News: Candystand adds a daily sweeps wheel!

I love daily stuff, and I love spinning wheels, so this is PERFECT for me!

No, not THAT kind of wheel. (Although it is quite pretty!)

To spin the wheel just log onto Candystand! Right now there’s a big picture of it on the front page and a link in the top corner.

Ooooh! I wanna win!!!

You get 1 spin every day, and your prize may range anywhere from 50 tickets to $500!!!! There are also several gift certificates, which is pretty nice!

So far I’ve won 1,000 tickets a few times, which isn’t too shabby. ^_^

Candystand has also done something a little different here. When you open the prize wheel you’ll see a clear link to the sweepstakes rules and facts. Most of the time that stuff is hidden, and I REALLY like that they’re being up front about your odds and the prizes. Take a look!

 

Being open about odds is quite refreshing. ^_^ I approve!

Since the inclusion of the wheel, I’ve been making more of an effort to stop by Candystand each day. Do you think it’ll affect how often you visit Candystand?

News – Candystand (potentially) adding a BIG prize!

I love the games at Candystand, but the prizes have generally been on the “meh” side of things. They’re looking to MAJORLY shake that up!

*Squints* You’re overestimating my visual capabilities.

Don’t hurt yourself. That message, posted on Candystand’s Facebook page, says:

We’re working on a prize giveaway on Candystand of EPIC proportions… Imagine if playing games on Candystand could make you a millionaire! What would you do with $1 Million???

This would be freakin’ incredible if it becomes a reality. ^_^ IWON is the only other free-to-win site with a prize that big, and even then you win either $100k or $1 million. (Always read the fine print!)

I’m really interested to see how this turns out! And you’d better believe that I’ll be entering it. ^_^

Vector TD – To arms!!

Vector TD is a tower defense game available at Candystand. (TD = Tower Defense. I totally didn’t know that. *^_^*)

Ooooh! Looks fancy.

There are eight different maps and they’re arranged in three difficulty levels.

The Switchback map is for beginners. Like me!

Clearly this isn’t a treasure map or a you-are-here map. So what gives?

On each map you’ll face 50 waves of vectoids. Vectoids are colorful squiggles that want nothing more than to get to the finish line highlighted in red. But you don’t want them to get there! So you set up “towers” to attack and destroy them.

Meanie!

Each tower has an attack range and there are different types of damage, so read up on them before you buy. (Cash is limited.)

Now, whenever a vectoid passes the red finish line you lose a life. (You start out with 20.) The surviving vectoids come right back through the green starting line to give you another chance to kill them. How nice! ^_^

There are six different vectoids and four of them have “sorta” weaknesses. (Towers the same color as them hit for 150% damage.) But the hardest/most annoying vectoid has to be the yellow spinners. >_<

Hey!! Get back here!!!

They are freakin’ FAST! The first time you get them you’ll probably be racing to set up more towers before the spinners reach the exit.

The hard grey vectoids also have a tag-a-long buddy. When you kill it you’ll get a bonus point. Bonus points can be used to increase your interest percentage, buy 5 lives, buy a damage boosting tower, or buy a range boosting tower. (Missiles & lasers go further. Yay!!!)

If you make it through all 50 levels, you win! Play again to try and beat your score! (My best is 4 mil.)

 

Tips & Tricks

1. You collect interest on how much money you have at the start of each level. If at all possible, wait to buy a tower or upgrade until the level has started.

2. Blue towers don’t have very high damage, but they slow down vectoids tremendously. Mixing blue towers with red towers (highest damage) is a deadly combination.

3. Every 5th level you’ll fight the hard grey vectoids and pick up a bonus point. I suggest putting the first point or two into interest. More $$$ = more towers!

4. You can also buy (with bonus points) items that increase tower damage. The effects stack, so place them strategically. A level 10 red rocket with doubled damage can deal out a lot of hurt!

5. Does the game feel too slow? Near the top there’s an option to auto-load each level. As soon as one wave of vectoids is gone, the next wave will start! You can turn auto on and off whenever you want. ^_^

6. You can sell towers at any point in the game. You’ll get back 75% of the cash that you put into it, which isn’t too bad.

 

Final Rating

I had a LOT of fun playing Vector TD, even though I died a lot. *^_^* When I finally reached level 50 I felt like I’d conquered the world! (I’d be a benevolent dictator, in case you were worried.)

However, my winning strategy uses only two types of towers! (4-5 maxed red rockets and the blue level 1 lasers.) The green and purple lasers are useless, which is disappointing.

Still, entertainment is valuable. ^_^ I’ll say this is 3.8 out of 5 stars.

What would you rate it? Do you like tower defense games? Have you ever tried them before? (I’m usually terrible at this type of game!)

 

Similar Games

If you like thinkin’ games, try some of these!

• Xian-Xiang at KadoKado – How many perfect matches can you put together?
• Crossword at Spigo – Great for trivia buffs and duffs!
• Sudoku Puzzle Blast at Pogo – One of my favorites. ^_^ Sudoku combined with a jigsaw puzzle!

Factory Balls 3 – Inspected and approved.

I haven’t played Factory Balls 1 or 2, but I had a lot of fun with Factory Balls 3! It took me a few minutes to understand what I was supposed to do, but once I got it.. Weeeeee!!! ^_^

Oh, I’m getting ahead of myself. Whoops!

You can play Factory Balls 3 at Candystand, and I suggest that you do! It’s a great puzzle game with 30 different levels.

Almost there!

Everyone has to start at level 1 and work through the puzzles. What do you do? Well, on each level you have a set number of tools and paint colors. Your goal is to make a ball to match the picture on the cardboard box.

I’m workin’ on it.

You will use all of the tools on each level. No extras!

Most patterns will seem pretty easy once you get the hang of it. But some of them…

… are really hard!

Luckily, Factory Balls 3 isn’t a timed game, so there’s no need to rush! If you mess up there’s a recycling bin so you can start the level over.

Let’s go through the first puzzle together. For this one we need to make a ball that’s half orange and half blue.

Our tools are blue and orange paint, and a hard hat. Kinda weird, but it’ll do! First, click on one of the white balls inside the giant pink cog. Drag the ball to the orange paint and let go.

You now have an orange ball. ^_^ We need to make the bottom half blue but without losing the top orange part.

Hmm. Well, let’s try the hard hat. Click the orange ball and drag it to the hard hat.

Now the orange ball is wearing a hat. Kinda cute. ^_^ Click on the hatted ball and drag it to the can of blue paint.

Ah hah! The bottom half is blue now! To finish the ball just click and drag it to the hat stand again. The hat will come off and you’ll have a perfect match!

Ta-da!!!

This is the easiest level! As you move higher you’ll have to work with belts, sunglasses, axes, stamps, plungers, flowers, and more! It’s very creative and quite challenging.

I must confess that I got stuck a few times. (#25 kicked my butt!) With a game like this I like to provide hints, but I couldn’t think of anything useful. *^_^*

Therefore, here is a link to the official walkthrough! You have the option of watching a video or reading straight text. I opted for the text, so I wouldn’t accidentally skip too far ahead and find out how to solve a level before I reached it. (That bugs me.)

 

Final Rating

I stumbled across Factory Balls 3 while I was looking for something new and different to play. This one is definitely new and different! ^_^ 

The puzzles range from mildly challenging to OMGWTFBBQ! I like having such a broad range, but the game was almost over by the time I got to the really complex levels. I would have liked maybe 5 more puzzles to wrestle with. But then, most puzzle games end too early for my liking. *Shrugs*

The only level I didn’t like was #26. (You’ll know it when you see it.) Solving that one mainly required repetition, and that isn’t very fun. But other than that, I’d say this game is flawless.

4.9 stars out of 5. Bravo!

What do you think of Factory Balls 3? Do you prefer timed puzzles or untimed?

 

Similar Games

If you like puzzle games, here are a few others that you should try!

• Jigsaw Puzzle at Spigo – Don’t let the boring name fool you. This is the BEST online jigsaw puzzle game that I’ve found.
• Picture Magic at Winster – Trade puzzle pieces with friends to complete your picture!
• Wake up the Box at Candystand – This is just a hoot. ^_^ I giggle every time I play this one! 

electric box2 – An electrifying bolt of AWESOME!

If you’re here just for the hints, click this!

I really liked electric box, so you can imagine how excited I was when I heard that electric box² was in the works! Candystand let me have a sneak peek and wow… electric box² is amazing!

In addition to 40 mind boggling levels, they’ve included an easy way to access user-created levels. It’s really cool, but more on that later. ^_^

 

The Goal

Should you choose to accept it, your task is to get energy from one place to the other. On each level you’re given various items to accomplish this task.

Well that doesn’t look so hard.

The first 12 levels serve as a tutorial and introduce you to each group of items. (There are a lot of them.) After that, things quickly become complicated.

Okay. I can see how that’s a little challenging.

Levels 36 and 40 are particularly tough. I spent an hour on 40 before I called my hubby over to help. With both of us working, it still took another hour to figure it out!

*Gulp*

Tough, but it felt AWESOME to figure it out. ^_^

Part of what makes electric box² so much difficult is the inclusion of numerous robots. In the first electric box there was only one robot, and the only thing it did was carry something over its head.

Well, now there are seven different robots!

Hi there!

There are bots to pull, push, carry, lift, bounce around (that one is obnoxious), push things down, and even morph into other objects!

This makes the puzzles dynamic. Things are constantly moving (did I mention the teleporters and cannons?) and you have to figure out how to make all of these things work the right way! It’s tough! But fun. ^_^ I love a good challenge! 

 

User Levels

If you make it through all 40 levels and crave more, check out the user-made levels!

Oooohh!

You can access them from the main menu. Right now there aren’t many user-made levels, but that’ll change as more people play. If you want to make your own level for fame and glory, go for it!

 What should I make?

The level creator has a lot to offer and it’s simple to work with. Everything is laid out logically and makes sense.  Woohoo! ^_^

I’m usually not very good at creating levels, but I love seeing what other people come up with. The addition of user-created levels means that electric box² will never get stale. There will always be new content for you to try!

 

Tips & Hints

Everything has a purpose. If you’re stuck, look to see if there’s an extra-long wire you’re not using. It might be that you have something positioned incorrectly.

And of course, every item in the inventory is supposed to be used. If you find a shortcut you can contact the creators here. They will update the game as needed. ^_^

Don’t be afraid to turn the power on! Even if you know it’s not set up right, sometimes it helps just to see how things are moving.

Each level on electric box² comes with one hint. There’s no penalty for using the hint! If you read the hint and you’re still completely stumped, well here are a few extra hints for the trickier levels. To see the hint put your cursor right after the dash, click, and hold the click while you move your cursor down.

Level 25 – Twins often have different interests.

Level 28 – Sunshine hides behind Spring. Only after Spring has moved on can the light fully warm the Earth.

Level 30 – Two men enter. One man leaves!

Level 31 – What goes up, must come down.

Level 34 – I’m made of rubber, you’re made of glue. Cannonballs bounce off of me and.. kill you?

Level 36 – Music stirs the soul! And hamsters. And robots.

Level 40 – The contractor called, and he said that those wind chimes have to move.

If you’re still stuck, a walkthrough is available. But be warned! All of the walkthroughs are complete solutions! No step-by-step instructions, just BAM here’s the solution. Candystand saves your progress, so before you head to the walkthrough, I suggest taking a break. Sometimes you just need to rest before you can spot the solution.

 

Final Rating

electric box² is extremely challenging. It took me probably 8 hours (no joke) to make it through all 40 levels. When I played through again I still got stuck a few times! *^_^*

Honestly, it’s an amazing game. I loved the first electric box, and electric box² is leaps and bounds beyond that. Definite 5 out of 5 stars! It’s also out publically out today! Go try it!

If you’ve already tried it, what levels did you get stuck on? Do you have any hints (not solutions) that you want to share with other readers?

 

Similar Games

If you enjoyed electric box², well, you should definitely try the first electric box. ^_^ After that, give some of these games a shot!

• Super Chef at Gamesville – Fun to play, impossible to explain in nine words.
• Sweet Tooth 2 at Pogo – A classic match-3 game with candy!
• Chain Gang at Winster – Work alone or in a group to make the longest chains possible!

Wake Up The Box - WAKE UP!!!

Wake Up The Box is the most hilariously awesome game that I've played in a long, long while. ^_^ I kept giggling when I played it. Even after I'd already played all of the levels!!

Anywho, you can play this fantastic game on Candystand. It's a puzzle game with 20 levels!

I wish there were more levels!!

You may have guessed by now, but the goal is to wake up a cardboard box! Yelling at your monitor won't work. The box only wakes up if it's moved suddenly. (Falling always wakes it up, of course.)

On each level you have different wooden shapes to play with.

Time for stick-ball!

Two key things about these pieces.

1. You have to use them in order. In the above picture you'd use the horizontal stick, then the vertical stick, and lastly the big circular thing. No switching around! :(
2. The wooden pieces attach only to other wooden objects. They won't stick to brick or metal. 

Got that? ^_^

The first two puzzles are super easy. They each have a single wooden piece and they tell you where to put it!

Aaaaaaaaaagh!

It doesn't take long for the puzzles to start getting trickier. Sometimes you'll have the idea right but mess up on the execution.

Well that didn't work.

When this happens, just hit the "restart level" button in the bottom right corner and try again!

Weeeeeee!!!!

Much better!

Also, some of the puzzles have more than one solution. Take your time and see what you can figure out. But if you really get stuck, come back here for hints!


Hints

These are hints and not solutions for some of the tougher levels! I try to be cryptic even with hints. *^_^* If you're stuck on a level I didn't cover, just leave a comment with the level number and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

To see the hint, highlight the text with your cursor. (If you don't know how to do that just leave a comment and I'll walk you through it.)

Level 11 Hint 1 - Before one finds balance, one must first experience imbalance.

Level 11 Hint 2 - May the fork be with you.

Level 13 - Tipping the scales is a weighty matter.

Level 14 - Quickly applied mass = increased velocity


Final Rating

I had a lot of fun with Wake Up The Box. When I played it the second time through I still giggled every time box went flying through the air. *^_^* My hubby thought it was odd. (What? I'm easily amused!)

However, some of the levels were so easy that they really weren't a challenge. Conversely, some of the levels were so picky about item placement that they became excessively difficult. The imbalance is what keeps this from being a perfect score. I had an awesome time replaying Wake Up The Box and that's pretty rare for me. ^_^

4.9 stars out of 5. What would you rate it? Have you tried the sequel(s)? (I heard there's a Wake Up The Box Royalty game somewhere.)


Similar Games

If you like Wake Up The Box, you might like some of these games too!

• Pyramid Solitaire at iWon - This is good practice for seeing how things are connected. But with cards. ^_^
• electric box at Candystand - Use steam, wind, light, and more to get electricity from one place to the next! 
• Sudoku Puzzle Blast at Pogo - An excellent cross between a jigsaw puzzle and Sudoku!

electric box - A refreshing jolt of AWESOME!

Electric box is a FANTASTIC game from Candystand! The concept is simple. Get an electric current to a target. To do this you will use steam, condensers, fans, lasers, and more!

There are fifteen puzzles total. The first few are pretty easy, and there are helpful hints to guide you.

Electric box, I'm so attracted to you. <3

As you progress the puzzles get tougher. A lot tougher.

Our relationship is steamy! xoxo

I was stuck on level 14 for a long time. It's quite a challenge!

Yes, you really blow me away, electric box. <3

A few puzzles took me 20 minutes to complete! But the feeling of accomplishment.. it's awesome. ^_^ And uh...

*Looks at the last three pictures*

Um.. what's up with the vaguely suggestive captions?

Monkey!!! :PPPPP

Righto. I'm glad we had this talk. >_<


Tips & Tricks

1. There are no "extra" pieces. You'll need to use every single item in the inventory in order to complete the puzzle!

2. Some items don't have to be on a wire. The mirrors and blocker can be placed anywhere on the puzzle. It took me five minutes staring at the first laser puzzle to figure that one out. *^_^*

3. Don't be afraid to turn on the power! It can help you spot mistakes and figure out what went wrong.

4. Sometimes it's easier to work from the target to the power source. It may seem weird, but it helps!


Hints

I'm including hints for some of the tougher puzzles. To see them, right-click and highlight the text. These are hints not solutions!

Puzzle 12: Fans work best when they're blowing at the steam instead of the kettle.

Puzzle 14: You need three fans blowing to the right to charge up the 3rd circuit. But to reach the last steam detector you need four fans. Maybe the robot could help!

Puzzle 15: Sometimes you want to drop the ball. On everything.


Final Rating

I love electric box! The puzzles are a great challenge. ^_^ When I played through a second time, sometimes I still had to stop and figure it out again. As an added plus, the score needed for the Gold Trophy is pretty high. There's a reason to come back and replay the puzzles. I love that! *Thumbs up*

No doubt in my mind, this is a solid 5 star game.

I can hardly wait for electric box 2! (Coming soon!)

If you need help with any of the puzzles, leave a comment and say what level you're stuck on. I'll give you whatever hints I can think of. ^_^


Similar Games

If you like electric box then you might like some of these games too!

• Chain Gang at Winster - Make long chains for lots of points! (It's harder than it sounds.)
• Sudoku Puzzle Blast at Pogo - An awesome mashup of Sudoku and jigsaw puzzles.
• Rotato at Candystand - Complete all 50 puzzles to unlock the endless mode!

Flipstar - Flippin' out? Maybe.

Flipstar is the newest game at Candystand! The name tells you exactly what you'll be doing. Flipping stars! ^_^

Hellooooooooo big starfishy!

There are a total of 20 levels and 5 bonus levels! Each level is unlocked by finishing the previous puzzle. Each puzzle has a timer and limited number of moves, so be careful!

Puzzles!

Now, how does this work? It's very simple. You get a board with some red starfish and yellow starfish. Your goal is to turn all of the starfishies yellow. Any starfish you click on will flip over, as will the other starfish in a + pattern.

Look at this:

Green circle courtesy of Mira.

See how the red starfish are shaped like a +? When you click on the one in the middle (circled in green) all of the starfishies in that + will flip over. Like so!

Yay!! I wins!!

The first 8 puzzles are pretty easy. But they get a LOT harder.

Eek!

I was stuck on #12 for a long time. I doubt that I could figure it out again if I had to. =( But puzzle #15 really knocked me out.

Eek!

I tried it over and over. Alas, I failed. =(

Yeah yeah. Rub it in, why dontcha? :P

Tips & Tricks

1. The levels are timed, but the clock doesn't start until you click a starfish. Take a few moments to study the puzzle before you dive in!
2. Hitting RESTART will let you try a level again. There's no penalty, so don't be afraid to hit RESTART if you keep getting stuck.
3. Every move you make subtracts 10 points from your score for that level. Clicking randomly is not recommended. ^_^

VICTORY!!!

Final Rating

Flipstar is cute, but it's not a high quality game like I'm used to seeing at Candystand. I enjoyed Trident Layers Factory and Rotato a lot more. ^_^

It's not a bad game. I'm just not in love with it. 3 stars out of 5.

Don't forget that Tuesdays at Candystand are DOUBLE ticket days! Try out Flipstar and share your 2 cents about it. ^_^

Rotato - As the potato turns..

Rotato is the newest game on Candystand! It's a cute game where you work through 50 levels of increasingly tough puzzles. Finish all 50 and you'll unlock the Endless mode! All in all it's a very fun game. ^_^

No rotating potatoes? Guess I'll survive..

Puzzle Mode

Yes, there are FIFTY puzzles!

Sweet!

Puzzles are unlocked one level at a time. So if you want to reach level 50, you have to play all 49 levels before it!

The beginning puzzles are pretty easy.

Um.. What do I do?

It looks strange, but it's simple! Your goal is to remove all of the yellow, blue, and red blocks. They vanish when they're in a same-color group of 3+, or if they're hit by a bomb or a rainbow.

You move pieces by rotating the board with the arrow buttons. The gray blocks won't move, but everything else will follow gravity. ^_^ Rotate the board to get blocks into a group (so they vanish) or to get bombs into place!

Each board has a par, or the average number of moves it takes to solve the puzzle. If you finish a puzzle below par then you get extra points! And if you realize you messed up, just hit RETRY at the bottom. Easy restart for the level!

As you play you'll come across some special pieces. Here is what they do:

• Pink blocks - They move like colored blocks, but they never vanish! Quite annoying.
• Bomb - Destroys ALL blocks directly touching it.
• Rainbow - Destroys ALL blocks in both the row and column that the rainbow is in. Imagine that it's the center in a cross of destruction.

 I see!

Still stumped on how to play? Let's tackle a puzzle. ^_^

Thanks!

The blue and yellow blocks are completely boxed in by the gray blocks. Right now nothing will move if we turn the puzzle. We HAVE to click on the bombs in order to change anything.

Wait, why did you turn it?

We turned the puzzle anyway because as soon as we click the bombs, gravity will kick in. So the blocks above the bombs will fall down!

Oh! I see!

Without the gray blocks in the way the blue (and yellow) blocks can happily meet up! Remember, whenever 3 or more of the same colored blocks touch, they vanish!

 That was an easy one, but some are much, much harder.

Puzzle #43 sucks.

That one kicked my butt. Eventually I gave up and just kept rotating it until it worked. 46 rotations for the win! ^_^

BIG HONKIN' TIP: To finish a puzzle, you have to get rid of the red/yellow/blue blocks. It doesn't matter how the blocks are removed, they just have to go. Sometimes it's impossible to group them so that they vanish. In these situations, use bombs and rainbows to take them out!

Yikes!

With that board you *have* to activate the rainbow. And then you only have 2 yellow blocks left! Destroy them with bombs and move on to the next puzzle! ^_^


Endless Mode

Once you finsh all 50 puzzles, you unlock the Endless mode! The Endless mode in Rotato is a click-3-make'em-vanish game. The added bonus is that if you get stuck, you can rotate the board to rearrange the pieces. HOWEVER, a new line of pieces is added every time you remove a group of blocks, click a special piece, or rotate the board.

 Can I play?

When there isn't ANY room for new blocks, that's when you lose. And it's nearly impossible to lose! In fact, I had to TRY to lose in order to get this screen.

They make losing look so pretty!

Rotating the board also adds random gray blocks, so I don't recommend rotating. I played for a very, very long time without turning the board once.

I was quite surprised to find a shop in Endless mode. It's a neat idea and I'd be interested in seeing a shop in the regular puzzle mode too. But they didn't ask me. *^_^*

Ooohh! Candy!

You "buy" items with your score. Half of the items you buy once and it's activated forever. The other half are 1-time use items. The 1-time use can be repurchased over and over, as long as you have points to spare! Here's how they work. ^_^

• Rainbow - Cross of destruction again. Remove 25 blue blocks to get a rainbow. (Endless use.)
• Pink globby - Changes all pink blocks into yellow blocks. (1 time use.)
• Potato lookin' thing - Changes all red blocks into yellow blocks. (1 time use.)
• Starfish - Removes 10 metal blocks. (1 time use.)
• Super Explosive - Clears a quarter of the screen! Remove 25 red blocks to get this shiny silver bomb. (Endless use.)
• Rainbow block - Removes a random number of blocks across the board. (Endless use.)

While I like the concept of the shop, I like playing "plain" most of the time. The rainbow blocks in particular can start to take over the board.

I see what you mean.

If you want to get stuff from the shop, I recommend the Super Explosive, the Starfish, and the Pink globby thing.


Tickets

You get 100 tickets for ANY score on Rotato. If you tie it in with your facebook account you can get more! There's a new batch of prizes on Candystand with only a month entry now, which makes me a lot happier. ^_^ Use those tickets to buy entries!


Final Rating

I really enjoyed playing Rotato. ^_^ But as always, I have to ask myself whether this is a one night stand or the start of a beautiful relationship. And for me at least, I think Rotato is a one night stand. If the score was recorded for endless mode, I'd probably come back and play some more, just to challenge myself. But once I waded through all 50 puzzles, I didn't feel pressed to go do it again.

But it was still fun! ^_^ The graphics are playful and game play is smooth. Try it and let me know what you think!

3.5 stars out of 5!