[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his new blog here].

You don’t see many games like Death Rally anymore. I thought these sort of games died off in the late ninety’s, but this title has gotten a second wind. Death Rally was originally published in 1996, and it’s surprising how well its aged. This title was recently ported to run on modern operating systems and released as freeware.

• Gameplay: Death Rally is a largely straight forward, fast paced game. It can be played as a straight forward racer, or a combat/racer hybrid. If you’ve enabled weapons, you slightly complicate the gameplay by adding projectiles and mines. No matter what mode you play, the track will be littered with power-ups and power-downs. These drops include: repair kits, speed boosts, ammo, player dropped mines, and mushrooms. The mines and the mushrooms can really wreck a players day. Mines do significant damage and stop the car cold, and mushrooms make the entire screen go wonky. Civilians line the track waiting to be crushed. Try not to do that, it’s mean, and it slows down your ride. The old dos version of Death Rally supported multiplayer, unfortunately the modern ported version does not.
• Controls: The game’s controls are very responsive and can take some time to get used to. You only need the arrow and shift keys in a regular race, and just a few extra keys in a combat race. Death Rally is the first PC game I’ve played in a long time to make me miss game pad’s. Keyboard controls work fine, but USB controller would enhance the experience.
• Sound: Audio is not all that great. The music has not aged well, and the sound effects for collision and weapon fire are both very low fidelity. It’s better to mute the game and play something angry from your music collection.
• Graphics: By today’s standards Death Rally isn’t great looking. The levels and the cars look highly pixellated at first glance. But considering it’s more than a decade old, it’s pretty enough. In fact, I’m surprised by how quickly I adjusted to the graphics, and started concentrating on the gameplay. For what it is, and for the type of gameplay the graphics support, it looks good enough.
• Replayability: Death Rally offers a few good reasons to keep playing. Most obviously are the significant differences between the pure race and combat racing modes. Both play very differently, even though they share tracks and vehicles. The different vehicles allow different degrees of upgrading, access to higher difficulty tracks and more challenging opponents. The difference from vehicle to vehicle in terms of speed and handling is enormous. Also, upgrades to you’re engine, tires, and armor have a huge impact. There is a good range of cars, but not enough tracks. Death Rally would have benefited from multiplayer.

The Verdict: Fans of the genre have a lot to enjoy here. So will players looking for a taste of retro racing. Death Rally offers extremely fast paced gameplay from the starting line, so it’s good for an adrenaline fix or two. The option to play with or without weapons spices things up, and both modes are challenging without being frustrating. The visuals are unimpressive by modern standards, but it takes all of four minutes to get over that. Death Rally is worth taking for a spin.

Version tested: 1.0

Compatibility: any windows system from XP through Windows 7, including 64 bit versions

Go to the program home page to download the latest version (approx 42 megs).

[Editor’s note: this post is a first of a new series by written by Freewaregenius contributor Diablo, focusing on the indie game scene]

A ‘Small World’ of one’s own

A Small World is a beautiful, explorative, web-based game developed by David Shute. You enter the world as a lonely figure framed in a close-up shot of what looks like a room. As you progress in each level the camera gradually zooms out as an indication of how far you managed to reveal in the world.

What’s noteworthy about this game is the deliberate bare-bone aesthetic reminiscent of 8-bit games. It’s surprisingly engrossing to walk around and explore the decrepit scientific disaster that has befallen this world, assisted in large part by the haunting soundtrack.

Watching things ‘Grow’

Grow is a special breed of games that comes from Japan. It’s a game about emergent causality in the way actions affect outcomes in unexpected yet exciting ways. In its third incarnation it pays tribute to the earlier Grow games -which are worth checking out. Each one of the Grow games has a theme and a specific algorithm in which the order of objects ‘thrown’ into the scene has a profound effect on how they evolve or ‘grow’.

This game provides hours of replayability due to its mesmerizing array of combinations to be uncovered..

Oolite is an open source remake of the classic space simulator Elite. This non-linear title puts the player in control of their own experience. Trading, piracy, and mining are just a fraction of what you can do in this expansive universe.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his new blog here].

Captain Jensen had traveled three systems to make this run. His cargo hold full of radioactives would fetch a hefty sum on this rich industrial planet. But the swarm of blips fast approaching on radar didn’t look like innocent freighters. The only policed sector surrounding the station was on the far side of the planet. This is what you get for trading with a lawless system…

Oolite takes something old and makes it new again. This open source remake of one of gaming’s great classics Elite is solid gaming gold. In this incredibly non-linear space simulator players can fly around the galaxy trading, fighting off pirates, pirating, or taking intergalactic taxi missions. With no story except the one you make for yourself, Oolite is a member of a dying type of game.

Gameplay: This is one of the least linear games I’ve ever played. From the very start you are in charge of your own experience. Do you trade in your standard Mark III for something cheaper, letting you afford the much desired upgrades? Or do you struggle through the first few runs without a docking computer, fuel injector, or effective weaponry? The decision is yours. It’s almost intimidating to strike out into the vast game world without a mission. This trend continues for as long as you play. Your profession and actions are entirely up to you. You can prey on weaker ships, collect space debris for credits, and engage in both legal and illegal trade. Just keep an eye peeled for the GalCops.

Sound: The audio in Oolite leans toward the retro. The sound is inspired by the space simulators of yesteryear. Laser effects are clean without fizzles and pops, events are marked by conservative alert beeps, and your engine hums contentedly. It almost sounds like a cut and dry military simulation.

Lasting Appeal: Oolite is the sort of game you keep on your hard drive. Once you’ve gotten into the groove of things, it’s hard to not keep upgrading your ship, finding new trade routes, and fighting anyone who dares cross you. But for those who tire of the simple graphics and gameplay of Oolite vanilla, the game’s community has created an enormous amount of expansion packs. These addons, called OXP’s, drastically enhance the game. The modding community has created additional HUD displays, more detailed ship and space station models, mission types and ship upgrades. More than enough to keep even flighty players playing.

Graphics: The Original Elite was one of the first fully 3D games. Sporting rudimentary wire-frame graphics, players had to fill in the details for themselves. The vanilla version of Oolite comes with simply textured models, keeping this tradition alive. It’s not that this graphics engine isn’t capable of handling more impressive visuals, it’s that it doesn’t need to. This universe is full of activity, with traders zipping around dodging raiders, and galactic cops trying to keep the peace. It may take spoiled gamers time to adjust to the simple graphics. That’s fine, because it’s not the visuals that make Oolite great.

Controls: Oolite supports playing with both the keyboard and joystick. While it’s not strictly necessary to hook up your dusty peripheral, you’ll be short changing yourself if you don’t. Keyboard controls are workable, but in combat their is no substitute for the finesse a good joystick allows. The keyboard commands for non-combat functions are intuitive an easy to pick up.

The verdict: If you’re starving for a good space simulator, Oolite will satisfy. With a more rewarding trade system than it’s contemporaries, fast paced combat, and a healthy dose of retro appeal, this is worth checking out.

Compatibility: Windows, Linux, and Mac OS 10.3.9 and up.

Go to the game home page to download the latest version (approx 20.63 megs).

Even if you don’t recognize the name you will likely recognize the gestrual paintings of Jackson Pollock, one of the most important and influential American painters of the last century. You can see an actual example of his work in the image on the right above.

Pollock’s painting style (rumored to have been inspired by seeing his father peeing on a rock) is captured to good effect in this web app, which simulates the drippy paint and turns mouse gestures into, erm .. "art". Use the mouse button to change colors.

[Thanks go to my friend Cole for letting me know about this one]

Compatibility: browser based.

Go to the the JacksonPollock.org site.

This is a very fun and extremely original game that employs some innovative game dynamics. You move your character with the A/S/D/W buttons and use your chalk with the mouse. A chalk gesture has a small “half life”, if you will, in that it only lasts for a short time from beginning to end. There are 3 things you can do with a chalk gesture, as follows:

1. Connect the dots: most objects/hostiles have patterns of “dots” on them. If you are able to quickly draw a line that connects all of these you destroy the bad guy. Bonus points are granted for connecting multiple dots on multiple objects/bad guys in a single stroke.
2. Connect bullets to bad guys: some of the bad guys will shoot bullets at you; use your chalk to connect the flying bullet back to enemy ships and you will turn the tables and zap them instead.
3. Draw a shield: if it gets too hectic, use your chalk to draw shields or barriers that will trap some objects such as hostile ships behind them.

The verdict: the console-style graphics and sound serve to add to the atmosphere, and despite it’s “uniqueness” it is extremely easy to learn and get to grips with. Watch the video below, then download and play this very interesting game.

A video of this game in action:

Compatibility: WinAll.

Go to the game page to download the latest version (approx 3.86 megs).

FORCES (also known as BattleForces) is a free, online turn-based strategy game that is played in the browser in single player or online multiplayer modes. It takes elements from RISK as well as concepts from other strategy wargames and blends them into a game that is surprisingly playable and addictive.

My strategy for this review is as follows: I will begin with how this game is similar to RISK, as I think many readers are familiar with that game; next I will pivot to all the novel concepts employed that are completely unlike RISK, and finally I will go on to shed light on some of the game dynamics in detail.

The ways in which this is similar to RISK
Players will instantly see the visual resemblance, but specifically just as in RISK territories you own that are surrounded by other territories are shielded from direct invasion, and each territory has a pre-determined income value that it produces each turn.

The innovations: how Forces is different from RISK
Forces is unlike RISK in that turns are played simultaneously rather than in sequence, and there is no additional income bonus inherent in holding entire continents. Each player will have a capital that, if lost for more than a single turn will result in immediate defeat. Units are produced in factories, which can be built anywhere but will differ in their per-turn output capacity based on the income potential of each territory. There are, moreover, multiple unit types with different functions, different attack, defence, and movement points, and different costs to build (and both naval and air warfare is thrown into the mix). Finally, there can be various victory conditions such as any combination of the following: controlling a certain number of capitals, occupying a certain number of territories, achieving a certain amount of income per turn, or accumulating a certain amount of money.

Battle: land, air, and sea
Units have different attack, defense, and movement capabilities, and a different pricetag for each. Some have special functions such as troop transporter ships (needed for an invasion from the sea) and SAM antiaircraft batteries. Infantry are cheap and are good defenders, but are limited to moving a single territory per turn. Tanks are better at attacking, and can move two tiles per turn, but are more expensive. Air units can attack from many tiles away to provide support for your land units, but cannot occupy a territory and need a friendly territory or aircraft carrier nearby to land in. SAM units can be placed in tiles to shoot down enemy air units. Naval units are used to control ocean territories, to transport land-based units, or provide a landing strip for air units in the case of aircraft carriers.

Naval units placed in territories “block” these from invasion (unless, of course, an opponent sends enough naval units to defeat yours and move through). Transporter units can transport land units on sea tiles, but are generally weak and will often require protection in the form of escorts of  stronger naval units.

Single Player
Is extremely addictive; however, the computer AI tends not to be too sophisticated and generally speaking (and with some patience) computer opponent are fairly easy to defeat once you get the hang of the game. The AI players inexplicably tend NOT to gang up on you even when you’re clearly on your way to win the game.

MultiPlayer
It is easy to find and join games; there’s a lot of them going on. Each game will have a turn length that is determined by whoever creates the game (usually 24 hours), during which players can submit their turn otherwise lose a turn. What this means, essentially, is that depending on the turn length and the enthusiasm and promptness of players games can go on for months. There’s also a Windows Vista Widget that can tell you when its your turn to play and give other game-related info.

The best way to do multiplayer, I think, is to create a private game with a bunch of people you know that you know will submit their turns promptly. Lots of fun will be had by all.

Wish list: (or how this game can be even better)

• Better computer AI: for those, like me, who like single player games and would like them to be more challenging.
• A desktop client: please. It would be nice to be able to play this offline as well (for single player).
• An iPhone App: I would be willing to pay for an iPhone app to play this on-the-go.

The verdict: if you have a strategy wargamer in you, check this one out. It is an extremely well put together game that is fairly easy to get into and extremely addictive once you do. The developers deserve credit for what is quite the achievement. Highly recommended.

[Thanks to reader Michael for letting me know about this one]

Compatibility: a modern browser (Internet Explorer, Firefox, etc). You will need to create a user account using a valid email.

Go to the Forces home page to play.

Battlefield Heroes is a third person, online only action game. It’s free-to-play, supported by optional micro transactions, and can only be launched through your web browser. It’s created by EA DICE, the developer behind the famous Battlefield series.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his freeware games blog here].

War is an ugly, bloodstained affair. When two nations engage in it, lives are ruined, families forever destroyed, and generations of nationalistic tension are usually the most defining outcome. But reality is depressing, and very often completely lacking in bright colors and comical mishaps. For those of us who like our wars a little more cute and cuddly, Battlefield Heroes comes to the rescue. In this free-to-play 3rd person shooter, its all about the laughs. Set in a happier version of World War 2, this multiplayer, online only game breaks free of more than a few industry trends. With its cartoon graphics, rapid fire action, and generally upbeat presentation, it looks like a welcome relief from the surplus of grim action titles we’ve been seeing. So does Battlefield Heroes deliver the goods, or is it all flash and no bang?

• Graphics: The first thing any player will notice is the pleasing Saturday morning cartoon feel. The sky is a cheery blue, the buildings look like the work of Walt Disney’s contractor, and the vehicles like a child’s idea of their real world counterparts. Of course that’s a good thing in this context. All in all, the whole game world fits together well. The only real complaint is that the lack of rag doll death animations is painfully obvious, especially given the seamless fluidity of everything else here.
• Sound: The folks who did the audio did a good job. Weapon noises are well done, emotes are accompanied by recognizable gibberish, and the theme music is catchy. Point in fact, I can hear the music even now. Still, sound effects do repeat quite a bit, and more attention to ambient noise is definitely in order.
• Gameplay: Battlefield Heroes is an action arcade game through and through. Players choose from one side, three classes, then find a match, and jump into the action. It plays like a cross between team deathmatch and king of the hill, with various strategic hotspots up for grabs scattered around the map. The classes break down into: soldier, commando, and gunner. With the soldier being your utility grunt, the commando your sneaky sniper, and the gunner a slower moving heavy. Each class can use any vehicle, and has a unique set of upgradable abilities, all of which play to their strengths.
• Controls: have clearly been designed to be efficient and intuitive, and are never an issue. Even piloting planes is straightforward and newbie friendly. The game’s mandatory match finder is also worth a mention. It takes stock of your character level and recent performance, and drops you into a server it thinks will work with you. It does a decent job.
• Character Customization: You have the ability to customize your character’s appearance, gear, and skills, and most everybody takes advantage of this. It’s not all that unusual to see a parrot shouldered commando bedecked in an Admiralty uniform, ducking for cover. Gamers gain game money by playing, and can buy a more potent form of game cash from the item store using a credit/debit card. Cash can then be used to purchase new clothes, weapons, experience point bonuses, and even emotes. The better merchandise generally requires you to spend a little real world money. Fortunately for cheap gamers (like myself), the game is enjoyable without having to whip out your bank card. But you will occasionally be playing at a disadvantage.
• Replayability: I got addicted to Battlefield Heroes. Its joyously callous cartoon violence appeals to me (confirming that I’ve got the mind of a child). While the combat lacks the depth of most modern shooters, the upgrades for each class do a lot to make up for it. Unfortunately, those upgrade paths are fairly short. All in all, gamers should be able to get some good play time in before things become stale. Hopefully the near future will see the addition of more maps, vehicles, and weapons. As it stands, you’ll like this title, but there isn’t enough here to keep you playing forever.

The verdict: Battlefield Heroes does a good job. With its match finder, well balanced classes, and lack of friendly fire, its the sort of game that could appeal to a wide audience. While you can indirectly buy yourself into the higher levels, the game does a good job keeping the sharks out the of kiddie pool. For those who want a break from serious titles, Battlefield Heroes is a breath of fairly fresh air.

Compatibility: Windows XP or Vista. Requires a graphics card with 64mb of dedicated video memory, a broadband internet connection, and one of the major web browsers.

Go to the Battlefield Heroes page.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Jason H. Check out his tech blog: 404techsupport.com].

Server Quest is built using Adobe Flash, so any Flash-enabled browser should be able to take you to the site. You start off by learning about the main characters, some are allies and some are annoyances, like Chase the computer-destroying sales guy.

Your objective is just to keep the office running smoothly. Different events will come up as the days go along. You walk Matt around in the isometric 3D world and interact with other people in the office.

You solve problems…

answer trivia…

and play games, to represent solving real-world problems.

Some of the games are a little difficult, regardless of whether you know the technical side or not, but it’s good for a challenge. You can select what chapters to play, so it could make for a good lunch break visit, unless it reminds you too much of your work, of course!

Server Quest II is the follow-up to the original Server Quest. This time it’s not built with Flash, but instead Microsoft’s Silverlight. (If you experience problems with Silverlight causing your mouse to freeze, you can check out my article here for a work-around.) The graphics are quite a bit improved, but still keep the same pixelated style that worked well for the first one. Server Quest II pulls double duty this time in being a thinly veiled promo again for TechNet and Silverlight.

This time you get to play as either Matt or Alicia…

and you choose a role for yourself. I’m not really sure what changes these choices cause, but if you figure it out, please post in the comments. My speculation is that it might change some of the topics that trivia covers but I couldn’t swear by it.

Server Quest II is pretty much more of the same: You play through a day in the life of an IT professional and get all the benefits and quirks that come along with it. There are different games and puzzles including Boss Launch and a number of other entries from the Server Quest Contest to make the best Silverlight game.

You play through the game and learn about TechNet offerings and test yourself along the way. You might also check out another Microsoft game made with Silverlight that takes more of a gameshow approach, Are you Certifiable? The humor in Server Quest is painfully close to real life sometimes while at other times it’s (fortunately) exaggerated. As you complete the different tasks, you’ll earn "geek points" as your overall score. When all is said and done, you can see how your score stacks up against the Top 10 Leaderboard.

Check out Microsoft TechNet’s Server Quest and Server Quest II.

Numpty Physics is a free, multiplatform physics game where the user has to draw objects that interact with the game environment in order to solve puzzles.

This game is very similar to Crayon Physics, which was previously mentioned on this blog. It consists of a number of hand-drawn levels where the objective is always the same: to get a ball to move to a goal area marked by a star.

The way to do this is to create other objects that interact with the ball and with and the game environment; you could, for example, draw a circular “rock” high up near the upper edge of the screen such that it will pick up velocity on its way down and create a more forceful impact than if you had placed it on a lower altitude. You could also add, say, a triangular ramp underneath to divert it to the direction where you want it to go. Moreover, you will on occasion find circles in the environment that you could attach strings to in order to “swing” an object on the other side, etc.

Here are more notes on this game:

• How to play: draw objects with the mouse. You can “freeze” all objects using space or enter to pause the game while you complete all the drawing that you want to do, and then unpause/activate everything at once when you’re done. Press Esc to delete the last drawn object. Strangely, it doesn’t seem possibly to erase drawings made two steps ago without also erasing the one (or more) steps made since.
• Other controls: Press “R” to reset. “E” will allow you to edit levels, while “N” and “P” will scroll through the available levels. Go to this page for more controls.
• Levels: once you finish a level, a small window will appear that will give the option to play the next level or scroll through the other available levels. There is no “save” option, as anyway all levels are always accessible.
• New levels: you can edit/save and share levels, or go here to download more user-created levels.
• More than one way to skin a cat: what I like about this sort of game is that there are many ways to complete a level. If the obvious route isn’t quite working it is very possible to do something completely different.

The verdict: I must admit I love physics games (check out this one, for example), and I love the no frills, bare-bones simplicity of this sort of casual game. I would have liked the option to “erase” drawings or parts of drawings that I made without having to undo entire interventions though. Nonetheless a very nice game overall.

Version tested: 0.2

Compatibility: Windows, Mac, Linux, FreeBSD, OpenSolaris, Windows Mobile, and others.

Go to the Numptyphysics Windows port page to download the latest version (approx 784K). For other OS’s go to the Numpty Physics home page.

Volvo The Game is a free 3D driving simulator featuring the Volvo S60 Concept car. It also features virtual recreations of two racetracks, the “Eco Drive Arena” in Gothenburg, Sweden, and the Chayka race track in Kiew, Ukraine. Game modes include competing against computer controlled opponents as well as best lap-times against yourself or against players from around the world through internet multiplayer.

There’s been a surge in free video-game simulators for fancy car models. In the last year or so I tested two game tie-ins from BMW and Mercedes. What all of these games seem to have in common is top-notch, impressive graphics. Yet the reason I did not post any of these before on Freewaregenius was that they simply were super-difficult to play, and it seemed like the developers were too focused on impressive production qualities that they didn’t really think to craft the playability.

Therefore you might wonder whether “Volvo The Game”, which as you can see from the screenshots is obviously a beautiful game, has got good playability or whether it also is super hard. The answer is: both. That is, “Volvo The Game” is not an easy game to master and has a definitive learning curve; however, you do get the sense that it is “fair”, and that mastering it is possible and is just around the corner, so to speak. Here are more notes on this one:

• Controls: simple keyboard arrow controls, with options for joystick and even external steering wheel controls.
• Multiplayer over internet: you have to register for a free account using a valid email for this.
• Prodcution qualities: the graphics are super-cool, and the physics are very well crafted. There is a lot of attention to detail: for example, crashing into the side of the track will produce visible bursts of dust and smoke. Little things that make a huge difference. The audi is also very well done.
• Vantage point: press “Tab” to switch camera views.
• Replays: if you’ve had a particularly good race there’s nothing like going back and watching yourself burn rubber. You can play at being a video producer and have a lot of control over the type and placement of the camera throughout. (And no, so far I’ve not had a performance that was particularly worthy of re-viewing myself).’

The verdict: this game is very well put together. It is rather hard at tough to master but generally quite playable

Compatibility: WinAll. Requires a graphics card supporting OpenGL. Enable Asian language support in Windows for a better experience.

Go to the Volvocars site to download the latest version. Skip the intro then click on the box to the right (see image to the right). Download file is approx 588 megs.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Jason H. Check out his tech blog: 404techsupport.com]. 

Some of the features I was looking for:

• Real-world stocks
• Easy to track portfolio
• Free (no subscription required)
• Free (no need to buy virtual $ to invest)
• Risk-free, for fun only
• Not very time-consuming, unless you want it to be

UpDown is a great combination of all these features plus some that I would never have thought to implement. When you first sign up for an account, you start off with a cool million dollars ($1,000,000). You then pretty much have free reign to do whatever you’d like with that money. You can buy up to 20% of your portfolio’s value in one company’s stock or what you can afford. There is a $100 virtual commission charge for each trade.

With your million dollars, you might not know where to get started. To help, UpDown provides a lot of stock analysis tools at your finger tips. You can look up any (publicly-traded) company or stock symbol and see its performance graphed out with information on how it’s doing right now (15 minute delay). If you decide to take action you can then either add these companies to a watch list or buy stock in them. The watch list will allow you to keep a list of any stocks you’re interested in and track their progress for the exact right time to buy. When you make your trade (buy, sell, sell short or buy to cover), the UpDown site will do a lot of the math for you on the fly. You can keep track of the amount of money at your disposal, how many stocks you can buy (afford or 20% cap), and see your total cost when the trade completes.

Just being on the UpDown site will present you with a lot of information so you can make wise decisions. A stock ticker scrolls across the site showing the S&P 500, NYSE, NASDAQ, and the symbols in your portfolio and watch list. You can also graph performance of your portfolio over time in comparison to the S&P 500.

You can join a Community (like your university), a Group, or a variety of other Networks. You can also create a Group for your friends to collaborate with or compete against each other. They also provide a blog widget so you can embed your portfolio performance on your site and brag to the world.

If you’re looking at a specific company, there is a section of the page where they pull headlines related to that company in with links to the full articles. I’m certainly no fan of Twitter, but UpDown has found a way to integrate it into their site so they can pull information discussing stocks into their system. They then show relevant tweets to a specific company if you’re looking at that company’s stock or you have it in your portfolio. Despite my hatred of Twitter, it’s actually a good way to get a lot of related news and information that’s being discussed across the board. They pick up on tweets that have the key phrase of a dollar sign ($) in front of a known stock symbol. Of course with stock symbols like T for AT&T and S for Sprint, it’s not hard to find some false positives along the way with $s or $t. Of course, you can also have fun with Hitachi, who has the symbol HIT… For example, here’s one at the top of the AT&T stock page (No changes were made on my part, I swear.). A tweet from Jessica:

chillin’ in science wif muh babii KRY$t!N3, muh boii J03Y, &+ AlY$$A ! <3

With UpDown, there is a small chance that you can actually win real money. This is the only way that actual money is anyway related to UpDown. There is no cost or risk to sign up, make trades, or do anything. You can earn real money by winning (earning the most) in contests they hold regularly. Usually there are year-long and individual month contests where you can real money if you come out on top. There are also sponsored contests where advertisers will put up the prize money for individuals to win. If you refer somebody to UpDown and they win a cash prize, you will win 10% of the prize. You can read more about this on their FAQ page. You can also start your own contests for your group of friends or co-workers to see who does the best, but without any real cash incentive.

One of the goals when I was looking for a stock market game was practice and experience for real-world trading and UpDown accommodates nicely with a section dedicated to education. You can learn a whole lot from the terminology to making trades. Watching your portfolio performance can teach you when you make good trades and wise investments. They also have a quick review for many online brokers so when you’re ready to take your investments into the real stock market, you’re ready to go. And since all the money is virtual, if your stocks don’t perform so hot you can reset your account to have no stocks but start off fresh with another virtual million dollars every three months.

Fortunately, it doesn’t look like I’m going to have to do that just yet…

So, what’s the point? If the money is virtual and there’s no risk, why play such a game? Don’t games have an end to them as well? How do I know when I’ve finished the game? Well, to answer those questions in reverse order, this is a non-traditional game. Just like the stock market, it doesn’t just begin at one point and end at another. It’s a very fluid system, some people jump in at the same time others jump out; new stocks are created all the time as well. With using virtual money, it’s easy to simplify the game to no-risk. This can allow you to be riskier than normal or you might just need some competition to make the game more exciting. It’s informative to see what real money would do in this turbulent economy. We could set up a FreewareGenius group and find out which one of us is the top investor. The point of UpDown is that it provides you the means to make trades in the actual stock market with virtual money. If you want to play the long game or take the short investment route, it allows both. If you need more motivation, set up a group with your friends or co-workers to create some real competition. If you need an end date, set up a contest for that group and start investing wisely.

The one downside of UpDown is that it has an annoying page of offers as part of the sign up process. If you’re so inclined, you can choose an offer. Otherwise, click No to all the offers and move onto the fun part of the site. That’s the only encounter of that downside and once you’re signed up, you’re in the clear. The sign-up process takes less than 30 seconds. The system is completely browser-based and uses Flash to render some graphs.

Compatibility: a Flash-enabled browser.

Get a million (virtual) dollars to sign up at UpDown and start trading stocks.

Quake III is back! And completely free to play, right here in your web browser. For the uninitiated, this is a classic first person shooter.

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his freeware games blog here].

Quake Live is pretty much the second coming of Quake 3. Developed by ID Software, and playable in full screen, this old dog has not learned many new tricks. Those familiar with this titles roots are going to feel right at home. The gamer runs the halls of otherworldly levels, and frags whatever stands in his way. It’s good old gaming fun. As an online game, Quake Live in pretty much multiplayer exclusive. Set in a Gothic techno-verse, this series macabre appeal is still here.

• Graphics: Quake Live may not sport the highest polygon count, but the character models and gloomy environments are still eye catching. Everything is well polished, from the the walls to the weapons. This is a very cohesive game world. From castle walls to animated jump pads, everything looks good. Those familiar with the Quake III engines many offspring know what to expect, this engine has been responsible for great titles like Medal of Honor: Allied Assault and Wolfenstein: Enemy Territory.
• Gameplay: Quake Live is a straight forward, multiplayer, first person shooter. It’s fast, frenetic, and brutal. With only a few game modes (like Death Match and Capture the Flag) no new ground is being broken. That’s fine, its still fun as sin. The levels are the best and brightest of Quake III’s classic collection, with slight updates. As a simple shooter, learning to play takes mere minutes, so new gamers will have an extraordinary easy time learning the ropes.
• Sound: is about as professionally done as it gets. The sounds never detracts from the players immersion, instead enhances every jump, shot, and death. Weapon effects are familiar, damage sounds satisfying, and the helpful (and very angry) announcer keeps player aware of important match developments. Quake III sounded great, and Quake Live is more of the same.
• Logistics: you will have to register for an account (using a valid email), and download and install a browser plugin (approx 6.5 megs or so).

Quake Live is great. Technically its still in open beta testing, but this late in it’s development cycle that’s really just a technicality. In game advertising is expected to finance the game, but its hard to imagine it’ll detract much from such a solid title. With great matchmaking, flawless stability, Quake Live is easy to recommend.

Compatibility: For the moment Quake Live is only compatible with PC’s running Internet Explorer and Firefox. Plans to port it to the Mac and Linux platforms have been announced.

Go to the QuakeLive Page to play; (approx 6.5 megs download required).

A free total conversion built on the Sauerbraten engine, Blood Frontier is a multiplayer first person shooter currently in open beta testing. Multiplatform (Windows/Mac/Linux).

[Editor’s note: this post was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his freeware games blog here].

Computer gamers have been on the prowl for free fun since the rise of the PC. I suspect this has something to do with a long suppressed scavenger instinct. Fortunately, there is such a thing as a free lunch. With popular gratis games such as Urban Terror, Quake Live, and Enemy Territory, we’ve had it pretty good. Well, a new free first person shooter is in the works. Thanks to an open beta, we can all take an early build of Blood Frontier for a spin around the block.

Some notes on this one below:

• Gameplay: for now, it’s best to describe Blood Frontier as a multiplayer first person shooter. There is a third person mode, but it’s more a novelty than game feature. Plans exist to build a single player campaign, but that’s a ways off. As it stands now, this game is largely structured as a conventional multiplayer shooter. Game modes like capture the flag and death match are represented, and special conditions (like one shot kills) can be applied to any match. What makes Blood Frontier stand out is its low gravity, and reinvented double jump. One press of the space bar makes you hop, a second gives your character a jet-pack like boost in whatever direction you’re aiming. It mixes up both movement and combat, and it’s great fun.
• Graphics: visually, things seem to be coming together. Owned foes go floppy, and bounce off the environment. Grenades are high powered and satisfying. Most importantly, bullets ricochet beautifully, and still do damage afterward. Watching digital shot gun flak bounce around a room is good fun. Blood Frontier’s maps and character models are works in progress, so it’d be unfair to be too critical at this stage of development.
• Sound: audio effects are still being implemented. Some sounds are missing altogether, and a few just repeat too often. Most of what is in place is well done, and in game music is happily electric guitar heavy.
• Story: something about space zombies is outlined on the game’s website, but it’s not really relevant to the title as a currently multiplayer experience.

Blood Frontier is not a finished game, but what is done makes for good fun. The online servers are sparsely populated, but empty player slots are filled with decent AI bots. Players interested in checking out a promising title in the works should enjoy Blood Frontier. With fast paced, gory action, it’s worth keeping an eye on.

And I’d recommend readers check the forum or website chat there for any tech support. The game community is very helpful. My mother was only insulted once!

Version Tested: 0.80 (beta 1)

Compatibility: Linux, OS X and Windows (I played on XP). The download link provides binaries for all three. It runs the Sauerbraten engine, so you need a pretty powerful OpenGL capable rig.

Go to the game home page to download the latest version (approx 255 megs).

Savage 2: A Tortured Soul is a freeware game that incorporates real time strategy and action role playing elements. It is exclusively a multiplayer game and supports multiple OS platforms (Windows/Mac/Linux).

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his freeware games blog here].

Savage 2 is the sequel to the critically acclaimed Savage: The Battle For Newerth. It is developed and distributed by S2 games, a U.S. developer. Like its predecessor, Savage 2 pits the forces of Man against the Beast Horde, in a unique fantasy setting. Fans of the steam punk style should feel at home. This is one of the few game series ambitious enough to try and blend such an array of game genres, and incorporate exclusively multiplayer gameplay. Savage 2 tries to break new ground, does it pull it off, or do its ambitious design goals work against this free-to-play game?

Gameplay: Savage 2 pits two factions against each other in close combat, under the watchful eyes of team commanders. Most gamers play in over the shoulder view (or first person mode), as units in their commanders real time strategy game. It’s a very neat idea. When playing as a unit, gamers choose between a good variety of unit types, ranging from builders to siege engines. Typical real time strategy game unit types like spell casters, melee soldiers, and scouts flesh out the class selection screen. As you collect kills and achieve commander set objectives, the player can distribute skill points to increase damage delivered, endurance, and magical damage. In the second half of a match, the feared Hellspawn become available, providing your team controls the right map positions.

Resource control is the domain of the commander. This player views the game world from a birds eye view, placing buildings, managing resources, and issuing non-binding orders to their player controlled units. A good commander can be hard to come by. If this all sounds a bit complex, that’s because it is. Savage 2 boasts a serious learning curve. Basic game mechanics will be fairly familiar to seasoned gamers, but there are a lot of unexplained features. The in game tutorials are not really sufficient, and Savage 2 is largely lacking written documentation. The learning curve never proves frustrating, its just longer than it needs to be.

More notes on this game below:

• Replayability: This game takes some effort to learn, but those who stick with it will be well rewarded. Both sides are well balanced, and most every unit has appropriate strengths and weaknesses. Whether your sniping a Hellborn unit, bashing a building as a siege creature, or fighting hand to hand on the front lines, there is a lot to master. Savage 2’s straight forward melee combat and spell casting offers more replay value than I had expected.
• Sound: Savage 2 sounds good. The music cuts in and out unobtrusively. Matches are full of vocal status updates, letting you know if your base is under attack. Bashing, blocking, and spell slinging all sound fine. Most of this games audio serves as background noise, and that’s a good thing. Unusually for a multiplayer game, sounds in Savage 2 don’t become too repetitive.
• Visuals: Graphically this is a very appealing game. Character models are well done, stylized and generally cool looking. The game maps are populated with resource’s, canyons, critters, mountains, and foliage. Ruins of once great city’s and towers dot the landscape. Steam punk gear adds visual interest. With its impressive spell effects and low system requirements this a respectable looking game.
• Bugs: Savage 2 occasionally suffered from crashes, and my character got stuck in the environment a few times. Fortunately these sort of issues are very rare.

The Verdict: Savage 2 sets out to combine the best elements from a wide range of genres. It’s well designed, and a blast to play. Populated game servers are surprisingly few, but there’s always at least a few full games to choose from. Gamers can also check out recorded matches on the S2 website, as all games are saved by the developer. This is a fun, free, well put together game. The online player community is helpful and mature. For those who don’t mind the learning curve, Savage 2 comes very highly recommended.

Version Tested: 1.8.0

Compatibility: Windows (XP, 2000, Vista); Linux, Mac OSX. Requires internet connectivy. Graphics card requirements: 128MB fully DirectX 9.0 compliant Geforce or Radeon.

Go to the game page to download the latest version (approx 1014 megs).

When I first downloaded this one I will admit that I did not know what to expect. I knew from perusing the author’s site that Sysygy embeds images in a game-like 3D environment, but I couldn’t help but think "so what?". It seemed like a bit of nice eye candy and, less generously, a mere gimmick.

However, no sooner than I had tried it for myself that I knew what the point was: the immersive 3D gallery environment was very enjoyable. Moreover, it is possible to let other users experience your gallery, such that (at least in theory) you could actually use Sysygy to stage virtual showings of your photos/artwork/favorite images and share them online. In any case something about this program is quite exciting.

Here are more notes on this program:

• Quality: the quality of the images and effects, done with OpenGI, is very high. Lights, shadows, and effects are very realistic and professionally done.
• The virtual environments: the version I reviewed had three to choose from. If you imagine what it might be like to play a first person shooter in an art gallery you’ll get a sense of what these look like, roughly. Some have elaborate descriptions/stories weaved around them (e.g."this small building was built far away from any civilization, on a moon of Jupiter").
• Multi-server mode: Sysygy allows you to set up a server to allow friends to join/visit your virtual gallery and chat with everyone present. I will say that I getting connected could be easier or more intuitive (wished there was a server autodetect or that people could be sent an invite code). Was surprised to see that my entire image collection was downloaded on the remote computer; for one thing it delays the process significantly, takes space on the remote computer, and perhaps I don’t even want my images available on people’s computers.
• The images: can be resampled using a number of filters for higher quality, or simply resized. (I did the latter to conserve disk space, and the quality was top notch nonetheless). You can add a caption to each image that your users can read under the image as they approach it.
• Bots: you can have a user-defined number of bots running around and looking at the artwork (and making random comments on the images).
• After-effects: choose from eight effects such as greyscale (i.e a black and white world, negative, night vision, blur, etc. Kind of cool but somewhat redundant.
• Portable: comes in two flavors, a normal installable version and a portable version that you can simply unzip and use.
• Audio: provides some cool instrumental tracks to accompany your galleries, or you can add your own playlist.
• Customize: you can customize everything about this, including your own bot, the animation speed, resolution, available effects, etc.

How to use Sysygy: there are four executables that work together to create your virtual gallery.

1. Create your gallery: run the "GalleryCreator", add your images, add captions (if you want), then save. Obviously you do not have to do this step if you intend to join a remote gallery.
2. Enter your gallery: run "SysGame", choose "one visitor" if you just want to browser a local gallery or "multi visitor" if you are hosting or joining a gallery that is being broadcast online.
3. Host your gallery: run "SysygyServer" to host your gallery. Should be fairly self explanatory.

Wish list:

• The ability to use images hosted on image sharing sites such as Flickr.
• Making this a web service. Would be very cool.
• No blank pictures on the walls, please: I noticed that if you do not add many pics to your gallery the program leaves blank white rectangles on walls where it would have otherwise placed your images. It really should use the texture from the walls or backgrounds instead.

The verdict: you’ll either like this or not care for it much. I must admit that I am in the former category even as I started out in the latter. The program is interesting and fun and pregnant with possibilities.

Version Tested: 1.3

Compatibility: Windows 2000, XP. Vista is not officially supported, though it might work (please report in the comment section if it worked for you!). Officially requires a 3D accelerated graphic card with at least 64 MB video RAM, supports at least OpenGL 1.3 (make sure you have the latest drives installed).

Go to the program page to download the latest version (approx 37 megs).

[Editor’s note: this review was written by Freewaregenius contributor Travis B. Check out his freeware games blog here].

A fast paced game, TMF has players racing through some of the most complex tracks I’ve ever seen. It has attracted a truly international following. But fans of racing games have little tolerance for lackluster titles, and can drop one just as fast as they picked it up. In a genre of fierce competition, can TMF make the grade, or does it owe its popularity to its lack of price?.

We’ll start with some notes on this one, below:

• Controls: with simple directional controls, it’s very easy to get into the action. The arrow buttons are all you’ll need to use; up accelerates, left and right turn, and back brakes. A game of simple controls and arcade physics, the challenge of TMF comes from its insane track layouts. Starting off simple and friendly, the game quickly becomes more complex. More advanced tracks have loops, banks, off road sections, and jumps that would make even Evil Knievel balk. Pulling many of these stunts off is rewarding itself.
• Game modes: TMF offers both single and multiplayer modes. A particular quirk of the game design is that it is impossible to collide with other players; every car but yours is a ghost car (strange as it sounds, it means two cars can drive right through each other; visually they appear solid, but they are not physically there – see screenshot to the right). In multiplayer this can be somewhat off-putting, although strangely it probably is a good design decision. In single player mode you have to unlock more advanced tracks by winning on easier ones, while all tracks are available in multiplayer.
• The Graphics: TMF is graphically a nice looking game. Not one to over do the details, it offers little in the way of particle effects, vehicle damage, or lighting. But racing is not about bells and whistles, it’s about speed. In a game where taking a turn just 5 mph too fast means a one way trip off the race track, TMF’s graphics do a excellent job of making the extreme racing feel plausible. Cars look nice, and the ability to customize your paint job will appeal to some. Even more importantly, the stunts and flips look absurdly cool.
• Sound effects: are nothing special, largely on par with other recent racers. Directional audio plays a important role, and hearing an opponent gaining on you is the kind of tension genre fans appreciate. Your engine idles as your sail through the air, and when you miss a landing the resulting sound really is a bit painful. As arcade sound, its more about fun than realism. The music is good, with synthesized songs derived from a variety of musical influences. Some gamers appreciate (and abuse) the ability to customize the sound of their car’s horn.
• In-game editor: is available that allows users to create their own tracks. You can download user created tracks in the forum and other places.

The verdict: with easy, no email confirmation, push button registration, and rapid multiplayer matching, very little stands between you and the game. That’s a good thing, since TMF is a great deal of fun. Winning matches is a shout out load kind of event, and pulling a stunt off delivers a rush. Even those who typically avoid racing games will enjoy TMF, if just for the air time. Frustrating moments do pop up, with some tracks seemingly the creations of unhinged madmen. But the over all picture here is that TMF is a hugely enjoyable game.

There’s a lot to master here, and replayability abounds. It’s easy to get into TMF, and a huge number of others have come before you (more than 3 million). In multiplayer arena’s you’ll be racing against legions of other online racers. Gamers who like collection games and stat tracking should dig the medal system, the game keeps tabs on your track-to-track performance (gold, silver, and bronze).

TMF is highly recommend. What it lacks in graphical sheen, it more than makes up for in accessibility, and simple fun. As a freeware game, it exceeded my expectations. Anyone who thinks zooming around Dr. Seuss inspired tracks at odometer shattering speeds sounds like fun should check this piece of freeware out.

Compatibility: Windows 2000/XP/XP-x64/Vista. Requires a 16 MB DirectX 9.0c or better compatible graphics card.

Go to the game page to download the latest version (approx 504 megs).

Closure

Do you think the universe exists when you’re not looking? I know, that was a rather ridiculous question, so here’s another one: do you think you can set up an experiment where you are not influencing the outcome one way or the other simply by observing it? This one turns out to be harder to answer.

In quantum physics there is something called “the observer effect” which simply states that “there is no phenomenon until it is observed”. Sounds rather presumptuous, I know, but I think what it boils down to is that whatever objective reality is “out there” is hidden from us, and that our engaging with it is a creative act; that we don’t just observe a reality that is independent from us but actually take part in shaping it.

Which is exactly what makes this game so interesting, as it is based on the premise that the only parts of the game environment that exist are the ones that you as the player are able to see. All else is a void, which, should you step into it, will swallow you to your death. Here are more notes on this game:

• Very easy to get into: I thought I should mention this first; you will be up to speed with this game within minutes.
• The objective: is simply to make it from the beginning to the end of a level, where a big door will take you to the next one.
• Objects: you will encounter circular light sources that you can pick up and take with you to light your way. Other objects: keys to open locked doors, unlit objects similar in shape to the lights, and a sort of pedestal which, when an object is placed inside it, will cause other lights to kick into action and to travel on a pre-set trajectory. Figuring out how you can benefit from these moving lights is key to completing any given level.
• Saved games: will remember the last level you played and give you the option to start with that one instead of the beginning. It WILL forget when you clear your cookies though.

The verdict: very original and well done game that is also extremely fun to play. The only downside: I now feel like I should carry a flashlight with me wherever I go .

[Thanks go to my friend Diablo for letting me know about this one].

Compatibility: works with any browser; requires flash player 10.

Go to the game page to play.

Dyson is a free cross-platform real time strategy game with abstract visuals. It manages to be simple and elegant even as it combines elements such as the emergence of life, a Darwinian “sperm wars” motif, and intra-species competition with your standard world-domination game concept.

This is an award title that has been nominated as a finalist at the 11th Annual Independent Game Festival. Dyson is really a wargame, and a terrific one at that. You start off with a single “seed” placed on a lone asteroid, which blooms into a sort of tree that generates more seeds (initially I was going to title this posting “Dyson: spread your seed across the universe” but decided against it ). Your objective: to colonize the entire section of the universe/asteroid belt that you inhabit, driving off your competition.

There are many reasons why this is an excellent game:

• It is EXTREMELY easy to learn and get into. You can get to grips with the basic concepts when you are finished with the tutorial, which took me a mere 10 minutes (if that).
• It’s originality. By which I do not only mean such concepts as trees shedding seeds like dandelions, the notion of colonizing asteroids, etc, or the whole emergence of life thing. I also mean the game mechanics, which are simple yet innovative.
• It’s production qualities. Simple, economical, understated, for both visuals and sound.

More notes on this game:

• Your seeds: are simultaneously your soldiers that do the fighting (with enemy seeds), as well as the currency you use to buy (or I should say plant) trees to colonize asteroids. Seeds have different qualities depending on the asteroids where they were born (energy/strength/speed). You are able to simply look at seeds and get an idea as to how powerful they are (more powerful seeds are generally bigger).
• The asteroids: each has a different genes, I mean energy/strength/speed characteristics, which the seeds produced on that asteroid will inherit. The fertility, I mean number of trees that each asteroid can support varies according to the level being played (higher levels = less trees).
• Trees: there are two kinds. A defence tree is exactly that. When it’s asteroid is attacked, it releases bombs into the atmosphere that follow enemy seeds and explode. Dyson trees on the other hand release seeds. The frequency that your Dyson trees bear fruit seems to depend on the mother, I mean asteroid’s “speed” factor as well as the maturity of the tree (old trees = bigger and faster). A lot of this I am guessing so please correct me if you know better.
• Geography: there is a RISK-like element in terms of the location of your asteroids. Ones on the periphery of the asteroid belt may be out of range of your enemy’s seeds and will require less defending than ones in the middle, but may lag in terms of being able to quickly deliver seed armies to where you need them most.
• Exploration: until you send a seed to scout, you will not know what an asteroid’s characteristics are (and therefore how desirable it is to colonize). My advice is to explore early using a single seed for each neighboring asteroid. This will (a) give an idea of enemies that are near and (b) will help you decide on your colonization priorities.

The verdict: two take-home messages here; (a) this game is fairly easy to learn and get into, and (b) it is ADDICTIVE. Dyson can be quite difficult especially on the higher levels but not impossible (a lot can depend on the luck of the draw in terms of the qualities of your home and adjacent planets).

Version Tested: 1.08

Compatibility: Windows, Linux.

Go to the game homepage to download the latest version (approx 17.08 megs).

The game’s subject matter: this, as stated in the game itself, would be the “Appalachian-style battle between the game maker and the game player, the artist and those wanky enough to like art, the poet and those that sing-song themselves through bittery selfish sexual whatnots”. In other words, a struggle of epic proportions between the game maker and his/her audience. Except it doesn’t seem like a struggle at all; in fact having played this I can report that what I like the most about it is mainly the interactive visual experience, the rush of colors, text, and illustrations (and adrenalin!) that comes with playing/exploring this game.

The game’s subject matter revisited: the author has taken some very familiar (and unfamiliar) web sites and used these as interactive settings in the game itself, so there’s a satirical element taking place there as well (and a vision of what it would look like if graffiti artists could practice their craft on websites). A list of these sites follows (which I quote from the game itself):

• google.com (their blog); yahoo.com (their home); fark.com (their news); huffingtonpost.com (their business); disney.com (their corporate); riaa.com (they’re scary); mininova.org (they are not); somethingawful.com (their main); metafilter.com (their postie posts); boingboing.net (their shirt thing), and joystiq.com (they rock)

The verdict: a rather strange yet interesting game that is designed with exploration in mind. Its draw, for me, is in the spectacular visual effects which motivate me to get to that next leve just to see what will come next. Try it out.

Compatibility: Multi-platform; plays in your browser.

Go to the game page.

Tork

In Tork (a pun on “talk”), you are a space traveler who was shipwrecked on an alien planet. Looking around, you observe the aliens on this planet doing their thing, and notice that they interact using hieroglyphic-style symbols that pop up in cartoonish bubbles next to their heads. Your mission is to figure out enough of their “language” to get your ship repaired and flying again.

In practical terms, figuring out the alien language means that you have to learn the tools that are available to you rather than the game telling you in advance. While other games will tell you what you can do (icon1= take object, icon2= inventory, icon3= use, etc.), in Tork you have to figure out what you can do as you go along. To take an object, for example, (assuming it is “take-able”) you will have to figure out what symbol if any means “take” and use that in combination with the symbol for the object you want, etc. The result is a very open-ended game where everything – may – be possible, and adds a very interesting and original dynamic to the

More notes on this game as follows:

• You are not alone: running commentary is provided by your on-board computer, which is useful and often entertaining.
• The world around you: your character flies around the alien planet using his jetpack, interacting with the environment and resident aliens. In general the game world is beautifully illustrated and atmospheric, with lots of activity happening all around.
• Symbols: you “acquire” symbols either when you witness aliens using that symbol (in conversation with you or other aliens), or when you walk into a room where there is an object that can be used or collected, inwhich case the symbol for that object will be posted on the wall.

• The meaning of symbols: you figure this out by observing the aliens as they interact (with each other or the environment). For each symbol that you discover, the game provides the option to write down, in English, what the symbol might mean.
• The user interface: is generally very well designed. You access your symbols form a carousel-style library in the middle of the screen. Everything that was previously said (by you or other characters) can be retrospectively referred to from the menu using the so-called “Tork Tracker”.
• Saving games: is possible. Games are saved locally on your hard drive.

Hints: yes I actually completed this game; here are some hints…

• When in Rome: to get a sense of what is going on, do as your hosts are doing. Follow them around, and if they interact with objects you will be able to do the same by invoking the same symbols they did. You learn the most in those situations when the aliens are interacting with each other.
• Do not rely on memory: immediately write down whatever you believe a symbol means; you can refine it later if you need to (you probably won’t, first impressions usually are close enough).
• You do not have to figure out every symbol: or perhaps some symbols are just not as useful as others. I was able to finish the game without guessing what every single symbol I acquired meant.

This verdict: a very cool and original departure from the typical point and click adventure game (kudos to the developer’s for tackling a very novel concept and implementing it so well). Once you figure out the basic gameplay the game is actually quite easy to play — it took me approximately 2 hours to finish and was quite an enjoyable experience. Two things I wish the developers would do is (a) make this game downloadable, and (b) give us a sequel already!

[Thanks go to my friend Diablo for letting me know about this one. Check out his blog here].

Compatibility: cross platform, OS independent. Requires a web browser with Flash Player version 6 or more installed.

Go to the Tork home page to play.