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Mar 6th, 2008 at 06:59:31 - Alchemy (Other) |
Gameplay:
The more I play the easier it is to set up strategies. Each level is going to be different every time you play it because the symbols are doled out randomly, but there is still a comforting repetitiveness in having a general strategy.
After having played it for about two hours I am still really enjoying the game. The emergence style of the game makes it easy to stay involved in. The music actually adds a lot to my enjoyment of the game (for the first hour anyway). It is surprisingly unwhiny and very stimulating. The motivational chords make a nice addition to an already adequate game.
Design:
An interesting aspect of the game is the ranking you get according to your score. As you accumulate more points you go from an apprentice to a hedge wizard to a grand wizard. This tiny detail actually adds a lot to the background of the game. As you play and go up in ranking you get this mental picture of gaining knowledge and power and becoming a master alchemist. The game itself doesn’t really have a story as much as a background, but adding the ranking next to the score adds the possibility for player creativity with respect to their view of the game.
In this game players will very rarely experience any kind of exhaustion. While there are many levels the draw in this game comes from self-competition. Once a player has beaten all the levels, he or she can go back and improve their time and accuracy for lack of a better term. It is a never-ending puzzle of entertainment.
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Mar 6th, 2008 at 06:58:48 - Alchemy (Other) |
Summary:
Alchemy is a single player puzzle game. The idea of the game is to turn all of the stones to gold by placing symbols over them. Only symbols of matching shape or color can go next to each other and once you complete a row the symbols disappear leaving gold stones. The less symbols you have left over in the end and the shorter time in which you complete the puzzle the higher your score is. Finally, there is also a “circle of lava” on the side in which you can discard unwanted symbols before you place them, however if you discard more than three in a row you loose the game.
Gameplay:
One of the things I liked about Alchemy is that it wasn’t a high intensity game. It didn’t get my adrenaline pumping like fighting or timed games. It was a low stress way to relax or an intriguing brain exercise when I was bored. In this way it is a lot like solitaire, the only prize is one of glory, and it’s all about strategy.
I found the social interactions with this game to be low. It isn’t a hot topic of discussion, it doesn’t have real world applications and there is little room for multi-player activity. This is not necessarily a bad thing. A lot of times I feel too overwhelmed by the faster pace that comes with other players.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 03:34:36 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Gameplay:
After playing Wii Sports a second time I found that the main attention getter, like in most multi player games, is the real world competition that goes on between the players. Without it the game gets a little repetitive and ultimately is capable of inducing a mild coma (whether because you have forgotten to wear your wrist strap or the unvarying gameplay).
Fortunately, the level of interaction/competition increases with the amount of gameplay. When the game begins the players are just getting the feel of the game and their opponents, however as the game progresses the competitive remarks are tossed around, taunting rains upon the unfortunate and multiple rematches ensue.
Design:
The exceptional aspect of Wii Sports is that it combats the downside of videogames everywhere, player lethargy. Players stay physically active which keeps their adrenaline pumping. This works in the games favor. The energy that a person gets from activity makes the player feel good and keeps them from becoming bored or prematurely tired.
Because the games are real world games, they inherently hold a social context for the players. One player may be attracted to baseball because it holds memories of family trips to games in earlier days. This player may find this game comforting and will immediately have an affinity for it. These games promote social interaction because of their multi-player capability and familiar context.
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Feb 21st, 2008 at 03:34:11 - Wii Sports (Wii) |
Summary:
Wii Sports is a single or multi-player game in which opponents use Wii motes, which allow them to compete physically against on another in games such as bowling and tennis.
Gameplay:
The characters in this game are unique in that they are reflections of the person playing the game. The range of choice for the characters appearance is very wide and because they are an expression of the player they extremely easy to identify with. In fact, before I created my Mii I was enjoying playing Wii sports, but it wasn’t until after I made my Mii that I became emotionally invested in the game.
Once I made my Mii I found myself making comments like, “That’s it! You goin’ DOWN B&*$%.” Needless to say I was rather emotionally tied to the outcome…namely to seeing the other players cry. The tension was especially high during tennis (because lets face it bowling, though an awesome game that requires lots of skill and practice) is kind of a buzz kill. We got to swinging the Wii motes all over the room and cursing like sailors when the little angry sign appears above our characters.
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dreamalot2007 has been with GameLog for 16 years, 3 months, and 5 days |
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