Meeple Arcade #4: Tapularity

In my last Meeple Arcade post, I talked about how I felt that escape games were just lazy point and click games, generally made by even lazier developers.

Not to out do myself, but today's offering is even lazier! Belong as it does to the genre of lazy games (otherwise known as clicker or incremental games).

For those of you not familiar with the genre, lazy games require little to no input on the part of the player; typically requiring only one button to play.

In this style of game, the player will find that they have to click on a button or an object (in the case of Tapularity, anywhere on the main screen) a few times when they begin the game, but that these clicks can then be converted into some kind of auto-clicker that will then do the job for them.. And that's all there really is to a lazy game!

Even with such a simple recipe though, there are a lot (and I mean a LOT) of poor quality clicker games out there; and whilst I knew that I wanted to cover the genre after my last post, I was determined to find a good example to share with you all.. And boy did that take time!

I found games that were good, but only loaded half of the time (now that's lazy!). Games that with poor interfaces (lazy). Games that were overly complicated (hey! I'm trying to be lazy here).. And then I found Tapularity.

A game that does the genre just right. It's simple, the interface is good; and you can get going with just a few clicks. Exactly what you want from a lazy game. There's also something wonderfully ironic about posting a game on social media in the lazy genre, to social media after a delay of a month and a half!

Want to try Tapularity for yourself?

Links

Play Tapularity at Crazy Games
Play Tapularity at Kongregate
Play Tapularity at Silvergames

Meeple Arcade #3: Midnight Cinema

Video killed the radio star; and escape games killed the point and click adventure genre.. Or so it seemed.

Which whilst sad, doesn't surprise me any; as when it comes down to it they're not too different. An escape game is just a point and click adventure without the plot.. Or to put it another way, it's a point and click game made by lazy developers.

That's not to say they're all bad.. Just the overwhelming majority of them; which often rely on obscure puzzles and combination locks to pad out a lack of imagination. Which is okay if you like that sort of thing, but it's no substitute for a genre that has included such classics as Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island, Broken Sword, and Flight of the Amazon Queen.

So, being so nostalgic about the classics as I think of them, it's nice to see that some developers are still producing point and click adventure games; and better yet that they can be played in the comfort of your own browser.

My first pick for Meeple Arcade within this genre is Midnight Cinema by Carmel Games.

Midnight Cinema is the first of this developers games that I had the pleasure of playing, and whilst it is far from the most challenging of games within this genre, it was none the less enjoyable. So much so, that I have subsequently found myself playing through a handful of their adventures every week. Midnight Cinema is still however in my opinion, one of the best games that they have released to date.

Pleasingly illustrated and  presented in the style of an episode of Tales From the Crypt, Midnight Cinema follows the exploits of Vova as he tries to gather the items required to bribe his neighbor into handing over their ticket for the late night screening of a new horror sensation.

Not that games like this are ever that straight forward.

With gameplay that will be familiar to anyone whose played a point and click adventure game before, you'll be traveling from location to location, interacting with NPC's and, overcoming obstacles through the creative and intuitive use of the items in your inventory.

This is probably the only area that this game falls down in.

It isn't too hard to fathom out how and when some of the items should be used (like the crowbar and the screwdriver), and part of the fun of some of the more offbeat classics was the weird and wonderful way in which stuff in your inventory interacted with the world.

That is such a minor criticism though, of an otherwise nicely executed game; that I'd highly recommend to anyone whose a fan of the genre.

Links

Play Midnight Cinema at Armorgames
Play Midnight Cinema at Crazygames
Play Midnight Cinema at Kongregate
Play Midnight Cinema at Mousecity
Play Midnight Cinema at Newgrounds

Meeple Arcade #2: Infectonator! World Dominator

When it came to selecting the first game to blog about in the Meeple Arcade series, it wasn't an easy choice.
There are a lot of great games out there that I think you'll enjoy; each with their own merits.

So when choosing the first title to include, I went with my gut. I went with a game that I have played over and over again. Not because I'm trying to unlock some alternate ending, or some crazy achievement; but because it's just that enjoyable. My first choice is, Infectonator! World Dominator.

At its core, Infectonator! World Dominator is a very basic upgrade game. Every day you unleash a virus upon any one of the available cities that you have not yet destroyed; creating a horde of zombies. These zombies create other zombies, and you hoover up the cash left in the aftermath. You then use that money to enhance your virus, creating stronger, tougher, faster zombies. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.

Despite the simplicity however, the game is extremely addictive; and really well pulled off. The art style is appealing, and a lot of thought has gone into the presentation of this game in general. Even to the point where the in game text showing you what your victims are crying out as they flee in terror from your creations is region specific.

It's small touches like that which really make this game more than a sum of its parts. Different victim types create different zombie types, there are shout outs to survival horror classics, and many of the specialist zombie types are thematically linked to the place where you acquire them.. There also can't be too many zombie games featuring both Ronald McDonald and Colonel Sanders!

Links

I would highly recommend that you play the game using this link, else some of the site locked content (Greenland) will not be available. You also get a start up bonus for playing the game via this site too as an added incentive.

If that's a little slow to load however, the game can also be played here, here, and here.

Meeple Arcade #1: Something New

When I set out to write this blog, something that I decided was that I wanted to give myself a lot more scope than I had with previous efforts. If it was something that interested me, I wanted to include it; as well as blogging about life in general.

The thing we me though is that a lot of things interest me.

There are the staples that have kept my interest over the many years such as roleplaying and boardgames; but there are the passing interests too where something catches my eye, and I want to know more. Bio-plastics for example.

Something that has recently caught my eye in such a way is in browser gaming.

Now, flash games are nothing new, but my appreciation for them is; as in the past I had largely overlooked them (with the exception of a few absolute gems). In fairness, it was easy to! The web is beyond saturated with flash games, and a lot of them are either poorly developed or just clones of poorly developed games that someone thought was fun, or funny.

As I say though, there are gems; and that's what I want this section to be about. Flash games that I have played, and actually enjoyed. Games that I hope that you too will enjoy.

I have a few in mind already that I have played recently (and a few that have really stuck with me from years back); so watch this space, for some free flash fun.