A Gaming Diary
Archive for November, 2009
Dreadmill (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
I’ve been eyeing this since release, unsure whether I should pay out 59p to give it a go. Over the weekend, though, it was free, so I didn’t have to.
You’re a zombie on a treadmill. You have to leap over the saw blades that come across the bottom of the screen, duck down under ones that come across the top.
It’s all very simple and, at first, it feels awful. I died and died and died – I just couldn’t get the timing down at all. However, after a few frustrating minutes it clicked and I managed to start setting some half-decent scores. There’s not a lot to it, no, and there’s a big hurdle to leap over at the start – no pun intended – but it’s good fun and certainly a great game to get for free. I don’t think I’d have been disappointed if I’d paid for it, either. It’s not quite up there with Canabalt or Mr.AahH!!, but it’s not that far off.
Bloons Tower Defense (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
This was down at 59p over the weekend, so I snapped it up. I’d played the web-based version a fair bit, so I new what I was getting which is, basically, a fixed-path tower defense with towers that are quite different from the standard styles you find in most TDs.
It’s not the prettiest game in the world, but it’s fast, playable and well-designed. Add it to the long, long list of Phone TD games to consider.
Eliminate Pro (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
It’s an online death match FPS. It’s a huge, hyped iPhone release. It’s free, but you can pay real money for upgrades. Looks like everything’s in place… but come over here and have a peek at the options screen.
You see that? There’s no option to invert the y-axis, so the game is completely unplayable for me. How does an FPS get released in 2009 without an invert look option? I just don’t know. If they patch one in I’ll take another look at the game, but it’s currently completely unplayable for me – and I have tried. I just can’t do it.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Nov 3rd
Sorry for the lack of posts recently, but I’ve been off with my wife having adventures in time and space.
Well, that and I’ve had a horrible cold and sore throat and have been stuck on the sofa feeling sorry for myself for a few days.
See, look, I was very ill. At least we had excellent pumpkins, thanks to my wife’s mad carving skills.
Anyway, Words With Friends had an update yesterday. Changes some letter point values – N and L are now worth two points, not sure if there are other changes – and changes the amount of some of the letters in each game. Not sure why they’ve done that, unless it’s to make the game even less like Scrabble.
If they need to do that to stay online, that’s fine. Life without Words With Friends would be a sad, grey thing indeed.
(And no, there’s nothing special about that screenshot, I just took it when I remembered I needed one for this blog post.)
