Jasper's Journeys

Gaming Genres: Action, Platformer
Story Genres: Fantasy
Graphical Styles: 2D, Cartoon, Low Resolution
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Lexaloffle
Publisher(s): Lexaloffle
Initial Release Date: February 14, 2008
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
Jasper's cat has been nabbed by a nasty witch who intends to use him as an ingredient for her incredibly evil potion! Make your way through a world of magic and monsters to reach the witch's castle and save Orlando. Jasper's Journeys offers a mixture of thoughtful exploration, tricky jumps, and frantic monster pummelling action.

Opinion:
I cannot say that I really gave Jasper's Journey much of a chance; After only a handful of levels it appeared like a far too generic action platformer for me to want to continue.

Images (+):

Related Media (+):

• Trailer
• Windows Demo
• Mac Demo

Indieness: Indie
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Chocolate Castle

Gaming Genres: Puzzle
Story Genres:
Graphical Styles: 2D, Cartoon
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Lexaloffle Games
Publisher(s): Lexaloffle Games
Initial Release Date: April 2, 2007
Website(s): Homepage
Description:
Chocolate Castle is a tricky sliding block puzzle game. The object of each puzzle is to arrange blocks of chocolate into large connected regions so that they can then be consumed by a team of hungry animals. Munch your way through 120 rooms of hand-designed puzzles, or design your own with the built-in editor!

Opinion:
I actually rather like Chocolate Castle. At its core it is about arranging different blocks and as such there is a wide range of challenges from very easy all the way to incredibly challenging with every possible value in between. It is not a game that I would ever spend all that much time on but I enjoyed the handful of levels that I did try.

Images (+):

Related Media (+):

• Windows Demo
• Mac Demo

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Solutions

Indieness: Indie
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Zen: Puzzle Garden

Gaming Genres: Puzzle
Story Genres:
Graphical Styles: 2D, Cartoon
Platforms: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, iOS
Pricing Model: Pay $
Developer(s): Lexaloffle Games
Publisher(s): Lexaloffle Games
Initial Release Date: December 19, 2010
Website(s): Homepage, Homepage
Description:
If you thought that you could never reach enlightenment by playing a computer game.. well... you're probably right. You can, however, fry your brain by trying to solve seemingly impossible puzzles that take place in a relaxing zen garden.

Opinion:
All in all, pure puzzle games can be hard to rate, even just in generalities. I am not going to say that others might not enjoy Zen but I really didn't. I found it both far to simplistic, all puzzles simply differ in how the rocks/obstacles are arranged, and with far too steep of a learning curve. But I do like the idea of raking a rock garden and Zen does a good job of making this minimalist and elegant.

Images (+):

Related Media (+):

• Windows Demo
• Mac Demo

Hints/Tips/Walkthrough (+):

• Player Guide
• Hints and Solutions

Indieness: Indie
Play?: