Westward III Review
Westward III: Gold Rush is a Mac sim game with a little RPG built into the play. Like its predecessor Westward II, this new game is also grand in scale and play. Most sim play will limit your environment to a certain area, but Westward III follows the story line and moves the main character from one scene to another in order to progress logically in the game.
After you choose your hero character from 3 available people (Polly Hatchet unlocks the ranch, General Amos Cutter unlocks the gun shop and Shawnee Longfeather the tannery), the action panel so vital to sim plays will open up giving you details of your person, your goals and different tools needed to complete your jobs. The map on the lower right will quickly locate where you are, and if you click on the picture of your hero will take you directly to that spot. You can also zoom in and out depending on what you are doing.
You begin your play by dragging your hero to where you want your person to work or talk to another character. If you need wood for building, you drag your person to the log, the cursor will show an axe, and your person will go to that spot and start chopping wood. She/he will continue with the same activity until you move them to another location. If someone needs to speak to you, there will appear a question mark above his/her head. You will drag your hero to that person to find out what they want. The beginning of your game starts off in a limited area marked off on the map, and you help ranchers rebuild their land by building the barn, growing plants, and putting up tents. In order to do these quests you must have adequate supplies, food, water and gold. You get gold by either finding it in the massive landscape or by doing people favors and they will pay you.
After you have helped the ranchers all you could, you move on to another environment. It will bring you and one of the ranchers’ son to a 
snow scene where you may encounter rough people and ferocious wolves. In order to shoot an animal in defense or for food, you must drag your hero toward the animal and the cursor will change to a gun. This will begin the hero in a shooting mode. Much like a rpg game, you must look for things along the way. Also if your hero is hurt, you may have to wait a while until he/she recovers. There are many upgrades that will unlock as you go along and will help you develop your countryside.
The only problem I found was that at times it was hard to find exactly the right place to get your hero moving and doing the quests needed. Also it was difficult occasionally to move your people around to do the chores or jobs like setting up the tents, but it is not as hard as some sim/rpg plays so newbies can master the game with practice.
Westward III: Gold Rush is an awesome game full of action and adventures. It has different scenes to keep you interested, many activities to interact with, and you meet a lot of colorful characters like the gunslinger and the crotchety miner. I like the play better than the sim plays where they make you change diapers over and over or deal with impatient customers. This game did not have the big hoopla movie music introduction like Westward II, but it still is a good sim/rpg play for casual and diehard gamers of any age, and it will not disappoint. It keeps you moseying along the great landscapes finding gold and helping people in need. Have an exciting time playing Westward III: Gold Rush.
Features of Westward III: Gold Rush:
-New Environments
-Upgrades
-Enemies
-Unlock Secret Hidden Items
Rating: 
Global Warning Review
Mac Global Warning is a different type of game. It’s difficult to identify what kind of genre it is. It’s easier saying what it is not rather than what it is. It is not a HOG or match play, and it is definitely not an action game. It is an original environmental rpg/sim/card game for anyone who is involved in saving the planet from, well, yourself. In order to avoid a landfill from being developed next to your home, you make choices in your life to help improve your outcome. I guess it is a realistic game of life for the environmentally conscious and those who want to learn more about being green.
It seems that picking your hero is an important and possibly critical choice to win this game. So I looked at the choices carefully. There’s Jerry
the travel agent. He’s not in a very green business. The scientist is fresh out of college…..think toxic frat house. The kindergarten teacher is too frazzled to be conscious at the end of the day to think about cleaning up the earth. So I chose the museum curator the oldest and hopefully the wisest character and may know a thing or two about being environmentally sound. As in most rpgs you’ll find the details of each person: knowledge, compassion, naivete, charisma, health, finances, morale. You need to keep an eye on the upper left corner to make sure morale, health and finances do not fall. In addition, the environmental impact is listed on the upper right 
of the screen for waste, chemical, energy, co2, self-sufficiency, water and overall.
Each round is a week in the life of your hero. You choose the actions of your person from the work space, and with increased experience you will get to choose more cards. The outcome of your actions will be displayed on the left of the game board. Also helpful green tips are given at the middle top of the screen to live a better life. There are 104 rounds to complete your game. Each week will bring about new data about how your hero is doing. Press the arrow next round button to continue your play. There are encouraging comments about the choices you make and not so happy words for your mistakes.
The play gets engaging as you go from round to round or week to week because you get concerned about the choices you made the week before and how it will affect you. There’s a lot to read but most of it is information you can use to live a healthy and good life. The game itself is challenging and difficult to beat. I guess I had a lot to learn so I tried the game with another hero. The demo will let you try each hero for 20 rounds. The more I played, the more I liked it so give it a try and make an important impact on this green planet of ours. I give it a 3.5 out of 5 for a totally awesome and original game.
Features of Global Warning:
-104 Rounds
-Environmental Data
-Get Rid of the Toxic Dumpsite.
Rating:
Fitness Frenzy Review
Vicky became so fit she wanted to open her own gym to help people become healthy in Fitness Frenzy. This sim Mac game is a colorful, cute play for children and casual gamers. They will enjoy learning to greet the customers at the door, giving expert advice, assisting when needed by clients and handling the money matters of the business.
As Vicky you do all the work at a rather rapid clip when the game gets going. When you greet the people, they let you know what kind of exercise regimen they want, and in the bubble above their heads you can see how many machines they must utilize to meet their requirements. You quickly 
learn to move from the door to the machines assisting the users with their exercises by clicking each area. If the client is satisfied, you will get a large tip. Afterwards you go to the desk and handle the cash 
transactions for the fees and tips. You continue to do this over and over until you have enough money to upgrade your existing machines and possibly buy more equipment. Eventually you get enough money to hire employees to help you out.
This game would be a great educational tool for kids to learn time management, customer 
service and finances. However, I am not a sim game type of person, so I didn’t really get anything out of it. The play is repetitive with very little action involved except when you are swamped with demanding customers and have to run around satisfying everyone or lose money. The simple cartoon figures and background are colorful and lively. If you are into sim Mac game play, it should be enjoyable and fun for you.
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Escape From Paradise 2 Review
Escape from Paradise 2: A Kingdom’s Quest is a conglomeration of many genres of Mac games. For the most part it is a sim play developing your own tribe of people. It is up to you to make sure there is enough food, water and building supplies for a successful life.
This game is a continuation of your life after a shipwreck stranded you on an island. You work to earn your freedom off this paradise isle, but found that life on the island wasn’t so bad after all, and you try to assimilate back into the tribe. The chief, a jealous and vindictive person, ban you to the outskirts of the island to prove to him you are worthy of returning.
The game starts at this point after you choose your avatar. If you choose a male, a princess will help you. If you choose a female, you get 
help from Prince Perusah. He will have an explanation mark over his head if he needs to speak to you. The tutorial and play will start you off with simple challenges like gathering wood. The challenges will be posted at the top of the screen with the bottom part of the board with useful stats on your person. In addition, there are buttons for building and another for items. You need to click on them for structures you need to erect and items you find scattered throughout the island. Happiness levels stay below each person for you to keep an eye on the bar so it doesn’t dip too far down. You need to keep everyone in your tribe happy and sated for tasks to be completed. Also at the bottom are the numbers for the amount of tribe members, food, and wood. If you help people build, they will give you their loyalty. When you click and drag people to a tree, they will either chop for wood or gather food. The prince will help you out with tasks also, but if they tire, you can see that they need to rest in the hut. Also if anyone is near food or water and they need it, they will eat or drink until they are satisfied but be sure to have plenty of food and water for them.
After you complete a challenge, you may receive a reward in a form of a crate washing ashore. The first reward is a monkey who will assist you in finding hidden objects. Of course, with the added responsibility of a screeching monkey, you must build him a home. After completion of this house, you have a new ability. You must build up your own skills and the skills of others so you can expand your ability to build different types of things so you can go on to your next challenge. In addition to your skills you must increase your population by marrying couples. In time they will have a baby and that child will grow into an adult who can help with the many tasks. Unfortunately people will die and that will decrease the numbers in your tribe.
The mini games are many and you can go to them when needed since the plays will earn you food, wood and skill points. They can be a match game with your option of playing Tiki Topple or Classic. The Classic play is to match 3 or more like items to collect points, and Tiki Topple is a match game with you playing against the clever chief. It’s tough to beat him, but fun to keep trying. There are Sudoku plays and card games to enjoy.
If that’s not enough for you, the island slowly reveals secrets but only to true souls. At one point steps to a temple all of a sudden appeared from the sands of the beach. The items you uncover will assist you in many ways. Also remember, sometimes you need your monkey close by to be able to see some of the hidden things. He will be screeching for you to do something. Eventually you will need to connect to the other islands so you need to somehow get rocks to cross over to the other side. Dynamite may help you so look, dig and find your TNT.
Escape From Paradise 2: A Kingdom’s Quest is full of many interesting things and surprises to do for your island tribe. The mini games are a nice distraction from your daily tasks on the island. I never played the first game so I don’t have that to compare this new sequel, but I’ve played other similar games such as Virtual Villagers 1, 2 and 3, and Wild Tribe. I found Escape From Paradise 2: A Kingdom’s Quest a better game even though there are many similar aspects to the sim play, you get a lot of fun and well thought out side games to keep you engaged during the entire time.
Features of Escape From Paradise 2:
-Customize Your Hero
-Keep Everyone Happy
-Chief of the Tribe
Rating:
Totem Tribe Gold Review
Tetala Island is where Chief Aruku reigns over her Hawk tribe. For many years there have been struggles and challenges for her people. Aruku wants to better the conditions for her village. The ancients have all known about the Tear of Heaven that can grant unimaginable wisdom and enlightenment to whoever possess this talisman. With this magical power, Aruku can improve the outcome of her tribe but in order to do so she must search every island in the vicinity and complete missions to find it.
To begin your play use the tutorial which will guide you through some of the aspects of this sim/rpg/hidden object/strategy game. It’s hard to say what it is with so many options available. The important thing to remember is to read all the stone guides since these are your hints in the game. If you do not read one, it will be highlighted in yellow. Another big item in your search is the tower. Build them to defend your 
troops and to see further. The buildings are important to put up by clicking on the hammer at the lower right hand side to get different types of people needed in your quest. There are hidden objects and gems to find everywhere you go. You may need to revisit an island for things you may have passed by or were not available at the time. There are tasks you must perform like finding boulders and using them to make a bridge, and quests to conquer for different people you meet along the way.
Guro of Wolverine is one of them, and he resides on Mushroom Island. On this island are mushroom-like enemies you must fight off to complete a task. You will find many hostile enemies on different islands. The crossed swords at the bottom of the screen will activate your troops into fighting. The magnifying glass will help you find some hidden objects. Also sometimes these items will pulsate to help you locate them. Another huge help is the mini map. You can get to a site on the island quickly by clicking on the spot you would like to travel to. In 
addition, the bad guys are in red so you can spot them easily. The difficult part comes in when you cannot see parts of the screen because of a black fog. These areas open up as you go along collecting needed items and accomplishing certain tasks.
Totem Tribe Gold with its interesting graphics will draw you into its story while playing the game. The more you play it, the more you get involved in figuring out the quests and puzzles in order to help Aruku and the Hawk people. Instead of keeping your villagers healthy like in other games, you have a goal and objective to reach through the many tasks and puzzles that are waiting for you on each island. So heed Guru’s words and find your sacred totems to complete just one of your many quests.
Features of Totem Tribe Gold:
-32 Locations
-Over 200 Missions and Puzzles
-Hidden Objects
Rating:
Pages
Categories
- Action
- Adventure
- Aquarium
- Arcade
- Breakout
- Cards
- Children
- Hidden Object/I Spy
- Line Drawing
- Mah Jong
- Marbles
- Match
- Pachinko
- Pinball
- Platform
- Puzzle
- RPG
- RTS
- Sci Fi
- Seek and Find
- Shooter
- Sim
- Slash and Bash
- slots
- Sports
- Time Management
- Uncategorized
- Visual Novel
- Word