Game du Jour is a "One Deal a Day" website for casual PC games. Every day of the week, GameDuJour.com sells one downloadable game at a steep discount.Every week Blogcritics Magazine will bring you a look of those games, so you know what to expect when the featured game gets its 24 hours in the spotlight.We aim to publish reviews at least one day before the game goes on sale at GameDuJour.com, so please check back regularly. But we will admit, as much as we love casual games here at Blogcritics, we won't be able to get to every title.This Week's Deals3/12/2007 Bonbon Quest — 50% discount3/13/2007 Gumboy Crazy Adventures — 50% discount3/14/2007 Shlongg — 40% discount3/15/2006 AirStrike II: Gulf Thunder — 50% discount3/16/2007 Galcon — 50% discount3/17/2007 Kingdom Elemental — 50% discount3/18/2007 Wonderland — 50% discountBonbon QuestWriter: Kaonashi
Halloween has come very early this year in the game Bonbon Quest, a good old-fashioned platform game. You play as a cute little boy (or girl, in 2-player mode) dressed in a witch's costume. Your objective is to collect all the candies on the screen to move on to the next level. Of course, there are monsters in your path that you'll have to avoid or kill, by jumping on them a few times.Your character has a lot of freedom in the room. If he walks all the way left, he pops up on the right side. If he falls in a gap at the bottom of the room, he'll reappear at the top of the room. There's also items that can help your character get around. Jumping into cauldrons "warp" him to other sections of the room, while pumpkins give him a nice boost if he jumps on it.Don't let the kiddy graphics fool you: Bonbon Quest can be a little challenging. However, unlike old-school platform games, you don't start from the very beginning. I'm not too crazy about the Halloween scenario since I find that holiday-themed games are out of place during other times of the year. So if you're in the mood for some platform action without having to bust out that dusty old 8-bit Nintendo console, give Bonbon Quest a try.
Gumboy Crazy AdventuresGumboy uses its extraordinary rubbery characteristics – rolling, bouncing, jumping, flying and floating, which in connection with the simple controls brings you loads of fun. And even more when you realize that GUMBOY changes its size, shape and material! It joins the game in the form of a sphere, cube or star. It will be filled with rubber, air or water…ShlonggWriter: Kaonashi
I couldn't resist reviewing a game called Shlongg. I thought to myself, "Any game with this name must be cool." However, after playing it, I realized how wrong I was. Shlongg is an over glorified version of the classic game Breakout. The premise is exactly the same - hit a ball towards a wall of bricks using a paddle. If the ball goes past the paddle, you lose a life. However, in Shlongg, the creators added a convoluted, overly detailed story for a simple game.The Earth is under threat of an invasion by the Shlongg Dominion. Stop the invasion by entering the Shlongg hive, composed of chambers that house energy crystals and larvae. To proceed to the next chamber, use your ship to destroy the crystals and larvae by deflecting an energy sphere towards them. If the sphere flies past you, an alarm goes off and you're vaporized. When you clear a chamber, you move to the next one via a wormhole. When hit by the sphere, the energy crystals sometimes release Power Seeds, which can either help or hurt you. In some levels there's a Shlongg guardian that makes things harder for you.Everything about this game screams "amateur." It looks and feels like a student project. The voiceover narrating the story sounds like it was recorded with a mic at a home computer. The 3-D graphics are horrible, straight out of 1995. The 80s sounding sci-fi music sounds like a crappy midi file. I've played countless online free games that are of much higher quality. Save your money and download the real Breakout. I'm sure it's available for free somewhere.
AirStrike II: Gulf ThunderAirStrike II: Gulf Thunder is a fresh sequel to AirStrike II, arguably the most exciting 3-D indie helicopter combat action game ever released. The new sequel follows in the footsteps of its ‘parent’ and takes it to the limit.GalconWriter: Michael Jones
Ever wanted to rule a galaxy? Ever wanted to obliterate your enemy and send wave after wave of attacks on the planets under his control, until each planet was conquered and could then add to the majesty of your own empire? Cool. Me too! Now… I must destroy you!All kidding aside, Galcon is a game that simply asks you to conquer or be conquered. Starting from one base planet, you have the choice of where to send your space armies as you set out to ultimately rule the grandness that is space! (Do you head towards uninhabited planets in order to build up your army? Or, do you go in like a true space-kamikaze and send everything you have at your enemy's home planet in hopes of crushing him before he can even blink?) Fast, fun, easy to learn, Galcon is just a righteous hoot that will have you laughing maniacally as you mow down your enemies, one by one. So, what are you waiting for? Buy Galcon today (well, Friday for the discount), and you too can be conquering world after world and calling yourself Ming the Merciless!
Kingdom ElementalWriter: Kaonashi
Clearly influenced by the Warcraft series, Kingdom Elemental is a strategy game in a fantasy setting. Peace in the kingdom of Eteran has been broken by rampaging beasts. Defeat these creatures using a combination of units such as swordsmen, archers, and monks. Meanwhile, the monsters come in all shapes and sizes, from small wormlike creatures to giant flaming bears and Dread Knights.The playing field is like a chessboard. Decide which units to use and arrange them as effectively as possible. For example, place your heavily armored swordsmen up front to soak up all the blows while your weak archers stay safe in the back. Unlock special abilities or new units using points earned from the last round. Click on start, and let the carnage begin!Kingdom Elemental is a well-made game and is fun. The 3-D graphics are almost as good as Civilization IV. Click on the thumbnail for a screenshot. You have "camera" capabilities and have a lot of freedom to move the playing field: zoom, left/right, even turning the whole thing 360 degrees. The tutorial is very funny. If you make a mistake during the tutorial, the voiceover teases you about it. However, there's definitely room for improvement. The tutorial text has some typos. The units move very slowly advancing and attacking. I also think it's weird for the playing field to appear as a chunk of land floating in space, which takes away from the fantasy world. Nevertheless, if you're a fan of strategy games, then give Kingdom Elemental a try.WonderlandExplore a vast world filled with adventure, excitement, and fun. Wonderland Adventures is an all-new Wonderland game experience, featuring entirely re-designed gameplay mechanics, puzzle elements, 3D visuals, and much, much more. You've never seen Wonderland like this before. Check back for more reviews during the week!
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