The MGC Times

May 2009 Newsletter

President's Corner

April was a busy month for us! We added a lot of family-friendly games to our catalog, including a bunch of Linux games for our growing Linux audience. We expanded our catalog with two new categories for sports games and adventure/RPG games. We released the deluxe version of Fashion Pack 9: Cheer Fun (an add-on for our popular Fashion Cents Deluxe game). And we resumed work on Dirk Dashing 2!

We haven’t had a lot of feedback regarding our new rating system, so we are assuming our customers and visitors are satisfied with it. As I mentioned last time, we had received requests from parents looking for good games for their teens. They wanted games that were relatively family-friendly, compared to a lot of the games their teens were playing, but didn’t necessarily have to be 100% clean. In our last newsletter, we introduced our first game with a Teen rating, Eschalon: Book 1, and it was one of our best sellers for the month of April. We will continue to keep our eyes open for more decent games that teens might like, so keep checking our web site. We add new games every week!

- Troy Hepfner

Monthly Contest

This month, we’ve hidden “MGC” in three different places in our newsletter. When you find them, send us an e-mail at info@mygamecompany.com – tell us the sentences in which you found them, and we’ll enter your name in a drawing for a free game! The submission deadline is Saturday, May 9, 2009, and a winner will be randomly chosen on Sunday, May 10, 2009. The winner can choose any game on our web site and will receive a free copy!

Game Reviews

Ancient Empires Lux (Mac, Windows, and Linux) - $20 USD

Ancient Empires Lux is a game of strategy and domination inspired by the board game Risk. This installment of the Lux series takes you through all of the great early civilizations of mankind. Choose from 4 different skill levels and 58 ancient nations, including Egypt, India, China, Greece, Rome, and more. Background information and links to full Wikipedia histories are included for each empire. The demo version is limited to the first three empires.

Our review: There are actually three different games in the Lux series, and all are available on our web site. This one was Troy’s favorite, so this is the one we decided to review. It is very similar to Risk, but with a wide variety of different regional maps that opens up lots of different strategies. Some maps also let you travel the seas in order to reach islands or expand the directions you can attack from. Like Risk, you can collect cards as you conquer territories or opponents, and you can trade those cards for extra armies. This is a very easy game to learn, and lots of fun for folks who like strategy games! And the educational aspect of this game is great for kids!

Fashion Star (Windows) - $19.95 USD

Step into the cut-throat world of fashion design with Fashion Star. Take the role of an upstart, freelance fashion stylist, taking jobs as they come for the hottest magazines in town. Hire models, buy clothes, and head for the photo shoot! Just make sure you listen to what each magazine editor wants, or you'll be out on the street faster than you can say, "Auf Wiedersehen!"

Our review: This is good dress-up game, though we were disappointed that it is currently only available for Windows. In this game, you play the role of a freelance fashion photographer. Clients hire you for various jobs, like magazine spreads and publicity photos, and you have to provide photos to meet their needs. For each job, you get to choose the model you want, customize her appearance (hair color, skin tone, makeup, etc), dress her up with an outfit you create from a wide variety of clothes, select a suitable backdrop for the MGC photo shoot, and then take photos for your client, who rates your photos on how well they meet the criteria! There are a lot of options in this game, which not only allows you to be really creative but also provides a lot of replay value.

Gish (Mac, Windows, and Linux) - $19.95 USD

Gish isn't your average hero, in fact he's not your average anything... see, Gish is a ball of tar. A Sunday stroll with his lady friend Brea goes awry when a shadowy figure emerges from an open manhole and pulls Brea into the ground below. Following Brea's calls for help Gish suddenly finds himself in the subterranean sewers of Dross, a long forgotten city filled with twisting corridors, evil traps and some of the most demented creatures imaginable. Come see what life as a ball of tar is all about!

Our review: Dirk Dashing fans should take note of Gish! Gish is a very innovative platform game, with realistic physics that make it fresh and fun. It earned two prizes in the 2005 Independent Games Festival, namely Innovation in Game Design and the coveted Seamus McNally Award! It was also Game Tunnel's 2004 Indie Game of the Year. We like how you can get to places in this game that you can't in other games, like clinging to the ceiling and oozing into small cracks and crevices. There are so many different things you can do in this game, and so many different ways to overcome or get around obstacles that you can really be creative. As expected, there are lots of hidden areas to find, including Warp Zones that take you to... well, you'll have to play it to see for yourself! The game earns a Teen rating, however, because it does have some mild, cartoonish blood splatters when you land on your enemies. It is fairly tame, but it is there nonetheless.

Mini One Racing (Mac and Windows) - $19.95 USD

Admit it - when you were a kid, you used the floor, carpet, walls, bathtub, and even the dirt in your backyard to race your mini cars, didn't you? Well, those days are back, and this time your mom won't be yelling at you for making a mess. Introducing Mini One Racing, the thrilling game where you and your buddies race colorful, humorous miniature vehicles around virtual beaches, playgrounds, and even other planets! The full version features 4 vehicles, 4 game modes, 20 circuits and arenas, and up to 4 players in multiplayer games.

Our review: This is a cute little 3D racing game that is perfect for young children or those new to racing games. It is easy to learn and play, and it isn’t frustrating (except for some sharp corners where you can get stuck the first couple of times you play, but you quickly get the hang of it). Each track is unique, with its own obstacles and a variety of power-ups. The music is lighthearted and fun, and the sound effects are well done. And the ability to play against three of your friends in a multiplayer game really makes this game enjoyable. If you are an avid racing fan, you may find this game a bit too simple for your taste; however, it is the game’s simplicity that makes it perfect for MGC kids!

My Tribe (Mac, Windows, and Linux) - $19.95 USD

Shipwrecked on a beautiful tropical island, your brave little tribespeople must build a new home! With your guidance, the tribe will uncover mysterious secrets, research new technologies, design their own clothes, plant trees and flowers, construct massive wonders and more! Come back often to feed your tribe, clothe them, and look after the babies and children! There's so much to do and all the time in the world to do it with My Tribe!

Our review: This is a great strategy/sim game. We tested it with our two nieces, ages 10 and 11, and they were hooked. You have to harvest supplies like food, wood, stone, and MGC to help your tribe survive and grow. You can build huts to live in and research technology to help make life better. There are certainly plenty of different things to do in this game, and it is rewarding to see your tribe growing and thriving. One minor issue parents should be aware of: when you want to increase the size of the tribe, you drag and drop a male character onto a female character, or vice versa, and the two go into a hut and a little while later, out comes a toddler. Grubby Games handled this very well, however, and we did not find anything suggestive or offensive about it. Overall, this is a worthy competitor to the popular Virtual Villagers series, and just as fun!

My Game Company