Linux Format - UK (2019-12)

http://www.techradar.com/pro/linux December 2019 LXF257 85

Games HOTPICKS

ANAGRAM GAME

ARCADE GAME

In Lunar Lander,

electrified balls are

no less dangerous

than other

obstacles.

ould you dare to land a spacecraft on the

Moon’s surface? It’s time for another lunar

odyssey where accuracy and precision means

survival. Lunar Lander is a small retro-style platformer

game where you control a rocket. The goal is to safely

land the rocket on the specially equipped pad, which is

a tricky task since the vehicle behaves very trickily.

The Moon has almost no atmosphere and sports

much smaller gravity than what we have on Earth, and

it seems like Lunar Lander, despite its simplicity,

beautifully renders that feeling. Once the game has

started, you need to control the rocket using the arrow

keys. It takes some time to get used to it and learn how

to control the vehicle’s momentum.

Before you’re able to land you need to find and pick

up a coloured key that looks like a doughnut. Avoid

every object – even the slightest touch of a rock makes

your vehicle crash! Once you have the key, approach the

he best way to find out what a tufted titmouse

is, and discover many other new words and

terms, is to play a word puzzle. Connectagram

is a wonderful brain-trainer and a window into the world

of self-education where you can learn lots of new

scientific, odd and otherwise seldom-used words.

This simple game is very entertaining and in no way

monotonous, even if it looks so after glancing at the

screenshot. Starting a new game in Connectagram

brings up the settings dialogue, which lets you choose a

language, amount of words and word length. The more

words you have and the longer they are, the more time

you need to unscramble them and solve the puzzle,

which in some sense resembles the ever-popular

Minesweeper. The maximum length of a word varies

among languages, but is something like 20 characters,

which boosts the difficulty of the game up to ‘Diehard’.

Whatever word settings you fancy, it’s only possible

to play Connectagram if you know at least one of its

four languages. Unscrambling is performed by dragging

letters and changing their positions. When the word is

T

W

Connectagram

correct, it turns green. Keep on unscrambling the rest

and try to complete the level as fast as you can and

reach a good position in the high-scores table.

Cheating is hampered by the smart ‘Pause’ mode

that turns all unsolved words into? signs and

suspends the timer. Very long words look very

unrealistic, but they do exist, and once you click a

green (solved) word, a proper Wiktionary article with

the word’s definition emerges in a separate window.

The badge above the main game field shows the

elapsed time, but there are also two buttons next to it.

The right one is Hint; press it in moments of

desperation to get help. The left one reveals another

window, with definitions of solved words. A good

practice is to start unscrambling with short words

and gradually raise the length.

Version: 1.2.10

Web: https://github.com/gottcode/connectagram

Lunar

Lander

landing pad and land softly on it: a hard landing, even

within the pad, equals crashing. Of course lots of

engine micro-moves are required for precise landing,

just like in real moon expeditions.

The first level is somewhat basic, but things get

tougher in the next levels. More and more obstacles

appear – extra rocks, moving spiky balls and enemy

missiles all try to make your rocket collapse. Also,

playing a harder level requires you to collect more

than one doughnut. Mind the fuel indicator in the top-

right corner and don’t hang around for too long.

Lunar Lander is an SDL-based game with very

fluid physics and low system requirements. Despite

the latter, it features very nice terrain textures,

pleasing sounds and a good selection of levels.

Version: 0.7.2

Web: http://www.doof.me.uk/lunar-lander

Fixing short words

is a piece of cake,

but it’s only getting

warmed up.

DDDecmbr 202 eb198P 18apwok December 2019 LXF257 85

Games HOTPICKS

ANAGRAMGAME

ARCADEGAME

In Lunar Lander,

electrified balls are

no less dangerous

than other

obstacles.

ouldyoudaretolandaspacecraftonthe

Moon’ssurface?It’stimeforanotherlunar

odysseywhereaccuracyandprecisionmeans

survival.LunarLanderisasmallretro-styleplatformer

gamewhereyoucontrolarocket.Thegoalistosafely

landtherocketonthespeciallyequippedpad,whichis

atrickytasksincethevehiclebehavesverytrickily.

TheMoonhasalmostnoatmosphereandsports

muchsmallergravitythanwhatwehaveonEarth,and

itseemslikeLunarLander,despiteitssimplicity,

beautifullyrendersthatfeeling.Oncethegamehas

started,youneedtocontroltherocketusingthearrow

keys.Ittakessometimetogetusedtoitandlearnhow

tocontrolthevehicle’smomentum.

Beforeyou’reabletolandyouneedtofindandpick

upacolouredkeythatlookslikeadoughnut.Avoid

everyobject–eventheslightesttouchofarockmakes

yourvehiclecrash!Onceyouhavethekey,approachthe

hebestwaytofindoutwhatatuftedtitmouse

is,anddiscovermanyothernewwordsand

terms,istoplayawordpuzzle.Connectagram

isawonderfulbrain-trainerandawindowintotheworld

ofself-educationwhereyoucanlearnlotsofnew

scientific,oddandotherwiseseldom-usedwords.

Thissimplegameisveryentertainingandinnoway

monotonous,evenifitlookssoafterglancingatthe

screenshot.StartinganewgameinConnectagram

bringsupthesettingsdialogue,whichletsyouchoosea

language,amountofwordsandwordlength.Themore

wordsyouhaveandthelongertheyare,themoretime

youneedtounscramblethemandsolvethepuzzle,

whichinsomesenseresemblestheever-popular

Minesweeper.Themaximumlengthofawordvaries

amonglanguages,butissomethinglike 20 characters,

whichbooststhedifficultyofthegameupto‘Diehard’.

Whateverwordsettingsyoufancy,it’sonlypossible

toplayConnectagramifyouknowatleastoneofits

fourlanguages.Unscramblingisperformedbydragging

lettersandchangingtheirpositions.Whenthewordis

T

W

Connectagram

correct, it turns green. Keep on unscrambling the rest

and try to complete the level as fast as you can and

reach a good position in the high-scores table.

Cheating is hampered by the smart ‘Pause’ mode

that turns all unsolved words into? signs and

suspends the timer. Very long words look very

unrealistic, but they do exist, and once you click a

green (solved) word, a proper Wiktionary article with

the word’s definition emerges in a separate window.

The badge above the main game field shows the

elapsed time, but there are also two buttons next to it.

The right one is Hint; press it in moments of

desperation to get help. The left one reveals another

window, with definitions of solved words. A good

practice is to start unscrambling with short words

and gradually raise the length.

Version: 1.2.10

Web: https://github.com/gottcode/connectagram

Lunar

Lander

landing pad and land softly on it: a hard landing, even

within the pad, equals crashing. Of course lots of

engine micro-moves are required for precise landing,

just like in real moon expeditions.

The first level is somewhat basic, but things get

tougher in the next levels. More and more obstacles

appear – extra rocks, moving spiky balls and enemy

missiles all try to make your rocket collapse. Also,

playing a harder level requires you to collect more

than one doughnut. Mind the fuel indicator in the top-

right corner and don’t hang around for too long.

Lunar Lander is an SDL-based game with very

fluid physics and low system requirements. Despite

the latter, it features very nice terrain textures,

pleasing sounds and a good selection of levels.

Version: 0.7.2

Web: http://www.doof.me.uk/lunar-lander

Fixing short words

is a piece of cake,

but it’s only getting

warmed up.