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Tiny Diggers – An iPad Construction Truck Game for Kids Age 2-5

February 20, 2012 – 12:39 pm | 3 Comments

Tiny Diggers has just been released on the iPad and soon the Mac computer. Here’s the details on this fun, educational game from TouchTilt Games.
Tiny Diggers Delivers Learning With Construction Trucks For Kids on the …

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In search of the elusive “click point.”

Submitted by on March 17, 2007 – 10:45 pm5 Comments

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One of the things I’ve noticed about my experience playing games has been that every game has a kind of a “click point” for me. It’s the moment when I’m playing the game and I’m frustrated and annoyed, considering selling the game (or throwing it on the floor and jumping up and down on it) when it suddenly hits me that I’m playing the game wrong. It’s a point where I grab an ever-elusive understanding of what the game wants from me in terms of gameplay, controls, or whatever. I’ve found that if I hang in there on a game I just “don’t get,” more often than not, I’ll hit the click point, and I’ll end up loving the game.


Click points for me have gotten shorter in general. The first Metroid Prime took me more than thirty hours of play to complete the first time through, according to the clock that shows on the game load/save screen. Most of that time was spent running around just trying to understand what the game wanted from me. The click point in that game was very dramatic for me. I walked into a room I’d been in a dozen times, looked around, and suddenly knew what to do. I sped through the rest of the game with little effort (except for the last three bosses, OMFG Meta Ridley!)

Holy shnikeys does that bring back memories. At any rate, I have since played through the game numerous times, getting 100% on all difficulties and unlocking everything, only to feel sad every time it’s over.

Anyway, there are games that I’ve sold before hitting the click point, and I suddenly get them after they’ve left my hands. Ever done that? It’s the worst feeling! The best example I can come up with is Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. It was a really hard game for me and I couldn’t get past a specific part, but I woke up one day and just knew how to beat it… and the game was a month gone. Aww, pickles.

Darn shame.

  • fil

    Eternatl Darkness was one of the BEST GC games ever made.

  • Stephen

    Oh, and another example I can give. Right now, I’m stuck near the beginning of Metal Gear Solid: The Twin Snakes. I don’t “get” the game, even with a strategy guide. But I won’t give it up, the game is way too cool.

  • qbix

    Fight Night Round 3: this one was about the controls, and once I understood the dynamics, I realized the genius behind this game.

    [enter semi-realistic racing game title]: I used to be the kind of player that would hit the gas and play entire races without letting go of it. I hated PGR and Forza until I started treating my car like a real car and adopting the front bumper camera view. Then came hugging turns, the occasional e-brake, and most importantly, down shifting. I also learned to be patient and forced myself into the habit of learning the tracks as quickly as possible. All these things made racing games in general a lot more enjoyable.

  • Stephen

    qbix, you’ve nailed it exactly. I’ll go through a game without feeling as though I need to pay attention to minute details like the brake pedal. I mean, it should be fine if I just turn well enough, right? But the deeper a game is, the more important it is to tune your understanding.

    I’ve been playing Hunters on the DS and I just finally understand the game this week. I’ve been playing it on and off since it launched a year ago. For some reason, I had never opened the freaking map and taken the time to study it, among other things I was doing wrong.

  • Subnet6

    I heartily agree. I remember the first time I played Prime. I was so excited to have a new age metroid in my hands. Then the controls. Ewwww.
    I was so blown away that the it was not a traditional dual analog control scheme that I was really about to put it down. I HATED it. But it looked so cool and the music was so engrossing, I ended up playing more (and the only other games I had at the time were ghost recon and luigis mansion). When it finalled clicked for me, I was like WOW. This is NOT an FPS at all! This is totally the 3D incarnation of classic metroid. Then I couldn’t get enough of it and I was playing hours every night. I never could get games like forza or gran turismo to click. I always spin our in the corners or oversteer and end up going back and forth. Unlike Prime, I never found them fun enough to work though the initial stages up to the “click”. I would much rather play burnout or mario kart than forza. Funny you mention Twin Snakes. I have that game and I have tried to play it 3 different times. Never been able to get past the first room! Someday though, I’ll try again. I just have way too many games now but that one is definitely on my list of “games to make click” because I know it’s good, I just have to have the patience.