: Triple Town

The last week I've been playing a cute little game on Google+* called Triple Town (also available on Facebook). Unlike most of the other Facebook/Google+ games, this is an actual game that requires a bit of skill and has some sort of goal. Even though that goal is to just hold out as long as possible before you lose, and get the highest score... =P

The game is pretty simple, really. Your goal is to create the biggest town possible by connecting three or more items of different types in a 6x6 grid (-1 plot that is reserved for storage). When you start the game, it places random objects in the grid. Some grass here, a few bushes there, maybe a tree or two and a couple of houses. And also possibly a bear, a gravestone and a rock or two. 

The game gives you a random object that you have to place in the grid, usually some grass, but occasionally something better. Whatever object you get you have to put in the grid, preferably connected to something similar, and if three or more similar objects get connected, they will merge into an object of a higher level and appear in the spot where you placed the last object.

You only have a certain amount of moves available, but they increase by one every minute, up to a max of 150. You can also buy more moves, but it's rather expensive.

There are also special objects you can get, like bears and crystals. Bears wander around the grid, terrorizing the villagers. If you trap a bear, so it has nowhere to move, it will die and leave behind a gravestone. If you connect three or more gravestones, they will merge into a church. The crystals are special in that they can be used to merge anything. If you place them somewhere where they connect with two or more objects of a similar type, it will merge them to an object one level higher. However, if you place it somewhere where it can't merge anything, it will turn into a simple rock. 

An example of a game in progress.

Rocks can also be merged to create bigger rocks, but I haven't tried that yet, and don't know what will happen if you merge three larger rocks.

There's also an Imperial Bot that will destroy or kill any object you use it on.

If you get an object you don't want to use yet, you can place it in the storage plot. At the beginning of the game, the storage plot is empty, and the first object you place here will simply be stored for later. Whenever you want to store something later, though, you have to switch the item with the one already in the storage.

There's also an option to buy items, but they're limited in quantity and rather expensive. When you buy an item, the one you're already holding will be put aside until you've placed the bought items. Be careful how you spend your money, though, as there are no easy ways to get more.

The game is finished when the grid is completely filled out. The game then awards you money based on how many moves you've managed to use (the more the better) and what kind of houses you have, amongst other things. And then you have to start over again.

*Give me a shout if you want an invite to Google+.

: WoW - Mists of Pandaria

So, I've been thinking about making another seperate blog for games and game-related stuff. Not in any way a review-blog, just a place to voice my opinion on games that I like. Or dislike. Or just have an opinion on, in the case of unreleased games. And I thought that the announcement of a new WoW-expansion was a great way to kick it off. So here I go.

Pandaren

Finally! I've been wanting Pandaren as a playable race since the game launched. Or at least since the first expansion was announced. I don't know why, but they just seem like a very fun race to play. And they look awesome. I also love that they went with what people have been asking for a long time; A race that can choose which side they want to be on. It does, however, seem a bit weird that Pandaren on different sides can't speak with each other, but I guess they have to do it like that if they're gonna keep the tension between the factions. As for their racial abilities, well...

Epicurean - Increases stat benefits from food-buffs by 100%.
In my opinion, this is a bit overpowered, particularly considering the rather huge buffs you get from food at higher levels. Pandaren would get a rather big advantage over the other races with this. This buff should be reduced, to about 20-30%. It would still be a nice racial, but not too powerful.

Gourmand - Cooking skill increased by 15.
Eh, makes sense. If they are to get any trade-skill or secondary skill benefits, cooking is the best choice.

Inner Peace - Rested experience bonus lasts twice as long.
Hm, sure, why not. Seems to fit quite nicely with their way of life, and doesn't really give that much of an advantage in any way, and literally none when at max level.

Bouncy - 50% less falling damage.
Seems appropriate. =P

Quaking Palm - Put target to sleep for 3 secs, using pressure points.
I guess Monk-training is a part of the Pandaren lifestyle, no matter what path they choose later in life. I have no problems with that.

As for the continent of Pandaria; The concept sounds great and the screenshots look awesome. I'd really like to see it.

Monk

Once again; Finally! Another thing I've been waiting for since the game launched is a Monk-class. I've always loved the concept of Monks in RPG's. Bare-handed combat, and particularly staff-combat (one of the reasons why my favorite Turtle was Donatello). Now, I don't know if Monks in WoW will actually have staff-based combat skills, but I really hope so. Either way; Just having them in WoW is a huge step up for me. I also like that they can be both tanks, healers and dps. It fits very well with how I imagine Monks to be. I just hope they do it right.

New Talent Trees

Now this is something I don't like... Wowhead.com has already released a MoP-talent-calculator, and it just looks pathetic. I don't know what their plan is, as the section covering the new talent trees on the official MoP-site isn't available yet, but if they're seriously considering replacing the current talent trees with that, then I don't know if I'm gonna come back. I'd really like to try playing as a Pandaren, and particularly a Pandaren Monk, but if this is the way they're going with the talent-trees, I highly doubt it's gonna happen. I just... No.

If, however, this is some kind of secondary talent tree where you can mix and choose spells, and all the old talents are in the original talent tree, then maybe. But I highly doubt that's what's going on here. I fear that this is what the new talent trees is gonna look like, and I don't like it. Too simple. I like complexity and variety when creating my character. I already think that the Cataclysm-talents are too simple, but this is just ridiculous.

Challenge Mode Dungeons

Now this is an interesting concept. It's basically a time trial for dungeons, with gold, silver and bronze medals as reward. From what I can understand, you'd better find a particular group of people you like to play with to do this, as the medals will be given to the group, not the player, and the more medals a group get, the better prizes they can get. Mostly cosmetic prizes, but still.

One of the reasons why I like this is because the challenge mode will be purely based on skill and cooperation within the group. As mentioned, you'd better stick with one group for this (no PUG's) to get the rewards. In addition to that, all your gear will be changed to a specific set chosen for that particular dungeons difficulty level, no matter what gear you actually have, to make sure no one has an advantage. I know some people might not like that idea, but I think it's great.

Pet Battle System

Eh... I... Um... What? Ok, I read peoples comments about it before I started writing this, and I originally thought that people were exaggerating when they compared it to Pokemon. But... That is seriously what this is. Not just because you can battle the pets against each other, but you can also catch new pets by battling certain creeps you encounter in the wild, just like when catching Pokemon. The only thing really missing is Pokeballs and that the pets evolve.

I don't know what I think of this, to be honest. I guess it's just a cute little mini-game, I just hope it wont become a too big and/or annoying part of the game.

PvE Scenarios

I don't know what this is, as I haven't found any info on it. Or possibly overlooked it. The section about it on the official site isn't up yet either. So... I guess I'll fill this in when I find some info.


All in all I'm kind of excited about this expansion. But I'm not gonna make a decision as to if I'm going to try it or not yet, not until I get a clearer understanding of the new talent-system. I just hope that I'm wrong, and that they haven't dumbed it down as severally as it looks.