Games, games, games!

One of the best things we've spent money on. EVER. Well, as far as entertainment. The kids (big kids included!) love playing all these cool games on Shockwave (similar to Pogo, PopCap, Yahoo Games, Youda, etc.). The only downfall is, they are "trial versions" and last 60 minutes or you have to buy them for $20. Well, Shockwave has this wicked cool program, Shockwave Unlimited. You can subscribe to it month by month, but we paid for the year, which is $60, or $5 per month. For that price, you get to download these games and play them, unlimited. Basically, it's like you spent the $20 per game to buy them. It's awesome. And in the month and a half that we've had this, it's paid for itself, oh gosh, 3-4 times over now? And there's no shortage of games. It seems like they add new ones everyday.

So, what are the favorites around here? Danny likes the "food" games. He does want to be a chef. There's one called Hot Dish, where you work in a restaurant and create a menu and then have to prepare it; 3 appetizers, 3 entrees and 3 desserts. You have to chop, stir, sautee and bake items according to the recipes, and create these dishes roughly at the same time so they don't "go bad" and you lose stars. The dishes are rated on their perfection and quality. Sounds hard, but it actually is fun. Kelsey is more into the pet games or the garden games. Alice Greenfingers she likes, you plant your own gardens. She plays the "arcade" types, but she's not fast enough for them. All three kids will laugh and giggle over each other playing games too, like Super Granny (she has to rescue her cats). Bill doesn't play, but I do. My preferred games, it depends on my mood. Sometimes I like games like Diner Dash. Other times I like puzzle games. There's many different kinds of those. Some seek-and-find kinds, some similar to Bejeweled. I like ones with a little storyline to it. I just completed a game yesterday called Turbo Pizza.

The cool thing about these, besides the price tag, is, you've downloaded them, so it saves your progress and more than one person can be playing a game. Just switch the player name when it prompts you. It's also usable on more than one computer. Not like the CD games where you need the CD to play. I could go to Joe Schmoe's house and play, if he let me download one! I wouldn't be able to play a previously saved game though, but that's ok! It's super fun!