January 19th, 2010

Popcap Free Online Games

PopCap games is a famous developer and publisher of games and it is based in Seattle, United States. The actual company was founded in the year 2000 by three associates : John Vechey, Brian Fiete and Jason Kapalka and currently it has more than 180 employees. The most famous game from PopCap is the Bejeweled which has sold more than 25 millions units, on many platforms. Some other really famous games of the company are: Zuma and Rocket Mania. The games made by PopCap are not available just on PC, and you can also play them on Mac, Xbox, Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, cell-phones, PDAs, iPod Classic, iPhone/Touch and other devices. You can find most of the company’s games on its official site, which is www.popcap.com. But unfortunately here you can play just a limited version of each game, and if you want to play the whole game you will have to buy it.

But anyway, let’s talk about some of the Popcap free online games found on the site. Let’s begin with the one called “Alchemy”. The goal of this game is to turn the whole board into gold by placing magic runes on every square. Each rune must be placed next to another that’s already on the board. In addition, it must match that rune in either color or shape, or both. If you complete an entire row or column of runes, they will disappear. This scores you points and leaves you more room to work with. You can complete a line either horizontally or vertically. If you can’t place a rune, then you can discard it. Do this by clicking the discard button on the left of the screen or by right clicking the mouse. But you can discard just three runes in a row safely, and the fourth will end the game. Luckily the forge cools down with every rune that you place successfully. Always remember to keep a close eye on the forge during play. Things will get tricky when there are a lot of runes on the board. Each new rune must match shape or color with all of the runes next to it. The grey stones are wild cards and they can be placed next to any rune. And finally watch out for the skulls. These will destroy any rune they are placed on. This can word for you or against you. There are 3 levels of difficulty, and each has a greater number of colors and shapes for the runes. However you will score more points on the higher difficulty levels if you succeed. Can you become a Grand Alchemical Emperor? Good luck! The game is also available to be downloaded, and to be played any time from your computer. You can also buy the full version and enjoy more levels and more game modes. The game can be really fun and addictive and will stimulate your mind.

Now let’s move on to the next game, called the Atomica. The objective of this game is to create molecules by moving the atoms on the game board. Move an atom by clicking on it and then clicking on the desired destination. Remember that you can move atoms anywhere on the board, but not through an obstacle like another atom. To create a molecule you need to position 4 atoms in a 2 x 2 square. The glowing atom icons will show where the next atoms will pop up. Each time you move an atom without completing a new molecule, extra atoms will appear in those places. The game will end when you can no longer move atoms on the screen. You can score a combo when you complete 2 or more molecules in a row. By making combo-s or super combo-s, you will gain more points. When making a mega combo, you will charge your atomic bomb. When it is charged you can click on the atomic bomb at the bottom of the screen, to destroy some of the atoms. As you play, the atomic bar on the top of the screen will fill up. When it is full, you will move on to the next level, where there are more colors to deal with, but with more points to score. This game also has three difficulty levels. By pressing the C key you can toggle helpful icons on and off.

Now let’s discuss about the most famous game of Popcap, the Bejeweled. Here you must swap adjacent gems to align sets of 3 or more. A winning set is 3 or more gems of the same color. Combos and cascades award extra points. Fill the gem meter to get a bonus! Just use the mouse to click somewhere you want to swat the gems. The will switch automatically, but only if that move is right. Otherwise you will see a message saying that the move is illegal, and reminding you that you have to swap the gems in such a way to create a set of three or more gems of the same color. When making a set like this, those gems will disappear, and will bring you points. But there will be other gems appearing instead, so you will always have gems to swap. Good luck!

Let’s play just one more game from the site and we’ll choose the one called Mummy Maze. The goal of this game is to get your explorer to the exit of each maze without being caught by the mummy. Move your character with the arrow keys or by clicking on a square next to him. Notice that the mummy will move right after you. In the darkness of the pyramid he can move twice as fast as you, so be careful! You have to use the maze walls to trap and confuse the mummy if you want to escape. The mummy will always try to take a direct path to you. So if between you and the mummy is a wall, she will be blocked. Luckily for you the mummy is not very smart and will always take a straight line route to you. Each pyramid has 15 chambers, and the final one will contain an ancient treasure. If you solve the 15^th maze you will grab the treasure and head to the next pyramid. Each pyramid will be harder than the previous one. Sometimes it is even possible that the best move will be...to not move at all. So if any move that you’ll make will lead to the mummy catching you, simply pass your turn. The mummy will make a move, and probably you will be more lucky on your next move. You can wait by pressing the space bar or by clicking the right mouse button on your character. The mummy will always try to move closer to you horizontally before he moves in the vertical direction. So sometimes you can use this in your advantage! You can also use the reset maze and undo move buttons at any time during the game. Good luck!

So these were just some of the many fun games offered by Popcap. As you can see these are simple to play games (that are only using the mouse), but they are also really addictive and stimulating for your mind. So enjoy them!