I wasn't able to access the game giveaway page on the 18/19th November for some reason as I believe many others weren't either. I'm posting this because I do think it will be part of a re-run at some time in the future so I’ll be able to make a short post in the comments section for a change, lol. I may just keep doing this because I do think it’s about time I started using the forums. (then again I’ve said that before).
Anyway, heres the review I wrote yesterday:
This is now available for half price from Alawar (less than $10. The fact that there are only two comments about the actual game in the review section, going back to 2003, may speak volumes about the game. Despite that obvious negative poke at this game; the kids will probably love the game. We as a family didn’t particularly find the game entertaining enough the first time around, but then I was inundated by loads of games at the time (not via the game giveaway, but from going on a spending spree) so didn’t keep this one because we weren’t inspired at the time. However if and when the game is re-run please try the game before you decide not to bother, as I did spend more time playing it today and feel I was a little hasty the first time around.
The aim of the game is to place monsters of a particular color into groups of four or more. This can be done in lines of four, a square of four, an L shape and a T shape. There are a couple of bonus items such as bombs that can clear away unwanted monsters, and a joker that allows you to create a group of four from any color group of three which can then escape to the ‘Monsters House’ Alawar does say in the help menu that they were intending to add more bonus items/power ups into this game, but that was over four years ago and nothing has materialized.
Personally I find this sort of statement in a game that is being sold a little false; I’ve come across it before when developers promise something extra, for example; extra board sets for free in their advertisements, which never appear; {a quirky arkanoid called Arcon Toys springs to mind, see the end of the review for more details about that game and others}*
To move a monster to the appropriate place you must first click on the monster then the place you wish it to move to. You do have to ensure there is a clear path to the empty cell though. Once you have created a group of four as detailed above, the monsters are freed. You earn points for every monster that escapes to the Monsters house. The level ends when you attain a specific number of points. There is an indicator in the form of a water pipe to the left of the screen that tells you how near you are to the target score. You will finish the level when the water pipe is empty.
Empty cells slowly fill with monsters. You can see which cells will fill because you can see the monsters eyes, peeping through the letter box. You can also see the color of the monster; however until the monster actually opens the door you can place any color of monster in the house. You can create multiple points bonus’s by creating multiple shapes. See the help menu for a graphical explanation of this.
The game does speed up a as you progress through the levels and contrary to my original thoughts about this game; it isn’t such a bad game as I originally remembered it. Apart from the influx of games I was buying as mentioned above, it could also have been possible that the game giveaways at the time contained a lot of match three or more games, which always dampens my interest after a few of the same. I certainly continued playing it for a while today though, although because the game giveaway site wasn’t available for whatever reason, I downloaded the demo from Alawar and worked from that while writing this review. Unfortunately, when I paused the game, the time continued to tick away , so I didn’t get to progress very far (I didn’t actually realize that this was happening until I closed the game for a break and discovered I had only a few minutes left, despite only playing what seemed like several minutes. I discovered what today’s game was going to be by looking at the giveaway site, which thankfully was up and running.
At the beginning of each level you are shown a window called a help mate that tells you how many points you require to pass the level, the shape you have to make. Besides the main shape or figure as they are called, you are shown special shapes or patterns that are combinations of at least two different colors. In the early levels you were only allowed to make the one shape shown in the help mate plus the special pattern; it also showed you what colors of monsters would appear and what bonuses you could expect There were none in the first couple of levels. You didn’t really need them though because they were easy levels. :) or :( ,depending upon how hard you like your games to be, lol.
There is no save function in this game. If you decide to close the game down your score will be posted on the high score board (if you made enough points) and when you return you have to start from level one again. I only managed to play up to level five (after initially playing level one and shutting it down to find that returning didn’t take me to level 2), which had introduced the joker bonus point and a couple of the shapes I could utilize to empty houses.
Check out the screen captures by following the links below:
All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Monster%20House/?start=all
As a slideshow:
The game speeds up very fast. Unfortunately, I ran out of time to check any further, so was unable to discover whether later levels allowed you to collect more than one shape at a time during a level. I actually quite enjoyed playing this game and would give it 6.5 put of 10. Although I realize the developers purposely made this particular game this game without a save function, I think it would still have been a positive aspect to the game if you had at least been given the option. This could have been accomplished by having an endless and an arcade mode, however I think having several game modes is a recent development. It’s certainly challenging the way it has been designed and gives you the opportunity to beat your own scores rather than just save the game for later and continue; which is still a great idea, but not always as exciting. There are no limits to the number of levels; that is, it is an endless game. Of course you need to be on your toes if you are to keep up with the speed of the game. At level five the 9x9 grid of houses seemed to fill with monsters very quickly, lol. So good luck to those who manage to reach levels in excess of a 100 (if that’s possible) Considering the nature of this game, I think it could be improved by adding an online high scores link as this would inspire some gamers to play for much longer and add a more competitive feel to the game. Also a two player game; I seem to remember most games had options for two or more players to play a level one after the other years ago. I know there are two player games still around, but not in the way they used to be presented? Alawar mentions that the games development was inspired by Monster Inc. the film by Disney.
To Alawar Games; thank you for allowing this game to be repeated and to the Game Giveaway team for providing this fantastic project.
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I don’t regret buying that one (which cost me $15) and would recommend any arkanoid fan check it out. It’s reminiscent of the arkanoid Wave Ball Root Revision, with it’s weird moving board sets, and if you pick up a particular power up your perspective changes to the balls view, which is really weird.….it certainly adds a new dimension to the game and adds a difficulty that has meant despite having both game for quite a few years I’ve still not finished either despite the small number of levels Arcon Toys has. I can’t remember how many levels Wave Ball has though. Both are well worth checking out if you like arkanoid games. They are both very original and harder than your normal arkanoid game. Well Wave Ball certainly is, lol. Check out the demo’s from:
Arcon Toys:
http://www.5star-shareware.com/Windows/Games/Arkanoid/arcontoys.html
Wave Ball root Revision:
http://www.arkanoid.com/games/waveballrootrevision
ps
I originally bought this online about the same time I bought Arcon Toys, and shortly after bought one of those budget games packs from the local supermarket and found the same game was included with it. Both the 50 game pack and the single game cost me the same. As with previous offers, I’ll give away my copy I purchased online if you email me. It may take me several days to find the file and reg code as I’ve been doing a lot of updating over the past year and have so many DVD’s full of games and other programs that I’ve bought or downloaded as freeware or mod’s for games (e.g. I have hundreds of gigabytes of files for the Battlefield 2 game alone), that it will take time. But it’s yours for free as I can’t see the harm in passing one on when I’ve got two paid for copies. :)
