Reviews written by hodsey77

An excellent maze game where you use sight and sound and feel to help BlindGiRl find her way...

This is definitely worth a purchase - has a great story mode, where all the controls and effects are explained brilliantly.

But if you've ever wondered what it's like to play video games when you have a form of colourblindness, check out the options in this game - GLPeas added colourblind simulators to make sure that people with colourblindness would be able to play the game OK. It's definitely an eye-opener!

For me this is just average... or perhaps it's not the game that's average, but me?

You see... I can't get very far on this. In fact, I can't get past the end boss on the first level :S Am I really that bad a shoot-em-ups? I don't think so... so why do I suck at this?

This game has nice graphics, and I like the pop-ups with characters explaining powerups and such like, but the way the bullets drift in the direction your ship is moving is quite weird and I don't think I ever got to grips with it. You see... you have to use that a lot to defeat that end boss, and I just wasn't good enough :(

So, upshot of this review is, give it a go yourself. Sorry I suck at it so bad, but I've given it a decent score anyway in case it is just me :p

I love this - it's like a miniature version of Subbuteo, where all of the men on the pitch move at the same time.

Your men are all cubes, and it really is quite amusing watching them fling themselves at the ball, hehe!

For 80 points this is an absolute bargain - great against the computer but especially against a friend.

Fantastic game, but why no weapon powerups anymore? I loved the first Geometry Wars, where your weapon changed as you played... shame this isn't in any of the modes here... :(

But otherwise, it's awesome - just glad I have both games... best of both worlds :)

Another excellent game from Lighthouse games studio.

Extremely easy to play, and incredibly addictive!

Simply line up your cannon, and set the speed to propel you into the air... gravity, luck and a little bit of skill then take over, and the object is to get as far as possible without coming to a halt.

When you hit a safari animal, you get a boost - hit 3 in a row, and you get your "flaps" bar re-filled, so you can flap your avatar a little higher :)

You have 3 goes to get as far as you can, and your progress against all your competitors in the Global scoreboards is shown as you play, by their avatars standing against their score.

It really is great fun that anyone will be able to pick up and play... the basic premise is something you might have played before, but coupled with the global scores, use of avatars, rewards, and the humour, this is a must-buy for me :)

I love the art-style and the use of Avatars in Avatar Bumper Cars - Bright colours, quirky music – a definite cartoony feel which kids are bound to love...

This game is obviously meant to be played with more than one person, and for me, it’s a shame that there was no online option. But I hear that online may be patched onto the game in the future?!

The games themselves don’t last long (a matter of seconds sometimes), but the controls work well and if you ramp up the difficulty of your AI opponents, it can get quite tricky!

There are many difficulty levels, and the controls and instructions are explained very well via the game menu. You can choose to play in 5 different arenas. They’re all the same shape and size, just a different scene. It would be nice to have seen more variety – hopefully in an update?

Very simple to play - hit your opponents from behind to bloe up their gas cannisters... destroy all 3 to remove them from play altogether. Be the last one standing to win.

There are powerups to collect which speed you up, or replenish lost cannisters, too.

This is only 80MSP and whilst it doesn't have much of a single player experience, it's worth the price just for the odd day you'll want to play when friends come over.

Spiders! Why Spiders?! is a new take on the twin-stick shooters that you'll already have seen on XBLIG. The thing that sets this apart from it's counterparts is not only that your enemies are 8-legged beasties instead of zombies, but that there is also the strategy element in conserving your ammo.

Unlike other twin-stick shooters, you don't simply move the right stick in the direction you want to shoot to shoot at the spiders, you also have to press the right trigger. This works really well, and although at first I was trying to shoot without using the right stick, you do need to use both.

There are no different weapons to pick up, only more ammo, in varying sizes. And it IS possible to end up with no ammo at all and a herd (is that the right word?!) of angry spiders in hot pursuit!

Other pick-ups include lightening bolts to give you a quit burst of speed, and food and health.

At the end of the level, there is a large spider to defeat, and then you move onto the next level.

All the levels look very similar, which was a bit of a shame for me - I would have liked to see some kind of variety. And there is nothing to tell you what level you are currently on. But this is a pure and simple, "score as much as you can" game, and so the levels probably aren't really that relevant, other than to give you a break for a few seconds!

The animation of the characters works well, and the sound bytes when your character dies is very reminiscent of old arcade games, which is great :)

I'd love to see an update which includes some alternative weapons, but for now, this is well worth 80MSP, and includes global high score boards, which is great.

When I first loaded this up, I thought to myself..."This is gonna be good!"

I'm a huge Puzzle Quest fan, and love word games like Scrabble, so this seemed to be made for me!

There are some excellent aspects to the game, but also a few things that I think could have been done better.

So, as said above, this is like a cross between a few different games - Puzzle Quest, Scrabble, and Super Puzzle Fighter, I would say.

As with Puzzle Quest, the game has an RPG element to it, where you traverse a map, doing quests to get more experience and spells, and better equipment. There are taverns to frequent, and chests to open (both with their own mini-puzzles). The main quests have you fighting an opponent a la Super Puzzle Fighter, but instead of matching gems, you try to make words.

The letters don't have to be next to each other and you are both playing with the same set of letters in your own side of the screen.

I instantly liked playing this, but there are some things that stop me from giving it a higher score:

You are so intent on trying to find the words, that the spell-casting is kinda lost on me. Also, it wasn't apparantly straight away just HOW I was managing to defeat people - sometimes I took energy off them when I made a word, other times I didn't. As you are looking at the letters so intently, the RPG elements of building up attacks tend to get lost whilst playing. I've still never actually looked at how many magic points I have whilst playing...

Travesing the map can be a chore at times... for some reason, sometimes it just does not want to let me go to a certain destination, even though there are clearly quests there as an "!" is displayed. No matter of how many times I'd press the analogue in that direction, it would NOT put the cursor there.... and then it would! Weird!

Also, some parts of the game will involve random encounters where you are asked if you want to fight or flee and the option given to you is OK or Cancel. Err... which one am I saying OK to?!

Just a bit of tidying around the edges and this could be great...for 400 points though, I think it should be a little better.

Only local multiplayer too, which is a real shame.

All these reviews, and yet every time I try and find an online match, there is only me playing!

That's the biggest downside for me - no matter how good people say this is, I can't get an online game :( Shame, as I feel this game would be much better playing against real people, than the computer.

The single player campaign is pretty good, with variation in the levels. The graphics are retro inspired, and look great - I love the homage to old tape-based games with the loading screens, too :)

If anyone does fancy playing this, add me on Xbox Live: Gamertag is hodsey78

:)

I do like this game but 400 points does seem a little steep? At 240 or less, this would be much easier to recommend... it has a great single player campaign, and has Live multiplayer, which is great!

You take the form of a futuristic gladiator, and have to earn fans by slaughtering enemies within the arena, using all manor of weapons at your disposal.

You can also team up against the enemy, and can even attack your own team-member for extra fans if you want ;)

It really is good fun, and the controls and graphics work well - you can switch from on overhead view to just over the shoulder, which are both useful in different situations.

The single player campaign has you doing certain tasks in order to progress and your position on the leaderboard is highlighted as you play.

Definitely recommended, but at 400 points, try the trial first :)

It all just seems to be a little hectic for me, with little emphasis on skill and more on luck.

You have to try not to let the spiky coloured balls hit your cannon if they are not your colour. You change them to your colour by shooting them.

As many of you will know, I really hate games that use colour only to differentiate between things, as my husband is colourblind and many games are unplayable for him.

It is a problem on this game, but the fact that you are just endlessly shooting at the balls means that it is just kinda luck whether it is your colour or not when it hits you anyway, so whether or not you can differentiate the colours I don't suppose is much of a problem.

For me, the game just isn't that much fun, but maybe it is better played with more than onreal player? I've only played against the computer so far.

For 240 points, I couldn't really recommend this game. Maybe at 80 it would be worth a gamble?

This is an excellent action/puzzle game, that simply has you coming back time and time again.

Controls are easy and the mechanics of the game work perfectly.

Your object is to warp to the next level, taking as many of the stranded astronauts with you as possible. You only have limited air (time) and fuel, and so need to plan your course carefully, taking into consideration the gravitational pull that the planets give you.

It is VERY addictive, and there are scoreboards for you to compare - are you worth finishing the level quick at the risk of leaving one of the astronauts behind!?

An excellent feature of this game is that you can instantly re-try a level, and is shows you exactly how much power you used on your previous go, so you can fine-tune to try and achieve your goal - brilliant!

Another highly polished game from Halfbrick!

This is a great game, that's different from your everyday shoot-em-up.

It's very polished and great fun to play, and is unique in that your method of kiling the enemies is by 'trapping' them with your triangular laser.

You then have to 'close' the level by connecting the corner pieces (whilst the enemies are still attacking), so some strategy is involved, rather than just going out there guns blazing like in other shooters.

This is highly recommended for people who want a change from the norm but love their shoot-em-ups :)

This is one of my favourite Indie games to have a quick blast on...

See how high you can get your rocket to travel, by picking up extra fuel on the way up. At first it is VERY tricky, but you do get the hang of the way your rocket moves. I hear that the way you are facing when you grab some fuel has an effect on where the next fuel will come from!? All I know is, the straighter I am, the easier I find it...

There is a dastardly monkey and evil astronauts to navigate too - if you touch them, they reverse the controls, and it really does throw you!

It's a great game that you will always want to have "one more go" on, and it features 3 modes of online play which are excellent.

You can customise your rocket, and can see your little avatar flying it if you look closely enough.

It's got excellent peer-to-peer scoreboards, and some people on my friends list have MASSIVE scores on this... how do they do it?!?

Well worth 80MSP - brilliant!

A great take on the normal colour-matching ouzzle games, incorporating RPG elements.

Take turns each to match coloured symbols on a board. Match skulls to take energy off your opponent. The symbols give you mana, which can be used to cast spells; cash, which can be used to buy equipment to help you in battle, etc; or exp which allows you to Level Up.

It's very addictive, and there are quick modes and multi-player for people just wanting to get straight into the action without having to do the Quests.

As said by others, this really is just a test of your reaction speed - press the button faster than your opponent, and you win.

The thing I like about this is the humour - I love the quotes from your opposing avatars (many of whom are instantly recognisable, despite the discalimer when you load the game up, heh!), and the trailer is great too!

The single player is short lived - once you get up to an opponent that is faster than you, you are never going to get past them... I have never been faster than 0.18 and don't think I ever will be... unless I try and pre-empt the graphic telling you to press your button?

So, really this is all about the multi-player, and alas, every time I load it up, there is no-one playing online - gah! But there is a local mode, which is great :) I'll be using this to decide whose turn it is to do the pots or something, hehe!

At 80MSP it's worth a download - don't expect much longevity from it, but for a quick bash against friends it's not a bad little game :)

For a game that is all based around the physics of moving the surroundings in order to get a ball to the goal, the physics don't work particularly well - it's all very 'floaty'!

You actually control the maze, using the left stick to rotate it to allow the ball to drop into the hole for that level. It's a very simple premise, but there are objects to negotiate, target or avoid, such as blocks that will freeze you, or ones that will propell you into the air.

There are numerous 'powerup' items you can pick up too such as one that will increase the gravity, making your ball act more like a ball and start to plumet; or decreasing the gravity, making you even more floaty! There are 7 different 'powerups' in total.

The game includes an online multiplayer mode, but unfortunately I haven't managed to get a game with anyone yet :( Shame there is no offline multiplayer too?

The game keeps track of the quickest time for each level you've completed, but what a shame there are no peer-to-peer scoreboards? I feel that this would definitely benefit from that addition.

The graphics are really simple... perhaps too simple? And yet I still managed to suffer from slow-down / freezing on most levels, sometimes making the level I was playing impossible... the action would literally pause and then jump to somewhere else, making it nigh-on impossible to accurately control where the ball would go.

Your avatar makes an appearance in the game, but I'm not really sure why!? Maybe it has more of a use in the multiplayer, but in single player, it's just stood in the bottom corner, not really doing anything...

At 240 points this is one you'll have to try to see if you like. Unfortunately for me, the slow-down / freezing issues are making it quite impossible to play and get any enjoyment out of...

I love this game - I'm addicted to it at the moment, hehe! :D

Very simple to play - steer left and right, and pass cars as closely as you can to earn boost and speed your way though the levels as fast as you can.

It's Game Over when you're out of time...

It's an endless track, with end of level checkpoints every so-often. You have a certain length of time to get there, and then have a time extension to get to the next level.

There are power-ups to pick up along the way (which look very similar to the other cars on the road, craftily enough), and they do things like increasing your score; giving you boost; increasing your score multiplier; extra time and invincibility.

The basic premise is like in Burnout, where you need to have a 'near-miss' - don't touch any of the other cars, but pass as close to them as possible. The closer you get, the more boost you get. I occasionally feel slightly aggrieved at not getting boost when I expect it, but maybe that's just me?! ;p

There is no multi-player, but there are peer-to-peer scoreboards and as you play the game, you are told where you are on the scoreboard and how many points to get to the next level. This is a great feature!

It's very fast paced, and some of the levels are almost pitch-black save for the lights of the oncoming traffic. There is fog to contend with, and also 'white van drivers' who change lanes with no notice :)

There are also several awards to unlock and you can customise the colour and decals on your car.

This really is a great fun game, that I will keep coming back to over and over.

This is a fantastic game... lovely graphics and sounds - very cutesy!

I love the way when you highlight one of the characters, they either jump in anticipation, or shake their head depending on whether you are able to move them or not :) A great touch so you aren't reliant on knowing whether the highlighter is red or green :p

Many, many different puzzles based on solitaire. The controls work extremely well, using left analogue to highlight the one you want to move, and the right analogue to indicate where to move it to.

You can also use the B button at any stage to undo.

This is a game I will keep coming back to - loads of worlds, and characters to unlock featuring different puzzles... excellent fun for puzzlers of any age :)

Bargain at 80MSP!

Great game - if you like shoot-em-ups, this is a must buy, costing only 80MSP!

A totally different way of playing, having all your 'lives' on screen at once.

Easy to pick up and play, and no doubt difficult to master.

What's with the naked ladies and the attack of the robot boobies, though?! Must be in for the lads that bit, hehe! ;)

You can certainly do worse than Brethren of the Coast...

If you are in the look out for a real-time strategy, then this is a pretty decent one. Only problem is, the bugs....

I myself, managed to 'sail' through the tutorials with my only problem being that sometimes the instructions for what to do disappeared before I'd done it - I half put that down to not reading quick enough (although I was supposed to have to click a button to contine....)

The instructions were clear, and the controls worked well and as you'd expect. The graphics are good and look especially nice when you utilise all the camera controls.

The use of red and green dots for your course of sailing is a major bug bear of mine - red / green colourblind people will not see any difference! How about Red / Blue?! Or better yet, use a different shape instead of (or aswell as) changing the colour, then everyone can see that...

I'm not very good at this game, I'm afraid to say. I sail around, find the enemy pirate ship, and then whilst trying to line myself up properly so that my cannons will attack, I get destroyed, hehe! I do enjoy trying, though :)

I had to wait approximately 7/8 minutes for the Skirmish level against the CPU to load... why so long?! I couldn't abort either, just had to sit and wait for it to load.

Unfortuntely there have been no other players online to try that aspect of the game, but it's great that the option is there.

I have also had a couple of Code 4 errors which terminate the game, and send you straight to the dashboard - all I've done was try and start a new Campaign :(

Hopefully updates will sort out the problems, and then I'm sure we'll have a great game on our hands :)

This is a great little word game that I keep coming back to.

As explained below, you have 6 letters from which you need to make as many other words as possible, containing at least 3 letters. The words are blanked out above, and so you know whether you are still missing a 5 letter word, etc.

There are global high-scores, which work well - as I have been playing, new names have been appearing in the high-score list instantly.

The game definitely has that "one more go" thing going for it :)

One 'problem?' I ran across, was getting the same set of 6 letters within a few turns of each other... it didn't really help me any, as I still couldn't remember what the 6 letter word I could make from them was, hehe!

Unfortunately, I've not managed to get an online game yet - if anyone wants to take me on, my gamertag is hodsey78... feel free to add me :)

Only other issue for me is the controls. I don't find them very intuitive, and the analogue / d-pad doesn't really help. You need to select your letter by moving left / right to highlight it, and then pulling down. Once you have done this with all the letters, you submit the word with A. No matter how many goes I've had on this, I always want to select the letter with A - the amount of times I've accidentally tried to sumbit a 2 letter word is unbelievable(!)

But at the end of the day, I still keep coming back for more :) Recommended!

Well worth checking out if you like your action / puzzlers - that's if you're not colourblind, otherwise don't even go there....

The basic element of the game requires you navigate the tunnels of a mine and to kick and roll coloured boulders together in groups of 3 or more to make them disappear.

The mechanics work well, and the story mode is fun - shame there is no overlay that can be turned on for colourblind gamers - just a symbol or texture to the rocks would work :(

One of the best games to be released on XBLA for ages! This is what I have been saving my points for!

The trial is fantastic, teaching you everything you need to know - if you like the trial, you will love the game.

It's a puzzler where you use clones of yourself; switches; levers; platforms; trampolines; and even short recordings of yourself played back, in order to get all the pies on a level.

The graphics are gorgeous: looking like an old 50's film, the graphics are predominantly Black and White with only the pies being in colour.

There is the main levels to play through, and then bonus levels to try to clear within a certain time limit and using only a certain number of seconds recording time.

There are scoreboards to compare with all your friends, and plenty of levels to keep you going.

I'm sure this game will appeal to any puzzle fans, especially those that enjoyed Braid, as it has some similar concepts.

Fantastic!

Like killing zombies?! You'll love this game...

You start the game in a dark street, with the only light coming from a solitary lamp-post. All of a sudden, figures start to approach you, and armed only with a pistol you need to fight them off.

Some of the zombies amble towards you in the way that they do, others come at speed!

As with other shooters, you use the left analogue to move, the right analogue to aim, and RT to shoot.

Some zombie deaths result in money being dropped, others drop health or ammo.

You need to last out each level, and then you can purchase more ammo or weapons... you can even buy metal fencing and turrets!

It's a great little game that will keep you coming back for more, trying to better your previous scores. There are also global scoreboards so you can keep track of how well you are doing compared to others.

Not as arcadey as some other Zombie shooters out there, but just as much fun! A must buy at only 80MSP :)

I really wasn't keen on this game:

1) The controls are limited to the analogue stick and are 'twitchy' at best, despite there being quite a lot of options to change;

2) There is again, no colourblind option - all that is needed is a symbol on the blocks aswell as colour. I myself am not colourblind, but did struggle to see the difference with the red and orange.

3) The game just didn't feel fun to me.

I had a good go of all the modes, but having to start from level 1 each time on the Normal mode was annoying for me... so was not knowing whether the game was going to deem the playing area 'too large'.

Also, sometimes you are just waiting for more blocks to arrive so you can group them together - hardly "fast-paced"... could do with having a 'Speed up' button you can press to get the blocks in quicker.

Only 80 MSP though, so may be worth a gamble to some...

I love this game... took me a while to get into it, but now that I have, I think it's fab!

60% of the 400 point purchase price goes to charity, so c'mon folks... dig deep! It's well worth that price though, you won't be disappointed.

Similar to games like tetris and lumines, you need to fill the playing area with different shaped blocks. If you make a quad of at least 3x3, it starts to fill - you can then add other blocks to that quad, or can create other quads to go for a combo / multiplier.

There is a beat-bar, and when that passes over the blocks you've laid it makes music in time with the song title you are playing. Any quads you made are pushed into the playing area by the beat-bar and that section is then completed. You can check your completed section with Y (something I always forget to do!)

Any quads that are stamped into the playing area, quite often leave subsequent leftover pieces, due to the shape of the blocks you lay. You only have so many passes of the beat-bar in which to use up all those leftovers in creating new quads, else you lose your multiplier.

You're objective is to fill the entire area scoring as much as possible and in as quick a time as possible.

I'm not describing it very well, and to be fair, the instructions don't do a much better job, lol! But after a few goes, you'll get it :)

All the music is quite relaxing and trance-y (!) but not bad to listen to, even if you aren't a fan of that music genre normally.

Anyway... forget the trial - buy the game, it's for a good cause and is only 400 points :)

I held off doing a review as this game was pulled from the marketplace a couple of days after launch, due to unforseen problems.

The developer via www.mstargames.co.uk and Twitter has been keeping everyone informed of progress with the bugs, and even listened to feedback on things such as colourblind issues, control problems, etc. and now we have an updated and much improved Space Pirates from Tomorrow.

This is very much an Elite-type space shooter, with thousands of hours of gameplay and loads of star systems to discover - it really is probably the biggest Indie game out there...

The controls are tricky at first, but a welcome addition in the new update is the ability to change the controls - having roll / strafe on the bumper buttons, left analogue or right analogue stick.

The graphics are great, and the interactive tutorial with "Holly-esque" voice over (any Red Dwarf fans?!) is excellent. I initially played the trial and thought I'd never be able to play the game, but the tutorial in the full mode teaches you everything you need to know at a great pace.

I was flying around, shooting people out of the skies and raiding their cargo in no time :)

There is so much more to the game, including buying and selling in different markets; upgrading your vehicle, etc.

It really is a massive game, and one that really does raise the bar for Indie game developers.

At only 240 points, this is a must buy!

Fantastic game - love the art style, music, gameplay... everything! It's just magical!

It's like a cross between Lemmings and Loco Roco Cocoreccho (PS3) - it's got charm, great visuals, great music... what else could you want?!

Only thing is it would obviously suit a mouse / stylus controller better, but the controls still work well so what can you do?!

A definite purchase at only 80MSP - support great Indies games and buy it now!! :D

One of those hidden gems on the Indie games...

Very simple to play, but tricky to master - a case of pressing the buttons at just the right times to navigate obstacles and evade whoever / whatever is chasing you!

Definitely has that "just one more go" feel, and I love the art style and humour.

Like games of years gone by, once you die, you start from the beginning again (aarggh!), but it still gets you coming back for more :)

Would love to see online scoreboards - wonder if there'll be an update?!?! :)

An excellent strategy / board game... this really comes into it's own when playing against another human opponent.

Like a cross between chess and ludo, the object is to get your crates to their respective home whilst stopping your opponent from doing the same. You have a certain number of moves each turn, which can also include creating ice blocks to block your opponent.

It's a fantastic game where you really will need to think wisely about how to use your moves - do you rush straight towards your home, or go for blocking your opponent with your crate / ice blocks?

Only problem I have is the spinning on the main menu causes havoc with my vertigo, especially when I was reading the instructions of how to play - hope that goes in a future update!

As I'm typing this, I hear there has been an update for extra levels; more How To Play screens and a better lobby for local games - got to be worth a buy at only 240 points, hasn't it?! :)

Love the comic - excellent story and gorgeous visuals... just doesn't feel quite right on the Xbox 360 for me:

As I have a widescreen TV, the comic itself is in standard format, o there are large black borders either side. To get it large enough to read, I only have about a third of the comic on display, and need to scroll down to see the rest of the page. Pressing the button to turn the page, keeps it scrolled down, so I have to scroll back - quite annoying. Just never couls seem to get the zoom / scroll quite right.

Also, most button options are only displayed when you press Y, but the option telling you to press Y to display all the buttons is always shown along with the button for the trivia challenge and the page number, and they're right in the middle of the screen, covering the comic at times. I would like to be able to turn them all off or have them out of the way, really...

The trivia challenge is not really necessary for me, and I suppose it is just so that you feel like you are playing a game rather than just reading a comic... but it works fine, and could encourage people to concentrate more? Not sure...

I'm sure the control / visual issues could be fixed with an update - if you like the comic series (or any comics for that matter), I would definitely recommend. I'd never read any before and have really enjoyed what I've read so far :)

After playing the other two I was really looking forward to this one, but going from the totally easy Muzzled to this one was a steep learning curve! This is much harder!

Some of the puzzles are solid, lol!

So I've not finished this one yet, and I'm determined not to cheat :)

Still the same W & G humour, and all the gang are there. A golf themed storyline this time, which is fun :)

Recommended if you like your point 'n' click adventures (but you may want to try the others first) :)

It's a great game for a fast frantic game of American Football.

Very easy to pick up and play, even if you don't have much knowledge of the game.

4 downs (turns) to get up the field and score a touchdown - if you don't manage to get there, play 'turnsover' and you become the defence and have to stop the other player scoring a touchdown. In the default settings, it is the first to score 30 that wins.

There are special moves that are available to the attack and defense, which do things suck as making you fumble the ball; increasing speed; putting extra players on the field, etc.

It's a great game, and there seem to be plenty of people playing online. The only problem is the price - at 1200 it's just that bit too expensive for some people to take a gamble on....give the trial a go and see what you think! :D

Very addictive little game...

Similar in look to the baseball on Wii Sports, the object is to get as many home runs (balls hit straight into the crowd) as you can.

Each hit into the crowd counts towards your streak, and the more you get, the bigger the points multiplier.

There are also targets to hit, which increase your score - red, green and blue. These, however, are more pot luck than skill.

You have 5 'lives' - if you miss a home run, you lose a life, and you lose your streak and multiplier.

One of those games were you'll need just one more turn!

Global highscores and use your avatars to play :)

Brill!

Spent about 40 minutes on this one straight... it was half addictive, and half irritating, lol! The thing is, I was getting irritated by the same things as the main character you control, haha! (Go here, get those, copy them, come back to me, repeat x 3!)

It's really quite amusing and some of the scenarios are just like in my office, lol!

So far, it's like a linear Sims game - I have to make sure I eat, sleep, drink and go to the toilet, but also complete various tasks along the way to progress the story.

I'm hoping it gets less linear, as currently I'm getting told exactly what you do...

The graphics are fun and the story is a laugh too.

The main problem I found was that it was very twitchy when selecting an object to interact with - I was finding myself pressing A sometimes 3 times to select an item, by which time it had focussed on something else - soooo annoying!

If you like the trial, then buy it - definitely worth a purchase at only 80 points!

An excellent picross game, which I fully recommend.

Excellent graphics and LOADS of puzzles... should keep you going for ages!

Earn credits by completing puzzles, and use those to unlock others, or buy hints - very handy on some of these puzzles!

Works just like picross on DS, where parts of the numbers are greyed out if you solve that section, which is great.

Only problem for me is the twitchy d-pad and the sensitive analogue - not a problem with the game, more a problem with the controller :p

Any fans of picross games / thinking puzzle games should love this - comes complete with in-game awards.

Excellent!

Great quirky little game - thumb wars!

There's a tutorial to teach you the basics of the game, but it's really quite simple... guess how many thumbs people are going to 'put in' - you guess right, you put one arm behind your back... guess right again, and you win!

Play in tournaments, or multi-player with upto 4 people. This seems really popular with the Japanese, and I've always managed to get a game online - it's great fun!

You get a win as long as you aren't the the last to go out, so in 4 player games, as long as you finish at least 3rd, you're OK :)

In-game awards too!

Highly recommended for some quick action - you need skill AND luck for this game :)

I absolutely love this game... a proper old skool RPG dungeon crawler. Totally reminds me of playing Mystic Tower on my Spectrum 48k with the Currah uSpeech unit, hehe! "The aard-vark licks at you and mis-ses!" :D

You can only see a few squares around you, and all the rest of the dungeon is black. You have to obtain as much gold as possible, within the dungeons, and of course, there is all manner of evil out to stop you.

The controls are as you'd expect, with an added (and wonderful!) option of pressing B to bring up a precise control, so that you can target exactly which direction you want to go in / attack with the analogue stick... brilliant! - totally solves all the frustration that I have with the Xbox D-pad :)

The dungeons are always different, and there are all kinds of goodies (food, armour, potions, weapons, scrolls, etc) to collect on the way - with different effects on some of the items depending on which dungeon you are in. It's just brilliant :D

It can be played with a keyboard, chatpad, or the regular joypad - I used the latter, and it was just fine.

The only reason for not getting a perfect 10 for me, is that I would love to have some kind of store where you can use the Gold you've hoarded :)

Currently the text explaining the result of using a potion or item overlays the item list in your inventory, but this is currently being corrected in an update according to the developer.

With awards and global high scores, I'd definitely recommend this to everyone to try - it may not be your cup of tea, but 100% give it a go :)

Can't believe this one had passed me by on the marketplace - it... is... AWESOME!

It's a cross between pool and a strategy board game.

You play on a square board, with discs, similar to those on an air-hockey game. There are four holes in the corner of the board, and you have to use your 'pushing disc' to 'pot' all the discs of your colour in the holes. You then have to pot the red queen.

You can only push your disc from your baseline, so you are always facing the same way for your shots - this is where you may have to do doubles :)

It's brilliant!

The presentation is excellent, and the playable tutorial and instructions teach you everything you need to know. There are different boards and discs to unlock, and you can play with up-to 4 players, including an online mode.

I would definitely recommend this game to anyone - the only thing missing for me is a fine tune button for the aiming... my fingers are just a bit too twitchy sometimes :)

Now... where can I buy myself one of these boards in real life?! I want one!!

I had no idea before using this program what overscan was. This 'game' shows you the amount of overscan on your TV, which is the area around the screen that is not shown on your TV.

The results of the test were quite interesting, with my Sony Bravia having 97.5% on the horizontal, but showing almost the full amount of pixels on the vertical.

What I would now do with this information, I'm not sure... but I understand there are many people out there that would like to know the overscan for their TVs, and if so, this application is for you :)

The presentation is excellent, with the measurements of the sniper scope showing the amount of overscan. If you aren't happy with the results, feel free to press Y to shoot the TV :)

There are several channels that you can switch the TV to, and they show things like Brightness, Red, Green, Blue, Checkerboard test, etc. If you could enlarge them to full screen, I think they would be of more use (hopefully in an update?), but as it stands they have limited use. But these are only additional features.

Once you've used it once, you probably won't need to use it again, unless you upgrade your TV set, I suppose?

At only 240 points, it is a lot cheaper than the alternatives out there, and so if you are interested in the overscan on your TV, this is a must-buy.

I really want to like this game, but there is just something...

I think for me my main problem, is that it seems to give me a feeling of vertigo. It's due to the way you are playing in a bigger playing area than the screen size, and when you move, your ship moves so far across the screen, and then the background scrolls - well, the stars of the background don't change position, but the swirling vortex does, which gives a kind-of 3D feeling and it really messes with my mind, lol! I can only play for a few minutes, which is a shame...

It feels like a not-quite-as-good cross between Super Sstardust (PSN) and Geometry Wars... but just something isn't quite there.

Not for me, this one, but definitely give it a try :)

Well, what can I say... it's Reversi (Othello) - I'm sure most people will have played it at some point? Take turns to add a coloured piece to the board, to "capture" your opponent's pieces - if your colours surround your opponent's, they turn to your colour, and so on, until the board is filled. (The instructions on the main menu of the game were a little strange, I've got to say(!))

The traditional reversi / othello game uses round playing pieces, and the graphical style of this variant is pretty cool: using the squares and the paint brush. But I must admit, half the time I just wanted a straight-forward top-down view, which I couldn't quite achieve with the camera?

Anyway... the game works exactly as you'd expect, which is great! There is a two-player mode, but it's offline only.

Leaderboards and online 2-player would have been great :)

But 80MSP is a bargain if you don't have a reversi-style game already - great for a quick bash :)

Some great reviews of this already, so I'm gonna keep mine pretty simple :)

It's a fun real-time strategy game, where the object of the game is to conquer all the planets, turning them your colour.

First time I played, I had absolutely no idea what was going on :) The more I played it, the more I couldn't stop having "just one more go".

Another of those games you may struggle with if you are colour-blind, unfortunately :( and I wish there was a single-player campaign mode, rather than just choose your settings and battle. Or even just a high score board? But maybe these could be added in the future?

Anyway... for 80 MSP it's a bargain - recommended!

Completed this within about 3 hours, from start to finish and didn't get stuck on any of the puzzles.... either my playing of The Last Resort has stood me in good stead, or it was easier than the first?

Having said that, I did enjoy the storyline and setting more :) Plus, I've missed loads of 'cheevos, so I'm gonna have to have at least another play through, which ain't a bad thing :)

But in this episode, you play as Gromit much more than Wallace...

So, it was quick to complete, but a great game, with a fun story and good (if a little easy) puzzles that you solved mostly as Gromit....I'm giving it the same as the last one... 8/10 :)

Thought this looked really complicated, but after a couple of goes it's really easy to pick up :) There is an interactive tutorial to teach you everything you need to know, so I won't try and do that here :)

But the object of the game is getting more points that the people (or bots) you are playing against, by using the slots and scratching matching symbols off your cards.

I love it, fantastic game... but alas, it's another of those games that if you are red / green colour blind you may struggle with :( So my husband's luck is out with this one. Having said that, he can see the different colours, he just needs a bit longer to match them on the cards, and it's a pretty fast paced game. If only the colours were red, blue and yellow...... :p

If you aren't colour blind, and like fast-paced puzzlers, this is for you :)

Managed to play in a couple of online sessions, which were great too.

Picked this up recently for half price - it's a good game, but I find it really quite difficult!

I'm obviously better at the slower pace of Uno... when I do win at this, it's more luck than actual skill, lol!

And I never seem to quite know which card I'm trying to shuffle!? Or the stupid D-pad has selected the wrong one for me?! I need more practise, I think!

Definitely prefer the regular Uno, but will persevere with this one - I'm sure I'll get better with more experience :)

Wow! Some harsh reviews for this game!

Whilst I don't think it's perfect, it's deinitely worth more that 3/10(!)

Obviously not going to appeal to people that don't like point'n'click games, and yes... it worked better on the PC / Amiga with a mouse... but this is still a great game - humerous; fun; good puzzles... even has some car chase arcade bits in there :)

I've only played the first few levels so far, but what I have played, I enjoyed...

Definitely have a go of the trial and don't dismiss it due to the other reviews - the Sam 'n' Max games are some of the best adventure games out there, and whilst this isn't the best it certainly is nowhere near being the worst.

For some reason, I keep coming back to Tower Bloxx Deluxe... it definitely has that "One More Go" thing going for it :D

It's just a straight forward game - build the biggest tower, by dropping parts directly on top of others. But coupled with it showing how far you've got to go to beat people on your friends' list, your competitive streak shows :D

Unfortunately I have some super players on my friends' list and I have absolutely NO CHANCE of beating them on this game, haha!

Give the trial a go, and see if it's your thing ;)

I'd never played a Wallace and Gromit game before... actually... I've never even really watched the show / movies! But I started playing this, and couldn't put it down!

Great point'n'click style game, with puzzles that'll make you think but on the whole aren't so hard that you get completely stuck for days. :)

I was up 'til about 2 am playing this one day - I just couldn't stop! I now have the others to look forward too, and have since bought "A Matter of Loaf and Death" as I now have a new fondness for the gang :D

Great graphics, puzzles, and voice-overs... brill!