IOS Game Round Up
We report on some of the iPhone and iPad games that have caught our attention recently.
Okay, we give in. When we started this blog back in late 2009, we intended to focus on free online games. We did not want to burden visitors with the hassle of downloading or purchasing games. But as Casual Girl Gamer has grown in popularity (many thanks to all the 200,000 odd who visit us each month), so have the calls for us to cover games for Apple's iPad and iPhone devices.
Published by Alex Kearns on 9th February 2011
Ten Chain Reaction Games
We have collected together the best free online chain reaction games we could find for your playing pleasure.
While sitting down at my computer to write a game review I accidentally knock a glass of water over. The contents of the glass splash over our pet cat, giving her a mighty shock. She immediately leaps through an open window and bounds across a busy road. Spotting her, a driver slams hard down on his breaks, causing the truck behind to crash into the back of him.
Published by Tasha on 6th February 2011
Icy Gifts
This fun chain reaction game takes the core game-play of the classic Boomshine and soups it up with colourful graphics, upgrade paths and achievements.
When developer Danny Miller created a little chain reaction game called Boomshine in 2007, he did not have particularly high hopes for it. The game was incredibly simple. Nothing more than an oblong box with small spheres bouncing around. All you did was click somewhere with your mouse to create an explosion, the idea being that any sphere that came into contact with the detonation would in turn blow up, setting in motion a chain reaction.
Published by Tasha on 3rd February 2011
High Tea
The UK's Wellcome Collection brings you a brilliant trading game that explores one of the more unsavoury episodes in world history.
Britain might nowadays be an insignificant little country on the edge of Europe (sorry all my UK readers but I have to tell it as it is) but there was a time, not so long ago, when it ruled the largest empire the world has ever witnessed. At its peak in the early 20th century, the British empire held sway over a quarter of the world's population and huge swathes of its landmass. No-one could challenge its military and economic might.
Published by Tasha on 1st February 2011
Electric Box 2
The sequel to one of the best Flash puzzle games of 2009 will have geeks and nerds rubbing their soldering irons together with glee.
Anyone who has met me knows that I can be quite obsessive. Especially when it comes to games. If I find a game that I like, I will play it and play it and play it - often for months on end. The game I have been obsessing over during the past few weeks is Electric Box 2. Sequel to the 2009 title, Electric Box 2 is a fiendish puzzle game where you have to complete the circuit from the power supply to the target. You do this by placing components at strategic places on the circuit board that forms the main area of the game.
Published by Tasha on 31st January 2011
Top 10 Goriest Games
The squeamish among you might want to look away for these ten games are among the goriest, bloodiest and nastiest the internet has to offer.
We at Casual Girl Gamer like to think that we are a couple of notches above the average gaming blogger. We take great care choosing the games we highlight on this site, often selecting philosophical or arty games that shed light on the human experience - see our lists of games that make you think about life here and here.
Published by Alex Kearns on 30th January 2011
Best of the web
While you sleep, we scour the web for the best gaming stories and share them with you here in our new 'Best of the Web' column.
Welcome to what we hope will become a regular column on Casual Girl Gamer. In Best of Web, we aim to share with you the gaming stories and links that have piqued our interest over the previous week. This inaugural issue includes a flick through the portfolio of a game studio with a great artistic style, coverage of a fantastic retro RPG game for the XBox and the launch of new competition to uncover the best HTML5 games.
Published by Tasha on 26th January 2011
Aurora
If there is one game that should convince you to install the Unity browser plugin, it is this stunningly beautiful solar system sandbox game.
I almost did not play Aurora. It uses the Unity plugin and I have had bad experiences with Unity games in the past. Some have run dreadfully slowly on my laptop. Others have actually crashed my browser. So when I spotted the Unity loading screen, my first reaction was to immediately close down the game. I am glad I resisted this urge because Aurora is an absolute gem of a game. Certainly, it is one of the most beautiful browser games I have ever played.
Published by Tasha on 25th January 2011
Tank World
HTML5 might still be in its infancy but it is already being used to create some highly impressive games, as Tank World amply proves.
In September last year, we introduced our readers to a new technology for creating online games. HTML5 - as the technology is called - has the great advantages of being both completely open source and not needing a browser plugin. At the time, we published a list of the 30 best HTML5 games to show the potential of this powerful new technology.
Published by Alex Kearns on 24th January 2011
Top 10 Games for Liberals
From a time-management sim about fast food production practices to a gaming protest against British police tactics, these are the games every self-respecting liberal simply has to play.
Can games be political? Do conservatives/Republicans and their ilk prefer some types of game - Deer Hunter, for example - and liberals/Democrats others? To be honest, I don't know the answer. But I thought it would be fun to compile a list of free online games with a political edge. We have started with this collection of games we thought would appeal to liberals but over the coming weeks we will also be publishing lists of games for conservatives and socialists.
Published by Alex Kearns on 21st January 2011
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Game reviews
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Lume
State of Play's new puzzle adventure title Lume might be made out of cardboard cutouts but it is in no way a one-dimensional game.
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The Tiny Bang Story
Beautiful hand-drawn graphics, nicely balanced and creative puzzles and a great sound track, The Tiny Bang Story delivers on all fronts.
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Castaway 2
Robinson Crusoe had it lucky. He was only stranded on a desert island once. Things are not so easy for the hero of RPG adventure game series Castaway.
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ClubWorld
If the idea of running your own nightclub gets you excited, then Tapulous's latest iOS game might have you dancing around with joy.
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Insectonator
If the only good bug is a dead one, then you will be doing one helluva lot of good work in this cheery insect massacring game.
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Popular articles
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New game round-up 1
We have uncovered some casual gaming gems for you in this, our first round-up of new casual games to hit the world wide web.
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Ten scary online games
Wooooooooh. Woooooooooh. Yeah, it is halloween again, and - surprise surprise - we have some scary games for you to play. Well, I say scary but, to be honest, they are nowhere near as frightening as my trick or treaters.
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New Game Round-up
Yet another crop of great new games, including a sequel to one of 2009's best point-and-click games, an underwater game based loosely on Herman Melville's legendary novel Moby Dick and an unusual game that aims to unleash your poetic potential.
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The ten best online platform puzzle games
Fancy something a bit more mentally challenging than usual? Then check out our list of the best online platform puzzle games.
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Games of the Year 2010
Casual Girl Gamer presents her ten favourite online casual games of 2010, and asks readers to share their own most loved games of the year.
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Developer spotlights
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Jake Elliott
You won't find any resource-management or mindless slash and dash games in Jake Elliott's portfolio. What you will find are thought-provoking games that encourage you to ponder on the human experience.
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Con Artist Games
Chris Condon of Con Artist Games has a reputation for developing some of the most polished games on the web. Casual Girl Gamer speaks to him about his gaming philosophy.
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Gregory Weir
By combining great story-telling with imaginative game worlds, Gregory Weir has created some of the most thought-provoking games on the internet.
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John Cooney
Armor Games' head of game development John Cooney - or jmtb02, as he is better known - is one of the most prolific and imaginative game developers around.
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Evan Miller
In ImmorTall, indie developer Evan Miller created one of the most emotionally moving games to grace the internet. We speak to him about his gaming philosophy and plans for the future.
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Mateusz Skutnik
Mateusz Skutnik is a rarity: a gifted artist who is also a skilled coder. He is responsible for some of the most beautiful casual games on the web.
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