Category Archives: Thursday in the Zone

Gaming-related posts, covering games of my particular interest from the collectible, video, and PC genres.

Thursday in the Zone

My Favorite Clix, part 1: LE Jane Foster

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What better way to begin this HeroClix series than to profile one of my favorite Support characters, one I knew nothing of till I heard the mythical-sounding tale of her existence?

When I began playing HeroClix in the fall of 2007, I first saw the full set of Paramedics (Rookie, Experienced, and Veteran), and loved their ability to heal other characters. I saw how the addition of a Medic could change the course of a battle, simply by bringing a first-string attacker back to full health (or as close as possible). For the long-term games I liked to play, a Paramedic seemed like the best choice; I could simply outlast my opponent.

rev_paramedic
Image credit: HCRealms.com; screenshot shows the Paramedics from the Xplosion set. These same figures were reprinted in the Universe set.

The Paramedics’ dials (seen above) were very simple–just Support, nothing else. And I was happy with that, because the point investments were small (8, 10, and 12 points, respectively. You could fit a Paramedic on your team easily, and gain quite a bit of game longevity.

Then, I learned of another figure, who added Willpower for all 4 clicks of her life, and only cost 4 more points than the Vet Medic. She was a rare Clix figure, not often seen in local shops, and never traded once gotten…the Limited Edition Jane Foster, #206 out of Xplosion.

le_janefoster
Image credit: HCRealms.com

Not only does LE Jane Foster have a higher move value, she also keeps her attack higher for longer (that 8 attack is pretty mighty, considering she was printed very early in HeroClix’s history). And the combination of Willpower and Support, on all four clicks, for only 16 points? Let’s just say that once she finally became a part of my collection (thanks to my awesome boyfriend), she had an immediate place of honor on many of my teams.

Her ability to heal on back-to-back turns without taking pushing damage was unmatched back in the day, and she’s still the absolute cheapest option in the game for WP & Support, even considering Night Nurse (who at 27 points is the next cheapest). These days, I’ve used Jane Foster and Night Nurse to run many a successful triage station during Clix games!

Jane Foster is a favorite of mine because she’s simple, yet effective. There are no tricks to playing her; you just include her in your team build, keep her away from the main fighting, and she’s there to Support when needed. And her ability makes it possible for me to play teamfuls of “squishy” Clix pieces and still win the day. I’d say that’s worth making 16 points’ worth of room for her on a team!

Thursday in the Zone

Call to Action: Don’t Give Up on City of Heroes Yet!

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Recently on the CoHTitan forums, a very interesting post by a user named Mister Bison appeared, quoting a message from a French GM of NCSoft Customer Support.

This message, sent in response to a French player’s support ticket, seemed to indicate that all the account information for City of Heroes players has not been destroyed, and in fact cannot be destroyed. Customer Support also said in this message that “[they] don’t know yet what will become of the City of Heroes servers.”

The Meaning of This Mysterious Message

What does this mean for us long-suffering City of Heroes players? At first blush, this seems to mean that the City of Heroes servers have not been wiped clean, as we all feared would happen after Nov. 30th. And it also seems to mean that our personal CoH account information has not been deleted.

Many of the first repliers to this post believe, as I do, that this means NCSoft may still be amenable to selling off City of Heroes to another game company. Of course, another, more pessimistic, possibility still exists, as a few users have suggested–that the account information in question is the “master” NCSoft account, not the specific CoH account.

The Call to Action: Ask NCSoft for Information

Whatever the case, we need more information; if Paragon City has indeed not been razed to the ground, we need to know. Our next move as a community, then, is for as many players as possible to contact NCSoft Customer Support. We need to ask about the state of our City of Heroes account information.

Here are the mailing addresses and phone numbers for the various customer support centers, retrieved from NCSoft’s global page.

North America/
Europe

Japan

Taiwan

Thailand
Address: 6801 N. Capital of Texas Hwy, Bldg 1 Austin, TX 78731

Phone: (512) 225-6359

Address: Ebisu Business Tower 16F,1-19-19 Ebisu, Shibuya-ku, Tokyo 150-0013

Phone: +81-3-5793-2500

Address: 6F No,738 Chung-cheng Road, Chung-ho City, Taipei 235, Taiwan

Phone: +886-2-8024-3300

Address: 14Fl, 18 True Tower, Ratchadapiek Road, Huai Khwang, Bangkok 103 Thailand

Phone: +66-2-699-1474

When you contact them, be sure to ask specifically and politely about your City of Heroes account information. However we may still feel about NCSoft and their treatment of us as customers, we do need to ask carefully, if we want our game back. They hold the fragile keys to Paragon City in their hands, after all.

As I stated on my CoH Twitter account after Nov. 30th, “Paragon City is not burned to the ground; the lights have simply been turned off.” If we still want this game back, let us show NCSoft in the most civil and adult way possible–by submitting questions to them concerning our account information. Even if the information we get is not what we want to hear, at least we will know, and not be left to wonder!

Thursday in the Zone

Virtual City Playground

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Did you love SimCity and/or other games like it? Ever wanted to REALLY run your dream virtual city instead of just building it and watching it go? Then Virtual City Playground might be just the game you’re looking for!

I recently discovered this free game for the iPhone (though it’s also available through iPad, Google Play, Mac, Kindle, and what looks like a Web game in the future), and I’ve become pretty addicted to it already. It’s got all the road-building, city-planning fun of my old favorite SimCity, except it’s a little more involved and detailed–which is definitely a good thing!

Basic Gameplay


Image credit: geardiary.com

Instead of building huge zones like SimCity has you build, Virtual City Playground has you build actual buildings, like houses, factories, shopping malls, monuments, etc. Building roads and buildings takes energy, though, and you start out with a set amount of Energy Points. When you’ve run out of energy, you’ll have to wait a few minutes for your Energy to regenerate (takes about 4 minutes to get 1 point back).

Constructing roads functions about the same as it does in other city-building games–you lay out the roads bit by bit with your mouse/fingertip. In this game, though, you’ve got to make sure you have a road leading to your building before you build it. And if you find out you’ve placed a building wrong, don’t worry; buildings can be moved around easily, and it only costs 1 Energy to do so.

The main part of the game is building factories (a few at a time) and linking them together with delivery trucks, so that they can use each other’s raw materials to make products–that realism is one of the coolest things about this game. You also need to build houses so that people can come live in your city. Route a few dumpster trucks around to take care of garbage, set up a public transport system with some Buses and Bus Stations, and you’ve got a city in no time!

As you level up in the game through building, routing roads, and upgrading buildings, you’ll get access to more types of factories and buildings. Keep track of the game’s various City Goals to accomplish, which will appear on the left side of the game window. You’ll have some long-term goals (like building very expensive monuments) and some short-term goals (like shipping so many products to the Shopping Mall, or transporting so many passengers to public places). Be prepared for your city to grow very very fast once you start completing goals!

The Difference Between City Coins and Invest Points

You start out with a set number of City Coins to help build your city, buy trucks and buses, etc.; you also start out with a few Invest Points. Invest Points are specialized rewards which can be bought with real money, or can be earned through accomplishing certain game goals.

Invest Points can be tempting to use, especially if you want a goal finished RIGHT NOW, but don’t give in. Instead, save up Invest Points for really important things, like buying more city territory and leveling out the land (because you can’t build anything on hills).

Two of the best ways I’ve found to gain Invest Points:

  • Log into the game every day; you’ll get an Invest Point every day until you’ve logged in for 5 consecutive days…and on the fifth day, you’ll be rewarded with 5 more Invest Points!
  • Link your Facebook account so that you can post “goal completed!” announcements–some of these completion announcements reward you with yet another Invest Point when you post to Facebook. Look for the Invest Points icon beside the Facebook “Post” button on the “Goal Completed” announcement to see whether posting is worth your while.

Side Note: Your Citizens’ Happiness and the Environment


Image Credit: apprecap.wordpress.com

Aside from your regular city-building concerns, the game also tracks your citizens’ Happiness score and Environment score. After playing this game for a while, I would recommend you not worry too much about your Environment and Happiness scores at first–I’m currently around Lv 23 and am just now starting to see numerical scores without a negative sign out front. LOL!

Happiness and Environment scores do not detract much at all from your gameplay; they are just informational, though some City Goals do give you rewards for having at or above a particular level of Happiness, etc.

Summary

This game is great for gamers like me who play long-term achievement games; I find this to be a very rewarding, relaxing game to play, and it allows me to exercise my creativity at city planning, too. Check it out and see how your own dream city can grow!

Thursday in the Zone

Game Glitches: A Source for LOLs Amid the Pwnage

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Most gamers don’t like for their games to glitch up, especially when it has something to do with saving the game progress correctly. But when the glitch results in strange character model behavior, odd map rendering, out-of-place scenery, etc., you can’t help but laugh at your screen–and, as Youtube proves, take a screenshot or video clip of the glitchy behavior.

Enjoy the following videos showcasing the accidental, hilarious, and just plain baffling world of video game glitches–we can all use a laugh when we’re gaming!


Weird glitches from the likes of:

  • Call of Duty
  • Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask
  • Goldeneye
  • Red Dead Redemption
  • Grand Theft Auto
  • Super Smash Bros. Melee/Brawl
  • The Sims
  • Fallout
  • The Elder Scrolls
  • The Pokemon series


Video games of all types and franchises appear in this video. From Mega Man to James Bond, Mario Kart Wii to Street Fighter, dance games to first-person shooters, there are glitches, glitches, everywhere! (And it’s all set to music!)


Strange and hilarious game glitches from games both obscure and well-known. Be prepared to scare your neighbor with laughter. xD


Map and graphics rendering problems are only a few of the glitches this video catalogs. Character freak-outs, hilarious kill streaks you shouldn’t be able to do, in-game accidental cheats, and highly unrealistic actions, ahoy!

Thursday in the Zone

Castle Wars 2

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Building on the success of the first Castle Wars game, which I wrote about before, Castle Wars 2 improves on every facet of the original game, and introduces a new mode of play as well.

Basic Game Premise

You gather your resources, build up your defensive wall to protect your castle, and survive long enough to either get your castle to 100 height, or smash your opponent’s castle to 0. (Fans of Magic: the Gathering will recognize some similarities in gameplay along the way).

Just as in the first game, you begin with three different types of resources:

  • Bricks (obtained through Builders)
  • Crystals (obtained through Mages)
  • Weapons (obtained through Recruits)

The more Builders, Mages, and/or Recruits you have, the more of those resources you get per turn. (For instance, if you had 4 Builders and 2 Soldiers, you’d get 4 Brick resources every turn, but only 2 Weapons resources every turn.)

The key to surviving in the game is to use your resources efficiently, and try not to depend too much on any one type of resource.


This is the opening screen, with all its options.

Game Modes and Options

Players of the original game will be familiar with the “Practice” gameplay mode–that’s pretty much all that the first Castle Wars was.


In both “Campaign” and “Practice” modes, this is how your screen will look. Your castle is on the left, with your information about resources and castle height at top left; your enemy is on the right.

Symbols:

  • Shovel: Builders
  • Brick: Brick resource
  • Helmet: Recruits
  • Axe: Weapons resource
  • Pointed hat with stars: Mages
  • Sparkling crystal: Crystal resources

About the Action Panel

New for Castle Wars 2, the Action Panel helps with tasks during your turn. By default, you can click a lit-up card to use it; you can also click “Discard” and select up to 3 cards to ditch from your hand. Lastly, you can click “Card Info”, then click a card to see what it does in more detail.

Campaign Mode


The “Campaign” mode is a new, story-mode style of play, in which you choose a “tribe” to play as (either “Easy,” “Medium,” or “Hard”), and battle against other castles around you, trying to take over every territory on the map. But once you’ve taken over every territory, there is still one challenge remaining–I won’t spoil it for you! 🙂

Practice Mode


In Practice Mode, you can choose a number of options that aren’t available to you in Campaign Mode. You can choose whose turn comes first, what “tribe” you and your computerized opponent are playing, and even select your own customized deck (if you’ve built one using the Deck Manager, explained below). You can even select what the background looks like and what background music is playing!

Deck Manager


The Deck Manager allows you to build and save your own customized versions of the default deck. Scroll down using the brown scrollbar on the right side to see all the card options; use the up and down arrows underneath each card to choose the quantity of that card in your deck.

Your custom deck must have at least 75 cards, and you’ll want to build in at least 3 of each Builder, Recruit, and Mage cards, but other than that, the sky’s the limit in terms of innovation. When you’re done, click “Save” at the bottom, and give your new deck a name. (To test it out, enter Practice Mode and click the Player 1 tab. Beside “Deck: Default,” click the word “Change,” and a list including your new custom deck will come up.)

Multi-Player

You must create an account with GamerSafe to play multi-player Castle Wars 2. I’ve never tried it–if you’ve tried it, tell me about it in the comments section!

Play the game: Castle Wars 2

Thursday in the Zone

Return to Ravnica: New Awesomeness in a Familiar Setting

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Ravnica’s back with a new attitude in Magic: the Gathering’s newest block; this first set, called Return to Ravnica, features new mechanics (such as Overload), awesome creatures (like a one-drop Lifelink Cat and a creature-bouncing Bird), and plenty of spells to breathe new life into old decks.

This is only a small cross-section of what RtR has to offer, and all of these are cards I’d actually play–my personal focus is primarily on life-gain, creatures, and the colors of White and Green in general. But as with our first trip to Ravnica back in 2005, there’s something for everyone in this grand cityscape, and definitely something to please all MTG players!

Mono-Color Goodies

White


A one-drop Lifelink creature? AND it’s a Cat? AWESOME!
Two-drop double-striker…in white?! Can I have, like, 16 of these?

OK, now THIS is going in my White Enchantments deck.
Where have you been all my (gaming) life?!

Blue


The effect for 1 blue early-game is great–and the Overload cost gives you a late-game option, too!
This would be a hilarious card to Overload on late-game against a bunch of pumped-up tokens… xD

Black


For 4 mana, a great little creature that keeps you from decking out as well as keeping your life points safe while it’s on the field.
A cute little rat that can make a player ditch if you so choose–great for a Rat deck, or any Black deck that needs a little hand control.

Red


Imagine paying two mana to get rid of an army of 1/1 tokens…mwahaha.
Pay 1 mana to Oxidize, or pay 5 to get rid of my boyfriend’s entire Jinxed Choker deck. Sure, why not? (And the flavor text is LOL, too.)

Green


Fog the attack, AND have something to block with next turn, all for 2 mana. OKAY!
Good to play even for 2 mana early-game, when you just NEED mana that bad. Mid- to late-game, however…shenanigans. 😀

Awww yeah. Great for any deck that needs mana sources on other people’s turns…or if you just want to be free to Fog an attack.

Multi-Colored Awesomeness


All three options on this card are great for 2 mana. It’s like a Swiss Army knife for your deck.
Definitely getting this for my Green/White deck.

There’s a subtle option here–either place one counter each on two different creatures, or load one creature up with both counters. Nice!
While this is a little expensive, you do get a huge bonus for it–+3/+3 instead of the +1/+1 that Glorious Anthem and other such enchantments give.

So I get to bounce a creature back to my hand, saving it from lethal damage, AND I gain 2 life, all for 2 mana? WOOT!
7 life for 1 green and 1 white mana. I’ll take it. 😀

I like the first option best for 2 mana–a great way to pump up a little creature so it can punch through some defenses.
Creature control in the form of a 3/3 Bird, all for 4 mana. Not bad! Might need to add this to my Bird Soldier deck!

For 4 mana, a life-gain source AND a token source. AND it’s a Dryad. WANT. Want want want for my Green/White. 😀
This is absolutely hilarious. Just 3 mana gets you this stompy thing, and the populate ability is just thrown in there? AWESOME.

Great for building up token-heavy decks, or even just for generating creatures to block with if you have a token to start it off.
Combine Naturalize/Disenchant and a little populate action for the same cost, and it’s playable for White AND Green. A win-win!

Favorite New Basic-Land Art


Love the sunset-lit cityscape.
I like the hints of a misty rainbow on this Island.

Dank and dark, but with a few slivers and points of light scattered about.
Lots of emphasis on the skylines and steep mountainside cityscape.

Like a well-maintained tree garden, and yet…just a little wilder than that.

To view all the cards in this set, visit the Wizards.com RtR visual spoiler, where all these card images originally came from. Happy playing! 😀

Thursday in the Zone

Saving City of Heroes: If All Else Fails, Plan Z

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If you’ve heard anything about the #SaveCoH movement at all, you’ve likely heard the term “Plan Z” noised about among resolute City of Heroes fans. What is this mysterious plan, and what does it entail?

According to forums on CoHTitan and CoHGuru, “Plan Z” would be a fan-supported MMO, which would cleave as closely to CoH as possible without being sued.

I admit, this isn’t exactly “saving” CoH, but it would save what we love most about the game itself, only porting it to a new game. It’s not ideal, and it’s something we #SaveCoH-ers hope will not be necessary…but it’s our last resort. Already, people are discussing on the CoHTitan forums about what the Plan Z game should and shouldn’t have, and what kinds of changes should be made (or need to be made, to avoid lawsuits). If enough details can be hammered out, this could be a workable solution, but more input and more information is definitely required, not to mention funding.

What Should CoH Players Do in the Meantime?

As we all stare anxiously at our calendars, likely fearing November 30th, there are a few things we each can do:

  • Get on the CoHTitan forums, and/or follow @thetitannetwork on Twitter to keep up with the #SaveCoH campaign and Plan Z
  • Add your ideas to the Plan Z pool, and/or offer any alternatives to Plan Z that you can think of, such as contacting other game companies, etc.
  • Save each of your characters with the Sentinel+ character file exporter. (More info about how to understand the Sentinel+ output in this forum post.) Potentially, Plan Z could import these character files later.
  • Keep making as much noise about #SaveCoH on your social networks–it’s still a viable campaign. No one’s given up yet!

In short: City of Heroes players have plans afoot that don’t involve completely migrating to another game entirely. We may yet be able to bring the spirit of our beloved Paragon City into a fan-supported, fan-designed game, perhaps with all our alts intact.

But this is our last resort; till we know for certain that no other path is open to us, #SaveCoH will continue to sally forth on social networks and blogs galore. If you want to save City of Heroes, you’re welcome to join us. 🙂

Thursday in the Zone

After 10 Years, a New Dove Appears!

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And no, I’m not joking! It’s really happened! 😀

I am incredibly excited about this new Dove, which is coming out in the upcoming Streets of Gotham set, because it represents an updated/revisioned look at my favorite comic book heroine of all time. They have only printed her once before, as I’ll show you.

The Old Faithful Dove
Way back in 2002, a little lady in blue and white simply called “Dove” (seen at left) was printed in the very first DC HeroClix set, named Hypertime. 3 versions of her (Rookie, Experienced, and Veteran) were printed–I have sampled the Veteran’s dial above as an example of her powers (thanks to HCRealms.com for dial image).

She was a simple but elegant figure, bearing a long strand of Super Senses and Close Combat Expert, along with a 10 attack and 17 defense that were mostly unheard of in those days. (Given that a 17 defense, in 2002, was usually given to the likes of Sue Storm and other high-defense pieces, Dove’s defense value was a rarity.) Back in Hypertime, figures were simpler, did not have cards with them, and had no special powers or traits–Hypertime Dove was a prime representative of this.

Her mostly-powerless first click, however, known as an “activation click,” put most players off in the beginning; why should we have to wait for a hero to transform? For most, then, Dove was a forgettable piece, relegated to second-string teams or to the trade box.

My Personal History Playing Dove

When I began to play HeroClix in 2007, I received a rookie Dove as a gift from another player, and I was intrigued. Who was this heroine in Carolina blue and white? I had never heard of her.

I began to read the comics associated with her (the “Hawk and Dove” title of the late 80s/early 90s), and found that I really liked her backstory–it explained why she had an activation click, for one thing (she has to shout her name to mystically transform). But by this time, the Hawk and Dove pieces were both rather passe in Clix tournaments, even though they could still hold their own with modern figures who were laden with special powers and traits.

Though I loved the simple way they’d built the Hypertime Dove, I wondered when they would ever update the figure for the modern game, because I wanted to see what the new game mechanics (like special powers and traits) would make of a heroine like Dove. And now…they finally have updated, and what an update!

New Dove: Even More Comic-Accurate than the Old


At 86 points, New Dove is 17 points more expensive than the old Veteran Dove, but she’s also got many more abilities:

  • Bat-Team (for stealth) instead of Titans Team (for healing)
  • Charge, Exploit Weakness, and Flurry, all of which greatly increase her combat usefulness. She’s no longer just a flying defensive piece for Hawk!
  • Heightened attack on second click (and no activation click!)
  • 18 defense on first click with Defend AND Super Senses on the special power; me LIKEY! 😀
  • Regeneration on last click–exactly like the comics, she and Hawk both heal faster when they are in superhero form

Though New Dove’s movement is lower than Old Dove’s (an 8 as opposed to a 10), she’s much more capable of charging in and doing damage, which was a disadvantage for Old Dove players. And that Toughness on defense back-dial keeps her from getting hurt as easily, especially if you’re like me and can’t roll Super Senses, ever.


New Dove’s card shows off even more comic-accurate traits–literally, her Trait describes her fighting style in the Hawk and Dove comics. She often maneuvers her enemies to hurt themselves more than she directly hurts them, either by flipping out of the way when they charge at her, or by disabling their weapons so that the weapon ends up hurting the wielder.

Plus, the special power on her defense matches her even better than the old dial’s Super Senses. With the addition of Defend to Super Senses, it fully expresses Dove’s powers as a guardian for the weak (and a guardian for Hawk when he’s too beaten up to defend himself). I have been waiting for them to do a combo of Defend and Super Senses on a piece for ages…and they finally did it, on my favorite character to boot! 😀

What About the Keywords?

The old Dove only had Mystical and Teen Titans; New Dove keeps the Mystical keyword, but trades out Teen Titans for Brightest Day and Birds of Prey (the latter of which she was a member of for several recent issues). I’m not as familiar with the Brightest Day storyline, but from what I know of it, Dove plays a significant role in fighting for the White Lanterns, even though she isn’t officially one of their number.

Whatever theme team you choose to play New Dove with, whether she’s fighting alongside the likes of Black Canary and Huntress on Birds of Prey, or whether she’s teamed with Raven and Zatanna on a Mystical theme, she’ll be an excellent supportive fighter for any team.

Conclusion: New Dove is Well Worth Playing

If you’re looking for a piece that possesses both combat strength and defensive capabilities, with a little bit of healing and a little surprise Trait, then Dove is just the kind of hero you want. Finally, they’ve paid graceful homage to an awesome character without completely taking away the spirit of the old figure. (And I personally can’t wait to play Old Dove and New Dove together! :D)

Read more: “New Dove” article at HeroClix.com

Thursday in the Zone

Stick Smasher

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An old favorite recently rediscovered, Stick Smasher is an action game about survival. Can you withstand five levels of knife-wielding red stick men?

Basic Gameplay

Simple mechanics: destroy bad guys, get a few life points, survive a few seconds, rinse, repeat. 🙂 Each level lasts 50 seconds–can you survive that long?

Controls

  • Press A to smash the knife-wielding bad guys when they get close enough
  • Hit Spacebar to jump (you can also hold Spacebar to jump continually)
  • Press D when you’ve got a glowy bomb to nuke the whole screen full of baddies
  • Use Left and Right Arrow keys to move around

Items In-Game


Regular Bomb 		These bombs roll from right to left across the screen, beginning about 30 seconds after gameplay starts on the first level. When you touch them, these bombs explode, hurting you slightly but also blowing up any enemies next to you. This is the preferred way to get rid of small groups of enemies at once.

Glowy Bomb 		These bombs fall from the top of the screen occasionally–you must touch them to “catch” them. Once you have them, you can hit D at any time (even while in the air) to destroy all the baddies on your screen at once. As far as I can tell, this bomb does not hurt you to set it off.

Life Point Heart 		These hearts fall from the top of the screen every so often, and like the glowy bombs, you must touch them to collect them. They give you about 10 Life Points back, which can mean all the difference if you’ve been knifed or bombed a few times.

Best Strategies


This screencap from one of my playthroughs is the single best strategy for surviving the game: keep jumping around. (See yellow arrow.) Staying aerial means that the baddies can’t knife you unless you land for too long, but since you can hold the Spacebar to jump continuously, there’s no reason to stay on the ground much at all. I pretty much never use the A key to smash the baddies; using A means you’re locked in place on the ground, which means your health bar is far more endangered.

I usually like to jump all around the screen, keeping the baddies running back and forth. However, you can jump around close to the right side of the screen if you want to camp out and wait for bombs to come rolling through. This way, you can jump on a bomb and wave bye-bye to 5-10 baddies at a time! (However, I have noticed something strange about the rolling bombs: sometimes you land on them and set them off, but they don’t destroy any baddies nearby. Not sure what causes this to happen.)

Besides keeping an eye out for rolling bombs, grab the falling pink hearts and glowy bombs whenever you can. If you have to make a choice between getting a bomb or a heart, go with the bomb; you can set it off across the whole screen, and get a ton more life points that way. (Remember that getting rid of bad guys gives you a few life points apiece! :D)

The End Result


At the end of the fifth level, this screen will appear, with your final life score at bottom right and your game score at top left. For this runthrough, I got a pretty high score–close to 1200. The life score was about the highest I’ve ever gotten it, too. :O

Once you’ve managed to survive through the fifth level, Stick Smasher becomes more about perfecting your skill at avoiding the knives, using rolling bombs effectively and carefully, and getting both your life score and game score as high as possible. See if you can match or beat my score! 🙂

Play Stick Smasher: Stick Smasher @ MaxGames.com

Thursday in the Zone

The PC Gamer’s Health Wakeup Call

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Most of us who play games on our computers don’t think twice about doing it. In fact, it’s fairly accepted these days to spend much of your leisure time playing a game while sitting at your computer, whether you’re playing Farmville on a laptop or playing World of Warcraft on your gaming rig.

But all this sitting still hunched over a keyboard could actually be doing you more harm in the long run, not in terms of hours lost in gaming, but in years lost from your life, and in hours of future pain.

Think I’m joking, or exaggerating? Sadly, I’m not. And this can affect not only marathon gamers, but marathon computer users in general.

Sitting Still: A Risk Factor for Several Modern-Day Health Plagues

A study has shown that sitting too long can increase risk of cancer, especially colon and breast cancer. Other studies have shown an increased risk for type II diabetes and slowed metabolism in people who either choose to be seated more often, or have to be seated for their jobs.

None of these health conditions are anything we’d wish upon ourselves intentionally. Yet many of us, especially people who are glued to our machines, like I am, may run into these very health problems if we’re not careful.

I’m not saying that we have to all drop our monthly gaming subscription for a gym membership, but we need to be more aware of how much time we spend sitting. The number of hours may surprise you, if you were to note just how many hours per day you spend sitting in front of the computer. Computer gamers are especially at risk, I believe, because games can become addictive very easily and quickly; we can become absorbed in what’s going on and forget about our physical bodies entirely.

Other Health Risks Posed by Long-Term Gaming/Computer Use

But sitting still is not the only thing we need to be worried about, as computer users and gamers. Other, more “minor” conditions like bad posture, eye strain, and poor circulation can haunt us as well. Also, those who type a lot or who work intricately with the keyboard and mouse may suffer neck and shoulder pain, swelling and twitching in the fingers, even arthritis and carpal tunnel syndrome. (I’ve often wondered if some of my recent headaches can’t be traced back to bad posture at the keyboard.)

Computer users, including gamers, strain their backs, eyes, and wrists more often than anything. And, if not treated, all these conditions could put us out of commission in ways we don’t even think about. For instance, I never used to think anything about sitting at my computer and typing/surfing the Internet for ages. Now, though, I find my wrists becoming sore after a while, and I’ve even had shooting pains run through my wrists into the base of my palms (one of the first heralds of carpal tunnel syndrome). Not only does that threaten my continued computer use, but it threatens my budding writing career as well as my piano skills.

Another thing we don’t think about much is our eating habits while we’re gaming or otherwise using the computer. Sometimes we skip mealtimes because we’re zoned into our technology; sometimes we eat mindlessly in front of the screen like it’s a TV. Neither of these eating strategies are healthy–the former leaves us hungry, out of sorts, and low on blood sugar, while the other can sabotage any efforts we’re trying to make to stay healthy (as well as any efforts at keeping the keyboard clean!).

As gamers and as computer-literate people, we need to be just as literate about our bodies and how much stress we put them through. It may not feel like we’re doing all that bad by our health, but as evidenced by the pains in my wrists and hands, I am living proof that our health situations can change without much warning.

Solutions to “Sitting and Gaming” Health Problems

  • After 20 minutes of sitting in front of the computer, get up and walk for 2 minutes. This keeps blood circulating effectively, especially in your lower body.
  • Make sure you’re not slumping in front of the computer screen. This is very difficult when using laptops, but really work at sitting up straighter. I’ve noticed that working to hold myself upright helps me breathe better, and weirdly seems to reduce my wrist pain, too. (Plus, I type a little faster. Strange, but true!)
  • Look away from the computer screen every so often (every 10 or 20 minutes at least), and focus your eyes on something as far away as possible instead of on something close by. This will help your eyes exercise a little so they don’t get strained so fast.
  • Every half-hour, flex your hands and wrists as much as you can, rotating your hand around, clenching and releasing your fists, etc. This is especially important if you’re doing a lot of typing or mouse work–believe me!
  • Trade some of your “sitting and gaming” time for more active gaming time–playing games on a Wii or Kinect system, in which you use your body as part of the controller, can help with circulation and cardiovascular health.
  • If you absolutely have to be at a desk, think about buying or building a treadmill desk–it’s like a standing desk, except that there’s a treadmill surface under your feet, and you have to walk constantly forward to stay at your desk. (This would be great for those times where you’re idly Facebooking and the like.)
  • Keep a small dish of healthier snacks nearby your computer, so that when you do get hungry or do want to munch on something idly, you’re reaching for something at least partially good for you. I like the classic combo of peanut butter on crackers, or whole-wheat crackers and skim-milk string cheese. Others like a selection of chopped-up veggies with a little dip, or even a smoothie or protein shake. Whatever you choose, something with a good amount of protein and fiber will keep the “hungries” away.

Resources to Learn More

Sitting Still: Health Risks
5 Reasons Why Sitting at the Computer Can Be a Health Risk
Sitting Too Much May Double Your Risk of Dying, Study Shows
Get Up! Sitting Less Can Add Years to Your Life
Laptops and Their Impact on Your Health
Risks Associated with Computer Keyboard Use
Preventing Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
TrekDesk.com
Treadmill-Desk.com