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Android might be the #1 mobile platform in China, but Google Play sure isn't the #1 app market. According to our friends at for sharing this weekly Chinese news roundup with the Gamezebo audience. If you're just as intrigued by the Chinese market as we are, be sure to give them a read. |
Math Blaster was a godsend. It was an "edutainment" game that fell just far enough East of its portmanteau to syphon the mid-afternoon doldrums that only a fifth grader can appreciate. Thanks to that game, the Westside Elementary computer lab wasn't just a crawlspace in the back of the library - it was my Rock of Gibraltar. Calculords likely isn't educational enough to make the cut in Mrs. Antonopoulos' keyboard class, but it does hit on a lesson I've managed to learn in the years since: Math is kind of fun. Now, I don't mean mapping geometric proofs, but there is something about manipulating basic patterns - finding the hidden meaning in numbers - that's challenging and interesting. It's why people enjoy Sudoku; it's why we play puzzle games. |
The sequel to the hit real-time strategy game , Autumn Dynasty Warlords carries some great expectations on its shoulders. And it seems to meet them quite handily at first - but the deeper you dig into it, the more it becomes apparent that this game isn't quite ready for prime-time. Autumn Dynasty Warlords is set in a fictionalized ancient China, in which you play as one of several regional warlords vying for control of the country. Each has his or her own particular strengths and weaknesses, plus a unique military unit and an officer who can be sent on special military or diplomatic missions. Beginning with a single province, you must build your armies, conquer neutral provinces, engage or defeat your fellow rulers, and ultimately declare yourself Grand Poobah of the Middle Kingdom. |
Another Case Solved is the follow-up to developer Ars Thanea Games' ridiculously engaging match-3-meets-city builder, . Like its predecessor, Another Case Solved relies primarily on puzzle-matching objects that are used as building blocks for progress throughout the game. Unlike Puzzle Craft, this progress is less cyclical and more monetary, wrapped in an economy that makes the noir-themed newcomer notably more challenging, but rarely malicious. With a number of variations on gameplay packed alongside the primary puzzle boards, Another Case Solved manages to differentiate itself while still offering all the trappings that made Puzzle Craft compelling. This time around, you are not the mayor of a fledgling village, but a newbie private detective in a Prohibition Era-styled city. Sugar, not alcohol, is the banned substance and everyone from crooks to cops can be put on ice for having a sweet tooth. You'll occasionally run into cases involving sugar smugglers and donut blackmail, but as a no-name private eye, you'll also take on work that requires chasing kittens and tracking down missing documents. |
It's three in the morning and I'm trying to get back to Earth as quickly as I can. My oxygen is in short supply, and soon I will suffocate if I don't find a planet with an adequate atmosphere to refill it. Speaking of supplies, I had to scrap half of my gear, including my radar, in order to get the parts necessary to repair my ship's hull after a near fatal encounter with space debris in the last star system. So without the aid of radar, I'm blindly flying to the closest system: the only system my remaining wisps of fuel would allow me to get to. I have no idea what awaits, but I'm hoping for a planet rich in oxygen, with friendly natives, and ample with the resources and fuel that I need to continue my journey. In the deep space of Out There, luck, much like oxygen, is in short supply. I come out of my jump, just short of a black hole; a dead end. I don't have enough fuel for another jump, not that I have enough oxygen to live long enough to even attempt another jump. So, it looks like I won't be making it home. |
In the world of free-to-play, popular game styles seem to come in waves. After FarmVille, every Facebook developer went through their farming phase. After Social City, every social gamemaker thought they could make the next SimCity-lite. And back in those early days - wedged somewhere between virtual pets and restaurant simulations, the social scene had a brief but noteworthy obsession with treasure hunts. In a nutshell, games like had players "exploring" a piece of land by clicking on different squares in an attempt to find all sorts of goodies. It was simple to the point of silliness, but it also managed to have that "just one more time" hook that only the most popular free-to-play games can muster. |
For a substance so sweet, it's surprising how bad a taste the word CANDY has left in people's mouths this year. And it all started in January, when it was revealed by Gamezebo that King (Candy Crush Saga) held the European trademark on the word CANDY, and was in the process of obtaining a similar mark in the US. But now, reports, that trademark filing has been withdrawn. "Yesterday, King filed for abandonment of the trademark in the United States," Kotaku's Jason Schreier writes. "When reached by Kotaku, King confirmed the trademark abandonment but declined to comment." |
Though most of us have no love for the roaches, spiders, and ants that occasionally move into our kitchens and make themselves at home, Bug Heroes 2 by Foursaken Media would have us believe these creepy critters look up to us as gods and providers. The game reasons that, if not for our crumbs, refuse, and spills, bugs would have naught with which to wage war on each other. And if bugs didn't go to war, we'd be down one fantastic tower defense game. Bug Heroes 2 is charming, challenging, and stuffed full of cool ideas. Who knew it'd be so much fun to hang out with bugs? Except for house centipedes. They can just...go...far away. |