New Games for the Week of January 31th

NEW Games: Week of January 31th

1.  Slots Lounge - (web, casino)
http://www.games.com/game/slots-lounge/
Spin the reels and chat with your friends in the Slots Lounge.


2.  Season Match - (downloadable, puzzle)
http://www.games.com/game/season-match/
Beat the wicked Winter Queen and save the fairy-land from everlasting winter.


3.  Age of Emerald - (downloadable, puzzle)
http://www.games.com/game/age-of-emerald/
It's up to you to help the magicians and the hard working peasants build the most splendid city in the Kingdom.


4.  Caribbean Hideaway - (downloadable, puzzle)
http://www.games.com/game/caribbean-hideaway/
Take a trip to the beautiful Caribbean and find your very own tropical hideaway!


5.  The Sims Carnival BumperBlast - (downloadable, pogo, arcade)
http://aolcom.pogo.com/togo/product/tg-sims-bumperblast.jsp
Shoot and tag sliding Sims bumpers but watch out for dangerous traps.


6.  The Sims Carnival SnapCity - (downloadable, pogo, puzzle)
http://aolcom.pogo.com/togo/product/tg-sims-snapcity.jsp
Place falling, color-coded blocks to assemble the best possible city!

Games.com Chart Top 25 Weekending January 27th

#1    Cradle of Rome
#2    Little Shop - Big City
#3    Mystery P.I.™ - The Lottery Ticket
#4    Jojo's Fashion Show
#5    Finders Keepers
#6    JewelQuest II
#7    The Rise of Atlantis
#8    Monopoly Here & Now Edition
#9    Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
#10    Wedding Dash
#11    SCRABBLE Blast
#12    Cake Mania 2
#13    Monopoly by Parker Brothers
#14    Hidden Expedition - Everest
#15    Build-a-lot
#16    Agatha Christie: Peril at End House
#17    Lottso! Deluxe
#18    Amazing Adventures The Lost Tomb™
#19    Gold Miner Vegas
#20    Big City Adventure: San Francisco
#21    Super Granny 4
#22    Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients
#23    Family Feud
#24    Super Collapse! Puzzle Gallery
#25    Hidden Expedition Titanic

Tags: games.com top 25 sales

Card game beta test.

   

Card Game Beta
Folks, I talked about these game a couple of weeks ago but we are getting ready to test a whole new suite of games.  We're covering the classics and we're totally excited about it.
Some of you may be asking what is a beta test?  Well here is the OFFICIAL definition:

A beta version is the first version released outside the organization or community that develops the software, for the purpose of evaluation or real-world. The process of delivering a beta version to the users is called beta release. Beta level software generally includes all features, but may also include known issues and bugs of a less serious variety.

What does that mean to you folks?  Well it means that the games are not in their final version and may have bugs.  We'll be sure to let everyone know what the bugs are. 

What we need from you fine folks:
You need to let us know what you think of the game?
What you think can be done to make the game better?
Let us know what issues you have with the game?
Anything you can think of that we should know!

When you post an issue,  please be sure to include:
- Which game you are playing.
- Approximately the time your are playing
- What browser you are using (AOL or Internet Explorer)
- What operating system you have (Windows XP, Vista)

EDIT February 6th.  KNOWN BUGS
Web:
Help pages are empty except Gin Rummy “How to Play”
Stats needs work with how it displays data.
In the games results players names do not appear
There are no between game ads (this is good!)
"Play now" button on lobby page is not working correctly.
They send you to the lobby,
"last play" buttons are non-functional.
Other:
No Stars in the game yet (There will be)
The game CAN crash at times. It is rare.

EDIT February 12th
Oklahoma Gin has been added to the beta.  It is very nearly identical to Gin Rummy but the dead wood needed to knock is based on the first card turned over after the deal
There were about ten server crashes per day over the weekend but we've reduced that. 
We're taking note of everyone's issues.  So keep them coming.

EDIT February 27th
We're collecting everyone's comments and are listening.
Some comments are new versions of the game and will not be in the game.
Please be aware that this is a beta and not the final version.
There are crashes on occasion that affect all the games.
Thanks everyone for being passionate about the games and keep the comments coming!

EDIT March 10th
We've heard your comments on Canasta and have a new user interface that should help everyone out.  This is expected to be out next week hopefully.
I'll be sure to let everyone know when it's out.


EDIT March 11th
Long awaited, but never forgotten,  Pinochle has been added to the beta program.

EDIT APRIL 7th.
Hearts has been updated with a ton of fixes.  Please log in and play again!

EDIT April 21st
We are happy to announce that Hearts has launched!  Thanks everyone who participated in the beta.  You can play our
Click Here To Play Free Online Hearts


This is your chance to shape our games and participate in our community. We need you to make our games great!

Frustration Grows. Games not working and what you can do.

I have been reading on the boards about so many people having trouble.  I have found that the majority of people having issues are those using the AOL Client.  Be it either 9.0 or 9.1 both are having issues.  The games team is aware of the issues and we're working hard to identify the issues.   It is COMPLETELY frustrating to see everyone having issues. 

However,  THERE IS HOPE.  The majority of these issues can be avoided by using an alternative browser.  Here is the latest help file I have:
Use Internet Explorer:
To launch Explorer, 
1. Log into AOL as you normally would. 
2. Minimize the AOL client (the minus in the upper right)
3. Run Explorer (Start>>>>All Programs>>>>Internet Explorer (Blue E)
4.  Follow the instructions below.
User's with Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher

Once Explorer is opened, click "Tools" then "Internet Options". From the Internet Options list:

GENERAL TAB:

• Delete temporary files (both online and offline files)
• Delete cookies
• Clear History

PRIVACY TAB:

• Set Privacy to  MEDIUM or lower-- this may require using a "Default Level"
• Turn Off "Block Pop-ups"

SECURITY TAB:

• Set Security  to  MEDIUM or lower-- this may require using a "Default Level"

ADVANCED SETTING:

• Click "Restore defaults"
• Click APPLY SETTINGS followed by OK

1. Click "Tools" followed by "Clear Private Data."
2. (Make sure "cache" is selected). Click "OK."

Once you have done all these things,  enter http://games.aol.com in the Internet Explorer address bar.

Spread the word and get this help file out!

It's ALIVE! Hit the Jackpot! Slots Lounge is up.

THE SLOT LOUNGE!

I am so happy to announce this little Friday night gem.  The Slots Lounge is up and ready to play.  Log in and play this four in one slots masterpiece!  The games team is so proud of this game because we tested it with the help of the community. You fine folks made this game the best tested game we've ever had!  It really is a pleasure to get games like this out the door!
Official slot machine games include in the Slots Lounge are:
Stars & Bars
Blazing 7's
Black & White Double Jackpot
777 Double Jackpot Diamond Line

Please please please,  let me know what you think of the game!

Most Played This Week Ending January 25th

Bingo reigns supreme! We're all so happy that people keep on coming back to play.  It's a great game. 
#1    Bingo
#2    Finders Keepers
#3    Super Collapse! Puzzle Gallery
#4    Bejeweled 2
#5    Jewel Quest II
#6    SCRABBLE Blast
#7    Solitaire: Classic
#8    Bookworm
#9    Hotel Mahjong
#10    The Rise of Atlantis
#11    Cradle of Rome
#12    Family Feud
#13    TextTwist
#14    Solitaire: TriPeaks
#15    Jewel Quest Solitaire
#16    Wedding Dash
#17    Gold Miner Vegas
#18    Zuma
#19    Big Island Blends
#20    Flip Words
#21    Yahtzee
#22    SpongeBob Collapse
#23    Mind Medley
#24    Chuzzle
#25    Atlantis Quest

Club Pogo Weekly Badge Challenges: 1/23-1/30

Weekly Badge Challenges: 1/23-1/30

Weekly Badge Challenges: 1/23-1/30 Dice Derby   Back-to-Back Badge Challenge: Win 2 races IN A ROW this week!   Mahjong Garden   Pogo Tiles Badge Challenge: Remove 3,500 tiles using the special "Pogo" tile set this week!

Points of Interest - What I'm Up To

Short week winding down and I thought I should fill the community in on what has been going on.  The Games team is in the middle of three things. 

1. First,  we're trying to move The Slot Lounge Beta into the final version.  The game is looking good and slots has been a huge success with community helping getting it to where it needs to be. 

2. Next,  we're trying to move Solitaire Race into our new platform with Stars and stamps.  This process has been a bit more hairy.  Things aren't working and it is very frustrating to get our new software working on the game.

3. Lastly,  we're prepping 7 new card games for beta.  The games that are in the pipeline are:
Canasta
Cribbage
Euchre
Gin Rummy/Oklahoma Gin
Hearts
Spades
Whist
The games team is totally jazzed about these games and are going to need everyone's help making sure they are working up to the communities expectations.

Games.com Chart Top 25 Weekending January 13th

Similar names return to the top.  Finders Keepers has been in the top spot and returns!

#1    Finders Keepers
#2    The Rise of Atlantis
#3    JewelQuest II
#4    Monopoly Here & Now Edition
#5    Cradle of Rome
#6    Jojos Fashion Show
#7    Amazing Adventures The Lost Tomb™
#8    Hotel Mahjong Deluxe
#9    SCRABBLE Blast
#10    Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
#11    Monopoly by Parker Brothers
#12    Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients
#13    Agatha Christie: Peril at End House
#14    Farm Frenzy
#15    Build-a-lot
#16    Zenerchi
#17    Family Feud
#18    Mystery P.I.™ - The Lottery Ticket
#19    Wedding Dash
#20    Gold Miner Vegas
#21    Fashion Fits
#22    Death on the Nile
#23    Hidden Expedition - Everest
#24    Babysitting Mania
#25    Burger Shop

Tags: games.com top 25 sales

New Games for the Week of January 24th

New Games: Week of January 24th


1.  Cake Mania 2 - (web, arcade)
http://www.games.com/game/cake-mania-2/
Jill is back in an all-new, out-of-this-world adventure.


2.  Super Granny 4 - (downloadable, arcade)
http://www.games.com/game/super-granny-4/
Join Super Granny and her friends, Kamila and Margaret, as they set out to rescue their missing kitties in this all-new, globe-trotting adventure!


3.  Little Shop - Big City - (downloadable, puzzle)
http://www.games.com/game/little-shop-big-city/
Turn your little shop into a big city success in this hidden object game.


4.  Garden Defense - (downloadable, arcade)
http://www.games.com/game/garden-defense/
Defend your garden with an arsenal of lawn ornaments, plants, and bugs.

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I want to one of those! - Avatar Creation.

THIS IS MY AVATAR.

I've noticed that people playing a few of our games and want to know how they have there own avatar.  It's pretty easy and very fun.  An avatar is meant to be a digital representation of yourself.  It is very similar to the Pogo Mini that is available on Club Pogo.

Right now,  I think it is only available in Solitaire Race.  In the very near future it will be available in many other games. (We're all very excited about our new games!)

So,  how do you change you avatar follow the steps below:
1. Go to http://games.com/game/solitaire-race/
2.  Click the Play Now button.
3.  Wait for the game to load.
4.  Once the game loads,  click "Exit to lobby".  The link is located on the bottom bar of the game on the left side.
5.  You are now in the game lobby.  Click the "edit avatar" button on the top left.

 VOILA!  You can now create a new face for yourself in the game

UGH! - Losing Blog Posts

Ever work on something and think you are almost done then have the thing get destroyed by your dog/children/nuclear disaster?  Well,  that just happened to me.

I was writing up a post trying to let everyone know the common issues that I have been seeing on the message boards and comments and had it get deleted. It was an actual useful post! (For Once!)

Please let me vent:  UGH, RAH!  BOO! CRUD!  SOB, B*#^H, F@($, #H&@
Whew,  Ok.  I feel mildly better but not much.

Most Played This Week Ending January 18th

Bingo in the top spot again!  It's been a weird week for out usage numbers because of some issues.  Hopefully nothing goes wrong over the weekend!

#1    Bingo
#2    Finders Keepers
#3    Bejeweled 2
#4    Jewel Quest II
#5    Super Collapse! Puzzle Gallery
#6    Zenerchi
#7    Solitaire: TriPeaks
#8    SCRABBLE Blast
#9    Mind Medley
#10    Cradle of Rome
#11    Bookworm
#12    Hotel Mahjong
#13    Solitaire: Classic
#14    The Rise of Atlantis
#15    Family Feud
#16    Shangri La 2
#17    TextTwist
#18    Jewel Quest Solitaire
#19    Zuma
#20    Gold Miner Vegas
#21    Flip Words
#22    Big Island Blends
#23    Burger Island
#24    Yahtzee
#25    SpongeBob Collapse

But I NEED TO TALK While I play- Issues logging into chat

Well it isn't quite that dramatic, but we are experiencing some problems with the chat in the game.  While it is not affecting the actual game play, you'll notice that any game with Stars is going to have a problem.
As soon as I have more information I will be updating the site.
Thanks for your patience.

UPDATE: 5.35PM 1/17 ET Our developers of the chat platform are talking there way through some of the issues already.  Hopefully it will be sorted out sooner than late.

UPDATE: 5.52PM  1/17 ET Looks like everything has been sorted out.  Thanks everyone for their patience.

UPDATE:  12.38PM 1/18 I spoke too soon yesterday.  There were more chat outages in many of games last night.  We working feverishly to coordinate all our support teams to make sure this issue does not occur again.  Please check back here for more information.

Games.com Chart Top 25 Weekending January 13th

A return to the top for Cradle of Rome.
Games.com Chart Top 25 Weekending January 13th
#1    Cradle of Rome
#2    Amazing Adventures The Lost Tomb™
#3    Finders Keepers
#4    The Rise of Atlantis
#5    Agatha Christie: Peril at End House
#6    JewelQuest II
#7    Chocolatier 2: Secret Ingredients
#8    Hotel Mahjong Deluxe
#9    SCRABBLE Blast
#10    Monopoly Here & Now Edition
#11    Farm Frenzy
#12    Monopoly by Parker Brothers
#13    Burger Shop
#14    Bejeweled 2 Deluxe
#15    Hidden Expedition - Everest
#16    SCRABBLE
#17    Gold Miner Vegas
#18    Home Sweet Home
#19    Babysitting Mania
#20    Mystery P.I.™ - The Lottery Ticket
#21    Wedding Dash
#22    Hidden Expedition Titanic
#23    Super Collapse! Puzzle Gallery
#24    Burger Island
#25    Big City Adventure: San Francisco

Tags: games.com top 25 sales

New Games for the Week of January 17th

NEW Games: Week of January 17th


1.  Build-a-lot - (downloadable, arcade)
http://www.games.com/game/build-a-lot/
Best in Category Game Aware Winner!
Send the housing market through the roof as you build, buy, and sell houses in this new strategy game!


2.  Fashion Fits - (downloadable, arcade)
http://www.games.com/game/fashion-fits/
Help Francie run a fast paced clothing store.


3.  Chromadrome 2 - (downloadable, arcade)
http://www.games.com/game/chromadrome-2/
Race, jump and shoot through the quantum universe along super-fast 3D tracks.


4.  Jojo's Fashion Show - (downloadable, arcade)
http://www.games.com/game/jojos-fashion-show/
Make stylish outfits from tops, dresses, accessories and more as you showcase your fashion sense on runways from New York to Paris.


5.  Spyde Solitaire - (downloadable, card & board)
http://www.games.com/game/spyde-solitaire/
A classic spider solitaire game with new visuals, sounds, and character.

Who Is This Larry Guy Anyway? - 7 Things to Know About Me.

Even though the blog has some information about me,  I thought I fill in a little bit of detail as to who is the masked Larry that appears on AOL and Games.com.
7.  My screen name is lcourtines.  You'll see that I post comments on the games and on occasion I will chat in some of the games.  My little icon is
6.  I am from New York City and work in New York City. I went to public school in Brooklyn and was a TERRIBLE student in school. I went to Brooklyn Tech HS, it's mildly famous in New York.  I always got into trouble for talking and calling out answers.  I suppose it was a precursor to being a community manager.  I like to talk and I talk loud. 

5.  I am the youngest of four siblings in a first group but my father remarried and has another group of four under the age of ten.  My father is a very patient man!

4.  I am of French and Puerto Rican decent.  Yes,  only in New York do you get French-Puerto Ricans who can speak neither French or Spanish.  Admittedly, my Spanish is far better than my French which is non-existent.

3.  I am a TREMENDOUS baseball fan.  I can probably name the starting lineup of every team in baseball and read probably 5 books a year about baseball.  I am currently reading a biography of Branch Rickey called "The Ferocious Gentlemen"

2.  I am very passionate about people getting the help they need.  It frustrates me to NO END that people have a hard time getting into the games.  If you could hear me at my desk yelling at my monitor you would know how much it means to me that you folks get to play your games.  I am a big believer in getting people help and find the answers.  It drives me crazy to hear about peoples gaming issues.  I would LOVE to help everything single person individually but I am only one person.  Please feel free to email me any time and I will do my best to get you the help you need. Games Help

1.  I am a goof ball!  I wear hats at my desk,  I wear sunglasses in the office and am prone to dancing around and singing.  To work in games you should have youthful enthusiasm and I have that in spades.  Although I am now,  GEEZ Gulp 33 years old, I feel much closer to 16 than 40. 

I hope you all enjoy my little profile.  I want everyone to feel like that can contact me to talk or whatever.  Next week I'll post my favorite games on the site!

Badges?!? We Don't Need No Stinking BADGES! - Stamps in Games.com Games

What you are looking at are the FOUR,  count em FOUR stamps for you to win!



This stamp is for Solitaire - Tripeaks
This is a one time stamp that you get if you play and win a lot of games.  (You'll have to go play to find out how many games you need to win!; hint rhymes with "thrifty")


This fine and dandy lady is a stamp for Solitaire - Classic  You can have this classy miss stamp for winning lots of games; again this one also rhymes "nifty"



This young man is yours for starting a winning streak in Solitaire - Classic.
The streak doesn't have to be long, longer than two,  shorter than five. You'll have to play to find out!


Last but not least these lederhosened gentlemen can be a part of your collection for a winning streak in Solitaire - Tripeaks

Enjoy the Stamp challenges!  In the near future you should see more of these.

That's Not Card Game! - The Easiest Card Games

Working at Games.com I have found that you fine folks really LOVE your card games.  It's amazing in this world of so much choice that the same card games are beloved around the USA. My self,  I am partial to Spades and Gin.  Played them all the time in high school and wasted far too many a lunch period trying to make a blind

We all love these games and know how to play at least a couple of them. I am doing a little experiment and need you to be a part of it! I want to know out of the top card games in the US;
1. Which is the easiest to play?
2. Which one do you enjoy the most?
3. And which one will your friend most likely want to play, RIGHT NOW!
Without further ado - Here are the ten most common card games!
 Canasta
 Cribbage
 Euchre
 Hearts
 Pinochle
 Rummy
 Solitaire
 Spades
 Whist

Tell me what you think!

Most Time Spent This Week Ending January 11th

I've changed up the ratings this week.  Normally I use the most played game but unique players.  This week the listing is the most played game but TIME playing the game.  These games are the STICKIEST games on our site.
#1    Bookworm
#2    Bingo
#3    Solitaire: Classic
#4    Jewel Quest Solitaire
#5    Zuma
#6    Gold Miner Vegas
#7    Flip Words
#8    Family Feud
#9    Hotel Mahjong
#10    Cafe Mahjongg
#11    Sudoku
#12    Letter Linker
#13    Atlantis Quest
#14    Big Island Blends
#15    Solitaire: TriPeaks
#16    Cubis 2
#17    Chuzzle
#18    Jewel Quest
#19    Alchemy
#20    Mahjong Fortuna 2
#21    Cradle of Rome
#22    Yahtzee
#23    Hidden Expedition: Everest
#24    SpongeBob Collapse
#25    Tumblebugs