When you think of paradise, do you first think of midtown Manhattan? Yeah, me neither. And yet! Nintendo drove a pink recreational vehicle down 48th Street, parked it outside the Nintendo store in Rockefeller Center, and invited bloggers into the heaven that awaited inside. My new understanding of paradise is getting a pedicure and massage while playing Nintendo's latest releases for the Nintendo 3DS.
While my toes were being done, complete with Mario-themed details, I played the surprising Art Academy: Lessons for Everyone
. The cover art for the game is something you might just gloss right by on the shelf at the store, but it warrants attention as a very non-game-like experience. I played through the first art lesson where I painted a cherry. As someone who's been to art school for two different degrees, I was impressed by the extent to which this game walks you through art vocabulary and practical lessons. It's very wordy in its explanations, and while it won't replace actual art study, anyone who wants to work on some basic art skills should check this out.
Next up came a massage. Sure, the knots in my back are caused by things like hunching over a Nintendo 3DS, but it was great hunching over the new Professor Layton title during the massage. Professor Layton and The Miracle Mask
brings Layton and crew to the town of Monte D'Or where people have been witnessing a man wearing the Mask of Chaos perform horrific "miracles." He was called there by an old friend, and solving the mystery requires going back to Layton's teenage years. It's great fun to solve puzzles with both teenage and grownup Layton, but newcomers don't need to know much about the previous titles to enjoy this game. I'll also say that while I'm not a fan of playing in 3D, I'll switch the 3D back on for the cut scenes to see the fabulous animation. This is the game I haven't been able to put down since getting it.
While the polish dried, I played Crosswords Plus
, a serviceable game that provides a fun diversion for a wide range of people, with 1,000 puzzles at different skill levels. It's great to find a word game that both my 7-year-old and I can find some challenge in. I've been fixated lately on getting her to work on her spelling, and watching her solve the puzzles shows her flexing some new skills.
Sure, you might think that I'm predisposed to liking the games after the pedicure, the massage, and did I mention there was chocolate? But if you enjoy puzzles, art, and wordplay, these are three games worth checking out. Fortunately there was no wine. Otherwise I would have chained myself to the bus and never left.
