Play Angry Birds (sorta) on your Mac
Angry Birds has been a phenomenon on the iPad almost from Day 1. The birds are angry because some pigs stole their eggs. They go after their enemy by slingshotting through the air and destroying the pigs’ defences.
But what if you don’t have an iPad? Or maybe you have one, but you’d like to play it on your Mac. We don’t normally link to Flash games, because there are so many of them we could never keep up. But in this case, we’d like to draw your attention to Crush the Castle — a game available for the iPhone, but with a free Flash version you can play on your Mac.
It’s not as cute and fanciful as Angry Birds, but the basic principal is the same. You click to gather one of eight projectiles in a trebuchet (similar to a catapult), then click again to release it in the correct trajectory to destroy the defences of a king and his soldiers.
It looks like Crush the Castle has been around for awhile, but I haven’t been to learn much about its history. If you can fill us in, please leave a comment. Also, I’m surprised there isn’t a native Mac version of the game — it seems like a hole a developer could easily fill and make a few bucks.
Posted Wednesday, August 25, 2010 in Playtime
Boggle options for Mac
Boggle consistently comes out as one of the most popular freeware games listed at thriftmac. Unfortunately, that makes me feel guilty.
The reason is that the only free option for playing Boggle on the Mac is a game that is several years old and has a bare minimum of features. Basically, all it does is present some random letters in a five-by-five grid and give you three minutes to find as many words as you can.
But how do you keep track of those words? Well, you have to use a pencil and paper. It’s not exactly cutting edge — so I decided to look for alternatives.
One of them is Boogle. Yes, you read that right — a deliberate misspelling of Boggle. It, too, is getting long in the tooth, but you can at least keep track of your words within the game, and get a ruling on whether the words are valid. It’s a step up, but on the other hand, only one person can play at a time.
And there is a tricky part. Technically, Boogle is $10 shareware, but in reality it appears to be abandonware. There is no way of paying for it, and the occasional nags can easily be dismissed.
So, yes, Boogle is an improvement — but not much. To get the Boggle experience you truly deserve on a Mac, you’ll have to go with a version published in 2009 by iWin. The game, at a cost of $19.95, offers nice graphics and all the features you’d expect. It’s actually licensed by Hasbro, so you know you’re getting the real deal.
In my heart of hearts, though, I’m still hoping there is well-done free word game out there that at least comes close to Boggle. If you know of one, please share it in the comments.
Posted Tuesday, April 6, 2010 in Playtime
Compliments of the house
You’re the most beautiful reader who has ever visited thriftmac. You’re brilliant and I admire you.
OK — enough kowtowing. On the other hand, if you like that sort of thing, you can have it on your Mac at regular intervals. Toady is a fun app from Mr. Fridge that pops up a compliment in the top right of your screen at timed stretches of your choosing.
The app is automatically updated with new flattery, so you don’t have to worry about it becoming stale. Admittedly, though, a steady stream of praise could eventually give anyone a swelled head — so you can alternatively set Toady to give insults instead.
“Even your imaginary friends don’t like you.” “You have no friends.”
Hmm, that’s a bit harsh. But what if you were to install it on someone else’s Mac?
Posted Saturday, February 20, 2010 in Playtime
Freeware indie games for Mac
TIGdb has a ton (643 at last count) of indie games. You can browse, read reviews and download. They’re available for a variety of platforms at a range of pricing. But I was able to do a search that produced no less than 50 freeware games for Mac OS X, including the wonderful Glider Pro from 1991. The great thing about indie games is that they tend to push the envelope, and you’re more likely to find innovative stuff that doesn’t make it to the mainstream.
Posted Saturday, November 28, 2009 in Playtime
Marathon lives
The first-person shooter Marathon first came out in 1994, back in the dark days of the Mac when there were precious few games being developed for our beloved, but beleaguered, operating system.
Bungie — the game’s creators — was treated almost like a hero for having faith in the Mac. People snapped up the Marathon trilogy and made it a minor hit.
I was reminded of Marathon when one of the members of thriftmac headquarters came home raving about Halo. This game was at one time presumed to be a sequel to Marathon, but instead Bungie disappointed us by going to work for Microsoft and the Xbox.
It all seems like ancient history, but Marathon lives on thanks to the tireless efforts of fans — and thanks to Bungie for making the code open source. A special program called Aleph One has been created that allows the game to run on OS X with smoother graphics and a larger screen resolution. Aside from this, completely new textures have been created to make the games look even better. Major conversion scenarios have come along, and some are still being updated with artistic restorations.
Marathon was probably one of the best games ever made for the Mac. If you haven’t tried it, you should. If you haven’t played it lately, you’ll be pleasantly surprised at what’s new. Start here.
Posted Sunday, November 8, 2009 in Playtime
Barricade
Mathieu Rossignol has a game called Barricade that he’d like us to know about — so we gave it a whirl.
Gameplay has you trying to move one of a set of marbles — space by space — up through a board to the top, with each move determined by the roll of a dice. You can choose which marble to move, and you can move in a number of directions — so be prepared to do some strategizing.
If you’re lucky, you’ll have the option of landing on one of several black marbles interspersed on the board and use it to block the path of your opponent — hence the name Barricade. You can also send your opponent home if you land on one of their marbles.
Overall, it’s a great game, but there are some caveats. First, it was created with Java, which feels a little weird on the Mac. Second, the interface is very much Windows-esque, which can be a turnoff. But if you’re willing to overlook these points, and just get into the game, Barricade can be a lot of fun.
Posted Wednesday, May 6, 2009 in Playtime
Mind Wall is mind boggling
Big Download reviews a free game called Mind Wall, which came out of a recent competition. (And by the way, these competitions have been the source of a lot of cool new games.) It’s one of those puzzle games that are simple to grasp but difficult to master. You’re basically just trying to pass block shapes through walls without breaking them — but even that concept has so far eluded us at thriftmac headquarters. If you’re interested in trying the game, it’s a good a idea to read the review first so you can get the gist of how it’s played. Then download it.
Posted Saturday, May 2, 2009 in Playtime
uDevGames announces winners
uDevGames has an annual contest that encourages Mac developers to come up with hot new games. They’ve announced this year’s winners — all of which you can download and play for free. The overall winner is Laserface Jones vs Doomsday Odious, a game that promises plenty of action and a wide variety of weapons. Action games dominate among the entries, but you can also find strategy, puzzle, arcade and role-playing games.
Posted Monday, March 16, 2009 in Playtime
Two free games from Muryan
Muryan has released a couple of freeware games that will appeal to those who love the classics.
In Coblyn, you race against time and avoid obstacles to collect enough diamonds to unlock the exit to the next level. If this sounds at all familiar, the game harkens back to the 1980s and even includes 200 levels from that era. It’s a lot of fun, and involves a fair bit of strategy.
Reversi is a 3D version of the popular game where opponents take turns trying to surround each other’s tokens. Whoever has the most tokens flipped to his or her colour is the winner. The implementation is simple enough, but the computer opponent is fairly intelligent even at the easy level.
In case you’re interested, the developer has other freeware available for Palm and Windows.
Posted Wednesday, December 31, 2009 in Playtime
Savage 2 now freeware
Savage 2: A Tortured Soul combines first-person shooter, real-time strategy and role-playing game elements into one epic game — and now it’s freeware with a Mac version available. If nothing else, check out the screenshots — the graphics (while a bit bloody) are gorgeous.
Posted Thursday, December 11, 2008 in Playtime
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