Board Games Revealed
One thing that can be said about Board Games, is that almost anything can fall in that category, if given the right characteristic. The following are an example of it.
React is a game that, like many others, may remind you of renowned classic Tetris. However, this one comes with a twist: the challenge has nothing to do with the shape of the falling pieces (they are simple square blocks in this case) but with the type. There are four kinds of blocks: regular brick blocks, which come in different colors, bombs, flames and water. Bombs turn any two adjacent brick blocks of the same color into wooden blocks; flames set on fire said blocks, turning them into flame blocks like themselves; and water puts out the flames, turning them into water blocks and eventually disappearing down the screen. The challenge of the game, then, is playing as smartly as possible, using each block wisely in order to clear the board. The fact that you can choose among six different languages is a really nice detail, too.
YoYo Ball is a bit simpler. You have to get the ball into the green circle in order to access each level, and then make coincide with a second green circle without hitting any of the walls (which would kick you out of the level). Difficulty increases as stages go by, but you can always choose between two levels right at the beginning. The game requires soft hands and careful movements – and a lot of patience!
In Teleporter 2 you also control a ball, but without the rest of the yo-yo. Here you have to collect as many stars and power-ups as possible while doing everything you can to successfully avoid the obstacles coming your way; everything, even teleporting. Once you get the minimum amount of stars, you unlock the next level. Of course, you have to be very careful regarding how you use your powers: the charge meter at the left bottom of the page must be full in order to teleport, and there might be times when that is the only way to overcome an obstacle, so you better use it wisely.
Finally, Magma is the kind of game that you doubt has actually been properly classified. The similarities between this game and Bomberman are so obvious that perhaps this one would be better in the Classic Games section. In any case, the similarities are actually helpful, since the game comes with no instructions whatsoever. Experience says you control the tiny black guy leaves bombs when you press the space bar. You can blow up your enemies as well as the tree trunks that may be in your way. Some of these actually hide some kind of gems that you have to collect in order to win the level. Of course all this must be done within a time limit, which makes things a lot more interesting.
As you can see four different, dynamic games, but board games nonetheless. We might want to rethink the concepts we attach to each classification.
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