Title above taken straight from Team17’s facebook page says it all. This is the first. Feast…

While it does look like the first one with an avatar thrown in, I remain quite excited by the image. Some new weapons? More players in multiplayer? Different game modes? Who knows? Not me.

Everyone I know loves building things. Whether it’s Sim City, The Sims, or their favorite RTS… Everyone I know plays something where building plays a large part in the success of the player, it is a small part of all of us that loves creating things. Even your new Xbox Experience Avatar, you probably spent like a half an hour on it didn’t you? Yea that’s right. You did.

This game is all about creation. It is literally all you do, build things so you can build more things. You unlock more advanced blueprints as you complete lower level buildings. For a ten dollar game there really are quite a few buildings to construct. But even still, you’ll probably find yourself finishing this one before you’ve gotten your fill.

In the meantime however, you’ve got your Keflings. These little guys are brilliantly stupid, like a dog they learn what you show them. You can task them on various resources in the kingdom which you will use to erect various types of buildings. The great thing about the Keflings is that they will always do what you tell them to, forever. That is also a bad thing though, because that can mean standing there for ten minutes waiting to be told what to do if you’re not paying attention.

If the Keflings ever get out of line you can always discipline them. How does one discipline a digital little person? Well we have now come to the point in the review where I get to cover my favorite part of the game. Kicking Keflings. This might not make the game worth playing, but it sure makes the game that much more fun to play. This video Kefling Kick montage should explain everything.

If you thought that looked cruel? Don’t worry, you don’t have to kick the Keflings. Although you should think about going on at least one rampage **cough** Achievement **cough**

Their is also a multiplayer gameplay mode to this game. It adds a lot or very little, depending on the friends you keep. I have plenty of friends with this game so it has been a beautiful thing, we work together to construct towns. Splitting up tasks, one person in charge of Keflings while another makes the buildings themselves appear all over the kingdom. I have however heard the Xbox Live community is real big on tearing down eachothers villages. So beware if you let strangers into your town.

Overall, this game is a must buy if you have any interest in town building or midget managing. Kicking keflings is an amazing thing that will probably never get old. The multiplayer aspect is great if you can get your friends on board. If you can’t, no worries because it’s a great game by yourself as well. The only question is replayability, which will hopefully be solved by some future downloadable content *crosses fingers*

Pirates vs Ninjas Dodgeball
Xbox Live Arcade

Feel free to add dodgeball to the growing list of categories in which Pirates battle Ninjas for supremacy. However, I would let you know I don’t personally think you should pay to join the fight for either side unless you are extremely passionate about ninjas, pirates, or dodgeball.

I’ve read a lot of reviews that are just horrible for this title. I don’t think it’s that bad. There is something very satisfying about knocking over a bobble headed looking ninja (I’m always a pirate. ARGH!) with a small rubber ball. The sad part though is that the story mode really doesn’t do anything to carry the games playability very far, so you end up losing interest way before you forget you just spent ten dollars on the game.

The game includes the standard play mode, line through the middle of the field no one is allowed to cross. It’s accompanied by two other modes: Battle mode and enhanced dodgeball. Battle mode is open field. You can hit the other players to stun them, but can only do real damage with the dodgeball. Enhanced is more like traditional but you can cross the line for very short periods of time to grab a ball or get one good whack in on the opponents.

I’d say the one thing the developers really nailed is the sound the ball makes. It really takes me back to kindergarten playing dodgeball in the gym. Add that to the online multiplayer and co-op modes and I’d say this is worth picking up if you’ve got some spare change and some time to waste with friends. If you don’t, just get the demo. It’s almost as good, and ten dollars less.