FunEffect.com

Tumbles is a match three game for the iPhone/iPod Touch. There is one feature that sets this match three game apart from other match three games and that is the use of the accelerometer. Players can tilt the iPhone/iPod touch in any direction to get the balls to roll from side to side to make [...] Continue reading

Taking a cue from Diablo, which simplified RPG experience into a point-and-click-and-loot experience, Glorg pares the formula down even further by taking over control of your hero's movement, managing where you want to explore or adventure off to while you worry about reacting to whatever you come across.

Martin Jonasson created this procedurally generated Flash game as his submission to the Gamma 4 one-button game competition. According to Crayon Physics developer Petri Purho, who's apparently played Glorg already, the game is "very addicting" and "basically a very streamlined version of Diablo".

Sister site IndieGames pointed out another fun looking single-button game: Tom Vencel's One Button Bob, now playable at Armor Games. The action title presents a series of screens in which you have to push your button at the right time for your explorer to react in a way that allows him to survive.

[Via IndieGames.com]

After yesterday's start, we're continuing to round up the most fun game publisher and developer 2009 Christmas cards we got into the offices of GDC, Game Developer magazine, and Gamasutra. Why? We think scanning them and making them available online is a neat Xmas-y thing to do. And we're pretty much game nerds, so we love the custom artwork.

Reminder: our full Xmas card archives, including cards from 2006, 2007, and 2009, are available on GameSetWatch. We took a break in 2008, but the C&VG folks, the Joystiq chaps, and the GamerTell guys were on the ball last year. This year, there's a a GamerTell gallery, but please comment or ping us if you know of other outlets showcasing cards, or have some you've scanned yourself.

In any case, let's get straight on with this second (of three) sets of Christmas cards from various friends and colleagues throughout the world:

  

The fine folks at Scottish indie developer Denki, currently making the wordgame-tastic Quarrel for Xbox Live Arcade, went for a special card featuring one of the in-game characters (we discover when opening the card!) peering through a Christmas tree, with bonus Scrabble-y holiday greeting writing.

Los Angeles-based Naughty Dog, fresh off the triumph of Uncharted 2, put together their holiday card featuring all of that game's protagonists and antagonists (with bonus skeleton with submachine gun!) carousing contentedly and wishing everyone a happy holiday. As indeed they should.

This is a fun card that I suspect might confuse some, since they might consider it's about 15 years late and got stuck in a time warp. Nope, in fact it's the holiday card for the unofficial PlayStation Museum, which is currently digging out all kinds of PS1 game prototypes and presenting info on them for public display.

Capcom Japan's card is a straightforward holiday greeting that includes nods to some of the company's most anticipated games of the next few months, including Super Street Fighter IV and Lost Planet 2.

The LucasArts and Lucasfilm holiday card is actually featured on StarWars.com already, where they note: "Designed by artists Harrison Parker and Kelly Smith, the card appears to be a gingerbread cookie tin which opens to reveal several Clone Wars characters in gingerbread form, complete with cookie-dough "ghosting" on the reverse of the interior panel." If you look closely, you'll see the embossing pattern has slipped on ours (though the card is still cute anyhow) - but misprints are clearly a Star Wars collector windfall in future years!

  

Finally for this set, Hudson's holiday greeting comes in a typically explosive form, as you might expect from the creators of the perennial Bomberman, which they doubtless hope many of you will consider playing as alternative post-Christmas dinner entertainment. Just be prepared to counsel your uncle after he blows himself up yet again.

[If you'd like to be featured in our late Xmas card round-up or add us to your list for subsequent years, our HQ address is on the parent company page, mark c/o Gamasutra or GameSetWatch.]

The Treasures of Montezuma 2 is a match three game for the iPhone/iPod touch. The goal of the game is to match three of the same color gem. The matched gems disappear to be replaced by more gems. Players have to clear all of the gems off the board before time runs out. If time [...] Continue reading

Let's be honest about something: Most "advergames" are pretty terrible, because they're more concerned with shilling their product than they are with entertaining the player. Find Your Own Way Home, therefore, is a wonderful surprise. It may be an advertisement for the new REO Speedwagon album of the same name, but it's also a surprisingly well-done and fun game in its own right.

read more

[This is a guest review by Guert.]

What if you could jump off a skyscraper, plummet down toward the ground at incredible speed, caress the buildings, and live to tell the tale? What if, while diving, you could give thumbs up to fans and flip off protestors? AaaaaAAaaaAAAaaAAAAaAAAAA!!! A Reckless Disregard for Gravity, the latest title from Dejobaan, is a skydiving stunt game staged in a futuristic universe. You step off the ledge of a skyscraper and, as you plunge through the floating buildings, you try to earn points by falling close to the structures, earning “kiss” and “hugs” bonuses. For extra points, you can crash through bonus plates, give thumbs up to your fans watching you jump and flip off those who don’t like the show.

The experience is fun and it’s quite satisfying to avoid the buildings and occasionally crash head first into them for a nice excruciating death. The game controls are difficult to get into but once you do, you can start performing some high-paying stunts. The game has a good dose of humor and doesn’t take itself too seriously. For example, the “grab” screen, where you can purchase the full version, has a funny narration that explains the role of pixies in the development of the game. However, some jokes seem funnier on paper. For instance, the game features a meditation video that allows you to meditate in front of your screen. It sounds funny when it’s said out loud but when you experience it in game, it just feels out of place. The visuals are good but sometimes feel amateurish, mostly because it features generic fonts and a few simple “photoshopped” pictures. The audio is also good and fits the game very well. The ergonomics, most notably the menu flow, could have been a bit more polished, but it’s not troublesome.

Aaaaa!!! is a fun game that would benefit of an extra layer of polish. The concept is fun and the experience is entertaining. You can grab the demo, as well as the full game, on Dejobaan’s official website. The demo features 9 levels, the meditation video, and a bunch of hint boxes that tell you fun facts about the game and skydiving. And for those wondering where they may have seen this game before, it’s one of this year’s IGF contestants.

TIGdb: Entry for Aaaaa!!!

If you're looking for a simple, cheap, and fun game to get you in the Halloween mood, try out Skullpogo, a new iPhone/iPod Touch release from Chevy Johnston (Beacon) and Justin Smith (Enviro-Bear).

This was actually released as a downloadable PC title last year, but the concept of bouncing off pigs, zombies, and bats was "remade and souped up" for the App Store debut, adding tilt controls, new power-ups and enemies, online high scores, and more.

Johnston describes Skullpogo as "the ultimate coffee-break game":

"It is all about the gameplay, and thus offers no cinematics, no flashy cutscenes, no RPG elements, and no lengthy loading screens. When they've got 100 Apps on their iPhone, I want people to choose Skullpogo because it's: 1) Quick to start up. One-press and you're playing! 2) Fun in premise, easy to play, yet skillful to master. And 3) I can't think of an excuse not to want to battle hordes of the undead with nothing but a pogo stick."

You can grab Skullpogo from the App Store now for $1.99.