A Gaming Diary
iPhone
Sword of Fargoal (iPhone)
Jul 21st
So, yeah, this has been getting billions of updates and I’ve not been playing it. Silly, foolish old me.
I continued my last character and couldn’t see much difference in the game, but then I started a new game after he died and – woah! It’s all different!
I can be a lady!
I'm a lady-girl! My name is Ladybump.
I can choose a difficulty level! (Though anyone who chooses to have infinite lives in a roguelike needs beating with the flat edge of a broadsword.)
There are vaults and grates and barrels and millions of new enemies and levers and tables and wow! Unfortunately poor Ladybump got incinerated on level two, so the game may have got harder, too. Either that or I’ve forgotten how to play it properly.
Anyway, if you haven’t given Fargoal a look for a while, you might want to look again. And if you never bought it in the first place, shame on you. SHAME. RIGHT ON YOUR FACE.
Angry Birds (iPhone)
Jul 21st
Right, I’ve finished the fucker. Every single level is now completed with all three stars. Level 8-10 was by far the hardest, taking me over two and a half hours to complete yesterday – and that’s after trying it a great many times beforehand. Shows the quality of the game, though, that over two hours on one level was still fun.
I beat ya, ya bastard.
And, no, I’ve not got all the achievements or all the golden eggs. I may have something of an obsession, but even I’ve got my limits. (And getting the golden eggs without a FAQ would be impossible for me, I think.)
Until the next set let of levels come out, then, I’m done with the game.
Carcassonne (iPhone)
Jul 21st
I'm number two! I'm number two!
So, yeah, as you can see from that picture up there, Carcassonne has a leaderboard that shows how you rank against all your friends. I’m not doing too badly at all, though I have a feeling I’m going to drop down a lot when a couple of my current games finish.
Angry Birds (iPhone)
Jul 20th
Still not got three stars here, despite upping my high score by 5,000 points.
Fantastic day yesterday – I now only have two levels left to get three stars on. Not sure what happened, but I managed clear loads of stages that had been giving me trouble. Other than that, not much gaming as I watched a double bill of In The Electric Mist and Night At The Museum 2. And I don’t care what anyone else says, I enjoyed both them rather a lot.
Star Wars: Battle for Hoth (iPhone)
Jul 19th
Another decent Star Wars game. I’ve not played many levels yet – and I’m playing on Easy, which is may have been a mistake – but this seems like a solid, unspectacular tower defense game.
Guys in trenches don't die as quickly as those out in the open.
But it’s got a Star Wars theme, so that raises it from “good” to “great” for me. I love Star Wars.
Castlevania Puzzle: Encore of the Night (iPhone)
Jul 19th
Still thoroughly enjoying this. I’ve got thirty-three percent of the map uncovered now, but I suspect the two-thirds I’ve got left is going to take a lot longer to uncover. Had some trouble with a boss fight over the weekend, but it didn’t hold me up for long – I just had to make sure I played better. The normal enemies are mostly very easy, as long as you keep an eye on your health between fights. (The bats seem to have a “paralyse” move that’s intensely annoying, though. I thought the game was broken the first time it happened.)
Not a boss - this fight should be over quickly.
I’ve noticed that some people seem to be having trouble with the “swipe down” move… probably because there are two different ones. A long swipe down with your finger speeds up the speed the blocks drop, but you can still move left and right while doing it. A short swipe down drops the blocks in place straight away and is a much more useful move, I reckon. If you’re having trouble with the controls, I hope that helps.
Also, you can skip a lot of animations by tapping the screen – including the pointless pre-battle screen.
Angry Birds (iPhone)
Jul 19th
The only new level I've yet to get three stars on.
New levels! Hooray!
Much easier than the last set. I’ve only got one left to get three stars on, but I’ve got three stars on about half of the last lot.
It’s pretty amazing that they’ve kept giving us all these extras for free, when there’s enough here to make a couple of sequels.
Carcassonne (iPhone)
Jul 19th
Had some very, very enjoyable games at the weekend, especially when we were focused on land grabs.
It can be hard keeping track of games with multiple opponents.
It’s all very well going for castle and road points, but if you let your opponent(s) grab points at the end of the game then you’re stuffed. Obvious stuff, yes, but I’m starting to feel like I’m getting into the game properly now.
Most matches seem to end up about this close.
Yes, I’m even winning some of my matches, but by no means all.
Words With Friends (iPhone)
Jul 19th
On my next turn I had four As.
Increasingly, this isn’t so much Words With Friends as Words With Strangers Who Appear To Be Cheating. I’ve even been asked if I’m a cheater after playing some good words. Well, I’m not. I don’t see the point of winning if you didn’t actually play the game yourself. Yes, I sometimes put something I’m not sure about to see if it works, but I don’t use anagram solvers or dictionaries or other apps to try and find big words.
Miner Disturbance (iPhone)
Jul 16th
Lovely little mining game, hampered by some control issues. Oh, the controls are getting better, but after an hour or so I’m still dumping rocks on to my head instead of digging ledges.
Still, it’s happening less and less frequently, so I think I’m getting there. If I can really get comfortable, this will be those games where I need to beat you round the head until you buy it.
As it stands, you could do a lot worse with your 59p. You could do better, but it’s a good game with a lot of content for your money.
That’s about it.
A randomly-generated volcano level.
What? You want details? Really? It’s going to be dull.
Okay, okay.
You’ve got a map. To the right of the starting area (which houses a shop, high score table, etc.) you’ve got some puzzle-style levels where you need to perform certain tasks, such as getting ten iron or getting down 75 feet, so that you earn money and medals. That’s the main bit of the game and a quick scroll round the map shows about a million levels, each with bronze, silver and gold medals to earn. To the left (to the left) of the starting area, you’ve got a randomly generated volcano, where the aim is to get a high score.
You run and jump around levels, digging holes and platforms, trying to collect ores and artefacts and trying to avoid enemies and environmental hazards. If you lose three lives you die. The aim is to complete tasks (or get points) and then escape again, meaning you’ve got to plan ahead for an escape route.
I think that about covers it.
