Breakdown – Shake down, you’re busted!

I’m going to be totally honest here. I put off reviewing Breakdown at BugleGames because I thought it was just another version of Collapse. *^_^* And it pretty much is, but it’s also (unexpectedly) much, MUCH harder.

 It looks so innocent…

For brevity’s sake I’m going to assume that you’re familiar with Collapse already. If you aren’t, click the link to Collapse and go read it. ^_^

Now, here’s how Breakdown is different.

 

1. It’s a lot faster.

Right from the start, Breakdown is much faster than Collapse. There’s no time to waste!

On the upside, the speed doesn’t seem to accelerate quite as quickly as in Collapse. So you have quite a few levels before you get to the pants-wettingly-fast stage.

Well this isn’t so ba- OMG I’M GUNNA DIE!!!

 

2. It’s easier to die.

Aside from the increased speed, it’s flat out easier to die here. Why? Well, the point of death is when you hit the top of the screen. In regular Collapse you can hit the top of the screen and be just fine. It’s only when the next line pushes you above that point that kills you.

Not here! If you reach the top you’re D-E-A-D!

 

3. There are more colors.

In regular Collapse you start with red, green, and blue blocks. At level 4 white blocks get tossed into the mix. And that’s it. With Breakdown you start with red, green, and blue blocks. But then it starts getting more complicated.

• Level 3 – White blocks are added.
• Level 6 – Cue the yellow blocks!
• Level 9 – Aqua?? Wtf?

Crap!

Judging by the pattern, I’d say you get a new color every three levels. But I never got to level 12, so I can’t say for certain. *^_^*

No matter what, it’s a heck of a lot harder to find groups of three same-color blocks when you’re dealing with 5+ colors!

 

4. No area bombs.

Area bombs are “regular” bombs that occasionally crop up in new lines. When clicked, they take out a wide area of blocks. Woohoo!!

Except that Breakdown doesn’t have them. Instead you get three “killer bombs” to the side which are sometimes AWESOME and sometimes they totally suck. You can launch one at any time and it’ll bounce around the top, taking out a block here and there. If the block is part of a group, it takes the whole group out.

It’s also really tiny.

I had one bomb bounce around until the timer ran out, taking dozens of blocks with it. And I had another bomb hit one (1) block before it bounced away. >_<

So! Don’t rely on killer bombs to save your butt. And remember, those three bombs have to last your entire game!

 

5. Extra time at the end!

One of my pet peeves of this type of game is that once the last line loads, your time is up. It doesn’t matter if there’s a bomb on it or anything. You can’t click it!

Breakdown finally changes that. (SWEET!) After the last line loads, you have 5 seconds to click and clear whatever you can!

YES!!!!

This makes me extremely happy. ^_^ Those last 5 seconds are a godsend, so use them!!

 

Final Rating

The graphics on Breakdown are a little rough, but the more I played it, the more I *got* the game. ^_^ And quite to my surprise, I think I might like this more than the original!

With regular Collapse, the challenge is to keep the board clear (and make big matches) as the game gets faster and faster. With Breakdown the challenge is to keep the board clear (and make big matches) even though you’re dealing with more and more colors. It seems like a small change, but it makes a huge difference!

So, what would I rate this?

*Ponders*

I think I’ll go for 4.5 stars out of 5. The erratic nature of the killer bombs is the only strike against this one.

Try it and share your own rating! ^_^ What do you think of the additional colors? And if you get to level 12, is there another color added? (Seriously, I want to know!)

 

Similar Games

If you like Breakdown, you might also like some of these games!

• Spongebob Squarepants Collapse at IWON – This might be my favorite version of Collapse. ^_^
• Poppit! at Pogo – Untimed, unrushed, and addictive. Try it!
• Merry Poppings at Slingo – Pop balloons and play with oodles of powerups!

Word Whomp – I could gopher a drink.

If you’re a fan of word games, then you should definitely try Word Whomp. It’s one of Pogo’s most popular word games!

Spell me a story!

Each round you’re faced with six innocent gophers, each helpfully holding up a letter. Click on the gopher or type the letter to “whomp” it down the gopher hole. It’ll pop back up in the background. This is how you spell words!

It’s also a good way to vent frustration, I suppose.

Now if you’ve noticed, near the top of the screen there are blank spots for words. Each word you find will fill one of those spots! (Note: Word Whomp only lists the most common English words, and does not count abbreviations or proper names.)

The word spots are arranged first by the number of letters in the word, and then alphabetically. The alphabetically part is really important! If you get stuck and can’t figure out what word is next, look at the gaps between what you’ve figured out. It’s a great clue!

Also, one of the word blanks is golden. If you find that word then you get 15 seconds added to the timer and 10 tokens added to your score!

At the end of the round you’ll get to see ALL of the words, so pay attention to whatever you missed!

Ewe…. Wee…. EWWIE!!!! :D

There are three difficulty levels, but the words don’t get any tougher. Oh no, it gets tougher in a different way. ^_^ On higher levels you have less time for each puzzle! But on the upside, the bonus for finding all of the words increases!

• Level 1 = 2 minutes 30 seconds. Last word bonus is 50 tokens.
• Level 2 = 2 minutes 15 seconds. Last word bonus is 75 tokens.
• Level 3 = 2 minutes. Last word bonus is 100 tokens.

It’s amazing what a difference those 15-30 seconds make. o_O

Your overall score also increases on harder levels, which in turn boosts how many tokens you’ll receive. Woohoo!!!

 

Tips & Tricks

Confession: I’m yoinking many of these tips from the Text Twist guide, because it’s basically the same game. *^_^* Don’t kill me!

1. Remember learning about suffixes in elementary school? They are VERY handy! Look for these combinations: -ly, -ed, -s, -es, and -y. Technically there are many more suffixes, but these are the most common ones for short words.

2. I often miss a lot of words that start with vowels. If you miss out on those too, just make a mental note to look for them.

3. Use the Mix Up button whenever you get stuck! You can click it or hit the spacebar, and all of the letters will shift around.

4. Look for compound words. For example, if you spell "peanut" you can also spell "pea" and "nut" as extra words.

5. There are no penalties for spelling a non-word! If you’re totally clueless just start stringing letters together. You might be stumble on a new word! (Today I learned that “bloc” is a word.” I had no clue!)

 

Final Rating

Word Whomp is cute, but I feel bad for the gophers. *^_^* How would you like to get whomped on the head every time someone wanted to spell a word! Tough job..

Anywho, I don’t get super-excited about word games, but I must admit that this one is well made and interesting. I rate it 4.5 stars out of 5.

What would you rate it? What level do you like to play? Better yet, do you have any tips for fellow wordsmiths?

 

Similar Games

If you like word games then you should try some of these out!

• Text Twist at IWON and Gamesville – A simplified version of Word Whomp. Perfect for gopher sympathizers!
• Seekado! at Club Bing – The ever-classic word search game, with a twist!
• Word Noodle at BugleGames – Connect letters in a HUGE puzzle grid to make as many words as you can.

Slingo Daily Challenge: P-p-p-p-power!

Slingo Daily Challenge is a new game at Slingo. It’s a really neat expansion on the classic Slingo game! (Read the guide on Slingo Classic to learn about the coins, Jokers, Cherub, and Devil.)

 

This is a solo game so you’re not trying to beat anyone else. You have 5 minutes to take your spins and match the numbers! I really love that I don’t have to wait for everyone else to finish each turn. *^_^*

 

And if you couldn’t guess by the name, each day you’ll get a new challenge score to beat. (Thus the “Daily Challenge” part.) Beat it and you’ll earn 150,000 Slingo coins! If you can’t beat it you’ll get 10,000 coins and a chance to try again.

 

But what really makes this a fabulous game is the addition of powerups!

 

Oooooh! Fun!!

 

Powerups are a common feature in their downloadable games, but this is the first time they’ve been included on a browser-played Slingo game. I like it. ^_^

 

Each day you get between one and nine powerups. (So far I’ve only seen between 2-6, but I don’t play every single day.) Currently there are ten different powerups and an 11th will be released later this month.

 

So right now there are a total of 3,628,800 powerup combinations. It would take you 103,680 years to play a different one each day!

 

In other words, you’re not likely to get bored with this one. ^_^

 

I have no idea how many total powerups they plan on releasing, but here’s what’s out so far. (The Instant Slingos powerup is new TODAY!)

 

Most of these are pretty self explanatory, but here’s more info on a few of the trickier ones.

 

Bounce Slingos

As you know, normally Slingos can only be made when you cover five in a row, column, or diagonal. Getting the Bounce Slingos powerup adds two new patterns to the board!

The first one is very simple.

It’s smiling at me!

That’s a Slingo! That shape activates four new Slingos on the board. You can also look at it this way, if it helps.

Um.. Thanks?

For some reason I have a harder time remembering the second pattern, but it works like this:

Check!

It may look simple, but this this pattern adds sixteen Slingos to the board! If you drew them all out it’d look something like this.

o_O Well, that’s… colorful.

If you’re not into planning your Slingos out, just place your Jokers wherever you want and don’t worry about it. ^_^

 

Devil Protection

This is one of my favorite powerups, mainly because I HATE that darn Devil. >_< But there’s another great reason to have the Cherub save your behind. Sometimes zie’ll double your score!

Woohooo!!

Whenever you look at the daily scores and wonder how in the heck people got that high, this is the answer. The Cherub saved their behind multiple times, and generously doubled their score in the process!

Keep in mind that Devil Protection doesn’t mean that you’ll get your score doubled every time a Cherub saves you. But it does mean that you won’t lose any points at all to that darn Devil!

 

Power Shot

This one is awesome. ^_^ When the icon pops up, you can match any number in the column above it. But when you click the number you’re really getting five spots at once! It looks like this:

 Nice!

Very handy!

 

Slingo Vision

This is another of my faves too. (Is there a powerup I dislike? Probably not.)

Slingo Vision automatically highlights available moves, which makes the games SUPER fast. ^_^ I love it.

Slingo Vision, activate!

 

Tips & Tricks

The value of Slingos increases when you have them in succession.

• 1st Slingo = 1000 points
• 2nd Slingo = 1500 points
• 3rd Slingo = 2000 points
• 4th Slingo = 2500 points
• 5th Slingo = 3000 points
• 6th Slingo = I hope you get the idea by now.

When you click SPIN it starts over, so try to plan your Slingos out and get as many as you can in one turn!

Since the game changes every day, that’s really the only tip I’ve figured out so far! *^_^*

 

Final Rating

I really enjoy the variety in the Slingo Daily Challenge, and I look forward to seeing future powerups! The challenge score is also pretty neat, but it’s frustrating when the only way you can get it is to have the Cherub save your behind AND double your score. I’m not usually that lucky. :(

Other than that little bit, it’s a fantastic game! ^_^ I rate it 4.5 stars out of 5. What would you rate it? Do you have a favorite powerup? Least favorite?

 

Similar Games

If you like Slingo Daily Challenge, well, you should probably hang around Slingo and play some more of their games! XD But if you want to branch out, try some of these!

• Frantic Fish at Gamesville – Play each day for a shot at $25!
• Lottso Express! at Pogo – This combines bingo and scratchcards. Win!
• Olympics at Playtopia – If you love complicated slots, Olympics is PERFECT for you. ^_^

SwapIt – Winter edition!

Brrrr!!

SwapIt is a match-3 game available at GSN Oodles. Right now it’s winterized and instead of gems there are ice skates, cups of hot cocoa, fuzzy hats, and more! It’s pretty darn cute.

 And festive!

This is a timed game with only two levels. In order to reach level 2 you MUST fill the goal bar! And you have only one minute to do it. ^_^

I want lollipops!

It’s a little weird to see the time gauge go down as the goal fills up. It… Wait, what was that about lollipops?

They look like lollipops! Seeeeee?! ^_^

Um.. okay. o_O

Moving on! The second level is also one minute long, so this is definitely a quick game! (Two minutes at the longest.)

*Sips a cup of hot cocoa*

If you fill the Goal bar before time runs out, you’ll get an extra point bonus. The bonus is based on how much time was left, so be quick!

 

Tips & Tricks

With most match-3 games it’s advisable to play near the top to prolong the game. SwapIt is a different story! Since you have such a short amount of time, you want to maximize the number of chains (successive matches) that you make. To do this, just play near the bottom of the board! If you get stuck you can hit “Help” and it’ll highlight a match.

SwapIt also has an AWESOME feature that I wish more match-3 games had. The board automatically shuffles a few pieces if you run out of moves! It happens incredibly fast, so you might not even notice unless you play close attention.

 

Final Rating

Generally I prefer this type of game to be untimed, but for some reason I REALLY like the short SwapIt rounds! *^_^* I don’t feel pressured or frustrated if I don’t make it to level 2. It’s just fun!

I’ll rate this one 4.5 stars out of 5. What would you rate it? Do you prefer timed or untimed match-3 games?

 

Similar Games

If you like match-3 games like Bejeweled, give some of these games a try!

• Merry Poppings at Slingo – An intriguing match-3 game with NINE power-ups!
• Diamonds at Spigo – Just like Bejeweled, only better, because you can win cash. ^_^
• Sweet Tooth 2 at Pogo – If you enjoyed the lollipop joke, you’ll LOVE playing with all of the candy in this delicious match-3 game!

Text Twist - Twixt Test (Just go with it.)

Text Twist is a great word game on iWon and Gamesville! I'm not the best at word games, but I had a lot of fun!

The rules are simple. Each round you have two minutes to make as many words as you can from six random letters. On the left are empty blanks for all of the English words you can make! To make a word, either click on or type the letters. (Typing is easiest for me.) Whenever you think you have a word, click "enter" or hit the enter key. ^_^

Swtlir?

Once the time runs out, Text Twist fills in the missing words for you. Sometimes it's frustrating to see what simple words you missed. Other times you may learn something new!

I learned that I'm dumb.

Every round has at least one six letter word. (This means that all of the letters are used.) You have to find at least one six letter word in order to reach the next round!

Could you use that in a sentence, please?

Try to find the six letter word as quickly as you can. You earn points for every word you find, but you really want to find the six letter word!

The "Twist" part of Text Twist is basically a shuffle. Hit the spacebar or click "Twist" to mix the letters up. This is very helpful when you're stuck!


Tips & Tricks

1. Remember learning about suffixes in elementary school? They are VERY handy in Text Twist. Look for these combinations: -ly, -ed, -s, -es, -est, -y, and -ing. Technically there are many more suffixes, but these are the most common ones for short words.

2. I often miss a lot of words that start with vowels. If you miss out on those too, just make a mental note to look for them.

3. Use the Twist feature! A few times it's accidentally spelled the 6 letter word that I needed and couldn't figure out. *^_^*

4. Look for compound words. For example, if you spell "peanut" you can also spell "pea" and "nut" as extra words.


Final Rating

Text Twist doesn't have any cute bears, chickens, or flowers. For some people, that may make this game too plain. But I like it. ^_^ The features work smoothly and the simplicity keeps me focused on the letters. I especially like that they show you what words you missed once the round is over.

If you'd like to play it at iWon, click here. Prefer Gamesville? Then go here!

4.5 stars out of 5. What would you rate it? Do prefer simple word games or complex ones?


Similar Games

If you like Text Twist, you may like some of these games too!

• Chicktionary at Club Bing - Just like Text Twist, but with chickens. 
• Tumble Bees at Pogo - Spell words in a honeycomb to fill a jar with honey!
• Boggle Bash at Pogo - Connect letters to spell as many words as you can!

Flaming Crates - Turn on the AC! It's hot in here!!

Flaming Crates is my current favorite at FreeSlots! It's a basic five reel game and you play up to 9 lines. Since you can never run out of credits at FreeSlots, always bet the max!

Big money! Big money!

What sets Flaming Crates apart from other slots is its "scatter bonus." It's a minigame that triggers whenever you get three crates.

One crate! Two crates! THREE crates! Ah ah ah!

If you hadn't guessed yet, this minigame is where Flaming Crates gets its name. ^_^ First, a board full of crates appears.

Which one do I choose?

Let's pick one near the middle.

Eek! What happened??

The first crate you pick will always be on fire. This is a good thing! The fire "spreads" to the crates surrounding it and you can open them for more credits and wilds. When you click on a nearby crate it might be on fire, or it might just have a number and nothing else.

Here's what it looked like when I picked a second crate. (After your first pick the only crates available are the ones near the fires.)

More crates!

Lucky for me, the next crate was on fire too! That meant I had more crates to click on. Woohoo!!

Keep clicking on crates until you're out of options. Once you're done, all of the remaining crates will reveal and you can see what you missed out on. So kind of them, isn't it? =(

I missed a lot. Thanks, guys.

If you're lucky you may end up with a few hundred credits! Unlucky... maybe 50 credits or so. But if you're SUPER lucky, you might find the 500 credit crate!

OMG! Is that for real?!

The 500 credit crate isn't on every board, and it appears in different spots. The first time I hit it I'd been playing Flaming Crates for weeks! I was so surprised that I stared at the screen in shock as the credits rolled to my account. Awesome!!!

In addition to beautiful, beautiful credits, you'll probably pick up a few wilds in the minigame too. This is the only way to get wilds!

You know I'm wild aboutcha!

Whenever you hit 150+ credits you can hit cash/credit to access your account. For further details on how FreeSlots works, please read this site review. Thanks!


Final Rating

I play Flaming Crates almost every day at FreeSlots, and I have a short attention span! If I can play something every day and not get tired of it, then you should try it at least once! ^_^

4.5 out of 5 stars! What would you rate it? What do you think of the three reel version?


Similar Games

If you like slots, definitely give these a go!

• Slingo Classic at Slingo - This is an awesome mix of slots and bingo. Addictive!!
• Showbiz Slots at Pogo - Follow Betsy Chiffon as she tries to become a star!
• Burger Buddies at Winster - Spin to get buns, patties, and lettuce. Make the best burger you can! (Don't play this if you're hungry.)

CatchUp CoverAll - Gotta catch'em all!

CatchUp CoverAll is played only at Gamesville! You have three Bingo cards each game, and if you completely cover one of the cards, you win the jackpot!

Well, it only counts if you match numbers that the computer calls. You can't just cover all of the numbers and yell Bingo. It won't work.

Trust me. I tried.

Let's get to it!


Bonus Games

Before each game begins a little window pops up. It contains two minigames: Flip Flop and Lucky Ball.

Um.. What does it do?

With Flip Flop you pick one set of numbers. If BOTH of those numbers are called during the game, type "flip/flop" into the chat and hit enter. You just won 242 GVs!!

Lucky Ball is quite different. If someone wins the jackpot and they picked the same Lucky Ball that you did, you win 1,000 GVs!! Additionally, up to four people with the same lucky ball as the winner will also win $25 each!!

If no one wins the jackpot than the player(s) who came the closest to covering hir cards wins 500 GVs. And if you picked the same lucky ball as that player, you also win 500 GVs! It's a win-win! ^_^


The Game

Each game is six and a half minutes. This means that you have approximately 6 seconds to decide if the current number is on any (or all) of your cards.

Bingo?

Blue is the default color of the Bingo balls. (I had to work REALLY hard so that sentence wasn't perverted. I have no idea why almost every online Bingo game uses blue balls. There! I said it! BLUE BALLS!!)

*Ahem*

Anywho, if you see one of these match to any of your cards, click the number on the card to daub it. (Daub means, "to place a mark.") There isn't an auto-daub feature, so you better be quick!

Also, five random balls in each game will be gold instead of blue. These are awesome!!

Yay!!!

You earn 50 GVs for every gold number matched to your cards!!! The gold numbers stay gold on your card, so you can keep track of how many GVs you're going to win.

250 GVs so far!

Only 62 numbers are called each game. This means that (most of the time) no one covers their card and wins the jackpot. The pot just rolls over for the next game.


Jackpot

CatchUp CoverAll has a progressive jackpot that starts at $100 and goes up to $1,000! Gold members automatically get double jackpots, but freeple (free players) can get it too! It's in the CatchUp CoverAll How to Play section so it's nothing sneaky.

You need a business size envelope, 3x5 index card, postage, and something to write with. (I suggest a pen.)

Write ALL of the following information on the card.

• Your full name
• Gamesville account name
• Your mailing address
• Date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
• Daytime phone number and e-mail address

Seal the card in the envelope and mail it to:

"Gamesville CatchUp CoverAll Double Jackpot Game "
c/o Lycos, Inc.
100 Fifth Ave.
Waltham, MA 02451-8703

As soon as they receive your entry you'll get double jackpots in CatchUpCoverAll for a MONTH!! So don't spam them with entries!

Reality check: There's a winner on CatchUp CoverAll about once a week. While that's better odds than most sites, it still means you could play for years and never win. It's not a conspiracy. It's just luck.


Side Games

You won't find anything about side games in the Gamesville manual. That's because side games are something that the players do for fun! One player will call out a pattern, and everyone tries to complete it. Nothing is gained, other than a "Congrats!" or two. It's just an extra bit of fun. ^_^

So when you see someone type "25 fs," it means they need the number 25 to win the side game. Fs = for side.


Tips & Tricks

If you join the game late and you're trying to catch up, don't bother scouring the call board for matches. Just start daubing your cards.

Really! When you daub a correct match, there is a little firework.

Sparkle!!

No sparkle means that the number hasn't been called yet. Click it again to remove the daub and keep working through the numbers. You'll get through them in no time. ^_^

Also, sometimes it's easier to look for what *isn't* called. Check out the call board below.

Ack! The game is almost over!

Look at the O row. The only two that haven't been called are O65 and O73. Every other O is good to go. Alternately you could look at big groups at a time. For example, G48-G55 are all called. I can quickly mark anything in that range.

Honestly, I think the first method (fireworks) is the easiest. I just want to give you options. ^_^


Final Rating

I've also played Bingo Zone at Gamesville, and I can't help but compare the two. I like CatchUp CoverAll a little better because the pattern is always the same. It's easier on my brain. *^_^*

But on the other hand, the Bingo Zone has a lot more winners. Smaller cash prizes, but a lot more winners.

Still, I've had my share of cards where I was 1 number away from winning several hundred dollars. The adrenaline rush is awesome! I'll give this 4.5 stars out of 5. What would you rate it?


Similar Games

If you like CatchUp CoverAll, you might also like:

• Mega-Jackpot Bingo at Slingo - Awesome single-player bingo! Customize to fit your playing style!
• Bingo Bash at Winster - Spin to get Bingo balls and complete patterns to earn points for prizes.
• Bingo at BugleGames - FAST Bingo games with a wonderful auto-daub feature.