Review: Buggle
February 18th, 2008, 4:03 pm
URL: Buggle
Minimum requirements: Flash
Genre: Ummm...
Gameplay: Online only
Membership: Free; paid upgrades allegedly available
Find me in game: Renegade
I hate Buggle. Unless I'm winning, and then I love it. For such a simple concept, the game is surprisingly addictive, not to mention frustrating. Because Buggle is really all about predicting your opponents' move, not about how fast or accurately you can click the mouse.
The setup is simple enough. Lots of little squeaky things float around the screen, then stop. Everyone then places a marker in their colour on the screen The idea is to place your marker somewhere where it will catch the most buggles. This happens twice per round, for 10 rounds. The second play in each round is the one that gets you the points, meaning that that's the time to steal buggles from your opponents. Sound easy? It isn't. The skill of the game isn't about working out which Buggles your marker will catch, it's about understanding that the other players are all trying to do the same thing as you. Do you cut off someone's chain at the start, and risk being blocked, or put your marker further up the chain where it won't catch so many buggles? Do you protect your own chain from the first play, or attack higher scoring players to stop them pulling away? Do you try to steal a huge chain from the lowest scoring player, or will everyone else also be attempting that? Buggle is definitely about reading your opponents.
With that said, reading your opponents, online, over such a short game, isn't exactly easy. I found it more entertaining playing with people I already know fairly well. But then I do say that about a lot of games.
The main criticism I have of Buggle is the limited options in terms of game size. A helpful link when starting a game promises bigger games for upgraded (paid) accounts, but this actually isn't true. I'd have liked to see bigger games, maybe with a bigger playing area and more buggles as well.
In conclusion, Buggle is definitely recommended. Grab a couple of friends and play it if you haven't already tried it.
Minimum requirements: Flash
Genre: Ummm...
Gameplay: Online only
Membership: Free; paid upgrades allegedly available
Find me in game: Renegade
I hate Buggle. Unless I'm winning, and then I love it. For such a simple concept, the game is surprisingly addictive, not to mention frustrating. Because Buggle is really all about predicting your opponents' move, not about how fast or accurately you can click the mouse.
The setup is simple enough. Lots of little squeaky things float around the screen, then stop. Everyone then places a marker in their colour on the screen The idea is to place your marker somewhere where it will catch the most buggles. This happens twice per round, for 10 rounds. The second play in each round is the one that gets you the points, meaning that that's the time to steal buggles from your opponents. Sound easy? It isn't. The skill of the game isn't about working out which Buggles your marker will catch, it's about understanding that the other players are all trying to do the same thing as you. Do you cut off someone's chain at the start, and risk being blocked, or put your marker further up the chain where it won't catch so many buggles? Do you protect your own chain from the first play, or attack higher scoring players to stop them pulling away? Do you try to steal a huge chain from the lowest scoring player, or will everyone else also be attempting that? Buggle is definitely about reading your opponents.
With that said, reading your opponents, online, over such a short game, isn't exactly easy. I found it more entertaining playing with people I already know fairly well. But then I do say that about a lot of games.
The main criticism I have of Buggle is the limited options in terms of game size. A helpful link when starting a game promises bigger games for upgraded (paid) accounts, but this actually isn't true. I'd have liked to see bigger games, maybe with a bigger playing area and more buggles as well.
In conclusion, Buggle is definitely recommended. Grab a couple of friends and play it if you haven't already tried it.
Anyway, if anybody wants to play me on there, I'm Darkdays
Serrefine
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