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| ESRB Rating: | E - Everyone |
| My Rating: | Ages 6 and up |
| Genre: | Match 3 |
| Platforms: |  |
| Fun-O-Meter: |  |
The Jewel Quest series likes to use its Match 3 gameplay to tell a story. This game serves as our introduction to the magical Jewel Board and the legends around it. But, as this is the first game in the series, it's also a lot less polished than what comes later on.
Brief thoughts: The story treats Mayan gods as real beings, which might be an issue.
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| ESRB Rating: | E - Everyone |
| My Rating: | Ages 6 and up |
| Genre: | Match 3 |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: |  |
The second game in the original Jewel Quest trilogy, this adventure sees Rupert, Emma, Hanni and the villainous Sebastion on a journey through Africa in an attempt to find and recover the magical Jewel Board.
Brief thoughts: The main issues with this title lie in the storyline, and frankly, if you're just here to match gems, you'll miss them entirely.
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| ESRB Rating: | E - Everyone |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | Match 3 |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
Rupert and Emma were finally ready to settle down after their many adventures, but tragedy strikes when a hidden compartment opens on the Jewel Board and releases spores that blind their daughter! Thus begins another trip around the world as the family searches for a cure.
Brief thoughts: Most of the problems with this game are found in the story segments, such as the occasional mention of magical artifacts or spooky events.
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| ESRB Rating: | E - Everyone |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | Hidden Object / Puzzle |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
Having secured the original Jewel Board, Rupert and Emma begin searching for one of its original jewels, the Emerald Tear. But when Richard is struck down by an unexplained illness, Emma is left to race against time before Sebastian can claim the jewel for himself.
Brief thoughts: The biggest concern in this game is the focus of the story: a gemstone that's said to possess magical powers.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | Other |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: |  |
This game is completely free!
Colorful aliens wander around an exhibit in hopes of finding something interesting. Your job is to provide them with artwork created using randomly generated paint guns. Each gun produces a unique effect when fired, and since they rarely shoot straight, you'll be creating some truly unique abstract artwork for the aliens to enjoy.
Brief thoughts: There isn't much to this game, but it's interesting to mess with.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | Platformer |
| Platforms: |   |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
During his initial mission as the first dinosaur astronaut, Rex gets an unexpected surprise - a giant asteroid is hurtling towards prehistoric Earth, and he's the only person who can reach it in time to save the planet!
Brief thoughts: This is a very clean game, though some of the references to gaming and internet culture can be misinterpreted if players aren't familiar with them.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | First Person Puzzler |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
This is a game about exploring a very strange, surreal environment. As you solve the puzzles scattered throughout the world, you also start reviving the alien city. The buildings that have been left behind also leave more questions than answers, creating an eerie, enigmatic feeling to the game.
Brief thoughts: You're basically reviving a lost world, and since the place is mostly empty, there's little room for objectionable content.
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| ESRB Rating: | E - Everyone |
| My Rating: | Ages 10 and up |
| Genre: | Other |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: |  |
While partying, the King of All Cosmos accidentally broke the stars and moon. To help put things right, he's sent the Prince on a colorful adventure where he'll make the new stars by rolling up all sorts of weird things found on Earth.
Brief thoughts: While this game is very colorful and silly, some of the things the King of the Cosmos says come off as abusive or a little inappropriate.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | Platform Shooter |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
The C&F Inc. teleporters have been malfunctioning lately, and it's likely due to them becoming dirty. Thus, it's up to a little green janitor to go out into the world on one big grime fighting adventure!
Brief thoughts: Even though there's some combat, this is a fairly silly game with no real issues.
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| ESRB Rating: | M - Mature Audiences |
| My Rating: | Adults - 18+ |
| Genre: | First Person Shooter / Horror |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
Horzine's attempts at making genetically enhanced soldiers went horribly awry, and now they are rampaging through the countryside. It's up to you and your friends to flush them out and finish them off.
Brief thoughts: This is an extremely graphic game, with gore and blood pretty much everywhere. Some of the enemies are also nude, though this is usually treated as a source of horror.
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| ESRB Rating: | E10 - Everyone (Ages 10 and up) |
| My Rating: | Ages 10 and up |
| Genre: | First Person Shooter |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
Kill it With Fire is what happens when you take a common phobia, first person shooter gameplay, and a whole lot of creative insanity and mix it all together. In other words, it's a very silly game about killing lots of spiders with increasingly over the top weaponry like flamethrowers and rocket powered grenades. FUN!
Brief thoughts: None of the spiders you're killing can actually harm you, so some people may view what you're doing as senseless or cruel. Another issue is that when playing in the Halloween mode, players finish the level by completing a magical ritual.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Ages 13 and up |
| Genre: | Dating Sim |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
In Kitty Powers' Matchmaker, you're tasked with running a new branch of Kitty Powers' famous match making franchise. Your tasks involve interviewing clients, finding them suitable dates from Kitty Powers' own little black book, and then ensuring that the date goes smoothly. Of course, there are plenty of unexpected problems that can make or break the date, and it's up to you to navigate these treacherous waters and help people find love.
Brief thoughts: This game has a lot of content that doesn't sit well with Christian morals, such as innuendo laden dialogue, using astrology to find compatible partners for clients, and you will sometimes be working with gay or lesbian couples. Of course, there's also the issue of Kitty Powers being a drag queen, which is a political powderkeg right now.
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| ESRB Rating: | M - Mature Audiences |
| My Rating: | Ages 13 and up |
| Genre: | First Person Shooter |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
This game is free, but paid features exist
Zombies and video games seem like they were made for each other, and Last Hope boils things down to the bare essentials. There are zombies, there are guns, and your role is to apply the latter to the former. For a no-frills zombie shooter, this is a real gem, and worth a look if you're a fan of other games in the same genre.
Brief thoughts: Being a game about shooting lots of zombies, some violence and gore is to be expected. However, both are played down, with the zombies falling apart like dry clay and very little blood being shown.
The only other concern is some minor swearing.
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| ESRB Rating: | T - Teenagers |
| My Rating: | Ages 13 and up |
| Genre: | First Person Shooter |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
In Left 4 Dead, an AI director is making a series of action movies about a group of four survivors trying to fight their way through the zombie apocalypse. Up to four players can join together to take on the roles of the different survivors, with bots filling in for any missing players. Zombies were harmed in the making of these films.
Brief thoughts: Although you're taking on the role of an actor playing a part, you're still going to be shooting zombies and listening to some crude language as the characters bicker with each other.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Ages 13 and up |
| Genre: | First Person Shooter |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
The AI director is back, ready to make another movie about the struggles of four desperate survivors of a zombie apocalypse. As before, players star as the actors in this virtual action movie rather than the actual survivors, so it's all in good fun -- unless you're one of the zombies of course.
Brief thoughts: Things are a bit more graphic this time around, as the zombies can be dismembered.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Ages 6 and up |
| Genre: | Solitaire Card Game |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
When the land comes under siege by fierce dragons, a group of noble adventurers are called upon to save the world. Meanwhile, the player spends the journey playing hands of solitaire.
Brief thoughts: The main issue with this title is its use of dragons and other fantasy characters. Even then, it's not as serious as many older Disney movies.
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| ESRB Rating: | E10 - Everyone (Ages 10 and up) |
| My Rating: | Ages 6 and up |
| Genre: | Adventure / Sandbox |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
Each new world you explore adds new possibilities and opens new paths towards your goal of becoming a Master Builder - a near god-like entity capable of reshaping the LEGO universe to their every whim!
Brief thoughts: Perhaps the biggest issue with this game is that it rewards destructive play - ie, players are encouraged to break and smash just about everything for no real reason.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Ages 13 and up |
| Genre: | Platform Puzzler / Horror |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
LIMBO is one of those creepy games that needs to be experienced rather than read about. While younger children should avoid this game, it's going to be a memorable trip for the older gamers. At the very least, it left an impression on the gaming community and deserves a try for doing so.
Brief thoughts: Although the game's graphics only show silhouettes, violent deaths are common and often very graphically depicted.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Ages 10 and up |
| Genre: | Horror / Edutainment |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
This game is completely free!
Based on real events, this game has players take on the roles of three braze men who prevented the Chernobyl disaster from becoming far worse. Their task was simple: drain the water from the damaged reactor before the molten debris could reach it and create a catastrophic explosion!
Brief thoughts: This game focuses on the aftermath of a real disaster, which is pretty dark stuff, but it does not make light of it and treats everything with the gravity it deserves.
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| ESRB Rating: | T - Teenagers |
| My Rating: | Ages 10 and up |
| Genre: | Other |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
Little Inferno is exactly what it promises to be: a cozy little fireplace where you can set all manner of things on fire and watch them burn. What makes this interesting is that there's a pointed story behind all of this pyromania, and in order to progress, you need to figure out and burn specific combinations of items.
Brief thoughts: While this game is intended to be comedic with a serious message, some of the items you can destroy in your Little Inferno Entertainment Fireplace are disturbing.
Examples include plush toys that react to being burned, various things advertised as belonging to someone else, different types of fake drugs, and old ladies.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | Platformer |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
Love is a homage to old school computer games, and as such, it focuses solely on running through various levels as quickly as possible. There's no story or point, other than the challenge of surviving the many obstacles in your way.
Brief thoughts: One of the benefits simple games is that there isn't much room for offensive content.
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| ESRB Rating: | NR - Not Rated |
| My Rating: | Everyone |
| Genre: | Platformer |
| Platforms: | |
| Fun-O-Meter: | |
LOVE 2 (aka Kuso) is another a loving look back at old school platform games, reminding us older gamers of a time when palettes where limited, chiptunes were the norm, and the only goal was to run to the other side of the screen as quickly as possible.
Brief thoughts: This is a simple, fun little game that doesn't feature anything nothing worth worrying about.
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