One Minute Gaming #61 - Endless Pacman 256

Endless Pacman

This week, I've been playing a game called Endless Pacman. It's the old Pacman game but with a twist - instead of individual maps to beat, this one just keeps scrolling and disintegrates behind you.

This makes it really difficult to clear a whole area of dots but the good thing is that the ghosts disappear too if they are in that part of the board.

There are all the original power ups and bonus items but in Endless Pacman, you also earn weapons and other useful power ups. The first one you earn is a laser so when you eat a laser dot, you shoot everything in a straight line in front of you. It's great fun seeing a whole line of ghosts die to your laser!





The graphics are true to the old game and so are the sound effects. It took me a little while to remember how to even move - I was trying to drag my Pacman around but of course, it doesn't work like that! You have to swipe a direction and he will take the next turn in that direction when he gets there.

I enjoyed it for the first 10 minutes or so but then it all came back to me why I never really liked the original game! I probably won't be playing this one regularly but for fans of old school games it's a definite 8 out of 10 at least. It's also a great way to show your kids some of the origins of video games too.

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

So until next time, have fun!

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One Minute Gaming reviews

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iPad Games I'm Playing

iPad Games I Play - Blaugust Day 20

Nonmail often asks how many of the games I review on One Minute Gaming am I still playing - well, here's a screenshot of my iPad just this morning. I had a big clear out a couple of weeks ago when I removed about 20 other games that I still played but not very often.

My morning routine is fairly simple - wake up, stagger to kitchen to start the coffee then PC on and head to the bathroom. Once I have my coffee in hand, I open my Twitter feed and whilst scrolling back to the previous evening, I open Clash of Clans to collect my resources, start a new build if I can & catch up with clan mates chat. Next, I open my Cooking Fever as there's a daily bonus of 2 gems - woo hoo! It's not much but it adds up over a few days to the next upgrade for whichever restaurant I'm playing at the moment.

Then it's on to my Mini Warriors - this one I've started playing a lot more recently. I find that I can gain almost a full level of XP in the time it takes me to catch up on my overnight Twitter feed. I only need to start each battle and leave the rest on automatic - I'm grinding levels a bit to get the upgrade materials for my army.

My Fallout Shelter is still a bit temperamental - crashing regularly but not so often as before. I'll probably be deleting this one soon - it just hasn't grabbed me like some of the others.

The game I'm playing the most right now is Twenty - I hit a high score of 20 about a month ago and I'm still trying to beat it! It's taking about 20-25 minutes for each match now though so I'm trying to cut back - I get dead legs after about 15 minutes (yeah sorry, maybe too much info there huh?)

Agar.io, 1010 and 2048 are all games I can play while hanging out on Skype with Cold or on the telephone with my Dad - they don't take too much concentration so I can still hold a conversation.

I haven't reviewed the Mahjong Free game yet - I actually paid for the expansion pack when I first got the iPad so this is a game I've played for a couple of years now. I don't play it regularly but when I do, I tend to get hooked for a week or two then just stop playing it again.

The next tab on my iPad is full of games I haven't played yet but want to for my One Minute Gaming segment. You can check out reviews for all the above games and loads more too by clicking the tab in the menu bar.

If you have a free iPad or iPhone game you think I should try, you can leave a comment below or link me on Twitter @NevAHAddict.

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One Minute Gaming #56 - Fallout Shelter

Fallout Shelter Living Quarters

This week I've been playing Fallout Shelter, a resource and people management game based on the ever popular Fallout game.

You are in charge of an underground Vault - a safe place from the world after a nuclear war and you have to manage the resources like power, water and food to keep your survivors alive.

Each survivor who turns up at the door to your vault has variable characteristics and each characteristic is best suited for one of the occupations inside the vault. As Overseer, you assign survivors to work in the most appropriate area.

You can send survivors back out into the world to scavenge for additional supplies like weapons and armor. You need armor and weapons to defend your vault against raiders and rad roaches otherwise your may get over run.




You can also expand your community by assigning male and female survivors to the living areas - if they hit it off, they retire to the bedroom and she then emerges pregnant!

Sadly it's not optimised for iPad 2 so I've been having regular crashes and it's not available at all for Android until August but from what I've seen, it looks like a great game. I'd give fallout Shelter an 8 out of 10 and I'm hopeful they will make it work on older iPads & iPhones soon.

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!

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Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my Kindle Book
Improve Your Flower Photography 

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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!

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Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my Kindle Book
Improve Your Flower Photography


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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!

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Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

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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.

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Check out my other projects
Gifts for Gamers and Geeks

and my photography site
HVS PHotography

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One Minute Gaming #49 - Back To Bed

This week, I've been playing an unusual puzzle game called Back To Bed. It's quite surreal but definitely gets your brain working.

The basic idea is that you are a weird little dog who has to stop his owner from falling off rooftops as he sleep walks in a weird landscape. You have to pick up a giant apple and place it in your owner's path to make him turn away from an edge but then you have to grab the same apple & place it again at the next danger point.

The objective is to guide your owner back to bed which could be anywhere on the map. One little tip I can give - the owner always turns clockwise so sometimes you have to be really quick with placing the apple as there may only be 4 or 5 steps between turns and edges all around.


It's not the fastest puzzle or the hardest but it is compelling in a weird kind of way.

I'd give Back to Bed a 6 out of 10 - it's not my favorite puzzle game but it's ok if you like this sort of game.

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

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