Fugdale’s Funhouse

Review: It’s another hectic stressful shooter for all you gamers who need to take out a little agression. This one has an inventive setting and structure. Basically, you wander down the photo-realistic streets of what looks like Manhattan. The quality of the video is quite good, as if you are watching a film. Hovering in the foreground of the picture is your hand with a finger pointed like a gun. Every once in a while you stop and all sorts of devilish cartoon characters rush out of doorways and sewer drains and start running towards you intent on smacking you. You must shoot your finger at them in order to kill them before they hit you.

Each time you take a hit from one of the critters, you lose one of your hearts, and you only have four hearts to start with and those toons are ruthless. The variety of characters coming at you include speedy fanged cats, bobbling gumdrops and snakes with cannons for eyes. The controls feel a little wonky and aiming can be a bit tricky. As you progress little cardboard boxes appear which give you power ups, like devil horns. You can also save your progress at certain points throughout the game and even challenge a friend to play with you. I found the game a little difficult to master, but kind of cute and original in it’s unique design and gameplay.

If you hit the space bar it activates a flying duck, but I haven’t been able to figure out what purpose the duck serves. It just flies across the screen quacking, but you can neither shoot it, nor does it appear to help you destroy the enemies. Maybe I lack enough focus to figure out what purpose the duck serves, but I’m sure gamers who enjoy this type of challenge will have no problem discovering what is probably obvious.

Review: Happy Thanksgiving everyone! Today the Fun House serves up a delectable Turkey treat. In this game you play as a gobbling turkey who’s been stripped of all his feathers. He fights for his life so he doesn’t end up as the main entree. Move your turkey around the checkerboard table and collect as many feathers as possible. Each round you have to collect an increasingly larger number of feathers within the minute time limit. Simply move your turkey over the feathers to collect them. Try to catch the corn power ups that fall. These power ups include: a turkey grower; a time slower; a magnetic feather catcher; a feather bomb; and a turkey speed increaser. You must avoid the pesky dinner fork which floats around the screen. Get too close and it will stab your turkey and hold it inactive for about 5 seconds.

This game has a lot of cute charm and makes a nice distraction for when the Tryptophan sets in. Of course, PETA will be on your ass for all the animal violence, but heck, you’re trying to save the turkey’s life, not kill it. Although the game includes cute graphics and gobbly sound effects, it won’t amaze you with it’s inventiveness. It doesn’t rank super high on the ‘collect and avoid game’ scale, but it definitely fits the theme of the day today and will provide a few laughs and a challenge that the whole family can enjoy. Wait, did I just say ‘ass’ in front of the whole family?

Review: There’s gold in them thar hills! It’s your job to mine it out. You play as an old bearded miner who sits at the top of the screen with a swinging claw. Below you, buried in the layers of terra firma, lie various sized chunks of gold, ore and diamonds. As your miner swings his claw toward a chunk you want to collect, press the down arrow key and he will drop the claw and grab it. He takes longer to reel in the larger chunks, but they have a greater value. Gray rocks don’t command much money, so try to avoid those if possible.

You get a target amount of money for each level and you must collect enough gold, rocks, or diamonds to match or beat that amount. You can also collect grab bags which contain random cash or special items. Although the target goal increases steadily with each round, the money you collect will carry over, so the more you can mine in each round, the easier time you will have meeting your next goal.

Additionally, after each round you will visit the general store, where you can use some of your earnings to purchase helpful items. Dynamite allows you to blast undesirable objects you grab by accident; Clovers increase the value of grab bag items; Strength Drink allows you to drag heavy items faster; the Book of Rocks increases the value of rocks; and Diamond Polish increases the value of diamonds. Different items become available as the game progresses and sometimes you may want to curb your spending habits in order to keep some money in the bank for the next round.

Along the way various critters show up and crawl about the screen. They have value like anything else you mine, but tend to just get in the way. However, sometimes the creatures carry diamonds with them, in which case they provide lucrative rewards upon capture.

The game mechanics won’t win any awards for excellence. Your attention to timing and aim will increase your score. The hit area on each target seems liberal enough that you don’t have to tear your hair out while racing against the timer. However, later levels get a little more difficult as more useless rocks and animals get in your way.

If you enjoy the basic version of this game, you can increase and extend your fun by downloading the full version. The full version includes pesky bats and elves; more items; more levels and even a gambling game to increase your money.