for the last few weeks I've been absorbed in Zuma, and am proud to say I've made it most of the way through level 12. So of course, just as the end is in sight, my mother-in-law, that insidious purveyor of casual games, shows up with another: Chuzzle, which is like a furry version of bejeweled. She hands me the disk and says, "This is kind of cute, but if you don't like it that's okay (heh heh)..."

I look at it and think, don't know if it really appeals to me. Then my husband loaded it on his laptop. Then I played a few rounds. Then I loaded it on my computer. And spent almost the entire day yesterday making little furry balls explode to the irritating tones of disco music. How can a game be so annoying and so addictive at the same time? I told my husband it was kind of like squishing gerbils: oddly gratifying, but you don't want to admit to anyone that you enjoy it.

Well, I hear the chuzzles calling me....I cannot resist their siren song....

WW

Hi WW

What's come over you ?? Squishing innocent little furry balls ??

If you leave the cursor on one chuzzle for a few seconds, they will make an angry face and move the cursor.

It's a fun game. I started my mother and sister on it.

By the way, do you know that there is a level 13 in Zuma?

Oh yeah, those chuzzles make all kinds of sounds. try right clicking on one of the really big ones.

I'm trying to figure out if there's any rhyme or reason to the appearance of locks, or if it's just random.

I didn't know that about Zuma...I've made it as far as 12-7 but that one keeps defeating me, even if I have 6 or 7 lives stacked up....

I have so many casual games on my desktop right now that I think they need their own folder...

WW

Oh dear, WW, what have you done? I downloaded this a couple of days ago and I'm now a shadow of the man I used to be. Heck, I'm even seeing Chuzzles in my SLEEP

tee hee, you should have heeded my warning in your Zuma thread...

But it looks really nice when you get trophies in yoru cabinet...

Tig

I haven't had a new trophy in a long time . Nor do I seem to be able to get past level ten as of yet. My personal goal right now is to get that far w/out using a scramble, but they always seem to hit me with the need for one about level seven....ah well. Something to fill the empty hours when my brain is too far gone for a real adventure...



WW

I have vowed not to buy these two games until I finish Luxor, but the very last level keeps defeating me, and I'm starting to weaken.

oh, Lady K, you need to have more than one casual game at a time! So you can take a break and do something different instead of beating your head against a wall. Also, it makes things a little more challenging when you switch around--I went back to Zuma last night and hadn't quite lost my touch, but wasn't doing as well as usual...

I may need to take a break from Chuzzle, though, because when I picked up my book last night the lines on the page appeared to be going back and forth...

WW

Wysewoman, can I adopt your MIL, please? She has a great taste in addictive games. Have you tried Jewel Quest - it starts off sweetly then turns EVIL !

And Dynasty! Very addictive and more challenging then Luxor!

Boy, you guys are good! I've only gotten to about level 7 or 8 with Zuma, before all my frogs die.

I tried a demo of Luxor, but I'm waiting for a $9.99 version to show up in the stores before I buy the complete game. But they sure are addictive, aren't they?

Winston, I have had a few 'real' Chuzzles, the last one my Mum gave me which was from an electricity company!!

I'm stuck on level 7 mindbender, and haven't got past level 8 on speed, expert.

Replaying Zuma also, Its a great way to get rid of frustrations at the end of a hard days work!!!

Oh and then you get an email link to THIS Offer....

Well, I already have a lot of those games...

Last night SHE came in and handed me a copy of Complete Scrabble!! Arrrgggghhh!

WW

Well, I visited Game House this morning and bought Zuma, Super Game House Solitaire, Scrabble, and Bejeweled 2 for Mac OS X. You're a bad influence on me, WW, especially since I already have Scrabble and another version of solitaire on this machine. Granted these new versions are easier to access because I don't have to reboot to get to the OS 9 partition, but I did get a bit carried away playing them for most of today.

Excuse me now, I think I hear a frog calling.

Hee Hee! Lady K gives in to peer pressure...

Question for Tigger, who seems to be the expert on these games... In the Chuzzle trophy room, there's a space for a trophy you can get for completing a game without "making any bad moves." But I don't have any idea what constitutes a bad move! Do you??

I gave a try to the mindbender part and to speed Chuzzle and I'm hopeless at both of them. I can't even solve the first mindbender!

WW

I haven't a clue WW, I got it by accident... on my old puter and so far haven't got it on this one!! Mindbender reminds me of slider puzzles, similar rules. Just see what will be affected if you move yellow into greens position etc I'm failing at saving all big chuzzles as the game always seems to send down chuzzles which will explode them whether I want to or not!!

WW, I've done a little sleuthing because I was a little curious myself... apparently a bad move is when you slide a row or column of chuzzles and because you get no matches it rolls back to its original position.

Bleh! That's a really clumsy definition but I hope you get what I mean. And according to the developer who posted on the forum I read this on, you have to complete at least one full level flawlessly to get the trophy. Read more here if you're interested.

Oh man, Zuma.......Arggghhhhh. I'm still stuck on level 8. Keep going back to the beginning and have managed to accummulate 7 frogs but then.....bam, I'm shot down.

Chuzzle is really fun. I don't know what level I am at on mindbender. I gotta go back to it.

Bets

Thanks Winston!

But that sounds really...uh...dumb! Sometimes I slide to a match and if they're not positioned JUST RIGHT the darn little squeakers don't like it and slide back. And there have been LOTS of levels I've completed without that happening...

Oh well. Mysterious little creatures, aren't they?


WW

Well, I've made it up to level 5 in Zuma and managed to get 21,000 something in Bejeweled 2. I think I need to take a break and go play an adventure game, but these are really lots of fun.

I got my Flawless trophy My strategy was to play Speed Chuzzle, complete the first two levels without any bad moves (thereby getting Speed Freak too) and then let the game play out on the next level. Still working on my Puzzler trophy: apparently there's a secret playing mode that can be unlocked when you have Triple Combo, Brainiac, Puzzler, Ten Grand and 7-At-Once

I guess my brain has recovered, because I played all the way through level 4 of mindbender last night. Does it seem to anyone else that the first puzzle they give you in a level is always the hardest???

I am hopeless at speed Chuzzle. And I think the Zen Chuzzle is just boring...

Lady K, I'm impressed! Up to level 5 in one sitting! That took me a while. I hate the Zuma levels where you have balls coming at you from 2 directions at once. Especially "Mirror Serpent." Yuck!

WW

Egads WW, is that what I have to look forward to in Zuma. I just got knocked down again in level 8-4. Had 6 frogs too. I just can't seem to get past that one.

Bets

It took me a LONG time to get past that level, and my hubby even longer--he just made it to level nine in the past few days. We called it "The Mouth of !&^%#@%$^ (unfit word for this board)." But once you get past, the rest of level 8 isn't too bad.

As I said, the level I absolutely hate is 9-5. And 9-7 isn't a piece of cake, either.

WW