Morgan’s Casual Game Recommendations5

by Morgan

Casual games get little love from the serious gaming community. Morgan Suicide gives these unsung mini masterpieces the attention they deserve. Here’s a selection of her current faves.

1. Echo Bazaar

Brought to us by Fail Better games, Echo Bazaar is an online in-browser action-point based RPG set in Fallen London, a Victorian Steampunk version of the metropolis that has a combination of funny, dark and creepy elements. This may seem complicated, but it isn’t. You can explore various sections of the city, unlocking new areas as you go, and also make use of your opportunity deck, which gives you other one time and continuing quest options. Your character has four basic qualities: Dangerous, Persuasive, Watchful and Shadowy, and any action can increase or decrease your levels in these. It can also be a social game, as you can connect in various ways with your friends through Facebook and Twitter. The game never gets boring, and in fact will end up making you kick yourself if you miss an opportunity to play every day. One thing I love about it is that you have to throw any idea of playing a “moral” character out of the window, especially in a world where death is not permanent. At some point your character will do something shady, if not downright dastardly. This browser based game gets my highest recommendation, and you can find me there under LisslaLissar, where I always use my alloted 70 actions a day!

2. Cat Physics

Donut Games seems to have a habit of making adorable games such as Parachute, in which you help a teddy bear in love parachute to collect hearts. But the cutest game by far that they have made is Cat Physics. It’s not just cute, either, it’s extremely entertaining. In the game, you help cats play ball by passing balls from one cat to another, helping the second cat catch the ball in its tail with an appreciative meow. But like Echo Bazaar, it isn’t as simple as it sounds: each level adds unique obstacles, and you must place the directional arrows provided to maneuver the ball as efficiently as possible. The game is just easy enough that it never gets you too frustrated, but is hard enough that it doesn’t get boring. I will admit that some levels will have you sighing in frustration and bewilderment, but once you get that “ah-ha” moment and figure out the solution, it is completely worth it. Also, the background artwork is very well done and the cats are, of course, cute. Leave sounds enabled for this game! At 99 cents it’s completely worth the outlay!

3. Still Pond

I won’t tell you too much about this game because it will give away the funny surprise of it, but Still Pond is worth a play or two at least. You can play it online, or download it for your iPod.

4. Zombie Isle

My last recommendations are two games from Glu Games. First, there’s Zombie Isle, a game in which you collect zombies to help you run your pirate ship and take over various islands. The gameplay is addictive, and while occasionally you’ll have to wait awhile (unless you want to spend real money in-game) before you can take more actions, it’s worth it.

5. Hero Project

Similarly addictive is Hero Project, which is a mini superhero game. While your missions often don’t involve you actually taking actions unless they involve a battle, the game is still a lot of fun. It’s also easy to set actions for (you can choose a number of missions until your energy level runs too low). You can then come back hours later to reap rewards and level up. Just like Zombie Isle, it’s very entertaining and it doesn’t require you to use real money to make the game progress, though you can if you want to. I will warn you that both games will encourage you to download other apps (paid or not) in order to get extra game points. I personally don’t find this too frustrating, as it only requires you to download and open an app and then immediately delete it if you like, but it can get tedious.

Further reading: Morgan’s Casual Game Recommendations: iPhone and iPod Touch Edition.