Sensei Presents: The Freeware Review!

A short, inconclusive and highly subjective list of freeware games that you should download if you’re bored. Or cheap like me. (he he)

Now, before we being, you might ask, “Why on Earth are you playing freeware?” Well the answer is two-fold. First fold: Freeware is FREE! Second fold: Sensei believes strongly in intellectual property rights and will not buy bootleg/pirated software. Since there is nearly nothing in Pakistan other than pirated software, Sensei has resorted to freeware. Some of them are actually quite good. For example:

Fracas: (strategy) Fracas is my hero. The graphics are hideous, and I don’t think there’s any sound, but the game is great! It’s a fairly straight-forward strategy game that allows up to six human or AI players, and the rules can be customized. Two burnt thumbs up! (I’ve been baking again.) LINK! (you'll have to scroll through the list to find the download link, it's on this page.)

Diabolika: (puzzle) Contrary to its name, this game has nothing to do with THE Devil so much as it has to do with many little-bitty ones. The object is to blow them up using a chain-reaction that you must set up using a limited number of turns. It’s actually rather entertaining, and harder than it sounds, and since it’s less than 1 mb to download, I recommend it for some quick, mindless fun. One and a half burnt thumbs up. LINK! (you'll have to scroll through the list to find the download link, it's on this page.)

Scorched Earth: (strategy) A classic. No graphics to speak of and absurd sound effects, but you do get to buy a teeny-tiny tank and drive around blowing up other teeny-tiny tanks in a turn-based strategy game. Plus, the tanks sass each other. (“Your mother was a hamster!”) They also swear, but you can turn that off. One and a half burnt thumbs up. Great for playing against your siblings. (bombs away!) LINK!

Nethack, Falcon’s Eye: (RPG/strategy) This game would get three thumbs if I had that many. And they would all be happy thumbs with little smiley faces drawn on them. This game has decent graphics, and very complex gameplay (you have to read the manual before you start, there’s no way around it). It’s more than your basic ‘dude-in-a-dungeon’ game, it’s potentially addictive, and every time you play the rounds are randomly generated. It’s never the same twice. I would be addicted to it if I could get it to download. :( I had it once and then lost it when I had to reboot my computer. Since then every time I download it the ZIP file somehow comes out corrupt. Woe is me. LINK!

Well, that’s today’s substandard blog. I’m going to try and download Nethack again…

(he he)

posted by Abez @ 9/15/2003 10:11:00 PM