Rockstar Bingo beats the work-at-home blues

For most of my work-at-home friends, every day brings another round of boring business video conferences. And if they can't leave their house or stray very far from their keyboard and mouse, don't they deserve an occasional break to do something fun?

I think I might have a solution. It's a group game called Rockstar Bingo that's starting to pop up both online and in real-world bars and pubs. And it looks like a lot more fun than another Zoom call with the boss.

The game is like traditional bingo, but instead of a grid of random numbers, each player gets five-column digital card showing song titles and artist names in each square. The game host spins songs while players search their cards looking for a match. The winner, of course, is the first player to click a series of squares that spell B-I-N-G-O.

The game can be played at home among friends or family members, or in a pub or similar live setting. All it needs is a host to set it up, a list of players, and a collection of at least 75 songs. The host sends invitations to players who click to the Rockstar Bingo website to exchange their invitation code for a bingo card.

Once players have checked in, the host starts playing tunes and players begin identifying songs and marking their cards. Is that Pink Floyd's "Money" that I hear? Do I have that square? When a player fills in a row, they click the "Call Bingo" button to alert the host.  

Hosts act as the game's DJ. If they're using a paid version of the game, they can select a playlist provided by the game makers, upload their own playlist or connect to one of their personal playlists on Spotify. Rockstar Bingo also maintains a library of public Spotify playlists.   

Hosts can also consult a library of training videos to help them up their game with tips, graphics, checklists, photos and other media assets. There's also a Facebook community that's just for hosts and a Music Bingo Podcast.

In addition to bingo sessions with friends or businesses associates, Rockstar Bingo is also starting to be offered as entertainment in clubs and pubs, like a new spin on karaoke or trivia nights. The game can also be used to keep crowds entertained at sporting events or movie theaters during the warm up period or intermissions. 

Rockstar Bingo is available for free play with groups of up to six players. An ad-free premium version that allows custom playlists and supports up to 30 players costs $29.99 per year. For larger groups, Rockstar Bingo will provide a custom price quote.

For more details, check out the video below and visit the Rockstar Bingo website, their Facebook page and Instagram feed and @RockstarBingo on Twitter. 

  

By: Ric Manning On 8/26/2021

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CloudCat helps gamers build to win

If you're a gamer, CloudCat says “We understand what you are struggling with.” 

You love playing mobile strategy games like Clash of Clans or AFK Arena. But you don’t have time to do all the grinding background work like farming, building or adding to your meager stockpile of gold. 

It's a dilemma that CloudCat calls the vicious P2W cycle: 

Only way to win is to cough up your hard-earned cash. You need tons of gold and elixir just no way of getting it. So if you want to build up your village quickly you need to pay for resources, and that sure ain't cheap.

You may be a player who wants to get to the good stuff quickly but your life requires that you devote time to other things, like maybe work, studying or sleeping.

That's where CloudCat wants to help. It's a mobile game helper service that takes over much of the grunt work that online multiplayer games often require. Think of it as a robot that will plow your simulated farm fields while you're asleep.

The service is completely cloud-based, so there's nothing to install or configure on your gaming device. CloudCat is designed to be used on any device that has a browser - a mobile phone, a tablet or a desktop computer.

Cloud Cat currently supports Clash of Clans, Clash Royale, and AFK Arena. The company says it plans to support more games and it invites players to make suggestions through CloudCat's social media accounts.

To get a closer look at the service, visit the CloudCat website where you can watch an introductory video. CloudCat is also on Facebook.    

By: Ric Manning On 9/30/2020

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Minecraft fan ranks Top 10 hosting servers

Count Jason Lawrence among the millions of fans of Minecraft, the hugely popular multiplayer game that lets players build and explore an infinite virtual world.

Serious players who want to take control of the Minecraft environment and play rules can install the game on their own server.

That server could reside on their own personal computer, but a more practical solution is to rent space through a commercial data hosting service that sells Minecraft hosting packages.

That's what Lawrence did, but not before taking a whole lot of test drives. In his quest to find the best package at the right price, he purchased and tested the offerings from 71 different Minecraft hosting providers.

Along the way, he charted and rated each service and posted profiles of his top 10 vendors on his Minecraft Hosting website.

Lawrence say his ratings are based on these factors:

• The total cost per month
• The ease of setting it up
• Performance of your server under load
• Adding mods to your server
• The support-ticket waiting time
• Extra features in control panel

In his profiles, Lawrence gives vendors high marks for having servers multiple regions, staff expertise in dealing with mods and responsive support. Slow support response or hidden fees turn up in the Negatives column. (See a sample profile below.)

In addition to his Top 10 list, Lawrence has written and posted detailed guides to help server managers choose a Minecraft provider, set up their server and promote its availability and advantages.

The profiles and guides are available for free on Lawrence's Minecraft Server website.

By: Ric Manning On 9/02/2020

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Twisted 23 reimagines classic slider game

I called him Uncle Al, but he wasn't really my uncle, just a friend of my parents. As a 7-year-old kid, I thought Al had the coolest job in the world. He owned string of gumball vending machines and always had loads toy prizes and tchotchkes.

One of my favorites was the slider puzzle. It held 15 numbered squares in a plastic frame. Players would slide the pieces around the frame and use the lone open square to rearrange them into numeric order.

I was reminded of Uncle Al and the sliding puzzle game when I came across Twisted 23. It's also a sliding number puzzle but recreated for playing on an iPhone or iPad.

Early slider puzzle.

Twisted 23 expands the old slider concept. It has a larger game board with 24 slots and 23 tiles. Then it tilts the board on its side to present a diagonal playing field. It also adds a couple of other enhancements.

A game starts with numbers arranged in a specific order. When the player taps the "Shuffle" button, the tiles reappear in a new order and a play clock starts ticking.

The goal it to arrange the board in its original order with the fewest moves or fastest time, then compare your score with others on a leader board. The app also has an optional  4 x 6 puzzle that's similar to the conventional 15 square slider puzzles.

Twisted 23 is available to download from the iTunes App Store. The app is free, with ads, or you can remove the ads for $.99.

By: Ric Manning On 3/22/2020

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New app has 'Slots Appeal'

One of those riverboat casinos is parked a few miles from our home so we occasionally drop in for a few hours of gaming. My wife gets drawn immediately to the banks of slot machines.

I know there’s something mesmerizing about those spinning wheels and the crazy sound of jackpot winners and plinking coins.

I hoped to satisfy her need for more slots time by installing Magic Slots on her phone and tablet. Magic Slots is an app that replicates the basics of live slot machines. It has a scoring table - 40 points for three 7s - along with buttons to bet one more points and a colorful set of spin wheels.
 
There’s no financial payoff and, sadly, getting Bitcoins on a row doesn't result in some cryptocurrency dropped in your online wallet.

For real money action, you might check out Slots Adviser, a website from the people who created Magic Slots. The site offers links and reviews to online casino sites such as Ignition Casino, Joe Fortune and Bovada along with bonus deals for new users.

Magic Slots is available as free download for Android devices in the Google Play Store.

By: Ric Manning On 9/28/2018

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Android race game puts you in the driver's seat

Browsing around Amazon the other day, I came across a full-sized race car simulator for PC and PS3 driving games. It looked like a pretty sweet deal, but only if you had $3,099 to blow.

I think I can be entertained just as well playing In Car Racing on my Android phone. Sure, it doesn’t have a steering wheel or a gas pedal, but it does deliver a straight-ahead windshield view, which is not very common among handheld racing  games.

The latest version of the game lets you steer by tilting your phone or tablet to the left or right. And you just have to touch the screen to accelerate or hit the brakes.

The game includes a variety of 3D locations including busy city streets, bucolic countrysides and curvy mountain roads. Each location presents a variety of challenges from weaving through congested traffic to overpowering a sports car hogging your lane.

The game delivers coin rewards to drivers who outmaneuver their competition, avoid crashes and perform high-speed stunts.

Other features include dashboard maps, steering wheel mods, night racing and the ability to adjust the rear-view mirror.

And here’s the part that I really like: In Car Racing is a free download in the Google Play Store. I already feel $3,099 richer.

By: Ric Manning On 8/14/2017

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Candy Jam follows style of Candy Crush

Few mobile games have been as popular as Candy Crush and its successors. Like Tetris, one on my all-time favorites, the simple matching game is easy to learn and always available for a quick diversion.

Now there’s a new game called Candy Jam, which builds on the  foundation of Candy Crush and Cookie Jam, another fast-paced matching game.

With Candy Jam, players try to swap game pieces to create a row of three or more identical candies. Along the way, they can pick up special boosters that help them burst through various barriers. Scoring is based on how many candies they can crush.

Candy Jam includes more than 200 different levels, each with vivid graphics and special effects. Players collect different kinds of candies to fill orders and they are rewarded with a special candy if they match four or more on the same candy.

Candy Jam is available as a free download in the Google Play Store. 

By: Ric Manning On 4/19/2017

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Review Station lists cheapest gaming laptops in India

The emergence of the Indian Gaming Show in New Delhi earlier this year is just one example of the rapidly expanding interest in gaming in one of the world’s second most populous countries.

The market for gaming devices is also booming with gamers on the hunt for  affordable gaming platforms.

A website called Review Station recently posted its list of the 10 best laptops priced at under 35,000 Rupees.

Why that price point? Here’s what Review Station says:

The best thing about laptops in this range is that they won’t be low on specs and high on pricing.

The list includes models from Asus, Dell. Lenovo, Acer and HP. The profiles includes the specs for each unit - memory, operating system and hard drive and screen sizes - along with links to order the units online.

For a closer look, check out Review Station, which also has lists of top laptops at in lower price ranges.

By: Ric Manning On 4/10/2017

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Here's another way to join the bubble-shooting craze

While browsing the all-ages mobile games in the Google Play Store, you may see more than one game called Bubble Shooter. Those aren’t duplicates of the same game, they are different twists on a popular formula.

And while you may have already rescued imprisoned lambs and kittens in other bubble-shooting games, there are still some cute squirrels who need your expertise.

Like some other bubble-shooting games, this one challenges players to pop three or more bubbles of the same color in order to release the squirrels and move on to a new level.

The game has more than 100 levels and players have unlimited lives so they can play whenever they like and for as long as they choose.

The game is available as a free download in the Google Play Store.

By: Ric Manning On 3/11/2017

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This bubble shooting game features captured sheep

As the popularity of bubble shooter games continues to grow, developers keep coming up with new scenarios to extend the franchise.

Bubble Shooter, which was recently updated by 3DGames, challenges players to rescue cuddly sheep that are trapped inside bubbles. The only way to release them is to shoot and match sets of similar bubbles.

The game offers about 200 different levels and puzzles along with a variety of different maps and bubble styles. Players will encounter a fire bubble, a bomb bubble and other variations.

Play modes are simple and easy to grasp for players of all ages. Just shoot three matching bubbles to advance.

Bubble Shooter is available as a free download in the Google Play Store.

By: Ric Manning On 3/11/2017

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Custom devices pack DS games on a single SD card

The point of a mobile game deck like the Nintendo DS it to be able to play your favorite games anywhere you go. But for fans who have amassed a large collection of games, that would mean hauling around a backpack or shoulder bag.  

Some developers in Ireland have come up with an alternative solution. The R4 3DS card is an SD memory card packed with games that works with a DS adapter.

The device costs 18,30 € and works with 3DS, 3DS XL and 2DS devices and supports a variety of DS games including those from Europe and Japan as well as some home-brewed content.

The developers took a similar approach to create the Sky3ds+ for 3DS games. The card works with 3DS ROMs and firmware downloaded from online sources to back up games that you already own. The ROMs are are stored in the root of a formatted SD memory card.

The Sky3ds+ costs 85,60 €.

For a closer look at how the memory cards work, check out the video below.

By: Ric Manning On 3/04/2017

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Bubble shooter game rescues kittens

How do you rescue cute kittens from the clutches of an evil monster? Fire up your bubble shooter and start taking aim.

That’s the premise behind Puzzle Bubble Shooter Classic, a new arrival in the popular genre of mobile bubble shooters.

The Android game offers more than 300 different levels in four play modes.

Players pop colored bubbles by dragging or tapping their bubble blaster and aiming at descending rows of colored bubbles. When you have a bubble in your sights, release your finger to fire the shooter.

Match three balls or more of the same color to score. Combos and boosters that include a rainbow, fire, lava and a friendly provide super aiming to help conquer each challenge.

Puzzle Bubble Shooter Classic is free to download in the Google Play Store and can be played offline without an Internet connection. The game include some optional in-game items to purchase.

For a closer look, check out the video below. You can also follow Viet Game Studio @nghichthienta on Twitter.

By: Ric Manning On 2/05/2017

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Word Search game has 3 levels and a timer

They might go by different names like Word Seek, Word Find or Word Search, but the puzzles have the same goal: identify and mark words inside what appears to be a grid of scrambled letters.

Word Search Puzzle, a free game for Android devices, presents the classic puzzle in three levels of difficulty. The Easy level has 36 letters on a 6 x 6 grid, Medium is expands to 8 x 8, and the Hard level has 144 letters arranged 12 x 12.

The words are hidden in the grid. They could be vertical, horizontal, diagonal and even backwards. When you find a word, give it a finger swipe to keep it highlighted.

The games are organized under topics that include Animals, Food, Countries, Sports, Home and Internet. Finding the words is one part of the challenge, but this game also puts you on a time clock. The faster you discover and mark the words, the higher your score.

Word Search Puzzle is free but ad-supported. The app is available in the Google Play Store.

By: Ric Manning On 1/24/2017

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Sudoku puzzles come to Android devices

My local newspaper keeps getting smaller and among the casualties of the squeeze is the daily Sudoku puzzle that appeared among the daily comics. The puzzle had been a regular feature in many newspapers since the game hit the US in the early 2000s.

The game has a particular appeal to people who like to work with numbers. The objective is to fill a 9x9 grid with digits so that each column and row, plus each of the nine 3x3 sub-grids, contain all of the digits between 1 and 9 with no duplication.

Today, most puzzle fans are probably playing electronic versions like Sudoku Free, an app designed for Android phones and tablets. Like the printed versions, the app presents a grid that is partially populated with numbers. The challenge for players is to fill in the open squares with the correct digits.

Sudoku Free has three difficulty grades - Easy, Medium and Hard - and multiple levels in each grade. It will check for errors and save unfinished games and it has an auto-fill mode that can be set as on or off.

Sudoku Free is available as a free download in the Google Play Store.

By: Ric Manning On 1/23/2017

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Wild West Faro returns in an app

Wild Bill Hickok was said to be playing five-card stud poker - and holding black aces and eights, the “dead man’s hand” — when he was murdered in the town of Deadwood in 1876. But the gamblers at the other tables at Nuttal & Mann’s Saloon may well have been playing Faro, a card game that historians say was just as popular as poker in the American West.

Wikipedia cites an 1882 study that called Faro the most popular game in America. The game involves a designated dealer and a suit of cards laid out in numerical order. The players bet on which card will be turned over next from each player’s hand.

Gamblers loved the odds, which could produce a higher payoff than most other games of chance. But Faro was also easy to rig in favor off the dealer, which is probably why interest in the game declined during the 20th Century.

Now Faro is making a return in a mobile app called Wild West Faro. The game includes the betting options that were available in the cowboy casinos. Players can bet on a single card or multiple cards with other options such as betting on a high card.

And, like the classic version, there’s an option that allows players or dealers to cheat - with a penalty for getting caught.

Wild West Faro can be played on a handheld device, but it looks best on a tablet or other device with a larger screen. The game costs $1.49 at the Google Play Store, £0.99 (about $1.22) at the iTunes App Store or Amazon’s Appstore. The game has no ads or in-app purchase options.

For a closer look at the game, check out the video below and visit the Wild West Faro website.

By: Ric Manning On 1/01/2017

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Solitaire app offers multiple options

When my father taught me to play Solitaire, his version used a three-card draw. Players draw three cards at a time from the stack of 24 cards that are not already on the table. After playing all 24, they can turn over the stack and keep going until all plays are exhausted.

It was much later that I heard about a casino version in which players draw one card at a time and get only one trip through the stack of 24. A typical bet would be $50 with a payoff of $5 for each card moved to the foundation piles.

I’ve never seen Solitaire played in an actual casino, but apps like the free Solitaire card game created  by CardGames Studio let players choose in either Draw 3 Mode or Vegas Mode.

This versions of Solitaire is a lot like the free game that came with early versions of Windows but with several options. For example, players can choose among 10 different table styles, four card face styles and 12 card back designs. Mixing up the display keeps the game interesting.

Other options include unlimited use of the Undo button, hints to show the next move and an autocomplete option to finish a solved game. The app tracks your personal records and offers a daily challenge.

Free Solitaire is built for Android devices and is available to download from the Google Play Store.

By: Ric Manning On 12/23/2016

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Dice games roll online

Our friend Amy was a high school math teacher who loved games, especially games that involved numbers. Years ago she introduced us to Yahtzee, a dice game that challenges players to roll a series of number combinations, and every week or two our dining room table became the site of a Yahtzee tournament.

Amy eventually moved to Florida and the Yahtzee games stopped. But now I’ve found a website called Play Online Dice Games where we can play it and many other simple dice games.

The games are free to play and they are built with HTML5, so they can be played with any browser on any computer without installing a special browser plugin.

The game lineup includes Bunco, Beetle, Farkle, Generala, Owzthat and many others. Each game includes directions for playing and scoring and many include a helpful link to the game’s entry in Wikipedia.

Yahtzee, Farkle, Balut and others are available in both solitaire and multi-player versions. When you’re feeling lucky, check out the games at the Play Online Dice Games website.

By: Ric Manning On 12/17/2016

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Gaming innovation Is all about social interaction

We tend to look at changes in the gaming industry as individual events. We like to judge the latest consoles, the latest games, and even the latest competitions as standalone happenings in an industry that's always moving forward in surprising new ways. But if you look at some of the recent developments we've seen in various areas of gaming, there's one central theme that's pretty easy to spot: video games are now all about social interaction.

Let's start with the Nintendo Switch. It's not out yet, but we've seen it in action in a pretty tantalizing reveal trailer, and sure enough, Nintendo did its own weird thing once again. As one write-up mentions, one of the most noteworthy things about the console is that it's embracing local multiplayer, while its competitors "live online" where multiplayer is concerned.

Not only is the Switch encouraging console multiplayer activities the way we used to do it (in a living room, with friends), but even the on-the-go version of the console facilitates this style of gameplay. The mobile aspect of the Switch, somewhere between the size of a smartphone and tablet, features detachable controllers that allow two players to face off against each other. It's a fascinating move that boldly places social interaction ahead of gaming sophistication on Nintendo's list of priorities.

However, the aforementioned write-up wasn't wrong in pointing out that most of Nintendo's competitors are pursuing multiplayer online. But that's not always what it sounds like either. In particular the online casino business has taken some interesting turns toward making competitive online gaming even more interactive. This site features a lot of information on what drives popular platforms these days, and specifically discusses the idea of "live dealer" games in which the dealers are brought to players by video feeds rather than simulated digitally. It's not quite a full-fledged video chat but it's close and players can now watch real people running games even as the players themselves chat and compete with others who are seeing the same thing. It feels a step further than traditional online multiplayer in facilitating a social connection.

And then of course there's actual competitive gaming to consider—not just multiplayer, but multiplayer with stakes and an audience. We're talking here about eSports, a phenomenon that has grown far larger than many critics ever thought it could.

Just recently a former professional athlete was quoted in an interview as saying that eSports might be bigger than the NHL in two years' time. Whether or not you agree with that assertion, the fact that it can be made without ridicule is alarming. And this isn't just happening because the games are so great. Rather, it's because the very idea of eSports brought about a way for gaming enthusiasts to come together, even if it's just to watch other people play for prizes. The idea of eSports survives because gamers like to interact and build a sense of community around the activities they enjoy.

And on top of all this, we have the virtual reality revolution on the way. VR is a largely individual activity right now. But that's not to say there aren't multiplayer experiences already, and it stands to reason that as more games are released we'll be seeing exciting new ways for gamers to compete and collaborate with each other in an environment that feels like real life. VR holds staggering potential for furthering the potential of interactive gaming.

Considering all of these things, as well as the fact that mobile and console games are increasingly angled toward online competition, it all becomes clear. Though we like to pick apart changes in gaming as individual developments, the gaming industry is ultimately moving in a uniform direction toward an environment that is more social than ever before.

-- Travis Kaplan is a freelance writer and web designer. He contributes to numerous blogs on topics in technology, gaming, and entertainment. 

By: Ric Manning On 11/18/2016

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Royal Checkers tests memory and strategy

When my children were much younger, they were always ready to compete with their old man.

Our favorite contests were memory games, where you thad to remember the location of images hidden in a grid, and checkers, which involved some strategy and planning.

Beebright Edu, a developer of educational software, have come up with a way to turn checkers into a memory game.

Royal Checkers starts with a small board or perhaps nine squares and with game pieces that are hidden. Sounds easy enough, but there’s one more element - the board rotates between moves. That checker you thought was in  the upper right corner may move to the lower left square.

Players have to recall or guess the location of the pieces in order to win games and advance to higher levels. And as the games move up in levels, the boards expand with more squares, making them increasingly more difficult.

The game challenges a player’s spatial recognition capability while also testing their memory and strategic thinking. It includes a global scoreboard where they can track and compare their performance.

Royal Checkers is available as a free download for iOS devices in the iTunes App Store and for Androids in the Google Play Store. To see the game in action, check out the video below.

By: Ric Manning On 11/08/2016

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This blog clicks over mechanical keyboards

When I worked for a large publishing company, the IT folks would come around every few years with new computers. My instructions to them were always the same: take my old computer but leave the keyboard.

That keyboard had come with my first IBM PC. It was a big, heavy clunker but I loved it. The keys were were made of heavy plastic and, like ones on the typewriters, they made a loud an reassuring click when pressed.

I’m not alone in my fondness for mechanical keyboards. There’s a surprising number of companies that still make them and a blog called Mechtype that tracks and reviews them.

Mechanical keyboards are favored by serious computer gamers who appreciate both their tactile response and their ability to be customized with special keys and lighting.

MechType explains the differences between the three common types of mechanical keyboard switches: Clicky, Tactile and Linear. Its reviews compare brands and models like the Patriot Viper V760 and the Qisan Magicforce 68.

The blog also offers tips and advice, like how to get a Redragon keyboard to work with Windows 10 and how to install custom keycaps.

If you’re considering a mechanical keyboard for a gaming computer, or if you just miss the reassuring click of those old keyboards, Mechtype worth a visit.

By: Ric Manning On 11/06/2016

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