Posts tagged game
Review: New Walkers Hoops and Crosses
03 weeks ago
Everyone loves to play. Adults included. Whether it’s having a go on the swings at the park (please tell me you like the swings!), enjoying a bit of Scrabble or Pictionary in the evening, or tap tap tapping away at The Simpsons Tapped Out on your iPad, playing is a fantastic way to relax, to have fun. If you don’t then frankly there is something wrong with you!
Walkers have brought out a new crisp to encourage us to play… with our food! Hoops and Crosses are a crunchy source of wholegrain and fibre in the shape of Xs and Os. They sent me a bag, lunch box and a whole load of stuff to encourage me to play… fantastic! LincsGeek has said I definitely need to use the red lunch box for work, I think I might need to print out a picture of a suitable retro image to put on the front – what do you think to He-Man?
Of course the game is called Noughts and Crosses (there was a proper version in the pack too). I wonder why they changed that to “Hoops” and Crosses?
Anyway, to the crisps. I really like them! Of the three flavours – roast beef, salt and vinegar, prawn cocktail – my favourite was roast beef. They reminded me a bit of Monster Munch, but LincsGeek didn’t agree with that, he said they are less crunchy than those (and there’s no pickled onion flavour!). They are easy to eat, not too noisy, and very tasty. And with 85 calories per pack they aren’t too bad for including my bright red lunch box either.
So whether you agree with playing with your food or not, give these a try and I bet you won’t be able to resist a quick game, even if it’s only with yourself!
Disclaimer: I was sent some Hoops and Crosses by Walkers so I could try them and write about them here. I have not been told what to say and have been no less honest as a result of receiving the product for free.
Two iPad Games: The Tribez and Simpsons Tapped Out
03 months ago
by Splodz
in Gadgets & Tech
I’ve been meaning to blog about the two iPad games I’m completely addicted to for a while – ever since I started playing them in September last year. Unfortunately every time I’ve thought “I must write that blog post” I’ve ended up playing the games rather than opening iA writer. Oops.
I downloaded both games while on holiday at the end of September last year. I wanted something to help me relax for a couple of weeks, what I ended up with was two obsessions. I found The Simpsons Tapped Out first – it was in the App Store’s top ten games list when I was browsing. Then I was introduced to The Tribez by my sister-in-law, who was already addicted. I thought I’d quickly introduce them to you.
The Simpsons Tapped Out
This game starts just after Homer has caused a meltdown at the Springfield Nucleur Power Plant that wiped out the cartoon town. The aim of this game is to rebuild Springfield, one building and one character at a time. The app is free to download and playable on pretty much all iOS devices (a friend checked and it’s not available on Android, sorry), although I only use it on my iPad – it’s one of those games you want a bigger screen for, I think. You can buy donuts (in-app-purchase) to speed up game play, but I’ve never spent a penny on this, I just wait.
To play the game – to rebuild Springfield – you need two things; money to build buildings and make Springfield look pretty, and XP to move through the levels. You are given tasks to complete such as “build the orange house”, which cost money and time to complete. In many cases building something means you get a new character – Dr Hibbert comes with his surgery, for example.
To earn money you make your characters do things. You can send Homer can shop at the Kwik-E-Mart for an hour, make Lisa do next week’s homework for 24 hours, or get Marge to walk Maggie. The longer a task takes the more money it is worth – and as the buildings and other items go up and up in value as you move through the levels, you get used to setting things going once a day in order to get the most money possible!
To make things more interesting, the game changes with the seasons to give you extra opportunities to collect elements from The Simpsons episodes. At Christmas everything was covered in snow and you collected chocolate coins in order to decorate the houses with Christmas lights. At the moment the game is Valentines themed, so I’m collecting hearts in order to build a flower shop and some rose bushes. Normally these extra things are gained from visiting other Springfields created by your friends… if you play then make sure you add me and we can help each other out – I’m Splodz (unsurprisingly). (For info, this game requires a data connection to play.)
The Tribez
The description on the App Store says “The Tribez is not just a game. It is an adventure.”. Like The Simpsons Tapped Out, it is all about building something – in this case a community of ancient people who see you as their chief.
You start small, by building a simple hut. Each time you build a house of some sort you get an additional worker. You need workers to build things, but the workers come with lots of needed – they want food, bathhouses, community buildings, and for their Island to look amazing. You also need raw materials to build things – wood and stone to start with, but gradually improving as your buildings become more impressive. Your workers have to first build the mills and quarrys, then have to work in them to fill the warehouse with enough materials to build the next thing. Oh and everything costs money, which you collect through taxes on the workers houses and by giving them opportunities to go to the theatre, eat at the canteen, visit the bathhouse or ride a dinosaur.
The workers are cute and do everything you ask them with a simple “okay” or “yo”. Watch out for the Murlods though – they scare the workers and set fire to your buildings – deal with them quickly!
This is another free-to-download game with the possibility to make in-app purchases to speed up the game play. Again, I have not spent a penny on this game, I just wait for things to happen in real time; at the start you’re looking at a minute or two per task, but later on things can take 12 or 24 hours.
If you are new to The Tribez then just wait until you have more than one island… you end up with several separate but interlinked communities who rely on you to keep them safe and free from boredom. So addictive, especially because you can play this one offline. I am so very addicted!
Both these games are ideal for anyone who likes games that are constantly changing that build up over time, in which you build something over time. Let me know if you’re addicted too.
Review: Answer Buzzers for Family Quiz Time
04 months ago
I love a good quiz. I’m not very good at answering the questions so I tend to set the questions. In fact I’m currently working on a few simple questions for a short quiz to be presented at my church New Year event on Monday evening.
I was sent these Answer Buzzers through the Blog Match scheme and they are right up my street. The four different coloured buttons offer game show style buzzers that “liven up any game” and allow individuals or teams to respond to questions and get their answer in before anyone else.
One thing that really annoys me about battery operated toys and games is when they don’t come with the batteries included… thankfully Poundland came to the rescue with enough AAA batteries to fill these things (eight in total) for £1. Then I needed a teeny screwdriver to open the battery compartment – good job we wear glasses in this house. Anyway, eventually I got them all juiced up and ready to use. And then the fun began!
Each of the four buzzers makes a different sound – they boing, ding, honk and ding dong!
They are only really loud enough for living room games (which is a good thing – any louder would be really annoying after a while!) but they are great for adding some noises to games you might play already at home. They have little rubber feet so they don’t go too far when sat on the table, and are fairly chunky so can be used by little hands.
These are a great idea, great fun for any quiz loving family.
You can buy the Answer Buzzers direct from Learning Resources UK. Oh and by the way, they are giving away some sets of Answer Buzzers over on their facebook page at the moment. Head over here to enter – the competition ends on Monday 31st December so be quick (and good luck!).
Disclaimer: I was sent some Answer Buzzers as part of the Blog Match scheme so I could write about them and mention the competition here on Splodz Blogz.
Draw Something
01 year ago
Draw Something is the latest app to hit the games app market. Everyone seems to be talking about it.
I blame my sister. She told me to download it a week or so ago. We always enjoyed Pictionary when we were kids (and still do) and this is just perfect.
The premise of the game is very simple. You get a choice of three words, worth 1, 2 or 3 coins. You choose one and then draw it on your iOS device, and send it to your opponent. Your opponent then sees your drawing (they see you draw it, or rather a recording of you drawing it), and has to guess the word. It’s made more simple because the opponent gets a selection of letters to choose from – so it’s a drawing and anagram game in one – although it’s worth bearing in mind there are some red herring letters added too.
When the turn comes back to you, you have the opportunity to watch your opponent guess your word (so you can see at what point in your drawing they got it), before it’s time to guess their word.
The game counts the number of “turns” you’ve had in each game, the idea being to guess as many drawings correctly as you can in one go – a rally. If you can’t guess the word, you have to pass your turn and your game with that player ends and starts from 1 again. So far this hasn’t happened to me… yet. The coins you gain allow you to “buy” extra colours for your palette and also bombs (which take away the red herring letters to make the word easier to guess).
You can find opponents using facebook, username or email address. It’s loads of fun playing people you know – I will draw the same thing differently depending on my opponent – my sister will guess something with one clue, but my friend wouldn’t understand that at all.
I downloaded the free version onto my iPad and iPhone and have to say after trying it on my iPad I’ve deleted it off my phone – why would I want to do my doodles so small and fiddly when I can use my lovely big iPad screen?! The thing I really like about this is the simplicity. I mean, the game itself is simple to pick up (and you can be as artistic or as basic as you like in your drawings) and the app is simple in design. The whole thing is cartoony – fisher price – in appearance. Everything is bright and colourful and very easy to use.
The annoying aspects of this game include the very American dictionary… well I assume it’s America, I have to say some of the words I don’t know. But I’ve always been about to pick one from the three choices ok. Another annoyance is the games seeming delay in updating. So even when you know your opponent has taken their turn (because they tweeted you apologising for the bad likeness, for example!), it is sometimes necessary to force the app to close completely using the double click of the home button and close method, and restarting it before it refreshes the feed. A refresh button would be a welcome addition to make game play quicker. Oh and there is no rotation so you can only play in landscape mode. Shame.
Apart from a couple of niggles this is a great game. If you haven’t got onto the Draw Something wagon yet then give this simple game a try.
Toy Balls are Addictive
21 year ago
Like Angry Birds? Were you addicted? Not played it recently? You need Toy Balls in your life!
A free app for the iPhone (£1.19 for iPad), Toy Balls is a simple little game by Cazual Games. A friend told me I just had to get this game… and she was right.
The idea is very simple. Swipe your finger across groups of at least three balls in a row, and they disappear. Each time you swipe a group of balls you get some points. As time goes on more balls are added into play, giving you more balls to remove. Each level has a time limit, along with an “electro zapper” trap in each level that if your balls fall through it, the level ends.
There are a few things that make Toy Balls a fantastic boredom breaker. Firstly it is intuitive – you don’t really need to read the instructions, just get on and play. And play. And play.
Then of course there are the 30+ levels to keep you entertained for hours. Oh and don’t forget the aim is to get three stars on each level (you get a number of stars based on the number of points you score) so there are always levels to go back to that need improvement. And if you thought “oh this is a simple game” – think again! The match-based play is complicated by the maze-like wooden structures the balls fall in – meaning in some levels you have two areas to work on simultaneously, in others you end up with a snake like line of balls (with none of them matching up, of course).
Finally there is the tune!! Very hummable! Mine (and everyone elses I’ve heard) is set on “Christmas” which is the default, but there are some other choices if you get too annoyed with that. You have to play this game with the sound… do do, do do, do do, di di do di do………..
If you have an iOS device go and download this app now – I defy anyone not to get even a little bit addicted to this game.
Year in Photos (18 Jan 11)
02 years ago
This evening I joined a netball club. Yes I did! One has been set up at work and after a taster session during “healthy week” last year I was really pleased it has been. I remember playing and enjoying it at school.
I don’t, however, remember it being quite so exhausting. I mean, yesterday I ran over 4 miles and while I was worn out at the end it was nothing like today. Netball is sprinting, stopping, sprinting, stopping – my body just wasn’t ready for it! And I played Centre too which of all the positions is the one that runs around the most.
But anyway, it was lots of fun and good exercise, and I’ll be going back next week. My legs ache now though!!
Tuesday 18th January 2011
18/01/11: Running on Monday and netball on Tuesday makes my feet ache
