It might be cold, dark, and dangerous in the mines, but that’s where the wealth is. Gemstones the size of your HEAD can be found below ground. It’s easy enough to find them, but the trick is tapping them out of the stone. The mine is unstable and the rock is very fragile. If you want to “strike it rich”, you need to strike softly. Hit too hard, and you’ll be covered in worthless rock. Continue reading
You’d think there would be enough room for everyone in space. I mean, it’s space! Big, empty, and cold. But space is home to planets and these spheres made of gas, rock, and ice represent power. This is what people fight and die for. It never made much sense to you until you figured out how much money and control you could have if you had a planet or two of your own. So now you play the same game, fighting in the cold vacuum of space for a few floating planets. Continue reading
As every child knows, when the snow starts to fall, the balance of power in the neighborhood begins to shift. The big kids down the street no longer have total control over the playground and the roving bicycle gang can no longer patrol the tennis courts. Every boy and girl is drafted to help fight for one cause or another. Grab a snowball and wage a cold war like only kids know how to do. Continue reading
You lived a life of adventure and danger. As expected, you died young, but with honor. Songs are sung of your deeds and you feast for eternity in the halls of Valhalla. But there is trouble in Midgard and Loki’s mad mind is causing chaos and havoc. Odin himself has sent you back to Midgard to fight Loki’s minions and bring order to the world. You might have the blessings of the gods, but such trivial flatteries are nothing to a good blade. Continue reading
It’s nice to take a break from board, dice, and card games and engage our minds with a puzzle or two. One could argue that puzzles are just like games, since the player is attempting to meet an objective. And like board, card, and dice games, the means to achieve the objective is right in front of you. The path to obtain it is not always clear, however. Unless you are playing Candy Land. In which case, just keep moving forward, kids. Continue reading
One of the first things children begin to recognize, other than the faces of their parents, is colors and shapes. There are thousands of books and videos that cover the education and exploration of these two subjects. As such, it’s a bit of an understatement to suggest that colors and shapes are at the core of our earliest learning. And yet, how often do you think about colors and shapes as an adult? As a gamer, you think about it more than you might realize. In this game, colors and shapes are used to match sets and win big. Thank goodness you paid attention to your earliest lessons as a baby, eh? Continue reading
Socrates said, “The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance.” In the spirit of Socrates and his passion to challenge people’s thinking (which ultimately lead to his death), schools, colleges, and universities have been formed. Students of all ages and from all walks of life have met under roofs of thatch, mud, wood, metal, and marble for centuries to learn. You are now tasked to create a college that will house the greatest scholars so young minds might be challenged, nurtured, and released into the world in hopes of making it a better place. Continue reading
Evolution is dependent on variants. A slight change to a gene here or a DNA strand there, and you have a different version of the norm. Sometimes these variants can result in beneficial mutations that help a species survive. In some very rare cases, it can elevate a species beyond anything we can imagine. There are those among us who are almost human. They fight for what they believe in or what you tell them to believe in. Lead your army of the strange to rule the world. Continue reading
Dear lord, Ed Wood was right. Aliens have come to our planet to enslave Earth with the help of zombies that are very slowly chasing down the uninfected humans. You are part of an elite force of experts tasked to defeat the aliens and rid humanity of the undead. You boldly accept your mission, but unknown to your fellow experts, you have a private mission of your own. Meanwhile, humanity is either being probed, eaten, or enslaved. Probably all three. Continue reading
There’s a Chinese proverb that I’ve always liked. “The beginning of wisdom is to call things by their right names.” This proverb works great for this game, despite it’s unrelated deep philosophical undertones. You have to recognize images for what they are, or at the least, what you think they are. From there, you have the right information to make a decision. Of course, if you have no idea what the image is, no amount of wisdom is going to help. Continue reading
There are two worlds. The first is the one that everyone knows. You see it on the television, hear it on the radio, and wake up to it every morning. The second is the world between the noise and motion. This is the world of spies who lurk in the open, but work in the shadows. You know this world well and now command your own network of spies. Information is both currency and weapon here. You send your operatives to collect assets to strengthen your shadowy hold over governments and further your personal agenda. But there are other organization with the same goals as yours and you must put them down in order to succeed. Continue reading
After the third World War came to an end, there wasn’t much of a world left to inhabit. Life became a bitter exercise of survival of the fittest. Large groups built new cities behind giant walls and became the rulers over the wastelands that surrounded them. You live outside one of those city walls and have learned there is a way in. Influential individuals within the city need certain things that they cannot obtain. If you can get them, you’ll be allowed into the city. Easy enough, but others have been offered the same deal… Continue reading
