Candies!

Randy posted a link to a web game on Facebook last week with the warning: "Those of you who are vulnerable to getting sucked into random games may not want to click this link, but here it is in case you're feeling brave:" An evil warning, that one. Maybe some people could turn away, but I see it more as a taunt than a warning. I'm not a coward!

The game turned out to be an interesting game harking back to the old days of BBS door games. It has similarities to Facebook games I despise in that the actions you can take are time limited. It isn't nearly as annoying in this game since there's no way to spend money to bypass an artificial time gate. A game with timing and pacing set by the developer with the only goal being to set pacing is actually just fine by me. Odd as it may sound to most people I actually liked the idea of having to wait for a boat in Final Fantasy XI or World of Warcraft. The ability to just teleport straight to more action is appealing to many people but I liked the way it was. The reason Facebook games frustrate me to no end is they put in artificial gates not for timing, or pacing, or realism but for annoyance. They want you to pay them money and they can't think of a way to make you pay them money except by threatening to annoy you if you don't. Me, I just don't play those games anymore.

At any rate, Candy Box is actually a pretty reasonable game. There are relevant decisions to make, puzzles to figure out, and tricky combat scenes to work through. Just like the good BBS door games of old. The combat is a little too fast for me (I think I must be getting old) so I don't know that I'm going to actually finish the game, but it is certainly worth checking out if you like seeing numbers go up, or if you like candy!