Google launches Family Safety Center originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

HP Gabble is a private, family-friendly video message service originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Ricochet Kills 2 is a splendidly violent physics-based puzzle game. In the game, you need to kill all the "bad guys" on the screen in each level. Nobody moves, including you, and the only way to do them in is to shoot them directly, ricochet a shot off of something else, or influence an object to fall on or explode near them.

The early levels of the game are very easy, and in my opinion, the game takes a little too long to ramp up in difficulty. It's worth it, though, once you get to the harder levels. The game offers just the right amount of difficulty and satisfying (yet very simple) graphic effects and sounds when you do manage to kill the baddies.

This isn't a game that I would introduce my children to, but as far as physics games go, it's actually a pretty good one. I scored 279 on my first playthrough. I have no doubt you all can do better, so let us know in the comments!

Ricochet Kills 2 makes you a physics sniper - Time-Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 28 Jul 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When Lee posted about Fantastic Contraption back in 2008, I literally lost multiple days playing through it, mastering it, and then retrying levels in interesting and creative ways. It was, and still is, one of my all-time favorite physics-based games.

So I was delighted today when a friend sent me a simple link over IM, and when I clicked it to find out what it was, I was greeted with its sequel, Fantastic Contraption 2. Now, I'm not going to claim that it's new, but it's certainly new to me, and we haven't posted about it before.

I recall that there was another attempt at a sequel that was far too complicated to be fun. Fortunately, though, Fantastic Contraption 2 retains the simplicity of the first one while introducing a new gameplay mechanic: magnets.

I've only just dipped my toe into the fantasticness that is Fantastic Contraption 2, but I can tell right now that I'm going to be losing hours to this thing all over again. Yes, it's that good.

Fantastic Contraption 2 is a sequel worthy of Time Wasting originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 26 Jul 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Share

Swerveball is part of a new Web game that helps you be better at life (Time Waster... or not!) originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 13 Jul 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Share

Facebook and UK Child Protection centre launch 'panic button' app -- and browser add-ons originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 09:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Share

OpenDNS FamilyShield makes it easier to block porn from your kids' computers originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 23 Jun 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

1. Ri-Li (pictured) is a wonderful game for children ages 3 and up that love trains. The kids get to control toy wooden trains through various levels while attempting to pick up coaches to win. This fun and engaging game has great graphics that are bright and colorful while teaching keyboard-mouse skills and following rules.
   


2. KTuberling or Potato Guy is a great children's game available on the KDE Desktop that even captures the attention of some adults. Kids can dress the potato guy with different outfits and facial features and there is even an ability to save your art for your aspiring Da Vinci. This game is a must have for the 2-5 year old range.

Continue reading Five fun, educational Linux games for kids!

Five fun, educational Linux games for kids! originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 26 May 2010 13:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I'm a sucker for physics-based time waster games. Cover Orange is one that's new to me, and it's unique in that the goal is to protect your little orange and green pumpkins (or are they apples?) from acid rain.

You can't move or control your little guys. Instead, you need to creatively place objects within each level to protect them. Sometimes this just means building a shelter for them, but more often than not, the solution requires a bit more out-of-the-box thinking.

One of the things that frustrates me about most physics games is that I often feel that the game ends just as I'm starting to feel like I've got a handle on it. Cover Orange doesn't suffer from that problem. The game uses user-generated levels and seems to just keep going and going. While the user-generated levels are of varying quality, they're good overall and make the game worth continuing.

Cover Orange is a physics Time Waster that keeps going and going originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 06 May 2010 12:15:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Share

Continue reading What the iPad's two-year-old-friendly interface means for developers, publishers and the world

What the iPad's two-year-old-friendly interface means for developers, publishers and the world originally appeared on Download Squad on Thu, 08 Apr 2010 14:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

When I think of air combat games, the first thing that comes to mind is certainly not turn-based games. However, SteamBirds is a turn-based game that manages to make the game both suspenseful and action-packed.

In SteamBirds, you command one or more "steambirds," which are fusion aircraft that were invented in 1835. Oops, did I forget to mention that SteamBirds is based on an alternative historical timeline? Right, I'm sorry about that.

In SteamBirds, each level is a mission, and can contain various bad guys with various abilities. The planes you command also have a few special abilities, such as the ability to pull a 180 degree turn in the sky, or to become invincible for a turn through the use of shields. Using a special ability will prevent that aircraft from shooting its guns on that turn, and it takes a turn to recover the special ability again.

The visual style and sound design of the game are quite compelling, and from a gameplay perspective, the air combat is challenging without being impossible. SteamBirds is a fun game that you can pick up and put down as needed due to its turn-based play.

SteamBirds is a turn-based air combat Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 31 Mar 2010 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Jetpack Jackass is a Flash game by Adult Swim. The object is to get your character, Sam, to the moon so that he can prove his love to Stacy, who thinks he's just an idiot. He blasts off with a jetpack, and in order for him to go higher, you must aim him toward the various objects in the sky that he can bounce up from.

Some objects, such as falling buildings or satellites, give Sam a bigger boost than the regular brick and wood bars. He can also collect fuel cans, which fire him up into the air with the click of your mouse if he gets into trouble. Also, if he collects all of the letters in Stacy's name (which are floating around in purple hearts), he suddenly gets a huge boost from a big pack of purple helium balloons that temporarily shows up.

The game is fun, but if I have a knock against it, it's that it's too easy. Worse, if you beat it once by getting a score that's higher than 100,000 KM (called "shooting the moon"), the game basically just starts over again. If you can do it once, you can do it over and over, and nothing new is introduced. Your total distance is aggregated, though, so it should be possible to get a truly ridiculous score. I quit trying at around 250,000 KM.

Even with the flaw of being a bit too easy, this is a fun game to play. To challenge yourself even more, try playing it without ever using the jetpack (fuel can) booster. How far can you go?

Jetpack Jackass is a high-flying Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 30 Mar 2010 13:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Shuriken Showdown is a classic shooting physics game, where the object is to hit various targets. In this case, you must hit all of the targets first, clearing them, and then hit the gong. However, you have a limited number of shurikens (ninja stars) with which to do it.

There are also other objects that you can hit, such as one that gives you three more shurikens, and others that shoot out bullets that will break targets and hit the gong. Unfortunately, these are also considered targets, and even if you don't need their help, you must hit them before hitting the gong.

One challenge you'll run into is that your ninja can only face one direction on each level, and the range of motion of his arms limits him from throwing stars at targets that are behind him. He can arc throwing stars up and over behind him, but not straight out from the back, which can make some levels more difficult.

The game is nicely put together, and makes a solid coffee-break time waster.

Shuriken Showdown - are you a ninja Time Waster? originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 29 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Have you ever tried to draw a picture with a spilled liquid? For me it's coffee; I seem to spill coffee far more often than an adult ought to, but when I do it turns into a little sketchpad. Gross? Yeah, a bit. But admit it, you've done the same thing.

If you'd like to have the same experience without getting wet or making a mess, head on over to Blobs Redux, a Flash site that simulates playing with liquid on a flat surface. You can either start with the little picture of a man that the site initially loads, or click the clear button to start with a blank slate, and a small source of blog material at the bottom center of the screen.

My kids love playing with Blob Redux, but if I'm honest, so do I. It has that same zen feel as playing with an Etch-a-sketch. I wouldn't recommend it for laptop users though, unless you enjoy a warm lap and a quickly drained battery.

Blobs Redux - drawing with liquid blobs Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 08 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I love the genre of physics-based puzzle games, but in particular I love the clever ones that really stand out.

Home Sheep Home is one of those standouts. In Home Sheep home, your goal is to get your three sheep, Shirley, Shaun, and Timmy, back to their barn. To do so, you must navigate them through 15 increasingly challenging levels.

You can only control one of your sheep at a time, and each is unique: Shirley is the biggest and slowest, and can't jump too high, but is heavy and strong. Shaun (hat tip to Aardman) is the middle one; he can leap high into the air, and is very fast. Timmy is the tiny one who can fit through tight spaces, but isn't particularly heavy or strong.

I liked this game so much that I was disappointed that there are only 15 levels. The game concept and execution could easily have supported double that.

You'll probably be able to complete Home Sheep Home in about 20 minutes, and I bet like me you'll be wishing there was more.

Home Sheep Home - a sheep-based physics puzzle Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Wed, 03 Mar 2010 13:45:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

If ever there was a time waster for which the concept of a sequel seems ironic, it would be This is the Only Level. This is the Only Level's whole raison d'etre (sorry, I'm watching the winter games closing ceremony as I type this) is to play with the concept of what a level is. The game features one "level", if you define a level as how it is laid out on the screen, but you can complete many stages. Stages are versions of the level where you need to get your character from the beginning to the end of the level, but are given an additional challenge of some kind.

This is the Only Level Too is a sequel to This is the Only Level, adding even more levels, oops, I mean stages to the game. As always, the fun in this game is in figuring out the clever and sometimes infuriating puzzles that don't always stay within the confines of the game itself. If you liked the first one, the sequel brings more of the same brain-bending goodness.

Share

This is the Only Level Too - a sequel Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 01 Mar 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Age of War is a side-scrolling strategy game where the goal of the game is to destroy the other side's base. You start out in the stone age, and evolve through five distinct ages until you're doing war with futuristic hovering vehicles and super soldiers.

You earn both money and experience for destroying the other side's units, and you have to carefully decide on a balance between stationary turrets to protect your base, and units to attack with. Since both sides are continually evolving, a turret that is strong soon becomes less so, so it's often a better bet to put your resources into units early in the game.

You can only place turrets on your home base, and the same holds true for your computer opponent. This makes the game frustratingly well balanced, because as the battle moves towards either side, that side gets a boost from the turrets coming into play. You pretty much have to evolve to the final age before you can mount an attack that is sufficiently overwhelming to claim victory, or at least I did.

How quickly can you beat Age of War? How'd you do it?

Age of War - evolution based strategy Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Mon, 22 Feb 2010 13:03:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Quick! Think of the most tired video game concept you can possibly think of. If you're as old as me, you probably thought about Pong. Fun in its day, Pong is now almost a joke when compared to the modern video games of the early 1990's.

But, what if you flip the concept on its head, and instead of controlling the paddle, you control the ball? This is one of my favorite trends of late: taking a well-known game and messing with it conceptually. Sometimes it doesn't work out that well, but luckily in the case of GNOP, it's great.

GNOP is Pong turned into a side-scrolling level based puzzle game. Each level looks like a typical Pong game, but you can influence the ball's movement up and down on the screen as it bounces back and forth between the paddles. Each level's name is a clue as to how to beat the level, which differs based on the right paddle's behavior. Your goal is to constantly be moving to the right.

The graphics and sound effects in GNOP are as perfectly sparse as they ought to be. This is a Time Waster that delivers without any fancy graphics or audio - just a solid gameplay concept.

Share

GNOP is Pong in reverse - Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 19 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

I just spent way too long (about 10 minutes) blasting a polar bear on a sled into a bunch of penguins using bombs and land mines. Can you say that? Well, you can now. Check out Polar PWND, an online physics game where the aforementioned polar bear on a sled is essentially a bowling ball, and the penguins are your pins.

The game uses a left-to-right platform view, and though the control scheme for placing objects could be better, it's serviceable and doesn't get in the way of the game play too much.

Polar PWND is not a long game; there are only 10 levels to beat. I see that as a plus, actually. I hate it when a Time Waster consumes me and it has 80 freaking levels and I can't get anything done because I have to beat just one more level... you know how it is. Polar PWND on the other hand can be completed in one brief sitting.

Thanks to Javier for the tip.

Share

Polar PWND - a beary good physics Time Waster originally appeared on Download Squad on Tue, 09 Feb 2010 12:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

A computer's keyboard and mouse have never been very good as an interface to play a virtual piano, but The Virtual Keyboard takes an interesting approach that makes the resulting music much more appealing.

While you can individually click on any key on the piano's keyboard to hear the resulting tone, where it shines is in its ability to play predetermined chords just by pressing a number key on your computer's keyboard.

Each number from 1 to 7 represents a chord from the scale of the key you're playing in. You can choose what key to play in, and even shift the chord voicing lower or higher to better approximate the sound you want to hear.

What's great about this approach is that the numbers represent a valuable musical concept: musicians often use numbers to represent chords relative to one another, regardless of the key they're playing in. So, for example, Louie Louie could be represented by "1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 5, 5, 5, 4, 4" -- try it, and you'll see what I mean. It doesn't matter what key you're in, that pattern still sounds like Louie Louie when played with the right rhythm.

While The Virtual Keyboard seems like a toy or time waster, I can see it being of real value to songwriters who don't play piano, but need to figure out some chords for a song they're writing. It is limited by the fact that you can't play chords that don't naturally fall into the key the virtual piano is set to, but I'll take that simplification for the ease of use it offers in return.

Make some music with The Virtual Piano originally appeared on Download Squad on Fri, 05 Feb 2010 16:02:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.