GreenChess
Writer: Michael Jones

Simple, elegant, and a great way to help you learn, adapt, and eventually grow in your understanding and skill-levels, Green-D Software's (appropriately titled) GreenChess is a game that I would have killed for when I was but a fledgling member of my high school's chess club.

Allowing players to adjust the appearance of the board and game as well as the skill-level of the artificial intelligence that acts as your opponent, allowing you to save and look through logs of any games you might play, and the ability to save in mid-game and finish at a later time, GreenChess should do well with people who might otherwise like to take up the game of chess, but hesitates because they don’t think it is something they could easily learn. It’s certainly got me thinking about dusting off a few brain cells.

Rhombis
Writer: Michael Jones

Irbis games’ Rhombis takes the standard puzzle game and flips it on its side - literally. Filled with beautiful graphics and over 80 levels of game play, Rhombis plays like a beautiful homage to Tetris. Like all the best tributes, though, it takes a moment to remind you of something, and then it spreads its wings and takes flight.

The aim of the game, as you might expect, is to collect three or more matching colored playing pieces, which come, in this case, in the form of falling dollar diamonds. What makes Rhombis something unique, is what it does after it begins with such a standard premise. Instead of merely stacking these dollar diamonds together, you find that there is a subtle art to finding just the right angle to place your pieces - you find that tilting your puzzle, and your thought-processes, is a very good thing to do.

For sheer fun and inventiveness, and for being a damn good puzzle game to boot, Rhombis gets our stamp of approval. If you’re looking for a fun way to spend a few hours (trust me on this, it’s addictive) of spare time, you’re just going to have to purchase your own copy of this game… ‘cause I’m not sharing mine!

Check back for more reviews during the week!