Quick Look at The First Batch of XNA Games

Culture

Culture is a flower planting game created by Hidden Path Entertainment and is a compilation of three mini-games. They consist of: Bloom Game, Paint with Flowers and Flower Garden. Bloom Game being the best overall. In Bloom Game the objective is to cover the planet in flowers while removing all the weeds. Enclose areas with flowers to create combos and get to the next level. The challenge in this game comes from circling the weeds with the same type of flower. If I circle a weed with white flowers and halfway through it starts giving out blue flowers, the circle will not kill the weed. It has to all be the same color and you alternate colors throughout. You can see what`s coming next on the right hand bar, sort of like Tetris. The visuals are alright, flowers on the planet sway as you move it, giving the plant life a realistic look.

Paint with Flowers , the title says it all. You are given a grid called ``landscape`` or ``Angel Fish`` and you put flowers in the squares of the grid. A part of the grid maybe a cloud or a fish, if you put a blue flower in there, that set will be painted with that flower, resulting in a blue fish or cloud. My paintings looked like a mess but I didn`t mess around with it too much. With a little practice, I`m sure that these grids might actually look like art. The final mode is Flower Garden. In this game type you get to see the flowers you have unlocked as well as make new ones from the strains you have. The ability to move the flowers anywhere in the garden is available if you want to spruce up the look of your garden a bit. Overall a pretty flat game that has some interesting visuals and not a whole lot more.

JellyCar

JellyCar is a very basic, bar-bones game. It was created by Walaber and the trial version only consists of one level that can be completed in about 15 seconds or less. You are in a vehicle that has to get from the start of the level to the end. The vehicle can transform into a larger version to get over tough obstacles but it only lasts for a few seconds. The style is very reminiscent of Crayon Physics, though JellyCar is very basic the game looks like it has potential.

Little Gamers

Little Gamers was created by Loic Dansart from Belgium and what a great little game this is. The style is very much like Alien Hominid or Castle Crashers with a online flash vibe. The background, sayings and even the environments are taken straight out of videogame lore. One of the difficulties is ``l33t``, and words like w00t and ORLY are present as well. It is based on the web comic little-gamers.com and it is a gory 2D sidescroller. The environments range from your house to sky-scrapers and the music changes to fit the environment as well.

You might be hitting your friends in the head with a baseball bat in one level and killing zombies in a graveyard with Shotguns and AK-47`s the next. Power-ups are there to help you along the way as well, such as coffee that makes your attacks more powerful or beer that slows time. The game is hard but not too hard like other games of this type, it has all the essentials to becoming a full fledged Xbox Live Arcade release. A few more levels and some text for a story and that game is as good as sold.

Proximity HD

Proximity HD is a puzzle game, like Hexic HD. Unlike Hexic HD, the game is all about numbers, not matching colors or shapes. The game was made by Brian Cable and what`s offered in this trial is very rough. First off, you can not play this trial by yourself, there is no AI to speak of. Each player takes turns placing numbers on a grid and each number touching the other reacts to one another. If the number you place is touching one of your opponents it will either decrease in value or it will become your number depending on it`s value. When you place a number that is lower than a number that it is touching which belongs to you, your original number increases by 2. Whoever has the highest number when the grid is full wins. It`s about as fun as it sounds. Maybe with four people playing at once could be fun but I didn`t have any in my 1v1.

Rocketball

Rocketball is a 2v2 dodge ball game created by Fuel N` Spark Games. The objective is to get the other opponents out while keeping your team in. Rocket power-ups appear on the field at random and deliver a near dodgeless throw at you or your opponent. The controls are very simple but extremely stiff. Many times I will be over a ball or power-up and try to pick it up only to get hit by an opponents ball because I was a centimeter off over it. The premise is cool but if Fuel N` Spark Games wants this game to be a success they need to put on some polish.

The Dishwasher

The Dishwasher is an ultra gory 2D side Scroller created by James Silva. This game takes place in back alleys, kitchens and warehouses. You are a bare chested, long haired disturbed fella wielding dual cleavers to dispatch agent after agent. The combat system works well with a light and heavy attack button, great for delivering combos. There are clean and messy finishing moves to dispose of dizzy agents, resulting in a blood soaked screen. The music and art style is very cool and it works well with the games darker tone. The story is told in comic strips that periodically appear on screen and do a good job of putting you in the shoes of the main character. The game is fun right now and has a the right style to it, some polish and she`s ready to go.

TriLinea

TriLinea is a puzzle game created by Edison Prata of Brazil. The game lets you place pieces on either side of the board, clearing sections based on combinations and matching. Power ups help you clear blocks faster and hinder your foes. These are chosen before the match and are mapped to the four face buttons on the controller. There is a story mode but when you get down to it, it`s just another puzzle game. The game is very early since not all the basic modes in the demo where available which leave you with Story and Verses to choose from. The game is not bad but it could get lost in the sea of puzzle games this day in age.