Available for selection are elements that redirect a color stream to a specific direction (e.g. right or down), that split color streams or teleport them to another exit. Most elements can be placed with the mouse at another location on the screen. Some elements on the other hand are fixed at their position which adds to the difficulty of the level.

The game comes with a level selector to select unlocked maps directly. In the beginning though you are stuck with level 1 and need to work your way towards level 25, the last level of the game.

The puzzle game is not overly difficulty, but that was not probably the intention of the game developer. It is a relaxing and entertaining puzzle game for players of all ages. I’d estimate that experienced players may need about 20 minutes to play through all the 25 levels of the game. Those that cannot get enough can load the predecessors of the game to continue playing. The first two parts of the game are linked from Waterfall 3 directly. Players who are stuck can lock at the walkthrough videos that demonstrate how elements need to be placed in each level to beat it.

Music and visuals are excellent. The game itself could use maps that are more difficulty to master. Interested gamers can play Waterfalls 3 directly at the Kongregate website. The game requires Adobe Flash Player to be installed as a plugin in the browser.

There may be a downside to this which should be mentioned as well. If you add a third party game to Steam, Valve is surely going to know about it which can be a privacy issue.

If you still want to go ahead you need to do the following. Start up the Steam software and wait until you have been logged in. Locate the Add A Game link in the lower left corner of the interface. A menu pops up if you click on the link.

Three options become available, one of them offers to “add a non-Steam game” to Steam.

When you select the first option to add a game a new window opens up with a listing of all programs installed on the computer. This does not only include games though. Chance is that not every game on the computer is in that list. You can use the Browse button to open a file browser to pick an executable from the computer that is not in that list.

You can check all programs and games that you want added to Steam. Once you have done that you click the Add Selected Programs button to add the games to the Steam game listing.

You can then launch the game just like any other Steam game in the listing. You may furthermore set a category for the custom games if you make use of categories to access games more quickly this way.

And that’s how you add third party games to the Steam gaming platform. Are you using Steam? Have you added games to Steam?

Rocks and Diamonds is a Boulder Dash clone for Windows, Linux and Macintosh computer systems. The game is not a 1:1 copy of the original Boulder Dash game, as it introduces new elements to the game. But first the basics.

You control the miner with the cursor keys. Left Control is used to clear an adjacent field without moving into it, while Right Control to drop an element in inventory, like dynamite.

The game is highly configurable, all controls can be changed in the setup input menu. Here it is furthermore possible to change other settings, like in game music, resolution and quality.

The game ships with level sets. It comes with a custom level set created by the designers of the game, and level sets of original Boulder Dash games, including Boulder Dash 1, Emerald Mine, Sokoban or SupaPlex. That’s a lot of digging and mining. The original Boulder Dash set alone offers 99 levels of fun, enough to keep you entertained for days, if not weeks. Even better; Unlike the original Boulder Dash where you had to start from the beginning, Rocks’n'Diamonds comes with a level selector to start at a later level directly.

The game itself plays just like the original Boulder Dash. I have not tried the Sokoban and Emerald Mine levels and cannot really say how they play. The music has been taken directly from classic Amiga demoscene tunes, which is an incredible idea. If you have been part of the demoscene then you will surely love that idea.

Rocks And Diamonds comes with a level editor to create new levels. The editor is easy to use. You see the current level on the left side and can use controls on the right to add, edit or remove items from that level. You can place enemies, rocks or diamonds there for instance among other things.

The game is well done and lots of fun. Especially the original Boulder Dash levels bring back memories. One thing that is not optimal is that there levels are not automatically switched. You always go back to the main menu where you have to click the start game button to play the next level.

Users who would like a dose of one of the most popular C-64 games of all time can download Rocks And Diamonds from the developer website.

I usually start with the game requirements. You find them in the manual, in a faq or readme on the CD, or on the developer homepage usually. A search for “game name ports” should be enough to bring up websites where the ports are listed. Ports? It would be way to technical to write everything there is to know about ports. Think of them as doors to your computer. Doors can be closed from both sides, or only from one side. Incoming traffic is usually allowed, while outgoing traffic is limited. Network traffic can utilize many different ports. Some are standardized, like port 21 for ftp connections, some are not and game dependent.

Once you have the ports, you need to check if and how they are blocked. There are basically two possibilities here. It is possible that software running on the PC is blocking the traffic. The most common software is a firewall that controls the traffic. The second possibility is hardware based, a router, hardware firewall or computer the traffic is routed through. Depending on your access level, you may have access to all configurations, to some, or none at all.

Hardware Connection Issues

Lets assume it is your home network and that you have full access to all devices and programs. It does not really matter if you start to check your hardware or software options first. I usually start with the hardware. Check the manual of the device, e.g. a router manual, to find out how you can access the devices configuration. It is either an IP address that you need to type in your favorite web browser or a domain name that is only locally valid.

I have to enter speedport.ip to open the admin interface of my Speedport W 920V router. You are usually asked to enter the admin password at this point. You find it on the router or in the router manual usually. If not, search the Internet for “device name default password” or “device admin password”.

While you are at it. Check the manual to find out how you configure ports in the device. On my device, I have to click on the Network entry, and then on NAT and Port rules to get there.

Make sure you add enable all ports that are required to play or host the game.

Try playing or hosting the game once you setup the ports. If it works, congratulations and lots of fun playing the game. If not, you may have a software firewall or other device that is blocking the traffic.

Software Connection Diagnostics

The sheer mass of firewall and security solutions makes that part difficulty. It can even happen that you have two different firewalls enabled, the Windows Firewall which ships with the operating system, and a second firewall that you have installed manually.

Lets look at Windows Firewall as this is probably the most common software firewall installed these days. Click the start button and select Control Panel from the start menu. Select System and Security, and in that menu Windows Firewall.

Windows displays the status of the firewall. If you see Connected, the firewall is active. If both are set to not connected, then the firewall is not active. You then need to check your system to see if another security program is running that controls the network traffic.

If it is on, you need to click on the “Allow a program or feature through Windows Firewall” to see the access rights of the program or game you want to use. Windows displays a list of programs that are allowed to connect to the Internet. Look for the application or game in the list. If it is not there, add it with a click on Change Settings and another click on Allow another program.

Select the program from the list or click the browse button to add a program or game that is not listed there. A click on the add button in the same configuration menu adds the new program to the list. You can try to connect to multiplayer games or host games.

You can use software to check for open ports. Online tools such as Can You See Me, Port Check or Port Forward can help you check specific ports on a computer system.

Did I miss something? Let me know in the comments.

The game has been developed by Valve, the company behind Half Life and Portal. Unlike those games, Team Fortress 2 was always offered for a bargain price. The retail price has been set to about 20 Dollars or Euros, with promotions dropping that price to less than 10 bucks for a game that entertained many for hundreds of hours.

Another thing that makes the game special is the humor, which you come in contact with not only while playing, but also in the excellent “Meet The” videos that introduce all available Team Fortress 2 classes.

When you open the Steam Store you are directly greeted with the Team Fortress 2 Free To Play announcement. If you have not purchased the game, you can now download and play it for free. The official Team Fortress 2 blog confirms the move to a free to play model.

There are however differences between free and premium members. A premium member is someone who purchased the game in the past. Here are the most important differences:

• Backpack: 50 slots 300 slots (expandable up to 1000)
• Items: Standard Standard, Rare and Cosmetic
• Crafting: Limited blueprints All blueprints
• Trading: Receive items only Full trading
• Gifting: Can receive gifts Can give and receive gifts

Those limitations are all item based, which are not needed to play the game. The backpack limitation could become a problem when items begin to fill it, but everything else is just not as relevant for playing the game. More important than that, “all game modes, classes, and maps are available”. Free players can turn their free account into a premium one by making a single purchase in the inbuilt game store. Players can buy weapons, items and other stuff in that store. The cheapest item cost well below a Dollar / Euro in the store, but you need to transfer at least 5 Dollars, Euro to your Steam Wallet as this seems to be the minimum amount. They can still buy an item for less than that, but will have leftover money then in their account.

To celebrate the free to play release of the game, the developers have created the long awaited “meet the medic” video. It is a bit stereotyping Germans, but who gives a xxxx.

So what are you waiting for? One of the greatest multiplayer games of all time, now free. You need Steam to download the game, should you not have it. If you have Steam, visit the Store and click on the Team Fortress 2 announcement there or search for the game in the store. The download links should appear there right away.

The game begins slowly to get you accustomed to the game pace and the different types of enemies that are thrown at you.

Enemy types come in a wide range, from standard cannon fodder that do nothing but move and standard shooting types to enemies that leave toxic waste on the arena floor when they die. You will also face a boss every ten levels which have more hitpoints than the standard ships. They are much harder to beat, especially so if you play the game on medium or hard difficulty.

The last ten levels are especially demanding as you face multiple bosses in each wave. You get experience and level ups, which you can invest in improvements like better ship armor, faster bullets or more bullets. Each improvement is offered as a basic, medium and advanced improvement costing one, two and three skill points respectively. You get two skill points per level up and end up with about 18 skill points total which indicates that you need to make decisions here. Do you go for the best armor in game to protect your ship, or do you prefer faster and more bullets. It is up to you and your play style.

The improvements are necessary to make it to the last waves of the game. Destroyed ships drop extras from time to time. These ranges from filling up ship health to a stationary cannon in the arena, seeking missiles or piercing bullets. It is extremely important to make use of those extras, especially in later stages of the game. You can only carry three with you around at times, so use them to free up slots if enemies have dropped more extras on the ground.

Experienced players should start with the medium difficulty right away. The hard difficulty is not available before you beat the game on easy or medium.

Diepix Arena 2 is an ideal game for a short break, as you can jump right in and start playing. It will keep you busy for about ten to fifteen minutes if you make it through wave 50, or less if you do not. You do not get many replay value though, except for the hard difficulty and beating the high score. That does not mean that you won’t play it again though, but you’d probably move on pretty quickly. You can play Diepix Arena 2 at Armorgames. On a side note, Diepix Arena, the predecessor is available there as well.

I started the games blog back in 2005 but had to let it rest for the past few years. I just started writing again and will not stop this time. Some friends help me and contribute regularly to the site. Everything is written in German, but most of the games are English. I try to review lots of browser games and free games, and throw in occasional video and screenshot posts as well as editorials.

I try to post as many screenshots and English videos as possible, which should be enough to spark the interest of some of you. The free game reviews usually link to English versions of the reviewed games as well, especially if they are browser games.

If you like a mature game site that tries to cover games that not every other games blog under the sun covers, then Gameokratie may be for you. If you are wondering about the name. It is a word play on Games and Demokratie, the German word for democracy.

Some of the latest reviews on the site include the incredible (free) Bela Kovacs and The Trail of Blood point and click adventure, the strategic game Tentacle Wars and the bullets per inch record breaking browser game Bullet Heaven. All solid games that entertain for hours.

Hope to see you there soon. You may also like to chime in and post your top 10 PC games of all times. I did ;)

The objective of Typeracer is to type faster than all the other players. Each race consists of a few sentences that have to be typed as fast as possible in a text field. Typing a word correctly moves your car a tad closer to the finish line. That pretty much sums the whole game up.

What I like about Typeracer is that you can start playing right away. No registration, no plugins, no downloads. That’s awesome. If you are a little bit shy you can practice at first and start a real race once you feel comfortable with the game mechanics.

A word per minute (wpm) count of 50-60 usually is enough to finish the game first. It’s lots of fun and you probably improve your typing skill as well. Who’s up for a race ?

The basic principle of the game remained the same. You have to stop enemy creeps who enter a level from one or multiple locations to reach the exit of that level. You begin each level with a certain amount of life and every creep that makes it reduces that life by one.

The player can build five basic characters and four advanced ones that have to be researched before they can be placed. The five basic characters have each strengths and weaknesses and only a combination will ensure victory on most levels.

Each character that is placed on the board gains experience by attacking and defeating enemy creeps. If he reaches a certain amount of experience he can be upgraded which always gives the player the choice to upgrade the special attack of that character or give him more general attack power.

Special attack powers can be poisonous attacks or critical for instance. Monsters do always have one strength (like poison for instance) and one weakness (fire for instance) and characters with those attacks do more or less damage because of these. There are other abilities that players have to watch out for. Some monsters have immunities, some regenerate, some absorb damage.

Beating a level for the first time gives the player a skill point which he can use to buy advancements. This can be the aforementioned advanced characters or other abilities or extras that make live just a little bit easier on the battlefield.

The choice of level is upon the player. He can’t choose all of them at the beginning but there are always some to choose from which is great. Levels are divided into easy, medium and hard and each have different stages. There are some fun maps as well, for instance the marathon map with forty stages.

The easy and medium levels are fairly easy to beat most of the time but the hard levels require solid planing and lots of testing. The good thing is that you can try the level as often as you like without loosing anything.

The first World War began in 1901 and the player steps into the role of an agent named Kara who has to investigate the disappearance of General von Toten in 1904. The first two parts of this episodic game have already been released and can be played on the web.

The two remaining parts will be soon released as well completing the series.

It is relatively hard to spot some of the objects that you are supposed to find. The first part takes roughly ten minutes to complete if you are used to playing games like this one. It might take longer if you get stuck.

Read More:

Covert Front

I therefore compiled a list of tips and tricks describing certain aspects of Team Fortress 2 that make the game more enjoyable and your character more competitive when competing against other players and teams online.

If you have more tips post them in the comments. This is not a complete collection of course but contains some good pointers for beginning Team Fortress 2 players.

General Tips:

Activate Fast Weapon Switching in the options to switch the weapons faster when using the mouse wheel.
A good teamplayer selects a class that is needed to play in a certain situation. That means you do not start as Sniper if your team already has 4 and no Engineer at all.
Every weapon makes less damage over distance except the rifle of the Sniper and the nades of the Demoman
You can almost walk through team members, if you meet someone that is blocking it is most likely a spy.
Hitting or coming close to an invisible spy reveals his location for a short time.
Players exit teleporters always facing the same direction
Water stops the flames if players have been hit by a Pyro if the character can swim in it. As does a Medic Gun and a Dispenser. This

Team Fortress 2 Classes:

A capping scout counts as two players
A medic boosts health of the player that he hits his medic gun with by 150 Hitpoints.
Overcharge lasts for ten seconds
Overcharge fills faster when healing injured team members. Use this to your advantage on maps where you have to wait 50 seconds before they start by healing either a Demoman or a Soldier who do Rocket / Bombjumps. Overcharge will be ready when the map begins, switch to a heavy then.
Use Rocketjumps and Bombjumps to reach roofs or places that other players can’t. This includes the houses in Gravelpit, the hole when entering the base in 2Fort or the balcony in 2Fort.
A good medic is able to make two players invulnerable with his medic gun by pointing it to each player alternately.
Don’t place Sentries, Dispensers or Teleporters in places that can be seen from a distance. This way everyone can take them out from that distance without getting hurt at all. The best place is behind or under objects.
A sentry gun can kill the Engineer who build it if he stands in the way of the rockets and bullets.
Pyros are less effective when running after someone.
Spies always use a nickname of the enemy team when disguised. Use this to your advantage
Spies: First the sentry, then the Engineer. (Attacking the Engineer reveals the true colors of the spy which means the Sentry gun will attack him.
Use your sapper while in disguise as a spy. Remember to change classes that you disguise as frequently.
Don’t disguise as classes that are either faster or slower than a Spy. This means no Heavy, no Soldier, no Scout. No Medic as well because it becomes obvious that you are a spy if you do not heal someone that requests it.
Engineer: First the Sentry, then the Dispenser. Reverse order in Sudden Death games unless the enemy is know for rushing your base.
Engineer: Build Teleporters. Start when the map begins by placing an entrance next to your base, run back in to get your metal filled up and continue. Move Teleporter entries and exits frequently if the situation changes.
Sentry Guns, Dispenser and Teleporters can be placed in the water as well. A Dispenser heals faster than staying to long in the water subtracts
Engineers: Hit anyone coming near your position, it could be a spy. Remove sappers and repair Sentries and other equipments with your Wrench. A good hit with the Wrench can kill a spy.
Don’t try to kill something from the distance with a Heavy. You crit far more often when close by because of the immense amount of bullets in your gun. Hit Sentries from close range only.
Heavy: A Medic is your best friend. Treat him better than your gun. That means have an eye on him and kill everything that attacks him. Use your body to block enemy bullets from reaching your Medic.Know when to retreat.
If you are injured and near your own base go into the cabinets in Resupply to heal completely.
Snipers do more damage when the lightning symbol is fully charged.
The Demoman is the best character to defend. Place sticky bombs around a capturing point or entrance / exit / way to stop the enemy advance
If the enemy is charging in with overcharge hide and concentrate on damage reduction. Try to hit other enemies that are vulnerable
The Scout is mighty powerful. They can take down Heavies with some shots from their Scattergun if close by.
Use the Double-jump ability to reach areas that other players can’t reach from there. An example is jumping from the bridge in 2Fort to the enemy balcony which is actually the fastest way in and out of the base
Pyros are great in buildings and winding hallways. Also great when a lot of enemies are standing in one place, e.g. when capping. Most players flee when they are ignited.

Gravity plays a huge role in Tower of Goo. The players main task is to balance the sides of his tower to make sure that no side is dragging the other side to it which results in a lower tower of course. The drops seem to be unlimited, falling from the sky to the ground and quickly climbing up the structure that you already have build.

A left-click selects a drop which can then be used to support the structure by connecting two drops that are already in place. This is one of the games that I really like. Just jump in, play a few minutes, relax and leave it afterwards. Ideal game for a short break.

Links:

Tower of Goo Unlimited

Several obstacles like fans and pipes have a influence on the water drop which could lead to separation. The player will remain in control of the largest part of the separated drop and loose the rest if it scrolls out of sight. Since the goal is to reach the Ocean, or better a sink that leads into the Ocean, with as much water as possible it is a good idea to make sure the water drop does not get split along the way.

Aggregate States are another element of the game. If your water drop comes close to a heat source it will turn into steam which can be used to overcome obstacles along the way. Cold sources on the other hand turn it into a snowflake which is of course more solid than water.

Heaven to Ocean is a wonderful game for the weekend. It takes a little while to get used to the game mechanics but once you get the grip of that it turns out to be fun. Lots of it.

Heaven to Ocean Homepage

Destroying enemies is however not done by firing at them but by pressing keys to the rhythm of the music. This reminds me a little bit of Guitar Heroes without the guitar, that is. If the timing is good enough a stream of colorful light will seek the closest enemy. This has to be done until all enemies in that level are gone.

The excellent tutorial is a must. It explains the default controls of the game and all game mechanics. Enemies spawn for a certain time from so called spawn points which create a limited amount of enemies before they disappear.

The player has access to some spells as a last resort which function as smart bombs in an area. At least the ones that I tried.

Synaesthete is an incredible game offerings lots of fun.

Some might feel that the tutorial is a tad to long or prefer to step right into the action without knowing what’s actually going on storywise. If you are one of those players this game is not for you. It mixes in several real time strategy game elements such as selecting several units at once and moving them with the mouse around the screen.

The player has to carefully plan his steps and always consider the health and ammunition of his squad to be able to master a level. Some players might find it extremely difficulty to beat certain levels because the enemy is – most of the time – on possession of an incredible number of units.

Specs (taken from the developers website):

• Tactical Squad Action
• About 3 – 4 hours to complete
• Storyline through 14 levels
• Freeware

Read more:

The Jeluvian Project Homepage
direct download xp / vista

This is exactly the situation that you face in Stranded 2. Your new Yacht gets hit by a lightning during a terrible storm, catches fire and explodes after the fire reaches the fuel tanks. You do survive and wake up on the shores of a remote island and your first task is to make sure you survive the first day.

Three needs (Hunger, Thirst and Sleep) affect your health which means that you have to make sure to find enough food and water on the first day and build a shelter for the night as well. Not an easy task with no tools or supplies at hand.

You do find some barrels that have been swept ashore as well which you can plunder but those contain only a handful of items like Juice that reduce your thirst for a short time.

The start of the game is not that easy and I faced some difficulties until I decided to explore the island. I soon found a fire stone and was able to create my first tools by combining stone with limbs from a nearby tree.

Once you got your tools and found a fresh water supply you can start to begin building your shelter, plant grain and explore the island even more.

Tails Gear works fine with a gamepad but can be played as well using the keyboard. You shoot with Z and C and use a secondary weapon with X. If you are new to this type of games I suggest you start with the easy setting and experience the game on this stage before moving on to normal or hard.

Hard is by the way very intense and you really need a calm hand to succeed in this mode. There are so many bullets and lasers on the screen that it becomes nearly impossible to dodge them all without crashing your spaceship. Tals Gear is a great game for a quick pause of some minutes, very easy to learn but difficulty to master. Exactly the types of game that I like.

The game does not need to be installed and can be run from any location on your hard drive. The download is about 10 megabytes which is acceptable for this type of game.

The better weapons do not appear immediately. It takes about 2-3 waves of aliens before you get the real good guns like the rocket launcher. You control the game with the wasd keys and the mouse. The mouse is used for aiming at the enemies and shooting at them. Left click fires a bullet in the direction that you aim and the right-click changes the type of weapon that you use at the moment.

What else can I say ? Naac combines a fast gameplay with addicting game elements. Ideal for a quick snack in a break.

Streets of Rage Remake lets you fight alone, with a computer at your side and with a second human on the same computer fighting on the same computer against the enemies. The game supports one gamepad which means that the other human player would have to use the keyboard to play the game.

The game uses the typical three buttons of the 16-bit Genesis system. Use C to attack, V to jump and X for a devastating special attack. The B button seems to be a unique feature calling the police who smartbomb the whole screen.

It’s more fun with two players of course but the single player mode plays fine as well. Great free game, if you like those fighting games you should definitely take a look. Download is about 70 megabytes.

The main fun in this game is the fact that you can play with up to four human players on one computer and up to 8 if you play over network. Those 4 vs 4 team battles are so great, especially when everyone is sitting in the same room and you can see their faces. (and hear them, hehe)

All 24 characters have special movies which cost energy to perform. Some can throw fireballs, some can teleport around or summon swords. You should take a look at the chart that explains the moves before you start the game.

Remember to open up port 12345 if you plan to play network games.