The Pensieve

When I had attended a course for GW BASIC. I already had a computer at home, and it was called the ZX Spectrum with, wait for it, 48k memory. Before formally learning the BASIC, I had restricted myself to a few prints and beeps and meticulously typing out program listings off computer books which eventually resulted in a star walled winding road with a car in the middle. The beeps always allowed you to specify the frequency and duration to compose a simple tune of your own. The I/O was innovative with the ability to use standard audio cassette tapes to record your programs and load it back. Hmmm. The good old sequential storage medium. And mostly, I was using it for playing games. There was one called DLAN, a space simulator which I had spent countless hours trying to save the Earth and solar system from menacing alien fighters which featured a 3D environment along with a full solar system map, portholes and docking to a planet to refuel and carry out simple maintenance activities. La...

ScummVM Been always for the lookout for good games to play on my cellphone on those days where you do not have anything else to do, but had always ended up with sub-par free games or those that require you to cough up dough out of your wallet. The other day, when I was checking out my long used collection of games, I stumbled upon a few LucasArts DOS based games. Looking up the internet, I found ScummVM, a virtual machine capable of playing LucasArts games which has been ported to almost all different types of OSes like Linux, Windows, Symbian OS etc. So, I had been able to download and install ScummVM and a couple of free games. You eventually get a mouse pointer which you can control using the directional keys to perform various in-game actions. Though a little cumbersome, if you have time to wile away, ScummVM is work a try. Free games to try are: Beneath the Steel Sky The flight of the Amazon Queen

Battle of Wesnoth Been on the lookout for a free turn based strategy game and chanced upon the Battle of Wesnoth . Despite it being an open source game (meaning, you get the source), it was incredibly polished akin to any of the other turn based strategy game (Alpha Centauri), be it the background score or the graphics or the tutorials. The game itself is set in a period similar to the D&D or nethack era. For the film buffs, if you have read or seen the Lord of the Rings, you would probably be able to relate to the clans that populate the game world. The game play, as with any turn based strategy game requires background information on each of the units that you own, their strengths and weaknesses and a lot of planning (a kin to chess, but with a lot more parameters) where factors like day - night cycles are taken into account (e.g, humans fight well during the day, but the orcs are better during the night). It is encouraged to keep your older units as they gain experience and beco...

Space sims / shooters and true 3D Recently, I had a craving for space sims and shooters and a tendency to blast off a few aliens. As the system I own is no gaming rig, I look for older games that are cheaper or requirements and on the purse as well. Nowadays, most publishers are keener in releasing games that fall into the FPS or MMORPG categories. After rummaging through the bargain bins at Landmark, I acquired Freelancer , a space shooter from Microsoft. You play a freelancer who takes odd jobs, make money so that you can retrofit your ship or weapons. One key differentiator of Freelancer is its open-endedness. Though the game features a central theme and a plot, the player is free to do whatever he / she chooses, like accepting odd jobs that are randomly generated, thus enhancing the playability. An oddity of Freelancer and most space shooters are, though the action takes place in deep space, all items and objects of interest are located in the same plane. Compare t...