Pixelogic

For the uninitiated, Picross is a number puzzle that crosses the logic of Sudoku with cross referenced clues from Crosswords.  The gamer starts with an empty grid that has a series of numbers next to each column and row.  These numbers indicate how many squares are filled in, as well as how many are touching.  Players are then able to indicate which ones are filled in, and which are certainly empty, and finally discover the solution.  Solutions traditionally are pictures.

Picross generally draws comparisons to Sudoku and Crosswords, which makes it an ideal time-waster game.  Perfect for short bursts during a commute, while waiting for an appointment, a few minutes over your morning coffee.  Therefore, it makes an absolutely ideal iPhone app.  The problem with iPhone and Picross is the board sizes.  Picross doesn't really get challenging until you are on AT LEAST a 15x15 grid, and once you are advanced, 25x25 seems like a fun challenge.

Different Picross games handle this limitation in unique ways.  Pixelogic, for my money, has an elegant solution.  The game auto-zooms to a 5x5 grid, and then must be un-zoomed to look at the entire puzzle.  The game WILL NOT let you mark tiles without being zoomed into the 5x5, the first time you touch the puzzle it zooms you in.  At first, this is very disorienting, but after 5 minutes it feels entirely natural.  I also found that it lowers mistake taps caused by 'pinching' zoom systems on most other Picross apps.

As for the game itself, it features 5x5, 10x10, 15x15, and newly 20x20 puzzles.  Each section has about 20 built in puzzles, which is a fair amount.  They aren't anything new or groundbreaking, but will take a few hours for even highly advanced Picross solvers (Note: I consider myself a very advanced Picross solver).  The games real reply value, however, comes from its Puzzle Editor.

That's right, an iPhone Picross app that lets you make your own puzzles.  Rare indeed, the editor is simple to use.  You simply select a board size, mark squares, and the game sets up the rest.  You can then title your creation, and even upload it to the Pixelogic servers.  You can also go back and play your created puzzles at any time.  I haven't found a way to edit them a second time as of yet, but that is a minor setback.

Uploaded puzzles are then distributed once a day as the "Daily Puzzle." This occurs automatically, and puzzles are sorted naturally into folders by date.  You can, of course, prevent this from happening.  The advantage of this is that you no longer had to sort through thousands of user uploads to find good ones.  The daily puzzle has already been vetted by someone working for Pixelogic.  Also, there is currently backlog of almost 2 years, all of which are available, plus new ones are made everyday.  Therefore, this game has unlimited re-playability.  This is what pushes Pixeloigc to the top of the iPhone Picross pile.

Otherwise, the game offers the usual Picross options, including timed high scores and an option to allow unlimited mistakes while solving.  My complaints are few indeed, although it should be noted that the daily puzzles occasionally require some trial and error solving.  Like a Sudoku, a Picross should be solvable from logic alone, but occasionally a user submitted puzzle sneaks through that requires a few guesses.  When you consider that this is less than 5 of several hundred puzzles, it is a minor complaint.  Also, the interface is a little bland and boring, but if nothing else it is functional.

Pixelogic is simply the best iPhone Picross game out there, free or paid.  The $2.99 price tag is well worth the price for an awesome game that constantly updates with new puzzles.  While some may complain about the auto-zoom feature, after 5 minutes of practice, it provides a simple and functional solution to allow full Picross on the iPhone.  This game is a must buy for fans of Picross, and anyone with an interest in Sudoku or logic games should give it serious consideration.

Hey GB, 
 
I was hoping to find an intellectual community for some awesome recommendations.  I am looking for some music from a genre I know almost nothing about, that is, Ambient/ IDM.  If those two words mean nothing to you, I apologize, but this thread is not for you. 
 
If you think you have an idea, here are some more details.  Basically, the discussion always starts and ends with Aphex Twin's Selected Ambient Works, 85-92.  This album pretty much sets what I am looking for.  Strict ambient tends to bore me (although I agree that Rhubarb is an absolutely genius track), but break-beat can be a little headache inducing if not done right. 
 
Other reference points include the Sim City 3000 and Sim City 4 Soundtracks, the Humble Brothers, and mu-ziq.  I really enjoy about 90% of Lunatic Harness. 
 
I have heard Boards of Canada is a good, similar sound, but have no idea where to start, even with them.  If anyone out there has any ideas, feel free to throw them out there.  I suppose like with my Steam topic, I will throw something nice to whomever does it best. 
 
         

Placeholder right now....  
 
The best I have ever seen: 
 
Lanyards = Seriously? Lanyards? Those things that are only made by 8 year old girl scouts and people at retirement homes is your intimidating name?  And he was damn good, too. 
 
In FFXI, I knew of a Manthra (a guy who played as a cat-lady in order to get items from horny kids) was named "Amanda Huggankist."  When you say it outloud, and think about what he/she was trying to accomplish, its genius. 
 
My little brother had a character called "MoreJuicePlease" which is the phonetic of our long polish last name, and then he made a mule named "MoreFoodPlease" 
 
In Tribes (yeah, I'm taking you back now!) there was a clan called "Miles" and they all named themselves variations, such as "Miles O'Bandaids" and "Miles O'Smiles" and "Miles O'Tape."  I enjoyed. 
 
Back in the days of Runescape 1, after they had gone way over the several million user mark, I ran into a guy named "Bones," which I took to mean he had seriously either gotten really lucky, or been playing since day.  If you recall, that game suffered from XboxLive syndrome where everyone was "DeathNITE945858" or some variation.    

My "Who Wants to Play and Practice SCII" post has already achieved great success! 
 
So far, I have been able to play with both @rybrad (Staver) and @AsianSwagger (Japalian) in a few awesome 1v1 games. 
 
Japalian and I played a nice match, I probably would have won when my initial lings found a way around his wall off, but backed off to let the game go to mid-game.  At that point I teched way up, while he pumped Stalkers and Zealots, and then overran my base.  During the after match discussion, I learned that he had used an off-position proxy pylon to warpgate units right outside my base.  I was also able to explain how the concept of natural secondaries worked, hopefully improving his ability to expand. 
 
And in the second series, Staver and myself played an awesome, equally matched 1v1.  He started off with a much superior army, bringing the full weight of Colossi to bear on my upgraded ling army.  They melted, but fortunately for my some corruptors had spawned by the time his army reached my base.  I got muta's over to harrass him, but he blinked his stalkers around and all I killed was a pylon... 
 
The game ended, however, when I eventually got my ultra macro working, and the area attacked was able to knock out his Zealots and wall, and I breached his base.  Awesome and fun game, will post replay if possible. 
 
And, if anyone else wants to play,  comment your info, and let's get it on.

I have posted in several forums looking for SCII players, including this excellent, excellent community matchmaking list here. However, sometimes lists like that become overwhelming and anonymous, so this post is an  open call for any of my GB followers (or non-followers) who play SCII to hit me up.  I figure this way, we can play a game with some reference points between the two of us, and possibly play again in the future. 
 
About me: I currently play mostly Zerg, but the draw of the easy to use Terran army is pulling hard.  Personally, not a huge Protoss fan, but they have some strong units.  I am in the Bronze league for 1v1, which was a little disappointing, especially since I won two of my placement matches, but I figure it provides me a base to work up from.  I have a very good understanding of macro, and am currently working on my hotkey/control group control to improve this.  I struggle with Micro pretty hard right now.  In terms of game theory, I am on the cutting edge, I watch plenty of game casts of both SCII and BW, and read the Battle.net forums regularly.   I occasionally drift over to teamliquid and SC2GG as well.
 
Ideally you would be someone willing to either play several 1v1 games for build order practice or jump into some team and co-op games.  I really enjoyed my few 2v2 games with randoms, and co-op sounds awesome.  Your skill level isn't important! If you are diamond, i would love to absorb some of your skills, if you are below Bronze, I will teach you what I can.  If you are in the middle, that works too.  The only thing I ask is that you aren't someone who has a few cheese builds and is looking to grab some easy wins to pad your stats then disappear.  I don't care if you beat me 10 games running, as long as it is in competitive and fun spirit. 
 
So there you go! Let me know if you are up for games, or even if you just want someone else for your friends list.  My name is SuicidSnoman, my number 317.  Also, I always like to sign off with this, my Starcraft blog is SuicidalSnowmanStarcraft.  I will detail our matches there, so if you want to see your name in lights, it would be fun!

 As always, full blog is available at Suicidal Snowman Gaming, much better formatted, etc.

 Action Turnip

Flash, PC/Mac

Play Action Turnip on Kongregate

Action Turnip is a one button, forced run, time waster in the view of Canabalt, although perhaps it is better compared to Robot Unicorn Attack.  There is enough charm, gameplay, and challenge to keep you well entertained for the first half hour, anything after that will only appeal to high score obsessives.

Action Turnip contains two game modes, which from the start gives pause.  Does this game have enough awesome content that you need two ways to enjoy it, or was the developer unable to appropriately put their ideas together and instead offered up two disjointed experiences?  In Action Turnip's case, each game mode is complementary, and well suited for the division, although the replay value isn't exactly satisfied.

The first mode, "Turnabalt mode," makes no attempt to hide its influences.  The game plays almost exactly the same as Canabalt, except Action Turnip provides so many control schemes that all do exactly the same thing.  The second game mode is called Run and Gun, and this expands on the gameplay, added four way directional control and firepower.  This mode actually could be called "full featured" with power-ups, a combo system, and a full dose of wit and charm.

The comparisons to Robot Unicorn Attack come primarily from the style of the game.  Action Turnip has some fantastic chiptunes style music done by Pelle och Ponta.  Additionally, you play as a running turnip, fight one eyed bats and low flying spaceships, and the level terrain often spells out messages, including the names of those involved in the project.  On top of all this, getting a good combo multiplier rewards the player with trippy graphics, and some power ups temporarily change the graphics to black and white or Intellivision-style block colors.

This game does have issues.  First of all, the instructions are woefully inadequate.  You spend a few rounds experimentally dying, just to see what certain parts of the HUD mean, and how power ups work. The game might actually be too-easy, for example, both Canabalt and Action Turnip have Kongregate awards for getting 5,000 points.  I cleared Action Turnip on the third run (before I even figured out how everything worked), I still have to clear Canabalt, several hundred attempts later.  Although this surely speaks somewhat to the punishing difficulty of Canabalt, Action Turnip provides entertainment for 30 minutes, tops.  After two runs of regular mode, and three of Run and Gun mode, there is nothing else to see.  With adequate instructions, you could probably be done with the whole game in 15 minutes.

Action Turnip is still highly recommended, as it provides an excellent time waster for an half hour.  If nothing else, one should enjoy the soundtrack at least one.  Also, for the most challenge, try playing Run and Gun with WASD for movement, and IJKL for shooting.

This is a really short post, but I tried something new on my full gaming blog, SuicidalSnowman Games. 
 
I took  an interesting Giantbomb topic and sort of re-wrote it into a blog post.  Anyone else tried this? Like this style of writing?  I would appreciate feedback. 
 
-Snowman

My full gaming blog is at SuicidalSnowman Gaming 

   

The Enchanted Cave

Flash, PC/Mac

Play The Enchanted Cave on Kongregate

The Enchanted Cave is a short flash based game that combines random dungeons, random level ups, and random loot in a way that is both engaging and entertaining over the 2 hour life of the game.

The Enchanted Cave is essentially a Diablo style dungeon crawler, possibly related even closer to the more recent Torchlight.  You are a simple character facing a 100 floor dungeon.  Each floor is randomly generated each time you play, meaning that every game is guaranteed to be different.  The combat is very simple, and resolves itself automatically.  Simply walk into an enemy, and you each pound on the other until one is dead.  Later, the game introduces spells, but these never play a large role.

What keeps the game interesting is the progression system.  It is impossible to clear all 100 floors in one go, however every time you leave the cave, most of your loot stays behind.  The few exceptions are called "artifacts" and they are found in special gold chests.  Additionally, you keep any gold you have earned, as well as any stat boosts.  As one might expect, dying means you lose everything, including any held artifacts or stat gains.  Therefore, a bit of tension works in from balancing the need to go one more floor, and possibly find that new artifact, versus the desire to just get out safely, and try again.

While this all sounds very typical, it is the way the game handles these mechanics that makes it so enjoyable.  First of all, combat is very simple.  It resolves itself in one or two rounds, meaning you can easily fight through a horde of enemies.  Also, the combat is predictable enough to allow you to take some risks, but has just enough of a random element to make you think twice about fighting that last monster.  I have bemoaned games such as the "My Pet Protector" series, for the auto combat is lengthy (30+ rounds of misses) and entirely unpredictable (one fight you win in one round, the next you lose in one round). 

In addition to the balanced and quick combat, the progression is handled nicely.  You find enough artifacts and stat boosts to make each trip successful despite the random nature of the dungeons.  There is a point when you hit floor 40 that you reach a critical mass and can zoom all the way to 80 without stopping, but generally it takes two to four trips to hit the next checkpoint (every 9 levels is a shop, and you can re-enter the dungeon at the shop ten levels prior).

My complaints with this game are few.  The first time you play, you are utterly lost, the game has only minimal instructions, and no tutorial.  Also, the first time I went in, I went 12 floors without finding the item necessary to escape and save my progress, and died.  Otherwise, however, it was almost always in one of the first two chests I opened.  Since stat boosts are random, you have no control over how your character develops, even though the weapons and armor allow for some interesting customization.  The spells are pretty useless, and explained terribly.  Pro-tip: Despite the in-game instructions saying otherwise, you DO keep spells if you safely exit the dungeon.

The graphics are simple but clear, the music is nice unobtrusive, and the sound effects are well done.  The game controls fine, and has achievements.  My only gripe is that even after finishing the game, I don't have some of the achievements simply because the item required never was randomly generated.  I suppose that also brings up my last complaint, that many of the game mechanics are never used.  You can plan attack strategies based on the mobs strengths and weaknesses, but it never really matters, since simply attacking is generally fine.

Still, the game has worthwhile Kongregate badges and will last about 2 hours to clear.  It took me exactly 200 floors of exploring to clear the game, in other words I played each floor twice in order to be strong enough to win.  There is an achievement for exploring 300 floors, and I doubt I will go back to get it.

This game gets my highest recommendation.

First of all, thank you all for the advice.  This is going up quick, since i want to try to be able to gift the winner during the sale. 
 
My scoring went something like this: 
I gave each answer an overall "rating" with different components weighted differently.  For example, recommended a game I will buy was worth a weight of "5" while recommended a game I already own was worth a weight of "1".  This does not mean you get 1 point for typing up each game I already own.  If you wrote in coherent english, I gave a weight of 4 or so, if you gave more than one reason, a weight of 6, if you mentioned price, weight of 3, mentioned specs/performance, weight of 5.  I also really liked people who wrote "I see you have X game, so you might like Y game" and those who mentioned something I had never heard of. 
 
Here is the unsorted list: 

@ch13696: 2 

 @jellyfish_gsus: 1

@CowMuffins: 2

@Mikemcn: 7

@moose: 5

@keenblaze: 17

@ahmad_metallic: -50

@masterofpenguins_zell: 10

@wolf_blitzer85: 5

@tehjames: 8

@havox: 5

@onemanfreakshow: 7

@hitmanagent47: 1

@kamikaze_tutor: 5

@cap123: 5