Described as “the last game without MMORPG features, shaders and product placement”, Hamlet is a new game from Alawar.  Developed by MIF2000, this version of Hamlet takes Shakespeare’s dramatic tale of murder and betrayal as the basis for a cartoon game that consists of a constant stream of puzzle presented in a retro style that need to be solved in order to make progress to the next scene.

In the game of Settlement: Colossus you take on the role of a 300 year old emperor who was once honoured by the Gods and who ruled his people wisely.  However events turned against him and he lost his true love as his kingdom was laid to ruin by his enemies.  He was forced to lead his loyal band of followers in a search for a new homeland.  After many years of fruitless searching, a ripe, uninhabited location was discovered.

Developed by Artifax Mundi and published by Alawar, Joan Jade and the Gates of Xibalba mixes together elements of hidden object game play and puzzle solving.  This game places you in the role of Joan Jade who is described as the archaeologist of the year and mother extraordinaire.  From this you should be able to gather than the game involves some ancient ruins and problems affecting the younger members of the family.

Not to be confused with a singer/songwriter who had several hit records many years ago (Google his name for more details), Anka is a point and click adventure that revolves around the activities of a young boy named Anka.  The game’s opening sequence introduces you to Anka and his mother who, I must state, looks more like an older sister.

It is common knowledge that the unsinkable Titanic failed to live up to its reputation and sank in 1912 with a loss of life that included 1500 passengers.  However you will not be aware, in order to celebrate the 100 anniversary of this horrific event, a replica of the original luxury vessel will be launched ready to undertake and complete the route that the Titanic was meant to take and you will be one of the passengers on this anniversary voyage.

Played in a choice of Easy, Normal or Hard mode, you Heroes of Hellas 2 involves dragging your mouse cursor over tiles of the same colour to create chains of three or more tiles.  Specific targets are set for each grid of tiles.  You might need to collect all the precious and semi-precious gems; clear away golden areas; or remove a certain number of tiles within a specified time limit.

The Treasures of Montezuma 2 has taken over two years to appear following the original title (just subtract the “2”).  Possibly one reason for this delay is down to the fact that many users found the difficulty level of The Treasures of Montezuma rose rather rapidly, to such an extent it put them off persevering with the game.  I must admit that I fell into this category.

Following an animated comic book style opening sequence, the Mystery of Hillcrest High opens with Natalie receiving a letter from her old school friend, Chad.  It is the contents of the letter which sets Natalie on the trail of this latest adventure that involves the infamous Black Cat Gang and their attempt to commit the crime of the century.

There is no prize for guessing the thinking behind the decision to call the main character of this next title, Alabama Smith.  After all this character is a professor at a university who has a strong interest in ancient artefacts.  Like the other fellow, who shall remain nameless, Alabama Smith is always up for a challenge and laughs at danger.  You can join him as he sets out to complete the Alawar developed game entitled The Quest of Fate.

Recently my nightly slumbers have been interrupted on a number of occasions by shrieking sounds.  It didn’t take me too long to discover that the sounds were coming from a family of urban foxes as they explored the local rubbish bins.  Maybe the developers of this next title encountered a similar state of affairs thus giving them the idea of the trouble that two inquisitive fox cubs could get up to without too much effort.

Many years ago I had my first encounter with the game of Breakout which required you to destroy rows of bricks using a ball and a paddle.  Little did I think then that this game format would survive and evolve over a period in excess of twenty years.  Since those early implementations, the game has changed out of all recognition as multiple balls, power-ups, bonuses and all-manner of theme-based environments now appear as standard offerings.