Hi there gamers!
I’ve been a game designer for PCHgames for the past 3 years, and one of the biggest questions I get is: “What games do you like to play?” Well, wonder no more! I’ve picked one favorite game per category, and I hope you find these games as fun as I do.
Since I had a strong hand in designing all of the instant win games, this question feels a little like picking your favorite of all of your children. But since it was the FIRST daily instant win game our team worked on, Sunken Treasures outshines the others by just a hair for me. And what makes it even better is that all of you liked it too! Based on your request, we even built it into a full game! As you can see below, the design came a long way from our initial concept art.
Final artwork for Sunken Treasures!
My favorite of the instant win games has to be Up & Down Words.
This game is a little more on the difficult side, but when you get it, boy do you feel clever! If you get stuck, go ahead and use a clue! It won’t be held against you – plus it gets you to that $250 instant win chance faster!
Out of all our fun arcade games, Monkey Gems has me going bananas (in a GOOD way!) This game is balanced really well. It’s just enough of a challenge for new players, but also lets veterans set up high scoring combo chains. I like unlocking the different chapters as you play though for the first few times. It’s much better than simply choosing “Easy, Medium, or Difficult” when you start. It teaches the tutorial very clearly, and had a great character – BenBen!
Card games are known to be quite addicting, and Addiction Solitaire gets me every time! This game is proof of one of the best design concepts: easy to master, hard to win. I spent a lot of time with the Quality Assurance end of this game, and never felt overly frustrated by playing session after session. Even in a bad game, you feel like you made good progress, and are only a click away from playing again!
This next game must have been sent from heaven! Yes, you guessed it…I’m talking about Heaven’s Sevens. Remember that article about my average day at PCH? This was one of the games we were updating during that time! Although this game originally came from PCHSlots and has only been on our site for a little while, we’ve been doing a lot of testing & revisions on it and I think it’s better than ever! Play it today and check out all the exciting updates for yourself!
It’s not basketball, but 9 Ball Ultra Pool is what you can call a real SLAM DUNK! This game is a real mix of brains and finesse – and I love that about it. After you learn how to bank shots, you’ll be able to pull ahead of your opponent by scoring late balls (7,8,9) via combos. Go ahead, give it a shot!
You know what I always say about Galatic Gems? It’s totally out of this world! I like just about every design choice made for this game. I love the ethereal music, the great looking gems, and how easy it is to play. The matches aren’t impossible to spot, and the power ups feel, well…powerful!
Part slot machine and part quiz show, Star Quiz has the advantages of letting you feel clever without ever really feeling “stuck”. I think the blast mode and mastery bonus questions are a great design addition that allows the player to add to their score without burning through the 20 question cap. (Want to know a secret? I had to work on these questions A LOT while we were developing this game. The first version was actually much more difficult!)
I earned my degree in Professional Writing, and the wordplay in Crossword has always had a fond place in my heart. It allows you to “lock in” letters as soon as they’re correct, which makes you feel more confident while you’re playing. Plus, as an added benefit, it could even help you enhance your vocabulary!
And there you have it! Those are my favorite games in every category at PCHgames. Which of these are your favorites? Is there one that should have made my list? Let me know in the comments!
Good luck, and happy gaming!
-Greg L.
Game Designer