Yep, a bridge building games sounds kinda stupid, but this one is kinda fun.

I love the way the newly built bridges sag and bounce as you go into the test zone and it assumes its proper weight and stress points. I've sent the train over and seen where one or two structural elements collapse but the bridge remains standing and the train makes it.

I suppose that's cheating for you grognard bridge builders, but I just downloaded it to have fun. heh.

Click on the download link. Despite the site, the game is in English (although you don't need to read much to know what to do).

If you want an english version, the official site is down (http://bridgebuilder.8m.com/), but the unofficial homepage is still up: http://www.bridgebuilder-game.com/. It has additional levels, too.

Half the fun is building the cheapest bridge possible, that either collapses behind the train or barely holds up.

I played this one a while back. It is definitely a time sink, at least for the levels in the demo version.

-- Xaroc

Good stuff, Supertanker! Thanks for the link. I agree completely that the fun is in making a bridge that collapses as soon as the train crosses.

Bridge Builder rocks. But if you want some free crack, go to www.popcap.com and download Bejeweled. There's a web version and a download version with prettier graphics and better sound. Don't bother with the wussy non-timed game.

But don't say I didn't warn you. It CAN and WILL consume your life.

I grabbed Bejeweled for the Palm Pilot just a few days ago. Crack on the go. ;)

-- Xaroc

Heh... oh yeah. Interesting note: Astraware is working on converting the rest of the PopCap Java games over to the Palm OS. They already have Palm versions of The Mummy and Alchemy on sale.

PopCap makes some kickass games, and every single one of them would (will!) make a great Palm game.


-Ben

If you guys haven't tried it yet, I think Atomica at the Zone is even better than Bejeweled. There's less randomness to the game since you often get the big points in Bejeweled from the right pieces dropping at the right time.

In Atomica, you can set up your combos for maximum effect and still have a bit of randomness to deal with in the appearance of new atoms.

Try it!

--Dave

Bejeweled is very nice, but, except for improved graphics, it's exactly the same game as OMM's 2000 Award for Techincial Excellence winner, Pro Crate 3000. And, of course, Bejeweled lacks the Martin Van Buren bonus and Roberta Williams telling you that you lose.

Actually, the same fellow that wrote Pro Crate wrote Bejeweled as well methinks...

--Dave

Yeah, thanks a lot for talking about Bejeweled, guys. I had to go and download it...

Yeah, I really needed one more excuse to keep me from working! Thanks a whole heck of a lot!

I hope you've all seen this Penny Arcade strip:
http://www.penny-arcade.com/view.php3?date=2001-01-08

Bejeweled has bedeviled the CGW staff as well. Robert got a build of the downloadable Windows version from Jason Kapalka (one of our freelancers and big guy at PopCap, apparently) back in E3, and it soon infected the entire staff.

-Thierry

It reminds me a lot of Lose Your Marbles, which was in the Windows 98 Plus! pack. Did you guys ever play that? So simple, and yet so addictive. They're definitely in the same vein. (If you like one, you'll probably like the other.)

Atomica is pretty cool, but I find that it gets incredibly difficult in timed mode. Maybe it's just me...