Chronotron (Currently playable online at ScarybugGames.com)
Another one of the inaugural PAX 10, Chronotron is a puzzle/platformer title about a little robot which can travel back in time. This ability comes quite in handy, as the robot will have to interact with past versions of himself in order to complete each of the game’s 40 levels.
The 2-D game is not very graphics-intensive at all, going with a simple art design that gives Chronotron an old-school feel and highlights the puzzle and platforming aspects. You can create as many versions of the robot as you wish on each level, but the catch is that you must safely get all of the robots back into the time pod. Failure to do so causes a time paradox and forces you to restart the level, so there is a level of strategy and skill involved, especially on Chronotron’s later levels. The game is currently playable online, but there is no word on if a version of Chronotron will be headed to the major consoles.
City Rain (Release date not available)
Demoed at Microsoft’s XNA booth, City Rain is an interesting mixture that’s part Tetris-style puzzle game and part Sim City-style management game. Developed by Brazil’s Mother Gaia Studio, the XNA title and 2008 Imagine Cup winner puts you in the shoes of a city planner. Your goal is to construct an ecologically-friendly city that meets the needs of its citizens by selecting the right pieces and building them. However, the game does this by tiles that fall from the sky.
There is a lot of strategy in City Rain. Not only are you competing for a high score, but you can lose the game by doing a bad job planning out your city. Not only do you have to balance residential, commercial and industrial squares, but knowing where to place parks, fire and police departments, hospitals and schools is also vital. Tiles drop as both single tiles and multi-tile clusters that can be rotated clockwise and counter-clockwise. What starts off easy quickly grows frantic as the pieces fall faster and space becomes a commodity. City Rain will challenge puzzle fans and simulation/management fans alike with its complexity and challenge.
Puzzle Quest: Galactrix (Release date: October 2008)
Puzzle Quest heads out into space, but D3’s title is not just the same old Puzzle Quest in spaceman’s clothing. A few new tweaks have been added to make sure this Puzzle Quest adventure is good enough to stand on its own.
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