November 3, 2007 by randwacker
Before my recent trip to India I wanted to pick up some entertainment for the plane. So in addition to four laptop batteries and a Magsafe adapter for the plane I picked up a few games. I don’t play a ton of computer games, but can definitely be engrossed under the right circumstances. Being stuck in transit for 36 hours is one of those circumstances. Oh yeah, I’m on a Mac, so gaming selections can be somewhat limited.
I ordered a copy of Homeworld 2, knowing that Homeworld was considered one of the best games of the decade by friends of mine (the original was not available on OSX). Unfortunately, something went wrong on the installation during my flight so I couldn’t get it to work. Maybe I’ll return this one…
The really good find was a few titles from Ambrosia Software. They make/port small titles for the Mac, and focus on “medium-sized” games. By medium-size I generally mean something that’s more involved than a simple shoot-em-up but that I can still learn and play a couple of rounds on on a plane flight. In particular, I found DEFCON and SketchFighter to be a blast.
DEFCON is great if you grew up in the 80s and love “War Games”. A strategic role playing game where essentially, “Everyone Dies”. The graphics in particular are fantastic and is sure to draw strange looks from your neighbors on any plane.
SketchFighter is on the smaller arcade-style for a game, but the concept and the graphics are great so its just simply fun to play.
Two other games they had that looked fun included EV Nova (sci-fi role playing I imagine to be like Homeworld…but I guess I can’t compare), and Darwinia (which I really couldn’t figure out).
If you’re looking for some quick entertainment for your Mac check out Ambrosia, its always good to support smaller publishers.