Achievements Coming to Casual Games

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Many Xbox 360 console gamers are familiar with achievement points. The achievement point system has worked extremely well for Microsoft with the Xbox 360. Now Kongregate, a flash gaming community, has also implemented achievements into their flash games.Achievement

Not all of the flash games contain achievements just yet. Currently, there are twenty games that have the achievements implemented. Kongregate does plan to expand on that number in the future.

The achievements are given as badges in the game. You complete tasks such as defeating the final boss in Gamma Bros, without using the password from level three, to earn the Defender of the Universe badge.

Much like the achievement points on the Xbox 360, the Kongregate achievement points do not buy you anything more than bragging rights. It has worked great for the Xbox 360 in getting people to play games they normally wouldn’t just to get the achievement points. Hopefully it works just as well for Kongregate.

Thanks Joystiq

Casual, Coffee and BookWorm

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BookwormWaking up on a Saturday morning can be rough, especially when you’re awaken with kids jumping on your bed. What better way to get in a good state of mind than a cup of coffee and a casual title like Bookworm by PopCap.

The beauty of Bookworm is in its intellectual nature, you don’t just zone out and play. With Bookworm you’re playing a puzzle game which warms up the brain. A cup of Joe and some brain games helps kick your day off right. Well, breakfast too but I don’t have to tell you that, right?

You can play bookworm with your kids, if they can spell some simple words, or with your spouse/significant other. The goal is to spell out words to clear them from the board, try to spell out longer words for more points! As you play you’ll encounter fire-blocks which will burn through your puzzle pieces and, if it its the button, the game is over.

Bookworm allows you to go at your own pace, casually, with turn based action. You have plenty of time to think out great words to spell and get bonus points to level up. Bigger words will grant you golden blocks which entitle you to more points if you can use it to spell a word.

Think Scrabble but 100x more fun. You’ll find it available as a flash game and a downloadable “Deluxe” version for USD $19.95. You can download a demo for your PC or Macintosh as well, so you don’t have to buy until you try.

Under Wars? Huh? Yeah, Shoot Sea Creatures!

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Under WarsA silly time waster of a flash game, Under Wars is a cute little title which you shoot angry fish with pitch forks. Seems simple right? For a minute it was pretty simple, until I realized firing my weapons propels me backwards!

You’ll find yourself shooting your bubble gun repeatedly to keep the enemies at bay just in time to realize you’re pressed up against the end of the screen..where more enemies come at you. You’ll want to navigate your sea horse of doom with the WASD keys, just as you would in a game like Quake or Unreal.

Once you level up you’ll encounter more difficult enemies and obtain cooler weapons. Your initial gun has unlimited ammo, but firing it will propel you backwards so keep control. The advanced weapons have a certain number of shots so you’ll have to use them sparingly.

Overall, it a cute game that will hold your attention for awhile and might lead to some addiction (but I cannot figure out exactly why).

Give it a try, see what you think. flashgames247.com has tons of little flash mini-games so something will fit your fancy.

Looking For A Quick Puzzler?

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FlashxedI found a little game called Flashxed which holds a bit of a challenge and a bit of a re-design on a simple puzzle game. The flash application, provided by Extreme|FX, is cute and challenging all at the same time. You slide blocks around trying to match two or more together.

The trick? If there are three blocks in the puzzle and you complete two of them the last one remains and you’ll have to reset the puzzle to try again.

One of the beauties of the little game, you can pretty much play it while paying attention to other things, like the local news or a drama TV show.

The levels a quick and the initial ten levels or so are very easy to complete. Don’t blow it off as a simple puzzler until you’ve exceeded the beginning levels.

One thing to note, it asks you to save 1MB of information on your local computer. If you refuse, it will ask you after every level–that’s a bit annoying.

Give the game a try!

Fit Position

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Fit Position is a unique puzzle game. When you start to play you are presented with a 10 X 10 game board, which contains 100 squares. Every other square contains a box that has a shape in it. The shapes are circles, squares, triangles and plus signs. On the squares that contain the shapes are little blue buttons. Hit the blue buttons and the shape slides out of its holder.

The object of the game is to get the shape to match the one on the board. The center ofFit Position Casual Puzzle Game the board contains a gray area and in that are is a set of shapes. The easier levels contain one or two shapes that are easy to accomplish. The levels progress by moving the shapes around. There may be a square and a triangle but they are offset from an area that shoots that shape. When a shape hits another shape it moves it over a square. The direction the shape moves depends on the direction it was hit from.

Another gotcha about the game is that all shapes must match up at the same time. In other words, if there are three squares on the board, then there must be three squares on top of the squares on the board for you to beat the level. All of the levels have a timer as well, adding to the complexity.

There is a ton of strategy that goes into this game and it could provide hours of entertainment.

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