BOOKWORM

This must be the single useful piece of software I've ever used in my ESL classes, and the only one kids really reacted to and perceived of as a video game interesting enough to be given repeated plays. Every  9-to-11-year old that tried Bookworm was absolutely amazed by how addictive it is - "Can I play this one  on my phone, is it available? No - why not? It doesn't look like an old game". Later on I found out it was available online and on iPhone. Needless to say, I installed the game on all those defunct machines that were still being  used in classrooms I taught in.

Serbo-Croatian/Croato-Serbian language is a language where spelling is 100% phonetic, so imagine the travails of having to persuade kids to learn the spelling of individual words of a language they're only beginning to understand. Bookworm, a simple game of stringing letters to get to real words while accompanied by a bespectacled worm,  succeeded where I failed so many times as a teacher.

FLOWER

This game  evokes a powerful set of emotions, not unlike those I felt playing Journey. Albeit another game from the same team and implying the idea of a voyage, and whether perceived as a life's parable or not, it takes the player on a voyage of pure emotion, the one of tracking and observing the fate of a seemingly insignificant thing in nature such as a simple flower petal. Hardcore gamers probably rolled their eyes in horror when they first saw this game, but it takes only a bit of streching to accept it for what it is - a marvellous, pioneering, genre-bending gem. You go from light to dark,  enthropy to order, cityscapes to country landscapes, chaos to creation in joyous motion that gives you a sense of genuine freedom, and all of that is accompanied by music that suits each particular change along the way. No enemies to kill or mame or hurt in any way

A tale of a windmaster dancing with a single petal- who can resist embarking on such a great adventure?

FAÇADE

This game recreates the feel of a dinner invitation you unwillingly accept only to find yourself amidst serious marital quarrels and ugliness that a stale relationship gives birth to at times. Nobody wants you to be a marriage councellor, but you  have to simply turn into one for the sake of your own mental well-being. Fake it through  uncomfortable theatrics and jabs at topics like parents, money, careers, personal traits etc  and steer the couple towards a reconcilliation of some kind. Or pick a road more frequently travelled nowadays and  ruin the dinner even further with insults and bad words, budding in  and neglecting your guests' feelings, all leading to Trip and Grace seeing you out and continuing their quarrel behind closed doors. Either way, you clearly see the effect of your comportment.
 This game is a beacon of light for all the wannabe interactive dramas that put too much emphasis on  graphics and too little emphasis on the story and the way it unfolds. And yes, the visual side reminds me of "Waking Life" and "Scanner Darkly"

BUBBLE BOBBLE

My sisters loved playing this classic, my dad loved it , hell, I even  got my mom to play it once - and she hated video games.What was so enticing about this title? Was it the fact that it was one of the few genuine 2-player experiences from the 80s that did it for this classic? Aside from trapping enemies in a bubble and popping them and jumping platforms, the two B brothers must have offered something je ne sais quoi  to earn the status of a classic. It must have been the head-spinning and the cuteness that did it for all of us.The cute factor and the world that displayed this cuteness worked just as well in the arcade or an amusement park or on my friends NES whenever I would play it - there was always somebody asking to join me in my Baburu Boburu adventures. And yes - the iconic game soundtrack was heaven!

For all that it’s a great game inspired by a merely good one, Bubble Bobble was not, in itself, hugely influential—with the possible exception of the magnificent sequel Rainbow Islands. Between them, perhaps, they simply managed to perfect the formula. RS

CALCULATOR : THE GAME

Ever thought there was more to your personal calculator than doing calculus, ever wished there was some secret mechanism that could unlock its hidden features and turn it into a game console of sorts? Even if it be a Tabletop game? As a kid I would turn it upside down trying to write words and would often try to play with the look of operations on screen so that I could get hints at imagined landscapes -little did I know about ascii then.
This game  is not about existential  glitches and the meaning of life as some other similarly Spartan designs and titles would suggest.This one's a genuine game, and a cute one at that. And cute and charming sells. Puzzles start with regular operations at each level only to become more of an infatuating interaction with your cute calculator that add to the feeling of excitement and excellence with each new level.Levels change, buttons change, your calculator gives you uplfting comments. You almost wish you chose a career in science instead of humanities,

One of a kind game.

CANABALT

This  free flash game with a man running from a world crumbling behind him, trying to escape death/apocalypse  jumping buildings was ported to a plethora of systems, and rightfully so. Running games were already in abundance at this time in gaming history, but the key to Canabalt's brilliance was its simplicity, both in terms of playability and the bleak urban surroundings  moving rapidly on the screen that seem to be reminiscent of  a nasty dream. It reminds me of those  easy-to-play-hard-to-finish games that reigned the 80s gaming universe, and the ease with which it successfully translated to c64 only proves my point further. It'a a game that would have been a smash whenever it appeared. This title is a personal favourite among endless runners.

You can download the c64 version at c64.com or wait until RGCD have made more cartridges.