, and “raising” is playing double or more the big blind. In the “flop” round, three cards are drawn which can be matched with your initial hand (your 2 ‘pocket’ cards) to create a winning poker hand.  If you’re still in the game, the next card drawn face-up is the Turn Card which adds to the possibilities for your to create a winning 5 card hand.  If there are still players left (ie. in the round stages, play stops only when all the players fold except 1).  The last round reveals the 5th community card called the “River Card”.  So the five community cards and your two pocket cards can be used to create the highest ranking 5 card poker hand combination.  If you have the highest ranking hand, you win.  Bets are put in place after each round.  After the bets on the river card round, the players must show their hands (again, if there are at least 2 active ‘called’ players).  If the player knows they have a losing hand, they can concede and not reveal their hand, but automatically lose.”

The order of card combos from highest to lowest are: a Royal Flush (cards in order from ten to Ace in the same suit), straight flush (five cards in order of the same suit), four of a kind (should more than one player play a four of the kind, the fifth card determines who wins), a full house (three of the same cards of a one rank and two of the same of another rank), a flush (five non-consecutive cards of the same suit, with the highest-ranked card determining the value), straight (five cards in order, any suit with the highest-ranked card determining the value)), three of a kind, two pair, and one pair. Any other hand takes the value of the “high card,” which can only beat any other uncategorized hand with a less valuable high card.

Texas Holdem Poker – TIPS, HINTS & CHEATS

Crazy Penguin Wars – OVERVIEW

The first step you have to take is customizing your penguin. Your options are limited when you first start – you can just pick out your penguin’s crazy face. But as the game progresses, you can pick out hats, sunglasses, shirts – pretty much everything to put the “crazy” in “Crazy Penguin Wars.”

But as for the actual gameplay, it’s quite simple. You are pitted against three other penguins, and each of you take a turn. In that turn, you have a few seconds to load up a weapon, aim and fire!

The goal is to kill every other penguin, or at least earn the most points in the level. The matches are timed, so even if everyone is alive at the end of the level, your points are what determines whether or not you win.

Sounds violent?

It is a little bit, but it’s a cartoon without any blood or gore, and the lack of believability (penguins who wear red toques using rocket launchers, anyone?) helps make the violence seem a lot more “silly,” so kids around age nine or ten could certainly get a chuckle out of the game without parents having to worry about being influenced by all the crazy violence.

Of course, Crazy Penguin Wars is suitable for an older audience too. I couldn’t get enough of it! It’s a fast-paced game – in fact, it throws you into a real-time match with very real opponents for your very first match instead of wasting half an hour on “training.” You learn quickly that the setting around you is destructible too, and there are always a few boxes, blocks and items scattered around that you can shoot or pick up during your turn. This aspect reminds me just the slightest bit of “Angry Birds,” but fortunately it doesn’t distract from the fighting tournament, it just added an interesting element to it.

It took me awhile to get very good at Crazy Penguin Wars, but it’s a very addictive game that takes a somewhat familiar concept and brings a quirky new charm to it.

Crazy Peng. Wars – STRATEGY

Well, like most other games out there, you win by having the highest score.

That’s not a novel concept. But it is somewhat strange for combat games.

Combat games are won by destroying everyone else, right? Well, not quite. The game wouldn’t be all that interesting if it only made you worry about one thing. There are items placed strategically throughout the level – which you can move freely throughout, but be careful when jumping off of things, because falling from too high up will damage your penguin, and you can’t jump back up either!

You have to decide if the vulnerability is worth it. Of course, collecting the little trophies hidden under the boxes and blocks of each level will give you a nice pay off in points, so the journey may be worth it. The fun of Crazy Penguin Wars – what makes it so “crazy,” really – is constantly having to decide if you want to be on the offensive, be on the defensive, or be on a quest for items and credits.

The hardest part? You’re glued to one spot unless it’s your turn. And your turn is so short that you usually have to make a decision between making significant movement or shooting someone – you cannot multi-task. Now, the wonderful thing about the game is that you can re-spawn randomly. Your odds of winning after dying and re-spawning are low, but stranger things have happened. Plus, you can still use your second life as a chance to collect some items, blow up a cliff underneath the penguin who’s in the lead (my personal favourite offensive move) or just have some fun blowing up the scenery!

Crazy Peng. Wars – TIPS, HINTS & CHEATS

Zombie Slayer – OVERVIEW

On the surface, what could be more fun than killing zombies! The concept of this game is to go to areas with outbreaks and fight to eradicate the zombie presence. In order to fight you need to earn money, and with that money you need to purchase properties to keep earning the ability to fight the zombies. Properties pay money out every hour, so the more properties you have, the longer and more varied the game play. Properties can be upgraded, earning you more money.  Sounds like Monopoly meets Zombieland?

You can choose the location of outbreak (over 20 countries are represented) and you can also choose your weapons of choice. Like many Facebook games, there are social elements embedded into play – you can invite your friends, make new ones, borrow tools and ask for help from others. You can also make “squads” from your friends and new acquaintances and make your team into a fighting machine. These options allow players to personalize the game, a great benefit that may keep the game interesting.

Unlike most Facebook games, there is very little guidance on where to go when you are playing. Gone are the usual flashing arrows and step-by-step instructions which I have always found irritating; in this case, however, a little guidance would be welcomed. I often found myself floundering around, wondering what to do next and getting instruction only when I tried to do something but did not have the available energy. The dashboard is a mess with too much going on.

To be fair, I did try to get some advice from other players and those who love the game really seem to love it, but I was certainly not alone in my confusion and there were many frustrated players being vocal about the difficulty in engaging with this game. Though it has great graphics and a lot of different options, I could not get into this game at all and found the inability to navigate through the game a deal breaker.

Zombie Slayer – STRATEGY

Playing this game well does require some strategy.  Be sure to purchase property whenever you can. It is important to keep your energy up and this is the most expedient way.

Log on every day to get your daily gaming points and daily rewards. Daily play increases your stamina and your ability to play over the long run. Experience points count in this game and this is the best way to earn them.

There are three different types of boss fights: the single boss fight that you can fight on your own, coop boss fights where you ask for help from friends or acquaintances, and the world boss fights that happen at various dates (but you can see a countdown letting you know when they are happening) and there is no limit to how many people can play.

You need to continue to level up in this game. Remember to invest in property, gain experience, and learn new skills as your game play develops.

Zombie Slayer – TIPS, HINTS & CHEATS

Vida Rock 2 – OVERVIEW

It doesn’t have the intricate details of a game like Rock Band where the great accuracy and musicality with which you play is rewarded. Unfortunately, to my slight disappointment, the quality of your playing is not tracked because you don’t actually get to “play” your instrument in Vida Rock 2.  But there are still many other interesting aspects of Vida Rock 2, and adding on a challenging play-your-instrument game may have added too many layers to this story-based game.

Your trusty bandmate shows you the ropes – like how to go shopping for new clothes, how to create a new song, and how to play a gig through your agent. After he takes you through the basics of practicing once and playing one gig, you are assigned a series of “quests” you must complete, from performing a certain number of gigs to getting your songs to a certain level. One of the issues with these “quests” however is that you are not told how to achieve most quests. For example, when asked to “have three level-two songs,” I didn’t know how I achieved a level-two song at all.

You start with one agent, a comically absent-minded partier-type who is rarely available and can get you a fairly limited number of gigs – he’s not much, even though he’s a start. As you build currency, you can buy new agents, and believe me, they’re worth it. All agents have different waiting periods, so you can only contact them at certain times. With some agents, they’re available only once an hour (yes, I’m talking to you, party man) but some agents open their schedule for you every couple minutes.

The more, the merrier!

In fact, that’s the goal with everything in Vida Rock 2 – more, more more! More songs, more gigs, more clothes to choose from – because after all, isn’t that what being a rock star is all about?

Vida Rock 2 – STRATEGY

There are so many options with Vida Rock 2 that your goal is not as clear, since you’re not just progressing from one puzzle stage to another.

You could choose to stay at home and make changes to your room, or to practice, or to go to a gig. Sometimes your options will be limited because all of your agents will be busy and you will be low on funds, but when it rains it pours, and sometimes you will have many quests to complete and both your agents will be calling you to come play a gig. But don’t worry too much about that – you don’t lose points for not flocking to your agents immediately when they’re available.

In fact, once your agent becomes idle, they will stay idle until you go to their office. This is good because unfortunately it takes players a very long time to create songs, gain experience, level up and unlock all of the different elements that are needed to play a concert.

Like many Facebook games, you have energy which depletes and then recharges after some time. It depletes every time when you complete a task, like practicing, going shopping or playing a gig. The great thing is that while you start with only ten energy credits (recharging at one credit every eight minutes), as you gain experience, your maximum energy increases – after playing for only an hour, I had a maximum of 16 energy credits.

The biggest bonus of all is that when your maximum energy increases, you automatically refill! You can go from no credits to fifteen credits instantly that way – so that’s why it’s important to focus on your experience points and levelling up.

Vida Rock 2 – TIPS, HINTS & CHEATS

Rainbow Rush – OVERVIEW

The action-packed puzzle stages run with little anecdotes between to give Rainbow Rush an apparent overarching storyline – though no one ever pays attention to these plots.

Essentially, someone has turned the plush and unicorn-filled kingdom into an ugly mess, and by winning all of these puzzles, you can change it back. Simple enough.

The game also starts out simple enough, with plain rectangular gameplay fields filled with red, yellow, green, blue and violet gems. Matching groups of more than two gems eliminates them and fills their space with the gems from above. The more gems you clear, the closer you get to a “star” rating. You need at least one star to win each level, and can gain three stars at most. The more stars you gain, the more coins you achieve for your win – $50 per star on a level you have never beaten before, or $25 per star on a level you have already beaten (unless, perchance, you have beaten the level before but only received a one-star rating – beating it again with three stars would still earn you $150).

There are a number of power-ups you can apply to the game, all of which are available immediately when you begin playing the game, unlike other game formats where the power-ups come to you gradually as you conquer each level. Of course, each power-up costs money (hint: almost every power-up costs more by itself than what you win for beating a level).

This is one of the many downfalls of the game.

The other downfall is the unnecessary and tiresome storyline which runs throughout the game – though at least there’s the option of skipping past them. Rainbow Rush isn’t awful, but with so many other games with similar formats out there, it’s not hard to find a more entertaining game with fewer pitfalls.

Rainbow Rush – STRATEGY

While some match-three games have a limited number of moves you can make and ask you to clear the board, Rainbow Rush is a timed game instead – the point is to make as many combinations as possible in as little time as possible.

That gets harder and harder as the game goes on, because the boards will shift shapes – starting as just rectangular boards and then moving to irregularly-shaped boards such as cross-shaped or with crooked edges. These irregular shapes don’t affect gameplay tremendously, but they can certainly cause you to take some time to get used to – and time is of the essence.

While strategic combo creation is obviously a plus (you’ll be hard-pressed to find a match-three game that just rewards arbitrary frantic clicking), time is still of the essence – so holding out for a combo of 12 blocks when you can easily clear three groups of three blocks, that may be the better solution.

One thing that really stands in your way when it comes to succeeding at Rainbow Rush is the “energy” count. Unlike some match-three games such as Panda Jam, which deals the user five lives which expire when you fail to win a level, Rainbow Rush deals things a little differently. Taking on a level at all causes you to expel energy, whether or not you win. This means that you can only play a certain number of levels before your energy runs out, and you then have to wait for it to replenish – whether or not you are good at the game.

It feels discouraging for players and may decrease motivation, because where’s the motivation to win when you’re going to lose your life anyway? It’s a strategy to gain money for the game, because the game monetizes through the sale of premium game currency which can buy you more energy.

Is it worth it? Well, it is if you really, really enjoy the game.

Rainbow Rush- TIPS, HINTS & CHEATS