Poker Swap

I've mentioned the old 5 x 5 Poker Solitaire game previously, but here's a recap. You've got a 5 x 5 grid for playing cards, shuffle a deck of cards, and then draw and place one card at a time on the grid. Once the grid is filled you get points based on the poker hands you were able to form. I used to play it on vacation in Canada when I was a teen and it was a good time killer. My only two complaints with the game were that it would be nice to know the maximum score I could have achieved after playing and, of course, the blind luck aspect of the game.

Poker Swap takes that formula, eliminates the blind luck, and adds the pressure of a timer. In it you have a prefilled 5 x 5 grid of cards and a minute and a half with which to move (or swap) those cards around to maximize the point value of the grid. It's actually a pretty clever change to the classic original that adds some needed pressure to the game.

The graphics and sound in Poker Swap as really very well done for a card game. The game feels quite polished. The controls are simple and rely exclusively on the touch screen. Hold down on a card and drag it to a new location in order to swap the two cards.

If that were it then the game might grow tired, but the game also adds a variety of more advanced modes and cards. One of the modes is a Zen mode in which the timer is taken away so that you can ponder your decisions to your heart's delight. The game also offers a variety of special cards that do this such as multiply the scoring on a row, make it so that a given card cannot be moved, and the dreaded mystery card. The one thing that I wish was here was an option to get a new card in the case of a junk card perhaps in exchange for some time.

All in all, Poker Swap is a winner of a card game and makes for another solid addition to one's game library. The game is available in both Lite (ad supported) and Pro formats. 4.5/5 stars.

Popies for Android launched in the Android Market

Hong Kong (28 February 2011) – SillyCube Technology Ltd has launched an Android game, Popies. Popies Lite is a simple game to fight the alien kingdom. You will poke the monsters with your finger. Your hammer can be upgraded to become more powerful. In this version user can upgrade　their items to 3 levels. There will be 10 difficulties. Lite version will only contain 5 difficulties. You can collect achievements in the game.

Features

• 10 Difficulty Levels
• Over 20 Achievements
• Over 10 special items
• Update different properties to challenge the final boss

Kilgamore Castle

Kilgamore Castle advertises itself as an Arkanoid style game with a twist. That's a pretty accurate description. In Kilgamore Castle you play the role of retired explorer Ernest who, along with his dog, Barney is attempting to find a hidden treasure based on a map he has. How does that turn into Arkanoid? Well, Ernest is the paddle, Barney is the ball, and each level is a section of the castle's wall. Now, you'd think that would hurt Barney, but fortunately he comes equipped with a hard hat so that he can pound away at the wall in piecemeal fashion.

The graphics in Kilgamore Castle are average with a bland, earthy color scheme. As Barney runs back and forth towards the castle wall he'll pound at it, but you also have other weapons to assist in the demolition process such as bombs. Controls use the touch screen with a left and right button to more the paddle (aka Ernest) and a left and right 'launch' button for starting Barney off in a given direction. There's also a middle button which allows Barney to do special things such as drop off a bomb. Timing is everything as I find I have to tap the button a little before he's actually there which makes positioning the bomb a challenge. Barney then gets a second or two to run off and then kaboom! I have to admit that it would be nice if there were options other than a left/right button pair for moving Ernest. The DPad is out because the game doesn't support landscape orientation, but perhaps a finger slider or something? The button pair isn't bad, but doesn't seem to be ideal for a paddle game.

The game offers a nice tutorial to assist you in getting started along with a quick story. Once you're into the game you'll get a certain number of 'lives' for Barney and once those are depleted Ernest will let you know he has to go catch Barney upon his next escape (i.e. the ball gets by the paddle). You can always play the level again from the beginning, but that's more difficult than it sounds because once you've exhausted all of your bombs and lives it becomes a 'no error' proposition. You can always buy more bombs, but that takes money which is earned very slowly. Sometimes when Barney hammers a wall section he'll find a small stash of coins. Those coins will fly down the screen and Ernest has to catch them. Most of the time you've got a choice between saving Barney and collecting the coins as there's not enough time for both. After some experience I found myself focusing on coins so I could buy more bombs and then try the level again with improved odds of victory, but in the end it became a bit of a tedious loop.

In conclusion, this game is an average take of Arkanoid type games. I think Arkanoid purists will be disappointed if they buy solely based on 'Arkanoid' as one of my favorite features of that game (the immediate access of things like laser cannons and such) is absent. On the other hand, the game plays smoothly and is enjoyable. It's not going to set any records for innovation, but it works. All in all I'm lukewarm on Kilgamore Castle and give it 4/5 stars.

Dungeon3D

Dungeon Master on my Atari ST was a breakthrough game in its day. And while "its day" was 2 decades ago it still evokes fond memories with my favorite being chased by a mummy and then trapping and killing it by closing an iron gate on it. Brilliant! So many games ignored environment and would have forced me to slay it by the sword, or, more likely, be slain. Dungeon3D is similar in that it's a 3D step-by-step (i.e. not smooth scrolling) RPG type game.

The first thing you'll notice when playing Duneon3D is that the title was written by a 3rd grader. And so was the tutorial. It's a cute effect and it's fine, but it also tells me that this isn't going to be an upper echelon title by any means. The graphics themselves are decent enough although the monsters are all very blocky. I'm guessing there's no professional art department working behind the scenes, but I can accept that. If I ever get any of my game ideas off the ground then I'll be in the same boat initially. The game also includes no instructions so everything I leaned about my mission came from the Android Market description. I'm supposed to defeat the Black Magician!

Initially you'll start with your back to a wall and be above ground. You'll move around by pressing the on screen touch controls that allow you to move forwards, backwards, left, right, and to turn. The trees all look the same and you'll soon encounter your first two different monsters. The first is a big, white cube (giant marshmallows?) and the second looks something like a cubic snake. They'll move around, won't be terribly aggressive, and certainly won't hunt you down if you make any effort to hide. Attacking the monsters is more of an arcade affair with sneaking up behind them and swatting them a few times before retreating and repeating. After a few attacks they die and occasionally leave some food or something. Picking up the food is again done via the touch screen although that's a bit tricky as it sits just about the up and down controls so I found I had to touch just a tad above the food to actually pick it up. The game then becomes a maze game as you apparently don't have the key to the first door you find, but there's plenty more to explore.

I compare this game to Dungeon Master, but it falls short of even recreating that experience from 20 years ago as there just isn't much adventure here. Kill monsters. Roam around and find more monsters to kill. Occasionally you'll stumble across something that looks interesting, but doesn't appear to be anything more than decoration. In other words I think the adventure is missing and the game feels more like a good start than a finished product.

In conclusion, I can only hope that this is a good start to an even better end. The engine itself works and works well and I don't have a problem with the blocky critters at all. I would just like to see the game play accelerated with more interesting encounters. I want to find scrolls. I want to read tablets. I want to unravel mysteries. And then I want to find the Black Magician. If you're ok with a slow dungeon crawl then you'll probably like this, but it's not going to create any converts. 2.5/5 stars.

Space STG II Contest - Win a free game!

MeAndMyDroid and InventiVenture announce a promotional contest. Inventiventure is providing five (5) free upgrade codes to the full version for their new game Space STG 2!

You can download a demo version from Android Market at:

https://market.android.com/details?id=org.ovh.grzegorzaeSTG2

Space STG II is a sci-fi real time strategy game. It is a continuation of Space STG which was among the twenty finalists of the Android Developer Challenge II competition hosted by Google. The Space STG II demo is currently available in the Android Market and gets you started with 4 free missions.

To win a free upgrade to full version you should send an email to spacestgii@meandmydroid.com answering the question 'Why do you think you should receive a free code for this game?' with preference given to answers that somehow tie in to the game. Five (5) free codes will be awarded and the contest will end when a full review of Space STG II is published on MeAndMyDroid.com (which will be no earlier than March 8th, 2011). The five (5) answers will also be anonymously published on this site.

For more information about Space STG II please visit http://www.inventiventure.tk/ or find us on FaceBook at http://www.facebook.com/pages/Space-STG-II/196878500325599. The game's trailer is also available below: