[Disclaimer, I pilfered text from recommendations in last year's
tidbits issue on X-Plane and some of the kids games I mention below.
Lazy, I know.]
I can't break with tradition (and I still play it whenever I have a
few moments and need the downtime) so I will start with my annual plug
for Solitaire Till Dawn from Semicolon Software ($25). I think of all
the games I have ever owned, this has easily been the most used. I
have tried many other solitaire games and none compare to this one for
playability and simplicity. I don't need nor want a lot of crazy
graphics or animations. I just want card games I can play without a
lot of fuss. This one wins every time. And it has enough games built
in that you won't get bored fast. And it also has an old favorite,
Seahaven Towers, as one of its games.
The first part of 2006, I went through a Sudoku phase before I tired
of the puzzle and went back to doing crosswords. Part of why I tired
of them was because I had learned all of the advanced solving
techniques making even the hardest puzzles relatively easy to
complete. I have Robert Woodhead's Sudoku Susser to thank for that.
While this Sudoku game lacks a glossy UI polish, it comes loaded with
every advanced solving technique on the planet (and links to a website
that explains them in detail). free,
http://www.madoverlord.com/projects/sudoku.t (yes, this is the same
Robert Woodhead, aka "Trebor" who co-created the original classic
Wizardry game back in the 80s).
This year, the new game I got myself into was World of Warcraft which
is the juggernaut of online gaming. My 14 year old nephew talked me
into it and I bought it, mostly on a lark and soon found myself
immersed in a world that was rich and deep and quickly fell in with a
good group of friends online whom I meet and play with when I have the
time. The game can get addicting (I find that you either love it or
can't figure out why it's worth all the money you pay for it, the game
is $40-$50 depending on what deals you can find and then there's a
$15/month fee on top of that. I justify the cost by cutting back on my
monthly Starbucks habit) but at the same time, it has its frustrating
moments. Much of the time you find yourself performing menail tasks
just to advance a skill or to raise your character's level. When
things get dull, it's the social aspect that keeps my interest. But
then, I've always been a sucker for online communities and the tools
making them possible so while I'm bashing the heads of various
baddies, I remind myself that this is my continuing education in my
own research into these spaces.
Last year, my new obsession was my birthday present to myself. I got
both a Saitek Cyborg Evo joystick ($70) and X-Plane ($80). The two,
together, create a fantastic flight simulation which transcends simple
messing about in planes. They become a tool for anyone who wishes to
learn to fly. I've been working through online tutorials that discuss
the basics of flight (from the theoretical to the mechanical) and
working with X-Plane to practice. I certainly don't feel that I could
take the stick of a plane after the pilots have been overtaken by food
poisoning and would prefer to leave things to the Otto Pilot, but I am
having a great deal of fun. On my 1.25 GHz 15-inch PowerBook G4, it
runs pretty well, though I can't turn on all the graphical niceties if
I want reasonable animation speed. Luckily, X-Plane lets you adjust
how much it displays to compensate for older/slower video cards. Do
read through their site and make sure you have the right hardware, as
the game is demanding.
<
http://www.semicolon.com/STDX.html>
<
http://www.warcraft.com>
<
http://www.saitekusa.com/usa/prod/cyborg_ evo.htm>
<
http://x-plane.com/>
My six year old has his favorites as well and he would be quite put
out if I did not mention them here.
A favorite is NoLimits roller coaster simulator ($30). Its graphics
lack polish in some areas (the landscape is filled with flat trees,
and water is a flat surface) but the actual ride can be a lot of fun.
It's a lazy weekend morning tradition for my son to climb into our
bed, me to get the laptop, and to ride roller coasters.
<
http://www.nolimitscoaster.com/>
Pocket Tanks ($16) from BlitWise and Cornerstone TSP Games is a modern
take on the classic tank game where you adjust the angle and power of
a shot and attempt to hit another tank across the screen. In this
version, you have a huge number of weapons to choose from (and
expansion packs, which can be downloaded for free or for fee) and
terrain that can be heavily damaged in often fun ways.
<
http://www.ctspgames.com/ptanks.htm>
New this year is his new obsession with Burning Monkey Puzzle Lab.
Disturbing imagry of the monkey when the game starts going badly (as
all Tetris-style games inevitably do), he's really taken to this fun
take on an old classic. And he loves the music which means that I
often get it stuck in my head and find myself humming the "burning
monkey puzzle lab" tune in the most inappropriate situations.
Freeverse Software, $19.95.
His other major obsession is with Lego Star Wars (both editions). I
can't really speak to this game's performance on the Mac as we play it
on our PS2 but since Mac versions of the first Lego Star Wars exist
and I expect a version of the newer one to be out at some point, it's
worth a mention. As a kids game, this is one of the best I've seen.
The game play is collaborative and you really have to work together as
a team (though often that teamwork devolves into one person shouting
"you're pulling me off the ledge!" as one player moves too far to one
side and the other person is dragged to stay on screen and, oops, off
the ledge). It's a lot of fun, is funny, and is also the only way he
is going to get any exposure to episodes 1-3 (thanks to III being a
PG-13 movie, he's not seeing any of that trilogy until he's much
older, though he's seen IV-VI many times now).
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