emmaroseclarke.com

I interviewed for a position with local game developer Krome Studios here in Brisbane a wee while back, and after a call to say that the position had been filled internally, I was left wondering if I would ever be able to break into the gaming industry again.

Then, the HR Manager called back about a week later out of the blue, offering me the position. Success! And then... panic stations. I felt like I had been so out of touch with the gaming industry, particularly for entertainment. I started feverishly reading through news posts and reviews to try and get back in the headspace.

Two days in, and I know that I have got some serious gaming time ahead of me.

My dive back into gaming has been more of a 'dipping of the toe in the water', with the first game I have played in ages being 'Fishdom H2O: Hidden Odyssey'. Its a popular hidden object game which I got through Big Fish; the follow up to the original bright and shiny Fishdom which was a Match 3.

I love these games. It's another Playrix special, and they have beefed up the story element. The coolest thing about this game is how easy it is to get started - there are practically zero barriers to entry. It could be a little more difficult - the only point I really felt challenged was trying to spot 50 gold items in 30 seconds, but that was basically the 'let's test your tendancy for RSI' level. 


The cut scenes are nice, although you can't speed them along (I still like to read them rather than skip them completely). On the whole the look and feel is similar to Fishdom, though I prefer the new menu/tank screens and transitions to them. It's a nice touch that you can use your aquarium as a screen saver in these games - sometimes its nice to just watch the fish swim by.

I'll gradually work my way up to a current FPS - baby steps.  

Here's a neat wee tool to test your accuracy - its called 'The Eyeballing Game' and although its just a simple test, once you have completed it the first time there is a certain desire to try and beat your own score. It was created to gauge the accuracy of the human eye by a guy who is into woodworking - read more about the game here.

On my first attempt I had the best results with guessing the midpoint, I had two zeros on three attempts and an overall average of 5.70 - second time round right angles were my forte with a 1.0, 0.4 and 0.2 respectively for an overall average of 3.40.

Quite fun. Thanks Nath ;)

I genuinely believe that Spore might stop the world in its tracks for a day or two. It's just the kind of game that can suit so many different types of gamers, I can't wait to see how it does.

EvenI am so excited about this game coming out, and I am usually happy to wait until the hype has died and 20% has dropped off the price.

This game is so cool. It's really easy to play, but can be challenging to master. There's a whole series of them, and I found the grow cube to be the trickiest.

If you've got mad accounting skills (i.e. you can push the number pad quickly) then you will probably rock it at this game.

On the topic of games that matter, the latest feel good gaming experience is the race to deliver bed nets to villagers across the African planes. To commemorate World Malaria Day on the 25th of April (coincidentally on the same day as ANZAC day), you can zoom around on your wee scooter, handing out packaged nets in a race against the stunning African sunset - which ultimately will send a net on your behalf through the UN Foundation.

I particularly like that you can't run anyone over. Nice touch.

So I thought I would try and get into Jane McGonigals new ARG The Lost Ring, and I allowed myself a good half hour to get up to speed and understand the game which began just over a month ago. Initially, I am really intrigued. The trailer is neat (and not too scary - this is important), the website is really well constructed and flows nicely, and the story has this awesome juxtaposition of myth and reality which I enjoy.

But as I begin to try and piece together even the broadest sense of the game plot, I am rapidly overwhelmed by screeds of forums posts, podcasts, file downloads, videos and more. This is where the non-gamer gets off the ride please - content overload!

While I am trying diligently to learn more about this elusive 'lost ring' - and moreover what I am even supposed to be doing to 'play' the game - I realise that my half hour has quickly evaporated and I am not even through what could be deemed 'level one'. And before I've even had a chance to get there, some wise guy on the other side of the world just found chapter 10. Sheesh.

I vow to return to the six browser tabs I now have open at a more convenient time and try even harder, but alas, today I close them all faced with the sheer terror of how much content must have accrued during my absence.

I did, however, manage to see New Zealand's effort at playing 'the lost sport' here. Nice.

World Without Oil is a 'serious alternate reality game', which was imagined and chronicled online in 1500 stories from participants around the world.

Ordinary people were approached to tell 'their' story of the 'world oil crisis' that was occuring within the game.

In an ARG you play as yourself, in any medium in which you want to communicate - blog, email, video, phone, comics, etc. As players imagined how they would need to deal with their lives in an oil crisis, they recorded and submitted their 'experience'.

Some players actually made changes in their everyday lives - how they sourced food, how they got to work, etc. This is such a great example of how playing a game can have a positive and educational outcome, something that I am a part of with my work at Straylight Studios.

Today my attention was directed to the latest global ARG from Jane McGonigal (see also:I Love Bees and World Without Oil) - The Lost Ring. The story revolves around the mystery of an ancient olympic sport 'banned' from the games for reasons yet unknown, and the discovery of a handful of athletes with no memory and only a few clues to guide them.

The global community must help to uncover the artifacts and piece together the puzzle, contributing ideas and testing theories to gain the knowledge required to make sense of the game.

I am only part way through the story so far as it kicked off at the start of March, but the game is well worth a look.