Crossword Fun status update:

• we’ve given a new look & feel to the puzzle game’s website,
• a major bug that messed up the correspondence between words and their definitions is now fixed,
• the website now has a Hall of Fame.

More specifically, you can now visit the Hall of Fame page, select the Crossword Category that interests you and see the best all-time scores, the users that achieved them and the time taken.

We have been busy. We are taking a brake from 3D game development and have been working on a crossword generator project (made in flash & actionscript) that will generate a new Crossword puzzle with every refresh of the page. We have named this new game “Crossword-Fun” and it is still in early beta.

We kindly invite you to test the application and report bugs or just let us know what you think. The application can be found at the following link:

http://www.immersionfx.com/crossword-fun/crossword.html

The idea is of “Crossword-Fun” is simple: based on online Clue Databases (like dictionary.com) an algorithm selects a random set of words and their corresponding definitions and creates a new crossword on the fly. The user that attempts to solve the crossword will use an intuitive way to match words to the given definitions. Upon successful completion of the crossword, the user’s time will be recorded to the Hall of Fame.

Pedro Camacho is a very talented music composer. This year was his breakthrough year after being the winner of IGF 2008 (with Audiosurf) and the composer of the successful Fury.

Already among Pedro’s greatest fans after the wonderful collaboration we had in Days of Sail, we really had no other option but to work with him again for our second game, CrimeCity.

CrimeCity’s score contains three music tracks:

Sirens of Hope, the main menu track, is bold and menacing, yet at times can be playful or even melancholic.

Chasing rats, is the action score that accompanies the gameplay. The percussive sounds throughout this score add magnificently to the prominent noiresque style of the game, perfectly matching the pace of the gameplay.

But Pedro also knows well how to compose melodic themes in-between that are strong enough to compel the listener to press the repeat button. My Hometown, the melodic piece that rus through the tutorial mode is a perfect example of a more laid back and more subtle cue with a change of pace from the pounding action music.

All in all, the new CrimeCity soundtrack is a true orchestral score that is guaranteed to put you in the mood of the game. Check out the three inspiring tracks at the game’s website.

Thanks once again Pedro for this magnificent piece of work, wishing for more to come!

CrimeCity is out there for two weeks, and we are impressed from the feedback we got so far. Even though it’s still too early to tell, in the casual games’ arena, the game seems to behave very well and this could be an indication that the casual audience is now looking for gameplay originality, 3D looks and a more hard-core flavour - these are, we believe, CrimeCity’s stronger assets.

We don’t claim to be cutting edge gameplay innovators trying to do something that’s never been done before. What we do is more subtle - borrowing elements from genres we love and blending them together into something that’s fresh, yet also familiar. CrimeCity’s unique blend of casual action with strategy elements seem to have found an audience with casual gamers who appreciate a diversion from the norm.

The guys at EGCGAMES were kind enough to share their opinion on the game. Overall impression was positive:

“I found the game to be very interesting and amusing. Literally, you will try to stop playing, but you won’t want to. The 45 minutes demo will just pass so quickly, that you will want to buy it at once… On the other hand if you really want to buy the game, it’s available through the official website (a very nicely designed one) http://games.tetrahedron.gr/crimecity/home.html at the very nice price of ?13,5 or $19,99″