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Are you a casual gamer that just can’t get enough casual games? Perfect! We’ve launched a little online store selling some of the most addictive casual games in the market. These are games we’re proud to represent, published by BigFishGames, a company that has known the industry for almost seven years.

Our new game store (buycasualgames.com) represents a centralized area to find the most popular casual games we’re reviewing along with great new releases every day of the week! Don’t let the hardcore gamers tell us we’re not proud of the games we love and play. We’re told a hardcore gamer buys more games and plays more games — casual gamers are not defined by such barriers, we know a good game when we see one and our games will last in the industry for years, not months like a mass market “hardcore” game title.

Casual games have helped shape the gaming industry and have been the foundation for so many awesome gaming franchises. We’re happy to be able to share a bit of the action with our new customers.

Check out BuyCasualGames.com

Ikibago: The Caribbean Jewel is a pirate themed puzzle game from Yamago. In it, you play a pirate in search of the fabled Ikibago jewel. You travel from point to point along a treasure map, utilizing a Match 3 puzzle game system to move your boat along.

The puzzles in Ikibago are deceptively simple. A set number of multicolored barrels move from one end of the screen to the other in vertical rows of five barrels each. You can exchange any barrel on the screen for any other, and if you manage to match up three like colored barrels in a vertical column by the time they reach the edge of the screen, they will be hauled off successfully and you will gain points. If not, the barrels explode and you lose a life.

As the game progresses, new twists are added. In short order the barrels start to speed up, adding to the pressure. Some barrels are locked in place, and you must find special key barrels to unlock them. Other power ups can be used to change a whole column into special gold barrels for extra points. Each spot on the map contains several “missions”. A mission is completed when either you meet a specific goal, complete a number of combos or unlock a number of barrels, or else you run out of barrels.

The pirate theme is evident in both the graphics and the music. The graphics are simple but cute. All in all Ikibago: The Caribbean Jewel is a fun puzzle game with a fair amount of challenge. If you are a fan of match three games, you should definately pick up Ikibago: The Caribbean Jewel.

Bugwave is a tower defense game written in flash. The goal of the game is to stop the on onslaught of bugs using the provided defenses. Bugwave is similar to most tower defense games, except the game takes place in a garden.

Players have a few different “towers” or elements of nature to help battle the bugs. The defenses range from tornados that battle flying troops, ice needles that battle flying troops as well and water cannons to combat ground troops. There are a few different defenses to place in the garden.

Bugwave is a different type of tower defense game and neat idea for a tower defense game. If you enjoy the challenge of tower defense games, you should definitely check out Bugwave.

Avanquest Software has announced the soon to be released Junior Brain Trainer for the Nintendo DS. Unlike other brain games, Junior Brain Trainer is aimed at children aged 6 – 11 years old. The games are geared towards skills that age group is developing. The training helps build skills in reading, writing, spelling, maths, geometry, logic and problem solving.

I would guess the biggest problem in creating a brain training game for a child is you need to keep them interested in the game. Most children are not interested in learning when they are on a video game device. Junior Brain Trainer claims the game is designed to keep the childs attention.

The game is structured to have children play each day and spend a short amount of time on five different skill areas. Once the five different skill areas have been completed, the gamer is rewarded by opeing more content to play.

Junior Brain Trainer is set to be released on Dec. 5.

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Big Fish Games has announced the release of their newest hidden object game, Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst. This release is the fifth release in the Mystery Case Files franchise. The franchise has sold 2.5 million copies to date.

Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst is not a cheap game to develop and rivals some of the development costs of “hard core” games, but this game keeps the simple approach to the game and the fact that you can play in small bursts.

“Return to Ravenhearst is the largest and most ambitious project to come out of our studios. The game’s production value rivals some of the top games for the core game audience, yet the game maintains an approachable style that will appeal to all gamers,” said Pat Wylie, vice president of Big Fish Games Studios. “The Mystery Case Files franchise has been generating a mass-market phenomenon similar to what Myst® achieved in 1991 and The Sims™ in 2000. Early reviews and customer testimonials indicate that the release of Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst will create broad demand well over and above the traditional casual games’ audience.”

If you are a fan of the Mystery Case Files series, head over to Big Fish Games and get a copy of the game. Hidden object games can make a great holiday gifts and from now (11/27) to December 27 you can get the game for half off by using the code RAVEN50.

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