Giveaway of the Day - Dr.Pills

Installation:

Today’s game is an 18.8Mb download unpacking to three files; a read me a set up executable (the green snake) and the activation module. When installed the games folder is 21.1Mb in size. Run the activation module first ‘BEFORE, you install the game. If you are a Vista user you will probably need to run Setup.exe and Activate.exe in the name of administrator on the PC. I don’t know whether the game will work on Win 7.

By default the game will install to:

C:\Program Files\Gambana\Dr. Pills

Shortcuts are installed to the desktop and the Start menu programs folder. You can uncheck either of these during installation if you wish. You’ll find an uninstaller shortcut in the Start/Programs section if you wish to get rid of the game.

Introduction:

A dangerous virus has escaped out of control. The virus must be prevented from spreading, or the world will face an epidemic threat. You have to help Doctor Pills to finish his great invention – moleculator that will allow to get rid of the virus once and for all.

Destroy all the vermin and try to do that as quickly as you can, for the virus mutates and spreads extremely fast! It’s getting harder and harder to deal with the vermin as the levels go up. Enjoy the colorful graphics and funny sound-effects of the game. The bonus system and exciting plot will keep you interested through the whole game. Don’t waste any minute, doctor Pills needs your help!

The Game:

This is a very colourful combination of tetris and a match three game. The game mechanics are similar to most tetris games, with movement controls which are listed below: You can uses either the arrow/cursor keys or the mouse to play the game.

Game Controls:

Left Arrow ………………..Move to the left
Right Arrow……………….Move to the right
Down Arrow……..………Speeds up decent of the pill
Up Arrow…………………Rotates pill
Space Bar…………………Pause

Mouse Controls:

Left Axis…………………Move Left
Right Axis………………..Move Right
LMB………………………Move Pill down faster
RMB………………………Rotate Pill

The aim of the game is to remove the all of the germs from the playing arena by including them within a set of three or more of the same coloured pill. The sets must be in a line not a group. There are several bonuses included in the game such as the dropper which can be used to wipe out one germ of the same colour, a syringe that gets rid of all the germs of the same colour, dynamite that destroys everything nearby and a retort flask that will destroy loads of germs and pills of the same colour. You’ll also find some negative bonuses such as the bomb which mixes up the game field , a poison bottle that adds more germs to the game field and a case that adds pills to the game field.

Destroying more germs and pills on the game field in one go gives you bonus points.

From the options menu you can adjust the music and sound effects plus there are toggles to change the game to windowed mode, show hints and turn off 3D acceleration. If you have problems with the graphics in game try turning the 3D acceleration off.

There is a six page introduction to the game using a cartoon strip story line. The graphics are excellent and very colourful. You’ll find seven sections with five levels each making a total of 35 levels.

Images:

Conclusion:

This is a very colourful match three/Tetris clone with a decent graphic and entertaining game play. Personally I don’t particularly like Tetris after spending an inordinate amount of time playing the original Tetris on the first Game boy back in the early 90’s, however I found today’s version entertaining and enjoyed playing through several levels. I’d certainly recommend it if you were unsure. I’d give the game 7 out of 10 for family fun and all-round good construction. The only down side IMO is the number of levels available. I found them a little sparse with only 35 levels included. That said the game as a lot of re-playability due to the random nature of the gaming board. No two levels will be played exactly the same. As you would expect the levels get harder as you progress.

Alternatives:

If you like Tetris type games there’s loads of different styles to choose from. You can get 80 different Tetris clones from Caiman games, including a couple that look very similar to today’s game; (sadly the owner of the site has just passed away due to cancer):

http://www.caiman.us/scripts/fw/ftetris.html

You’ll also find some Tetris games in the free games synopsis over in the forums:

http://www.giveawayoftheday.com/forums/topic/4534

And…. if your penchant is for Match Three, our favourite free games site Gametop has over 30 commercial quality match three game such as Around the World in 80 Days, Atlantis Quest and Lost Treasures of Eldorado on offer. Do watch out for toolbars and home page hijacking when installing Gametop games. These can be avoided by unchecking any box that pops up during the installation wizard.

http://gametop.com/category/match3.html

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You can buy award winning games like S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Shadow of Chernobyl for less than the cost of today’s game (Check out Steam, they are selling most of the Total War Series (including Medieval II Total War plus the Kingdoms expansion, Rome Total War Gold plus the Alexander expansion and Empire Total War for about the same as what this game costs. (£13. 59) That offer ends on Monday, but you can also get the developer THQ’s complete pack of games for just a little more and that includes 18 top quality ‘big bucks’ games such as all the Company of Heroes games (Straqtegy), all of the Red Faction games (FPS), Frontlines : fuel of War (FPS), mot of the Warhammer series (Strategy),Titan Quest plus expansion (Strategy), Saints Row (Driving game – GTA clone), Stalker: Shadow of Chernobyl, Juiced 2 : Hot Import Nights (Street Racing game), plus some older squad based third person shooters (Full Spectrum Warrior and its sequel Ten Hammers (You can get a free copy of Full Spectrum Warrior ‘advert supported ‘, see the free games synopsis for details) – he cost of all those games is only £26.49 (approx $35) – the usual present day price for all of these games is over £175 (over $250), and if you considered the original pric al these games it would have set you back over £500 (approx $750), THQ also have a Family games pack that includes Puzzle Quet: Challenge of the Warlords, Mission Runaway, Mahjongg Investigations: Under Suspicion, Hot Dish, Dr Daisy: Pet Vet and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader for only £10.99 (approx $15), or the simulation pack that includes 18 Wheels of Steel: Extreme Trucker, 18 Wheels of Steel American Long Haul, Hunting Unlimited, 2008 and 2010, John Deere DriveGreen, Midnight Outlaw: 6 Hours to Sunup, Prison Tycoon3 Lockdown, Ride Carnival Tycoon, Sprint Cars: Road to Knoxville and for the US only Prison Tycoon 4: SuperMax and John Deere Drive Green. for £10.99 (approx £15). Also this weekends Steam deal is Mount & Blade a really cool medieval third person strategy game for only £3.99 (just over $5) which is 85% off the usual price. That deal ends on Monday. So you can see, the price of todays game is ludicrous.

Isn’t this just a clone of Doctor Mario???
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doctor_Mario