Cliffski is back with a sleek, sexy update to Positech's life sim game Kudos. For those of you who don't already own Kudos, it is a turn-based sim which, although beautifully illustrated, is basically text, unlike The Sims where your avatar moves around and interacts with objects and other players.

The basic premise is still the same — you start as a bouncy, enthusiastic 20 year old waiting tables in a cruddy restaurant for minimum wage and tips. You have four friends with varying characteristics, and the choice of one activity a day (two at weekends). You can try to get a promotion at the restaurant, study medicine, law, performing arts, or just beef up your meditation chops. You also need to maintain yourself — keep fit, bathe, go to the dentist and so on, all whilst maintaining your social life... which can get expensive.

The play screen allows you to select the way you get to work, and one activity to do in the evening. The activity buttons allow you to pick something to do — sign up for classes, look for work, socialise with friends or chill out on your own. You can shop for things that will 'enhance' your personality and skills — for instance, books on confidence boosting or a set of barbells for good health. You need to keep a close eye on how your activities are affecting your characteristics — for instance, if you apply for a job with low confidence, the employers will think you're not really up to it and reject the application.

This is quite a challenging game, and I'm not entirely sure if it's strictly "casual" given how long you'd have to play to get through the ten years of the character's life. Its replay value is immense — OK, you've "won" the game as a TV chef, now give it a go as a computer programmer with an interest in ballet. Although it is tempting to play the game as a clickfest, you will be rewarded for paying attention to the text. Firstly, keeping a close watch on friend's personalities and who they get along with will help you create successful events, which will increase your positive characteristics and make your character more popular. Secondly, it's funny — although Cliffski has mentioned that he's deliberately made the game more upbeat, the acerbic sense of humour still shines through.

Analysis: So... what's so special about Kudos 2 if you do already own Kudos? The most noticeable thing is the artwork, a clean, sharp comic style very different from the 3D style of Kudos and Kudos: Rock Legend. If you like it as much as I do, it's by a couple of artists named Chris Hildenbrand and Jamie McKelvie, whose work can be viewed on his blog. Mostly, Kudos 2 is — as Cliffski freely admits — an enhanced and more sophisticated version of Kudos, rather than a completely new game. The character AI is more sophisticated, and characters will drop hints about activities that should be taken in or avoided. There are also new mini-games and more depth to previous activities.

I have a few quibbles about the activities. I know the prices of things can't be realistic in an independent game like this, but, for instance, why does it cost $2 to take a bath? Even allowing for utility bills, it doesn't cost that much to sit in a tub of hot water! It also makes me somewhat upset that there are so few cheap or free activities — one is soccer in the park, another is to go jogging alone — even though in the real world people do low-cost stuff together all the time (let's hang out in the park and drink goon!). Then your friends get snarky and leave you because you can't spend all your time socialising! Similarly, "Go to church" to increase your honesty and relaxation levels didn't impress me much, being a godless heathen. However, the beauty of the Kudos series is how easy it is to mod, so if I want to switch church with a vigorous session of ashtanga yoga, I can just change a line of code.

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.

Look! Over there! It's a giant robot alligator with a bunch of little drills going out to get some sushi! Before he sees us, reload your grenade gun with cherries and tap the appropriate key when his sushi order floats over the red zone!

Avert Fate (Mac/Windows, 90MB, free) - Gritty first person shooter designed to show off the capabilities of the Unity engine. For the most part the gameplay is standard FPS fare, but there are some interesting weapons to mess with, and fighting alien ships in the sky is always a plus. Hit detection feels a bit rough around the edges, but you'll forgive any sort of awkwardness when that huge robot steps into your view.

Alex the Allegator 4 (Mac/Windows, 1MB, free) - Platforming pulled back to its basics, even the color palette emulates the green hues of the original Game Boy! This installment is part of a series of wildly different games that includes a puzzle title, racing game, and multiplayer platformer, although I enjoyed Alex's run and jump antics a bit more than the other games.

Little Machines Still Goes Deeper (Windows, 7MB, free) - A cute, colorful arcade-style "digging" game where you must control drills burrowing under the soil to collect gems. Click and drag the mouse over a drill to select a direction, but avoid rocks of any kind, as they'll destroy your little machines. Fun time waster, especially when things get more hectic and you have to choose between collecting gems and keeping your drills safe.

Waxy's Sushi Party (Windows, 12MB, free) - An intense Game Maker-created game of reflexes that marries Dance Dance Revolution-style button tapping to a resource management sim. Sushi orders, represented by colored dots, pass by the red and green areas at the bottom of the screen. Use the keyboard to "activate" the areas while an order is on top to fill it. Keep an eye on the bills section to the right and use the numpad to add up completed orders and charge customers what they owe. Things get frantic pretty fast, but when you get into the swing of things, there's an almost Zen-like beauty to playing. (Note: Game is "Play Now" only, meaning you must install an Internet Explorer or Firefox plugin to play.)

Standing toe to toe with games like Azada: Ancient Magic, Dream Chronicles 2: The Eternal Maze, and even the Mystery Case Files series isn't an easy job, but Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena matches (and, in many areas, surpasses) its contemporaries with a fun blend of adventure and hidden object gaming. Each scene is vivid and unique, packed with hand-drawn artwork, simple item finding (read: no gigantic items confusingly camouflaged in the foreground), and a strong emphasis on using objects you find to interact with the scenery to solve puzzles. It's a balanced and enjoyable game you won't want to turn away from once you've started playing.

Samantha Swift is an archaeologist on the lookout for new and exciting artifacts to bring back to her museum. A nefarious competitor swoops in at the last moment and steals her prize find, but Samantha learns of an even bigger fish to fry. Piecing together the Shield of Athena, we learn of six roses that are missing from its face. Samantha immediately sets out to find them, but her rivals are hot on her heels!

Each scene in Samantha Swift is packed with items, just like every other hidden object game on the market. A scanner helps you out by showing a silhouette of any list item you click, and you have a handful of hints to use at any moment. Items are usually pretty easy to find, and in many cases you can pick up most of the list before you even read what's on it! If you're looking for a hidden object experience, however, you're missing two thirds of this extraordinary game.

After you track down a handful of things on the screen, you can begin to uncover little secrets using your inventory. Finding a shovel, for example, sends it to your Tools bar, and if the cursor turns blue over the soil, you can bet some digging will be in order. A few mini-game-style puzzles can also be found, and each fits perfectly in the story and setting.

You travel the world with Ms. Swift, visiting Italy, Guatemala, France, and more. The locations are unique and illustrated with a superb art style that's bright, lively and interesting. Many areas offer several scenes you'll need to travel back and forth between in order to find all of the items and solve every puzzle. Not much backtracking, but enough to make you feel like you have a large area to explore.

Analysis: It's a bold thing to say, but Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena is a game that gets just about everything right. From the overall design angle to the little gameplay details, everything fits together in perfect harmony. Common annoyances I've had with hidden object games are absent in this game. In fact, Samantha Swift made me realize a few things about other games in the genre that bug me, like a hint system that randomly shows you where an item is. Here, using a hint lets you choose which item you'd like to find, a subtle improvement that really brightened my gaming experience!

The only possible detractors to this game are its relatively short length and low level of difficulty. Puzzles, however creative and interesting, don't pose too much of a challenge, though they're always fun to complete. And even though you can charge through the game in one or two sittings, you can replay the game afterwards with different lists of items to find.

Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena is easily one of the best adventure/hidden object hybrids I've played. It's not perfect, but it's a fresh and fun experience that trumps most other games out there.

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Not available.
Try Boot Camp or Parallels or CrossOver Games.

Für begrenzte Zeit bietet Big Fish Games den beliebten Puzzle-Hit Azada für nur 99 Cent an! Falls Du dieses phantastische Spiel noch nicht kennst, ist jetzt der beste Zeitpunkt es mal auszuprobieren.

Wenn Du es bestellst, gib unbedingt diesen Angebots-Code an: 99AZADA

Am besten liest Du auch noch unseren Bericht über Azada, damit Du Dir vorher ein Bild von diesem großartigen Spiel machen kannst.

Was kannst Du mit 99 Cent schon falsch machen?

All through October, take 50% off a large selection of regularly priced games purchased at Big Fish Games. Offer expires October 31st.

Take your pick. Many of the best games available at Big Fish are on sale. Be sure to use the coupon code "OCTOBERFEST" when ordering to receive your discount. There is NO LIMIT to the number of games you can purchase at a discount!

Visit this page for full details about the offer.

In this blue-colored world (you know, 'cause of oceans and stuff), we have people that bake bread, people who build buildings, people who stack things on top of other things. We also have people who make games. Everyone fills their little niche in the grand scheme of things, but only one of the above listed folk have a Link Dump Friday. Can you guess which one?

• Picross Quest - Picross = win. The picture-making logic puzzles are best handled with pencil and paper, but when a browser version comes along, I can't help but indulge myself. Use the numbers around the grid to determine which blocks should be filled in. A tutorial helps ease you into the game if you've never played before, and picross fans will find enough puzzles to stay busy for a while.
• Booty Juggler - A gorgeously illustrated game where you must help the octopus juggle items with his six tentacles and avoid getting blasted by the bombs. I love looking at this game, but I'm afraid I don't have the requisite six arms required to play...
• The Eyeballing Game - The Eyeballing Game is exactly what it claims to be: a game where you eyeball stuff. Follow the instructions and move the target/lines to find the center of circles, bisect angles, create parallelograms, and so forth. Score as low as you can to show how high your eyeballing skills are.
• Gravity Grid - A matching game where you must rotate and flip the playing field to slide pieces into place. You have a limited number of moves, and planning your strategy is an exercise in 2D spatial orientation.

New from Varstudios, creator of Kaichou and the Neon games, comes an arena shooter even casual gamers can enjoy.

41st Reality is a sort of mash-up between Asteroids and Space Invaders where you pilot a tiny craft against waves of incoming enemies (which happen to be aliens and geometric shapes). Power-ups appear from time to time to give you a hand, but otherwise its just you and your reflexes keeping you alive.

Controls are handled with a mouse/keyboard hybrid setup where the [arrow] or [WASD] keys move your ship and the mouse aims. Firing is done automatically, so all you have to do is direct the constant stream of bullets towards the enemy and avoid getting hit.

Enemies drop items that either immediately give you a new weapon (spread shot, double shot, or homing missiles) or send a power-up to your one-slot inventory. Click the left mouse button to use this stored item, with effects ranging from a localized "destroy everything around you" explosion to a turret that stays on screen and helps you out with some friendly fire.

Just like in the classic Asteroids, huge chunks of stuff comes flying at you from all directions of the screen. Blast them to break them down into smaller pieces, then take out the debris shards one by one. The Space Invaders slant sends rows of aliens marching in from the top of the screen. Put the two together and, well, good luck with that.

Analysis: The most surprising thing about 41st Reality is that it's inviting to a wide audience, not just twitch-happy arcade gamers. The low difficulty curve lets everyone have fun, but you really have to muster some sort of skill to survive in later levels. For this reason the game will come off as slow-paced, but give it a few minutes and things will pick up considerably.

I also really appreciate the retro feel the vector-based visuals convey. See the emulated CRT lines? Oh yeah, brings back fond memories of standing in front of an arcade machine with quarters lined up beneath the monitor. Good times!

A shmup for more casual gamers, 41st Reality keeps things on the simple side without foregoing too much challenge.

Play 41st Reality.

One of the more disappointing aspects of escape the room games is that there are so many that appear but relatively few of them are worthy of your time. We try to highlight only the best of the best, which still results in a less than 'exceptional' experience from time to time, but Weekday Escape is here to save the day!

This week's feature is Dr. Ichie's Room, an exceptional and straightforward game from Japan that fortunately includes a (rough) English translation for most of the descriptions and explanations it contains. From Bianco Bianco, the same team that created Mystery House: Escape from Beginning Room, the graphics it contains are polished and appealing, and there are no pixel hunts necessary. Only once is there a leap from logic—something appears only after you complete a puzzle. Other than that one minor issue, the game is a solid escape game experience and is highly recommended for fans of the genre. If you don't usually care for this type of game, you're not likely to change your mind as this offers a fairly standard, even though exceptional, game play experience.

Play Dr. Ichie's Room.

Ah yes, hunting season fast approaches, and there's one thing on everyone's mind... camouflage. Hunters have it, as well as the deer and the turkeys. And so do invading balls of doom.

Tonypa once again brings us another challenge, known as These Balls are Made for Hiding. As the title implies the field before you is not empty, but hides balls. Your colored box along the edge of the playing field can fire a beam in the direction of your mouse, ricocheting off of any hidden balls and exposing them. Clicking the mouse will clear these balls from the screen, and the onslaught of balls will inch its way down the field. If you think you can adjust your shot and take out more balls at once though, simply move your mouse until you find a path for your beam that suits your interests. Doing this, however, rehides the balls you've just uncovered back in the field, but this time as black circles against the dark gray field.

As you progress through the levels the locations from which your beams can fire and land as well as the sizes of the balls to hit will change. Always be sure to keep an eye on the descending gray field, which shows the center point of the lowest ball on the field (although not how many actually sit on the line or where they're at). If a ball reaches the bottom of the screen, it's game over, and the deer frolic away. Goodbye, venison stew.

Analysis: Giving the enemy the advantage of stealth makes for some interesting gameplay. You realize the excitement this game can generate when the gray field has almost reached the bottom and you've cleared a couple of balls sitting on the bottom line... but are there more hiding there that you haven't exposed? One fate-sealing click will reveal all, but will it be too late? Tonypa once again turns a simple idea into a fun game of strategy and chance, with a hint of skill thrown in on the side.

Play These Balls are Made for Hiding.

Cheers to Mot for sending this one in! =)

Blocks With Letters On is an anagram puzzle game from Martin Sears, presented with the distinct flavor of British educational programming. Don't be fooled by the charming hand-drawn appearance and the curiously twisted vignettes between levels; don't worry if the first few levels seem too basic. This turns into a serious brain-twister. The title screen promises "64 levels of mind-numbing word action," and while I might quibble with the definitions of "mind-numbing" and "action", the game is pretty much as advertised. I advise turning your speakers down to 50%, so when the game shouts the solutions at you, you don't jump in surprise and spill Tang down your shirt. Though maybe that's supposed to be the "action" part.

Each level presents you with a jumbled collection of movable blocks (with letters on) and a string of yellow squares. Position the blocks in the yellow squares so that they spell a word. Select a block with either the mouse or the space bar, then move it with the arrow keys. On some of the larger levels, the blocks' movement can be aggravatingly slow, but most of the time there isn't much wasted space. As you progress, you'll encounter rotating blocks, sticky walls, floor switches and more.

You get 20 hints to last you for 64 levels. The "Clue Flap" tells you the first letter in the target word, and "Gimme a Hint" (available only when played at Gimme 5 Games) helps you with overall strategy for the level. Now obviously, you can just restart from the beginning after you use up a clue, but what fun is that? See if you can make it through on the first try. Bonus Hint: The solution to level 4 is not "LUBE."

Play Blocks With Letters On.

Games are usually thought of as diversions, entertainment, distractions to get through times of boredom or simply to experience pure enjoyment. They can also, however, be a persuasive medium through which to convey important ideas; more and more, various organizations and other entities are recognizing the power inherent in games and utilizing them to spread their messages to a larger population.

Alternate Reality Games, or ARGs, are an especially effective genre to this end. By creating an interactive narrative rife with puzzles, intriguing characters and dramatic storylines, ARGs draw players in to an extent not possible for most other types of games. Microsoft, Steven Spielberg and countless video games and movies have all produced alternate reality games; now, from the British Red Cross, comes Traces of Hope, the first-ever charity ARG!

Traces of Hope centers around 16-year-old Joseph; survivor of a vicious civil war in Uganda, he was wrenched from his family and forced to flee his home. Now, five years later, Joseph is on a dangerous quest to locate his mother. With the help of a British journalist, the young refugee has access to a satellite phone with which he can contact players; this is where you come in. Can you guide Joseph through the perils of a war-torn civilization to maybe, just maybe, locate the Red Cross messenger who can provide the information he so desperately desires?

Created by Enable Interactive, the game promises to combine "storytelling, detective work, technology and treasure-hunt style gameplay in a compelling 21st century narrative, as players seek to reunite Joseph with his mother." I can't provide many details, as the nature of an ARG is to be constantly unfolding; however, I think that Traces of Hope has the potential to be both fun and profoundly moving, an unusual combination indeed. Compelling story + entertaining gameplay + important real-world info = one heckuva good thing.

Registration opened about a week ago, so jump in now to avoid missing the boat! You can also see a teaser video for the campaign, and, if you like, post your thoughts and findings here in the comments for others in the JIG community.

Also, if you enjoy games with a cause, make sure to check out the new and improved Free Rice! A year after its debut, the United Nations World Food Program-developed vocabulary game has expanded to include subjects such as geography, art, grammar and chemistry; as before, every correct answer for any subject donates 20 grains of rice to the UN (the rice is paid for by the game's sponsors). Over 45 billion grains have been donated so far; let's add to that number. :)

Joseph needs your help: Play Traces of Hope!

Meat Boy is a platform game that dares to ask the question "What if the main character from Knytt or N was made of bits of sticky, gooey raw meat?" And even though you never wanted to listen to the sound of meat slapping against solid blocks over and over again, when you're playing Meat Boy, you probably won't mind. As an added incentive (you know, in addition to ambulatory chunks of raw flesh), one of the game's creators, Edmund McMillen, is co-author of Aether, Gish, Triachnid and Coil.

Meat Boy is made out of meat. Meat Boy's love interest is made out of band-aids. One day a fetus in a jar wearing a suit and monocle kidnaps her and runs away. Thus the game begins. Use the [arrow] keys to move, [space] to jump, and press against walls and leap to perform a wall jump. You'll become quite familiar with how fast and far Meat Boy jumps, as the entire game is based around hairpin maneuvers and squeezing your tiny self between saw blades and other dangers.

The goal of each level is to make it to the Bandaid Girl in one piece. The game provides cheerful advice after each stage, such as "Don't die. Dying is bad." Levels are accessed from a simple menu screen, allowing you to skip rough spots and come back to them later when you're ready for more punishment. You only have to complete three out of five stages to unlock the next series of levels, so there's plenty of wiggle room when you're ready to pull out your hair. Also, try and grab floating band-aids you'll see from time to time, as they're the key to unlocking a few fun extras later in the game.

Analysis: Meat Boy is a tough game. Tough as in old-school tough, forcing you to play and re-play areas until you get things just right. Fortunately it's not entirely unforgiving, as the level select menu allows you to move to a different stage when the going gets too tough, which is a good compromise between raw difficulty and accessibility.

A great feature in Meat Boy is the easy-to-use custom level creator. Accessible from the main menu, simply click and craft your stage to be as devious as you please. You're given a custom level text code that you can copy and paste into e-mails (or comment forms here at JIG!) so friends can import the stages you create. The Meat Boy team will assemble a map pack next month containing around 50 user-created stages, so if you think your level is tops, send the code to souldescen{at}aol.com and hope for the best!

If you can stand staring at the juicy goo left by a ball of meat squishing across each level, Meat Boy serves as a nice diversion. It's a smart-looking game with loads of personality and just enough challenge to make you want more.

Play Meat Boy.

The fourth in the "Core" series of point-and-click adventure games created by John Feltham has just been released. Soul Core is similar to other games like this, and yet introduces a unique concept as well. Use your mouse to point and click on items to add them to your inventory; click on inventory items and drag them to the game view to use them. Use these items in the correct places to solve puzzles and complete the game. In addition, you will want to look for ways to increase your "soul" rating while playing. Try to complete the game with 100%.

Play Soul Core.

Be sure to play other games in the "Core" Series.

Cheers to Michelle for sending this one in! =)

Swarm Gold is an update to, and replacement for, the original Swarm created by Reflexive Entertainment back in 1998.

The new Swarm Gold features an impressive emulated 3D graphics system and realistic sound. You have free range to fly around the entire map just as we've seen in many modern top-down shooters. The subtle storyline is that you're a convict in the distant future, offered a pardon if you can successfully pilot your T77 Assault Craft through the galaxy and collect your quota of EZT, a precious energy resource. A hostile, insectoid-like alien presence was discovered to be working toward the same goal, which is why the government is recruiting felons to fly these suicide runs. The role of the pilot reminds me a lot of Duke Nukem, because of the scruffy, tough-guy voice acting heard in-game.

The most notable aspect of Swarm Gold that's evident right out of the starting gate is the smooth control system, something that's rare even among modern top-down space shooters. Trying to control a ship's boosters, direction, guns and more always proved to be a chore on a PC keyboard. Many games have tried many different approaches, but I can't remember playing one more intuitive than Swarm Gold. You control the ship's direction by using the mouse, which rotates a directional reticule in front of your ship. Thrusters are controlled with [space], and you simply fire guns with the first and second mouse buttons.

Each level you zone in via a "jump gate," a wormhole-like mechanic that drops you off in each sector of the galaxy. Each level presents you with a quota of EZT to collect, which you can find either by looking at the minimap radar, or by following a pretty cool HUD-system that surrounds your ship, pointing you to both resources and bad guys. There's a special blue icon that shows you the direction of the nearest EZT, and a red one to warn you about the nearest enemy. Both are easily integrated into the mouse-reticule system in a way that makes navigating your ship a breeze. The space bar activates your thrusters just as you're probably used to seeing in many other top-down space shooters; the best method controlled by moderate-to-short taps, using momentum to fly around moreso than the actual thrusters themselves. The weapons are equally as simple to control; a left mouse click fires your blasters and the right mouse button ejects a mine.

The variety of weapons isn't huge, but it's pretty adequate for a game this size. You start out with gold blasters, which get the job done in early levels, but are weak compared to the red blasters you'll gain access to in the first few levels, and the cool spread lasers and quad-lasers you'll get later. These are all picked up floating around in space, either on their own or available after blowing up enemies or asteroids/space junk. The mines are a particularly cool weapon, because they can be used both defensively and offensively. If a group of enemy ships is chasing you from behind, you can slow down a bit, drop one, and watch as everything within it's blast radius is destroyed. You can also drop one just as you're approaching a group of enemies or asteroids, flip around the other direction and let inertia carry the mine straight into the enemies. All your weapons and mines can be tracked in your inventory in the lower-right corner of the screen. All but your starter gold blasters are finite, so you'll constantly need to be picking up weapons, mines and shields as you're flying around. Your shields are obviously finite as well, and once you've run out, your ship is destroyed (unless you're playing on the easiest difficulty setting). Although you're presented with lots of extra ships (lives) to pick up, there's a pretty big death penalty; you lose all of your blasters and most of your mines if you die.

Analysis: Both stylistically and in gameplay, Swarm Gold succeeds as a strong winner. Its intuitive control system lets you focus more on playing the game than controlling your ship, which isn't the case with many top-down space shooters I've played over the years. Between sets of levels, you'll be given "bonus" levels to pick up as many power-ups as you can within a minute or so, and there's also the occasional "death" levels where you're goal isn't to collect EZT, but to destroy a certain number of enemy ships. These are both visually indicated by purple and red backgrounds, respectively. There's also a few more weapons to be found, including the uber-powerful "Star Clubber" with can be found once per level in later stages. For more info, you can check out the tips page here.

Unfortunately the replay factor isn't as prominent as some fans might hope, but there is a nice collection of increasingly more powerful enemies and weapons as levels progress. Over 100 levels in all, your initial run will keep you busy for a few hours at least. The graphics and sound are very well-designed for a download game produced by a distribution company, although you might catch a block-like distortion every once in awhile in particles, such as when a ship is destroyed. Space shooter fans will definitely want to check the demo out, but I think any action/arcade fan in general would like this game. It has a certain uniqueness about it, even though it's a played-out genre.

Windows:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Mac OS X:
Download the demo
Order the full version

Sometimes indie game developers really impress me with their rampant creativity. This week, for example, we have a surprisingly deep strategy game from Chronic Logic that looks like it was stolen from 1992 (which is good!), a fighting game starring rabbits, an unfairly tough platformer called Love, and a physics-based racing motocross racing game. When "Hey, I have a neat idea!" is the driving force behind a game, you know you're in for a good time.

X-Moto (Mac/Windows/Linux, 24MB, free) - Perhaps a distant cousin to Line Rider, X-Moto is an open source 2D motocross platform racing game with a heavy emphasis on physics. Use the [left] and [right] arrow keys to lean and the [up] key to move forward, then try and make it through the countless user-generated tracks available online. Keep your head from crashing into the ground and you should do all right!

Zatikon (Mac/Windows/Linux, 27MB, demo) - A superb turn-based strategy title from Chronic Logic, Zatikon takes place on a 2D grid where units move, attack and defend much like a complex game of chess. Build your army before diving in, choosing from around 50 units (not all of which are available from the get-go) that range from long-firing archers, close-combat warriors, and tons of extremely creative characters with interesting special abilities. Then, head out onto the battlefield and lay siege to your opponent's castle. Single player versus the computer is available, along with player versus player and co-op play. I'm not afraid to admit I a lot of fun playing this game. It's easy to pick up and very addictive, especially when you start earning gold and get to unlock new army units (shapeshifters for the win!).

Love (Windows, 30MB, free) - Do you like tough-as-nails platform games that punish you at every turn? The not-so-aptly-named Love is just that. You have 99 lives to run through 20 levels of spikes, pixel-accurate jumps, and dastardly traps springing out of nowhere. Memorization and trial-and-error are your only friends.

Lugaru (Mac/Windows/Linux, 25MB, demo) - A third-person action game centered around one thing: awesome-looking combat. The main character, Turner, is on a quest to find those responsible for killing people in his village. He quickly uncovers a far-reaching conspiracy, however, and takes it upon himself to fight against evil to save his fellow rabbits from slavery. Instead of forcing tons of battle commands onto the player, Lugaru uses a smart context-sensitive mechanic that allows you to pull off some spectacular moves. Even if combat isn't your thing, you can be all stealthy, too. Just be smart about it.

Ticket is a brand new game from the talented room escape designers at Gotmail. Like so many of their games to come before, this one features the same highly detailed, gorgeous pre-rendered scenes and the same point-and-clickery puzzles one would expect to find in a game of this nature. The only downside? There is no English version, so that will surely turn off a few. We can only hope an English translation will appear for it someday soon. If you're a room escape fantatic, though, you won't want to wait to dig your nails into this new Gotmail release.

Grab your mouse, it's time to Play Ticket!