OK, not so much gold as live, but I wanted alliteration.
The first few games to be released through Gleemax are now available for a free trial period. So far, they have:
- RoboRally, the classic game of programming robots, who then run into things and blast each other
- Axis & Allies, the classic WWII strategy game
- Vegas Showdown, a relatively recent Avalon Hill bidding/tile placement game about running your own casino
- Desktop Tower Defense, that addictive flash game you’ve been able to play for year
- Guillotine, the take-that card game nominally about the French Revolution
- Acquire, the classic game of being one of the best board games ever designed
- Magic: The Gathering Online, packs not included in the free part, so probably the same as always
There’s some really excellent stuff there, and the few reports I’ve read have said that the interface is pretty slick (since it was programmed by the GameTableOnline people.) When I have some time (ha!) I’ll try to dive in. I play Acquire on my PDA several times a day, so I’m curious how the Gleemax version stacks up. And I’ve been meaning to try Vegas Showdown for a while now, so this seems like a good way to do it.
The whole Gleemax thing is still totally confusing. Obviously, they’re planning to charge for these games at some point. But does it somehow relate to the fee I would pay if I joined D&D Insider, since Gleemax is supposed to be the social networking portion of the Digital Initiative? Will there be a separate membership for Gleemax games, or Gleemax in general, that just adds on or overlaps? There’s no obvious clue, but hey, at least there’s some free games up for the time being.
Acquire?! For really truly??
My heart sings!
Damned tower defense just made me lose an hour and a half of my morning.
What did you think of the interface?
The interface is… minimalist, but right now, I think they’re focusing on functionality, and if all goes well, they’ll make it pretty later.
Which is fine, I’m all about Form Follows Function.
I beat tower defense on normal and can get to level 52 (of 60) on hard. Time to test out axis and allies with a couple friends.
Should we get a game together for readers and us to play something?
Post a time and a game, and I’ll see what I can do about meeting up.