Casual Friday: Update for October 24 – 30, 2009

Somehow I expected more scary and spooky casual games to be released this week, since Halloween is Saturday. Four isn’t too bad – Fort Zombie, Trapped: The Abduction, Night of the Scarecrows and Sters all debuted but somehow I expected more than that. Of course, when you combine those with the other Halloween-esque casual games that were released throughout October 2009, there’s a nice assortment to choose from.

This was definitely a week where puzzles ruled among the new releases. If you’re a fan of hidden object, match-3 or picross puzzles, you’ll be set. If you’re not, there’s a shooter and action RPG you can play instead.

This week’s best bets are: Trapped: The Abduction (PC, Mac) and The Tudors (PC).

Hidden Expedition: Devil’s Triangle
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: You and your team are trapped in the Bermuda Triangle on a strange island while searching for one of your missing members. Your goal is to find out where you are, what’s going on and then how to escape.
Demo Available: Yes

World Riddles: Animals
Genre: Puzzle
Availability: Funny Bear Studio
Retail Price: $9.95
Platform: Windows 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista and 7
Premise: It’s a collection of over 120 nonogram (picross) puzzles with an animal theme. There are also some mini-games tossed in, and some informative facts about the animals that appear in the game
Demo Available: Yes

Fort Zombie
Genre: Action RPG
Availability: Fort Zombie
Retail Price: $9.99
Platform: Windows PC
Premise: You have to survive the zombie outbreak. You must travel towards a safe stronghold, while also saving other survivors, collecting supplies and hunting down zombies along the way.
Demo Available: Yes

Trapped: The Abduction
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows Vista and XP and Mac 10.5
Premise: A young woman has been abducted by a serial killer, and you must carefully look for clues and play mini-games to survive.
Editor’s Note: Due to the premise and dark tone of the game, I’d say it’s best for ages 16+.
Demo Available: Yes

Night of the Scarecrows
Genre: Puzzle (Match-3)
Availability: GameHouse
Retail Price: $5.99
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Living scarecrows are lumbering towards the village, bent on destruction, and the only way to stop them is to play match-3 puzzles.
Demo Available: Yes

Sters
Genre: Shooter
Availability: Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows 2000, XP and Vista
Premise: Sters, little ghosts, goblins and monsters, are causing trouble around the world. It’s up to you to use your cannon launcher to dispatch them.
Demo Available: Yes

The Treasures of Montezuma 2
Genre: Puzzle (Match 3)
Availability: Alawar Entertainment
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Match tokens to make then disappear and earn points. This time around, there are three levels of difficulty to make the game more enjoyable.
Demo Available: Yes

The Tudors
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games, PlayFirst, Harmonic Flow
Retail Price: $19.95
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: The game based on the Showtime series The Tudors. Here, you play as a spy for King Henry VIII, revealing and preventing all kinds of threats to England’s safety.
Demo Available: Yes

Big City Adventure: New York
Genre: Puzzle (Hidden Object)
Availability: Big Fish Games
Retail Price: $6.99
Platform: Windows XP and Vista
Premise: Go on a virtual vacation, exploring New York City. Search hidden object puzzles to find items and souveniers, collect postcards, play mini-games and learn more about New York.
Demo Available: Yes

Editor’s Note: Due to so many casual games sites offering game plans or preferred member prices, which can cause a game to have multiple price-points, the games’ average retail prices is mentioned in Casual Friday.

Site [Big Fish Games] Site [PlayFirst] Site [GameHouse] Site [eGames] Site [Alawar Games] Site [Amazon] Site [Reflexive Arcade] Site [Harmonic Flow]