The Arcade: A Monthly Roundup of Freeware Games (October 2008)

Well, here we are…October.  Have I ever mentioned how much I hate October?  I mean sure, my boys and I get to dress up like superheroes and run around scaring people and begging for candy.  But other than that, this is one of my least favorite months.  This is the time when summer gives way to winter.  What’s that?  Autumn? Apparently, this part of the country does not officially recognize that fourth season.  We go straight from 85 to 35.  Pretty much overnight.  And this week has been the start of the 35.  Brrrrrr.  Bring back June!

With all of this cold weather, as you might imagine, we have been stuck inside quite a bit.  And that means lots of time to hunt around the Internet searching for free games.  This month, from the warmth of my wintertime cocoon, we bring you:

1. Pocket Pachisi

2. Pipes

3. Samulos

4. Turbo 21

5. BoxUp

Pocket Pachisi

OK.  Everyone raise your hand if you did not grow up playing Parchisi (or some variation like Sorry).  Yeah, that’s what I thought.  You all know what you are getting here.  Start with your four colored pieces in the Start bubble.  Roll the dice and race around the outer edge of the board until your pieces are all resting safely at Home.  Sounds easy enough.  The trick?  Well, there are three other teams trying to beat you home.  This is another fantastic board game for the Pocket PC from Oranga Programmaro.  It features the same fantastic graphics and smooth animation which we have come to expect from these folks.  And all for less than the price of a cup of coffee (significantly less if you shop at Starbucks.)

Pipes

Here is another new take on a classic game.  In Pipes, you are faced with a board filled with pipe pieces.  Some of the pieces connect together, others have a dead end terminus with a flower.  In the center of the board sits a gold piece, which is the source of your water supply.  The goal in this variation is to allow the water to flow through all of the pipes, and light up all of the flowers on the board.  Sounds easy enough, but like most puzzles, appearances and initial impressions can be very deceptive.  Combine that with the six different playing modes, and this one should hold your attention for quite some time.

Samulos

There are a lot of Tetris clones and variations out there for Windows Mobile.  And we have covered some of them in this space.  But none are quite like Samulos.  Here, the shapes falling from the top of the screen will contain colored two-colored tiles. Unlike Tetris, your goal is not to make solid lines across the screen.  Instead, you goal is to match the colored tiles and make a block of the same color.  Once you have made a block (4×4 or larger), it will explode, freeing up space for you to keep moving.  The game starts out easily enough with solid blocks broken into two colored halves.  Quickly, though the shapes and pieces become more complex and the race is on.  This is a fantastic variation on one of my favorite old themes.

Edgeay Turbo21

I have always been a huge fan of Blackjack.  It is one of my favorite gambling card games.  Turbo 21 is a solitaire game, loosely based on Blackjack.  Here, you have to create hands of cards totaling 21.  Make a hand with a value of 21, a Blackjack, or make a hand with five cards in it and you will earn points and clear the row from the board.  Bust by creating a hand that is over 21 and you will lose points.  Not only is the gameplay very cool (I hesitate to say original since I have covered a similar game in this space previously,) but it also features some very cool backgrounds.  Why play on a green felt table when you can fly through the streets of New York.  If you are a card shark, then you will want to check out this conglomeration of solitaire and Blackjack.

BoxUpPPC

Here is another one from one of my favorite freeware developers, Jean-Francois Mainguet.  As with most of his games, this is a grid-based puzzle game.  In this one, you will find a green block, and a number of brackets.  Most of these brackets are black, however, there is also a red one and a blue one.  The goal here is to maneuver the  red bracket into the blue bracket.  Think that sounds easy?  Well, how about this.  You can only move a bracket by pushing it with the green block.    This is another one that sounds like it should be pretty simple…until you start actually trying to maneuver those brackets around the small space that is the gameboard in this one.   Mainguet, you have done it again!

That will do it for another month here at The Arcade.  Of course, as I said at the start, the weather is starting to turn cooler which can only mean that Winter is upon us.  With winter comes the holidays and the New Year.  So, as per my tradition here at The Arcade, coming up in December, we will be taking a look back at some of the best games we have covered here in the last year.  You won’t want to miss it.  And make sure to write in with your votes (just leave them in the comments section) and let me know your favorite games from the annals of the Arcade..

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