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Azada: In Libro was originally a series done by Big Fish Games. However, the third installment was done by ERS Games Studios and I can honestly say, I was disappointed. The game does not follow the original concept, but instead simply becomes an adventure game.

So Modern Warfare 3 came out last week and OK, so I wouldn’t say that I’ve been hogging the TV for the last week or so… but apparently my roommates think so. Just because I’ve been playing a lot doesn’t mean that I’m addicted… but the girls have since banned me from the living room for the next few hours. They even made me shower, which I think is totally uncalled for. I showered! Saturday…. Or maybe Friday… ok maybe I’ve been a little obsessed, but I don’t want to get left behind and not have any good perks or weapons!

Play Echoes of the Past - Royal House of Stone and help discover who enchanted the inhabitants, while freeing them from the spell that has turned them to stone, and return to your own time.

Well gang, I am back again after a long absence. Life is short but so many twists and turns along the way. But we must deal with them and keep on truckin’ so to speak. The rice farmers are busy harvesting their rice and the ranchers are shipping their cattle back from the high country. Life goes on. It is raining off and on and the grass is growing and turning green.We have beautiful sunrises and sunsets everyday. Just two of God’s gifts to us that we take for granted.

Now that midterms are over, we’re in our last stretch of the semester and our professors are throwing a lot of stuff at us right now, so there’s not too much time to play. I did, however, get some time to take a peek at the new game Red Crow Mysteries: Legion that’s about to come out. We were given a sneak preview of the game before it hit the market, so I got to play the preview version, which it’s hard to pass up seeing the game before the masses.

OK, prepare yourself because I might gush a bit in this one… I have just decided to take a break because I had to tell you about this ridiculously awesome game I’m playing. Ok, so no I shouldn’t be playing a game. I have a very important and long paper due at the beginning of next week and playing this game is not getting it done…. I realize that… but come on… I can only take so much of consumer psychology and branding and all that… this class isn’t even in my major! It’s just an elective that I thought sounded like fun and let me tell you… it’s not. At all… I mean… who gives 15 page papers in an elective class??? That’s crazy.

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I've always liked history, though my brain is wired to be a bit more analytical. That's why I always jump at games that are at least inspired by actual human history. Hence, Cradle of Egypt Collector's Edition (nice segue, Jasper!). The fourth in game developer Awem's popular "Cradle" series of puzzle games, Cradle of Egypt takes the dependable "swap tiles to match 3 in a row" formula and adds an interesting element of civilization building based on the imagery of ancient Egypt.

Mysteries abound in the new game, The Island - Castaway 2. You return to the original island sometime in the past. According to the developer, you will discover how the island came to the condition in which you found it in the first Castaway. While playing as Yati, a native teen who is undergoing the rituals to manhood, you start to have strange dreams. Are they predicting a future to come? I guess you just have to play and see.

I just finished playing Love Story - The Beach Cottage. This was right up my romantic alley. A sweet and endearing story about lost love. I loved the notes in the bottle Sandra kept finding. I am always sending little notes in Max's lunch box telling him how much I love him and how proud I am of him. Or encouraging him if I know he has something special going on after lunch. Of course, he has to have his teacher read them to him, so sometimes I just draw silly pictures that I know will make him laugh that he can keep private all to himself.

Royal Envoy 2 is being released today (October 31, 2011) at Playrix.com. The first Royal Envoy was one of my absolute favorite games. I didn't write a guide for it because the Collector's Edition included one, so I played Royal Envoy when it came out last year just for the absolute fun of it and had a total blast. The addition of the walkthrough and the bonus levels made it definitely worth the price for the Collector's Edition. So for goodness' sake, go play that game first and then come back to play Royal Envoy 2--not for any reason other than you can double your fun and the first is never as much fun to play after you have played the second game in a series in my opinion because of increased difficulty and improvements.

Hey gamers! Midterms are finally over, thank goodness. As I always say, I wish they were testing me on hidden object scenes, I'd ace them! I think I did really good and I'm glad the stress is over. Lucy is still going crazy on Halloween decorations. She finished the house and is now working on the yard. We got some odd looks from the neighbors when she put up a giant (we are talking over 6 feet long) inflatable black cat she found on eBay. Meanwhile, the trees and bushes have black, white, orange, and toxic green spider webs (no spiders!). There are pumpkins - the artsy side of Lucy came out and she carved some wicked cool (I'm starting to talk like her!) pumpkins. She created the old "witch flew into a tree" complete with broomstick and I could go on and on, but I really don't want to bore you. Needless to say, I'm a little worried about who is taking all this down when Halloween is over. Not to mention, I heard her muttering something about large inflatable turkey's...oy! I must remind her we won't even be here for Thanksgiving, we'll be at home!

Midterms have been a little crazy, but I got away long enough to pick up a game called Fairway Collector's Edition. And I have to say it's a game with long-term appeal. Basically it's solitaire (sorting cards numerically) with the game of golf used as a theme throughout. And no, this isn't your grandma's solitaire — there is an endless variety of exotic card stacks and configurations that will keep your brain pumping.

So I’m just putting the finishing touches on my costume for the big Halloween party, and I’m sooooo excited. I know it’s a retro party, so in perfect Morgan style, I’m going as Marion Crane… you know… the woman who was stabbed to death in the shower in the movie Psycho…. Ok, remember the Karate Kid… the first one… where Daniel went to the party in the shower costume… well that’s basically my costume, but I have blood splattered all over it with me in the middle and a fake butcher knife!!! It’s awesome! And no, I’m not naked under there… I’m fully dressed in comfortable clothes! No uncomfortable tights for me this year! I can’t wait! Anne’s going to be horrified!

Seriously dude… if I find one more fake rat, bat, or spider web in my room, I’m going to go loco. Lucy, I appreciate that you’re excited about Halloween, but I thought we were doing a retro Halloween party... you know, retro… as in 80s, 70s, 60s style… so go put up some Pacman posters or something, there are ghosts in that game… enough with the fake blood and vampires already.

Halloween is just around the corner and I have to say living with a girl who treats it as her own personal holiday is a little strange. This morning, I went to take a shower and happened to look up while I was soaping up and there were bats over me. I admit I may have screamed a little and almost jumped out of the tub. Who does that? It’s a little weird.

Fated Haven: Chapter One is the first of a trilogy written by a new independent developer, Fated Games. As I've recently been playing the Aveyond series and Eridani's games, I thought I would give it a shot to see how it measured up. I've got to say my first thought, as my younger brothers would say, was "Meh." I know, weird word but it conveys a lot when you think about it…or in big people words, ambivalent or underwhelmed. RPG games in their own right are rather old school if you ask me, but for me there is an appeal to them that is rather unexplainable to me. I know my little brothers think it's kind of funny that I've gotten into the genre being significantly older than them. In any case, I'm going to leave this game well inside its genre and review it from there.

Hidden World is a new resource management game by Alawar. It is yet another game where you run around clearing roads, collecting resources, and building your way to a myriad of level goals. The game is set in a magical world where an evil wizard Snow Fox has inflicted a Frozen Spell on Shangri La. By clearing and building your way through each level, you will return the frozen wasteland to its original beauty one step at a time. It is kind of neat to watch this happen as you go along. Your goal is to remove this spell on Shangri La by restoring the 52 levels of the frozen landscape to its former glory.

Okay, so the mind of a 5 year old is quite…original. This past week all Max would eat were green things. Thank you Dr. Seuss. The good news is he now likes broccoli and spinach. Thank you Dr. Seuss. I also congratulate my mother on her baking skills, as we enjoyed homemade green bread PB&J’s (which took me a while to get used to seeing what looked like 3 month old bread on my plate). But hey, they are only young once and we all had fun embracing Max’s latest food fetish. Thank goodness he is too young to read Thomas Rockwell books (your all googling it right now aren’t you? Isn’t learning fun).

So… things have been a bit hectic around here… I'm having just a little trouble with one of my darn classes… Calculus… why does an English major have to take math??? It's really not fair… anyhow… my game playing has kind of taken a back burner while I try to figure out what I'm doing in this class… praying for a C right now… But I could not resist putting aside math to play the new game Committed: Mystery at Shady Pines! It looked super creepy and dramatic, which as you know I can't get enough of! And with Halloween and the party the gang is throwing coming up… it was perfect! On top of that, I also got to interview Andrew Lum, the CEO of Fugazo, the company who made the game! Read the Interview

I can't believe it's already time to study for midterms. Where does time go? I managed to sneak in some time to play part of Dark Tales: Edgar Allan Poe's The Premature Burial.

It's nearly Halloween. That's Lucy's favorite time of the year. She has been haunting the house with fake skeletons, spider webs (although I made her agree no fake spiders - or real ones either!), pumpkins, bats, ravens, witches cauldrons, brooms, and so on and so forth. Then there's the Halloween party she's throwing. It's all retro and everyone invited has to dress in a different era. It's just close friends, so everyone happily agreed.

While browsing the ERS Games Studio website, I came across something that made my heart jump a little. The ensuing little shriek I let out caused Jasper to poke his head in the door. No – not a spider this time - the third installment of Azada!

"I am so excited, and I just can't hide it. I know, I know, I love this game." So this was what I was singing (to myself, not out loud) after dropping Max off at school for the last several days. There are some days when being home alone is just about the best thing in the world. Yes, there are lots of things I should be doing, but instead I get to play the new version of Roads of Rome, and write a walkthrough for everyone!

Hey gamers! I just finished trying out the new game Oddly Enough: Pied Piper. The game is based on the tale of the Pied Piper who rid the town of rats with his magic flute, but when the mayor refused the pay, he used his flute to steal all the children. Your job is to get the children back.

Well, I really have a LOT of free time with Max in school. I am trying not to be so sad that he took to it like a fish to water. I was all ready for my first day of school speech and he was all, “see ya Mom"!” Umm, a little show of separation anxiety would have been nice, at least fake it. I decided to escape my sorrow in a game or two. Here is one that I played in an effort to erase my own separation anxiety. Turns out it was such a great game I actually had to keep track of the time so I did not miss the bus pulling up.

It's been a while since a good farming game has come out. I mean the kind where you actually plant seeds, watch them grown, pick them up, and then do various things like selling them or processing them into different products. So it's nice to give My Farm Life 2 a go.

Lucy and Anne joined forces to compile a list of great games you might have missed during the busy months of summer. Now that fall is here and winter approaching, you can sit down, relax and start playing some of the top games that were released in the months past. Read The Article »

News Flash - officially addicted to a new series, Mystery Legends. It isn't exactly new, this is the third installment, but I just finished playing the newest game Mystery Legends: Beauty and the Beast. I can't wait to go back and play the others!

Farm Frenzy: Viking Heroes could have been one of the best games in the Farm Frenzy franchise. In addition to collecting and processing items dropped by the animals, you can actually give your producing animals battle gear to protect them from the dropping bears and ogres. The bad guys actually drop helmets and you can outfit them onto your animals if you have the proper building. Once your animals have been outfitted with battle gear, they cannot be killed, they produce double the output, and they quadruple in sales value. It's all pretty cool and adds a nice new challenge and change from dressing bears or other animals that you then sell. Of course there might come a time when the bears will get to be dressed too but I didn't get that far and I may not do so for a long time.

I took a little breather in between writing walkthroughs and played the demo for Youda Fisherman. This game takes an interesting twist on games such as Youda Survivor or the Farm Frenzy series. From comments on the forums, it looks like those who loved other Youda games didn't care for this one too much and those that couldn't stand the others actually loved this one. Me, I'm in the middle. At first I wasn't too fond of it but then I changed my mind!

I've not had a lot of time to play games since starting my senior year at college. I finally finished painting those murals that Anne was complaining about, but then she asked me to do something to her bedroom walls. She wants me to actually paint quotes from her favorite books and poetry! I agreed (what are friends for?) and drew up some sketches. She was not amused by the caricature her ex-boyfriend (aka my brother) - a pig with his face on it that read "All Men Are..." Sometimes she is just no fun! The only saving grace I can see to this project are the Harry Potter quotes she threw in with all the other positive vibes and flowery crap. Anyway, enough about Anne.

The My Kingdom for the Princess 3 Walkthrough is finally done. My opinion of the game has not changed one bit. While this is basically the same game as the second one with new levels, why mess with a great thing? "If it's practically perfect, just give me more!" is all I can say.

Clear your schedule. Cancel that pedicure, call the babysitter, order a pizza, and pop open a bottle of wine. You're going to be busy for some time playing this extremely exciting and highly addictive game!

Hey gamers! I just played the third installment in the Awakening series by developer Boom Zap. Awakening: The Goblin Kingdom is fantastic! I expected no less, of course. The hand drawn scenes are absolutely stunning, as always.

If you want a game that will scare the bejeebers out of you, look no further than Sacra Terra: Angelic Night.

Hey gamers! I just played a little bit of a really cute game. The title made me think it would be darker somehow, but it was right up my alley, more fantasy like. The game was Lost Souls: Enchanted Paintings by game developer Fenomen Games.

I had the pleasure of playing The Clockwork Man - The Hidden World during my free moments over the weekend (and I got to admit that I kind of ignored doing some stuff I should have been doing to do so!). I had not played the original Clockwork Man but I found that this game stood alone quite well.

I just played a bit of Enigmatis: The Ghosts of Maple Creek. I thought I was watching the beginning of a Criminal Minds episode, girl running through the woods away from... well, somebody.

Well, when it rains it pours --- resource management games! I think it was just 2 days ago that I told you about the third version of Roads of Rome being released and out from left field My Kingdom for the Princess 3 was released. The original My Kingdom for the Princess was my first real entry into this genre of game and quite frankly has become the standard from which I measure all other resource management games. So you can imagine that I'm beyond excited right now; my head is actually spinning because I can't decide which one to play first. Well, actually I guess I can decide because I can get My Kingdom for the Princess 3 right now for a reasonable price! You think that Morgan and Jasper and their friends are pinching their pennies? They haven't seen anything yet until they have the giant hole in the pocket but wonderfully full hole in the heart that a kid causes and then fills!

I just posted the walkthrough for Pioneer Lands. As I wrote before in my Pioneer Lands Review, this game is fantastic. And it stayed that way through all 99 (!!!) levels. I had a blast playing the game and writing the walkthrough and hope that you enjoy playing Pioneer Lands as much as I did. The walkthrough should help you get through any difficult spots. Enjoy!

I'd like to register a complaint. My house is not safe. Outside my door there's a hormonal chica on the loose between my room and my PS3. No way am I going out there. There will be crying or moping or sighing and I'll be expected to listen… which I don't do so well… Sorry Anne.

Back for one more round of school. Senior Year. I know it's going to go by pretty fast, and I hope that I get the chance to take it all in and make some memories that will last. It helps that I'm living in a house this year with Anne, Lucy, and Zavvy this year… although right now I'm questioning that decision as there is a bit of "girl trouble" brewing. I guess Anne broke up with Curtis, Lucy's brother… he cheated on her and it's a great big stew of girl drama.

What was that?! Did you hear that? Oh never mind… it was just my roommate Jessica coming back from class. Could you rattle the key in a more creepy fashion? GOD!

Hey gamers! I just started back to classes. Senior year! Finally! Myself, Lucy, Jasper and Xavier are all living in a house we rented for senior year. It's a lot of fun, but at the moment, I'm glad I'm not sharing a room with Lucy as I'm feeling a little betrayed. When I picked her up at the airport she had some bad news. Not only is Curtis staying in Pennsylvania to continue college, but... he cheated on me over the summer! I'm devastated and a little hurt. I know I shouldn't hold it against her, it's not her fault, but right now I'm a little touchy. My life in other words is a melodrama, or sardoodledum (pronounced sar-doo-dell-dum). Yes, that really IS a real word and yes, I'm a word nerd. At least I have the company of my ginger puss, Mr. Darcy (I'm also a huge Jane Austin fan). Well, enough about me right now, on to the game!

Hey guys! I have fantastic news. Magic Farm 2 Fairy Lands from the developer Robin Games is coming out in the next couple of weeks. How exciting is that? And little old me got the opportunity to play a beta version of the game How many of you played the first Magic Farm? There were two versions of Magic Farm; I missed the first one but I did play and, yes, absolutely love Magic Farm: Ultimate Flower (to the point that I'm actually working on writing an actual step-by-step walkthrough to augment what we currently have at Casual Game Guides.) All of you are going to want to re-play the first Magic Farm or buy it to play while you are waiting for Magic Farm 2 to come out. It is that good!

In preparation for the release of Magic Farm 2: Fairy Lands, I decided to replay Magic Farm: Ultimate Flower and write a step-by-step walkthrough, which up until now has not been anywhere else on the internet. The Magic Farm games are unique unto themselves.

Yo. It's me again, Lucy. I was right, my brother is up to something, but I can't disclose that information until I talk to Anne in person (yes, Anne, I know your reading this from afar - I'll tell you when we meet up in LA). In the meantime gamers, check out this great game I just wrote a guide for.

Triazzle, for those who are not familiar with the brand, is the award winning jigsaw-meets-logic puzzle popular with both kids and adults. This year is their 20th anniversary and the company is celebrating by releasing new puzzles and a casual game, Triazzle Island. The music (scored by film and TV composer Billy White Acre) is awesome and the graphics are great too. There is no time limit for the puzzles (which is nice because some were quite hard for me), but it’s extremely difficult to get gold on most levels. So if you are a perfectionist, you may be annoyed that the game reminds you frequently that your best was not good enough. Besides that, if you enjoy puzzle games and are looking for something different, try Triazzle Island. You can find a sample of the game-play in the video below.