Kairosoft’s Story Games are keeping me pretty busy

About a week before the holidays, I had already planned that it was going to be the time that I would catch up on work or maybe even read some of the books that I haven’t yet opened on my shelf. My best laid plans were shattered when instead I found myself spending most of my free time curled up in a nice cozy spot intently staring at my phone. Gone are the days when I could keep my battery going for as long as four days, now I’d be lucky if I’d be able to make it last through the night. The culprit? All those story games from Kairosoft.

Game Dev Story

First time I’ve played this I was hooked then I got distracted for a while but now my addiction is in full swing again. This game lets you start a game company and if you’re a gamer (like me), you’ll finally get to try your hand at making your own games. You can also win game awards and even make your own console.

Addictive factor

Oh man, just the initial step of mixing game types and genres had me hooked. I couldn’t wait to make a great combination that will boost sales. Then when my staff starts making the game and I could see them working hard at it, I can’t help but stare at the screen. I also had fun training my staff so that they’d get to higher levels which will enable them to churn up games faster. My aim for most of the game year, make a game that will make it to the Hall of Fame and then maybe win big at the game awards.

--[ DOWNLOAD LINK ]--

Hot Springs Story

This game is set in Japan, using also their currency but you don’t need to be Japanese in order to setup your very own day spa/hot springs spa. Your main goal in this game is to expand your spa, attract customers and investors and eventually rank very high in magazine reviews.

Addictive factor

This may appeal mostly to female gamers. I got to practice some of my space planning skills inside my spa then I concentrated most of my money in resources in ranking high in reviews. Imagine my delight when I saw lots and lots of people lining up to get into my spa and even to stay-in overnight.

--[ DOWNLOAD LINK ]--

World Cruise Story

Trust Kairosoft to come up with a gameplay that’s very original. In World Cruise Story, you get to manage your own cruise ship with the goal of making it the most popular and most sought after luxury liner in the world.

Addictive factor

I got obsessed at one point with expanding and upgrading the facilities in my ship. This is so that when VIPs (like a king) goes in my ship, he’d give me a really high rank. High rankings mean that I get to have a bigger ship that I can fill with more wonderful rooms.

--{ DOWNLOAD LINK }--

Epic Astro Story

This time around the goal is to develop an entire planet by harvesting its resources, exploring the natural surroundings in order to expand and then have good relationships with the nearby planets to promote tourism.

Addictive Factor

It’s kinda like Sim City with a bit of RPG element built into it. I got addicted with it because it was great watching the planet grow and become more civilized with each passing year. The years don’t pass by as quickly as it did in Game Dev Story but there’s plenty to do once you’ve gotten things up and running.

--[ DOWNLOAD LINK ]--

Mega Mall Story

Just when I thought I’d sail through the New Year’s without being glued to my phone, Kairosoft released this game the other day. Oh man, I could barely tear myself off it a few hours ago. There’s only one goal, make your mall rank five stars and be able to get as many loyal customers as possible.

Addictive Factor

There’s just so many stores I can put into my stores but of course, some can only be unlocked. To get the most popularity points, there are even store combos that you can unlock. If I had a tablet, I’d have more fun with it. As it is, I’ve only been playing on my phone which has a big screen but not as big as a tablet’s. My mall has currently expanded by a lot and is now several stories high. Again, once you’ve gotten things going, it’s kinda hard not to be entranced when people start coming in to buy stuff in your stores.

I’m planning to make more detailed reviews for each of the games mentioned above including Game Dev Story in Back2Gaming. In the meantime, you might want to try these games out for yourselves and discover why I’ve suddenly found myself wishing I had more time to play.

--[ DOWNLOAD LINK]--

Warner Bros 2012 Lineup pt. 2 of 3

Journey 2: The Mysterious Island

The film stars Dwayne Johnson, Vanessa Hudgens, Josh Hutcherson and Michael Caine. It’s nice to see The Rock back on the big screen again. It amazes me of how much he could be starring in an action film and then do equally great in a family film the next. Journey 2 takes off from the previous movie Journey to the Center of the Earth. The adventure begins when Josh’s character receives a distress signal from a part of the sea where no island exists. They are then taken on a wild ride through a remote place with creatures similar to ours but while they’re taken aback by the sense of adventure that the place holds, they find themselves in trouble about not being able to leave it.

Ghost Rider: Spirit of Vengeance

I don’t know about you but I enjoyed the first Ghost Rider film. I had the impression that not so many people liked it. Well, I was pretty fascinated about the concept of something that’s usually associated with evil be turned into something good, almost heroic. For this movie sequel, Nicolas Cage takes on the role of Johnny Blaze again as he struggles with his curse as the devil’s bounty hunter. He was recruited by a secret sect of the church to save a young boy from the devil. His main task is to embrace the power of the Ghost Rider to protect the boy, something that he’s having difficulty with.

Dark Shadows

Tim Burton is teaming up with Johnny Depp again with this movie adaptation of a TV series. The movie is about the life and adventures of the vampire Barnabas Collins and his encounters with monsters like witches, werewolves and ghosts. The film also stars Michelle Pfeiffer and Helena Bonham Carter along with Chloë Grace Moretz.

Rock of Ages

Tom Cruise leads the powerhouse cast of this film. The question going through my mind is “Can he sing?” Well, we shall soon see, he can act it of course. While loosely based on a musical, this film adaptation tells of the story of a small town girl named Sherrie and a city boy Drew who met on the Sunset Strip on the course of pursuing their Hollywood dreams. While it’s still a mystery if Tom Cruise can sing, we’ll surely hear hits from Def Leppard, Joan Jett, Journey, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, Night Ranger, REO Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Twisted Sister, Poison, Whitesnake, and more.

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close

I bought this book on a whim years ago, choosing it from a list of best sellers posted at Fullybooked. It turned out to be a really great read. The film stars Tom Hanks and Sandra Bullock, two of the great actors of our time. This film adaptation tells the story of a young boy who was diagnosed with an ADHD condition but was always eager to learn but socially incapable of being with other people. He goes on to have a journey of self-healing and discovery after his father was killed during the 9/11 attack.

Tips & Tricks for Where’s my Water?

One of the best games I’ve played on my Android phone is Where’s my Water (see review HERE). I still haven’t stopped playing it because I’m getting too OC trying to collect all the rubber duckies and the hidden objects in each level. If you have an Android phone and you’re into playing games, you’re missing out a lot if you haven’t at least tried to help Swampy get his bath of fresh clean water.

After spending quite a considerable number of hours playing it, I’ve gathered enough tips to help you along with your game. Here they are:

• Pay attention if a question mark appears beside the duck count on the top left part of your screen.

This means that there’s a hidden object in that stage. Since there’s really no limit at how many times you can replay a level, you can either search for the hidden object first then solve the puzzle later. Or you can do it vice versa, whatever suites your fancy. Swipe your finger across the soil to find out where it is.

• Think fast.

There’s a time bonus if you can figure out how to get past the stage quickly. You’ll get the hang of solving the puzzles easily as you progress to more complex levels. When you get skilled enough, just go back to the earlier stages that you’d like to do over.

• Think about the fluidity of the water.

Like in the real world, the water here flows and is governed by the laws of physics and gravity. You can let it gather into separate pools to activate levers and switches. The water doesn’t always have to flow as a whole. By separating the flow, you’ll get to solve puzzles more quickly.

• When you see grass...

figure out how to get rid of it first by using the violet fluid or acid. If water flows into the grass, the grass will just absorb it and you will lose the stage. Maximize the flow of the acid to get rid of the grass thoroughly.

• Green goos and Violet acids.

Remember that green goo dissolves in water while water dissolves in violet acid. When you mix the green goo and the violet acid, it sort of creates an explosive mix of cocktail which can blow up rocks and huge sections of soil, it won’t damage the pipes and levers.

• When combined with grass..

as I’ve mentioned above the violet acid will dissolve it but when mixed with green goo, the grass solidifies into stone.

ANDROID MARKET LINK

PRICE: Php 43.05

FREE version available (with limited number of levels)

Pistacchi’s Little Red Riding Hood Matryoshka

I’ve always had a fascination with Matryoshka dolls, those cute nesting dolls that’s also sold in Fullybooked. My sister shares the same desire to collecte these cute figurines. A Taiwanese designer by the name of Mike He, took inspiration from these dolls and took it one design step further. Born from his creative imagination is a set of nesting dolls made from little red riding hood characters. These dolls however can hold (well surprise, surprise) pears. :)

The products are exclusively distributed by Pistacchi design.

The Fashions of Betty and Veronica

I loved reading Archie comics during my early teens. They are probably one of the few collections that occupy that much space on my bookshelf. I loved the comics for its characters and the fashionable clothes that Betty and Veronica wear. I’ve also done some sketching of them too way back when. So it was a delight to find a Tumblr page dedicated to Betty and Veronica’s fashions. I feel all nostalgic just browsing through the blog.

Check out some of the fashion from the comic below.

Happy Christmas to my Readers

I hope in your own way you’ll find the very special meaning of Christmas. There’s a reason why many people consider it the happiest day of the year and I hope it’s also the same for you. Merry Christmas everyone, may we all cherish the remainder of the year 2011.

A Journey through Holiday Google Doodles

Here’s the compilation from 1999 to the present.

1999

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

Movie Preview: Marvel’s The Avengers Movie Posters

Finally the official posters are out! Check them out below. The movie will be about the Super hero team up of a lifetime which includes Iron Man, Black Widow, the Incredible Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor and Captain America. Just the combination of Chris Hemsworth and Chris Evans makes me want to go see this movie. Haha. The team up brings them under the leadership of Nick Fury, the Director of S.H.I.E.L.D where they take it upon themselves to save the world from the brink of disaster.

The movie is expected to hit Philippine theaters on May 2012. Anyway, as promised here are the posters:

 

Technorati Tags: marvel movie,marvel avengers,avengers movie,shield,nick fury,black widow,iron man,hawkeye,captain america,thor,hulk

Finally LEGO for girls

It’s true that kids love LEGO toys, girls and boys alike. Up until now have you noticed that most of the LEGO toys are geared toward the male kid market? How about us girls? Well, while I would have loved to have played with Lego bricks/toys that are exclusively for girls in my childhood, kids in this generation would soon be able to. Come next year, toy shelves will be filled with the LEGO Friends line, the Lego toys for girls.

They look pretty adorable and cute as hell. Girls would love collecting and playing with these. Take a look.

[SOURCE: thebrickblogger.com]

Movie Preview: The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo

Aside from The Hunger Games, one of the movie adaptations from a book that I’m eagerly awaiting to see next year is The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. This is the Hollywood version, as there have already been a released Swedish one. The Hollywood version stars Rooney Mara as Lisbeth Salander and Daniel Craig as Mikael Blomkvist.

The movie is an adaptation of the first book of The Millenium series of the same title. It’s a very thick book, one that I’ve enjoyed reading thoroughly. Take it as a testament of fans who have loved the books, the novel started out a bit slow but picks up after the first three chapters. The movie is basically about how Blomkvist tries to solve the disappearance of the niece of an industrial mogul named Henrik Vanger. Simultaneously, Lisbeth Salander enters the picture as a hired investigator who was tasked to do a background check of Blomkvist. Somehow through the use of her hacking skills, Mikael and Lisbeth’s paths cross. Together they solve the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Harriet.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo will soon open across the Philippines distributed by Columbia Pictures. Watch out for it. Subscribe to my blog for future posts and updates about this movie.

Warner Bros. 2012 Lineup pt. 1 of 3

2012 is shaping up to be a great year for movies brought to us by the folks at Warner Bros. They have a lot of highly anticipated titles that fans are eagerly awaiting. Here are the headliners…

The Dark Knight Rises

The Dark Knight Rises is the third Batman movie directed by Christopher Nolan who was highly praised for his first two Batman films – Batman Begins and The Dark Knight. The plot picks up eight years after Harvey Dent’s death where Batman spent the most part taking the blame and in protecting Dent’s reputation. After going into hiding and returning to Gotham, he investigates the truth about Selene Kyle (Anne Hathaway) and must stop Bane’s (Tom Hardy) plans to destroy the city. Christian Bale reprises his role as Bruce Wayne/Batman joined by Marion Cotillard as Miranda Tate and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, as John Blake.

The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

Peter Jackson takes on another Tolkien project in the movie adaptation of the book, The Hobbit. The movie tells of the tales of a younger Bilbo Baggins who was swept into an adventure to save the Dwarf Kingdom of Erebor from the dragon Smaug. This is also where he first encounters the creature known as Gollum where he accidentally comes into the possession of a simple gold ring which will set the course for the epic story of The Lord of the Rings.

Wrath of the Titans

After defeating the Kraken, Perseus (Sam Worthington) attempts to live a peaceful life with his son Helius. Meanwhile, the gods are continued to be weakened by the lack of devotion from humanity. Their weakened state strengthens the Titans who were further emboldened when Zeus’ son Ares (Edgar Ramirez) decides to betray his father to the Titans. Perseus must now rescue Zeus from the underworld with the help of the warrior Queen Andromeda (Rosamund Pike), Agenor – Poseidon’s demigod son (Toby Kebbell) and Hephaestus (Bill Nighy).

Jack the Giant Killer

Jack (Nicholas Hoult) goes into the battle of his life when he accidentally opens the gateway which unleashes ferocious giants who seeks vengeance and to reclaim the lands they once ruled in.  Jacks gets to become a legend, wins the love of a princess and gets to fight alongside unstoppable warriors who only existed before in legends.

Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows

Sherlock Holmes (Robert Downey Jr.) meets his match when he goes against his nemesis Professor James Moriarty (Jared Harris) in a battle of wits, luck and physical prowess. Joining the cast is Noomi Rapace, the girl who played Lisbeth Salander in the Swedish version of the movie The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo.