Game Giveaway of the Day

#31

I've noticed many of these re-runs have different code than the earlier versions, but no mention of differences. The file versions of this re-run are the same as the earlier giveaway, but the installed executable is substantially smaller.

Reply | Comment by Fubar – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#30

Oh, I remember this game. It was on my old computer, then son deleted it.:( Thanks for bringing this one back.

Reply | Comment by Suzanne – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#29

HA!! I love how the people who come here to leech free games instead of paying for them have the gall to complain about the free stuff GGotD gives out. If you don't like the games then go out and BUY the ones you like. Otherwise, keep quiet and be thankful for the free stuff.

Reply | Comment by Wally – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#28

got this one early in 2007 and still have it play it now and then and the granddaughter loves the game it is silly you get to shoot the bad guys and your just hitting the baloons so that is neat , and if you lose you get another chance way to go Alawar , good game would recommend it for younger kids from 8 to 12 and they will like it ,

Reply | Comment by Ken Roberts – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#27

Perhaps in the future GOTD could put an age range on the games so that those looking for the 2-7 range will know it is appropriate for their children. Also, those who are not looking for games in that range would not be tempted to download something they likely would not like and would then comment negatively on. OR perhaps GOTD could have 2 sections: children's games and a more mature game section.

Reply | Comment by leal – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#26

Ironically, this game is smaller than the main Giveaway. Pretty good, but a bit simple. Some strategy games would be nice.

Reply | Comment by Sarcasmes – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#25

>Eclipse
I think that the main reason why indie games these days(especially the "casual" ones) lack originality is that the industry is becoming increasingly motivated by money. And the big indie(oxymoron?) game companies are too afraid that new ideas won't catch on, so they keep cranking out the same match-3 fodder that we've all played before. It's like what happened to mainstream games, but on a smaller scale. If this continues, freeware and homebrew games with genuinely good and orignal ideas will fill the niche left by companies like PopCap and Reflexive. As one blog put it:
"What has changed over time to make these [games]...lacking? The answer is pretty simple. Business. Commercialization. I don’t know when it happened, but at a certain point game creating became a business, and the spirit and passion was ripped out."

>Gangrel
Uhh, a game doesn't need "blood and gore" to be fun for people older than 6. But it does need good gameplay, which the overwhelming majority of games on this site lack.

>Mapsking
Those three games are just the kind of thing that this site needs - except(of course) for Platypus II. That one was a sequel made by a completely different company with no involvement from the original creator(Anthony Flack) whatsoever. But Platypus and Mighty Rodent are very good.

On a slightly ligher note, it would be nice to see Star Blaze again.

Reply | Comment by Lockett – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#24

This is a creepy, gimped out version of Zak & Jak. Stay away.

P.S. And #19, nobody here is "crying about freebies". There is a serious difference between stating that you do not like a game, and actually COMPLAINING about it. It's like looking at a lit cigarette and calling it a forest fire. Exaggerate much?

Reply | Comment by foerkef – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#23

Funny, isn't it? I find that it takes more time to read the comments than it does to lose interest in the game?

Reply | Comment by slipperedlobster – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#22

I get an error code when I try to activate it.

Reply | Comment by Michael – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#21

Thank you Game Giveaway Team! Great Game for my twin boys and even for me! WhiteRabbit is very correct when he says that it is not all that easy. Thanks again and Get Well Soon White Rabbit!
Jack Hammer and Family

Reply | Comment by Jack Hammer – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#20

Downloaded, installed, played to level 12, uninstalled. Thumbs Down.

you can't fire enough projectiles in most stages to win. the repetitive clicking REALLY gets annoying.

Graphics are ok. My 7 year old daughter would get bored with this one too.

Game play was smooth however. the projectiles just didn't fire fast enough.

Reply | Comment by Will The Computer Guy – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#19

Yea, the crying about freebies is pretty pathetic, I keep expecting to here somebody cry for copy of Guitar hero.

The little ones here (4 and 6) git kin of frustrated with it so a bit older is more appropriate.

Reply | Comment by Anidem – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#18

A couple of main comments for me. I gave this game a thumbs down, because whn you are actually playing the game (at least for me) the cursor disappeared, and that is a huge problem for me. I tried different quality settings, custom, and default cursors, and windowed and full screen mode, and the cursor was there during the menus, but disappeared when actually playing. In the future, please make sure the software does not do this, as it is very frustrating (at least for me). Secondly, a comment towards those people who complain about games they say are designed for young kids. I happen to have three children, ages 3, 4, and 8, and I know what their abilities on computers are. There is a lot of hand-eye coordination, and simply ability to control things that goes along with it. In all fairness, the people who say it is for 2-3 year olds, are obviously either not parents, have inappropriate expectations, or haven't had kids that age in 50 years. The truth is that the only thing that might be geared towards kids is the graphics. Personally, I was going into computer animation for movies, and I love animated things. I realize not everyone likes that, but because the game has a "cartoonish feel" to it does not automatically mean it is only designed for young children, and their abilities. Frankly, some of these "cartoonish games" are very difficult, especially after you get in a few levels, and certainly not appropriate for young children. There have been several games on here that some people made comments about only being for kids, but I had trouble getting past level 4 or 5 or so, even early in the games. The bottom line is very simply, it is not right or fair of you to judge a game without trying it out. True enough, some people like logic games, some people like breakout games, some people like shooter games, some people like adventure games, and some of the same people hate some of the same games. We are all different, have different styles, different preferences, and need to be tolerant of each other before the GGAOTD team decides they are sick of busting their butts to give us software for free, and all they get in return is some ungrateful people complaining every day. One more thing, a few good examples of games that have animated graphics, but are too hard for young children to play all the way through, are

Mighty Rodent ,
http://www.reflexive.com/MightyRodent.html

Platypus,
http://www.reflexive.com/Platypus.html

and Platypus II,
http://www.reflexive.com/PlatypusII.html

I have played all three with my kids, even the oldest one, and I can't beat some of the levels, THEY ARE TOUGH, and while "cartoony" are not designed for young children exclusively.

I'm sorry for the rant, and GGAOTD and Alawar, thanks for another offering!

Have a great day

A couple of main comments for me.  I gave this game a thumbs down, because whn you are actually playing the game (at least for me) the cursor disappeared, and that is a huge problem for me.  I tried different quality settings, custom, and default cursors, and windowed and full screen mode, and the cursor was there during the menus, but disappeared when actually playing.  In the future, please make sure the software does not do this, as it is very frustrating (at least for me).  Secondly, a comment towards those people who complain about games they say are designed for young kids.  I happen to have three children, ages 3, 4, and 8, and I know what their abilities on computers are.  There is a lot of hand-eye coordination, and simply ability to control things that goes along with it.  In all fairness, the people who say it is for 2-3 year olds, are obviously either not parents, have inappropriate expectations, or haven't had kids that age in 50 years.  The truth is that the only thing that might be geared towards kids is the graphics.  Personally, I was going into computer animation for movies, and I love animated things.  I realize not everyone likes that, but because the game has a "cartoonish feel" to it does not automatically mean it is only designed for young children, and their abilities.  Frankly, some of these "cartoonish games" are very difficult, especially after you get in a few levels, and certainly not appropriate for young children.  There have been several games on here that some people made comments about only being for kids, but I had trouble getting past level 4 or 5 or so, even early in the games.  The bottom line is very simply, it is not right or fair of you to judge a game without trying it out.  True enough, some people like logic games, some people like breakout games, some people like shooter games, some people like adventure games, and some of the same people hate some of the same games.  We are all different, have different styles, different preferences, and need to be tolerant of each other before the GGAOTD team decides they are sick of busting their butts to give us software for free, and all they get in return is some ungrateful people complaining every day.  One more thing, a few good examples of games that have animated graphics, but are too hard for young children to play all the way through, are

Mighty Rodent  ,
http://www.reflexive.com/MightyRodent.html

Platypus,
http://www.reflexive.com/Platypus.html

and Platypus II, 
http://www.reflexive.com/PlatypusII.html

I have played all three with my kids, even the oldest one, and I can't beat some of the levels, THEY ARE TOUGH, and while "cartoony" are not designed for young children exclusively.

I'm sorry for the rant, and GGAOTD and Alawar, thanks for another offering!

Have a great day

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Reply | Comment by Mapsking – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#17

Hey..I was robbed..I only got 30 minutes of time to play......oh well. I think the graphics are great in this game...yes it is geared to the younger set...but what the heck..its free! When a game is offered that looks like its not what I want..I just wait until tomorrow to see what they offer.....Geez people...what do ya want for free? Thanks GGOTD!A free game by any other name..is still a freebie!

Reply | Comment by Penny Karn – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#16

well all the wee people out there and im not saying the kids either.
Man when are you guys/gals/ever going to grow up.Hey if you dont like them Dont download the blessed things..youre getting it free for %$#$# sakes sure ive had a few gliches with some of the ware.but why moan and grouch about it.my lad thinks its xmas when he comes home from school knowing that theirs gonna be a new game for him to play..
he doesnt moan nor gripe.if he doesnt understand a heck of a lot about it.being 5yrs old its a gift from some nice peole who allow him to have a game to play.to some this may seem like a whole lot of waffle,but sure as eggs its more in a positive ilk.than what i read in some of the post.hats of to you giveaway..a grateful nan and
mother

Reply | Comment by meriama – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#15

I am wondering if anyone else has come accross this...

The game works fine under my user signon (I have 3 users signons available, running XP Pro SP2), yet when accessing the game(s) on the other signons, the game is in the demo mode (with the demo timer).

weird...

Reply | Comment by Q.T. – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#14

This is a cute one for my daughter. Thanks GOTD! And thanks Whiterabbit for the review, I hope you are feeling well.

Reply | Comment by Tanya – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#13

I think that lately there have been entirely too many games geared to children.
How about 4 handed "real" mahjong????

Reply | Comment by Arlene – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#12

1. This is a repeat from April and is very similar in game play to Zak and Jack in Monster Town, so if your children loved that one they will assuredly love this one as well.
2. Rather than spend a few hours writing a review today I thought I’d treat myself to a break and just post my April Review with some minor changes as well as add some screen captures of the menu’s and some in game shots.
3. My kids will love this one. Zak and Jack was played out in two weekends by my son. This will probably last a morning though as there are only 40 levels. I played 10 levels in just under 10 minutes. I thought it was okay, although my firing finger is rather sore now as you have to click once for each sling shot; however this is not a problem as such, just warning those with creaking bones like mine (due to broken fingers mainly, not old age just yet, although I’m not far off). If you hit the balloons, you only need one shot to knock the wolves down, but you’ll need three if you miss the balloon and hit the wolves themselves. The bosses balloon is protected and takes a lot more hits too destroy it. I didn’t manage to suss out how many unfortunately, and wasn’t willing to restart the game at level 6. That’s not because I think the game is lame as I don’t. It’s quite addictive once you’ve played several levels. As you progress through the levels you encounter a greater number of wolves at any one time. They arrive in ever increasing waves, some of which will either fire a pistol back at you or send up several balloons to create a block for the wolves to pass. These look different to the ones trying to get up to the bridge.
You get power ups throughout the game that are transferable to the next level. These include weights that cause any wolves that successfully navigate to the bridge to be thrown off. However the weight is lost once the wolf has fallen. There are also extra lives, snowballs and score packages to collect. I only played to level 10 where you have to fight off an end of theme/level boss. The game appears to be divided up into themes, the first one being Egyptian and the second Arctic. There may be more types of power ups to collect as you progress through the levels. I can’t remember how far my kids originally played this to when it was first given away.
To save your progress you will have to complete at least 5 levels at a time. For example I stopped on level 10, was killed by the boss, so had to start from level 5 again. The game isn’t that hard though. I was concentrating on getting some screen captures for the review so ended up losing too many lives to survive the end of theme boss. When I returned to the game I had to restart at level 6.
The options menu gives you the ability to turn sound effects and music off if you wish, and you can also select windowed or full screen mode as well as change the quality of graphic from low medium, high to very high, although I couldn’t detect much difference between the 2 higher ones (my graphics cards are set up in a SLI configuration, using 2 Nvidia 8600GS 256Mb cards, which I bough for the new generation of DX10 games such as Crysis {which is being released tomorrow fact}, although I wont be able to enjoy the DX10 quality yet because I had to uninstall Vista, which you need to use DX10). If you wish you can also change your mouse pointer, but I see no real use for this particular option. The game is fully mouse controlled.

See below for in game screen captures and a Google search of images that also shows an image of that much earlier game Poonyanor, that this game emulates.

All on one page:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Brave%20Piglet...

As a slideshow:
http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Brave%20Piglet/...

Google search:
http://search.msn.co.uk/images/results.aspx?q=Brave+Piglet&FORM=MSNH

The game requires very basic computer specifications, which would have been state of the art about 10 years ago, so there should be no problems with actually running the game (I hope) for most people who visit here.
Overall I give this 7 out of 10 because I know my kids are going to love it. The graphical quality is ‘not at all bad’, with some excellent art work and cartoon like characters.

Thank you very much for this repeat Alawar. I’m not sure whether my son actually played this out because we have so many games these days. He’s been seriously into Pokémon for the past several months, playing with a group of friends on his Nintendo DS. So the repeat is very much appreciated. I played it further into the game this time and it seems to have grabbed my interest, which it didn’t the fist time it was given away.
Also a big thank you to the game giveaway team for this brilliant project. It would be nice if you gave the community a story about how successful the project has been in it’s (approaching) first year. You could add some stats for example, to show how many users have downloaded games and look at the thumbs up/down and even the number of comments. :D

1.	This is a repeat from April and  is very similar in game play to Zak and Jack in Monster Town, so if your children loved that one they will assuredly love this one as well.  
2.	Rather than spend a few hours writing a review today I thought I’d treat myself to a break and just post my April Review with some minor changes as well as add some screen captures of the menu’s and some in game shots. 
3.	My kids will love this one. Zak and Jack was played out in two weekends by my son. This will probably last a morning though as there are only 40 levels. I played 10 levels in just under 10 minutes. I thought it was okay, although my firing finger is rather sore now as you have to click once for each sling shot; however this is not a problem as such, just warning those with creaking bones like mine (due to broken fingers mainly, not old age just yet, although I’m not far off).  If you hit the balloons, you only need one shot to knock the wolves down, but you’ll need three if you miss the balloon and hit the wolves themselves.  The bosses balloon is protected and takes a lot more hits too destroy it.  I didn’t manage to suss out how many unfortunately, and wasn’t willing to restart the game at level 6.  That’s not because I think the game is lame as I don’t.  It’s quite addictive once you’ve played several levels.  As you progress through the levels you encounter a greater number of  wolves at any one time.  They arrive in ever increasing waves, some of which will either fire a pistol back at you or send up several balloons to create a block for the wolves to pass. These look different to the ones trying to get up to the bridge. 
You get power ups throughout the game that are transferable to the next level. These include weights that cause any wolves that successfully navigate to the bridge to be thrown off. However the weight is lost once the wolf has fallen. There are also extra lives, snowballs and score packages to collect. I only played to level 10 where you have to fight off an end of theme/level boss.  The game appears to be divided up into themes, the first one being Egyptian and the second Arctic.  There may be more types of power ups to collect as you progress through the levels.  I can’t remember how far my kids originally played this to when it was first given away.  
To save your progress you will have to complete at least 5 levels at a time. For example I stopped on level 10, was killed by the boss, so had to start from level 5 again.  The game isn’t that hard though. I was concentrating on getting some screen captures for the review so ended up losing too many lives to survive the end of theme boss. When I returned to the game I had to restart at level 6. 
The options menu gives you the ability to turn sound effects and music off if you wish, and you can also select windowed or full screen mode as well as change the quality of graphic from low medium, high to very high, although I couldn’t detect much difference between the 2 higher ones (my graphics cards are set up in a SLI configuration, using 2 Nvidia 8600GS 256Mb  cards, which I bough for the new generation of DX10 games such as Crysis {which is being released tomorrow fact}, although I wont be able to enjoy the DX10 quality yet because I had to uninstall Vista, which you need to use DX10). If you wish you can also change your mouse pointer, but I see no real use for this particular option.  The game is fully mouse controlled.

See below for in game screen captures and a Google search of images that also shows an image of that much earlier game Poonyanor, that this game emulates.

All on one page:
<a href="http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Brave%20Piglet/?start=all" rel="nofollow">http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Brave%20Piglet...</a>

As  a slideshow:
<a href="http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Brave%20Piglet/?action=view&amp;slideshow=true" rel="nofollow">http://s109.photobucket.com/albums/n61/Whiterabbit_01/gaotd/Brave%20Piglet/...</a>

Google search:
http://search.msn.co.uk/images/results.aspx?q=Brave+Piglet&amp;FORM=MSNH

The game requires very basic computer specifications, which would have been state of the art about 10 years ago, so there should be no problems with actually running the game (I hope) for most people who visit here.
Overall I give this 7 out of 10 because I know my kids are going to love it. The graphical quality is ‘not at all bad’, with some excellent art work and cartoon like characters.

Thank you very much for this repeat Alawar.  I’m not sure whether my son actually played this out because we have so many games these days.  He’s been seriously into Pokémon for the past several months, playing with a group of friends on his Nintendo DS.  So the repeat is very much appreciated.  I played it further into the game this time and it seems to have grabbed my interest, which it didn’t the fist time it was given away.
Also a big thank you to the game giveaway team for this brilliant project.  It would be nice if you gave the community a story about how successful the project has been in it’s (approaching) first year.  You could add some stats for example, to show how many users have downloaded games and look at the thumbs up/down and even the number of comments. :D

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Reply | Comment by Whiterabbit aka Stephen – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#11

It was fun for about an hour last time around. Thanks anyways.

Reply | Comment by Frances – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#10

why not be thankful for the games they do give out. you don't need to make annoying comments on how you think the game isn't your taste cause its either for little kids or not. you think they should post bloody gore games for your so called adultness pfft give it up .. i'm glad they are posting games for all ages . i'm 26 years old an i enjoy playing all sorts of games even the kiddie ones .. so just keep your comments to yourself .. thanks

Reply | Comment by Gangrel – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#9

played this last time it was up for download

not a bad game more for the kids than us grown ups
but not a bad game any way

7 out of 10

Reply | Comment by bexs – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#8

Maybe some people should consider that some of us don't have small children nor like playing games aimed at the 2 to 7 year old market ourselves and there for it would be nice if not 95% of the games offered would be for very young kids.

Having said that, the graphics of this game don't look half bad - the price is much more realistic then what one normally sees on here and in general I can see it having some appeal to a certain market segment.
I can even see it having an appeal as a mindless little time waster for adults.

Reply | Comment by Belgian Dude – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#7

Wow, RSI is on the cards with this one! No auto fire so your finger will ache! Graphics good, music good, typo on intro to second level (says 'Crown' instead of 'Crow'), intro for snowballs says hit with snowball instead of hit with 'a' snowball.

Not good enough to keep though.

Reply | Comment by Terry Pardy – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#6

This game was a game giveaway of the day about 6 months ago.It's not very bad but nothing good too.

Reply | Comment by ME – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#5

Maybe Mike should consider that some of us have small children and game giveaway of the day should include kids games every now and again.

Reply | Comment by Luc – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#4

a space invaders clone yesterday and a pooyan clone today... these software houses need a good game designer.
I wonder why making these clones, i think they totally lacks of passion in game development because of no fresh ideas

Reply | Comment by Eclipse – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#3

Haven't played it but it looks like a clone of the classic game "Pooyan." It might be worth a try...

Reply | Comment by OGamer – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#2

Oh man, this looks really childish! Unfortunately, I'm no child any more...

Reply | Comment by Mike – 17 years ago – Did you find this comment useful? yes | no (0)

#1

Hahaaaaaa! When I saw the game's title I was afraid of finding another remamke of the famous "Brave dwarves" but thanks god, it's not and it's from Alawar, so the best is to hope.