-- Winda Benedetti";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","‘Planet Puzzle League’","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/PlanetPuzzleLeague.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Nintendo", "272", "408", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
‘Planet Puzzle League’
\"Tetris\" was not only a ground breaking and massively influential game, it was utterly addictive and incredibly fun to play. With “Planet Puzzle League,” Nintendo hasn’t so much created yet another “Tetris” knock off as it has made that granddaddy game proud.
Here you turn the DS on its side and hold it like a book. And there on the screen, a stack of blocks rise ever upward. You must line up three or more blocks of the same color either vertically or horizontally to make the blocks disappear. If your stack hits the top, it’s game over.
Not only does “Planet Puzzle League” boast clean, sleek graphics and touch-controls that are wonderfully intuitive to use, the game is absolutely packed with a variety of both single-player and multi-player modes. That makes this one winning puzzle package.";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","‘Picross’","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/PicrossScreen1.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Nintendo", "273", "182", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
‘Picross’
Easy to learn but hard to master, Nintendo’s \"Picross\" feels like the cousin game to Sudoku. Here, you use number hints on the outside of a grid to figure out which squares to fill in inside the grid. Fill in the squares properly and a picture is revealed – a cat, some cherries, a flower.
The easier puzzles are only five squares by five squares. But the difficulty really ramps up by the time you’re tackling the 15 by 15 grids. This exceptional brainteaser makes the most of the DS' touch screen. But what makes this game espeically unique is the way it helps you create your own \"Picross\" picture puzzles to trade with other players.";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","‘Nervous Brickdown’","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/NervousBrickdownScreen.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Secret Stash Games", "273", "184", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
'Nervous Brickdown'
Quirky, whimsical and totally absorbing, \"Nervous Brickdown\" from Secret Stash Games offers the coolest, most creative twist on \"Breakout\" – the classic arcade ball bouncer – we’ve ever seen.
Like \"Breakout,\" \"Brickdown\" has the player swing a paddle across the screen, bouncing a digital ball into \"bricks,\" knocking them out one at a time. But here, the same game finds itself not only remade in a variety of unusual ways but specifically tailored for the Nintendo DS.
In Paper Mode, you use the touch screen to draw your own paddle and the “bricks” are ink splotches that have to be knocked out of the way. In Ghost Mode you use the DS’ microphone to literally blow away poltergeists. In Water Mode you must catch stick men before they drown and kill sharks by tapping the touch-screen.
Meanwhile, the music bouncing along in the background is cute, quirky and – like the game itself – something you won’t be able to get out of your head. ";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","‘Prism: Light the Way’","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/Prism.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Eidos Interactive", "273", "182", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
‘Prism: Light the Way’
You’ll have to fire up the brain cells for this one, because you'll be bending your noggin as you're bending light in this charming and unusual puzzler from Eidos Interactive.
Here you’re tasked with guiding a beam of light to the various space critters that need the light to survive. To do that, you'll have to figure out where to place reflective mirrors, light splitters and prisms to bend and divide the light so it reaches all the hungry creatures that need it.
The game (playable on the DS, PC and mobile phones) does a good job carefully increasing the difficulty of the puzzles (there's more than 120) as you progress. Ultimately, “Light the Way” is an absorbing brain teaser with the kind of music and sound-design flourishes that make you want to keep playing. ";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","‘Peggle’","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/PeggleScreen1.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "PopCap Games", "273", "364", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
'Peggle'
PopCap Games scored a big hit this year when it took pachinko, so popular in Japan, and crossed it with pinball and a bit of billiards. Here, players try to conquer various levels by firing silver balls into a maze of multicolored pegs. The goal: Hit the orange pegs and clear them away before you run out of balls.
Though it sounds simple enough, the player must master the art of predicting ricochets in order to clear all of the pegs in each increasingly difficult level.
With its polished production values, excellent sound design and truly unique concept, “Peggle” is a highly addictive gem that will suck you right in.";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","'WarioWare: Smooth Moves'","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/WarioWare.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Nintendo", "273", "374", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
'WarioWare: Smooth Moves'
Nintendo has developed a game perfectly suited for our restless minds. Like the previous \"WarioWare\" titles, this newest installment is a compilation of 200-plus \"microgames\" – that is, games that start and finish within a matter of seconds.
Given a few quick clues, the player has but a flash to figure out what task they're supposed to do and to execute it properly before moving on to the next game.
But this time around, \"Smooth Moves\" brings the microgame madness to Nintendo's Wii and, in doing so, puts the Wii's motion-sensitive Remote controller to hilarious use. Here you'll be schooled in different “forms” – that is, ways to wield the Remote. The Elephant form will have you holding it to your nose and swinging it about. The Chauffeur will have you turning it like a steering wheel.
This is madcap, silly fun. And although each game lasts only a few seconds, \"SmoothMoves\" provides the kind of addictive amusement that will have you playing for hours.";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","‘Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree’","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/BigBrainAcademyWiiDegree.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "Nintendo", "235", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
‘Big Brain Academy: Wii Degree’
Nintendo’s \"Big Brain Academy\" for the DS was the more fanciful brother to the company’s hit brain-training game \"Brain Age.\" And now, with \"Wii Degree,\" the game has been excellently recreated for Nintendo's Wii console.
Here, the Wii's motion-sensitive controller becomes the perfect tool for taking quizzes and conquering puzzles that (allegedly) measure the weight of your brain in five categories: identify, memorize, analyze, compute and visualize. Aim the controller at the screen and pop numbered balloons from lowest to highest. Use the controller like a flashlight as you try to count a crowd of animals.
“Big Brain Academy” really shines when used as a party game. You can find out how your brain stacks up against friends and family in one of “Wii Degree’s” three multiplayer modes. ";
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i++] = new Array("","Honorable mentions","","http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/j/msnbc/Components/Photo_StoryLevel/071109/Brill_BestCasualGames/PuzzleQuest.hmedium.jpg","","", "", "", "", "", "", "", "D3 Publisher", "240", "423", "#000000", "", "", "", "");
games_Bestof2007_CasualGames[i-1].body = "
Honorable mentions
This year really was a banner year for casual games, so much so that we had a hard time keeping our list short. Here are a few titles that deserve, at the very least, an honorable mention.
Role-playing game fans and puzzle fans both will find something to enjoy in the excellent “Puzzle Quest: Challenge of the Warlords,” playable on Sony’s handheld PSP as well as the DS, Xbox Live Arcade and the PC.Meanwhile, wordsmiths will love the way their favorite newspaper crosswords have been brought to digital life in “New York Times Crosswords” for the Nintendo DS. And “Brain Age 2: More Training in Minutes a Day” for the DS is a solid follow-up to the blockbuster game that kicked off the brain-training craze.
Vote: Which of our picks is the best of the bunch?
Tell us: What do you think of our picks?
";
// END editorial data