My Favorite Games

I fondly remember getting our first video game system as a kid - Pong.  Several years later we got the oh-so-cool Atari 2600 - I was hooked.  I was lucky enough to grow up during the birth of video games.  I spent many a hard earned quarter on Missle Command, Space Invaders, Astroids, Donkey Kong, Defender etc...    The Windows Mobile platform is great for games.  I have played more games than I can remember, but very few lasted the test of time.  In fact, there are only two - and it just so happens they are published by one of our sponsors this month - Astraware.

Bejeweled 2

 If you've followed my blogs you'll know I've written about Bejeweled 2 on a couple of occassions.  This PopCap classic game continues to keep my attention, even after years of playing it.  In March of this year Astraware released version 1.3 - almost 3 years after the previous release!  The latest version not only adds something I've wanted for a long time - native 240x240 support, but also adds an easier way to get to the Twilight game mode. 

For thos unfamiliar with Twilight, it kind of turns your Bejeweled world upside down.  Instead of all the jewels dropping from the top, it alternates between the top and bottom ("dropping up" :).  This throws a new challenge to me as my tried and true methods of game survival (i.e. storing a Hyper Cube or potential match at the bottom) no longer work.  You need to remember which direction the jewels will move as well or else you'll be in for a surprise.  It's awesome to see Astraware continue to support this game!

Chuzzle

I have to admit, Chuzzle had been out a while before I stumbled across it.  There are numerous color matching games out there, but Chuzzle just has that something extra that keeps me coming back to it.  Perhaps it's the fact that I can annoy the little Chuzzles to the point of them blowing off all their fur.  Or annoying the large Chuzzles until they burp (always a favorite with kids).   Of course there is always the random Chuzzle that appears with sunglasses.  Still, those great features wouldn't mean much if the game play stunk. 

Chuzzle is different from most color matching games because you have to slide entire rows or columns around.  This might sound easy except you'll get Chuzzles that become locked - so the row and column where that Chuzzle resides can't move.  The more locked Chuzzles you get the harder it becomes to clear them. This is another awesome PopCap game that Astraware has brought to the mobile world.

Only Two?

I know this month's topic was top 3 games - but as I thought about it these two are really the only ones I keep coming back to.  Some of the games that caught my attention over the years:  Warfare Incorporated (great RTS!), Everquest, Bookworm, Snails, Tradewinds 2...   The list goes on and on...