Posts filed under ‘Other’

A new interesting game has popped up on Google Play. Ghost SEED is a location based game that divides players amongst 3 different corporations. Your phone becomes a device capable of sensing quantum events and placing quantum Selective Entropy Emitting Dualities (SEED). Players will defend the fort seeds with defensive seeds and attack enemy seeds with axe seeds. The area that you can effect is limited, which encourages movement to gain strategic positioning. To gain more money to buy more seeds, players must traverse across the map looking for boson bursts. The particles are collected and sold to the marketplace. Now, due to quantum laws, you won’t see other players on the maps, just their seeds. Currently, as the game is not wide spread yet, the forts I placed give control of a 2.5km area to my corporation which gives an added bonus to particles collected.

I think the game is a great idea. The only thing I wish is some ability to communicate with fellow players. Or perhaps seeing players that are only close to me. Either way, I’m trying to get it spread across the workplace to create, well, a war. Give it a try for yourself, after all it is free.  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ctenophore.gsoclient

If you’ve ever wanted to feel the element of RPG slightly more in a pinball game than you do in other fantasy styled pinball tables, then this week’s release of Zen Studios’ Epic Quest table is right up your alley. Zen has been thinking about this and working on it for some time now, and finally it is released to the masses for their enjoyment. “How”, you ask, “How can they fit RPG into a pinball table?” Well it is simply. You see, Officer Pinball was driving his police car and ran over a nerd with a pen and paper game under his arm… Ok that is just a bad joke. Seriously though, let me walk you through the game and show off the RPGness of it all.

Your player character is already chosen for you and given the name Max. Sorry, they had to make it the same but if you try really hard you can pretend you are special and the only Max in the world. While Max is trying to heroically fight evil and monsters, he also wants to find gold and loot while doing so. Zen Studios pushed hard on character development to really bring Max to life for the player. His heroism is epic, but so is his comedic posture and language. The development team hopes to hit a vein with those who enjoy other comedic parodies, such as Monty Python’s Holy Grail. I find the comedy light and playful and not as dirty as say, Medieval Madness.

Let me walk you through the table, and while you read me explaining I hope you follow along with the numbered picture above (open in another window, it is very large) so as not to confuse you so much. Start with the plunger at 1 trying to make the skill shot in the middle stall in the barn at 2. You’ll need to depress the plunger so that the ogre’s teeth are barely covered and you’ll have to practice this quite a bit. Even after playing for 4 days, I still can only make this half of the time. If you make the shot you will travel down the wire slot, or if you make another stall you will enter the playing field as well. If you over shoot, you’ll have your chance to enter the orcanium at 4 with the flipper at 3. (I like to remember it as the response to the statement, “I can do magic, Or can I? UM”) You can also get back up to the flipper at 3 by taking a ride on the waterwheel at 5. If you miss all of that and then miss your regular flippers and still have the quest again light, the ball will launch itself and be grabbed by the plant at 6 and then spit onto the field. This is probably so you don’t get bonuses on a play again launch. You can encounter your battles by getting into the orcanium(4) or if I remember correctly, entering the forest(7) enough by taking the loop at 6 or just a too soft of orbital loop around the outside where it drops in. Also sometimes the ball launcher at 8 will spit you there as well. Then it will spit you back on the field towards the flippers or sometimes over the smash target(9) and by Max. During battles, you can dodge an attack by taking the outside loop, you can add time until you are attacked by hitting bumpers such as the ones in the forest(7), or you can hit the smash target(9) for a big attack. Normal attacks are at the sword ramp(11) and the shield ramp(10) will defend yourself. You can also go into the orcanium to cast spells if you have been in there before and collecting them. Entering the orcanium(4) with a battle either gives you one or a spell it seems. In the orcanium(4) you use the right flipper to push 4 wood plungers out to knock the ball into holes. Going there during battle without a spell will still let you push the ball in for extra points. After a battle, you can sometimes find loot in the orbital loop, or sometimes hitting the ball launcher at 8 seems to let you “purchase” new armors and whatnot. The yellow items are regular, blues are rare, and purples are EPIC! Hidden at 12 you will find a healer, in case you take too much damage. This is in case you health(14) is low and you need more time to take your opponents health(15) down.  After heavy battles, the princess(13) might reward you. Take the shield ramp(10) and the tube will take you to her. Use your flippers to select when to drop the ball onto her dressy roulette wheel. The best part of all of this is that the items you end up finding stay with Max every time you play. You’ll level up with the XP bar(16) and it controls several things in the game such as:

• Hit Point base (HP) which includes damage base and the opposing monster’s hit point and
• damage base
• The value of loot (the score you get when you sell an unused item)
• The possibility of encountering a monster with elemental resistance / weaknesses
• The possibility of finding an epic item
• The knight’s rank
• o Progression: Minor Knight → Knight → High Knight → Champion → Monster Hunter →
• Golden Knight → Arch Knight → Veteran Looter → Epic Hero
• The Jackpot value of the Princess Multiball
• The ball out bonus (XP bonus)
• The XP required for the next level

Ok, now you should know how to play the game. I know that sometimes it is hard to catch on to how irregular pinball games are played, so I hope you feel clued in on what this table is about. Zen Studios really did their best to create a new type of pinball game without leaving the pinball purists behind. I think this table is quite challenging and believe me when I say I did not spoil it for you in the least in this review. There is much, much more for you to discover on your own. In fact, you’ll discover how hard it is to hit the sword ramp and smash target. Well, I had difficulty in doing so at least. I played a local hotseat with my wife and I think she has taken down more enemies than I have. In fact, if multiplayer would keep a high score, she would own me on this game. Meanwhile, the playful wording of Max’s lines and the excellent uniqueness of the art distract me from these challenges and my shortcomings. Truly this table is Epic!

Epic Quest, is now available for download for Pinball FX2 on Xbox LIVE® Arcade for 240 MSP, Zen Pinball on PlayStation®Network for $2.49, Apple App®Store and Android Marketplace™ for $0.99.

This post is for Dan, lover of the TV show Dexter. Ecko|Code and Showtime have come together to give Facebook users a chance to experience the stealthy and deadly nature of Dexter. The game is to combine “real-time stealth” with the jests and suspense the show carries. “Dexter Slice of Life shows how social play online is evolving – this is a deep transmedia experience that both gamers and fans of the show will love,” said Marc Fernandez, EVP of Development at Ecko|Code. “People can play anytime as Dexter or their own custom made ‘Dark Passenger.’ Dexter is a brilliant, complex show that asks as many questions as it answers, and this game is an extension of that.”  The game will allow players to switch between playing as Dexter and playing as their own dark passengers. Players will be able to silence their friend’s sometime evil persona, even when they are not online themselves. The game will update after each episode of season 6, starting with the one that aired the other night. (Yes, Dexter is back on if you haven’t noticed.) Dan just gave a pass on this game, so I am sure he is busy with other Dexterous tasks or just hates Facebook. For those that love Dexter and don’t hate Facebook, check the game out at http://apps.facebook.com/dextersliceoflife.

As if there weren’t enough gambling going on in your life already between casino’s, PC games, and friendly poker nights; PhantomEFX has a new Facebook app to give your pleasant booking time a greater attraction. Starting yesterday, the Reel Deal Slots Facebook app is live and offers an exciting way to play. Not only will you need to manage your moolah, but also your spins. Spins are earned every 5 hours or so after collecting your last bonus and are affected by whatever level you have currently earned. Run out of spins and you’ll have to patiently wait and get some actual work done at the office. Fear not though, you can earn more spins by inviting friends, earning achievements, or, if you’re one of those people that buy things on Facebook you could do that too. As you level up,  you will unlock new slot games that offer new achievements and bonuses. Right now I’m working on the first slot game, Pied Piper of Hamelin. The Pied Piper takes rats off the board and you have the chance in the bonus game to keep them off the board and have them forever replaced by flutes. I’m hoping this means that a flute jackpot will be big. One of the main things I love about their app is the fact that it runs on the Unity Web Player; Good Bye Flash!!!!!! This is a highly addicting game and has earned the developers behind this both a special spot in our hearts at home and also a spot in our own personal hell reserved for them for making video crack. Check it out on Facebook, the first hit is free.

Reel Deal Slots Facebook App Features:

• Instantly playable slots with superior graphics and sound!
• Five reel slots complete with bonus rounds.
• A variety of slots to choose from, each containing various achievements for players to unlock additional slots and earn prizes, making for a truly thrilling experience.
• New and exciting slots featured each month along with themed events and challenges for players to participate in.
• Take on your friends to see who has what it takes to dominate the leader boards while posting achievements on one another’s walls and gifting various items.
• Enter tournaments and play for the big jackpots against friends and the Facebook community.
• Bragging rights are earned by getting on the leader boards!

By the Way, it’s totally a 5 star game!

This summer, FUNimation and Good Game Productions will release a Fullmetal Alchemist turn based RPG. Entitled Fullmetal Battle, players will be able to access the game via iOS, Android, and Facebook.  They hope to capture long time fans of the series and newcomers to the world with the game’s fast paced group battles. Players will be able to create their own state licensed alchemist complete with abilities inspired by the Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood series. They can also challenge characters from the series such as the main two, the Elric brothers. Although the press release says you will be given helpful hints from Col. Roy Mustang, any fan knows that Mustang’s hints are generally not very helpful. The most interesting aspect seems to be the group battles. Players have to fight together in 3 vs 3 battles, but the experience and leveling will take place separately through the special abilities each player selected. I can say that I am excited to see this when it arrives.

It was just a few weekends ago that I was down at the mall in Rochester, MN. My girlfriend and I stumbled into an Air Traffic Kites & Games store. We immediately found a game that she had been looking for, but then proceeded to peruse the store some more. After all, who can help it when there are just that many board games and other toys around? It wasn’t too long before I started looking at a game called Redneck Life.
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So let me come clean with everyone for just a moment.  I, Matt, have begun to play role playing games.  No, not talking about Harvest Moon, Pokemon, or any other video game out there.  I am talking about good old fashioned pen and paper games.

What too me so long?  I am 25, how did I never play these before?   Ok, so I think the main pushers of P&P RPGs are the players themselves.  After all, to get a game going you need a least one person running it and at least one person playing it.  Of course, it works better when there are more people playing.

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