BYOND Casual

Exclamation Marks Galore!

Fri, 30 Oct 2009 18:14:58 GMT

Mechanos7 has created a multiplayer game called Spam! It is a simplistic round-based game where two players compete by clicking every tile they can until they are all taken. The player with the most tiles clicked is the winner. This is a fast paced game and each round should take no longer than a minute.

Ripper man5 has released a new Yahtzee! game. For now, it can only be played in single player, but this might change in the future. He's also planning on some unspecified further improvements down the road, as well as installing a high scores table on the hub page. Since this is a fresh release, be aware that there are likely some bugs that are still in need of squashing.

Solcolito_Butch has posted on the BYOND Casual forum about a game he is developing called Craze Maze. When its finished, this game will contain (not surprisingly) large mazes. But not just ordinary mazes, these mazes will include secret passages, hidden rooms, traps and some unspecified "special gifts" to discover. This game will support user-generated content, meaning you can create your own mazes and share them with other players. There will even be stories to play through, both in single player and multiplayer.

Exploder Gets Overhauled

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 13:25:13 GMT

Acebloke has updated his game Exploder to take advantage of BYOND 4.0 interface features. On top of that he's also included some optimizations, and expects to be hosting the the game for the rest of the day.

Zetris 2 was also updated to fix some bugs after its recent day of hosting.

Got news? Let us know!

24 Hours of Zetris 2

Mon, 26 Oct 2009 12:25:46 GMT

Its over. You missed it.

For the next 24 hours (started at 9am Pacific Time, actually), Acebloke expects to be hosting a beta version of his new game Zetris 2.

While obviously part of the Tetris genre, Zetris 2 bears some distinct variations from the norm in that, not only are you playing sideways without the ability to rotate your shapes, but you're also playing against yourself. The longer you drag it out, the better your score. Of course, by yourself isn't the only way to play, there are also various multiplayer options available, however, you won't get to try those unless you join the online game being hosted right now.

Acebloke warns us that there are still some bugs as this is a beta, but there should not be any game-breaking problems.

-- Play The Game --

A Review Of Plight

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 22:46:12 GMT

Iccusion Entertainment has been popping out cool games for years, and Plight was one of their early creations, originally released in mid-2005. Since then it has gone through numerous patches and visual overhauls in order to become the game now.

The objective in Plight is to get the most points, and you acquire points through connecting letters into chains in order to form words. No straight lines required. The better the words you find, the more points you get, although the exact formula for determining their value isn't specified anywhere that I've found. The game is played in rounds, and each round gets faster and faster until the end.

You can play Plight by yourself, or you can recruit some friends to play with on either free-for-all or team mode.

Fun Factor

If you're a casual gamer at all, you might be able to appreciate the relaxation qualities of a game like this. However, I feel that the majority of its fun value must be achieved with multiple players, and I haven't been able to try this yet. It wouldn't have hurt the game any to throw in some additional elements, perhaps something along the lines of Scrabble's double-score or triple-score tiles, although I noticed they did this in Blobble which was released two years later.

Control and Gameplay

Unless you're chatting the only controller that you'll need is your mouse. You select words by clicking on a letter to start, and then moving the mouse along the line of letters that you want added, then clicking again when you're done. The end result is really quite seamless. Although with this mechanic you'd expect to be restricted to selecting letters in cardinal directions, I was surprised to find that you can also select letters diagonally and it isn't hard to do. You're not struggling to maneuver the mouse between orbs in order to select your next letter.

Graphics and Sound

Plight received a graphics overhaul about a year after its release, and the results are very nice. Its photoshopped tiles easily make it one of the more attractive games on BYOND. At the same time these tiles were released, we were also informed that there were more updates in the works which would include animations, sound and music among other things, but so far these updates have not been forthcoming. As it is, Plight is left without any sound or music, and has nothing but nice graphics to show off. At least it looks good in screenshots.

Replayability

This isn't the kind of game that you play through in order to hear the story or discover the secrets. There is no story nor any secrets. Its more of a party game, and as long as you have friends who are willing to play or you're perfectly happy to play by yourself over and over again in an effort to improve your personal best, the game won't get old.

Conclusion

In the end, you might compare Plight with a typical board game without a whole lot of complexity. It can be fun to play, especially if you have the right people to play with, but its not something that's going to keep you hooked for long periods of time. It would be nice if it included some subtle sound effects and a nice ambient soundtrack, but the lack of such things is easily forgiven in light of Plight's otherwise professional quality.

Games Needing Review

Sat, 24 Oct 2009 16:56:27 GMT

For a number of months BYOND Casual has had several games sitting quietly in the submission section. A number of these games are multiplayer games that can't really be tested in single player, which leaves me in a position where I can't really test them. Because of this, I haven't been able to verify whether these games fit the guild's submission guidelines. Hopefully I can get some extra help from readers to get these games sorted through, reviewed and accepted if they qualify.

This is a list of the games that need to be looked at:

If you're interested in writing a full-fledged review for any of these games, I highly recommend you have a look at this IGN article on writing reviews: You Got Game, But Can You Write? Thanks in advance for any help you can provide. Please use the forum or submit a blog post if you wish to communicate with the guild.

Geekdash Review

Fri, 23 Oct 2009 21:24:54 GMT

Geekdash was created by Acebloke sometime around '05. The goal of the game is to move your little circle from the bottom of the map to the top of the map without running into anything else on the way. Exciting intro, right?

When it comes right down to it, I'm hard-pressed to write a review about this game because its just such a shallow concept that there's hardly anything to write about. The entire game is written out in a few paragraphs on the game's hub page, and all that's left is to see how far you can get.

Fun Factor

If you're the kind of person who likes puzzle games that test you to see how far you can get, then you might like this game. I believe every play through is randomly generated as far as obstacle placements go, so there's at least a little variety. But is it fun? Well, the game really doesn't have a lot of depth. There are only four obstacles that you'll ever encounter, and once you've encountered them all there's nothing left to discover (that I'm aware of). So your only goal is to get as far as you can so as to record ever-higher scores.

Control and Gameplay

The controls are very basic - you don't need your keyboard, you only need the mouse. You can click on any tile adjacent to where you are located, and it'll move you to that tile, and move everything else on the map at the same time. If your move caused you to run into one of the obstacles on the map, the game is over. Which means that you'll have to quit the game and reload it if you want to play again, incidentally.

There are four obstacles that you'll encounter as you progress through the game, namely, Arrows, Blocks (pits), Random!s and Halos. Arrows move each turn in the direction that they are pointing. Blocks, or pits as I prefer to call them, just sit there, so you need to go around them. Random!s take a random step in any direction each turn. Halos are very similar to Random!s, except they will only enter unoccupied tiles.

Graphics

Taking a quick look at the screenshots will immediately give you the idea that this is not a glitzy game. In fact, it doesn't even have color - the whole game is drawn in shades of gray. If you're looking for pretty pictures, steer clear, folks!

Sound

This game is dead silent. No sounds to speak of. Best have your own background music handy.

Replayability

As I said earlier, the arrangement of the obstacles for each level appears to be random. Given that, you can play through as much as you want and it'll always be somewhat difference. However, given that you'll essentially encounter the same thing every game, it doesn't really make that much difference.

Conclusion

Geekdash might be fun for a few minutes at best, or if you're one of those die-hard strategy/puzzle gamers, you might be inclined to strive for a high score that will take you a few play-throughs. Personally, I think I'd have a headache if I played this game for more than an hour.

Review: Feval

Sat, 24 Jan 2009 18:43:24 GMT

Feval is a mock-up of the classic hit Bomberman that blew it's way into our homes 1983. The game is based on what you would see as Super Bomberman from the early 90's

The twist? You're no longer that bomb dropping maniac in a space suit, but a squirrel out for revenge. Using explosive acorns, as well as the power-ups found in the trees, you must blast your way to victory against up to 4 other opponents.

The game plays out exactly the same as the original Bomberman that it was created from, and the interface is what I would call very friendly. Iccusion still uses it's classic interface style which I've said before makes going from one game to the next a breeze. With 12 different maps, and 2 different set-ups for each map, you'll never have a problem with a server being full, as well as the game being able to accommodate up to 120 players.

The graphics for the game are beautiful. I've always love the work Iccusion has done in the past and how well they're style blends. They're easy on the eyes, and don't hurt your eyes after prolonged play. The sound however, there isn't much in that department save for a few sound effects from the booming bombs, and the power ups. This could be a good thing or a bad thing, as some people like to listen to their own music while they play games. The lack of music would allow them to still hear the sound effects, however a music toggle would be likely better. I expected to hear the classic Iccusion music playing when I joined, but we can't always get what we want.

Because the game is based on Bomberman, it isn't exactly the most original game, however bringing it to a new platform as well as the ranking and customization of your squirrels earns the game a good impression. It's like a new method of panhandling, same old junk, but it's got a shiny new coating.

Overall, I give this game 5 out of 5 acorns for my impression of it. Sure, the game isn't the most original out there, and it's lacking in the sound department, but there's always a flaw in every game that we don't like, and what really matters is if we have fun. The game has a lot of entertainment value, so I encourage you to give it a try. If anything, you can at least make a few cracks about kicking peoples nuts.

Review: Tomb Explorer by Foomer

Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:29:21 GMT

Tomb Explorer is a game unlike many others. While the initial experience seems quite short, the level editor is powerful and intuitive.

Gameplay: The premise behind Tomb Explorer is simple. You must find your way to the exit, grabbing as much loot as possible. However, the way the game presents this is very different. You have no physical character, but when you open a door, the entire area behind it is visible to you. You use clicking for everything, with no verbs whatsoever- which gives the game a feel unlike anything else in BYOND. I have found no bugs in the entire game, even after fooling around with the editor, which is very exceptional.

Score: 9

An almost-completed level.

Presentation: The presentation is almost perfect. The graphics in the game are simple and smooth, which is a double-edged sword. The graphics, while being very nice on their own, do not contribute much to the ancient feeling that the game gives you otherwise. The option to enlarge the playing area only stretches the existing icons, which also seems quite out of place in a game so extremely stylish and intuitive. There is no sound or music in TombExplorer at all. The game feels like it could do for some sound effects or a catchy background track, and it's these touches that would make the game almost perfect.

Score: 7

The TombExplorer Interface

Originality: TombExplorer is a game unlike any other. Not only is TombExplorer original for BYOND, it's relatively original in gaming as a whole. The game takes some small bits and pieces from existing ideas, but pastes them together into a masterpiece.

Score: 9

Overall: Overall, the game is a masterpiece. There are some problems with the presentation at times, but the gameplay and originality are so overwhelmingly incredible that all of my complaints are nothing more than a scratch on the paint. The Level Editor's user-friendliness is incredible, allowing for expansive levels to be made very easily. The replay value is incredibly good for a game of this kind. However, the game could use a custom levels database so players can simply go to a website and find all of the levels they will ever need. The initial experience is quite short, but I feel that Foomer is already working on many more default levels to beef the game up a bit. The game is already near-perfect, though, and should be considered by anyone that likes a casual yet engaging experience.

Overall Score: 9

Inaccessible Games Removed

Fri, 19 Dec 2008 13:36:44 GMT

I've gone through and checked on each of the games listed in our listing, and any games that either could not be played because they failed to download, failed to unzip, or did not provide any regular hosting schedule, have been removed.

The list is not very large, but here are the games that have been removed. If their owners would care to update the files or provide a regular hosting schedule, please resubmit the games for approval.

Pentago by Dever
UpWords by Dever
Closed Quarters by ADT_CLONE
Globule by Iccusion Entertainment
Chat by Seraii
Corridors by Abra
RSE Chat by RedStar Entertainment
BYONDopoly by The Naked Ninja
Pebbles by DeathAwaitsU
Chat by Evi of au
Match'em Up by Xogre

Review: Zan

Sun, 13 Jul 2008 07:46:07 GMT

Zan is a board based card game in which you place 1 of 5 cards in your hand on the board to collect points competing against up to 5 other opponents. Scoring points by matching up the color, suite, and number on the cards scores you points, and matching the suite and following the order of the cards gets you even more!

Although the game can be learned in 10 minutes, you will get days of enjoyment out of it, I know I have. Which isn't too bad considering it took Aaiko less than a day to program the game.

The game play is great, and I give it a 10. As most Iccusion games it uses a very similar interface that if you've played one of their games, you won't get lost playing this one. It's fun, creative, and once you get the hang of how the points work, you'll be playing over and over. Also, if you can't find an opponent, you can simply play the computers AI. Can you master both easy and hard modes?

The presentation comes very smoothely. The sound effects are the same as the other Iccusion games, and while you'd think they are just recycled, they make it feel more like you're playing another Iccusion classic. As always the cards look nice, although sometimes if you aren't paying attention you'll mistake a heart for a diamond or vice-versa.

The game is very original, as I've yet to play anything like it until I played this game. However, some people say that it reminds them of dominoes. I can't see the connection, but to each their own.

Overall? I say you're going to love it or hate it. So you might as well give it a try, the most it can possibly take is 20 minutes of your life, however, it can give back endless enjoyment.