Gamertell

Title: Travel Games for Dummies
Price: $29.99
System(s): DS
Release Date: October 28, 2008
Publisher (Developer): Electronic Arts (Electronic Arts and Beanbag Studios)
ESRB Rating: “Everyone”
Pros: Three different games, 100 Crossword puzzles, 500 Sudoku puzzles, 10 kinds of Solitaire. Informative.
Cons: You have to go back manually clear Crossword boards when you’re done. Solitaire is very hard. Sometimes the letter/number recognition is a bit off. Only one player profile allowed per cartridge.
Overall Score: One thumb up, one thumb sideways; 80/100; B-; *** out of 5

EA Games’ Casual Entertainment division recently teamed up with Beanbag studios to create three instructional/casual games, two for the PC and one for the DS. The DS game, Travel Games for Dummies is actually a collection of three popular puzzle games - Sudoku, Solitaire and Crosswords. The goal of the endeavor is to teach people how to master these three games, and then offer a wide variety of puzzles to test their newfound skills in.

Its very straightforward, since it is supposed to be educational, but also is surprisingly fun. While it isn’t as diverse as say, Crosswords DS, it is better than the shovelware sudoku and casual game compilations you see cluttering GameStop shelves. And, surprisingly enough, it can help you become a better player. At least, the Crosswords and Sudoku segments can - I’m still on the fence about solitaire. Travel Games for Dummies would make a good gift for casual gamers this holiday season - I know my mom would adore it.

Good - Solitaire

I enjoy Solitaire, but have only played the most basic version. You know, the one that’s included with your laptops/desktops - Klondike. I’ve never really mastered the other varieties, but I think that’s due, in part, to the fact that I don’t know how to play the other kinds of Solitaire.You get 10 types in Travel Games for Dummies: Klondike, Pyramid, Scorpion, Penguin, Golf, Canfield, Yukon, Monte Carlo, Accordian and Free Cell.

The first part of the Solitaire portion of Travel Games for Dummies is a How To section, with instructions for each of the 10 different kinds of Solitaire included in the game. I know that the instructions were trying to be clear, and they were for the most part, but I found myself getting lost in them. The top screen shows card set-ups with arrows showing proper directions, but sometimes that made me most lost. The instructions did successfully teach me to play Pyramid and Scorpion, so it wasn’t a total wash.

Then, there are Practice and Play sections. The Practice games let you get hints or undo moves, but aren’t any easier than the standard Play games. In Play, your game is timed, and you’ll receive different colored stars and higher star rankings for finishing a lot of games in short periods of time.

Frankly, even though the Solitaire portion was well executed, I didn’t enjoy it. It was good, but incredibly difficult. I played 30 games in the Play section, and I didn’t win once.

Better - Sudoku

I adore Sudoku, and I’m quite good at it too, so I was looking forward to that section in Travel Games for Dummies. After playing, I was pleasantly surprised. There were 500 puzzles to conquer, and the whole section was well laid-out.

The How To section returns again. This time, it discusses strategies for finishing the puzzles, and proper terminology for the game. I enjoyed learning the terms (because prior to that I’d just refer to everything as boxes and rows), but didn’t get much from the tutorials overall. I’m sure Sudoku beginners, who had never played the game before, would find the instructions very insightful. It also has a Scratchpad section you can look at, which shows you three possible ways to write numbers so the game recognizes them.

The Practice portion for Sudoku is absolutely perfect for first time Sudoku players. It gives eight puzzles, each one focusing on a different Sudoku strategy, like handling Naked Singles or Hidden Pairs. In fact, the Hidden Pairs puzzle actually helped me refine my skills a bit. The Practice mode also lets you push a button to see where you’ve made a mistake or to instantly press “Auto Pencil” to add number candidates in the blank squares.

The Play portion is the best part of Sudoku. There are 500 puzzles and five difficulty categories (Very Easy, Easy, Regular, Hard and Very Hard), with 100 puzzles in each category. The “Auto Pencil” option from the Practice mode also returns, which is a huge help if you’re playing one of the more difficult puzzles and having trouble. Each puzzle is also timed, and if you finish quickly, you get either a bronze, silver or gold star. The top screen shows you how many of each number you have to find.

One thing I loved was both the Practice and Play sections for Sudoku would let you select a number when you tapped a box, in case you didn’t feel like actually writing it on the touch screen. Since I ran into problems with the letter recognition in the Crosswords section, I was pleased to see this option in Sudoku. Also, you’d hear a pleasant sound and see an effect if you added a correct number.

Best - Crosswords

I’m horrible at Crosswords. In fact, I can’t remember beating one, until I played Travel Games for Dummies. So imagine how surprised I was to find that the Crosswords game would become my favorite.

The How To section is just wonderful. It offers not only terminology for the game, but also provides information on Crosswordese, help on completing puzzles and a Scratchpad to help you see between two and five options for writing each letter so the game registers it properly. I did still have some problems with the writing recognition (apparently my Fs look like As), so the Scratchpad ended up being incredibly useful. You can input letters with a keyboard option, but I found that it was easier to just write them in.

The Practice section is wonderful. You’re not timed, you can have the game give you a letter as a hint and you can get one extra clue for each Crossword hint. It was very relaxing, and somewhat soothing as well. For the first time, while playing a Practice puzzle, I enjoyed doing a Crossword.

The Play section’s puzzles are a bit more difficult, but still very enjoyable. You can’t have letters given, and you start with no extra clues. You can, however, each three extra clues at a time by filling in correct words in the grid. There are three difficult levels (Easy, Medium and Hard) for the Play section’s puzzles, so as you start to get better, you can still find a challenge.

The only downside is, you have to manually clear Crossword boards when you’re done. After you’ve beaten it, your answers will remain on the board unless you reselect that puzzle, choose menu and then choose to clear the board. Its a minor annoyance, but it is something the game should just do that automatically.

Site [Travel Games for Dummies]