Thursday, November 19, 2015

Best Free Online Games

207 comments :
This list is just a start, the amount of free online games out there at the moment is rising everyday and it's hard to know where to start. Hopefully this quick guide to some of the best free online games should make it easier to separate the wheat from the chaff.

Robin Hood - Shoot Them Arrows In Bow Man

robin hood

Draw back the bow, choose the right strength and angle, and fill the opponent full of arrows before they do the same in Bow Man. That said, there is also a range of extra options you can select when the novelty begins to wear off like sticking a wall inbetween the two duellists, each extra option making the game require even more precision in each shot. More addictive than one might imagine.

Alien Arena - First Person Shooter Fun

alien arena

Like fast paced deathmatches? Alien Arena is the game for that. This game combines some of the very best aspects of such games as Quake III and Unreal Tournament and wraps them up with a retro alien theme, while adding tons of original ideas to make the game quite unique. Very addictive. This game requires a download and install, but it's free and online.

Line Rider - The Art Of Sledding

line rider

Line Rider is a bona fide net game phenomenon. Players control a little sledder that dutifully goes for the gusto, no matter how much peril is placed in his path. Don't expect instant magic though, take the time to learn the tricks of track building in Line Rider. Build ramps, or increasingly hard to follow lines which gracefully curve around but never quite kill the sledder. Time will fly playing this one.

The Last Stand - Zombie Killing Action

last stand

A mix of Resident Evil and Defend Your Castle, The Last Stand delivers on both gore and strategy. As each day passes the player will have to repair their damaged defenses from the horde of zombies the night before. Players will find increasingly bigger and more powerful weapons at their disposal as progress is made through the game. 'Bloody' good fun.

Tetris - Needs No Introduction

tetris

Never heard of Tetris? Leave the page right now. Seriously though, Tetris is one of the world's best known games ever. Arrange the blocks of different shapes and sizes as they fall to complete lines. Sounds simple? Once the speed ramps up it becomes an intense game. The Tetris effect is a well-known mental illness because people can't resist it's addictive nature and have played the game for so long. This is a warning.

Plenty More Free Online Games To See

As aforementioned, these are just a few of the highlights to what's on offer. With a library of games which grows everyday, free online games prove that they still own the net when it comes to out favourite pastime. Just don't play them at work!

Tuesday, November 17, 2015

Free Online Hacking Games

89 comments :
The world of a hacker has always been a subject of fascination for many gamers. While many films and TV shows have glorified the role of the mysterious code warrior few video games have tried to approach this role in a realistic manner.

There are some free online hacking games worth playing, games that try to emulate the feel of being a hacker, constantly roaming the Internet looking for the next opportunity for a big score and always looking over one's shoulder for signs of pursuit.

The Hacker Project

The Hacker Project pits players against the evil mega corporations that dominate a distant future. Through the use of viruses, password crackers, IP tracers and other forms of malicious software players siphon funds and secrets as they search to gain more power for themselves and remove it from the mega corporations.

hacker project

New players are guided through the basics of the game and their first few missions by a helpful online AI tutor named Lisa. Lisa will explain what all of the menu options mean and how to crack and login to your first system in order to earn your first few HPD (Hacker Project Dollars). Lisa can be turned off in the account options menu once the player has a feel for the game.

Each player starts off with their own basic Gateway which is what is used to connect to the world wide network. As HPD are earned by completing missions and running various viruses, players in the Hacker Project can upgrade their gateway with better CPU, Memory, Hard Drive and Bandwidth. Many tasks in the Hacker Project take several minutes, if not hours, to complete so upgrading your system to reduce that time becomes crucial for being competitive.

The game resets periodically once enough players have worked together to initiate a doomsday attack on the world network, destroying not only the mega corporations infrastructure but the hacker's machines as well.

Cypher

Cypher is an online hacking game that features a turn based format. Currently in its beta stages, Cypher allows the player to assume the role of a hacker and compete in a virtual world where they perform missions and compete against others in multi-player missions. The user starts off with a basic system that they upgrade by purchasing modules bought with credits. Credits are earned by completing missions and programming warez.

cypher

As players complete missions and earn experience, they can also gain levels which allows them to increase various skills. These skills enhance a players ability to hack by either making them faster, harder to detect, or even giving them the ability to program their own hacking software. Missions can be run multiple times, with each attempt costing the user a set number of turns.

Like many online games, Cyper uses a "turns" and "tick" system. Each mission run in the game costs the player a number of turns. Once all turns are expended the player cannot perform any more missions until their turns replenish. During the current round of beta players start off with 5000 turns and 2 new turns are awarded every "tick", which is currently set at 2 minutes.

Cypher also features Multi Player Missions where users all compete to see who can perform a hack the fastest. Awards are payed out based on how well the user did in the competition. Multi-player missions lock the player out of other missions until the end of the current tick.

Finally, the game also includes a virtual console, adding even further depth to the hacking experience. Players can use this console to run various commands to inspect their nodes, other players, and access the game worlds virtual Internet. The console commands can be tricky, so newer players are encouraged to read the wiki on how to use the console and on the game concepts in general.

SlaveHack

SlaveHack is a free online hacking game played entirely through a web browser. The player attempts to hack into servers and make them into slaves. Once a server has been hacked the player game install various forms of viruses that will make money over time. These include things like mass emailers and cracked software. These slaves continue to make money for the player until another player removes them or the server resets its IP address.

slavehack

While hacking into other systems the player has to be mindful of his actions because other players might be attempting to hack into the same system. Players are free to attempt to hack each other, but it requires that one player has the other player's IP address. Whenever a player hacks into a server or performs actions on that server, the log file is updated with the player's IP address. Therefore players must always remember to edit or delete log files when hacking otherwise their IP address will become known and they will be attacked by other players.

Players hack into other machines using various cracking programs and attempt to protect their own machines with firewalls, waterwalls, etc. The player always has to be vigilant, there is always another player out there who would have no qualms with logging into your own personal server and installing a virus deleting all the software you spent days acquiring.

The SlaveHack online hacking game also features a "riddle trail" which is a set of clues left around on various servers leading the user along on a mini quest. Following the riddle trail can lead the user to better software that can be obtained by normal means. The riddles take the form of fairly simple math, logic, or word puzzles.

Conclusion

Online hacking games are mostly developed by lovers of the genre working independently of large development studios. These games allow players to support the game through donations which often also give the player additional advantages in the game. Without the voluntary support of the players, these games could not survive, so player who find themselves spending several hours a week logging in and playing should consider donating to help keep the games alive.

Thursday, November 12, 2015

Lord of the Rings Online: Stats

2 comments :
lord of the rings

 As with many of the systems in Lord of the Rings Online (LotRO), the character mechanics are different from many other games. While this brings a sense of newness to the system, it can be difficult for many new players to understand. With the game going free-to-play this autumn, it is important for new players to have a basic understanding of these systems before they are confronted with them.

Where is the Heath Bar?

In most MMOs a character has a heath bar and a bar that governs special abilities. These two bars go up and down as you play, and few people even think about them. In Lord of the Rings Online, they have the bars as well, but the terminology and reasoning is a little different.

The green bar displays your character’s Morale. In most games, if this bar drops to zero the character dies and respawns, but this isn’t the case in LotRO. When it reaches zero, the character is so overwhelmed by the forces against them that they retreat to a safe location. While the distinction is minor, it does fit into the world as a whole. Since this bar governs emotions, Minstrels are able to ‘heal’ by singing songs that raise your spirits.

The blue bar is your character’s Power. This represents your character’s force of will and ability to go beyond simple combat. This is the pool that characters use to fuel their skills and special abilities.

game battle

Character Stats

Lord of the Rings Online does away with many of the standard conventions of MMO classes and gets rid of standard attributes such as strength or dexterity. Instead, it uses a system that fits in tightly with the lore that existed before the game. In many cases, the stat may seem similar to one from another game, like Might being similar to a strength attribute, but when you look at it also governs things that would traditionally be in other areas.

Each of the following stats represent a character’s physical, mental or emotional wellbeing:
  • Might: This stat governs additional damage with physical attacks as well as your ability to block and parry. High Might will also allow a character to mitigate damage from common sources (any weapon or attack that has ‘(Common)’ written after its damage).
  • Agility: Agility determines how often you hit and critical in combat. It also governs your ability to evade and parry blows and increases your ranged damage.
  • Vitality: This determines your bonus Morale, and how quickly your Morale regenerates out of combat. It increases your mitigation of Shadow and Fire damage and your Wound, Poison and Disease resistance.
  • Will: This stat governs your Power bar. It determines your bonus Power and how quickly your Power regenerates when not in combat. It also influences your Fear resistance.
  • Fate: Fate affects your Morale and Power regeneration while in combat and your critical chance with Tactical skills. A Tactical skill is generally a combat skill that is not a physical attack, such as a magic attack, healing power or buff.

Jumbles of Stats

In many cases, people will focus on one or two stats to the exclusion of others. While this isn’t necessarily a bad way to go, by understanding the different stats and how they work together, it is possible to make a more powerful character. For a new player, knowing exactly what Fate does and why Morale is important will help smooth out their starting experience.

For more information on statistics in Lord of the Rings Online, check out the Lorebook. Look at these for more information on the class system or traits and deeds.

Tuesday, November 10, 2015

Farm Town: Beginner Tips and Tricks

1 comment :
farm town

From the time of its inception, Farm Town has continued to reign as the most popular, and possibly the most enjoyable, game on Facebook. The game first appeared back in June of 2009, and at the time held the spot of the fourth most played game on Facebook.

By July, the game had already gotten 14,000,000 users, and reached the number one spot of all Facebook games. Today, few people are able to resist the temptation of attempting to develop a prosperous, successful farm.

Farm Town Gameplay

To play Farm Town, one begins by creating an avatar, and then is granted a free area of land to build on. The farmer must plow, plant, and harvest crops if they hope to bring in money, which is then spent on more seeds, in addition to tools, buildings, or other obscure features. As one’s farm continues to grow, you are able to go over to the real estate office and upgrade your farm in order to make it larger. Through gaining experience points, you can also increase your farm’s level.

To encourage cooperation with other users, the creators have added countless incentives to connect with your Facebook friends. For instance, it is actually less expensive to hire a friend to plow your fields and harvest your crops, and you gain a large bonus if you carry out the work of someone else's farm. Additionally, it is possible to donate free gifts to other farmers, and they are able to return the favor. This acts as a simple method to get free items that would normally be extremely expensive, and you actually gain experience points from it.

farm town

Experience points are one of the most intriguing, and often disgruntling, features of the game, but are essential to the gameplay. To acquire experience points, one must spend sufficient time visiting friends, harvesting crops, establishing new buildings, or sending gifts. Because experience is what allows you to advance to higher Farm Town levels, many users regularly choose experience points or levels to judge each other’s farms. If you want to build a more impressive farm than your friends, make sure to gain as many experience points as you can.

Along with experience points, gaining money is also an essential objective of Farm Town. To gain money, you must trade your crops. Conversely, you can travel to the marketplace and find someone to pay you to harvest or plant crops for them. Irrespective of what farm you are at, selling crops acts as the central tactic to acquire cash and is the main element of the game.

Conclusion

On the whole, Farm Town is a very thrilling free game. Although it often becomes tricky at times, the thrill of producing a thriving, wealthy farm is definitely worth it in the long run. If you haven’t looked into Farm Town by now, you’re definitely missing out on one of the highest quality free games on the internet.

Thursday, November 5, 2015

Resident Evil Outbreak

1 comment :

resident evil

Long before Resident Evil 5 allowed players to team up online and fight the waves of undead, two lesser known, but equally celebrated games tried online Resident Evil first, six years before the fact. On the PlayStation 2 no less.

The premise was unique too. Instead of being an overpowered, heavily armed, combat trained character, players were instead cast into the role of one of eight everyday ordinary citizens as they try to escape the nightmare engulfing their home town of Raccoon City.

The concept of melee weapons was introduced alongside the usual fare, and these titles were also the first implementation of the real time inventory screen, just like Resident Evil 5.

But despite the completely different format and premise, the segmented scenarios nestle right into the main timeline, and a couple even expand upon events seen in the main series. Familiar and new faces alike appear, and new enemies not seen before prowl the streets and local public venues.

The Nightmare Begins

The games begin as the eight playable characters are working and celebrating at J's Bar. There's Cindy Lennox the friendly waitress brining drinks to everybody. Kevin Ryman, who failed entry to the city's S.T.A.R.S. task force tries to drink his troubles away, while down the bar, Mark Wilkins tries to forget his Vietnam flashbacks so he can be a better security officer.

resident evil nightmare

Meanwhile, Yoko Suzuki, the mysteriously silent Japanese girl, pecks away furiously on her laptop. Alyssa Ashcroft, the hard nosed reporter, hopes she'll get the next big scoop. Nearby, George Hamilton, the surgeon, is trying to drink away his divorce.

David King, the silent plumber, wants to talk to no one, while Jim Chapman takes a break from operating the subway to immerse himself in another puzzle magazine.
Unknown to all of them however, is the events that started Resident Evil 2 and 3 are happing right below them, and it isn't long before all hell breaks loose.

Another interesting aspect of this series, was the fact that all players started with a "Virus gauge". This chronicles their slow infection, unless attacked by an enemy which speeds it up. Once this reaches 100%, it's game over.

Online play did not support voice chat, as developers felt it would ruin the mood. (Xbox Live is an indication of the juvenile behavior they tried to avoid). Instead, through a combination of button presses and analog stick commands, the characters could call to each other for help, items, and conversation through an ad-lib system. This system, while designed to simulate casual conversation about the mess their in, also provides clues if you're stuck.

The New Enemy

One of the interesting aspects of the online play in these titles, is that the monsters aren't the only ones to worry about. Players are cast into groups of four, and have complete freedom to ditch their partners, or kill them in Friendly Fire mode. Leaving a partner to die online will see them rise as a zombie that player can control, seeking revenge for being wronged. It was an interesting concept at the time.

resident evil enemy

The monsters themselves run the gamut as well. From the standbys of zombies, skinless Lickers and the reptilian/humanoid Hunters, to new creatures such as giant Scissor Worm insects, and the never before seen mutation between zombie and Licker.

One boss is a giant organic mass that digests others, even a Tyrant unit from Resident Evil 2, into it's form to become stronger.

Scavenger Hunt

The final, and best aspect, was the replay-ability factor. Every one of the ten released scenarios had a massive checklist that needed to be completed, as well as hundreds of "SP Items". These items were divided into groups of forty for each scenario (twenty for the scenario and twenty for the characters), and were randomly generated in one of two sets of predefined locations.

Completing the checklists required playing through the scenarios as every character more than once, as each scenario had a randomly occurring personal experience for each of the characters. Alyssa would have flashbacks in the abandoned hospital, Kevin could converse with fellow officers at the station, Jim would see a fellow employee be pulled into the ceiling of the subway's restroom, and more.

Even the difficulty would change what happened in the game. An example would be the first scenario. On easy mode, Mark's friend Bob stays behind. On normal mode, Bob makes it to the roof with them and kills himself. On hard mode Bob comes back as a zombie.

Completing the checklists, finding SP Items, and clearing all the difficulties would unlock Gallery items and award points to buy these items. Selections included watching in-game movies, alternate costumes, concept art, sound tests, and bios about the locations.

There was also the insanely hard "Nightmare" mode, the single player "Lone Wolf" mode that eliminated the other three CPUs, "Infinite" mode for infinite ammo, and "Friendly Fire" where players could actually harm their teammates.

The biggest aspect was the majority of the gallery was other characters to play as. Every NPC encountered, and even some who were not due to development issues, were playable, all in varying states of health and possessing different inventories. They all followed a template of one of the eight main characters, but the second game actually gave them voices of their own during the ad-lib process.

A Nightmare Unfulfilled

Between the two games, only ten of the original proposed twenty scenarios made it to light. Others would've included the docks, a sleepy motel, Umbrella Corporation's downtown headquarters, and possibly the local military base.

resident evil 5

Sadly, the last of the servers supporting these games were shut down in 2007. Unless avid players host their own, these can no longer be played online.

These games should not be forgotten. Their over ambitiousness for the PlayStation 2 laid the groundwork for most of what we see today in Resident Evil 5. The presentation mixed up the boring status quo at the time, and the wealth of random variables kept players coming back for more in an unprecedented level of replayability.

Saturday, October 17, 2015

Additions to Zoo World on Facebook

1 comment :
zoo world facebook

Good and Bad Options Added to Online Zoo Game

Due to the huge page views and request for help, here is more information on Zoo World on facebook.com. There have been a few additions since the last article, and they will be covered below.

Gift Giving is Great

Every player is allowed to send 20 gifts a day to friends. It is important to note that all 20 of those gifts can be sent to the same person. This can be useful if player knows a friend is looking for a certain animal or collectible gift.

New Collectible Items

New additions to the zoo are the collectible trees. These special trees award the player 25 zoo dollars with each shake per day. Once player owns at least three of the same tree, they can be upgraded for a better tree, which will award more zoo dollars. Note that there have been many players reporting problems with this new feature, so if the upgrade is not available or there are problems, customer support should be contacted.

Upgrading the tree isn’t as simple as just clicking one button though. After that green upgrade button has been clicked, a pop up screen appears. The Upgrade button has to be pressed and then the player must select Save. Once this is done, be sure to visit the zoo to make sure the new tree has been awarded. It must be placed on the zoo like every other new addition.

It Used to Only Cost a Few Hundred!

An irritation of the game is the ridiculous increase in the cost of items that only cost a few hundred zoo dollars at the beginning. It just doesn’t seem fair to have to pay almost 200,000 zoo dollars for one zookeeper, when it can take over a zoo week to earn that much. The developers consider this more challenging, but it’s more likely not enough thought was put into ratio of the price increases. Player must just deal with this aspect if he/she wants to play the game.

The best way to avoid having to pay such inflated prices is for the new player to buy at least 50 zookeepers, and 25 kiosk managers and maintenance workers as soon as they start playing. Only one veterinarian is needed through level 20, so it is unclear when/if another will be needed. So it might be best to go ahead and buy an extra early in the game, since that price also skyrockets.

Planning Ahead is a Must in Zoo World

It might take a while to earn enough to buy that many workers, but it won’t take nearly as long as waiting until they are needed. Just be sure to buy all 50 zookeepers first before buying the other workers. Keep in mind that 50 is an estimate of how many zookeepers the player will need above and beyond his/her recruited friends. If a player has less than 50 friends, more zookeepers should be bought. The opposite works too, of course. A safe estimate is to have at least 100 zookeepers on hand, whether they be recruited or bought.

What Happened to Recruiting Friends?

For some unknown reason the developers changed how to recruit friends as zookeepers. Selecting the recruit option from the shop takes the player to a screen that gives instructions on how to recruit. So instead of being able to click on remaining friends, player must visit the zoo and click on the Recruit Zookeepers (looks like a bear with a hard hat) option from there. It seems like an unnecessary added step from something that worked just fine the way it was.

Besides the animals, nothing else in the shop increases in cost. So everything else that must be bought as the zoo increases in size can be bought as needed. The cost of the animals skyrockets as much as the staff. Every player can expect to pay close to 300,000 zoo dollars for one animal once they reach above level 20. The best way to tackle such high prices is to keep admission prices as high as profits allow.

Math Skills are a Must to Maximize Profits

To figure out the best price, every player should increase the admission by $1 until they notice their daily profits start to decline. When this happens, drop the price by $1. For instance, if the daily profit with a $12 admission price is $29,000, a $13 admission price is $30,000, and a $14 admission price drops to $29,000, then the ideal admission price is $13.

It is important to note that when an achievement is a minimum amount of visitors, it might be necessary to temporarily lower the admission price to attain the extra visitors. As soon as that level is achieved, immediately return the price to the higher amount. This will not affect the level earned.

Zoo World is a complicated but entertaining game. It’s growth seems infinite, with endless possibilities. As more levels are opened, more questions arise, so keep the questions coming. Be sure to read Zoo World on facebook.com for more help on how to get started.

Tuesday, September 22, 2015

Free Printable Crossword Puzzles Online

47 comments :


Research shows that working crossword puzzles on a regular basis can have a powerful effect on how the brain ages. The puzzles are even used to help people recovering from a stroke. Here are five websites for people who like doing crosswords.

Bestcrosswords.com – New Printable Crossword Puzzle Daily

Bestcrosswords.com provides a variety of free daily crossword puzzles in both American and British English. This website also provides online crossword puzzles that one can use to compete against other die hard crossword puzzlers.

Mirroreyes.com /crosswords – Archive with Thousands of Crossword Puzzles

This website provides a new crossword puzzle every day. In addition, they have links to their previous crossword puzzles, dating back to 2000. They also provide free printable word searches.

Varietygames.com/CW – Free Printable Crossword Puzzles and a Printable Crossword Puzzle Maker

Once the standard crossword puzzles are made, why not make a few new ones from scratch? Create clues, fill in the answers, and give the puzzle a title. The website will print out a one-of-a-kind puzzle. The crossword puzzle maker is truly a unique crossword puzzle experience. Writing one’s own crossword puzzle offers a unique perspective and an added mental fitness component that simply working a crossword puzzle does not offer.

Armoredpenguin.com/crossword - Free Printable Crossword Puzzles and a Printable Crossword Puzzle Maker

Armoredpenguin.com is another great site that allows one to work a ready-made crossword puzzles (click on the “user puzzle” or “collection” option on the left). For the extremely creative crossword puzzle enthusiast, they also have a free printable crossword puzzle maker.
If a new puzzle is created, the creator has the ability to name their puzzle, write a description of the puzzle, set the size of the puzzle, choose the language, and several other detailed options.

Onlinecrosswords.net – Nearly 9,000 Free Printable Crossword Puzzles

This website provides seven new free printable crossword puzzles every day. In January 2010, the website boasted of nearly 9,000 puzzles in their database, with new ones being added daily. There are nearly 107,000 words in their database that are included in their many free printable crossword puzzles. The website also states they are in the process of translating their puzzles into French and Spanish.

When has something so fun been so beneficial to the brain? Crossword puzzles bring entertainment for hours and are readily available online. In addition, one can get creative and create a unique puzzle with a crossword puzzle maker.