Balanced Puzzle Games

Puzzle games have occupied our minds since early ages, not only solving them, but creating them also. There are many game developers out there busting their heads on how to create challenging puzzles. Some of them overdid it and created puzzles for people with an IQ way above the average. On the other hand others are just in the middle of the mind field, tasteful and challenging, but not to difficult.
  
Conceptis Puzzles, step forward please.

These guys are developing puzzle games for years. Their games are with consistent design and can be recognized on any website. The in-game menus of the games are clear as there can be, with well written tutorials and rules so anyone can have a pretty good idea what the game is all about.

We will take a look at some of the Conceptis' games that should not be avoided.

 Hashi

Hashi

First game I would like to mention is called Hashi. The objective of this game is to connect two circles (also called islands) with lines, a.k.a. bridges. Each circle has a number displayed in it whose value represents the number of bridges that can be connected to it. To connect the islands simply click on the empty space between them. The link between two islands can be made out of two links maximum. You can always undo or redo the move from the top left menu. The game ends when all circles are connected correctly. There are many puzzles divided into three difficulty levels which makes this game playable by anyone. In addition you can save your progress and finish your game later on. You can also check for any connection mistakes, and for those that are really really stuck there is an almighty "solve the puzzle for me" button.

 Calcudoku

Calcudoku

Next game I would like to mention in this post is Calcudoku. The game concept is similar to that of Regular Sudoku.
The similarities with Sudoku are the empty grid, the rule that you must enter numbers in every square, and the rule that every number must appear exactly once horizontally and vertically.
The difference is that the grid is not divided into 9 squares but instead it is divided into blocks surrounded by bold lines. Each block has a clue on it's top left corner. Each clue's value must be produced by the numbers in the squares of that block depending on the math operation displayed on the top of the grid.
The in-game menu is the same as for Hashi and every other game from Conceptis Puzzles - user friendly.


Next game is well known by most of you. You have certainly played this one with your friends using only pen and paper and had tons of fun. We are talking about Battleships, an all time favorite two player pen and paper game, but this version has an extra Conceptis flavor to it.

Battleships

Battleships

As in the original version of Battleships, in this version also, the objective is to find the enemy's fleet scattered across the grid. The grid represents the ocean.
There are couple of  battleships with different size placed on the grid depending on the size of the grid. The numbers on the right and bottom side of the grid represent the number of squares occupied by ships. The main rule is that two ships cannot touch neither horizontally, nor vertically, or diagonally. Click on a square or hold and drag a line with the left mouse button to either mark it as water or ship. The game ends when you find all battleships in the ocean.


These are only three out of many logic puzzles developed by Conceptis. Feel free to take a look at more of them or visit the official site at conceptispuzzles.com for full list of  their games.


Until the next time,

Play Responsibly.  

Multiplayer Games - Super Mechs First Encounter

Log in Window

Couple of days ago I stumbled upon a game called Super Mechs that got my attention. It is a free turn based multiplayer game developed by Tacticsoft that can be played in your browser without a need for download. For the time being there are around 300-500 people online at any time, meaning it is not that crowded.

The concept of the game is fairly simple, at least for those that are familiar with strategy games. You control your own Mech (Mech stands for mechanical), after you log in as a guest, through your Facebook account, or you register without a need for email confirmation. If you log in as a guest you won't be able to play with other people online and you will lose your progress. The game is still in Beta testing which means it still has some glitches here and there. The good side of the game is that you don't need hours to play, nor special skills. It can be played only by mouse and one battle lasts approximately one minute or less.

The Basics

 Tutorial

At the beginning of the game you start as a level 1 Mech and you are guided through the basics of the game by a tutorial right until you reach level 3. You and the opposite player, or computer, take turns (two moves each turn) and try to outsmart one another by using strategy and carefully planing your moves. The rewards after winning or losing a match are experience points (needed to level up and get stronger), coins (needed to buy new items from the workshop), and ranking points (needed to brag around how good you are).
 

 

Main Atributes

As for any other game in which the goal is to destroy the opponent in Super Mechs also the most important stat are the hit points, followed by heat and energy. I won't explain the hit points having in mind that a housewife who didn't even get close to PC games won't read this post (apologies to the ones that did). Some items like weapons and shields require energy to use.
Heat represents the overload of the Mech. If the heat rises above the bar, the engine will shut down and you won't be able to move until the engine is below the overheating level. Heat is gained by using certain weapons or by being hit by the opponent with a weapon that generates heat on impact. Many battles are won by the clever use of cooling, a button on the bottom left of the in-game screen.
Bullets and rockets are used to fire from certain weapons (or some drones, a special item), and there is a limited number of both.

Components

Super Mech Components

The Mech is built out of couple of components:

• Torso
• Legs
• Side Weapons
• Top Weapons
• Special Items
• Kits and Modules

When you hover over an item bunch of stats appear, like price, hit points, energy capacity, energy regeneration, heat, shutdown heat reduction and other stats depending on the item type. I know it's confusing, like any other good strategy game that requires your full attention.

So, lets continue by explaining the components of the Super Mech. Above is a picture of my level 23 Mech in the workshop so you get a better idea of what am I talking about.

Torso

Determines the arrangement of the weapons,  what type of weapons can you use, hit points, energy, heat, energy regeneration (after each turn),  how many points of heat can you lower after shutting down the engine, and number of kits and modules. In general, the torso determines what kind of Mech will you use, so be careful and read the stats before deciding to purchase a torso without bullets and all you have are bullet type of weapons.

Legs

There are two kind of legs, the ones that can move one or more steps, and the ones that can move and jump. Some legs can move many steps but can't get over the opponent while others cannot move that much but can get on the other side of the opponent.

Side & Top Weapons

The right combination of weapons can easily win the battle. The number and type of weapons you can carry is determined by the torso. There are weapons that use heat, energy, rockets, bullets, and the combinations heat-bullets, heat-rockets. Different weapon can fire at the different distance. My own strategy is to use a combination of weapons that cover the full field.

Special Items

There are 5 types of special items that can be used one time per battle: Drone (fire after ending of each turn), Shield (consumes energy to reduce damage),  Teleport (move wherever you want on the field once per battle), Charge (charge the enemy and knock back the opponent), and Harpoon (grab the opponent towards you). Smart use of these items can also win the battle.

Kits and Modules

Modules are used to boost a certain stat or a combination of two, the ability is passive. As for kits, they can be used as much as you want in a single battle, they cost one move to use, but are expandable.


These are the basics of Super Mechs. Of course there is more to it, but I'll leave you to enjoy the game and discover the tricks and tweaks for yourself.

And for the dessert, this is my Mech completely destroying that poor guy's can:

CMPT Vs.  Whoever

Until the next time,

Play Responsibly.

Playing MMORP Games - WoW Pros and Cons

Today we are going to dive into gaming world, to be precise, MMORPG world (Massively Multiplayer Online Role-playing Game), a mouthful. No, I am not going to discuss the games, but the benefits and the downside of playing them. This is my personal experience, so let's get on with it.

As a passionate WarCraft player I remember the day when they announced the coming of World of Warcraft, and I can remember the feeling - unlimited joy, not just for me but my friends also. Finally we would be able to play the game we were addicted to, from the comfort of our own homes instead of piling up in a club and play LAN. So, they released the game somewhere at the end of 2004 and I got it at the beginning of 2005, got comfy in my chair and didn't get up for couple of years ...



The game was hard and it required my full focus and dedication. My real life discipline level was close to 0, meaning I did what I want and when I want it. For the first time in my life I was on time for something every day - RAID ! Whenever there was an announcement I was there, not a minute late. My avatar was there actually, I was home eating chips in front of the monitor. So, my discipline level go a bit higher, on a scale from 1 to 10, around 4. I was doing what I want but not when I want it, but still, my discipline went on another level.

For me to be every day on a given spot and give my 100% it was impossible, but not this time. To play MMORPG requires dedication, not just discipline. It means you must learn what you have to do and do it perfectly. Remember we are talking about WoW in the early days when you needed a guild, a sane guild master with Japanese organizational skills and a team of 40 crazy people free of any obligations that have 8 hours a day. All you need nowadays is 15 minutes to down Deathwing with a random bunch of misfits. They fully destroyed the core of what MMORPG stands for.
Anyway, my dedication went to unimaginable level. I studied my character from head to toes, practiced every day, and fulfilled my duty almost perfectly. If I was muscular guy (and not skinny one) and got proper training in real life I would be a commando! But I am not interested in being a commando, have no passion for it, nor interest.

Remember when you play a 3D game for the first time after couple of months you get dizzy and you need to throw up? That's your brain confused from all the rapid eye movement. After couple of days or months your eye muscles get stronger thus preventing eye movement disorders. On contrary to popular belief that looking into a monitor can hurt your eyes I experienced the opposite. My sight got sharper and I don't have any headaches whats so ever. Only a crappy, unadjusted or spherical monitor can hurt your eyes if you look at it for too long.

Another thing that got boosted were my reflexes. Now, we are talking about lazy guy here with a reflexes of a dead horse. After couple of months I became a typing monster. My brain and my hands were communicating with a Bruce Lee speed. Too bad MMORPG does not involve the whole body!

For the first time in my life I was good at something. I was on point, dedicated, disciplined soldier. What did I get in return? Nothing, more than nothing! The sad thing was that at the same time I was good at wasting  my life. All those things like discipline and dedication were sucked up by a monster that feeds on my time, my life. The connection was the passion for it, but in life you must do things that you are not passionate about and you need to do them with the same dedication that you have for playing games or whatever you are passionate about that does not bring you any benefits.

I'm not saying "don't play games", just be mindful about the time and resources spent on the "beast". If your real life sucks because of it then that's your wake-up call. Regroup and use your abilities to do something beneficial for yourself and those around you, otherwise, you are doing it wrong! I'm still playing games, 10 minutes a day. There are a lot of sites out there that offer mind enhancing games that don't require 8 hours a day. My personal favorites are Chat Noir and Slider.They tease my brain and do not eat my time.

Until the next time,

Play Responsibly.