Gamertell

This week is another ideal week for catching up on past releases you may have missed. It’d be a fantastic time to make some progress in Aveyond: Gates of Night or Laxius Force II: The Queen of Adretana, if you chose to pick up either of those two RPGs. The releases on most of the big name sites, like Big Fish Games and PlayFirst, were mostly older games that debuted weeks, months or days ago. If you missed them the first time around, then by all means check them out. (Egypt II: The Heliopolis Prophecy in particular is an interesting older point-and-click adventure.)

As for new releases this week, it’s been a cavalcade of hidden object and time management adventures. There are three particularly notable are three independent releases, Awem Studio’s hidden object game Romance of Rome, Old School Games’ RPG Hero’s Tale: Enhanced Edition and Jugilus’ arcade-style action game Little Space Duo. If you’re in the habit of supporting independent developers, take a peek at the websites for both games.

This week’s biggest release, and best bet is Monopoly Build-a-Lot Edition. It’s basically an incarnation of the the Build-a-Lot you know and love, only with Monopoly themes.

This week’s best bet is: Monopoly Build-a-Lot Edition (PC and Mac)

Sprill and Ritchie: Adventures in Time
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Ritche’s latest experiment has once again gone wrong. Instead of Sprill just getting caught in the Bermuda Triangle, he has now been sent through time. Sprill can get back though, if you can find hidden objects.
Demo Available: Yes

Hide & Seek 3: Pharaoh’s Quest
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: You have been tasked with searching through all sorts of exotic locals to find artifacts that were stolen from an Egyptian tomb. If you don’t, the deceased Pharaoh and his love will be apart for all eternity.
Demo Available: Yes

Tory’s Shop’n'Rush
Genre: Strategy (Time Management)
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows
Premise: Tory has been given a store to run by her recently retired uncle, and it is up to the player to help her manage it and make it successful. Aside from the tupical store duties (using profits to update the store, checking out customers, restocking, offering assistance and tidying up), you also have to keep an eye ou for shoplifters.
Demo Available: Yes

Romance of Rome
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Awem Studio
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Marcus is a promising young man of humble origins living in Rome. One day, the Emperor announces that the imperial relics have been stolen and he is desperate to get them back. So desperate, that the man who reclaims them can marry his daughter. Players must help Marcus find the stolen rarities.
Demo Available: Yes

Tourist Trap: Build the Nation’s Greatest Vacations
Genre: Strategy (Time Management)
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.99
Platform: Windows Vista and XP
Premise: Kitchville isn’t exactly swarming with vacationers, and the town could use some additional income. You’re called upon to be the mayor, and your goal is to make it an exotic and interesting place that will draw tourists in from all over the world.
Demo Available: Yes

Monopoly Build-a-Lot Edition
Genre: Strategy (Time Management)
Availability: GameHouse, RealArcade
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista and Mac 10.5 or better
Premise: This is basically Build-a-Lot, only using the properties from the board game Monopoly. Players must build up and develop neighborhoods based on locations in the game, like Illinois Ave or Boardwalk. 
Demo Available: Yes

Little Space Duo
Genre: Action/Puzzle
Availability: Jugilus
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: A little girl named Lucy has been accidentally abducted by a spaceship with a computer that’s been damaged. It’s up to her and a robot she’s discovered there named Sunny to stop the spaceship’s robots and computer and save the day.
Demo Available: Yes

Hero’s Tale: Enhanced Edition
Genre: RPG
Availability: Amaranth Games
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Elrik is a hero, and he has been tasked with finding the goddess Aeria’s seven elemental keys. It is a dangerous task though, which will require him to explore his world, take on many tasks and face fearsome foes. So, with the assistance of his friends Adelina, Iemer and Liq, he sets off on this mission.
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] Site [Harmonic Flow]