The Download Munkey : Tracking the Treasure Down …

I believe most seasoned (or snobbish) gamers like yours truly don’t exactly regard electronic versions of golf and/or solitaire as extremely exciting games to play and any game combining both seems even less palatable. However Grey Alien Games’ awesome Fairway Solitaire has proven me wrong this time – yep, as much as I hate to admit it but it’s a damn fine game

A single player card game with a golf theme published by Big Fish Games (who are giving it for free till 30 May 2009, see this Jayisgames post), Fairway Solitaire is truly an addictive game especially for Windows Solitaire addicts, golf maniac or card gamers (or even if you’re none of the above).

I don’t understand golf (my very rudimentary knowledge stems from playing the archaic Fuji Golf on Windows 3.1) and neither do I like card games but this game sucked up the time I was intending to spend on playing Mount & Blade .

Like solitaire, its very easy to learn – just match cards from the deck with those numbered one higher or lower (the suit doesnt matter) to remove them from play. Play six or more than cards in a row and get a Long Drive bonus which gives a multipler to your cash earnings at the end of each hole. The number of leftover cards after each round minus the par for that hole constitutes your score and is capped at a maximum of five above par.

Special cards like iron cards which can be used anytime to match any card higher or lower by one, sand wedge cards to clear the corresponding sand trap cards and dreaded water hazard cards make it feel like a day at the golf course. Wild Shot cards add an element of chance to the game and adds a slew of minigames to mix things up and keep things interesting. These features and the Long Drives make winning in games of Fairway Solitaire more about strategy rather than a lucky deal.

If everything sounds too confusing, don’t worry as the excellent nine hole course at The Golf Academy serves as an excellent tutorial. And who knows, you might learn a interesting new thing or two, like wormburners

Graphics are pretty attractive for a casual game and for once I get to choose a granny avatar – you don’t get this in most games, do you? Sounds are minimal at best, the only things you’ll probably hear is some commentary and polite applause. (it’s a game of golf, not soccer, you know) However, Fairway Solitaire still doesn’t change my opinion of golf – golf fashion is really stuffy and yucky

Got to play better, Granny needs a new long skirt at the Golf Shop

Download Fairway Solitaire for free until 31 May 2009 – instructions at this Jayisgames post on 4 free Big Fish Games. (Azada is not too bad, but Fairway Solitaire rules!)

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Mytheria – Virtual CCG
Enter Cthulhu via The Necronomicon CCG
Giga Rensya Mini-Games Part II
She Asked … for a Bejewelled Clone

Commemorating the 10th anniversary of Lego Star Wars mini-figs, this limited edition poster was given out for online purchases at the Lego store on May 3 and 4 (for US and Canada customers only).

While I admit it’s too late to be posting about this now as I haven’t been regularly reading my feeds regularly these days, you can still see a very high-resolution version of this poster kindly uploaded by Andrew over at The Brothers Brick.

© The LEGO Group & Lucasfilm, Ltd

There’s Luke Skywalker in 8 different costumes, Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi in 6, Princess Leia in 5, Darth Vader and Han Solo in 4, followed by a bewildering array of droids, Republican clone troopers and Imperial storm troopers.

© The LEGO Group & Lucasfilm, Ltd

My favourite minifig : a blue-armoured Senate Commando

Download my personal backup of the Celebrate 10 Years of LEGO Star Wars poster originally uploaded and linked by The Brothers Brick by following this link (5.2 MB zipped). The link to the poster scan posted at Flickr had been removed by The Brothers Brick on Saturday night when I wrote this post.

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Lego Batman Demo Impressions
Lego Batman Wallpapers
BrikWars – War with Mini-Figs!

© Tizzy Bac

Official promotional wallpapers for Tizzy Bac, a Taiwanese indie rock band comprising Chen Hui-ting (vocalist / pianist), Hsu Che-yu (bassist) & Lin Chien-yuan (drummer) and my bro’s band of the moment. The couple of wallpapers above feature artwork from their recently released 3rd album I’m Not Afraid of Demons If I’d Seen Hell (如果看見地獄，我就不怕魔鬼), which you can preview to at their official site. (I’m not really a fan of rock music so no comments on the music ). More info at Taipei Times.

© Tizzy Bac

These three wallpapers come from their music video for the first track 鐵之貝克. (Youtube link)

Download these wallpapers from Tizzy Bac’s official website.

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Normally one wouldn’t associate the idea of fun with the tedious but obviously important task of chopping firewood for the (hot) pot but this frivolous Flash mini-game at the official Japanese website for Taiko no Tatsujin seems to imply otherwise (and yes, I do know that Taiko no Tatsujin has been featured in more than one post here )

和田イヌ (which supposedly translates to Wada Inu according to this GameFAQs article – inu means dog in Japanese) is trying to gather as much firewood as possible for his yosenabe (cooked in a claypot known as donabe) within a single minute and it’s your job to help him.

Over-application of force

Despite its appearance, this mini-game is no clickfest but is actually a test of hand-to-eye coordination since Wada Inu has to judge and time each attempt so as to utilize the minimum amount of force necessary for splitting each wood block with a single stroke of his axe. Using too much force simply wastes time which could be better spent on splitting more wood. Conversely, an underpowered strike will only lodge the axe bit in the larger blocks, requiring him to either retry again with greater force and finesse or hammer the wood repeatedly until it splits (much slower).

Boing! Under-application of force.

It’s a cute little diversion that should last you more than a couple of tries during lunchbreaks or for those days when you need to entertain youself with something brainlessly simple (and admittedly pointless).

So how many logs can you split ? My current record is at a lowly 60

Play this Taiko no Tatsujin log-splitting mini-game. (sorry, I’ve absolutely no idea what the Japanese game title translates to)

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Learning About Japanese Festivities with Taiko no Tatsujin
Domo-kun Wallpapers & Clock Widgets
Makibishi Comic – Japanese Point & Click Flash Adventure
Zookeeper – A Bejewelled Clone in Flash
Official Tuzki (兔斯基) Emoticons

Stomping Grounds is an addictive strategy/tactical casual game developed and released by aptly named Mind Control Software in 2006. Found out about Mind Control Software from a programming forum of all places

The single player campaign follows Leo the Lion as he travels the world in search of his missing brother Lee. He must recruit new members to his herd to battle against other hostile animals which would block his way on his journey.

Each encounter with an enemy herd on the map (above) involves six consecutive bouts known collectively as a Stomping Ground (and hence the title) which will really put your strategical and tactical skills to the test. The tactical aspect of choosing the correct target for your animals during each round isn’t all that difficult but the selection of up to eight animals for each fight will pose a serious challenge to your resource management abilities, especially at the beginning when Leo starts with a tiny herd of raw recruits.

Since animals must spend the next round recovering their strength after fighting (animals knocked out during a bout spend the next two rounds recuperating), you have to decide on the number and type of animals to deploy for each round depending on both the quality and size of your opponents as well as the prize at stake which can be new recruitable animals or food for your herd. Strategic choices abound for this team management portion of Stomping Grounds – should you hold the stronger animals back for later rounds or stretch your available forces thin in an attempt to win every single round?

Since you do not always have the numbers necessary to fight with the full complement of eight animals for each round, deployment becomes very tricky indeed. Even when there is a choice between two prizes, you must decide whether to pick the animal or food since there is also the need to collect a set amount of food at each stomping ground. Food is also required for improving the fighting prowess of individual animals in your herd after each victorious stomping ground. Recruiting more animals to your herd makes it easier to field larger numbers per round but also increases the number of mouths to feed and consequently reduces the amount of food available for upgrading your fighters.

Skipping battles is also possible when you perceive a low chance of victory or wish to conserve your units for the upcoming rounds. Do remember that each bout that you win not only rewards you with the prize at hand but also gives you a key that unlocks one of six treasure chests at the end of each stomping ground for additional food and animals so skipping battles should only be resorted as a last-ditch tactic.

The trial version offers you one full hour of gameplay which should allow you to at least complete the savanna and jungles ares of Stomping Ground against the gazelles and baboons in the singleplayer campaign.

Download the trial version of Stomping Grounds or purchase the full version for 19.95 USD (~29 SGD).

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IGWB (II) – Battle of Tiles
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