Recliner Games - New PC Game Reviews

Music Catch: Simply Catchy!

2008-08-30T09:55:38-07:00

Music Catch is not your usual game. The downloadable version was actually created after the web-game version that was a giant hit around the world. Now, with the downloadable version, twelve songs are included AND you can play any MP3 on your computer!

The game is very simple: try to catch as many shapes as possible, but avoid the red shapes. No clicking is necessary. Just move your mouse around to touch the shapes as they appear to the music. Yellow shapes will increase the size of your cursor and make your score multiplier bigger. Red shapes will decrease the size of your cursor and make your score multiplier smaller. Purple shapes are POWER (they suck all of the good shapes into your cursor for a short time)!

Music Catch is over-the-top encouraging, spitting out words like "Fabulous!", "Amazing!", "Splendid!", every time you catch a yellow shape. Makes you feel pretty good...

The twelve songs that are included are tracks from other Reflexive games, except for two of them: "Before Dawn" and "Unattainable Desire," which come from Isaac Shepard's "Swept Away" CD.

Maybe the best way to review this game is via quotes about the game (and its web-game predecessor) that I found around the Internet:

"It's beautiful..." -David

"ive never heard anything like it and it fills me with joy." -Taylor

"Before dawn is the reason im getting piano lessons..." -Mahasin

"Music Catch is one of those games that doesn't really have a genre. Part music game, part zen item-catching experience, there isn't much out there that's quite like it. What's more, the game can be as relaxing or challenging as you want it to be." -Gamezebo

"My grandson, who is a Marine serving in Iraq, e-mailed me and asked if I could learn to play [Before Dawn] before he comes back. It was very inspirational to him." -Eleene Thomas

"...musical genius..." -David

"The first time I heard 'Before Dawn' on the game Music Catch, I told myself I HAD to find who composed this music! I LOVE it and I'm going to try to learn it." -Lindsey H.

"Sitting in work in a very stressed company listening to Before Dawn has managed to put a smile on my heavy tied face..." -GMB

"And, although, everyone is buzzing about [Before Dawn], my favorite piece is Unattainable Desire." -Linda

"...it's so amazing this song makes me cry. amazing and relaxing, incredible, WONDERFUL" -Moo12

Well... what else is there to say except that you should download the game and try it out yourself!

Build in Time: Very fun building game!

2008-06-14T19:55:06-07:00

"Build in Time" is a little different than most games that require you to click around madly. The game play is very much like the Cake Mania type of games, where you have to serve the customers in time before they get angry. In this case, you are serving them houses... or rather, you are building them houses. Once you build up all of the available lots on the screen, the level is over. Each level is a year in a decade. The game starts at 1950. As you work your way through the years to the 2000's, you go through each decade, which is a different theme altogether (the houses, the looks of the people, the music, the visuals, etc.). It's quite amusing.

There is actually a little bit of match-three strategy in the game as well. If you build three houses in a row or column that have a similar property, such as color or style, then you get an extra speedy bonus that allows you to build things very quickly.

That brings me to an interesting aspect of this game. While you are building houses, you can assist the building by clicking on the lot. This will speed up the process so that you can serve customers quicker.

As you finish each level, you are taken to a screen where you can upgrade your building materials. You can get bigger/better houses that earn you more money, add-ons (garages, heli-ports, etc.), garden pieces, and other tools that help you along the way, such as an assistant to greet the customers. The variety of upgrades and features won't leave you bored.

Throughout the game is an ongoing storyline of a young man learning to become a construction tycoon under the guidance of his uncle. Each decade gives more details about the story. Oh, and I can't forget that there is also a trophy room where you collect trophies based on your performance throughout the years.

"Build in Time" is definitely worth trying out!

Airport Mania: First Flight: Airport Mania soars!

2008-04-19T15:27:51-07:00

There are not that many games as cute as Airport Mania. The cartoony look of the game, planes with big eyes and happy noises, colorful backdrops, and whimsical music make this game very enjoyable.

The tutorial does a good job of explaining how to play... besides it also gives you a diploma at the end. :-) There is no need to worry that this game is too hard to play... I think both kids and grandparents alike will find the game intuitive, yet challenging... especially on later levels.

I love a game with lots of upgrades and awards, and Airport Mania did not let me down. Between each level you can upgrade your airport with extra runways, new gates, increased loading/unloading speed, radars, painting stations, in-flight movies, new planes, and even some refreshments for planes that have already landed.

On top of the main game, there are lots of fun meta-games to play, such as matching gate colors, collecting tons of medals and awards, clicking on balloons and hang-gliders, and collecting money from passing helicopters. Like one of the screenshots show, there are also funny saying that appear when you click on various structures throughout the game.

I highly recommend Airport Mania for young and old alike. But don't say I didn't warn you, if you end up smiling and whistling uncontrollably after playing the game. ;-)

Platypus: Claymation mania!

2008-02-26T22:03:45-08:00

Believe it or not, this entire game's graphics are made from photographed clay models that the developer must have taken forever to build. Platypus is a very unique game visually, but plays very much like your normal every-day side-scrolling shooter game. For example, it is very similar to the old Nintendo game called "Lifeforce." The point of the game is to shoot down the enemy planes while avoid being shot down yourself. At the end of each stage there is usually a "big boss" that you must shoot down.

Every now and then a special-colored group of enemies come out to attack you. If you shoot all of these special enemies down, then you get a weapon upgrade -- like fast shots or lazers -- that lasts for about 30 seconds.

Platypus also offers a multiplayer mode, which means that you and your friend can play on the same computer: one using the mouse, the other the keyboard.

Overall, the fun and unique clay graphics, and the upbeat music make this a worthwhile game to try out.

Garden Defense: One of the best games I ever played!

2008-02-18T21:16:08-08:00

I have to say that Garden Defense is one of the best games I have ever played. Garden Defense is a "defense" strategy game similar to "Master of Defense" and the popular online web game called "Desktop Tower Defense." Your goal is to defend your garden flowers from the enemy bugs and creepy crawlers that are attacking along a dirt path. At your disposal is a humorous collection of shooting gnomes, peeing cherubs, flapping flamingos, seed-spitting sunflowers, dart-throwing cacti, and a whole lot more.

This game is incredibly addicting. After a few waves of attacks, you get the hang of purchasing your weapons and upgrading them. A cool feature in this game is that you can move the garden gadgets around as you are being attacked by the bugs.

The music is fabulous, and the tongue-in-cheek movies between each section is a great touch. The graphics are happy and don't get in the way of the game play. It is almost always clear what is going on and what needs to be done.

The ability to speed up or slow down the game play at any time is also a great feature. This is especially useful when you need to move gnomes around to pick off a few critters that got through.

Now, please do not do what I did and try to finish the game without taking the time to go through the Challenge levels from the main menu. By going through the Challenge levels, you can quickly earn experience points that allow you to buy super-duper upgrades. This will not only make you more powerful when playing through the story, but it will make your experience more enjoyable; there is something extremely satisfying in knowing that hundreds of bugs can't even get through your first line of defense!

This game is perfect for those who like strategy games like "Risk" and simple shooter games like "Zuma"!

Chuzzle Deluxe: So fluffy, so cute!

2008-01-30T23:26:26-08:00

Just can't get enough of those cutesy, little, fluffly Chuzzles!!!!

You just gotta play this one to see what I mean... their little eyes rolling around, and their furry little figures moving around... bunches of colorful, retro fun! The little sounds like make when you click them is simply adorable.

Amulet of Tricolor: Fun little game

2008-01-26T12:32:09-08:00

I downloaded the demo and found the game to be a cool lil brain teaser. The gfx were cool and the audio was nice. I liked the music, reminded me of polka! All in all it was a fun little game, I am most likely going to buy the full version.

Eets: An emotional experience!

2007-11-09T17:56:11-08:00

Eets is a very interesting game. You control a little character, named Eets, that changes his emotional state based on what you feed him.

The point of the game is simple: lead Eets to the puzzle piece. However, actually doing so is quite a challenge. It is sort of like the old "Lemmings" game. Eets will keep walking in one direction. If he hits a wall, he will turn around and walk the other direction. Be careful not to let him fall off the edge, or you will have to start over. The puzzle is to try to get him to go to the right places. To do so, you will need to put food pieces in Eets' path so that he will change his emotional state.

Each emotion gives Eets a corresponding ability, such as walking, jumping, tip-toeing, etc. You must place the food in his path before you start the level. Then, you press play and see if your logic paid off. You can use the controls to change the playback speed.

This is a fun logic game that you can pick up and play for just a few minutes at a time or for hours on end.

Charma: Charma is charmed out

2007-10-16T02:51:38-07:00

Well, it's a mix between a shooter like Zuma or Luxor and a Swaper like Jewel quest or chuzzles.... the charms are like chuzzles and they make funny cute noises.... the sceneries are cute enough but the game is rather boring. I assume a younger child might enjoy it. I do like kid games but this one was just... I wasn't feeling it.... There are various bonuses to help you along but so far, I didn't see the greatest need for them in the one hour trial... maybe the game gets harder over time but it's pretty simple... i think it would have made a cuter shooter like zuma.. sure we have tons of those but still, I think it fits that idea better...

Dream Chronicles: Beautifully done!

2007-10-12T22:29:52-07:00

In short, Dream Chronicles is a great game. Despite being a little on the short side, when you finish the game you feel like you had a refreshingly long escape from reality, sort of like watching a movie.

The most impressive thing about Dream Chronicles is the beautifully rendered graphics. The lighting and mood in each scene is amazing... it really allows you to get into the feel of the game.

The story line has to do with trying to find out what happened to your missing husband and how to break a spell that has been cast on your world. In a dream-like state, you are led through a series of rooms and places as you discover bits and pieces of the mystery. In each scene you must find the objects that you then use to help you solve the puzzles that are blocking your way to the next room. Happily, many of the puzzles are actually quite challenging and give me a real sense of accomplishment when I solve them.

A sub-game within the game is to collect the colorful gems/stones that fit into magical dream symbols. I like that there are a ton of them because every time you enter a scene, you feel great; you can spot and collect the gems really quickly: boom, bam, bing, bang... just like that! Once those are "taken care of," you are still left with the main puzzle.

To solve the puzzles and riddles, you are equipped with a collection bar at the bottom of the screen that can store objects that you find. This is fairly simple to use, but it does get annoying sometimes when you want to use an object that you just picked up: it requires you to click the object again in the collection bar in order to activate it.

The background music and sound effects work nicely with the game. Transitions are smooth, and the music doesn't seem to ever get boring or repetitive.

I highly recommend this game to those who enjoy logic puzzles and seek-n-find (iSpy) games.

Tip: you might want to play the game with a nice cup of tea and snacks (preferably chocolate) within reach! :-)