Top 10 Holiday games

Ding dong merrily on high, Christmas time is nigh! And you guessed it, it’s my favorite time of year! Apart from family time, eggnog, Christmas trees, presents, turkey and yummy yule logs, the holiday season brings with it plenty of down time, which for me, means plenty of game time. If you’re looking for some cute and quirky games to spice up your holiday, then check out my top 10 list of holiday themed games for extra holiday fun!

1. Paradise Cove – Holiday Adventure

Top of my list is Paradise Cove – Holiday Adventure, a very cute sim-style game in which you are challenged to rescue Christmas from being obliterated by a snow storm, and rebuilding the North Pole. Upgrade your snow ship and send it on voyages to collect candy canes, gum drops and holly berries, all of which provide the fuel with which to build, barter and exchange. Chop down trees, erect buildings, go on quests, rescue stranded citizens and protect the beacons which light the way to the North Pole. Be warned though, the game starts off speedy but land expansions get pricier and pricier the longer you play. If you don’t want to wait until you generate enough gold to continue playing, then make use of the in-app purchases to buy enough gold and holly to keep going. I prefer to check in on the game four or five times a day so that I don’t have to make any purchases. Despite this, Paradise Cove provides hours and hours of gaming fun and has holiday spirit by the bucketful!

Download in iTunes now!

2. Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift

The Cut the Rope franchise never disappoints and Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift is no exception. This hugely fun game requires great thought, quick reactions and tons of patience because the higher the level, the greater the challenge. Om Nom wants candy and he wants it now! Your task is to cut, swing, fling, blow, bounce and teleport candy into Om Nom’s mouth to ensure he gets his fix. The biggest challenge is to complete each level with three stars which isn’t always easy. Oozing bundles of holiday joy, Cut the Rope: Holiday Gift is colorful and quirky with great visuals, cute sound effects and smooth gameplay.

Download in iTunes now!

3. Christmas Mansion

Match 3 games can get a bit tedious, but Christmas Mansion manages to avoid this fate by offering a lovely Christmas themed rendition which is both challenging and varied. Getting three stars at each level earns you Santa coins with which to decorate your Christmas Mansion, inside and out, with festive treats from snowmen and holiday lights to wreaths and ornaments. A wide selection of powerups, from hammers to bombs help you crack each level which gets more challenging the higher you go! Featuring beautiful graphics, sweet holiday music and holiday-inspired designs, Christmas Mansion is both festive and fun!

Download in iTunes now!

4. Epic Christmas Word Search

They sure gave this game the right name, for it is indeed an epic word search! Instead of a series of separate games, Epic Christmas Word Search is one gigantic puzzle featuring 1 500 words on one enormous grid. The grid is divided into 16 themed sections which you navigate around using two fingers. Once you find a word, simply drag your finger across it until it is highlighted and disappears from the list. If you love whiling away the time on word search puzzles, then you’ll love Epic Christmas Word Search!

Download in iTunes now!

5. Run Run Santa

Run Run Santa is an old fashioned arcade game in which you need to steer Santa clear of dangerous obstacles and into the path of items, such as candy canes, presents or hot dogs, that he needs to collect. Santa starts off running so the pace of the game is pretty fast. To make Santa jump – whether its to collect an item, jump over bombs or open patches of water – simply tap the screen. Keep tapping if you need him to jump extra high or far. I must say that this game takes me back to when I was a kid and the only access we had to computer games was a trip to the corner cafe or games arcade! While a very simple game, with just 15 levels, Run Run Santa is cute and challenging, especially if you want to achieve three stars on every level!

Download in iTunes now!

6. Abe Santa Snow Flow

This game is extremely easy in the lower, free levels, but once you expand the playing field to 8×8 or 9×9 boards (which you have to pay $0.99c for), it starts to get really interesting. The idea is to match the same-colored Santas within the required number of moves, by swiping to connect them. You need to fill in every square, so while there may be more efficient ways of connecting the Santas, you sometimes have to include extra squares to ensure that every one is full or highlighted. While this is a free game, I would pay the $0.99 cents to get rid of the ads which appear after every level and are sooooo annoying! When the going gets tough (they don’t call it 8×8 and 9×9 mania for nothing!) remember to start with the Santas that are the most troublesome and then work your way around them once they are connected. Once it gets more challenging, Abe Santa Snow Flow is addictive and fun and offers enough Christmas cheer to fill a stocking!

Download in iTunes now!

7. Santa’s Reindeer Hunt

Santa’s Reindeer Hunt is a cute little maze game which requires you to hunt for hay to feed Santa’s reindeer so that he can go out and deliver his presents in time for Christmas. You get to search for hay in 16 levels at two different locations, the North Pole and Eskimo Town. At the beginning of each level, you are given 10 seconds to scroll through the playing field so that you can locate the buckets of hay, as well as little golden bells which extend your play time. Move Santa by clicking north, south, west or east on a compass to direct him to the hay and then on to the corral where his reindeer are lodged. You can only carry one pail of hay each time, so you have to move fast to ensure that you collect each one before the clock counts down. Fun and quirky, Santa’s Reindeer Hunt is a great game to play as you sit in front of the fire and sip on eggnog!

Download in iTunes now!

8. Hidden Objects Christmas Celebration

My holiday list would not be complete without a hidden object game. Christmas Celebration is a colorful and festive addition to my hidden objects collection and offers three game modes: Traditional, Chill and Adventure. Furthermore, you can complete each of the eight scenes three times over, using words, pictures and collector items (where you need to find 12 of the same objects). Adventure mode offers 15 levels with a new twist – the word list has missing and scrambled words, as well as bonus bonanza words. This great game for women is sure to put you in the holiday mood this festive season.

Download in iTunes now!

9. Holly: A Christmas Tale

If you prefer hidden object games that pack a bit more of a punch, then you’ll enjoy Holly: A Christmas Tale an adventure game which tells the story of Holly who works in a toy shop and ends up helping Santa to spread Christmas cheer. Packed with a wide variety of colorful hidden object scenes and cute mini-games which appear after every completed level, Holly a Christmas Tale offers hours of holiday fun.

Download in iTunes now!

10. Christmas Stories: Nutcracker

No Christmas is complete without The Nutcracker story, so it makes sense to conclude my holiday list with Christmas Stories: Nutcracker. This challenging and magical adventure game boasts an interesting storyline, interactive hidden object scenes that demand more than merely finding items, mini games and many mysteries to solve. Depending on your mood, you can play this game in three modes: Casual, Advanced and Hardcore. Help the nutcracker to rescue Princess Mary from the clutches of the evil Rat King who has turned her into a porcelain doll. With beautifully rich graphics, smooth gameplay and challenging puzzles, this is a great game to fill your holidays with festive cheer!

Download in iTunes now!

Happy Holidays everyone! Have fun!

Top 10 Time Management Games

I just love time management games. Not only do they challenge you to think strategically, they get the old grey cells working and are so addictive that you simply have to keep going until you master each and every level. Some of the games on this list have kept me occupied for months, which isn’t so great for getting chores done or writing regular posts for this website, but I love them nonetheless. So here is my current list of top 10 time management games:

1. Time Builders: Caveman’s Prophecy

Top of my list has got to be Caveman’s Prophecy, a new title from the Time Builders Franchise. I love both this and it’s predecessor Time Builders: Pyramid Rising, equally. Caveman’s Prophecy features the usual challenging levels, great graphics and quirky characters. Set in the age of dinosaurs, your goal is to help Senmout get cave dwellers to venture out and establish a civilization by collecting resources, building houses, markets, banks, temples and statues, etc. It’s a great game to sink your teeth into!

Download in iTunes now!

2. Campground Challenge HD

Campground Challenge is a great time management game that requires you to be both extremely methodical and patient to complete all 60 levels with gold stars. You are challenged to build a series of campgrounds that are financially successful but Eco-friendly, and in the process win Campground Developer of the Year. Build accommodation, chase away wildlife, cultivate seeds, plant flower beds, arrange entertainment and a host of other activities for an unforgettable gaming experience. As an added bonus, if you discover artifacts revealed by deciphering ancient treasure maps, you get to unlock hidden levels. I absolutely love this game and am not ashamed to say that I needed to watch walk through videos for more than a few levels to get gold star status!

Download in iTunes now!

3. Be Rich!

I was so happy when this great game for women was finally released for the iPad! If you like games that involve planning, designing and building cities then Be Rich! is the game for you. This sim-style game involves building and upgrading all kinds of housing, from condos and apartment buildings to cottages and luxury villas, as well as theaters, sports arenas, theme parks, businesses and much more. Each level has a set of challenges to meet, helping you to raise capital to keep your properties in tip-top condition as you travel to different cities throughout the USA. This is a fun and exciting game that is perfectly suited to playing on your iPad.

Download in iTunes now!

4. Burger Bustle

Burger Bustle is a very cute, busy and challenging game. Like all cooking games, it requires a frenzy of activity to flip burgers, add condiments and sauces, serve drinks and desserts and keep your customers happy. As you make money you can hire extra hands to help you achieve your tasks and work your way through each level, all in pursuit of making a profit and winning awards. Burger Bustle has great graphics, smooth game play and enough action to keep you busy on a rainy day.

Download in iTunes now!

5. Hobby Farm

Hobby Farm is such a cute and absorbing game that I played it day in and day out until I had completed each and every one of its 50 levels. You are tasked with helping Jill, who stumbled upon her dream farm while vacationing with her husband on a tropical island, to grow and develop it into a world-class, profitable and productive farm. Plant seeds, water crops, collect fruit and veggies, buy, feed, milk and shear animals, purchase machines, make a wide range of organic products and rake in the cash. You even have to fend off thieves who come creeping during the night to steal your crops and animals. This well-put-together game is sure to please!

Download in iTunes now!

6. Roads of Rome

My list would not be complete without the inclusion of my favorite gaming franchise, Roads of Rome. Whether its Roads of Rome 1, 2 or 3, these games never disappoint and are so full of character that even the most cynical of gamer would not be able to resist. Help Victorious win the hand of Ceasar’s beautiful daughter by protecting Rome from barbarian invaders and expanding the might and reach of the Roman Empire. Build roads, forts, and temples and collect resources to feed your army and fill your stores to aid you in fulfilling each challenging quest. If you are a perfectionist, you will enjoy countless hours of pleasure in pursuit of achieving expert status in every level. Only once you have completed each level at expert status will you be able to access the bonus levels. Challenging, entertaining and loads of fun, Roads of Rome is an absolute winner!

Download Roads of Rome now!

Download Roads of Rome 2 now!

Download Roads of Rome 3 now!

7. Megaplex Madness 2

Megaplex Madness 2 and it’s predecessor, Megaplex Madness – Now Playing! are sweet games that are both entertaining and challenging and good value for money. It’s your job to restore 5 run-down cinemas and turn them into a money making megaplex. You will need to upgrade and decorate each cinema in the themes of western, horror, romance, sci-fi and action, all while serving customers with tickets, popcorn, drinks and candy. Save up enough coins to play a series of mini-games in the games arcade and notch up your trophies. At times frustrating, this quick-action game provides hours of fun and addictive game play!

Download Megaplex Madness 2 now!

Download Megaplex Madness – Now Playing now!

8. Cooking Fever

I recently discovered Cooking Fever by Nordcurrent, a charming cooking game featuring seven different types of restaurants and counting. Each restaurant has 40 levels to complete, each with it’s own tasks and challenges. Your job is to serve hoards of hungry and often disgruntled customers with food and beverages and to make enough money to purchase upgrades in both the kitchens and the dining areas, which make it easier to reach your goals. It’s difficult to upgrade decor and machinery without diamonds, which you can acquire through in-app purchases or by striking it lucky at the casino. I am managing to keep abreast of upgrades through collecting huge piles of coins and playing in the casino until I get diamonds. Don’t bother playing anything less than 500 coins though, as its often time consuming waiting until you strike it rich! Cooking Fever is cute and engaging and offers hours of gaming pleasure.

Download in iTunes now!

9. Wedding Dash

Wedding Dash is a delightful little game that is one of a range of similar games offered by PlayFirst, including Hotel Dash, Diner Dash and Cooking Dash. I have all four games on my iPhone and iPad, although I prefer playing them on my iPad as it’s much easier to play the more advanced levels which can get pretty hectic to keep pace with. Flo and Quinn need your help in planning and managing dream weddings for a host of romantic couples. You will need to seat guests, serve them food and drinks, manage incidents and keep the bride and groom happy. Its a fun and quirky game that will keep on boggling your mind and is perfect for those occasions when you have time to kill and are in need of a distraction.

Download Wedding Dash Deluxe now!

Download Hotel Dash Deluxe now!

Download Diner Dash now!

Download Cooking Dash Deluxe now!

10. New Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 2

New Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 2 is the charming second chapter in the story of hapless Sir John, who was zapped back in time to the Court of King Arthur. Picking up from the previous chapter, Sir John is joined by his wife Mary, who discovers a spell book which comes in very handy in your fight against monsters and magical creatures. Your quest is to find the Fountain of Youth while gathering resources, building settlements and warding off enemies over 40 challenging levels. This is a delightfully quirky game which boasts beautiful graphics, smooth game-play and offers hours of entertainment.

Download New Yankee in King Arthur’s Court 2 now!

Download New Yankee in King Arthur’s Court HD now!

Big Fish Bingo

Genre: On-line multi-player casino

Developer: Big Fish Games

Game Description: An addictive, funky bingo game with strong emphasis on team playing

Platforms: Mac

Price: Freemium

Download in iTunes now!

I have been playing Big Fish Bingo for months now and am completely hooked. I just love this game. It’s fun, colourful, easy-to-use and has many features. The game consists of a number of bingo rooms, which Big Fish games change fairly regularly to mix things up. You have a choice to play from one to four cards and the cost per card varies from room to room (from 2 gems up to 80 gems). So, often what room you choose depends on how many gems you have in your kitty. Those rooms that are marked “pro” require that you play four cards but for much higher rewards.

Gemstone Canyon Pro is my fave room but costs a whopping 80 gems per round!

As each round starts, different numbers are called out which you then have to “daub” if you have them on any (or all) of your cards. Once you have filled out a card in any one of the winning combinations (horizontal, vertical, diagonal and corners) you may call bingo and keep playing until the end of the round. There are a limited number of bingos on offer depending on how many people are playing at any given time, so the quicker you can score bingos, the better. The first three bingos win you extra coins, gems and XP (experience). Each player collects XP with every round that they play which enables them to progress to higher levels.

Winning is great!

You can choose to log on with Facebook which awards you with 18 free gems and 500 gold coins every day that you log on or you can play as a guest. Furthermore, every half hour you may claim 10 free gems by pushing a claim button on the home page, which is a handy feature when you are running out of gems – without gems, you can’t play. Unlike other Bingo apps which give you only paltry amounts of free gems, this allows you to play without having to spend a fortune in real cash on buying gems and coins. You may initially have to spend some cash on buying gems to get you started, but if you are patient and log on every half hour until you have saved up enough gems (and provided you win more rounds than you lose) you shouldn’t have to spend a cent.

Free gems for logging on with Facebook.

Big Fish Bingo is a social game, so with the exception of one solo room (Dotties Drive-In) you are automatically teamed up with three other players when you enter a room, with bots being used if no “real people” are around to play. If you don’t want to play with bots (nobody does), you may start a fresh round yourself and invite “friends” to come and play with you or you may accept an invitation to play if it is sent to you. You may become friends with as many players as you want by simply tapping on their avatar and tapping “add friend”. The game has a chat feature, one for team (which only the team gets to see) and one for global (everyone gets to see) that allows you to exchange pleasantries, strategies or choice words depending on how the game is going. A recent welcome addition has seen the emergence of a numbered icon on either tab allowing you to switch between modes if members of your team have posted a message on either forum.

The solo room is a great place to earn gems and coins if you have great individual power ups.

Power-ups are an important feature of the game and you can only buy power-ups with gold coins which you can either purchase from the store or earn from each round you play. Depending on how many coins you have, you have a choice of four different power packs offering a different selection of power-ups each time (and you don’t always get the ones you want). These power-ups are categorised into common, rare and epic and include a range of power-ups to improve your chances of hitting bingo. Team instant bingos (which automatically award you with a bingo if it is hit) and team daub bursts are highly sought after and go a long way in ensuring your team comes out on top if one or more of you play them.

I always save up my coins to purchase the Mythical power pack which gives you guaranteed Epic power-ups which are the most sought after.

A recent addition is the Powerup Lab, which enables you to create different power-ups by combining different daubs that you have in stock. This makes it more interesting, especially when you have run out of the more powerful daubs.

Let the Powerup Lab bring out the mad scientist in you!

Big Fish Bingo has been plagued with connectivity issues from time to time, but lately seems to have stabilised, although you still get complaints of people getting booted from a game and replaced by an annoying bot! All in all, I find Big Fish Bingo to be addictively huge fun.

World Series of Poker (WSOP)

Genre: On-line multi-player card

Developer: Electronic Arts (EA)

Game Description: An addictive on-line poker game using virtual chips featuring Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha styles of Poker.

Platforms: Mac, Android

Price: Free

Download in iTunes now!

Gambling is addictive. Nuff said! But what makes this game doubly addictive is that you’re not only playing with virtual money, you’re also playing against real, live people. This renders the game unpredictable and realistic and also makes for an extremely entertaining way to spend your time. And spend your time you will! If you’re lucky to get a table full of friendly, chatty and witty players, you won’t want to leave. But sometimes you get cranky or vicious players (who mostly hide behind an avatar and have names like “K$$mya$$” or “Usuk”) who pester, harangue and rage against someone who gets under their nose, which can be extremely unpleasant and distracting. I’ve played this game for weeks now and I’m finally able to give you the low down on how to maximize your experience.

Friendly chatter

World Series of Poker is an online poker game that’s fun, easy-to-use and a great tool for learning how to play the game like a pro (more on that later). It has a clean and simple interface and a number of basic tutorials that will help get you set up quickly and effortlessly. Offering two poker styles, Texas Hold ‘Em and Omaha, WSOP also offers two tournament arenas where you can win a WSOP Bracelet and a WSOP ring – last person standing gets the trophy and the top three win modest prize money!

You’re a winner!

You have two options to sign up to the game – either as a Guest or with your Facebook account. Each player is assigned a small round token which features either an avatar or a profile pic, along with any name of your choice. If you choose to go the guest route, you have a number of free avatars to choose from, from simple card symbols to canned characters. If you log on with your Facebook account, your profile pic is automatically loaded, along with your first name, which you can replace with any name you want (but with a restricted number of characters).

This is what your basic profile looks like showing your game stats.

Once you have set up your profile, you are given $16 000 worth of free chips and 5 pieces of gold. If you want to purchase more, you can visit the store and purchase chips and gold (gold helps you to buy avatars and gifts) – just tap the “Buy Chips and Gold” button on the main page. You can choose to pay $2.99 for 750 000 chips, right up to $99.99 for 112 000 000. It’s pretty easy to buy a stack of chips and burn through them in one sitting, so be careful! But if you’re lucky (and cautious), you can play continually without spending a penny! I’ve been playing low to medium stake games for two weeks now with just the free chips I’ve earned, while trying to improve my ROI (Return on Investment). So how do you earn free chips, you ask? Well, every day each player is awarded bonus chips, which supposedly ranges from 1 000 to 1 million chips, but the most free chips I’ve ever won has been 5 000, the average being 1 500.

Free daily bonus chips

Another great way to earn free chips is to rack up a ton of friends. Whenever you play at a new table, look out for the friendly players, touch their avatar and tap the “Add Buddy” button. Similarly, when you get friend requests, you can either accept their friendship or refuse it. Make it a habit to spend a few minutes every day to send free chips to your friends – when they accept your gift, free chips are automatically sent back to you – literally a gift that keeps on giving. Again, you could get up to 1 million chips at a time, and the more friends you have, the more free chips you get. It’s a great joy to sign in to the game each day and see that you have 30+ gifts waiting for you, all offering varying amounts. It’s a sure fire way to boost your chip count. Once your friend count is in the hundreds, it can become tedious (and time consuming!) to send chips to all your friends – regular players will keep sending you chips anyway, so to save time, I send chips to those who’ve made it to the leader board, which shows the top 50 ranked players among your friends. These players tend to be regular players anyway and will ensure the river of free chips keep flowing!

A quick way to save time and earn guaranteed free chips is to send to your friends who are on your top 50 ranked leader board.

Finally, it’s time to talk about How to Become a PRO at WSOP! This is a hot topic among WSOP newbies who try and fail to gain PRO status (I originally being one of them). After I had been playing for a few weeks, I became frustrated that I couldn’t crack PRO status and started googling for tips and advice on how to become a PRO on WSOP. I found zip! nada! niks! All I could find was a few mentions here and there that you need to earn more than you lose and after 100 hands, you become a PRO. I also found a reference to this nugget: Play high stakes games and you’ll soon be a PRO. Well, I bought a few $4.99 bundles of chips, joined the high rollers and got lucky! At one point, my coffers were full at 32 million chips! Did I become PRO? No! I maintained my stack for 100 hands, 200 hands, then 1000. Still no PRO status. So I sent a friendly email to customer support (support@wsop.com) asking very nicely how gaining PRO status works. I informed them that in my opinion, you only get one shot at PRO status – your first 100 hands. And that you’ll never get PRO status after that, no matter how profitable your playing. Well, I got no reply from them at all. I understand that it must be frustrating for the game administrators to get emails of this nature (and they must get a lot! judging from the in-game comments and discussions I often come across). If it’s a hassle getting this kind of query, they shouldn’t ignore users – rather send out a standard mail response or provide in-depth details on their website for clarity. So, I decided to do some experimenting of my own. I immediately logged out of my Facebook profile, then logged on as a Guest. I set up a brand new profile with an avatar and using my free chips started to play. I played conservatively and made sure that my tally didn’t dip below the original 16 000. If I was losing at a table, I left it and tried another. I made sure to play low stake games and after 100 hands, my total number of chips sat at just over 18 000 and low and behold, I achieved PRO status. However, I really wanted to use my Facebook profile, and realised that I couldn’t have both my old FB profile and keep my new PRO status (I still maintain that if you haven’t achieved PRO status after your first 100 hands, you never will) and thus needed to create a new Facebook profile. So I logged out of my Facebook account, created a new account on Yahoo (and thus got a new email address), then used that new address to create a new Facebook profile. Using my new FB profile, I created a new profile on WSOP, then did the same thing by playing conservatively and after 100 hands, achieved my PRO status once again. This time for keeps.

I finally achieved PRO status!

The only thing I am upset about, is that I have not only lost my amazing stats (I had won loads of bracelets and rings) but also the hundreds of friends that I had made, many of whom were great fun to play with. I am slowly building my buddy list up again and have managed to come across some of my previous buddies, but it’s not the same. So, if you’re keen to play this game,(and you’re a first time player) here’s some advice. Log on to WSOP as a guest, read through the various tutorials and try your hand at some tables using the free chips that you get. Once you get a feel for the game and have more experience regarding when to fold and when to be aggressive, sign out and sign on again using Facebook (either your original profile or one set up especially for gaming) and create a new profile. Play your first 100 hands conservatively and make sure that you end up with more chips than you started with. DO NOT PLAY ANY TOURNAMENTS until you have achieved PRO status. Tournaments play havoc with your ROI because of the high buy-in fee. Only the top three win money, so if you get lousy hands and don’t get placed, your ROI drops dramatically! For general guidance on how agressively to bet, use the hand strength meter, but don’t swear by it, it can be misleading! If a hand is bad, the meter bar is red and short. For better hands the bar is longer and green. Best hands, such as straights, full houses and four-of-a-kind will show a full, green bar (see image below).

An example of how the hand meter works.

When I first started playing WSOP a few months ago, the game was quite unstable and at least two or three times a game, the app would drop. This is not only extremely frustrating, it can be expensive too. If you’re in the middle of a tournament and you get dropped out, you lose your stake (it costs 50 000+ chips to play for a bracelet and 10 000+ for a ring) which is maddening. And I’ve often seen other players mysteriously drop out half way through a hand. However, in the past few weeks, the game has stabilised radically and it doesn’t happen as often. Once, the app completely froze and I couldn’t get it to work. I solved the problem by rebooting my iPad.

All in all, World Series of Poker is loads of fun and a great way to spend your time (and money!).

**UPDATE**

I still play this game regularly and it’s a firm favourite. Here are some recent updates that have just added to it’s appeal. The free chips you get from friends yields greater returns now, I frequently get higher amounts – the most single offering so far has been 25 000. Previously, you got amounts of mostly 1 000 chips, but now it’s higher and I only occasionally get chips of 1 000.

Higher amounts of free chips are coming my way!

WSOP now has a “High roller room” for players with more than a million chips. When you log on, you see the following screen:

High rollers welcome!

You are then whisked onto the red carpet:

Onto the red carpet and into a waiting limo!

And into the high roller room where you get to play against some pretty insane people who like nothing better than to play chicken with you with some pretty audacious bluffs. Definitely not for the faint hearted!

Champagne anyone?

My Current Top 10 Favourite iPhone games

This is the list of my favourite Top Ten iPhone and iPod Games for Women. They’ve made it to the list because they are the games that I’m currently playing and enjoying. These will change from time to time, so check for updates by going to my iPhone page.

10. Glow Hockey

Based on the physical arcade game, Blow Hockey, this is a funky and frenetic game which comes with four levels of difficulty from easy to insane. Insane mode is, well, insane and very difficult to master. I still haven’t won a game in this mode and the only time I score a goal is by mistake! A great game for waiting rooms, requiring no mental effort whatsoever, just really quick reflexes.

Download in iTunes now!

9. Falling Gems

This fast moving, colourful and fun game from Rocha Software is an old favourite offering three modes of play: Challenge, Endless and Classic. Match three or more gems to score and earn silver, bronze and gold stars for bigger groupings. Colour blind? Never mind, the options menu adds icons to each colour to make it easier to match. A wonderful game that will simply make time fly.

Download in iTunes now!

8. Space Loops

Another highly addictive game from Rocha Software, Space Loops is reminiscent of the old arcade game, Pipeworks – without the water. You need to make complete loops out of puzzle pieces as they appear and before they time out. Just tap and drag to turn and place the pieces. The bigger the loops the higher the points. As you progress through the levels the game becomes faster and more challenging. It’s a great game to keep you occupied while travelling or waiting.

Download in iTunes now!

7. IMDb Trivia

Coming to you from IMDb.com, this is a great trivia game to test your knowledge of movies, TV shows and celebrities. Currently offering 6 question packs, three of which are free once you have “unlocked” them by successfully answering most of the questions in the first pack. Three additional bonus packs can be bought for $0.99 each. Wonderful, clean, easy-to-use design with a variety of question formats, ranging in challenge to suit casual fans and movie buffs alike. IMDb Trivia is a great way to expand your knowledge of Hollywood.

Download in iTunes now!

6. Trivial Pursuit

The mobile version of this classic board game is fun and moderately challenging. Available in single and multi-player modes, the game has smooth gameplay and some great pics. I’ve only used it in single player mode and find it perfect for travelling, especially with long airport stop-overs.

Download in iTunes now!

5. Angry Birds

It’s no wonder this dynamic game is such a hit – it’s fun, frustrating and infinitely addictive – everything you could wish for in a mobile game. Angry Birds is one of those games that you simply cannot put down. Your aim is to seek revenge on pigs who have stolen the birds’ eggs. Cheeky and quirky, the concept of flinging birds at pigs and obstacles is hilariously irresistible!

Download in iTunes now!

4. Angry Birds Rio

A crazy, quirky, highly-rated take on the hit movie Rio this game will have you begging for more. Help free the original angry birds who have been kidnapped and shipped off to Rio de Janeiro. This time you are facing the cheeky marmosets, some of whom are very tricky to get rid of. Great fun, Angry Birds Rio doesn’t disappoint!

Download in iTunes now!

3. Bookworm Deluxe

I just can’t get enough of this delightful word game. Link letters together to form words and feed Lex the hungry bookworm. The mobile version has a welcome addition – a library of “books” of different themes, each having a list of bonus words that you need to “tick off”, earning you extra points. Challenging and engaging this is a great addition to your phone collection.

Download in iTunes now!

2. Angry Birds Seasons

Weird and wacky, Seasons is a welcome addition to the Angry Birds family. Travel around the world to experience different festive seasons with the latest version featuring the Cherry Blossom Festival in Japan. Sporting some new bird characters and unique features, you can wreak havoc at Christmas, Halloween, Valentine’s Day, St Patrick’s Day, Easter, a summer picnic and the Chinese Year of the Dragon and Moon Festival. This version will keep you occupied for months!

Download in iTunes now!

1. Who wants to be a millionaire 2010

Main reason this game is at number one is because I’m still playing it everyday and trying to get as high a score as I possibly can. Based on the popular TV show, Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is quite challenging and loads of fun. Once you have worked your way through the starter pack, you can unlock three additional question packs for $0.99 each. A new version of the game is also available at iTunes which enables you to play with friends.

Download in iTunes now!

Bookworm Deluxe

Genre: Puzzle

Developer: PopCap Games

Game Description: Create words by linking letters to feed our hungry green friend, Lex the Bookworm. Bigger words mean bigger bonuses but get rid of burning tiles before they get you.

Platforms: Mac, iPhone/iPod, PC, Basic Mobile, Nintendo DS, Nintendo DSi

Price: $1.99

Download for iPad in iTunes now!

Download for iPhone in iTunes now!

If you like playing word games like Scrabble or Boggle, then you’ll love Bookworm Deluxe! It’s a highly addictive game that’ll keep you coming back for more. The basic premise of the game is to create words from letters that drop down onto your screen. Link letters by clicking on them and hitting submit or double clicking the final letter in the word chain when done. To link letters, they have to be next to one another to qualify, so you need a really good eye to scrounge for words out of the jumble on your screen. Words need to be a minimum of three letters and, like Scrabble, the longer the words, the higher the score. Each time you make a word, they peel off the screen and fly into the mouth of Lex the Bookworm, allowing fresh letters to drop down to replace them. When you create longer words, different coloured bonus tiles appear, which, when used in a word, increase your score dramatically. You can also score extra points with bonus words that appear beneath Lex in the sidebar. No worries about whether or not you have created a “real” word, just check out the side bar – if your word has a score beneath it, it’s real. If not, deselect by clicking a tile not connected to your word, and try again.

If you keep making only three-letter words, red-hot burning tiles start to appear thick and fast on your screen. To slow down the rate of the burning tiles, create words that are four or more letters in length. Once the red tiles appear, try to get rid of them as fast as possible by using them in words. The longer you leave burning tiles, the quicker they start to descend by burning up the tile beneath them (each time you submit a new word, the red tiles immediately destroy the letter beneath them). Once a burning tile hits the bottom of the screen, it’s game over. So keep on top of them at all costs! Naturally, as each level progresses, the red tiles fall faster and faster, so you will literally be handling hot potatoes to keep progressing.

Bookworm Deluxe comes with two modes – Classic Game, which is basically relaxed play but is by no means easy, and Action Mode, which is a faster, more challenging version of the game where burning tiles come fast and furious. The game comes with a funky tune and has a highly amusing ranking system for each level that you complete. As soon as you reach the ranking score for each level, a progress screen appears providing details of your best and longest words for that round, allowing you to move up to the next level.

The mobile platforms have a welcome addition – a library of “books” of different themes, each having a list of bonus words that you need to “tick off” which earns you extra points.

All in all, Bookworm Deluxe is a great game for women and a wonderful way to while away the day. It’s also perfect for playing when you have spare time between tasks, as you can pause and leave the game at any phase. The mobile version is a must have for when standing in a queue or sitting in a waiting room. Extremely addictive, this game has kept me up until the early hours of the morning on many occasions, gaining a five star rating from me!