When you get so good at a game you love… that you hate it
As anyone who’s ever spent an extended period of time with me will attest, “familiarity breeds contempt”. And while I am used to this saying applying to human interactions, I never thought it would sum up my relationship with some of my favorite iPhone apps. Yet here I am with a score of 528 in Flight Control, and I practical dread playing it now.
So, what’s turned me sour on what was at one point my favorite game? Well, quite frankly I’m just too good.
Yes, I know I am not even close to being the top Flight Control player (I have seen scores of 20,000-plus) but a 528 score is apparently still good enough for me to be placed in the top 4% of Flight Control players worldwide. And while Flight Control still holds a coveted spot on my first page of iPhone apps, my finger rarely seeks its soothing, blue embrace. Why? Well, what started as a wonderful casual game has now turned into a serious time commitment. I have calculated that it takes me a little over 5 minutes to land 100 planes, meaning that in order to break my record, I’m looking at laying out about 30 minutes or so of my not-so-valuable time. Faced with the near certainty that my attempt will end in frustrating failure in the 400’s, I more often than not will pass on Flight Control for a more casual, compartmentalized game like Peggle or Puzzlings.
I had a similar issue with the pie-wedge-placing game Frenzic, where in order to beat my 2300 score (again, nowhere near the top score) I would have to devote quite a bit of time, and invariably not reach my goal. Frenzic is similar to Flight Control in that both are fast-finger games, and although both have pause buttons, resuming a game a day later usually ends in disaster as you invariably forget your place.
Addicting, but not fun
To me, Flight Control and Frenzic both suffer from the same underlying problem Read more
Review: Defender Chronicles – It’s better than Percocet
I thought I’d take a quick moment to give a shout out to Defender Chronicles ($2.99 iTunes link), a game so addicting that it pretty much got me through my 3-day appendectomy stay in the hospital last month and made me forget the pain the way Percocet couldn’t. Since for the most part I was in too much pain to sleep I more or less played Chronicles for 96 hours straight, and was actually a little sad when I was discharged from the hospital because I knew that it was only a matter of time before I would have to go back to work and not be able to play the game every waking minute. Read more
How To: Unlock Pocket God enemies in The Creeps!
Pocket God’s creators have been doing some sneaky cross-promotion lately, allowing their happy little Pygmy Islanders to pop up in other developer’s games as secret unlockables. The latest, and coolest such Pocket God came is is one of my favorite games, The Creeps! Whether you’re a fan of Pocket God, or if you just want a couple new Creeps to battle, this hint is sure to add hours to the already enjoyable gameplay of the Creeps! Read more
iPhone Engrish of the Day: HOKEN ICHIBA Kosodate Jinsei
Given that all the text in the actual game is apparently still in Japanese, I’m not sure why the developers bothered translating this game description into English. Actually, after reading it, I’m not so sure they did.
Does your selection control child’s life?
The iPhone version of “Kosodate Jinsei” that HOKEN ICHIBA for the insurance comparison offer appears!Various events occur every one years old, and the child is brought up by the judgment of you of the joining etc. of the quiz, the mini game, and insurance. Do the story and the ending change in the result of the event? What ending do you really receive…? It is possible to play even times how many because it also has the automatic save facility and the high score function anytime and anywhere.
Now you are “Kosodate Jinsei” from today!
WOW. Bitter much?
It’s not every game that gives you a window into the personal lives of the developer, but a quick read through the description of “The Girl Game“, and you get a pretty clear picture of a man who hasn’t had the best luck with women. In fact, he may not even know how many feet they have.
The object of The Girl Game is to buy as many SHOES as you can, using your boyfriend’s credit card! Experience the ultimately addictive combination of match 3 and shoe shopping.
INSTRUCTIONS:
Arrange the pairs of SHOES so there are 3 in a row to take them to the checkout. Watch out for sales where you can get SHOES for 25% or 50% off. Match 4 in a row to create a 75% off sale. Match 5 in a row to make a clearance sale where you get a whole row of shoes for free!At the end of every round your boyfriend will get his paycheck and add funds to your credit card. Spend it all and the bank will reward you by increasing your credit limit! Think fast! If you don’t spend all your boyfriend’s money in time the bank will reduce your credit limit.
Hmmm… so. what’s a girl supposed to do with 3 shoes? I suppose she could always beat “her man” with it if he doesn’t bring home the money quick enough.
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