The Arcade: A Monthly Roundup of Free Games (September 2008)
It is hard to believe that summer is already starting to turn to fall. I have been noticing lately that the mornings are a little crisper…and a whole lot darker when I leave for work. Pretty soon mowing the lawn will give way to raking leaves. In fact, my kids have already started talking about what they would like to be for Halloween. Of course, this time of year also means a return to our insanely hectic routine of school, soccer, Cub Scouts, and more. It is amazing that I even had time to test one free game, let alone five. But I did find the time to look at:
Not long ago, I featured a fantastic game in this space, Arukone. Arukube is the next evolutionary step in that game. Gameplay works the same in both games. You will be faced with a grid containing several pairs of shapes. You must draw a line connecting the matching pairs. The difference, as always, lies in the details. Arukube introduces an additional parameter by telling you the required length of the line connecting the matching pairs of shapes. By requiring the line to be a specific length, the developers have really added a whole new dimension of difficulty to the game.
This is a genre which was popular way back in the 1980’s or so. I have not seen it in probably 20 years, but all of a sudden it is popping up all over the place. It is a simple, but extremely fun game. You captain a rocketship which is running low on fuel as it comes in to the moon base. Use your attitude controls to bump it left and right, and your jets to soften your descent or thrust yourself back upwards. Hit the landing pad to advance. Hit anywhere else and you will burn in a fiery explosion (sorry, your game will end). Every level also contains additional fuel and a rocket upgrade. Try to grab those if you are feeling adventurous.
Oranga Programaro is quickly becoming my favorite developer of free, classic card games. Their rendition of Uno is exquisite, allowing up to four players to swap red, blue, yellow, or green numbered cards. Watch out for the wild cards and draw four. Everything you remember from this childhood favorite is ready to be discovered in this one, including the frustration of having someone else go out just as you are about to play your last card and win the game.
Every Poker lover has probably spent some time with Video Poker. It is sort of like the slot machine version of Poker. Just place your bet and hit Draw. You will be dealt five cards (no Hold’Em here). Tap the cards you want to keep, and hit Draw again. If you score a pair of Jacks or better, then you win. Fail and you lose your bet. I thought this was a good rendition of the popular barroom game, though I did get a bit tired of the card backs. It would be nice if there was a bit more customization in there.
You have all played Sokoban in one form or another. It is an incredibly popular, and oft copied game (in fact, variations have been featured in this column previously.) The concept is pretty simple. You are in a room with several boxes (in this case treasure chests) and targets. All you have to do is slide the boxes onto the targets. Sounds easy enough. This simple sounding puzzle game will soon have you gnashing your teeth and pulling out your hair as that last box keep sliding just past the target. It is a fast paced and highly addictive game. The Caisses variation originally appeared on the Nintendo DS, but was quickly ported to Windows Mobile. With hundreds of levels to complete, you had better make sure you have enough free time before you start this one. Because once you start, there will be no stopping until you have solved all of the puzzles.
Well, that is going to do it for another exciting month of free games. Now, I have a bit of a confession to make to all of our dear readers. The well is running dry, and I have been having an increasingly difficult time finding quality free games to showcase every month. As such, The Arcade may soon have to cease as a regular item here at My Today Screen. So, I am relying on all of you to help. If you want to see The Arcade continue into next year, all you have to do is send me a list of your favorite free games. You can leave it in a comment or send it to me using the Contact Us link.
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Doug, could you tell me how to get Moonlander? If I go to the Brask Software website, they link to Handango, and there when I select my device it says
“‘Moonlander’ is currently unavailable and cannot be purchased.
Please select another product.”
How did you get it onto your device?
SPM, I am pretty sure I got it from that same Handango link. But it is working fine for me.
http://www.handango.com/PlatformProductDetail.jsp?productId=13166&platformId=2
doug
I got the same message as spmwinkel from the Handango site.
“‘Moonlander’ is currently unavailable and cannot be purchased.
Please select another product.”
Well now you guys have jinxed me. I was able to get in fine this morning and now I am getting the same error message. Sorry about that, folks.
Doug
Hmm too bad. Thanks for checking!
Moonlander worked for me this evening. Do I need to email the zip to you folks?
Uno is really nice and the graphics are pretty realistic too. I’d agree with Doug that Oranga Programaro’s Solomonk is a first-rate programmer/designer. Very impressive freeware.
Yeah, I have covered three of Oranga’s games so far and all have been fantastic. By accident, I almost covered two at once this month, as they just released a new one (Pazzazz) but ended up catching it in time.
And I also have the zip file of Moonlander which I can email if anyone would like to try it.
Doug
Ha! First I tried getting the free version (the larger button), and that didn’t work.
This morning I tried downloading the trial (small text link under the larger button) and it worked fine…
I’m not sure if this trial is limited (I haven’t tried it) but since it’s a free game I’m assuming that the “trial” will probably be the full game.
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