Add games from the web
by Andrew Russell Bordeaux
Are you trying to play that specially requested card game to keep wacky Cousin Ed happy, but you just cannot remember the rules? Or perhaps you’re looking for a new game to entice and interest all at your reunion? Then look no further than www.pagat.com. Easily one of the most comprehensive and extensive card game lists on the web, www.pagat.com will keep your family shuffling and dealing all through the weekend. It offers insight into different types of cards, variations on games, card games assorted by nation and region, and even the classification of the card game. And if your family has it’s own home-grown card game, you can even add it to the site to share with other families.
If you’re in need of some great ideas to keep kids busy and having fun, www.gameskidsplay.net offers suggestions for many different games, complete with rules and how to play. It offers a list of rhymes able to keep kids entertained for hours. Another site full of game ideas can be found at www.familyfun.com. This site arranges games by categories such as indoor and outdoor games, holiday games and party games. Games can also be arranged by age groups. The list of games provides diversity and different tastes to appease any youngster. These sites can certainly be a big help, if you need new and creative ways to ensure that kids keep coming back.
About the author
Andrew Russell Bordeaux was a member of Reunions magazine’s administrative staff.
Wii! It’s a family affair
The central attraction at the Fell Family Reunion in Decatur, Alabama, was a Nintendo Wii video game system. The Wii is one of the hottest computer games and appeals to all ages and video game users.
“The family that Wiis together, stays together,” Judy Burnham said.
The Fell family brought three Wii systems to their reunion. One was hooked up to the projection screen, one was in a hotel room for the kids and another was still in the box, in case they needed it. The projection screen was set up in a public room near the hotel pool.
At the Fell Family Reunion, everyone played except the matriarch, 85-year-old Norma Fell. “That electronic game isn’t for me … This is more my style,” she said, holding a ball of yarn and a pair of knitting needles.
From an article by Catherine Godbey in The Decatur Daily, Decatur, Alabama.
Computer Games to download and take to your reunion
Freeloader.com – At this site, are some of the best quality free games on the internet. Freeloader.com offers 15 high-quality PC games to download, including their top title “Beneath a Steel Sky” and they’re all legal and completely free of spyware and adware. What’s more, they release two extra games every month and provide almost 100 free browser games. All you have to do is complete a free registration.
EskimoGames.com – Eskimo Games is a fantastic site that offers free games to download in categories, including arcade, action, 3D games, classic, sport, puzzles, kids, casino and scores. There’s also a message board. All the games are made using Flash, Shockwave or Java, so you may need to install the correct plug-in.
Unlimited Web Games – At this site, you’ll find hundreds of free online games in various categories, some of which include: arcade, action and sports games and many more sections to explore. The games featured are rated out of ten, so if you’ve got limited time, you can head over to the best ones.
123FreeSolitaire – Download these fantastic and completely free solitaire card games such as Spider Solitaire, FreeCell, Carpet, Klondike, along with others. Each game has more than nine trillion possible shuffles to play, and there’s also sound effects, extensive options and quality help available within the program. Approximately: 1.66MB.
Games to download or play online
FreeSudokus.com – If you’re a fan of the popular problem solving game Sudoku, then you’ll find this site highly entertaining. You can play online or print off puzzles. There is no software to install either, with all the games being playable directly through your Web browser. “Super Sudoku” are fiendish puzzles, while “Learner Sudoku” is for newbies.
Mindgames – This site offers “an eclectic collection of games to pass the time and challenge the mind.” The Mindgames site includes over 40 freeware games to play, which are sectioned into categories. Card games, board games, word games, along with some miscellaneous applications can be found here. Each game has a detailed description and screenshot accompanying it.
Games to play online
play.vg – Here is a fantastic and well-designed site providing truckloads of free arcade games to play online. There are over twenty categories, all jam-packed with classic games like “Pac-Man”, “Donkey Kong”, “Pong” and the legendry “Zork” series. At play.vg, you’ll also find shooting games, sports games, puzzles, Tetris and some word and gambling games. The most popular games are featured on their home page.
Funny-Games.ws – Includes a large collection of entertaining and completely free games, which can be played online through your Web browser. This site organizes games into various categories, such as Action, Arcade, Funny Games, Puzzles, Racing Games, Strategy, Cards, Multiplayer, etc.
GameDep.com – A fun and action-packed free games web site, providing a great collection of free Flash games to play online. GameDep.com is updated frequently and organizes games into 10 different categories, so there’s something for everyone. Just some of the categories you’ll find here include Arcade & Adventure, Strategy, Fight & Shoot, Puzzle & Board, Adventure, Sport & Racing and Classic.
Boo Ya Games – An entertaining and addictive site with over 750 free online Flash games that you can play in your Web browser. Some of the game genres featured here include Action & Adventure, Beat Em Up, Puzzles, Racing, Retro, Shoot Em Up and Sports. Visitors browse games by category, popularity, rating, or simply use the built-in search engine utility to find what they’re looking for.
Free Flash Games – A superb site, featuring over 200 free Flash-based games, all with screenshots included. It has a slick navigation system, and organizes all games into a number of different categories, some of which are “Arcade Games”, “Card Games”, “Strategy Games”, “Word Games”, etc. Subscribe to their e-mail newsletter to receive updates.
Fetchfido Free Online Games – This site offers an extensive and addictive collection of the latest free online games. No registration is required. The site features Shockwave, Java and also Flash-based games. Fetchfido includes file sizes so you can judge how long each will take to load.
ArcadeTown.com – Arcade Town is a bright, colorful site, offering lots of addictive online games to play, in various categories including shooting games, arcade games, board games, puzzle games, sport and skills games. New games added regularly and the site also counts the highest scores. Note: many games here require a Java plug-in to function correctly.
PlayaPlaza.com – PlayaPlaza.com is a free games site with a twist. Not only can you play free online games for fun, you can also play for money. At this site, you can play head-to-head against players from around the world at the board games of chess and checkers. Registering at PlayaPlaza.com is simple and new users can create a free account in a matter of minutes.
Gobs of Games – A quality free games portal featuring over 1000 online games to play, including Battle Ships, Ice Hockey, Street Fighter, Office Paintball and more. This site, updated weekly, organizes games into these categories Action, Sports, Puzzles, Arcade Classics, Miscellaneous and “Entertain Me”.
LegitGames.com – This site provides an excellent round-up of popular free games, which you can play online, directly through your web browser (so there’s no need to wait for lengthy downloads). There are approximately 200 Flash-based games, each with a thumbnail preview, description, instructions and rating system. Categories to browse through include Adventure, Arcade, Cards, Shooting, Strategic, etc.
Runescape – Here’s an exciting and free real-time 3D Java game, which you can play online with friends. You can also play against people anywhere in the world. Runescape is set in a fantasy Medieval realm and involves quests, fighting monsters and exploration. To play, you create and customize a character, then gain tools and upgrades as you progress through the game.
Small Games – Although not an artistic masterpiece, we couldn’t help but become addicted to the “Small Games” web site. It’s free, fast and contains a number of java-based games for you to play directly through your Web browser. Since games are very small in size, they don’t take too long to load.
Shockwave.com – Brought to you from the people behind Macromedia software (developers of Flash, Fireworks, Dreamweaver, etc.) This site has many high quality games, to play online. The shockwave/flash browser plug-in is required. There are various areas of the site where you can acquire this and download it when needed.
Yahoo! Games – Yahoo! offers a huge selection of classic and arcade games such as checkers, chess and bridge. Players can team up with other gamers or compete against them for places on the electronic score board. The chat room and cheat areas are an excellent way to learn a tip or two.
MSN Gaming Zone – You’ll find plenty of trivia, sport and classic freeware games at Microsoft’s online gaming web site. It has a vast number of games that are definitely fun to play. You can easily play tournaments, two player games and matches against friends due to the large amount of traffic the site receives.
Clickomania – Here’s a really cool program for the young and old alike. It is a simple game where you try to remove as many stones as possible with the same color block. Clickomania has many options where you can increase the speed, the difficulty and the view. Runs under Windows 95 (or higher) and NT systems. Multiple language support is provided. The file size is 0.4 Megabytes.
