If you’re travelling, having good games on a Palm device is a big win. Since I have my Kyocera phone with me constantly, it’s great to be able to whip it out and play some games for a while.
I’ve gotten tired of Bejeweled and I’ve been looking around for something more engrossing.
I found Space Trader a bit back. It’s free, it’s very well written, it runs on the Palm, and it’s HORRIFICALLY addictive.
It’s a game in the standard trader formula. You’re an interstellar merchant. YOu start with a small ship, some money, and in a spaceport. You can buy goods there (things like food, water, ore, etc), load them into your ship, and warp to a nearby planet, and sell them there, hopefully at a profit. THe more money you make, the more equipment you can buy for your ship, upgrade your ship to carry more cargo and fight better, etc.
Generally, these sorts of games don’t grip me too much. I find the lack of ‘visual’ distracting. But something in this particular game got me going, and I’ve been playing it nonstop. You can choose what sort of cargos to transport (legal or illegal). Illegal cargoes (such as firearms or narcotics) will net you more cash, but the police take a strong interest in your goings on, and in some parts of the galaxy, they really can make life tough.
Add on top of that you’re in competition with a ton of other traders who are also plying the trade routes, some of which have bigger ships than you and may decide to limit the competition by taking you out.
I’ve played 2 total games so far, the first one alas I lost one too many firefights in, and died. This last one is going on 290 ‘days’ of playing, and my net worth is pushing 400,000 credits (in the game, that’s, to me, quite good). Unfortunately, I fired on one too many police cruisers, and now in the Pilot profile, the Police rank me as “Psycho”. They now no longer even bother asking to board my ship, they just fire on me on sight. Oopsie.
Anyway, the game is perfect for travelling with. You can stop playing at any time, and the game calmly goes on hold until you next check in. Well worth playing – it also, btw, has the wonderful bonus of being totally free. Yay free software. 🙂
