Back In World of Warcraft & Addicted Again!

Last weekend I made a concerted effort to get back in to WoW to do some leveling. I certainly never meant to take such a long break but I think it's actually been good for me. I've said a few times on the Journal of Marcus Ty podcast that I feel bad about not playing but still podcasting about gold making so there was always that little nagging feeling in the back of my mind too.

Well, I made the effort and earlier today I made it to about 98.5 so not too far to go until I hit 100 on my first character. My fav guildie is still around although he had taken most of his alts out of our Guild but this morning he brought one back and handed over the Guild Master rank to me again. I didn't even ask for it, but I have to admit, it felt really good to be in game and chatting again and being GM of a guild that I helped create back in early 2010 just topped off a good morning.

I also have a new friend from Twitter who, it turns out, plays on my realm too. Once I hit 100 and gear up a little, I shall introduce the guys and we can all go kill shit together. It could be fun and reminds me of a joke - a Pally, a Warrior and a DK walk into a bar... lol

As for goldmaking - I'm getting there. It's taking a while to get my head around the garrison buildings and the various traders who seem to appear out of nowhere but I've started shuffling materials between alts now so hopefully, soon I'll have a better grip on the Auction House too.

I haven't been taking many screenshots either but I'm really enjoying questing through the zones for now. I'm sure it will be a different story when I level alt number 4 or 5 though!

In the meantime, I'm now poodling through the Spires of Arak. I probably should be in the next zone, but I decided to do the Loremaster and Exploration parts as I took this first alt through so I'll be that much closer to getting flying for my alts when it gets released. So yeah, I'm enjoying WoW again. I didn't realise how much I missed it or how quickly I'd get addicted again but I had a really tough fight with myself yesterday morning at 6am when I woke up! I had to stop myself logging straight in and spending all day in game.

This morning is a lazy Sunday though so I've already played 3 or 4 hours today! I love faffing about in my garrison and I've picked up quite a few new followers this week so they are all off on missions. I can't wait until I get my boatyard (or is it a dock?) but that will have to wait a while yet.

****************

One Minute Gaming #54 - Twenty

This week, I've become addicted to an action puzzle game called Twenty. If you like games like Tetris then you'll love Twenty. The idea is to pair up numbered boxes until you make one to Twenty, hence the name.

The controls are super simple - just slide the boxes around the screen with a swipe motion. You pick up a number 4 box and slide it into another number 4 box. That will then become a number 5 box and you continue matching as fast as you can.

There is a timer and when it runs out, a new row of boxes will appear at the bottom. When you get to 10, you will see some of the boxes becoming linked in pairs. This makes it harder to slide them around but you can break the links by matching one of the linked boxes. When you get to fifteen, boxes are linked in threes and if you do get to twenty, boxes are linked in fours.




The aim of the game is to get to twenty but that isn't the end of the game. You keep going to see how many twenties you can make. My high score is 6 but I have no idea if that is good or not. (Update: My high score is now 12!)

I love this game and played it for hours on my plane trip home last week. I'd give Twenty a 10 out of 10. It's simple to learn but hard to beat. I'm so hooked on this game, I've even paid out a few dollars for the upgrade! That just gives a few extra twists to the basic game and isn't necessary at all.

There are no adverts and the music is actually quite soothing.

If you have a game you'd like to suggest, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun!

****************

One Minute Gaming #53 - Cooped Up

Cooped Up

This week, I've been playing a silly jumping game called Cooped Up. You play a bird on a wire and you have to jump to higher wires to catch worms and flying bugs. That's the easy bit though - there are other birds on the wires and you have to avoid them but don't take too long to jump up as there are other birds below you too and if they catch up to you, you have to start over.

The wires are actually more like elastic and the controls are based on that. You swipe down to twang the wire and make your bird jump. You can ping gently and off center to make you bird move sideways on the same level or ping it harder to make him jump up a level.

If you time it right, you can also ping in the middle to jump over a bird on the same level as you but be careful, you have to get that exactly right or you will land on them and die.




After a couple of hours playing, my high score is still only 20 something - it's frustrating but challenging and the sound effects make me giggle. The graphics are fun - weird little birds and great big fat ones as well as caterpillars and bugs to catch.

I think kids would love this game although if they get frustrated easily, you may want to wrap your phone in bubblewrap because it will get thrown!

I'd give Cooped Up a 6 out of 10, purely based on it's frustration factor. The rest is great though!

If you have a game you'd like to suggest, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun!

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my Kindle Book
Improve Your Flower Photography


****************

One Minute Gaming #52 - Slice It!

This week, I've been playing a puzzle game called Slice It. Amarochi on Twitter recommended a game called Slice which I couldn't find so John, I hope this is the one you meant!

The basic idea is that you have to divide a shape into a set number of equal parts using a set number of lines. So for example, on the first level you are given a square and told you have 1 line to cut the shape into 2 equal parts. Obviously that is pretty simple but later on, the shapes get more complicated and the number of pieces and lines you are set also increase.

You are given a number of stars between 1 & 5 depending on how equal your pieces are but if you leave any extra bits or don't use up all the lines you need to use, you will fail the level.



It's a very simple idea that gets difficult fairly quickly but I'd imagine it could be great for teaching kids about basic shapes, dividing areas and hopefully, patience! There's no timer so you can take as long as you want and one little bonus is that the background is like graph paper so you can even count the squares to approximate your areas.

I like Slice It - it's a great little game for filling a spare 5 minutes here and there so I'd give it an 8 out of 10.

If you have a game you'd like to suggest, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time - have fun!

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

One Minute Gaming #51 - AA

AA - free game

This week, I've been playing a game simply called AA recommended to me by Sayomara and Amarochi on Twitter. It's a deceptively simple pinwheel game but watch out!

Each level starts off with a spinning wheel in the center of your screen and a number of pins sticking out of it. You then have to tap the screen to add a set number of pins to the wheel but you mustn't touch any of the existing pins.

At the earliest levels, it's not too difficult but once you have to add 12 pins or more, the spaces between the pins already on the wheel become smaller and smaller and it gets a little crowded!

On some levels, the spinning center wheel changes direction or can change speed too. It's a game of focus and patience. You need to focus hard to not touch the existing pins and you need patience to wait for the larger gaps to come around. You also need a good sense of timing which is not my strong point!


There's a whole range of these games by the same company - look for FF or RR - all have the same basic idea of adding dots to a moving targets but each game is just slightly different. I think I'll stick to AA though - it's hard enough without adding more complications!

I'd give AA a 7 out of 10 - it's fun but frustrating and I couldn't play it for long without throwing my phone out the window!

If you have a game you'd like me to try, You can contact me on twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun.

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************

One Minute Gaming #50 - Beast Quest

Beast Quest

This week, I've been playing an action adventure game called Beast Quest. It's a mini RPG type game where you're an adventurer out in the wilds and you have to pick up quests, fight beasties and collect stuff in the environment.

It has great graphics and the music isn't too annoying either. You hold the run button with one finger to run and use another finger to control your direction. Fighting is pretty good too - you have a button to use your shield, one to use your sword and 2 left & right buttons to dodge incoming attacks.

I'm only level three so far but I think I'm hooked already! You use coins from quest rewards and kills to upgrade your sword, shield and armor but there is a maximum improvement level depending on your own character level so you can't get too overpowered for the quests you are doing.



There is a real money shop where you can buy gems or potions but you pick up gems whilst questing too. I don't know yet if it's going to be a buy-to-play game but so far, I'm pretty impressed. There's also a bunch of achievements to get and those reward you with gold or gems.

Overall, I'd say Beast Quest is pretty good and well polished so I'm giving it an 8 out of 10.

If you have a game you'd like me to try, you can contact me on Twitter @NevAHAddict or leave a comment below.

So until next time, have fun!

****************

Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

****************