If you find yourself with a little downtime between classes, whynot get smarter while you wait? Online gaming portals such as MSNGames and Yahoo! Games offer dozens of easy-to-use — andoften free — brain ticklers for the casual gamer.
Let’s take a look at three games that make the grade.
Text Twist
http://games.yahoo.com/games/downloads/tx.html
It might be free for the 10,000-plus people who log on to Yahoo!Games each day to play Test Twist, but it certainly is challenging.The game is like Scrabble tossed into a blender. You’re givensix letters and two minutes to form as many words as possible.However, the only way to advance to the next round is to use allsix letters at once. Each round is progressively harder.
The game doesn’t have a pause button, which was probablydone to keep players from grabbing a dictionary and cheating. Theonly other annoyance was the approved word list used by thedevelopers, which doesn’t allow many valid words in thegame.
Overall, Text Twist is a good time waster if you have a fewminutes between classes.
Jeopardy!
http://zone.msn.com/en/jeopardy/default
The long-running hit quiz show has a strong following online.The web version on MSN Games is faithful to the television serieswith the only noticable absence being host Alex Trebek.
Like the show, you’ll choose from six categoriescontaining answers worth $200 to $1,000. You, of course, supply thequestions. The audio track is dead-on with every beep and whistleguiding you through the game.
The game veers from reality by supplying you with answers in amultiple choice box. So you have a good chance of scoring if yousimply select the right one. Not as challenging as the TV show.
Reiner Knizia’s Samurai
http://www.klear.com/samurai/
Need a real challenge? Take on Reiner Knizia’s Samurai byDallas-based Klear Games. The strategy game is set inpre-unification Japan. You match wits against your computer tobecome “supreme ruler” of three feudal casts: peasants,clergy and nobles.
This is a game where you must think before you act. It’seasier to get into than chess, but it offers its own subtlecomplexities. Using your high-scoring tiles to block minor enemymoves is the quickest way to defeat. Samurai teaches you theimportance of sacrificing a handful of outposts to gain the upperhand in key areas.
Gaming Briefs
Game Industry Scholarship for Women
WomenGamers.com has teamed up with The Guildhallat SMU to achieve more female representation in the gamingindustry.
The “WomenGamers.com Guildhall at SMU Scholarship”will help female students cover tuition expenses incurred duringthe 18-month Guildhall program, which costs $37,000.
The scholarship is expected to be announced officially Sept. 9at the Women’s Gaming Conference in Austin.
According to the Entertainment Software Association, about 39%of gamers are women. The game industry in 2003 was $1.9 billion,according to researcher DFC Intelligence.
Team of 8 from Dallas Wins $40,000 from Nintendo
The Dallas chapter of the Nintendo Street Team walked away withthe ultimate reward for their hard work on Tuesday: a $40,000bonus, distributed equally among the eight members. That bonuscomplements their regular salaries of $100 a day for six weeks ofthree-day workweeks.
Nintendo also organized Street Teams in Chicago, New York, LosAngeles, Seattle and Atlanta. Each week, judges awarded the teamspoints depending on how well they performed the various challenges.Members of the public also cast votes online for their favoriteteams.
The Guildhall at SMU is an intense 18-month certificateprogram in digital game development. The curriculum was designed byexpert teachers working with leaders in the gaming industry toprovide students with a solid foundation in game development. Formore information, please visit guildhall.smu.edu.
