Kelly’s Unnecessary Blog

I’ve never been a big game player. Oh sure, back in the day I was pretty good at Centipede and then Joust. Tempest held my interest graphically and I was just dumb-lucky enough at spinning the dial thingy around to keep going for a while. I think you can immediately tell from the preceding discription that, though I sometimes find a game that I find interesting and easily understandable enough to play a second time, you could hardly call me a gamer. I’m not.

Once I got my computer I, um, didn’t really start playing games. In the early days (we’ll call it 1996-ish) on my Mac, I enjoyed Peter Gabriel’s Secret World, which I borrowed from work, but my home computer was never quite beefy enough to make that a satisfying experience.

In about 2004, I finally found a game I could get behind—Super Text Twist. I play the desktop version, not online. I don’t care if I match my prowess against a bunch of people I don’t know. Initially I played the untimed version, but it didn’t take long before I took on the greater challenge (such as it is) of always playing timed. Of course, it helps that I figured out a sort of cheat that helps me figure things out if I’m having trouble.

Then I got my iPhone and boy, did things ever stay the same. I have a bunch of games on it, but my favorite is another timed word game—imagine that—Scramble CE. I don’t like, a little bit, that it’s by Zynga, but it’s free and I can play by myself. I do like that I have to think rather than shoot. There again, I play the slightly more challenging “Advanced” option, in which I have to find—oo-oo-ooh—four- rather than three-letter words.

And shooting brings us to, what else, Angry Birds.

I feel about Angry Birds sort of like I feel about the iPad. It would be fun, but I don’t really need it. Nevertheless, I forked out the US$1.06 for it because, let’s face it, that’s a lot more affordable than $400 or $600 or whatever the iPad is.

I know people who are obsessed with Angry Birds (well, really, and iPads, too). I’m sure you know someone. I am not one of them. Right now it is only a way to relax in bed for a few minutes before switching to Scramble and falling asleep, or maybe to reading a little, too (still on iPhone), and falling asleep. Though I do admit that, because I have failed screen 9 of Poached Eggs at least thirty times (see screen shot at top), the victory smirk(s) of the pig(s) is(are) beginning to get to me and I can see how it could become compelling to those with weaker resolves. I suppose there are cheats posted online, but fortunately I don’t care that much yet.

Anyway, Scramble and Angry Birds get to be out loose on page 2 of my iPhone. The rest of the games are combined into folders, one for the ones that I play occasionally and the other for the ones I don’t. I am going to give Crazy Penguin Catapult and Tangram Pro honorable mentions. Those are the other two that I like to play. The gameplay in Crazy Penguin Catapult is similar to Angry Birds—you fling penguins through ice blocks at polar bears.

I don’t know. I think the penguins in their battlefield helmets with their salutes are a lot cuter than the angry birds, and I know I like polar bears better than pigs, although pigs are very intelligent and I find that appealing. Plus, I paid a dollar for it so I feel like I should play it in order to get my money’s worth.