Dungeon Village

Today i want to present you "Dungeon Village" by Kairosoft. It's a game for Android (and most likely for iOS as well) with great PixelArt graphics.


Kairosoft has already thrown a few good games onto the AppStore (you may have heard of GameDev Story - a simulation of creating a computergames company), and i'm probably writing about some of them later. But now let's get to "Dungeon Village", which is currently causing some severe pain on my neck, because i can't stop gaming it.




So you start by giving your town and your first adventurer a name and after that is starts right into action. Every new option is nicely explained via in-game tutorial. The first adventurers start visiting your town to - as it's common in a RPG - buy some equipment, have a rest at the inn or simply do some quests to gain experience. But instead of having one character do this whole adventure-stuff, you are responsible for the town and therefore send the visitors to the monsters that threat your town.

These tasks are called Quests, and contain simple monster killing, exploring some dungeons or even defeating dragon bosses. While the adventurers do their job, you have to build up your town. You add new buildings, start events to allure new visitors and hand your visitors presents to convince them to build a house in your town.




The touch controlling is the main control of the game. There's an integrated menu and even a d-pad to make precise moves on the field. Zooming function provides great overview over your town.
This is no game with ultra high 3D graphics or an super compelling story. But nonetheless i can't stop playing it, because there is even another dungeon to explore, another adventurer to allure, another building to build.


This game is available in the Google Play Store, so be sure to get it. (There is a lite version too, i think..)



And now i'm switching back to my own little fantasy town.

Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth

First Android game review!

Well... "Woodruff and the Schnibble of Azimuth" (or as in USA: "The Bizarre Adventures of Woodruff and the Schnibble") is not really an Android game, but an old point-and-click French adventure distributed in the USA in 1995 for PC by Sierra. ScummVM allows you to play some of the greatest games (mostly point-and-click) on different devices, as in my case now: Android Phone.

The background story is about an atomic war, which annihilates most humans, except those who decide to hide in the underground. Centuries pass, and as the humans venture back to the surface, they discover, that the world has become a jungle and that the place of the humans are replaced by peaceful mutants called Bouzouks.
But as expected, the humans haven't learned their lesson and started a war against the Bouzouks, killing most of them and enslaving the remaining ones.

In the present Professor Azimuth, a scientist, decides to help the Bouzouks and discovers the legend of the Schnibble, a mystical entity that seems to have the ability to cause peace, and tries to unleash it. BigWig, the presidents corrupt advisor, hears about Azimuths work and wants to stop him to prevent a revolution.

Azimuth manages to hide his adopted and very young half-Bouzouk son Woodruff and attach the Viblefrotzer, an invention to speed up the aging process, to him just before BigWig and his henchmen break into the house and kidnap the professor.

Because of the professors invention Woodruff ages physically 15 years and begins his quest to rescue Azimuth and unleash the power of the Schnibble.

The best things about this game are the hard riddles, unordinary graphics with funny animations and a very special humor. You control Woodruff by simple point-and-click mouse interactions with mostly item-based riddles.  I've played the german version many years ago, the dubbing was great. I nearly fell off my chair listening to Woodruff mocks and watching the amusing animation. (Which of them are sometimes creepy as well) And nowadays i feel almost the same with the nice exception of today getting nostalgic feelings.

LEGO Batman

Long time since last review... a lot of work combined with some kind of a cold and the common weariness. But i am back!

Today i'm reviewing LEGO Batman. I'm in love with the whole DC Universe (except Superman), especially Batman. Started with the animated tv show and went on with the first movies. (Can't even remember how often i've see Batman Forever) And i don't think i have to mention Batman Begins and The Dark Knight here, cause nearly everyone have already seen these two movies and likes them.

So one day i saw LEGO Batman (which was released already long time ago) and wasn't too expensive, so i just bought it for my nephew. I didn't expect very much, because games like LEGO Island were not really exciting, but this one blew my mind. Great gameplay, good graphics and a lot of funny elements (and all the dialogs without saying a single word) make this game awesome. And playing multiplayer makes even more fun.

So you start as Batman and Robin, who fight their way through all different criminals with every stage having an endboss. (The endbosses fled from Arkham and you have to get them back.) You have to fight the group of The Riddler, the group of The Penguin and the group of The Joker, all groups containing villians you know already if you're into Batman and his stories. You can even control the vehicles on land, in the water or in the air. A lot of costumes, characters, vehicles and cheats/fun elements are ready to unlock. After finishing 15 levels of being Batman, you gain access to another set of 15 levels for the villians. On some occasions you have to assemble Lego objects to proceed further in the level or cross obstacles. For Batman and Robin you get different suits to access different abilities, while the villians all have some special ability by themself. (e.g. extraordinary strength, ability to seduce enemies, gliding, ...)

And now i'm the one playing all the LEGO games, because - if you haven't already - they are defintely worth a look. (Newest release is LEGO - Pirates of the Caribbean. Played it already, and it is great)

Duke Nukem 3D

Currently everybody is waiting for Duke Nukem Forever to be released. Some people (like me) wait for this since 1997.. you ask why? Because Duke Nukem 3D showed us what it means to kick some alien asses.

Duke Nukem 3D is a FPS developed by 3D Realms and was released 1996. There exist Duke Nukem and Duke Nukem II, but they were pretty lame 2D Jump&Run games.

In Duke Nukem 3D you play the American "Duke Nukem", who just came back to Earth from Duke Nukem II, when faced with an alien invasion in Los Angeles. In the original Duke Nukem 3D there exist 3 Chapters. First one is LA, second one in space and the third one again in LA.

You have a great repertory of weapons including some futuristic weapons like the Shrinker or Freezing Cannon.




What made Duke Nukem 3D so great weren't only very good graphics (we're talking about 1996 here) compared to Doom, Hexen and other FPS these times, but the quotes Duke speaks out from time to time and other funny possibilities (e.g. Having strippers open the bra for money, lighten yourself at the toilet, etc.)

I would recommend everyone who is going to play "Duke Nukem Forever" to take a look in it's previous alien-ass-kicking-fps. You won't regret it.

PS: I'm currently playing the Atomic Version of Duke Nukem 3D, which also works on Windows 7 and has an additional Chapter :D

Broken Sword

One of the best Point&Click adventure games ever created is called Broken Sword. ("Baphomets Fluch" as in the german version)

You start as George Stobbart who is on vacation in Paris, when suddenly a bomb placed by a clown detonates. George decides to investigate in this murder case and gets caught up in a dangerous story including attractive photo journalist Nico Collard, a mysterious cult and conspiracies about the Knights Templar.

While progressing in this game, George travals all around the world to find the murderer. Later in the game there are many possibilities to die, which are hardly avoidable when playing for the first time.

Although i like nearly all Point&Click adventures, this one is a special. You are not in a fantasy world and don't want to become a pirate (:>). You are just a normal person and want to find a murderer. It feels like you're right in a crime thriller. Additionally the researches in history facts reminds one of movies like "The Da Vinci Code" or "National Treasure".

Meanwhile there exist 4 official games. The first 2 are controlled by traditional Point&Click mechanism. Part 3 was the first with 3D graphics and is controlled either with a gamepad or keyboard. Part 4 has also 3D graphics but Point&Click control were used again.
Other than these 4 there was a fanproject called "Broken Sword 2.5" created by MindFactory.

I recommend to play at least part 1 and part 2, those were definitely the best of the series.
Thanks for reading :)