Gamertell

We’ve gone from a casual game drought to a casual game downpour. This week had a much better selection of games than last week, spanning a wide variety of genres. We’ve got new match-3, hidden object, time management, RPG and visual novels out this week, ready to be played.

This week I’m recommending 3 Tones, Bionic Heart and Aveyond: Gates of Night as this week’s top three games, as all three offer unique casual game experiences. Also, this week marks the release of Party Planner and The Lost Inca Prophesy, which are appearing on practically every casual games site.

This week’s best bets are: 3 Tones (PC), Bionic Heart (PC, Mac, Linux) and Aveyond: Gates of Night (PC).

Aveyond: Gates of Night
Genre: RPG
Availability: Big Fish Games, Amaranth Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $10
Platform: Windows 98, XP and Vista
Premise: The sequel to Aveyond: Lord of Twilight is here. In this installment Mel the thief and her friends are still struggling to find the Orb of Light that Mel can use to stop Gyendal the vampire from using the Orb of Darkness to cast the spell of eternal night.
Demo Available: Yes

She is a Shadow
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Hanna used to be a master thief known as The Shadow. At least, she was until her husband met an untimely death. Now she leads a leisurely life as a mother. Unfortunately, forces want her to go against the law again, as her son is kidnapped by her old boss unless she does what she’s told. So now you solve hidden object puzzles to find her son, her husband’s murderer and have the people who’ve wronged her face justice.
Demo Available: Yes

Bionic Heart
Genre: Visual Novel
Availability: Tycoon Games, Hanako Games
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows, Mac, Linux
Premise: A visual novel set in 2099, a time when global warming has caused the world to be subject to perpetual rain. In this visual novel with 24 endings and full voice acting, players help guide Luke Black through his life, influencing whether he marries his longtime girlfriend, devotes himself to his job and possibly saving the world or something else entirely. Be sure to check back next week on Gamertell, when we’ll review it!
Demo Available: Yes

Mysterious City: Vegas
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: You’re a detective tasked with solving crimes in Las Vegas. There’s a casino thief around, and the only way to aprehend this mysterious individual is to scour hidden object puzzles for items and potential clues. There are also a wide variety of Vegas themed mini-games as well.
Demo Available: Yes

Hacker Evolution: Untold
Genre: Simulation
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $24.99
Platform: Windows 2000, 2003, ME, XP and Vista
Premise: Compiters outnumber humanity and are trying to take over the world by causing economic and systematic crisises. The only one capable of stopping the disaster and taking down the computers is the hacker Brian Spencer.
Demo Available: Yes

The Lost Inca Prophecy
Genre: Puzzle (Match-3)
Availability: Big Fish Games, RealArcade, GameHouse
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: The Incan Empire is in trouble, and the only one capable of saving it is a woman named Acua who dreamed of the forthcoming disaster and drew a map to get there while sleeping. By solving 200 match-3 puzzles, you can prevent a deadly prophesy from coming true.
Demo Available: Yes

Party Planner
Genre: Strategy (Time Management)
Availability: GameHouse, Harmonic Flow, RealArcade
Retail Price: $5.99
Platform:
Premise: Pepper has just moved to Bashville to begin her new life as a party planner. If she wants to succeed, and you know she does, she’ll have to plan parties through 75 levels, making sure everyone’s happy, no one’s hungry, everything looks perfect and the hosts are pleased with the parties.
Demo Available: Yes

3 Tones
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Use your music to generate match-3 puzzles. It’s basically a match-3 puzzle game where you have to clear the board by matching, but the twist is that the game uses music to generate each level.
Demo Available: Yes

City Style
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Your goal in City Style is to become a successful magazine writer. You have the opportunity to become the new Assistant Editor-in-Chief for a fashion magazine. First, you have to fix all the things the previous Assistant Editor-in-Chief messed up though, by playing hidden object puzzles.
Demo Available: Yes

Kelly Green: Garden Queen
Genre: Simulation (Time Management)
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Kelly Green has decided to go, you guessed it, green. She’s going to start her own organic plant shop, and will develop her nursery, growing as many plants as possible so she can satisfy all of her demanding customers through all four seasons.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade]