Free Dress Up Games for Kids

By Naomi Bolton

1. 
   
   dressed up to the nines image by Renata Osinska from Fotolia.com
   In this era of online interactive games, the free dress up games for kids have slowly started to gain popularity over the traditional dressing-up dolls. With a click of a mouse, children have access to thousands of virtual dolls to dress up in a myriad of clothing and costume choices. With hundreds of sites dedicated specifically to this genre, there is no shortage of free dress up games online for kids to enjoy.

Cute Ancient Princess Dress Up Games

2. From shoes, dresses, hair, accessories and jewelery, the cute ancient princess has a range of wardrobe choices for kids. All the options have their own button, and cycling through the different items is as easy as clicking on the button until a favorite is found. This easy interface makes the fashion games suitable for kids of all ages. The art style is cute and cartoon-like with bright colors, and the game has some background music to enjoy while playing. The game is made in Flash and can be played for free online at www.dressup9x.com

Qing Dynasty Palace Girl Games

3. In these free dress up games, players are given the chance to clothe a Qing Dynasty Palace girl in outfits that simulate the ones from that era. The game features soothing background music and a wide variety of clothing, accessories and hairstyles, but there is only one girl to dress up. The game is free to play online, but players that want to take a snapshot photo of their creation will need to register with the site. 

Shrek Princess Fiona Dress Up Games

4. Based on the popular kid's movie, "Shrek," this free dress-up game at rainbowdressup.com allows players to customize the look of Princess Fiona. In her human form, Fiona has a wide range of shirts, tops, dresses and shoes that kids can choose from. Kids have the option to play the game in either drag-and-drop mode whereby items are dragged out of the wardrobe and "dropped" unto the princes, or for younger players, the option to simply click on the items to cycle through them on the princess herself.

Bratz Flower Girl Dress Up Games

5. The Bratz Flower Girl Dress Up games are based on the Bratz line of children's toys and movies. Besides choosing the perfect outfit, kids can also customize hair, makeup and even eye color. There isn't as big a variety of clothes as in similar dress up games, but the Bratz license, coupled with colorful graphics and sound, will make this a popular choice among kids. The Bratz Flower Girl games can be played for free online at www.girlgames24h.com 

Back To School Dress Up Games

6. In Back To School Dress Up Games, kids have to help Jennifer decide on the perfect outfit for her first day in 12th grade. All her friends will be looking their best, and kids will have to make the best choices in order to help Jennifer stand out in the crowd. Changing Jennifer's hair, dresses, shoes, or accessories is as easy as clicking on the appropriate button, making this a fun and easy game for children of all ages. Back To School Dress Up Games can be played for free online at www.dressup24h.com. 

Dress up games: girl over flower

Welcome to our new dress up games
  
Just drag and drop the make-ups and jewelries onto the model's face and click on her body and hair to change designs. And compare the image with me.

To play the game, you can visit the website at this link http://www.dressup24h.com/game/2468/Girl-over-flower.html and join many other dress up games there as well.

Winter Boredom Busters for Kids

Winter Boredom Busters for Kids

December 28, 2010

by Deborah Taylor-Hough / http://www.SimpleMom.com

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Since we try not to use the phrase “I’m bored!” in our home, I usually don’t hear my kids complaining about being bored during those long days at home during the winter. But I have to admit that we’re still an incredibly normal family. Even without the “b-word” in their vocabulary, there have still been those times when my three children just seemed to be at a total loss for something constructive to do.
A number of years ago I brainstormed with my kids and some of our assorted friends and we came up with a list of 200+ ideas for summertime activities. I decided to narrow the list down to just those things that can be done indoors and aren’t weather-dependent for those cold snowy days home from school or during winter vacation times.
You can put each item on this list onto individual pieces of paper, place the papers into a container, and when the children need inspiration for an activity, they can draw out two or three papers and then decide which idea they want to do, either as a group or individually. This method is usually more helpful than giving the kids a huge list of possibilities. By narrowing the choices down to just two or three, it’s easier for the kids to pick out the one that sounds the best to them.
143 INDOOR WINTER BOREDOM BUSTERS for Kids

• make paper snowflakes
• clean out the toy box
• send virtual greeting cards
• choose photos for a family calendar
• have an indoor picnic
• bake and decorate cut-out cookies
• go camping in the livingroom
• clear out your email inbox
• make a mobile out of found objects (acorns, rocks, branches)
• write up some New Year’s Resolutions
• create a simple Family Tree
• make sandwiches and cut them out with large cookie cutters
• play basketball with a wadded up piece of paper and a wastebasket
• play board board games
• make a tent out of blankets
• read books
• make homemade play dough
• play with play dough
• write a letter to a relative, friend or pen pal
• clean bedroom
• vacuum living room
• clean bathroom
• make a craft
• draw
• color
• paint
• watch a movie
• write stories
• use magnifying glass
• write a play
• act out a play
• invent indoor circus acts
• perform an indoor circus
• play card games
• dust the house
• brush the pet
• write letters
• read a magazine
• play dress up games
• play Cowboys
• build a fort in your rooms
• do a jigsaw puzzle
• play on the Geosafari
• play on the computer
• listen to a story or book on tape
• do extra schoolwork to get ahead
• do brain teasers (ie: crosswords, word searches, hidden pictures, mazes, etc.)
• cook
• prepare lunch
• surprise a neighbor with a good deed
• play store
• prepare a “restaurant” lunch with menus
• hold a tea party
• have a Teddy bear picnic on the floor in the livingroom
• play with toy cars
• play dolls
• play house
• learn magic tricks
• put on a magic show
• make sock puppets
• put on a puppet show
• crochet or knit
• make doll clothes
• sew buttons in designs on old shirts
• make bookmarks
• take a quiet rest time
• take a shower or bath
• organize a dresser drawer
• clean under the bed
• empty dishwasher
• vacuum under the couch cushions and keep any change found
• write these ideas on pieces of paper and pick out one or two to do
• practice musical instruments
• perform a family concert
• teach yourself to play musical instrument (recorder, harmonica, guitar)
• fold laundry
• sweep kitchen or bathroom floors
• vacuum or dust window blinds
• clean bathroom mirrors
• clean sliding glass doors
• copy your favorite book illustration
• design your own game
• build with blocks or Legos
• create a design box (copper wire, string, odds-and-ends of things destined for the
• garbage, pom-poms, thread, yarn, etc.)
• have a marble tournament on the livingroom carpet
• make dessert
• make dinner
• give your pet a party
• have a read-a-thon with a friend or sibling
• check out a science book and try some experiments
• make up a story
• arrange photo albums
• play hide-and-seek
• create a symphony with bottles and pans and rubber bands
• read a story to a younger child
• string dry noodles or O-shaped cereals into a necklace
• glue noodles into a design on paper
• play jacks
• make up a song
• make an indoor teepee out of blankets
• write in your journal
• play charades
• make up a story by drawing pictures
• draw a cartoon strip
• make a map of your bedroom, house or neighborhood
• call a friend
• cut pictures from old magazines and write a story
• make a collage using pictures cut from old magazines
• do a secret service for a neighbor
• plan a treasure hunt
• make a treasure map
• make up a “Bored List” of things to do
• plan a special activity for your family
• search your house for items made in other countries and then learn about those
• countries from the encyclopedia or online
• plan an imaginary trip to the moon
• plan an imaginary trip around the world, where would you want to go
• write a science-fiction story
• find a new pen pal
• make up a play using old clothes as costumes
• make up a game for practicing math facts
• have a Spelling Bee
• make up a game for practicing spelling
• write newspaper articles for a pretend newspaper
• put together a family newsletter
• write reviews of movies or plays or TV shows or concerts you see during the break from school
• bake a cake
• bake a batch of cookies
• decorate a shoe box
• make a hideout or clubhouse
• make paper airplanes
• have paper airplane races
• learn origami
• make friendship bracelets for your friends
• make a wind chime out of things headed for the garbage
• paint your face
• braid hair
• play tag
• make food sculptures (from pretzels, gumdrops, string licorice, raisins, cream cheese, peanuts, peanut butter, etc.) and then eat it
• produce a talent show
• memorize a poem
• recite a memorized poem for your family

Have fun!

Dress Up Games For All Boys And Girls

Dress Up Games For All Boys And Girls
23.12.2010 | Author: VladChurchill | Posted in Home Family

Fashion and dress up girl games don’t have a concrete client base and such games can be used by every person who experiences an interest for dresses and clothes. Every gamer may find a lot of different kinds of browser-based girl games for kids in the web and I am sure that your kids and you will find one that fits your requirement or even several.

Dress up games for wedding

Dress Up Famous People

Sometimes it might feel like other gamers and you can’t get enough of your favorite celebrity. Other gamers and you can see them everywhere and they have to look perfect. This is not always true and sometimes your children and you wish to dress them up yourself so that you and your kids make sure they look their best. This is possible online with celebrity virtual character dress up games for girls. You and your girls take a doll that looks like a person that is very well known and you and your girls dress it up to match their style and of course you add your own touch to it.

Dress Up For A Wedding

Girls always like to dream about that perfect day when they get to walk down the aisle to a man that loves her. Everything should be perfect in such a day, especially the wedding dress. Wedding video doll fashion games for kids give you and other gaming fans the opportunity to practice for that special day and have fun at the same time. Your kids and you get a beautiful bride doll to dress up in a stunning white dress with all the necessary accessories. Don’t forget to put something new, something borrowed and something blue so that you know that everything is perfect.

Dress Up In A Goth Style

It happens to get bored of the style you and other players have and want to experiment something new. Why not try a goth style? Your kids and you might not want to try something new directly on yourself. You can play video virtual character dress up in which other players and you may dress up in all black and with a touch of red. I am sure that you and your girl will like all the shinny accessories with all kinds of spikes. As many of these clothing items resemble real life ones, other players and you may always make the transition from internet to your day to day life in the case that other players and you like it very much.

Dress Up Your Virtual Image

If your children and you spend a lot of time online, your kids and you must know about avatars. These are images that are used to represent you and other players in online forums and other messengers. Pictures usually show us how we see ourselves and how we want other people to see us as well. Your kids and you can dress your own avatar and select everything from hair style and color to the shoes. Your results can be saved and used online but you and other players can just have fun designing something new.

Dress Up Manga

Are you and your girl a big fan of anime? I am sure you and your children are; everybody is. They have something so lovable about them and they dress in such a great way. If you and your girl go online you can find anime Java makeover and dress up games in which you and your girl can play with your favorite anime characters. The resemblance is stunning and your kids and you may select different outfits to make them look perfect. What may be more fun that anime network Barbie dress up?

Entertain yourself with dress up games for girls

Source: http://unique-article.info
Plz forgive me if I did something wrong.

Kingdom Days Sim Date

Author: Pacthesis

Availability: Free, Online/browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Everyone

My Scores: (Writing: 3.5, Art: 4.8, Gameplay: 3.5)

Found at: http://www.deviantart.com/ and/or http://www.newgrounds.com/

Summary:

In Kingdom Days Sim Date, you are Rose. You used to live in an orphanage, until one day you met a strange boy who revealed that you're the long-lost daughter of the king and queen, and he himself is your servant. Sometime after this, though, war forces you to flee from your castle and take shelter with a king who will only allow you to stay if you marry him at the end of a month. Will you go through with it, or will you find a future with someone else?

Review:

Once again, I found myself waffling over the numbers, so take them with a grain of salt. I may have to change my rating system again.

The Writing:

At first, I thought the whole bit with the orphanage was superfluous. Since the premise essentially boils down to "You are a princess", it didn't make sense to have such a long introduction sequence catering to the "Orphan has royal parents" fantasy, which probably hasn't been relevant since the 1800's. However, while this background doesn't have much bearing on the game in general, it becomes absolutely crucial for one character's path. Even so, it probably could have been handled differently - either introduced more subtly, or made more relevant to different parts of the game - so that it doesn't seem like a massive weight pressing down on the game with just one character path acting as a load-bearing pillar. Other than this, the game has Pacthesis' usual interweaving plot threads, attention to detail, and odd humor, all of which I've come to love.

The Art:

I almost gave this a 5. Almost. Had the art for some scenes been just a liiiiittle bit tighter, it would have been perfect; as it was, it was impressive. From the use of monochrome in the beginning, to the animation during the escape, to the detail of Rose and Lewis being spattered with mud as they run through the woods, it's clear that a lot of effort was put into this. The characters and scenery are lovely, expressions and wardrobe change quite a bit, and overall, I am just very impressed.

The Gameplay:

THE STATS DO SOMETHING! Finally, a Dating Sim where the stats actually do something: Charm is required in order to go on dates, Wisdom is required to work the better job, and Magic is used to unlock the cheat codes. Granted, the system is not above criticism, but it is a huge step up from the mostly decorative stats in Pacthesis' other games.

Like Idol Days, there is one hidden character who must be unlocked, and one character who shows up at the half-way point, meaning you have less time to complete his path. The game is also nice enough to tell you when you've completed each path. Also, there are no pesky minigames! Hooray!

Unfortunately, the endings are less satisfying once you realize that the *relationship points* mean nothing. Oh Pacthesis, why did you give me ice cream and take away my cake? The mechanics of the game appear to be rigged so that when you progress to a certain point in a character's path, you invite them to your wedding, which means that they show up at the church and can thus be selected for an ending. While this may seem a perfectly acceptable way to do things, there are two characters (The king and your servant) who will *always* show up at the church, regardless of your relationship with them. This means that you can pretty much approach a person you've had nothing to do with all month and say "OMG I love you! Let's get married and live happily ever after!" Compare this to Idol Days and Wonderland Days, where all of the characters show up to wish you well and only the one(s) you have a high enough relationship with will cart you off into the sunset. Since Kingdom Days is entirely dependent on the dialogue path/church mechanic, there's no purpose to the gifts or dating, and no sense of accomplishment when you "win" either the king or Lewis.

TLDR:

To sum it all up, it's pretty clear that Pacthesis keeps getting better and better at making these games. There are some new things being tried out here, some of which work and some of which don't. The writing isn't perfect, but it's nice; the art is impressive and shows a lot of attention and effort. I'm not a fan of the game's method of handling relationships, but it plays all right, and generally makes for a lovely and relaxing way of passing an afternoon.

As always: This is just my own opinion, based on my own experiences and biases. Feel free to share yours. :)

Top 10 Coolest Game Genres for Girls

Top 10 Coolest Game Genres for Girls

September 7, 2010 Online gaming is the most popular interactive entertainment on the internet. Others may think it’s only a guy’s thing because most of them are developed for them and they often include cruel fight missions that don’t appeal to girls, but the good thing is, there are thousands of sites which offer a lot of flash games exclusively for girls. Read on for the coolest game genres for girls.
1. Dress up Games

Girls just love to dress up and put on fashion shows with their friends. This game is the favorite girly game that is giving a different version almost every single day.  It involves setting up the character on different kinds of dress according to your preference that is provided by the game itself.  There are jeans, tops, skirts, earrings, handbags, sunglasses that you can add to match. Most characters are celebrities and pop stars like Hannah Montana and Vanessa Hudgens so it is really fun game, that you can play for countless hours.

2. Makeover games
Do you want to put make up on yourself but not so sure if it’ll look good? Or do you want to transform your best friends into high fashion models? Well, this is the right game for you. Makeovers are also fun in the virtual world. You get to test your makeup and makeover skills online and change hair styles, hair color, lipstick, eye shadow and more with this fun glamour makeover game.

3. Decorating games
Girls of all ages would love to decorate anything. This flash game is sub genre of dress up games and they are mainly for girls. Like dress up games, you just drag and drop pre-designed objects into your room and decorate them as you wish. The best part of this game is how many parts you can play with, from furniture to a various selection of good room and scene decoration options.

4. Sports games
If you’re a sports fan girl looking for the same entertainment online, sports games is right for you. It can simulate real life sport together with its challenges. This can be any sport from simple volleyball to extreme ones.

5.  Bratz doll games
Bratz is a kid’s and teen’s doll favorite. The first four Bratz dolls are Jade, Cloe, Sasha, and Yasmin. They are the girls with a passion for fashion games. This is a cool game for a brat girl.

6.  Barbie doll games
Barbie is the best-selling fashion doll since 1959. Girls just love it and play them over again and again. From different categories to play, you can imagine about doll’s world.

7.  Fashion games
Fashion games are fun right out of screen. Pretending to be a Fashionista has never been so fun! You can try on different clothes, make up and accessories. Mix and match them for a variety of looks.

8. Fairy games
Girls have been fascinated with fairies since the dawn of time. Any game that would involve fairies would be a big hit for little girls, be it fairies playing dress up games or fairies playing sports, fairies would always be an interesting game to play.

9. Coloring Games
Have you missed those fat crayons going through your blank canvass? If you do, coloring games would be your best bet. This simple and fun girl games would make little girls swoon with fun.

10. Ragdoll games
Do you know about the hot item in gaming today? It’s Ragdoll game. Tossing this guy around with realistic limbs movement, it will surely remove the stress out of you. Ragdoll games varies in the internet, but all games offer the nice throw around and while most games have a way to finish it, some are just gadgets to play around with.

Dress up for Christmas time

Santa Claus is coming and we are all packed up to join the day. The Christmas tree, the cards and gifts are already. We prepare our best costumes to get into the lively activities outside.

I myself have finish helping my parents decorating the rooms, buy presents for my family and my close friends, I will send them tonight and will receive many presents back. I also spent a lot of time wondering what to wear for the night. And I've already done.

I can feel the sound outdoors.  The snowmen on the yards. Bubbles, stars, lights, jingle bells are decoratored around the house.

I must join them now. Say temporary goodbye to my dress up games. I'll be back later.

A short clip, the beautiful music as my presents to all who read this blog. MERRY CHRISTMAS and HAPPY NEW YEAR.

Idol Days Sim Date

Author: Pacthesis

Availability: Free, Online/browser

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: Musical Fiction

Rating: PG

My Scores: (Writing: 3.5 Art: 4.5 Gameplay: 3) out of 5

Found at http://www.deviantart.com/ and/or http://www.java-gaming.com/

Summary:

In Idol Days Sim Date, you are Lexie, a teenage girl who moved to the city with dreams of playing the guitar in a band. Through sheer luck, you happen to run right into a member of a local band whose guitarist just left, and they have a big concert coming up in 30 days.

Review:

The Writing:

The story is pretty unashamed wish-fulfilment; after all, who among us hasn't dreamed of playing in a band? And Lexie pretty much walks right into a sweet gig without even having to audition. It's one of those setups where you can hear the suspension of disbelief snapping, but don't care because "Rock Band! YAY!" Also, once again, I adore the sense of cohesion and unity that Pacthesis puts in her games by giving each character a piece of a larger story. If any would-be dating sim authors are out there taking notes, circle that part and underline it three times; it really improves the feel of the game.

That being said, there were some bits of the writing that I didn't personally care for. For one thing, the secret character seems a little bit *too* wish-fulfilly. I return a celebrity's wallet, and all of a sudden he's constantly gushing about how awesome I am? Maybe others would find that to be wonderful escapism, but I just found it to be strange and a little nauseating.

Also, you might notice that I rated this game E 10+ (Edit: Changed to PG because of html issues). The author herself declares it to be an all-ages game, but I gave it the more conservative ranking because of one character's interrupted attempt at suicide (described in text, but not shown). Apparently, it's very easy for an author to think of suicide (attempted or successful) as a shorthand way of saying "This character is very sad and/or had his feelings very hurt." While I'm reluctant to call it poor taste, it is an immature view; unrealistic without the counterbalance of wish-fulfillment (rare fetishes aside, unless I'm really missing something here). Suicide tends to be the result of very deep problems, either mental illness or a life so bleak and pain-filled that normal coping mechanisms no longer work. Figure, the human aversion to killing is very strong, and the aversion to dying even more so. This is why true suicidal thinking is considered a medical emergency. The game, however, doesn't treat it as anything more significant than wearing black and reciting bad poetry, which bugs me, and Pacthesis certainly isn't the only one to do so, which bothers me. Perhaps we should have a "Suicide Awareness Week" in schools?

Art:

The art is very decent, with some nice effects. Once again, it's anime style, so haters beware. The concert at the end has...um...an attempt at animation, which I feel was more to the game's detriment than its betterment. The musicians just kind of stand there, looking blankly off into the distance, while their hands move a little. Also, having dealt with silent characters all this time, it felt very weird for one character to suddenly sing in a voice that sounded nothing like I'd imagined him having. Fortunately, this music video is skippable, but it still makes me wince a little thinking about it.

Game-play:

The game-play is about on par with the other dating sims on this blog. The time management is a bit tighter than in Festival Days, there's no cheating via food items (that I could figure out, anyway). There are a few bugs, though, such as missing dialog in the dating scenes for a few of the characters. Also, the second workplace does not function, which means the stats are entirely unnecessary. (Fortunately, it is entirely possible to get by with only the first workplace, which makes this bug fairly unintrusive.) Guitar skill makes a slight difference, as your band-mates' praise after the concert will change depending on whether this stat is high or not, but it otherwise doesn't do much. The music video is the same, the romantic ending is the same, and even if your skill is 0, it's impossible to fail the concert.

TLDR:

In short, this is a cute game. It's not realistic at all, but that's okay. It has its bugs, but it's still playable. There are a couple things that annoyed me, such as the suicide plotline and that music video, both of which I feel the game would be better without. But again, all of this is my own opinion, and you may well tell me to stuff it and stop talking out of my hat. You can state your own opinion in the comments.

My old laptop - My new laptop - My dress up games

My Compaq laptop was stolen on the bus, which was the most unlucky incident to me last month. I didn't mind the value of the laptop itself, indeed it was too old and had lost most of its components. I just regretted the value of the invaluable data inside it. I cried a lot after that but nothing could change and my laptop would never come back. And how I could afford a new one is a big matter to me. I had to ask my parents for money in the most financially difficult time for my family.

I feel very ashamed of my careless moment. If I had paid more attention, the things would be different now.

Anyway, my parents sent my the money yesterday. And I have order a new Asus online. The configuration of this laptop is much more better than the old Compaq one. I promise myself to care for it better and will never make the same mistake again.

The new laptop is about to be dispatched here at my office in a few minutes. I can't wait for it. I have to resist my temptation of dress up games and fashion games for a long time. And then all my other needs will be fulfilled.

So, everything is OK now, just smile and try more for the best.

Castle Chase

Author: Makio-Kuta and Racheal

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Dating Sim / RPG

Genre: Fantasy/Humor

Rating: PG

My Scores: (Writing:4, Art: 4, Gameplay: 6 5) out of 5

Found at http://www.castlechase.com

Summary:

In Castle Chase, you are Princess Monica. Your future, as it has been planned for you, involves marrying some prince from another kingdom and becoming a queen. That doesn't strike you as appealing, so you duck out from your studies for the day with the intent of going on a date! The problem is, who with?

Review:

My reaction upon seeing the game's home page: Yikes, who let the dogs out? Ugh, the English on this page is worse than a five-year-old's. And what the heck? "Two hour contest"? Is that how long they spent making this thing? Aw man, this is going to suck....

My reaction upon actually playing the game: OH MY GOD THIS IS THE BEST GAME I'VE EVER PLAYED IN MY LIFE!!!

--The following review is brought to you by Esther D. Bum, with many apologies to Doug Walker.--

There's this princess, and she looks like a bizarre anime character, which would suck if this was a romance game, but it isn't really a romance game! It's a comedy!! And she meets this guy who looks a lot like a girl, which is amazing since all the girls look like guys anyway! But she only looks bizarre when she's talking, because the rest of the time, she's a cute 8-bit rpg character like from the 80s or 90s! I was an 8-bit rpg character once, but then I got eaten by a turtle! And the music is all midievally and stuff!! It's amazing!!!

So the princess wants to go on a date even though dating doesn't exist yet, and everyone is like "NO! STAY IN SCHOOL!" But she says "Screw you I'm the Princess! I'll do what I want!" And she walks around the castle looking for someone who wants to date her, because she doesn't know princesses are hot stuff, and every time she talks to somebody, plot happens! And sometimes the plots are sweet and sometimes they're hilarious, and sometimes they're sweet AND hilarious, like chocolate-covered clowns!!!

So she's walking and walking and then she walks some more, because the castle is really, really big, and it's just like Legend of Zelda except that she doesn't fight anything! Or smash any pots! So it's not like Zelda at all! And she finds these objects everywhere and she gives them to people to make more plot happen, but some of the objects are red herrings, and one of them actually IS a red herring! So she walks around and sometimes people follow her, and different things can happen based on what she did and who she talked to, and then she gets an ending and the game is like "Okay, You're Done!" HOORAY!

This is Esther D. Bum saying CHANGE? You got change?? Aw, c'mon, help a girl out!!!

----

Seriously, this game was a lot of fun once I figured out the keyboard commands. (X is inventory and S is use, by the way; or at least it is on my copy.) Also, this is the last time I shall attempt to rip off Doug Walker's "Bum Reviews".

Frozen Essence

Author: VenusEclipse

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Visual Novel

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Teen

My Scores: (Art:3.5, Writing:3.5, Gameplay: 2) out of 5

Found at http://unbrokenhours.com/

A big Thank You to Anviel for suggesting this. :) Ray mentioned it too, though I didn't see that comment until after this post was written. Thanks anyway, Dude!

Summary:

In Frozen Essence, you play a girl named Mina/InsertNameHere. You've spent the last 1,000 years sealed away, and during that time, you've completely forgotten who you are. Now somebody's broken you out, other people are chasing you, and you have no idea why any of this is happening.

Review:

The Writing:

I've been very ambivalent about what kind of score to give the writing, so take the number up there with a grain of salt. First of all, let me just say that I'm a sucker for original worlds. The drawback of such settings, however, is that they tend to require a ton of exposition, which the reader/player may not enjoy.

The story itself, while interesting, is hard to follow on the first run-through. You spend much of the game not knowing who anyone is, what's going on or why, and your character is in the same boat. So, points are given for immersion, I guess, but then taken away for the hinderance to comprehensibility. What makes it worse is the English. I'm guessing that the author is not a native English speaker, based on the strength of the substance but the weakness of the form. Like Requiem of the Abyss, imagine taking a good book; only this time, instead of running it through Babelfish, chop it up to make a nice salad. It makes an already mysterious story even harder to keep up with. After my first play-through, I was ready to give it a 2.

That said, the game becomes immensely more enjoyable on replay. The background is solid (minus a minor inconsistency about whether the East is the Earth region or the Air region), and there's a kind of thrill from catching a subtle reference that you missed or didn't understand the first time around. The more endings you get, the more you understand the world you're in, and the more satisfaction you get from the story.

Be forewarned, though, this story is long! It puts the "novel" in Visual Novel. One thing that annoyed me slightly about the game was the way the endings would seem to be drawing to a close...and then the story would continue. This cycle would repeat a few times until I was practically shouting "SOMEONE KILL HIM, ALREADY!"

The Art:

Bonus points to the creator for composing music instead of just yanking something off the "free music" shelf. Not only is it a nice touch of effort, but it's one that paid off. It captures the story perfectly. When someone walked in while I was playing this and asked what tone of story it was, (Drama? Comedy?), I replied, "Just...listen to the music. It's exactly what the music sounds like."

The backgrounds and special pictures were very lovely. However, the effect was ruined as soon as I saw Rune. The characters, while not bad, are sometimes a little wonky. I almost feel bad saying that, though, since it's clear that a lot of effort was put in. The art is anime/manga style, as seems to be usual for Visual Novels, and it's worth mentioning how deceptively difficult that style actually is; though stylized, it still requires a firm basis in real human anatomy, and is far less forgiving than most western cartooning styles.

There are quite a number of poses and backgrounds, though occasionally, it's obvious that a backdrop has been recycled. All in all, I think the most egregious flaw in the art (and I use the broader definition of "art" in this review) is the "Thwap" sound effect. It often sounds like people are randomly hitting Mina, themselves, and each other. What's really hilarious is the way Oryon keeps slapping himself during battle, due to an unfortunate combination of the "thwap" and a hand-clutching-chest pose.

The Gameplay:

The game is easily divided into two parts. Part one has you choosing your suitor, and part two has you playing out that character's ending. Part two has a bit more of a Kinetic Novel feel than part one -- lots of reading, with very little interaction. However, the level of interaction in either part leaves something to be desired.

Much of the initial interaction basically boils down to dialogue trees, and you explore each branch in order to get the exposition I mentioned in the Writing section. For the other interactions, it tends to be immediately obvious when you've chosen a "wrong" answer (e.g., you make Rune leave in a huff), which causes me to simply reload and choose a different track instead of exploring to see how the story unfolds with that choice in effect. (On the other hand, this may be better than simply making a character "unwinnable" without telling you, so take that as you will.)

There's also a sense of "railroad tracks" in the game, which rather annoyed me. It's one thing to have a series of events that must always happen, but it's another thing to "override" the player's choices. I outright hated when my choosing "Tell The Truth" resulted in something to the effect of "Oops, Telling the Truth sucks. I'll lie instead!" If you were going to have her lie anyway, then why even ask me?!

TLDR Version:

To sum it all up, Frozen Essence has a number of strengths and weaknesses. It benefits immensly from Multiple play-throughs, and the Death ending is easily the most fun and cathartic after you've gotten the other endings and seen the crap these people put Mina through. It could definitely be much improved with a good proofreading by a native English speaker, though. All in all, I think this piece shows some excellent potential, and I look forward to any future works from this author. Also, the Water path definitely did not make me cry. Not even a little bit. ...I need a tissue.

Fatal Hearts

Author: ?

Availability: Demo/$9.95 Full Version, Download

Format: Visual Novel

Genre: Thriller

Rating: Teen

My Scores: 2 out of 5 ( Writing: 2, Art: 4, Gameplay: 1)

Found at http://www.hanakogames.com

Summary:

In Fatal Hearts, you play a teenage girl named Christina. Her friend's parents are acting weird, girls are getting murdered, and she keeps dreaming about a strange guy. Can you solve the puzzles, find love and not die?

Review:

I have to admit that I didn't get very far in this game. In what little I have seen, the writing seems to run the gamut from okay, to cheesy, to "What the heck was the author thinking?!". The first line that gave me pause was a comment by the narrator that her mother doesn't let her wear makeup, which is "probably why I still don't have a boyfriend." ...Honey, that is not how love is supposed to work. But okay, we're in the first-person perspective of a teenager here; I suppose I can accept that she's a little bit stupid about these sorts of things. But then, we come to another scene that just breaks my suspension of disbelief in terms of sheer stupidity...

Picture this:

Last night, your friend ditched you and went off with some complete strangers. This morning, you get a call saying that someone was found dead at the place you last saw her. You are now worried that your friend may have been killed. At this point, your mother comes right up to you and, not knowing about the call, asks you if you would like a ride to some place. How do you repond?

A: Tell her that you don't want to go right now because you're worried about your friend's safety.

B: Say "Mom! Thank goodness you're here!" then tell her about your friend and ask her for help.

C: Say NOTHING AT ALL to the adult standing right in front of you, and handle it yourself, even though a violent, federal crime is involved.

If you guessed anything except C, you are smarter than our protagonist. I mean seriously, what the crap?! I could buy leaving Mom out of the loop if she was gone and you didn't want to call and bother her, but when she's Standing Right There and asking you something? That is the epitome of stupid. It might be more palatable if there were at least an option for telling her, so that then we could just blame the player. But no, talking to the adult doesn't even cross our makeup-obsessed teen's mind.

So enough about the writing, then: On to the art! The art is decent and anime/manga style. I have nothing more to say about the art. Moving on, then:

I hate the game play. Words cannot express my utter loathing for it! Any attempts would probably include the words "vomit" and "bowels" and "ripping it to shreds and then setting it on fire." Readers of my earlier posts might have picked up on my slight dislike of minigames. Well, in Fatal Hearts, every chapter has one, and they are necessary to advance through the game. These "puzzles" range from "annoying" to "impossible and annoying". The first one is reminiscent of the Gemini minigame from Wonderland Sim Date: move annoying crap out of your way. That's it; there's no mental challenge at work, just lots of click-and-drag. At the other end of the spectrum is the puzzle that frustrated me so much that I finally just quit the game altogether:

You have stumbled across a dead body, and need to run away before the police see you. (Yeah, this part just cemented for me that the protagonist is an idiot since, given that she'd just arrived and hadn't touched anything, even a cursory crime-scene investigation would clear her almost immediately.) But anyway, you have to guide Christina through a maze of bushes, keeping the bushes between you and the cop at all times. If the cop sees you, she will move toward you, and she can move twice as fast as you can. This puzzle is probably doable and there's probably a walkthrough online detailing a long and complicated series of back-looping paths, but I don't care enough to look. What really grates my cheese about it though, is that after I lose this puzzle, I don't get taken to a Bad End or a story that branches from me being caught; I get "Oh, you've lost. Here, let's just reset that puzzle for you:" and my agony begins anew. What's more, there is no "Skip Puzzle" button, just me losing and losing until I finally chuck the computer out of a second-story window.

In summary, this is the worst commercial game I have ever played. The art is the only real redeeming quality, but considering that they're charging money for this thing, the art had better be decent. I consider this the commercial equivalent of Dating Sim Academy, with the notation that at least DSA was free and I could finish it! (note: The author of DSA has done better games, some of which I've discussed on this blog, so I feel justified in continually tearing it.)

Now, as usual, there is room for disagreement. Maybe you have more taste for puzzles than I do, and maybe your suspension of disbelief is stronger, or you can justify the protagonist's actions. I can't. I hate this game. But, feel free to try it out and share your thoughts in the comments.

Cosplay - a new trend in dress up games

Cosplay

Cosplay stands for the combination of two English words: costume and roleplay (also known as kosupure). Participants wear cosplay to represent a specific character or idea, usually stemming from a Japanese fiction. Popular sources of cosplay include manga, anime, tokusatsu, comic books, graphic novels, video games, hentai and fantasy movies.

First presented in 1980s, cosplay has become more and more popular, often among teenagers, and been practiced almost everywhere especially in Asian and European countries.

We can see cosplayers gather at public events such as video games and manga trade shows, or participate in parties at nightclubs and amusement parks. There are also many cosplay cafés or at least a number of manga and anime conventions to serve cosplay fans. In these places people dress up in game or manga costumes.

The two largest events celebrated for cosplay fans are he semiannual doujinshi market, Comiket in Japan during summer and winter, and the annual San Diego Comic-Con held in the California city,  USA. Thousands of cosplayers gather and show their best designs and favorite characters.

Unlike Halloween and Mardi Gras costume wear, cosplay can exist in every day in the year. Moreover, cosplay aim at attempts to become one's character much as a stage actor inhabits a role. Once in costume, cosplayers imitate the affect, mannerisms and body language of the characters they portray.

Sometimes the cosplayer dresses up and portrays a character of the opposite sex, which is called "crossdress" or “crossplay”.

In Western countries, costumes have widespread for almost fifty years. Western cosplay's origins are based primarily on science fiction and historical fantasy as opposed to animation. It is more common for Western cosplayers to recreate characters from live-action series such as Star Trek, Star Wars, Doctor Who, The Lord of the Rings, and Harry Potter than it is for Japanese cosplayers.

Differences in taste still exist across cultures. Some costumes that are worn without hesitation by Japanese cosplayers tend to be avoided by Western cosplayers, such as outfits that evoke Nazi-era uniforms.

Cosplay is also becoming a new trend in other countries as China and Singapore.

Many game designers drawn cosplay and bring it into their dress up games and fashion games. In these dress up games, gamers are provided with a manga model and a series of make-ups and accessories from hair to tail and inside out. The final result is that the model looks like a specific manga character .

Cosplay and its popularity have affected almost every aspect of life. A new trend in fashion, a new aspiration of dress up games and fashion games, a new topic of discussion, and so on. And it has changed in itself, too, of course.

Winter wedding dress up games.

Winter wedding dress up games.

For some people, winter is such a bitter season in the year that they hardly want to do anything. Surprisingly, many happy wedding ceremonies take place in the winter. Despite the frozen weather, the wedding parties are still warm and lively. And that the brides can still show the most beauty and happiness in their life in their party.

Designs for winter wedding dress always challenge top fashion designers’ creativity. They must be safe and easy to move, but still keep the brides warm and show the brides’ charm. Through the year when the fashion trends change unlimitedly, the designs keeps changing too. And we always find the best styles to suit every bride in their most important occasion in their life. From the dresses to crowns, necklaces, earrings to high-heel must be match together and must be chosen carefully.

We can see a variety of wedding dress-up styles in most dress up games. Winter wedding dress up games bring the aspiration to anyone who love fashions. And any girl who want to find a best wedding dress for her own can imagine what she will look like and can choose a design for her in advance. And the games developers always update the latest versions to their dress up games and fashion games to serve the large numbers of their players.

Wedding dress up games and fashion games, the images for every girl's future.

Effects of games online

The explosion of mass communications and technology advancements enables people more access to unlimited sourses of entertainment such as music, films, blogs, community and games online . The publication of games online such as web games, flash games, withour censorship can have both positive and negative effects on internet users especially young people.

Unfortunately, there are many violent games that can spoil children’s behavior since their early age. Some games are designed to look like a real battle field and hold a actual war. Gamers are provided with weapons, which can kill the charateristics in the games, maybe for free or charged. Other games imitate the chasing of slaughters with knives. They kill anyone in the enemy party they meet. The images of the death usually unpleasant and can haunt the memory of the players. As a result, the children become terribly violent and usually imagine that people around them are their preys.

Games online may be negative in another way. Some games contain pornographic matters. Children without complete mental and physiological growth can be victim of sexual abuse. If parents don’t notice their children’s problems soon, they must bear life-time fatal consequences.

Players sometimes become addicted to games, they waste a lot of time on the screen, don’t care about life around them. They forget all the study work, damage their eyes and physical health. They are too addicted to the virtual world and ignore all their real relationships.

But the picture is not totally pestimistic at all. There are still a lot of  games online good for children. Many games are designed to play in a suitable period of time which are not too long or too short, so players can stop in a right way. The contents of the games can improve children senses of imagination. Flash games like fashion games and dress up games can enhance their abilities to combine pieces of garments and accessories of different types, shapes and colors according to their styles and characteristics. In many dress up games , the tasks are time-framed so the players have to manage their performance properly to finish the task as soon as possible. In the end, when players finish their dress up games tasks successfully, they can be rewarded with interesting presents. Dress up games and fashion games are not only applied for the girls but also for other people too.  Parents can be at ease to let their children free with these dress up games and fashion games.

Dress up games are only one of the good examples of games online we can rely on. It is not necessary to keep away from all kinds of games, but we need to clarify what are good games and what are bad games and encourage our children to try creative games to make them smarter.

 

Dress up games and their increasing popularity

Nowadays, dress up games and fashion games has become highly popular as they enable you to add a tinge of elegance and style to your wardrobe. Girls and women irrespective of their ages can take part in these games. It not only serves their entertainment purposes but also enables them to live out their dreams and learn to dress up in a stylish and elegant way. Mature women love to play dress up games in order to vent out their minds.
Every girl has the desire to look like a diva. Their role model may be Salma Hayek or Paris Hilton. The secret behind the success of these fashion icons are hidden in every nook and detail of what they put on. Online dress up games will enable you to learn all about frills and laces and the basic fashion accessories that will make you stand out of the crowd. Simply play dress up games and learn how they hypnotize everyone with their beauty and fashion accessories they wear. These games will help you to discover the fashion trends and emulate fashion iconic celebrities.
The best part of all is that these games are available online absolutely free. You do not need to travel up to the brick and mortar stores in order to select your favorite dress up games. Simply sit at your computer and do a quick search online for dress up games Barbie. Several results will appear on the screen of your computer. Browse through the different websites and choose the one that offers the best selection of games. The website chosen by you should be user friendly and facilitate convenient navigation.
These fashion games are highly flexible as you are free to leave at your will. You can even switch over to another game anytime you prefer to do so. All you need to do is to choose the dress up games for girls that best appeals to you. Simply follow the instructions and try to be as creative as possible. These website aims to bring in more girls to their gaming community.
The professionals personally monitor each and every activity of the visitors in order to maintain the privacy and security of every individual. Make sure to choose the website that is in this business for years and offers you vast selection of innovative dress up games for kids and appealing graphical design. Most of these websites use cutting edge technology to develop the games.
Quality is the nerve centre of all their actions. Absolute customer satisfaction is their topmost priority. Simply sign up with the website in few simple steps and join the online gaming community. It will bring out your creativity and you can try different dressing options on virtual models available at these websites. You can search for girls games of your choice conveniently with the help of advanced search tools and enjoy them absolutely free. They will not charge any subscription fee from you. The extensive selection of dress up games and fashion games Barbie ensures that you are sure to find something of your liking.

BLOG UPDATE 2: OTOME BOOGALOO

Well, the good news is, I'm back on fast internet. Yay, Internet!

The bad news is, I have more hours at work. Boo, Work!

Still, I'll try to get back into a regular rhythm with posting; say, every 1-2 weeks. Thanks for your patience. Anyway, the "Re: Alistair" review is up, and next, I'm planning to cover Duplicity. Feel free to hurl suggestions at me for future reviews.

Re: Alistair

Author: ?

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Dating Sim

Genre: School Romance / Mystery

Rating: Teen

My Score: 3 out of 5

Found at: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/ OR www.sakevisual.com

Summary:

Re: Alistair is a stat-based dating sim. You play Merui, a gamer girl obsessed with a MMORPG called Rivenwell Online. Another player has stolen your kill and claimed your prize, and you've since discovered that this player is one of three people who goes to your school. The problem is, which one?

Review:

I definitely want to give the writing bonus points right off the bat for having Merui be a gamer. After all, the very reason this blog was started was because of the misconception that girls don't game, so this is a welcome aversion of that old tripe. More generally, though, I think the characters are decent; the story is solid, and I like the way the emails and the gaming sessions are handled.

The art is likewise very good. Once again, it's based on anime/manga stylings, so a heads up to those of you who aren't fans of the genre. Presonally, I like it, and I enjoy the style change between the real world and the game.

The gameplay itself is something I'm a bit more ambivalent about. First of all, let me applaud the fact that the mystery of Alistair's identity has only one correct answer. You can end up with any of the three boys, but who you end up with does not in anyway influence who Alistair turns out to be. As for ending up with the boys, though, therein lies the problem...

This is the first truly stat-based dating sim I've ever played; while Festival Days had some Stats, they mostly influenced how much money you could earn, and other things that more or less became irrelevant once you cracked the system. In Re: Alistair, though, your stats determine who you end up with...I think.

The fact is, I'm not quite sure how it works. At first, it seemed pretty obvious to me: You have stats for Social, Network, and Intelligence, and your suitors are a Popular Jock, a Computer Guy, and a Smart Classmate. I initially assumed a direct correlation, then, between each stat and each guy, but single-mindedly pursuing one stat/guy resulted in *nothing*. If there's a combination that needs to be reached, I'm not sure what it is. According to the forums, success apparently lies in buying many, many objects, but there's no real clues for which objects to purchase (Except for one item suggested by each guy, but that's apparently not enough). At some point, I actually *did* get a good ending for one of the characters, but frankly, I'm not sure how I got it!

That's what really bothers me: I don't know how I got that good ending. I'm completely baffled. Personally, I think that if the player doesn't know what they did right, then something is wrong.

To sum it all up, Re: Alistair is pretty, well-written, and I have no clue what it wants from the player. WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME, ALISTAIR? WHAT DO YOU WANT???!!!!

*Ahem* Sorry. Perhaps you'll have better luck with it, though. Feel free to try it out and share your experiences in the comics.

Spirited Heart

Author: ?

Availability: Demo/$19.99 Full Version, Download

Format: Raising Sims

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Teen

My Score: 2.5 out of 5

Found at: http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/ OR http://www.winterwolves.com/

Summary:

Spirited Heart is a raising sim, much in the style of Princess Maker. You play a girl in a fantastical setting, on your own for the first time. Work jobs, take classes, and see what you end up becoming.

Review:

First of all, let me just express my appreciation for the art; it’s clean, it’s professional-looking, and I quite like it. The layout’s nice, too. All in all, I give the art a 4. It is anime-based, as many of these games seem to be.

The writing is decent, and I like how the creator justifies the stat changes in-story. I particularly like how you can tweak some of your character’s stats by reliving “past events”, ala Choice of the Dragon. As an aside, why is it that fantasy settings have silly-sounding place names? I can’t really fault the game’s creator here, but it’s something about the genre that struck me while I was playing.

So, we have nice art and good writing, and then it all gets shot by the gameplay.

I HAte the gameplay here, with a capital ‘H’, and an ‘A’ for good measure. On the one hand, it’s cool that you can pick one of three races, choose her general background, and then further tweak her history if you like. That part is great. But as for the game proper, everything is much too random.

Want to work a job? Roll a die to find out if you did well enough to raise stats and/or get paid. Want to find romance? You have six potential suitors: Just keep hacking away at certain jobs and hope their associated Random Events eventually show up. Repeat until your health is low and your spirits are crushed, then waste your time and money resting so that you can start all over.

Granted, it’s fairly realistic to meet someone randomly. However, once you’ve become aware of that person, it should be easier to intentionally track them down to initiate interaction; especially when you know what places they frequent! In other words, if Elf Boy really does sing at that bar every single day, then I should be able to just click something like “Go Talk to Elf Boy” or “Invite Elf Boy over for beer”, instead of just mashing the “Work last job” button over and over until the game’s D20 (or whatever it is) finally lands on Elf Boy’s magic number. The problem with having every aspect of a relationship left up to chance is that it is, though statistically rare, entirely possible to roll an entire string of 1s, which means that no matter what you do, the relationship won’t progress at all. That. Sucks.

All in all, this game had some good ideas; and the addictive nature of multi-ending games means that, if the full version were free, I’d probably have played through it a few times despite the frustration. In my opinion, though, it’s not worth paying for. I don’t even know* what the price of the full version is; but as it stands, I wouldn’t give a dollar for it.

Of course, all this is just my opinion. Others may find the game more enjoyable than I did. Feel free to try it out and discuss your experiences in the comments.

*ETA: After writing this post, I looked up the price for the info section at the top.

Dressup24h.com: Where all your interests meet

You might be a crazy fan for fashions. You might want to make up yourself and show your own styles. You might want to create a network to share your interests worldwide. Or you might just want to refresh your spirit with some simple games those can sharpen your mind. http://www.dressup24h.com/ will surely satisfy you with exciting games in all subjects that you might need totally FREE.

With many many types of outfits and accessories in over a thousand colorfully designed games, you can get up-to-date with latest trends in fashion for girls, for boys, for couples, for wedding and so on. You can design and customize them for your own styles as well.

As a registered member, you can connect to friends all over the world who have the same passion. You can keep track of your favorite games, become the top player at Dress up Games and track your comments and game ratings. You can also share this opportunity to your friends and get more privileges from our site.

You can also experience the chance to be a real chef with cooking games, to fly your senses with animals games, coloring pages or music games , or get the feeling of an professional architect to decor your room. And there are many interesting Action and Puzzle games to serve your creativity and imagination. You can experience as in your real world by trying 3D games for free here.

Why hesitate? Just join us right now. Visit our website http://www.dressup24h.com/

Fantasia: Requiem of the Abyss

Author: ?

Availability: Free, Download

Format: Visual Novel

Genre: Fantasy

Rating: Teen

My Score: 4 out of 5

Found at http://lemmasoft.renai.us/forums/

Summary:

Fantasia: Requiem of the Abyss seems to be the middle part of a trilogy (as I found out belatedly). You play Valen, the daughter of a demon lord and a human woman. The evil Thanos has struck the land with famine, causing nations to go to war, and must be stopped using a blue orb. Your new friends will help you.

Review:

Despite being the middle chapter of a series, I had no problem diving right into the story. In fact, I didn't even *realize* I'd started with the wrong chapter until I was well committed to it. The story itself is quite involving, complex and neatly woven together. The characters are individualized and engrossing, and I find myself feeling for them. The only fly in this ointment, and it's a pretty hefty one, is the English.

Imagine taking your favorite book, running it through several languages on Babelfish, and then Translating it back to English. That's how bad some of these chapters get. With a little thought, you can understand what the author is saying, but the effect is like picnicking in a beautiful meadow when all the mosquitoes are out. The setting is lovely, and you've brought some good things to the table, but...oh man... *swat* *swat* *swat*.

I'm a bit more ambivalent about the art. When I first saw it, there was something about it that I didn't like; something I still can't put my finger on. It's fairly consistent with itself, so I honestly don't know if its just a style that I don't care for, or if the artist is actually doing something wrong somewhere. To be fair, though, once I got deeper into the game, I started deciding that certain characters were cute and/or hawtsome, so make of that what you will. Also, there's a good range of poses and expressions for each character, and the scenery is quite lovely.

Now for the game-play: ONE thing prevents the gameplay from getting a perfect 5, and that is the fact that, in the version I downloaded at least, the solitaire minigame is broken. That's it. Everything else about the gameplay is perfect.

The story changes and branches according to the choices you make, but the branches are kept neatly tied into the main story, and there are certain landmarks you will always hit no matter whose path you're on. It's not too linear, but not a sprawling mess of infinite branches either. (I made one of the latter, once. It wasn't pretty.) Yes, there is a section with minigames, but there is no rule that you have to play them in order to progress. I was impressed to find that the results of the arm-wrestling match were in fact randomized, as I discovered when I tried to cheat by save-scumming. Er....I mean...ah well.

What impressed me most, though, was that unlike some works I've played, the past did not change according to your choices! I hate when that happens in games: You're Prince Charming's long-lost sister in Ending A, but Ending B has you getting married and, I assume, miraculously being NOT related to each other. (Cute Knight is the mentioned offender here, but there are others.) Past events should not simply change, and in F: RotA, they don't. The characters' histories are solid. If you pursue character X, it doesn't change the fact that character Z still loved you all along, which gives the endings even more emotional impact. The only things that change based on your choices are your future and current circumstances, which is as it should be.

In short, I loved this game. I got hooked playing it. It has two big flaws, as noted above, but the characters are great and the story is compelling. I don't know if the prequel comes close in quality, and I don't know what the sequel must be like, but this is an excellent game.

Grace's Diary

Author: Hima (with art/animation by Piti)
Availability: Free, Online/browser
Format:Visual Novel/Point and Click

Genre: Edutainment
Rating: Teen
My Score: 5 out of 5

Found at www.jenniferann.org

Summary:
Grace's Diary is a bit different from the other games discussed on this blog. This time, you're not trying to hook up with somebody. Instead, you have a friend who is in an abusive relationship, and you have to persuade her to get out. You're about to call her, but in order to have worthwhile things to say, you first have to look around the room for objects that trigger relevant memories about her boyfriend.

Review:

This is the first game to get a perfect 5 on this site, and I'm not just being swayed by the fact that it's made to support a good cause.

The writing is natural and human. The actions, reactions, and dialog of Grace and the others ring true, which makes sense considering all the research that must have gone into the game's making. The end, which is to say, the good ending, is not clean and happy as it might be in an after-school special; your friend may find the strength to leave her boyfriend, but feelings do not vanish. More surprisingly, the boyfriend's apparently heartfelt pleading at the end keeps him from being a flat out-and-out villain. He may be an abuser, but he's still a human being. The end result of all this is that you come away with much to think about.

The visuals are intriguing. The entire game is made to look like it's taking place in the pages of a notebook; speaking characters appear on opposite pages, etc. It also gives everything a sketchy, "drawn" look, in keeping with the theme. The overall effect is quite beautiful, in my opinion.

Finally, I must tip my hat to the creative gameplay design. Unlike most visual novels, this game is an unusual, possibly unique hybrid with the point-and-click genre. You find the objects hidden in Grace's room, thus providing the necessary replies for the dialog-tree to come. From what I can tell, there seem to only really be 2 endings: Success or Failure. However, this doesn't mean that it ends with an abrupt "You win/lose" message. As I mentioned before, the dialog reactions are very natural, and they lead smoothly to the relevant epilogue.

What's most impressive about this game is that it's short. It manages to pack a very beautiful and satisfying experience into a small space. So, even without considering the noble message about teen dating abuse, this is a game I must tip my hat to.

Boy and girl dressup

Game description : `i "e"oe"e ^`iS"eyen 1/4 `i>not"e o/oo`i...~`i-`i"oe`i' "e"oe"e ^`iS"eyen 1/4 `i'not`is(c)'io'"e^3'`i<-`iGame controls:{"fire": "na", "jump": "na", "movement": "na"}

share link :

Tic Tac Toe

Game description : Get a row of three crosses or three circles before the opponent does. Game controls:{"fire": "left_mouse", "jump": "na", "movement": "mouse"}

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Rush forward

Game description : This is a 3D world, along the way, there are many obstacles, and at the same time test your response ability. Quick to challenge your limit, and see if you can recruit success! Game controls:{"fire": "left_mouse", "jump": "space", "movement": "right_left"}

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