Category Archives: Top Story

Zynga Slingo

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Okay, I admit it. I’m a Facebook game snob. I look down on most Facebook games. The few in the past that have captured my attention, like Packrat or The Sims Social, were the exceptions to Facebook games, not the rule.

The times, they are a-changing.

Facebook games are, more and more, stepping out of the Mafia Wars and Farmville mold. It’s getting to the point that if it’s a game, it CAN be on Facebook. Nothing is proving this fact more than traditional casual games, with titles like AdventureWorld or Hidden Chronicles being very popular. Zynga Slingo is another of those games.

For those not familiar with Slingo, it essentially combines Bingo (which I do play IRL) and Slots (which I do play IRL.) There’s a limited number of spins and players have to fill up a card of numbers by spinning slot reels for those numbers. There’s a variety of power-ups that will help fill the board, like one that marks everything in a line or wild jokers that will allow the marking of anything in a line (or my favorite one, anywhere on the board.) Objectives include completing a pattern, achieving certain high scores and filling a complete card.

Zynga Slingo takes all the best parts of Slingo and puts them on Facebook. It adds in help from friends and a limiting element. And all that comes together into a very addictive game. I feel like I can never get enough. I bought a full day’s worth of energy (something you can do with Slingo Cash, which you can purchase with real life money or earn by completing various offers) and thought by the time that day was over, I’d be done with my addiction and be able to move onto something else. I was wrong. If anything, I’m more addicted now.

Players start out with basic boards and a small amount of energy, and as they complete objectives, they will gain medals. These medals are essentially the leveling system. I currently have 226 and am number one on my friends list! *gloat off* To play a board, it requires energy and energy replenishes automatically, one every three and a half minutes. Energy can also be purchased in small increments or unlimited supplies for a limited time.

There’s a certain number of free balls a player gets when they purchase the board (using energy) and when those balls are gone, four extra balls that can be bought for two energy each. After that, players may have free balls they can use or they can purchase additional balls, either by spending coins, which are gained by filling up the coin bar, or by spending Slingo Cash. They can also spam all their friends and ask them to send additional balls (sorry friends!) and that’s where the social aspect comes in. Friends can help out by sending coins or balls or energy and players can return the favor.  There’s also something called Play With Friends, which is ‘coming soon’ and I can’t wait to see what that ends up being.

Zynga has separated the game into stages, with each stage having nine cards. These stages have unique and interesting artwork. The higher a player goes in stages, the more complicated the cards and patterns get, and the more energy it requires to start the game. Right now, I have six stages unlocked, with titles like Sugar Rush and Shooting Stars. I thought there were only five stages, but when I got to a certain point in the game, Shooting Stars just appeared.

I played the heck out of the Slingo games on the PC, although by the time I got to the last few, they had become tired and worn out. The developers tried to change things up by adding in an adventure element, but it ended up just annoying me. Zynga Slingo takes the Slingo format and puts it on a friendly platform. It hasn’t gotten tired yet, probably because I can only play it a limited number of times before I have to stop and wait for my energy to replenish, or choose to spend some money on it.

I need more Zynga Slingo friends. My current friends are great at sending me balls, but in this game, there’s no such thing as too many balls. So feel free to friend me for Slingo purposes.

Do you play Zynga Slingo or other Facebook casual games? What keeps you going back to a specific game day after day?

Zombies or Why I Love Tabletop Gaming

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Over this past weekend, I volunteered at ChimaeraCon, a local convention that focused on tabletop gaming. There were some other fun things to do, like LARPing (Live Action Roleplaying), and there were some Cosplayers, but the conference really focused on tabletop gaming. I spent most of the weekend chatting up the special guests and doing my volunteer gig, but in my free time, I played some games. When I went to write down the list of games I played over the weekend, I noticed a distinct pattern in the games I chose to play and/or watch. See if you can spot it:

The Walking Dead
Zombie Dice
Zombie Fluxx
Munchkin Zombies

There were a couple of other games I popped into, like Frag and Blood Bowl, but I didn’t so much choose to play those as that’s what was available to play while I was free.

The funny part is, I don’t think I like Zombie stuff all that much! I don’t watch The Walking Dead (although that’s more of a ‘when the heck can I find the time to catch up on Season 1’ rather than a choice to not watch it). In most of my fiction reading, Zombies play a small role, if they are in the books at all. But when it comes to gaming, I adore ones where I can kill Zombies. My favorite arcade game of all time is The House of the Dead. I played Typing of the Dead and loved it (plus I’m a super fast and accurate typer so that helped.) Plants vs. Zombies-yes, please. I even like the shooter maps where someone gets to be a zombie (if I’m the one who gets to kill them.) Apparently, this love for killing  game zombies translates into tabletop gaming too.

After this weekend, my favorite Zombie tabletop game is Zombie Fluxx. If you’ve never played Fluxx-shame on you! Of course, I hadn’t played a Fluxx game until this past weekend, so it’s forgivable. I even got the game and brought it home to my kids. It’s easy enough that I can play it with a nine and six year old. The game begins with two rules. Draw one card and play one card. But the cards drawn will change the rules, like requiring that  more cards be drawn or played. Some rules are really crazy, like having to groan like a zombie every time a player draws a zombie creeper. The object is to collect the keepers (like a shotgun or lumber) and have those keepers match the goal cards (which will be ever changing). Most goals require the players to not have any zombies in front of them, so there’s ways to kill and get rid of zombies-my favorite part! There’s also some special cards that allow a player to ignore any zombies in front of them and still achieve the goal.

I wonder what the objective is in Stoner Fluxx...

For Fluxx, there’s also Pirate Fluxx (Arrr matey!), Monty Python Fluxx (which everyone would not stop talking about over the weekend, apparently if you are a Monty Python fan, this is a must have) and Eco Fluxx (which may or may not teach people about the environment…not sure.) It’s a great game and I’m looking forward to my next gaming event so I can get some adults to play more Fluxx with me.

My kids have been wanting to do Thrill the World, so perhaps I’ll get us Zombie costumes this year and dress as a Zombie. Maybe after I pretend to be a Zombie, I’ll have a better appreciation for the Zombies and won’t want to kill them quite so much. Or maybe I’ll just want to play more Zombie games, but instead want to be the Zombie.

Thrill the World is where people dress like Zombies and dance to Thriller.

Probably not.

So I’m wondering if I’m the only one who has a love for a particular theme in gaming. Does anyone else have a theme they just MUST play if the game has it?

Tiny Tower - The Tower Sim That Sucks Your Life Away

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I’ve been playing Tiny Tower, a Tower Sim I’ve downloaded on the iPad. It’s available for Android as well. It’s one of many apps from developer Nimblebit, one that I keep logging into day after day.

Let me make a few confessions before I talk anymore about this game. First, I hate Farmville and all the other ‘sim’ style games on Facebook. I did play The Sims Social for a while, but even that got boring pretty quickly for me. Second, I have a short attention span with games in general and once I step away from one for a couple of days, that’s it. It would be a rare thing for me to go back to a game I’ve stopped playing. Third, I played Sim Tower like a mad woman when I was in my twenties and I still think it’s the best Sim game ever. EVER.

The first few floors are built pretty quickly.

I downloaded Tiny Tower on a whim, because I was applying for jobs in casual games and, truth be told, the iPad was new to me and I hadn’t played too many of the games on it yet. On all the sites I applied to, every single one of them was raving about Tiny Tower, so I figured …

Sorry for the interruption, I had a VIP sitting there waiting for me. It was a realtor and I had some open spots in one apartment, so I wanted to get her to that floor. What was I saying? Oh, right.

I downloaded the game, and like most of the downloads on the iPad, it was quick. In seconds, I was up and running. I walked through the basic tutorial and it explained the elements of Tiny Tower. There are essentially four: build floors, construct businesses, stock inventory and move people (Bitizens) up the elevator. There’s some extra features that are fluff, like the Bitbook that is essentially Facebook for the Bitizens, and missions, which reward Bux, one of the two currencies in the game. Bux are used to upgrade systems in the game or take quick shortcuts, such as immediately stocking inventory or moving someone into an apartment. Bux are pretty easy to obtain by keeping shops stocked and by working the elevator. The entire point of the game is to build the next floor and the next floor and the next floor and … you get the point. If there’s an endgame, it’s not obvious.

As the Tiny Tower gets built up, and becomes not so tiny, everything starts to cost more coins (the other currency). But coins also become easier to earn and it evens out. My tower is currently at forty-nine levels and I’m itching for my fiftieth. I think there’s an achievement at fifty. I currently have eighty-nine Bitizens (I keep evicting anyone who doesn’t have at least one nine in their stats-I know, I’m terribly mean!) and twenty-nine businesses. I check my stock first thing in the morning, then periodically throughout the day, then make sure everything is as stocked as I can make it before I go to bed. I’ll also sit here while watching TV or even writing (this article) and pop people up to the floors they want to go to intermittently. I’m definitely hooked.

Keep at it and eventually, you'll be as big as me!

When playing Sim Tower, I wanted to build the biggest and broadest tower I could manage. That level one hundred tower was a thing of beauty. A part of me is hoping that when I get to one hundred, there’s some big fireworks show and then I can move on with my life. Another part of me hopes it’s the tower that never ends. It will just go on and on my friends. Some people started playing it not knowing what it was. And they’ll continue playing it forever just because this is the tower that never ends…

It’s also interesting to note that I spent the weekend at a convention (ChimaeraCon, which you can read about my weekend on my other blog) and didn’t have much time to just chill at home with my iPad and yet, I am still playing it. Meaning I put it down for a few days and came back, just as hooked.

If you are an overachiever who likes to take people up and down elevators all day long, then check out Tiny Tower. Huh. Maybe I missed my calling. Instead of a writer, I should have been an elevator person…what are they called anyway?

You can see my Tiny Tower at this link. Feel free to add me as a friend on Gamecenter on the iPad as well! I’m rosethornii.

Exercise Sucks and Other Random Thoughts

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I started exercising last week. Not a lot mind you - cause I’m in terrible, terrible shape. Just terrible. But we recently changed our diet (stopped eating fast food every day) and that’s a good start towards not being in terrible shape. I decided to add a jog/walk that I do at 7:30 in the morning. My husband and I drop our kids off, then I jog/walk home. Every day, I jog a little more and walk a little less. Once I don’t feel like I’m dying, I’ll add some distance to the run (take the long way home probably), but I’m sticking with a 1/2 mile for now. Last week was the first week of school, so it’s the first week I’ve done this and it went well. I was a little sore here and there, but in general, I felt fine. I had plenty of energy. This week, it’s not going so well. I’m exhausted and it’s making me cranky. I’ve been getting headaches. And my legs are really not feeling so hot. I know this is just that initial hump I have to get past, and I’m not going to let it beat me, but dang - I’m seriously tired.

On another note, I bought these hot looking shoes so I can at least look fashionable as I limp/jog down the street. ->>

I got an email yesterday about a job I applied for - one that sounded amazing, doing demonstrations of a really wicked product. Unfortunately, the job requires a significant amount of travel (3 weeks out of 4 every month) - some travel I’m good with, but I couldn’t be away from my kids that much, so I had to pass on the interview. All my eggs are currently in one basket, the interview I have on Thursday. I really must get this job.

The bowling league I want to join has an organizational meeting tonight. I can’t go, since my husband bowls Tuesdays (the league actually bowls on Wednesdays, so not sure why they are doing the org meeting on Tuesday). I emailed them and I hope they have an opening on a team for me. It’s an IGBO league (International Gay Bowling Organization) and I think it would be great fun to meet the gay community here in San Antonio, even though I’m straight.

I logged into EverQuest 2 today and it’s been a while since I hit my level cap (90) on a character and took a break from the game. It took me a while to figure out my spell bar! I’m a level 90 coercer and I just found out that there’s a level 85 quest to fly for my character’s race - I must go on that. I want to fly! The gliding down was already cool, so this is just super bonus. I also came across several shinies and remembered the thing I love most about the game is the collections. EQ2 I’ve missed you!

Turntable.FM and Other Random Thoughts

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So I finally got into trying out Turntable.FM and I have to say, for the most part, I LOVE it! I love that I can share my tastes with other people, particularly those I know. I like being a DJ (who knew?). And there’s even rooms where people play games around the concept of DJing and matching names of songs - and games are always win.

There are a couple of things I don’t like about it. First, people can click lame on your song and if enough people click lame, it skips. I suppose this would be great for really busy rooms, but when it’s just few friends and someone clicks lame, it hurts your feelings. If it gets skipped because your friends want to play their crappy music and you politely listen to theirs, it can ruin friendships. So be careful about who you room with.

Second, the queue has no management abilities, other than move something to the top. It would be nice if you could tag songs so you could pull up a playlist (if the current room calls for it) or finds songs more easily. The search is pretty limiting as well. That said, my complaints don’t really matter since I’ve had so much fun messing around in it. I joined a room earlier where the theme was mellow songs, so I played my mellowest songs (which of course included Tom Petty) and it was fun to listen to all the other mellow songs, many of which I’d never heard. Now we’re playing the matching game and it’s been fun.

Now on to random thoughts - I really, really, really like Rachel from Big Brother. Maybe it’s because my husband and I watch Big Brother After Dark and did last season, so we got to see the ‘real’ Rachel instead of the ‘edited’ version, or maybe it’s because she’s just the type of girl who grows on you after a while, but I enjoy listening to her conversations and I love it when she gets a little annoying to the other houseguests. It’s part of her charm. And you can’t say Danielle and Shelley don’t deserve every snark they get from Rachel. Shelley is the biggest hypocrite to ever play Big Brother. She thoroughly ‘hates’ Rachel, but Rachel has been far more of an honest player than Shelley and Rachel definitely has more integrity - not to mention Rachel can win competitons and Shelley can’t do anything apparently. I’m sure IRL Shelley is a good person and her husband and kid don’t deserve what’s happening and will continue to happen because of some of the things Shelley has said and done on Big Brother, but she’s made some very bad decisions and her insistence that she’s an honest player despite the fact that she’s lied to nearly everyone on the show since day one is very annoying.

Back to my original point - I don’t know if America likes or hates Rachel (did they vote Brendon back in just to help Jeff/Jordan?), but I genuinely like her, both as a player in the game and as a person. I think she gets a bum rap with the editing. Yes, she does and says everything they show - but what they don’t show is what led up to it. You think Danielle was innocent and did nothing to provoke Rachel? I’ve also been very proud of Rachel keeping her head on her shoulders and keeping her calm, especially when Shelley became confrontational (both times). And Shelley - I can’t recall anyone who has played the game before ever lying more than she has.

On another topic, I have an interview Thursday for a job I really, really want to so send good thoughts my way.

Random Ramblings for the Day

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This has been an eventful week. School is starting around the country and it was no exception in the Krause house. My oldest, Zachary, started 3rd grade and my baby, Nicky, had his very first day of school ever on Monday. It was hard on me, standing at the door to the Kindergarten class as he walked away, never to look back or give me a hug. I’m sure many a parent knows exactly the feeling I’m talking about. The kids being in school has been good for me too, though. Even though it’s only been two days, I think it’s been my most productive two days of my entire life.

I’ve been looking for a job and yesterday, I finally got a legitimate interview for a job I REALLY want. I had to do a test and turned it in today. Not more than ten minutes later, I got called from the HR woman and told they want to do a Skype interview (the position is remote). I’m stoked. The interview isn’t until next Thursday (thanks, PAX), but I feel good about my chances of getting this job. Did I mention I REALLY want it?

As if that wasn’t enough - the new routine is great for me. My husband takes me and the kids to the school and drops us off, then goes off to work. I take Nicky to his classroom, tear up a little as I realize he’s growing up, then jog/walk home. The exercise hurts like hell, but I feel so good every day I do it. I know, it’s only been two days, but you have no idea how freakin’ lazy I am. Then after milling around, eating breakfast, playing some games and procrastinating, I get down to do some work. Yesterday, it was updating The Bowling Frame. Today, it was getting the test done. Tomorrow, I’m thinking of working on my novel. All in all, it’s been very good for me.

Big Brother’s on tomorrow night. I’m very excited to see how everything pans out. So far, Rachel fans have to be pretty happy. Jeff is HoH and he’s not going to put Rachel up no matter what. He put Kalia and Porche up, but I think his real target is Danielle. I really want Danielle to go to jury house this week. And I want Rachel to win the first HoH for the speed week coming up on Thursday - then I don’t care who wins the second, as long as they won’t put Rachel up. Go Rachel!

That’s about all I can think to ramble about right now. Anyone else got a rambling?

OMG - I Like a Social Game?

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If you know me, you know I sort of HATE social gaming. I love casual gaming that involves completing objectives on my own or competetive games, but social games sort of are neither of those things. I play Words with Friends on my Samsung Galaxy Tab (Android FTW!) but not on Facebook - and it’s a competetive game so it doesn’t count. I love playing Ticket to Ride, Catan and Carcassone on my XBLA too. Again, I like competition. So what on earth has me playing a non-competetive social game on Facebook?

Simple: The Sims Social. I finally caved and did what all my Facebook friends are doing - playing The Sims Social. I expected to hate it, just like I hate Farmville and Mafia Wars - and I was disappointed. I love it! I’m completely addicted. In fact, I need more freakin friends to ask for things from. You can add me as a Facebook friend (http://www.facebook.com/StaciKrause) if you want to play The Sims Social with me - or challenge me to kick your butt at Words with Friends - up to you.

So the premise behind The Sims Social isn’t all that different a regular Sims game (of which I’ve bought almost all of them and played countless hours in). You have to keep your Sim fed, bathed, emptied and well rested. You are given various obejctives in which you gain rewards for completing them. Your sim also needs fun and social experiences in their life to be truly happy - inspired even! The catch is that just about everything costs energy and energy is limited. It’s replenished when you level (yup leveling!), and friends can send you energy - or you can just wait it out as it replenishes over time. You need lots of friends since most things in the game require your friends help, like building a room or putting together a bed. You can go visit their houses and see how they’ve decorated as well.

Of course, there’s a monetary aspect for people who don’t want to wait or ask their friends for help - you can purchase currency to skip steps or replenish energy for cold, hard cash. I haven’t felt the need to spend money - yet.

And I’m the queen of Words with Friends - I sure with they had leaderboards.

Big Brother, Gamezebo, LFW and more

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Hey folks!

Sorry for the lack of updates. I’ve decided to once again change the focus on KB (I know, shocker right?) Instead of posting about specific things, I’ve decided I’m going to use the site to post about whatever I feel like. So today’s post will cover several topics, including what’s going on with Big Brother, the casual games reviews/news website Gamezebo, the fact that I’m looking for a job and whatever else I feel like writing by the time I get to the end.

First things first - Big Brother has been a great season so far. The twists are probably the best they’ve been. Of course, that may not be true if you are/were a Danielle & Dominic fan, but for Brendan/Rachel fans, this season has not disappointed. I was so happy when Brendan came back and very disappointed when Dani won HoH again and sent him home. We’ll find out who wins HoH this week, but the competition is definitely geared towards Jeff winning. He had almost twice as much liquid in his jar when they went off the air. If you know who wins HoH and who they put up, please don’t post about it here until after tomorrow’s show.  Thanks!

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Sony Online Entertainment’s G.I.R.L. Scholarship Winner Announced

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Alicia Crawford, a game and art design student at the Inland Empire’s Art Institute of California, was recently selected as the winner of the fourth annual competition that Sony Online Entertainment (SOE) hosts for female competitors from around the world. The scholarship, Gamers in Real Life (G.I.R.L.), was created in the hopes it would get more women involved in the creation of video games. It is a $10,000 scholarship that can be used towards tuition and education expenses.

In addition to the scholarship, Alicia has also been offered a 10-week paid internship at the San Diego office of SOE, an excellent opportunity for any aspiring game designer or game artist. Crawford had the following to say:

“It’s such an honor to be recognized for my work by a major video game publisher and I’m extremely thankful to SOE for this opportunity,” said Crawford.”Winning the G.I.R.L. scholarship fuels my desire to work in the gaming industry and my existing passion for video games.”

The entrants into the competition had to submit two pieces of original concept art (in the theme of one of two games, Free Realms or EverQuest II) and an essay about their views about women in the gaming industry. You can view Alicia’s two winning pieces of art below. For more information on the scholarship, visit the official G.I.R.L. website.

 

The Cursed Crusade “Sizzle” Trailer

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ATLUS released a “sizzle” trailer for the upcoming action-adventure title, The Cursed Crusade. Before watching this movie, this game wasn’t on our radar, but after watching it, we can’t wait for its release! Check it out:

The Cursed Crusade uses the Fourth Crusade as its inspiration, but it appears it will be from a very personal perspective, with the protagonist looking for his father. It will have 2-player cooperative gameplay and will release on the PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 and PC this Fall. Check out the official The Cursed Crusdate website for more information.