Splat! [Action Dimension Review]

           Just when I was beginning to get sick of all of the "pay for more energy" and CCG multiplayer games, this game comes along to show me that not all multiplayer games reek of "get rich quick". Action Dimension by Odcaf brings fabreeze to the pungent smell left by the current multiplayer games on Kongregate. Create a character and roam around the world in this massive multiplayer action game. With paintball being the center focus of this game, you can also play soccer as well as hit the courts for some tennis! When you go to hang up your suit at the end of the day you can go on a shopping spree for your character, or just buy furniture for your fresh pad. Be prepared to get a few bruises in this sweet new multiplayer game, because the competition is fierce!

          This game is just darn fun, putting it plain and simple. It's a bit challenging playing paintball when you're first starting off, but running around and just shooting your opponents away is a blast! You can dodge between furniture and hunt down your foes in the most rewarding way possible. I guarantee you you'll have a blast-- you're able to switch between different weapons and even throw paintball grenades! As expected with any multiplayer game such as this, there can be lag from time to time. I found that the lag was actually the worst in Tennis mode and when you're just roaming around the shopping centers, though.

No Shaving Cream Necessary [Hairless Adventure Review]

          We all have that secret desire to go on an adventure as a Vin Diesel-like bald guy- Well, don't we? In Hairless Adventure by RoshonFegan you get to move around tiles on the map in order to collect the stars found around each level. This game features ten challenging levels in which, as mentioned, you need to remove tiles from the map itself in order to solve each level. Fitting into the puzzle platformer genre made in Stencyl, Hairless Adventure is a bit above average from your average Stencyl-made game. Put that shampoo bottle away because you won't need it for the journey this game takes you on

          My first impressions of this game were relatively good- It's a simply made game that has a very direct focus (It isn't fluffed up with achievements or other game modes and what-not), and it's very easy to pick up and play. Even though this game only features ten levels the learning curve is actually quite good all things considered. By the time you come around to levels 5-6 you'll have a mild challenge and anything after that is quite difficult. A personal problem I had though is that I found the game became a bit stale after a while, considering new game-play elements are never added at any point.

The Little Knight That Definitely Could [Loot Hero Review]

          Hear ye, hear ye, ole' Kongregate has bestowed upon us yet another epic journey to embark on. Loot Hero by VaragtP will take you through different regions (and the bodies of your enemies) as you continue to upgrade in this mouse-only pixel RPG. Similar to an Idle game, Loot Hero requires close to no effort to play and although it has some grinding aspects, I promise you that you won't have to spend several hours on this to complete your conquest. You play as a brave little knight who wants nothing more to bump into everyone in his path. Upgrade your hero at shops to progress further into the game and defeat bosses to unlock new regions. Suit up well, because Loot Hero is going to take you for a bumpy ride!

          This rad game's game-play is a bit unique to me in a sense, but at the same time there isn't a whole lot to it. You use your mouse to either travel to the left or right (The left is for grinding on weaker foes while the right is to advance further ahead), kill opponents by bumping into them, and spend the silver your collect as necessary to upgrade your little knight. I would say that absolutely anybody could pick up this game, play it, and beat it without any additional help needed. Although, beating the game is just half the adventure as the game features 20 in-game achievements, several of them taking quite a bit of time to achieve.

"Most Views in a Month" New Record!

          Kongregate Collective Guides had been steadily declining in views ever since the blog launched in 2007. It seemed like it would be impossible to surpass the 12,641 views record that was set in July of 2007 but the relaunch has not only restored KCG to it's former glory- it's made it even greater than it has ever been. With 4 days left in December the blog has already gotten 12,832 views and is consistently getting about between 500-600 per day. At this rate KCG may end up receiving over 15,000 views this month if the daily activity remains the same. This is quite the feat for a fan blog!

          The largest contributor to this massive view count is the link to a guide in my recent project, Survival Idle, which has brought over 3,000 people to the blog alone. Another spike in view count can be expected next month when I relaunch the game with a total redesign along with new game mods. Other contributors to the blog's massive view count this month include the Light Bot Walkthrough, the Guide for Strand, the review for Crunchball 3000, and the informative Kred Price Chart post.

O'er the skies we go... [Into Space 3: Xmas Story Review]

          Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the- Oh, sorry, I'm still in the Christmas spirit. Since I don't want you guys to stay without a review even in the holidays, I'm going to present Into Space 3: Xmas Story by BarbarianGames. You might know the first 2 games, but if you don't, you might get the premise from the title; you build a giant rocket to collect candies and gifts to eventually save Christmas and get to space in the meantime. Things can't really get more awesome than this, you might think, but it's soon revealed to be more of a long, boring run, and that going to space isn't even credited other than a generic "reach X feet" achievement. But let's get to that later.

(Note: This game is fiction, don't put your head out of zeppelins to catch candies.)

          The story's quite simple; our mad scientist is setting up christmas lights, gets electrocuted (older people here must know the feel) and KO'ed. After this happens, he has a dream where UFO's stole Santa's gifts, and of course, the solution must be building a rocket and flying to space to get 1000 gifts. (My sister checked Google's Santa Tracker on Christmas Eve, and it said our jolly old fellow gave away that amount of presents in 1/3rd of a second, but it's still an excuse for building a rocket, so who cares?)

Merry Christmas from KCG!

          I hope every last one of you has a very Merry Christmas, Happy New Year, and holiday season filled with love and good cheer! Take a break from those stressful days and spend your holidays with those you love. Also, unrelated, but on Monday, December 23rd KCG received the most views it's ever gotten in a day, passing over 1,800 views with a maximum amount of people on at once of 37! Now THAT brings me some Christmas joy!

Survival Idle Walkthrough

          If you're reading this I want to thank you for playing my latest game (Or just being a regular KCG reader) and just spending time on it in general. Since I'm sure a handful of you are confused right now let me fill you guys in: If you're a KCG reader, this post is about the latest game I've made, Survival Idle, and talks about how to get through the game as well as which choices are the best to make. If you're here because you clicked on a link in Survival Idle, then welcome to KCG! This is a blog I run that comes out with game guides, reviews, and community content on a regular basis. There's plenty of ways to subscribe to the blog on the right-hand side bar, but just feel free to have a look around for now. (If you're also interested you can find my personal game development blog here)

READ FIRST: This game is going to be re-launched in early January. The relaunch will feature a new game mode and will be updated regularly with new game modes. This walkthrough only talks about "CLASSIC" mode as well as "HIGHSCORE" mode.

          Walkthrough:

           How to play: Click on the resource you want to collect in order to increase your supply for that resource. Use your resources to upgrade various things and reach the max level house. You can also trade in resources to go on an adventure. There's also a hidden way to passively gain resources but it's not difficult to find (the owl in the tree). You can also click on the music note toward the bottom of the screen to mute what you want or change the track.
          Basics: This game has a mix of active and passive upgrades, three different resources, and a definite ending. There's plenty of ways you can go about beating the game but I'll break the game down into a "Passive", "Somewhat Active", and "Active" type of walkthrough so that you can beat the game in a way that suits you best.

          First thing you want to do is click on the Owl in the tree, regardless of whether you plan on playing passively or actively. The owl will passively gather resources for you every 5 seconds- You can still click to gather resources and the owl will still help you out. Here are what your priorities should be in order to beat the game as quickly as possible depending on your play style. (Please note that I am not encouraging you guys to beat the game as quickly as you can without enjoying it- the way I designed this game gives a lot of freedom to what you can chose to upgrade first and focus on. Before anything else, do what YOU want to do in this game rather than what I tell you to do.)

How the Cookie Crumbles [Willy Likes Cookies Review]

           Christmas is nearly here and I clicked on this game hoping for a delicious treat, but all I got was Grandma's under-cooked spinach instead of her signature chocolate chip cookies. Willy Likes Cookies by Falcozx is a few cups of sugar off from being the proper recipe for a great game. The game-play of Willy Likes Cookies is very similar to the "Cut the Rope" series in the sense that you have to get Object 1 to Point A and you need to collect 3 stars along the way. So, in terms of categories, this is a physics puzzle game geared toward casual games. In the realm of puzzle games this is extremely on the left side of "Casual" and can easy be picked up by anyone and beat by anyone in a short amount of time (I even let my eight-year old brother have a go at it). While the artwork is fairly decent this game falls shorts in too many categories for my liking.

          There's only 25 levels in this puzzle game which isn't a problem in itself, but it IS a problem when about 20 or so of those levels are very "tutorial-like". You are constantly being catered a meal you don't want with this game, being spoon-fed the answers to nearly every level of the game. There's nothing wrong with having an extensive amount of time explaining every aspect of the game as long as it's done in the appropriate place- A short 25 level puzzle game isn't the place. After the 10th level of so the player should basically be on their own, but that wasn't the case here at all.

4 Great Ways to Spend the Holiday Season on Kongregate

          It's that time of the year again where we go on massive last minute shopping sprees for those we love and care about. The snow is lightly blanketing the ground, Santa's sleigh-bells can be heard from the distance, and I can already taste the milk and cookies! Christmas is here on everyone's favorite flash gaming portal and there's definitely more than one way to spread the love this holiday season. Bundle up, share the love, and get ready for some deliciously sweet ways to spend your holiday  Kongregate days.

          1. Play a Holiday/Christmas themed game.

It's dead outside but it's quite lively in here

Since Kongregate Developers bring great games this year!

In Snail Bob 6 you might have to look twice

For you'll need to find a star each level- no, thrice.

Xmas Gifting Challenge will have you in for a treat

As you throw gifts to all good children you meet.

Play wisely in Christmas Marble Popper,

Don't make false moves; don't play improper.

There aren't many holiday games as of yet,

But new ones are sure to come- You bet!

          2. Spend time with your friends.

Why play a game alone when you can play with friends,

Your fun will carry on- it will surely never end.

Game, game on through the whole night long

If you even wanted you could both sing a song!

Rage at one another as all friends do

Make fun of each other, talk shi- ... another word for "poo"

No matter how you treat your friends, hold them dear

and spent time together- Hell, crack open a beer.

Cursed Treasure 2 Walkthrough

          Trouble protecting your gems? This video guide series from taior3 will walk you through all levels of Cursed Treasure 2. These walkthrough videos will help you get Brilliant ranking on each level so you can earn "The Night Men Cometh Badge".

Level Guide Videos:

Day Levels 1, 2 & 3:

Game Announcement: Survival Idle

         Hey ya’ll, after a few weeks of contemplating the design, artwork, gameplay, and plan for release of this project I’m finally ready to announce that Survival Idle will be released between December 21st and December 24th. Optimally I would like to release it on December 21st but it really depending on how long testing and polishing the game takes. I would much rather released a well-polished game with close to no bugs than the opposite.

          Survival Idle is a pixel-art, peaceful, atmospheric Idle game with artwork inspired by danielben’s I Wish I Were the Moon . You will be able to both actively and passively play this game as you try to thrive out in the wilderness.

Home Sheep Home 2: Lost in Space Walkthrough

          Having some trouble in the long awaited sequel to Home Sheep Home? Well check out this full beginning-to-end 24 minute YouTube video walkthrough to find the solution to whichever part you may be having trouble in. Click here to check out Home Sheep Home 2: Lost in Space by  aardman to send yourself on a wacky puzzle adventure!

Easy Joe 2 Walkthrough

          "Easy Joe wants to see the world again! Now more levels and more fun! Help him out by clicking on different objects in the environment." While I realize this game doesn't have badges (and it certainly would if the developer implemented API), you can still get stuck on parts in this game just as much as any other and I figure this video walkthrough might prove to be very helpful to some of you.

Crystal Story II Walkthrough

Click here to play Crystal Story II on Kongregate

Small Forest (Zone 1)

Overview:

The Small Forest is mainly a tutorial level, but I will recap some of the important events in this area and list some of the items that you can collect from the monsters present here. Additionally, all of the levels are randomly generated to some degree, but we can still find a basic skeleton for each zone that is common for each player. When you first arrive at the Small Forest, you see your own impact crater, from when you land in this world. If you wonder around the forest a bit, you are bound to come across a couple of Earth Slimes. Of course, these simple monsters are very weak and can only deal between 10-20, give-or-take, damage per hit. Your basic attack will knock them down a few health points, but your Fire Attack spell will instantly kill them. Each Slime grants 15 gold and 4 SP upon their death. On your path to the end of the zone, you will find a Small Health Potion tucked into one of the room’s chests. Like all great RPGs, there is a big boss at the end of each zone. Ours now is Gargantuan, who has a whopping 300 health points. Luckily, our Fire Attack spell will rob him of 80 health points per hit and if we run out of mana, our basic attacks will take him down by 40 health. For killing the beast, we are rewarded with 150 gold, 26 SP, and Plate I, an armor. Now, the game briefly goes over how to equip your character with the armor. At this point, we can exit the Small Forest and see what the rest of the world has in store for us as we continue our mysterious journey.

Enemy List:

2 Earth Slimes (54 HP | 12 ATK | 13 MAG | 22 SPD) Skills: Earth I

1 Gargantuan (300 HP | 18ATK | 18 MAG | 21 SPD) Skills: Impale

Item List:

1 Health Potion (Restores 75 Health) Location: Chest

Crash Your Computer Screen [CrashTV Review]

          The platformer genre could be divided in many, many categories. From 3D to endless running games, there are lots of ways to categorize them, but I personally use these: puzzle platformers, run and gun, and the games which require pixel-perfect timing and such skills I can only wince at the sight of them (don't laugh, there are a lot of those). z3lf's new game, CrashTV, falls in the latter category.

(Now, where's the exi- ...Oh, crap.)

          In this game, you play as an anthropomorphic TV set, who has to reach the exit in spikey, laser-y terrains. How this simple premise turns to swinging through narrow tunnels of death like Tarzan with a grappling hook you get through "upgrading" (I guess it's a new plug type) is, of course, a mystery. But we'll get back to that later.

Rolby plz [Super Rolby 64 Review]

  Man I really don't remember playing this game as a kid, but it's a good thing I'm playing it now. Super Rolby 64 by Rolby is the one thing you're missing out on in your life that you should be semi-happy about. This game has what I'll call the "goofyness" factor to it (Like Take Your Canvas Bags to the Super Market) but that's about it. I'm not even entirely sure what I just played to be completely honest with you... something with the Netherlands... and the USA having five-hundred million people, in which ninety-percent of them are fat so they want to go to war... Something something Star Wars story introduction. Get ready to play something you'll honestly remember as being one of the biggest "What the flying fladoodle?" games out there.

          There comes a time in a person's life where he must accept that Rolby is Rolby, and only Rolby does Rolby things, and this game has Rolby written all over it like a chalkboard during school detention. In this mixed game-type adventure you have to do whatever it takes to reach your goal... Something with taking down armies of camels and military people.. and the Netherlands. I'm still not clear on that.

No Princess Here [Hero in the Ocean Review]

          You're a knight in shining armor travelling through fantastic lands to rescue the princess from some devious adversary. Right? Sorry folks - this time we're going under the ocean. Our Hero In The Ocean by Lampogolovii is on a mission to rescue some divers in some strange place in the sea in your submarine.There are fifteen levels and each one introduces a new concept as you fly around looking for stars, divers and secret areas in your adventure.

          Hero In The Ocean features simple, yet engaging gameplay. The only keys you'll ever use is WASD and/or Arrow Keys, a great decision to let both be usable. Throughout the levels, you float around and try to find keys to unlock doors, three stars, secret areas which are basically places that appear to be walls but turn out to be normal terrain, and ultimately, the diver you have to rescue. I have no idea why the divers stand still in one spot when they have infinite air to breathe (after all, we have infinite time). As you move, bubbles will trail out and you'll find there is a very slight slide, but the developer has made this perfectly fine due to no damage dealt from walls. The only way you can die is from a laser; which can be annoying when you have to restart from the very beginning of the level. 

Who's brilliant idea was to put lasers in this place?

Dracorex, erm, DragonArcherZ!

          So I finally meet you at last. *cackles*
          They call me...DragonArcherZ, DAZ, DragonArcher, Dragon and Dazzy. Take your pick. *cackles again* So you have come to the lair of KCG. The place where we review things, and if we find them tasty enough; well you get the idea. So yes. I will be writing reviews as games come out and I hope you enjoy them.
          So I'm going to write and contribute to the vast information KCG provides and I hope you enjoy it. Cheers, DAZ.

Buckle-up [Deadly Road Trip Review]

          So you wanna get into the Salty Spitoon huh- Well how tough are ya'? Are you tough enough to beat Deadly Road Trip by nonamelab, without any milk? In this side-scrolling upgrade shooter game you play as a badass biker looking to claim a large bounty, but you must fight your way through hoards of enemies and travel quite the distance. There's also a truck-load of different upgrades you can invest in with the coins you collect to help you in your journey. Put your helmet on and saddle up, because Deadly Road Trip is gunna' take you on a rough ride you won't be forgetting.

          Driving, upgrades, killing everyone in your path- that's pretty much perfect in itself (Free therapy!). In this bullet-hell shooter you'll find that throughout the game you'll need to focus on using equipment that suits your needs. A bit clumsy and hitting too many mines? Get the mine neutralizer. Finding that it's taking too long to get through each level? Pick up the engine upgrade, or the nitro boost upgrade. Of course, you'll also need to be skilled in dodging anything the enemies try to hit you with.

Light up the Night [Candle Man Review]

      Sometimes you want to stand out above everyone else and burn brighter than the rest. In Candle Man by spotlightor you play as a very "Beauty and the Beast"-like candle who decided to leave his boring candle counterparts and he now must find his way through the darkness in each level. You have the ability to ignite for a light source but you're limited to 10 seconds of light per level which just adds to the obstacles you have to overcome along the way. Put away your matches because Candle Man is going to light up your evening with some interesting game-play in this 3D puzzle platformer adventure.

          What an eerie little game I stumbled across- I absolutely love it. This game is very easy to pick up & play and presents a mild challenge in the realm of puzzle games. I'm not too fond of 3D games but the way this game was executed was just brilliant. The very simple design yet beautiful artwork and shadowing creates a vibe similar to that of Luigi's Mansion. The thing that really created a creepy vibe for me was the music playing in the background. It just puts you right in the middle of a haunted mansion on a stormy night.

Chew on this! [Miami Shark Review + Guide]

         Nothing gets much more epic than sharks as proven by the Discovery channel's "Shark Week", and the infamous Sharknado. Miami Shark by wiesi brings the heat in this epic journey that takes you straight down the Florida shoreline. Soar through the skies as a total badass shark while bringing down even the biggest aircrafts and racking up tons of points. If you're looking for a funny super action-packed 5 minutes of fun that doesn't involve your significant other, then Miami Shark is the game for you!

          This game went far above any expectations I had for it, that's for sure. All what I wanted was to chill by the 3-ft kiddie pool section but this game dragged me out into the deep end, filled with explosions and destruction-causing sharks. I've actually played this game before, probably around the time when it came out, but I'm happy to see it finally has badges. It's by definitely one of the most epic games on Kongregate and it's totally fun. I found myself replaying it several times just trying to beat the high-score I previously set.

And bring the wine! [Don't be Late Review]

          You ever just meet the most perfect, beautiful girl and then do crazy things just to keep her happy? Well Don't be Late by OnlineZGames takes that to the next level. Rush through each level on a timer in this puzzle game as you collect and dodge various things along the way. You'll be running all over the place for this girl-- but be careful. If you 'happen' to bump into another girl "after work" your girlfriend will dump you for sure! Oh, and try not to show up to her house too wasted. She'll still accept you but we all know she secretly hates you for it but won't say anything.

          It seems like every game I decide to review lately has been a puzzle game, huh? I honestly don't mean to do it intentionally. Hey, wait, why are you busy talking to me- don't you have that date with that pink-haired girl in 30 seconds? Your puzzle solving and reaction speed will be put to the test since each level has a short time limit. After all the booze you drink along the way I don't blame this game for wanting to test your reaction speed, you damn alcoholic.

Reaction Wars [Hyperpath Review]

         Most strategy games, from plain chess to the newest RTS', let you have all the time you want to think your moves out. Even with that, they can be quite hard to play, as people tend to not value that time and do things swiftly, botching their moves up. With limex's Hyperpath, however, the situation's different; you have to think out moves in a split-second, and manage beat the opponent in the process.

         The graphics are well-made, with spaceships, planets and almost everything, really. While most of the game looks quite unrealistic (for example, never in my life did I see a lemon-coloured stripe zig-zagging through any real planet), it still feels like you are battling real armies, and it doesn't bother you at all.

(But how all those planets get arranged like this and survive without a sun is still a mystery.)

          The sounds were not that developed, perhaps thinking about people who'd rather listen to their own tunes. The music is nearly nonexistent (apart from an eerie little sound in the background), but they did care about the sound effects, such as the planes starting up (and the minor voice acting drowning in that), or the planes exploding when ramming into a planet, which, misses the point of "capturing planets" entirely.

The End of the World as We Know It [Earn to Die 2012: Part 2 Review]

          While we're being annoyed at weather getting more apocalyptic by the minute (what with those 200 km/h storms ripping off our rooftops), we don't stop to think that it could be a lot worse. A zombie outbreak-type of worse, more accurately. This situation is what Earn to Die 2012: Part 2 by ToffeeGames tries to replicate... quite inaccurately. By "inaccurate", I of course mean "so unrealistic it looks like it came out of a sci-fi movie", but we'll get back to that later.

   

(But you get to destroy a bridge, so who cares about accuracy?)

          First, let's start with the story. Continuing on from the part 1 of Earn to Die 2012 (which is actually more exciting), we have a hero who has to start with a small car in a zombie-infested world, to reach a spot on the West Coast where an airplane is waiting for him. So, we just have the plot for every single zombiepocalypse movie ever.

          The graphics are one of the high points of this game, and it is obvious that this is perhaps the aspect which had the most thought poured into it. The zombies and the car are well-detailed, complete with a realistic-looking background and rocks on the terrain to complete the feeling of a truly desolate place.

A Wild Game Reviewer Appears!

          Hey, everyone! I'm hamuka, also known as hammy, hamster, and a whole bunch of other nicknames. I'm also lesser known for my small-scale review blog, which died out fairly quickly due to the start of school.

          Today, I'm happy to announce that I got approved as a game reviewer for KCG! I'll try to make the best of this position, and make honest reviews so you guys can play the best games. But of course, I should also tell which categories I'm going to rate in, so without further ado:

          Graphics: (5/5) (Pretty straightforward.)

          Gameplay: (5/5) (This is primarily how grindy, exciting or challenging the game is.)

          Innovation: (5/5) (These points go to the game if it features a very unique concept, and reducted if it's really overused or a sequel with almost no changes.)

          Sound: (5/5) (Don't have to explain this, hopefully.)

          Other: (5/5) (These go for other things not in the first 4 subcategories.)

         

          Overall: (25/25, 5/5) (The sum of all 5 subcategories.)

          Anyway hopefully my reviews will help you to decide which game to play. I'm working on my first review right now, so see you guys soon!

It's Friday!

           That's right folks it's everyone's favorite day of the week and I'm sure you're all looking for some badges to add to your weekend gaming regiment. Well look no further because a batch of new badges were just released today totaling 50 points for you to pick up. The badges include a fairly easy to achieve mix of easy and medium badges- I'm sure you could pick up all of these badges tonight if you went on a gaming spree.

Earn to Die 2012: Part 2

Zombies All Up in My Grill Badge (Medium - 15 pts)
Game completed – This can be done in any number of days. Note that you do not keep your money from a day if you restart it.

Heroes of the Realm

Band of Heroes Badge ( Easy - 5 pts )

10 hero cards

Service to the Realm Badge ( Medium - 15 points )

100 quests completed

Miami Shark

"Baby, You've Got a Stew Going" Badge ( Medium - 15 points )

All flying vehicles destroyed – Must be during a single run! Only flying vehicles (ducks excluded) count. Don't worry about gliders.

( medium - 15 points )100 quests completed

Cherish It [L.I.F.E Review + Guide]

          It's not every day a flash game manages to give me feels like this one did. L.I.F.E. by rustyFruit will give you a whole new perspective on your life as you fall from the sky in this original flash game. The game is an extremely simplified model of the regular course of life. There's five chapters from childhood to old age, each with five different mechanics. The decisions you make in this game ultimately affect how your game ends. You can discover all sorts of endings by replaying this game over again and pick up 24 in-game achievements along the way.

          The amount of thought, design, philosophy, and symbolism in this game is truly mind blowing. Each and every decision you make while playing this game will ultimately affect your final end result. Each play through to the game only takes about 5 minutes, but in those 5 minutes you manage to go through all of the stages of life. Once you're done dodging all sorts of things and falling you will be shown an animation of what you accomplished at the various stages of life as tear-inducing music plays. You'll find that on your first few reps through this game that you'll ultimately become attached to your character and be quite saddened to see him go.

          In terms of game-play and the mechanics of the gameplay, it's not necessarily all something new. You'll discover that several stages of life are very similar game-play wise to other games out there. In terms of the concept as a whole and the way the game was executed, I would certainly call this game unique and an original.

          Aside from the heart-warming story-like sequence to the game, the pixel-art in this game is incredibly well done and suite it well. The animations are smooth, fluent, and follow the story really well. The music was alright to me- it didn't particularly stand out but it doesn't necessarily bother me either. The game also provides a nice sense of accomplishment by providing achievements for completing various feats throughout the game.

Learning to co-exist [Together Review]

          In this unique little puzzle-platformer game you'll need to set aside your differences and work together in order to beat the levels this game's packin'. Together by DiscoFishGame takes you into deep space where you play as seemingly adorable blue and pink cubes. You control the cubes with WASD and the arrow keys, respectively, and you must utilize both of them in order to overcome the obstacles each level presents. Presented with intergalactic music and funky futuristic visuals, Together will take you and your 'other half' on a journey you won't forget.

          So much is done with so little in this minimalist game that it's pretty impressive. The controls are rather simple to grasp the hang of but I guarantee you you'll always have one of those moments where your brain kind of bugs out as you try to control both cubes at once. The game progressively gets more and more challenging until eventually you'll find yourself rushing to beat each level due to rising lava levels from the bottom of the stage. The learning curve is fairly even but I found that the lava speed, at least initially, could have been lowered a bit so allow for players to figure out what's going on.

7 Great Idle Games

          Who doesn't love an entertaining way to do nothing? I know I sure do. One of the basically Kongregate-exclusive game categories is Idle games. Since you need to have a game open to use the chat, these games were originally created as an entertaining way to chat with your friends and still have a game open. A game, that is, that you play by doing nothing.

Kongregate Chat by jmtb02

          It doesn't get much more classic that this. Kongregate Chat is the pioneer game that set the foundation for all idle games to come in the future. This game features falling stars that you can dodge, increasing your score. If you can dodge 100 of these and press submit you'll also earn yourself a nice 5 points along with an easy badge.

Idle 2.: Konquest by Nabb

          Another classic idle game released at the end of 2007. This game will entertain you with chat dialogue as it automatically completes a new quest every 10 seconds or so. The game is also a great size to show a large amount of the chat for those active chat rooms you might be in.

A Knight's Story 2 by Colino

          This retro idle game sequel is one of the most well put-together out there. Select your character class and go on an adventure through various biomes as you level up and gain exp and stats. You also gain gold but there isn't really a use for it in the game.

A Delicious Treat [Find the Candy Review]

        If you're looking for a sweet little game to add to your after-work gaming list, then look no further. Find the Candy by Soulghai combines a hidden object game with a christmas-y design to bring you a delicious little puzzle game just in time for the holiday season. You must interact with various objects in the room in order to find the candy in each level This fairly easy game features 20 levels to consume, each with it's own little candy to gobble up. But let it be known that you must first find the 3 stars on each level before you can go to the next.

          The game itself is fairly easy in comparison to other puzzle games. It's perfect for casual gamers since you can easily complete the game in one sitting, but I think even flash game enthusiasts will be able to appreciate the overall smoothness of design and game-play presented in Find the Candy. Between the artwork and the music you can just smell the cookies baking in the oven.

An Adorable Head-Scratcher [Golden Scarabaeus Review + Guide]

           It's not so often you find a diamond in the rough, or rather, a golden scarab. So there I am right, the middle of new game no-man's-land, and I spot this little guy. Yeah, that's right, that guy right there to the left. The kind of creepy but seemingly cute cube. I was kind of drawn in by the Flash-Cartoon art style and decided to check this game out. Let me just say that if you don't know how to whistle you're going to have a real bad time. This adorable physics puzzle game, Golden Scarabaeus by adgard will have you drawn in with it's head-scratching game-play, catchy music, and cute art-style. Put your puzzle skills to the test in the 28 levels this game has to offer.

          I really enjoy what Golden Scarabaeus brings to the puzzle-physics game table overall. The game-play itself is very relaxing and enjoyable while still providing a new and exciting challenge. You progressively learn new things about the game as you go and each level brings a new challenge. Some levels will need to be thought out ahead of time while others will rely heavily upon your general reaction speed. The way the game-play is introduced is also done quite interestingly- there aren't any written instructions for the game, but rather arrows that indicate what you should be clicking on for the earlier levels. This creates a very fluent and easy to follow learning curve as the game progresses.

Daily Dose of 8-bit Music

        You don't have to be a virtuoso to be able to appreciate music. In fact, as a gamer, I find that I can appreciate a good ole' 8-bit tune more than most today's music. Kongregate user uzzbuzz, a well know member of the 'Arts' forum section, has been creating 8-bit for over two years now. The impressive thing about his channel is that he comes out with a new remix every single day and has maintained that for most of his channel's existence. Uzzbuzz's Youtube channel has nearly 2,000 subscribers now with most of his videos having several thousand views each. His most popular remix, "Move Your Feet - Junior Senior - 8bit" has 82,000 views to date. I managed to get in contact with uzzbuzz and get his input on the success his remix YouTube channel has brought him.

    Click here to check out uzzbuzz's YouTube channel, 8BitUzz

          Hokage4354: Tell me a little bit about yourself, how you got the idea for the 8-bit song per day, and if you thought the channel was going to grow as much as it has?

          uzzbuzz: So it started a few years ago, I don’t think I ever had heard of remixing songs to become 8bit before that, but I always loved the classic sounds of the retro library. I remember some of the first songs I did were Crazy Train by Ozzy, and Snow by RHCP. These were put on the kong collabs and got fairly mixed responses. I believe it

Gotta' burst your bubble [Bloons Super Monkey 2 Review]

          The only thing super about NinjaKiwi's sequel to Bloons Super Monkey is the amount of money they try to milk out of you, am I right? While the game might try to impress you with it's beautiful cartoon-like graphics and excellent animations, don't let that fool you. Once you get past the main menu you'll find that you'll be glued to your chair for a repetitive grind-fest gaming experience. Do as I'm doing-- Get your badges, and run! Run as fast as you can and don't look back. With a rating of 3.3 and slowly declining, Bloons Super Monkey 2 is one of the lowest rated games that still had badges.

          The second you start playing this game you'll see exactly why it has the rating it does. The gameplay is very similar to the iconic arcade game Galaga, but with a Bloons twist on it. As you pop bloons you earn coins which you can use to purchase upgrades to aid you along your quest. The only problem? Coins are earned at a painfully slow rate, upgrades are extremely over priced, and uhhh-- Oh yeah, but you can buy more coins! There's a button to buy more coins with cash on just about every screen in this game, and if you try to buy something you're a few coins short of buying it'll take you directly to the buy more coins screen. Did I mention you can pay money for more coins?

SteamBirds Walkthrough

 

       "Giving the Gears Badge" is today's badge of the day but this is a great opportunity for you to get the other badges in this exciting skybound game if you haven't already. Here are videos that explain how to beat each level in this game and achieve 4 stars. Please note that these videos are quite lengthy, so grab a seat and get comfortable!

Click here to play SteamBirds

Levels 1-7

Steampunk Tower Guide

Click here to play Steampunk Tower

Steampunk Tower Guide
List of Skill Upgrades in Steampunk Tower
Tower Upgrades
Economy - + $1000 at the beginning. Cost: 2 Stars
Reloading Speed - 20% less time reloading cannons. Cost: 2 Stars
Soldiers Training - 10% more exp. for cannons. Cost: 2 Stars
Rebels Funding - 10% more money from enemies. Cost: 4 Stars
"The Eye" - 20% less recharge time of "Eye" Cost: 4 Stars

Machinegun Upgrades
Ballistics - + 10 Firing range. Cost: 1 Star
Steel Heart - + 2% Chance of Critical hit. Cost: 2 Stars
Fire Heart - + 3% Chance of fire-setting. Cost: 3 Stars
New Bullets - + 20% Damage. Cost: 4 Stars
Max. Firing Speed - + 20% Firing Speed. Cost: 4 Stars

Strand Levels 15-30 Guide

          Here's a quick guide on how to beat the more difficult levels in Strand and pick yourself up a hard badge along with 30 points.

Click here to play Strand on Kongregate.

Possible Re-Launch

          Hey ya'll! I know some of you may feel like you're seeing a ghost right now considering how long it's been since I was last active on Kongregate. I had stopped by the site a little over a week ago and browsed around the forums, latest games, etc. and I'm not really sure why, but something told me I should come back to the site. I really haven't been an active flash gamer for quite some time and I thought it would be a fun experience. I've been back for a week or so now and I'm considering relaunching Kongregate Collective Guides!

          A lot has changed on Kongregate since I was last active, but I'm glad I'm still seeing some familiar faces around. It's all so rather nostalgic to be completely honest. I can also see that Blogspot has changed a ton since the last time I've been on here. It looks like they did a complete overhaul to the entire site as a whole along with the blogger interface, so I'll have to get used to it.

          I'm still kind of on the fence about relaunching KCG though- mainly because I'm not sure if a Kongregate blog would be as popular these days as it was when I was around. That's why I'm looking to hear what you guys have to say about it. Stop by this forum thread and share your input on the situation, I'd really appreciate it. In the mean time I might post a guide, or a few guides, just to get a feel for how many people still visit the site. I'll definitely let you guys know what I decide to do within a reasonable amount of time. Well, I mean, I supposed if you come to check the blog one day and it looks like it had a complete overhaul you'll know the answer to that.

Please check out the thread, and thanks for reading!
Brandon "Hokage4354" Lugo