Puzzle

Mac Monday: Drawn/New Star Soccer

Posted Nov 16th 2009 11:00AM by Akela Talamasca
Filed under: Culture, Downloads, Demos, Features, Hands-on, Mac, Puzzle, Simulation, Sports, Screenshots

Welcome to Mac Monday, where we highlight some games for your Macintosh that you might want to try ... or try to avoid. This time around, we're looking at Big Fish Games' Drawn: The Painted Tower, and New Star Games' New Star Soccer 2010. Two completely different games, and both intriguing for different reasons. Find out more after the jump!

Continue reading Mac Monday: Drawn/New Star Soccer

// 0 Comments

Even more PC game download sales show up

Posted Nov 13th 2009 2:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Puzzle, Strategy

You thought we were done with PC game download sales on Thursday, didn't you? As it turns out there are a few more price cuts that we found out about after we posted up the news yesterday.:

Steam has just launched the indie puzzle game QuantZ and is giving folks a 50 percent discount for its first week, bringing the price down to just $4.99.
GoG.com is selling the two games in its library from the now defunct Elixir Studios, Republic The Revolution and Evil Genius, in a bundle for just $9.98 until Monday.
Impulse users can get a 50 percent discount on the Galactic Civilizations II Expansion Bundle (featuring Dark Avatar and Twilight of the Arnor) for 50 percent off with the coupon code CGEXPANSION.
The indie action-puzzle game Grappling Hook's price was just reduced to $14.95.

// 0 Comments

Mac Monday: Spooky Runes/Boonka

Posted Nov 9th 2009 11:00AM by Akela Talamasca
Filed under: Downloads, Demos, Features, Hands-on, Mac, Puzzle, Screenshots, Full Games

It's time once again for Mac Monday, where we take a look at a couple of games new out for the Mac (and sometimes the PC too). This time around we're checking out Anawiki Games's Spooky Runes, and Sandlot Games's Boonka. One of these games has an atmospheric vibe, and the other is vibrant and goofy. Guess which one and find out after the jump!

Continue reading Mac Monday: Spooky Runes/Boonka

// 0 Comments

Gyromancer release date revealed

Posted Nov 6th 2009 7:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Puzzle, RPG

Last September during the Tokyo Game Show, publisher Square Enix announced a collaboration with casual game developer PopCap Games with their upcoming puzzle-RPG Gyromancer. Today it was revealed via a new trailer that the downloadable game would be released for the PC on November 18 for $15.

The game itself has that Square Enix art style for the RPG portion of the game mixed with a Bejeweled Twist puzzle gameplay experience. You can expect to have access to over 50 monsters that can be used in your puzzle-RPG battles across 12 different stages. An online leaderboard will also be made available to compare your scores with others.

Download HD Gyromancer Trailer (73 MB)

// 0 Comments

2D Boy reveals more info on "any price for World of Goo" sale

Posted Oct 26th 2009 11:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Puzzle

The great experiment is now over for 2D Boy and now that their "any price for World of Goo" sale is officially over the indie developers have revealed some more info about what happened during their unusual sales promotion for their acclaimed puzzle game

During the 13 days of the sale, the company sold 83,147 copies of the game on their web site. Sales of the Windows version accounted for 65 percent of the total sales although oddly enough people who bought the Linux and Mac versions paid on average more than the Windows users. The average donation actually went up after their first news post on the subject. By day 12 people were paying an average of around $3.25 for the game. Finally one person actually paid $150 for World of Goo, over seven times its normal $20 price.

2D Boy extends World of Goo price promo; reveals sale stats

Posted Oct 20th 2009 10:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Puzzle

How hard is it to get accurate sales on game downloads? Usually it's extremely hard but developer 2D Boy wanted people to know exactly how their recent "priced whatever you want" sale for their puzzle game World of Goo did. In two words, it was a "huge success" with 57,000 copies sold off the World of Goo web site. The average price people paid for the game was $2.03.

In a surprise, sales of the game via Steam went up 40 percent during the sale, and that was after sales went up 25 percent the previous week. 2D Boy has now decided to extend the World of Goo sale until October 25.
Download World of Goo Demo (32 MB)
Download World of Goo Mac Demo (32 MB)

Review: Lucidity

Posted Oct 19th 2009 12:00PM by James Murff
Filed under: Indie, Puzzle

LucasArts has been lagging behind in original content over the past few years. Once known for their incredibly engaging and original games, they have instead focused on expanding their established franchises of Star Wars and Indiana Jones. As a part of the revitalization of old and original LucasArts properties, the Secret of Monkey Island game was remade in high-definition. One the team was done with Monkey Island, they decided to make something else. Something original. Lucidity was the result of this. A mixture of puzzle, adventure, and platformer genres, it's nostalgic both through its simple gameplay and in the notion that LucasArts genuinely wants to create new, valuable properties for their portfolio. It may not be mind-blowing, but it's not half bad either.

Continue reading Review: Lucidity

// 0 Comments

Buy World of Goo for one cent or $1 million or any price you want

Posted Oct 13th 2009 11:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Indie, Puzzle

We've written about how cool World of Goo is previously and if you haven't tried out this innovative and more importantly fun game from developer 2D Boy, you are really missing out. This week marks the game's first anniversary and to celebrate the dev team have a unique promotional offer.

From now until October 19, you can download and purchase the PC, Mac and Linux versions of the game from their site for any price you want. Yep, that's correct. You can pay as little as one cent or as much as $1 million; it's all up to you. We suspect that 2D Boy would like to have people pay as close to its normal $20 price tag as possible but hey, whatever floats your boat. It's all up to you.
Download World of Goo Demo (32 MB)
Download World of Goo Mac Demo (32 MB)

Clover: A Curious Tale coming to the PC

Posted Oct 3rd 2009 11:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Indie, Puzzle

A game that made its first appearance as part of the Xbox Live Indie Games program is being revamped as a commercial game for the PC. Clover, from developer Binary Tweed, will be published for the PC under the new title Clover: A Curious Tale by Blitz Arcade.

As you can see from the above screenshot, this adventure puzzle game has a hand drawn 2D water color art style. The PC version will be getting a number of improvements compared to the original game. That includes new puzzles, ambient effects, a new musical score and voice acting. There's no word yet on when the game will be released.

Gallery: Clover: A Curious Tale

Incredible Machine games now on GoG.com

Posted Oct 1st 2009 4:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Puzzle

Last June saw the launch of the new Flash-based game developer PushButton Labs. It was formed by Jeff Tunnell and Rick Overman who previously helped to form Dynamix and GarageGames. Today the developer announced that they have bought the rights to one of their former Dynamix game franchises, the puzzle-themed Incredible Machine series.

The first game in the series was released in 1992 and several sequels followed with Pushbutton Labs stating that the series sold several million copies. In addition to buying the rights to the game series, Pushbutton Labs has allowed PC game download site GoG.com to re-release the original games in the series. GoG.com now has a bundle of four of the game games on sale for just $9.99.

Download: Machinarium Mac Demo

Posted Oct 1st 2009 3:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, Demos, Adventure, Indie, Puzzle

Theis playable demo for Machinarium is now available for Mac systems. A full version of this independently developed, award-winning, puzzle/platform game is expected to release later this fall and can be pre-ordered through the official website. The PC demo can be downloaded here. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Machinarium is independent puzzle / adventure game developed by the makers of popular web-games Samorost and Samorost2. A little robot who's been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend."

Download Machinarium Mac Demo (36 MB)
Download Machinarium PC Demo (35 MB)

Gallery: Machinarium

Continue reading Download: Machinarium Mac Demo

Download: Machinarium Demo

Posted Sep 30th 2009 2:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, Demos, Adventure, Indie, Puzzle

This is the playable demo for Machinarium, an award-winning independently developed puzzle/adventure game. The full game is expected to release later this fall and can be pre-ordered through the official website. System requirements are shown after the jump.

"Machinarium is independent puzzle / adventure game developed by the makers of popular web-games Samorost and Samorost2. A little robot who's been thrown out to the scrap yard behind the city must return and confront the Black Cap Brotherhood and save his robot-girl friend."

Download Machinarium Demo (35 MB)
Download Machinarium Mac Demo (36 MB)

Gallery: Machinarium

Continue reading Download: Machinarium Demo

Zuma's Revenge gets lite version for $9.95

Posted Sep 29th 2009 6:00PM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Puzzle

If you have been thinking about buying the full version of Zuma's Revenge but feel that the price of $19.95 is just too much money to pay for the sequel to PopCap Games' popular casual puzzle title, then you might just be interested in Zuma's Revenge Adventure. This "lite" version of the full game is priced at just $9.95 and should be available now via a number of download outlets.

Zuma's Revenge Adventure has just the one gameplay mode, the Adventure mode, to play but does not contain any of the extra modes that you can access in the full version of the game. It still has all of the features of the full game's Adventure mode which includes 60 levels, new power ups, boss battle levels, support for up to 1920 x 1200 resolution and more.

Download the Zuma's Revenge demo at Big Download (98 MB)

Lucidity trailer launches into a fantastic world

Posted Sep 29th 2009 5:30PM by Steven Wong
Filed under: Downloads, Action, Puzzle, Trailers

In anticipation of the October 7th launch of Lucidity, LucasArts has released this short trailer featuring plenty of gameplay. Lucidity is a puzzle/platforming game set in the surreal dreamscape of a little girl named Sofi. The game will be available through digital retail outlets and will cost $9.99.

"In Lucidity, players take a trip into the imagination of Sofi, a young girl who is filled with a persistent desire to explore new worlds and overcome all obstacles in her way. In this challenging puzzle platform game, players are tasked with keeping Sofi safe as she drifts deeper into the strange new world of her dreams. Through quick reaction and placement of randomly generated puzzle pieces, players must create a path through beautifully detailed dreamscapes to keep Sofi in perpetual motion and deliver her to safety."

Download HD Lucidity Launch Trailer (131 MB)
Check out all Lucidity downloads

Gallery: Lucidity

Lucidity to be priced at $9.99

Posted Sep 29th 2009 9:00AM by John Callaham
Filed under: Downloads, Puzzle

LucasArts' first foray into releasing original downloadable games now has a price tag. When they first announced their plans for the side scroller-puzzle game Lucidity they didn't reveal a price tag. Now the LucasArts Workshop blog site has confirmed that the game will be priced at just $9.99.

The game will be sold on October 7 via Steam and Direct2Drive for the PC version (it's also coming to the Xbox 360 via Xbox Live Arcade). It's certainly an experiment for LucasArts to create a game that has indie sensibilities but was made internally at their own offices. Hopefully if sales are good it won't be the last thing the LucasArts Workshop team creates.

Gallery: Lucidity