Legacy Games Blog

Sharpen That Mental Pencil With Brain Spa!!!

I occasionally suffer from what my friends and I refer to as “porridge brain.” You know, when you accidentally put salt in your coffee, or throw spoons in the washing machine, or attempt to microwave your hairbrush. Its those bits of absent mindedness that can really be a nuisance when you need to get things done! Blame it on hormones, the cycles of the moon, heavy metals in the water, or too much hair dye. Regardless, I'm sure I'm not the only one who could stand to sharpen the mental pencil.

Brain Spa is a new and unique game with real intellectual benefits. The tasks are based on actual research on cognition and the brain, and have been designed by educational psychologist Craig Brannon. It was especially created to help keep your mind sharp, and can easily be played in short five or ten minute spurts each day.

There are 8 separate mini-games, each one with its own particular objective. The skills focused on include visual and auditory memory, perception, language, and logical ability. For visual memory, you must remember customers orders and serve them the right dishes. For language skills, you must classify magazines by topic. Computational mathematics involves shopping and trying to get products to match your budget precisely. You can unlock new spots and games the more you play.

You can also take daily tests to note improvements, unlock special bonus quizzes, compare your scores against yourself or others, and map your progress. As you build up your skills, you also build up the town, giving you visual feedback to assess your own development.

Brain Spa is a great way to have fun, while actually helping yourself to stay on the ball and improve your natural abilities. I recommend it for anyone who wants to better their brain.

Lisa

DOWNLOAD BRAIN SPA HERE>>

Subject: Make Exercising Your Brain a Game!

Hi there,
Happy Halloween! This week’s post is about an exciting new game from Legacy and a special holiday deal, so let’s get started.

Yesterday, Legacy Games launched Brain Spa. You won’t find this game anywhere else on the web. It was designed by one of my favorite people, Dr. Craig Brannon, an educational psychologist who is also Legacy’s Director of Game Development. We wanted to build on the interest in games like Brain Age, by Nintendo, that help the aging boomer brain to keep sharp. At the same time, we wanted to take advantage of the better graphics on the PC, and add funny characters and a cute town called Brainville to the formula. (The town increases in size as you increase in brain power.) There are eight separate mini-games, all focused on different aspects of thinking. Please download Brain Spa on Legacy Games and give it a try. I hope you both like it and feel it does some good.

Mystery Case Files started the hidden object craze about three games ago, and they are still among my favorites in this genre. Big Fish just announced a new Mystery Case Files game coming out next month, called Madam Fate. In the meantime, however, if you don’t want to wait that long for your game “fix,” you can buy Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst for $.99, through October 31. It’s a great deal!

That's it for this week. I sorta miss all the tumult getting the kids ready for trick or treating, but my waistline definitely doesn’t miss the leftover candy.

Enjoy!

Ariella

President
Legacy Games
Legacy Interactive

Succeed with the All New Burgertron 2000 at Burger Shop!!!

Cookies, burgers, soft drinks, chicken sandwiches, French fries…it all just makes you want to run to McDonalds after playing a game with all of that. So excuse me while I run and get a snack to eat and while I’m gone I have an assignment for you. In the spirit of school being back at school, I want you all to find a game called Burger Shop from Legacy Games. Trust me it will be worth it since you won’t be graded but you will be entertained.

OK, I’m back and I am stuffed and ready to play a game. I highly suggest Burger Shop since it is similar to the other fast food games that are a nice break from reality. Burger Shop is a game where the cook is a robot called the BugerTron 2000 and he doesn’t stop spitting out orders until the level is over. So once you start to run low on burger patties that flow out onto the conveyor belt, you will get that hard earned break.

Yes, you do in fact put the fast in fast food. With a series of clicks, anybody can master this game but after awhile it takes a lot of skill to keep up. Every time you just want to achieve that new record by satisfying each and every customer as fast as possible. After each level in the story mode, you have to choose the lesser of two evils. Do you get the addition of fries or soda dispensing machine? And, then you have multiple machines that use the same containers. So then French fries will held in the same container as onion rings. So now you can’t anticipate that everybody will want onion rings since they all might want fries to go with their burgers. Confusing? Yes, but not too bad. Fun and intense? You have no idea.

The music is bouncy and lively, so much so you have to remind yourself not to dance like a fool at your work place during your lunch break. Each customer in fact, has their own personality which makes everything a little easier. Since they tell how long their patience is and what is their favorite food or drink. So, once you spot a lot of chicken for chicken sandwiches, be prepared to be swarmed by business women and whatever you do don’t take your time with them or suffer their wrath of evil staring.

Now this may be just another click fest, but this game is so much more than that. Somebody took care to note each and every detail of how a fast food restaurant should look and feel, I could swear my computer even started to smell of cheese burgers after playing this game for awhile. And, lets face it, nobody plays these games for intense long lasting game play or a story that would make Steven King quiver in his shoes. We all love to play these games because they are simple, adorable, and anybody of any age can play them at any time. Plus, who can say no to a click fest after a long hard day?

Aaron Roberson

DOWNLOAD BURGER SHOP HERE>>

Hi,

Have you noticed how many "large file" games are really popular these days?  Eighteen months ago, when we first starting selling digital downloads on Legacy Games, we were told to not create or sell any games over 25 MB because customers simply didn't want to download big games.

What do you think? Some of the most popular games in the past month on Legacy Games are definitely "obese", i.e., more than 300 MB in size.

- Agatha Christie: And Then There Were None
- Journey to the Center of the Earth
- Safecracker
- Return to the Mysterious Island
- Law & Order: Justice is Served

It seems as if customers care more about quality and content than they do about download size. All of the games mentioned have 3D graphics, many different locations to explore, characters to control, and puzzles to solve. It is the sheer number of "assets", including graphics, music and voice overs, that drive up the game size.

Do you agree that game size doesn't matter any more? Have you increased your broadband speed in the past year? Let us know what you think, because we are in the process of deciding how to digitally distribute our new Zoo Vet: Endangered Animals and Farm Vet games and would love some input on this question. They are both large file games, and the process of "slimming" them down for online distribution is both expensive and time-consuming. With the first Zoo Vet game, Legacy actually had to eliminate some of the cases in order to reduce the file size...but we would rather not do that this time.

Write us at suggestions@legacygames.com with your opinion. We read all your letters.

And thanks for being a Legacy customer.

Ariella
President
Legacy Interactive

www.legacygames.com

A True Classic Reborn...Monopoly Here and Now!

Monopoly is probably my favorite board game of all time! I remember playing it with my brothers as a child on rainy days. They cheated like you couldn't believe, so I was always stuck being the banker. We had a “contract” list of house rules which was at least two pages long. It was serious business. The only bad thing was that someone always dropped a house or some fake money, and eventually we had to buy a new game to replace all the lost pieces.

Well, the original version is now a computer game, and even better, its been updated to modern times. Monopoly Here and Now is just like the classic. You move around the board, buy up properties, build on them, and try to bankrupt your opponents. But, unlike the old version, this one is completely contemporary. The pieces include cellphones, laptops, and french fries. The properties include major American landmarks like Times Square in NYC, and the railroads are now airports. You also start with a whopping 15 million instead of $1,500, which will take you a lot farther these days!

There are great sound effects and music, although there's only one song. You can play on your own, or with friends or family at home, but unfortunately you can't play online. That would have been a nice addition. The graphics are really beautiful, clear 3D style, and very cool. In my opinion, its definitely worth checking out.

LISA

DOWNLOAD MONOPOLY HERE AND NOW HERE>>

The Mayor Has High Expectations...Build-a-Lot!

Score, a new Sim! There's been a few good ones out lately, like Hotel Giant, Hunting Unlimited 2008, and Capitalism II. My favorite at the moment is Build-a-lot, the real estate mogul game. Well, you're more than a real estate mogul. In Build-a-lot, you are a city planner, engineer, construction chief, and real estate agent all in one package. Did you go to school for all those titles? Nevermind...this is computer game, so play along. The Mayor has high expectations.

Anyhow, your aim is to reach the various development goals in different neighborhoods. These might include hiring more workers, drafting new building plans, upgrading or demolishing homes, and of course building new properties. No one seems terribly concerned about neighborhood planning, so go ahead and build the sawmill right next door to the expensive residential tudor. The residents are pretty forgiving! It all boils down to cash flow. The more buildings you own, and the nicer they are, the more rent you accumulate. This money can be used to buy more properties, and more upgrades, making you really really rich in the end.

The pace is perfect. You have just enough time to reach your goals, without feeling rushed. You'd expect the interface to be complicated, like so many other sims out there, but this one is surprisingly simple. Yes! Even for those of us who hate reading instructions, the learning curve is not too steep thanks to a really good in-game tutorial, so you can enjoy playing right away. As for graphics, they are typical and totally acceptable for the genre. The music is subtle, and there's no real sound effects to speak of, which can be all the better.

It's surprisingly addictive, considering that its a very simple simulation game. Once you get started, the time flies by before you realize. I even skipped Dr. Phil, can you believe it?

LISA

DOWNLOAD BUILD-A-LOT HERE>>

Wanted: Mad Multitasking Skills, Apply Now...Jane's Hotel!

Years ago, I read somewhere that female and male brains differ in their ability to multitask. Apparently, women are very good at this, but men find it much more challenging. This might explain why so many women really like time management games. I'm definitely a fan, so I jumped on Jane's Hotel straight away.

In Jane's Hotel, the goal is to win the Best Hotel award. Jane really wants this award, although its never explained why...she even dreams about it at night. In order to get the award, she must take her dingy little 2-star guest house, and transform it into a grand 5-star hotel. This means constant upgrades, and good service. And man, does it get crazy when you consider the whole establishment is run by just Jane, with just one maid to help!

To play the game, you must multitask like mad. Bring customers coffee, champange, newspapers, and fruit baskets. Keep the piano playing. Make sure the maid cleans the rooms, changes the sheets, waters the flowers, brings the golf clubs, and does the dry cleaning. Book in customers and collect the money. Oh yeah, and your customers are very imaptient, so do it all quickly!

This is a game that grows on you. Play through at least the first few levels before deciding if you love it or not. Personally, I LOVE the frantic pace of this game, especially as you get to the third hotel. It's better than an espresso if you want a jolt of energy.

One tip – watch the plants. If they shrivel up, you lose major money, so ALWAYS keep them watered. It's a bit annoying, but it really makes a difference. If I was Jane, I would have gotten plastic ones...

The English is sometimes a bit awkward, but it doesn't affect the game too much. The only bummer is that you can't carry two things at once (unless they are two of the same object), which would have been a nice touch.

On the whole, I found it very hard to put down until I was finished. There's a lot of levels to keep you busy. If you are looking for something fast-paced and different, Jane's Hotel is worth checking out.

Lisa

DOWNLOAD JANE'S HOTEL HERE>>