Five Fun Games: Relaxation with Stones, Myst-like Adventures, Murderous Scandals and More
2:05 pm, November 13th, 2009, Cate Defrise
It’s that time again! Mac Games and More has picked out a collection of casual games you might not have heard of, to take you into the weekend. Games include stones to put you in a Zen state, gardens that do not get your fingernails dirty, scandals involving murder, bribes, movies and more.
 Zen Stones (new) – As one of the most chill, logic puzzle games I’ve played recently, it’s not surprising Zen Stone’s tagline is, “Relax, it’s just a game.” There’s no plot or story here and you are never on the clock so take your time to solve each level. No one cares if you take five minutes or an hour – or even more than that. Send stones from the outer board to the main playing field. Shoot to have three or more adjacent stones of the same color and they will disappear from the inner board. Do this until you clear the playing field to move on the next level. Take advantage of the many bonuses that will help you go forward. You will soon fall in love with these bonuses, especially the “UP” bonus. The game can be truly addictive for puzzle gamers. If you become stuck on a level, don’t get your undies in a twist. Just start over because afterall, it’s just a game. Play it
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 Dream Chronicles The Chosen Child – Myst-like adventure games are making a huge comeback, which is what many Mac gamers have been hoping and waiting for so I’m happy to recommend this one. I’m particularly drawn to Dream Chronicles because it makes me wonder if Gaudí were alive today and making games, if they’d look like this. I think so! In Dream Chronicles The Chosen Child, immerse yourself in a whimsical, wonderful world of fairies and dream-like experiences. Follow Faye, the main character who is suddenly afflicted with a bout of amnesia, in her search for the truth and the missing husband and child she believes (but is not sure) are a part of her life. Download it
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 Smack Mahjong – What can one say about a classic tile matching game except that it is a perfect game during the cold winter months to waste some time! Not that there’s anything wrong with that; Smack Mahjong will fill your hours or days with very relaxing game play. I like to zone out playing tile games once in a while because it puts me in a sort of soothing state of mind, yet the brain still feels like it’s working behind the scenes. This game should not be confused with the real game of Mahjong, which is similar to gin rummy. It’s rather about matching tiles with the came Chinese characters or numbers. Smack Mahjong features different backgrounds and various tile sets, one of which is ideal for little kids. Download it
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| Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal – Some time during the 20s, everything’s copacetic ’til someone gets bumped off and investigative reporter Valerie Porter gets tangled in a complicated caper. She interviews the mayor, a dame, chief of police, a flapper, a ragamuffin and more, only to be be fed humdinger lines, which makes her feel like a sap. Looking for the Real Mccoy the search doesn’t stop there, so work with her to get folks to spill the truth and get a wiggle on the case for a jake news story. What am I talking about in my horrible attempt at 1920’s lingo? In a Valerie Porter and the Scarlet Scandal nutshell: hidden objects, baby, scandals, investigations, murder, corruption, bribes, puzzles, late nights, suspicion, intrigue, giggle water – which all lead to playing a game that’s the cat’s pajamas. Warning: Subject matter and graphic images are not suitable for younger audiences. Download it
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 Plant Tycoon – Now seems like it’s the most opportune moment to work on an indoor garden because it’s much too cold outside! Plant Tycoon is a real-time, virtual gardening sim game where players nurture plants and experiment with rare and valuable plant species. Start out your adventure with just a handful of seeds, a few dollars, soil and water. Monitor your plants’ health, age and maturity and be particularly vigilant of dehydration and infestations. Later, you’ll be able to sell your creations to fund your research and to buy much improved tools and supplies. With over 500 species of plants to discover, each new species places you within reach of your ultimate goal of solving the genetic puzzle and discovering the 6 Magic Plants of the island of Isola. Download it |
Posted by Cate Defrise in Gaming, mac | Comment on this article
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I cannot believe that MacGames and More (and you) completely missed the recent release of what I value the best Mac game since the Myst sequentials: Machinarium
See: http://machinarium.net/
Karel, on November 13th, 2009 at 2:23 pm
Machinarium is amazing, thanks for the tip Karel!
I have just played the demo and bought it within 5 mins! Always good to pay to support original game makers on the Mac platform.
I also bought Dream Chronicles too, so my weekend is sorted!
Fuzzypig, on November 13th, 2009 at 3:39 pm
You guy don’t read so well, do ya ….
STOP .
LISTING.
THE.
FUCKING;
HIDDEN.
OBJECT
“GAMES”.
They blow moosecock, NO ONE plays them & they are a WASTE of bandwith.
CaryMG, on November 13th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
CaryMG, you obviously ain’t married! If the handful of soccer-Moms round my kid’s school are anything to go buy, there are plenty of bored housewives with way too much time, a machine and load of expendable income to blow!
MachineHead, on November 14th, 2009 at 10:38 am
When I first saw the pic, I thought it was Hannibal Lecter’s cell as an OSX desktop, LOL.
Did anyone else notice the ear of corn? The snake?
John
vitalous, on November 14th, 2009 at 11:52 pm
I agree with Cary MG; hidden object games are rubbish.
How about doing a feature on the best freeware games around at the moment. If CoM haven’t done it already. My two pence are:
Battle for Wesnoth http://www.wesnoth.org (some people still don’t know about it)
Warzone 2100 wz2100.net (a great C&C style RTS)
Any more to add to the list?
Bolehillbilly, on November 15th, 2009 at 9:59 am