New Games on The Great Games Experiment http://www.greatgamesexperiment.com/css/logo.jpg en-us

]]> 16 Oct 2007 01:31:08

]]> 16 Oct 2007 04:32:31 The Typing of teh Rizard!!

]]> 18 Jul 2007 12:33:52 Fingerjig is a 6 minute game that tests your typing prowess. Words are randomly chosen from a dictionary of over 70,000. You must try to type them as quickly and accurately as you can!

Typing fast will rack up points but keep an eye on how many mistakes you're making.

Try to improve your net words per minute by making fewer typing mistakes - experiment with typing a bit slower.

Touch typing is much faster than hunting and pecking!

Taking a moment to read each word can help reduce typing mistakes.

Use a keyboard you feel comfortable with. I particularly like the Natural Ergonomic Keyboard 4000.

Practise! You may also find that since the words are picked randomly some selections will suit you better than others.

Remember to take a break now and then to avoid repetitive strain injury.

]]> 05 Jun 2007 04:40:16 QWERTY Warriors is a typing game. Enemies will come at you from all directions, but you cannot move. The only thing you can do to survive is to type the word that is below the enemy. If you type the word correctly, you will shoot and kill whatever is coming after you. Powerups such as full health or a bomb will show up. To use the powerups, you must type the name of it correctly.

]]> 13 Mar 2007 04:58:18 Join other people from around the world to play a fun game of online sketching!
The object of the game is simple. Each player gets a chance to draw a word which the other players will try to guess. You can play anytime for free, 24 hours a day!

Some of the most important rules are: Don't use LETTERS in your draw, use the hint button to give the number of letters and display common courtesy to your fellow players. Take time to read the rules, as joining a game constitutes willingness to follow them. Rules will be enforced by players and administrators alike.

The game consists of 10 rounds where one person is given a word to draw, while the other players will try to guess it within an alloted time.

As the Guesser: Click on the "Game" window to make it yellow, meaning it's active. Type in your guesses in the text input box. Your guesses are visible to the other players except when you are close to, or have guessed the word. When you have guessed correctly, your name will turn red. The quicker you guess the word, the higher your score.

As the Artist: You will have a specific amount of time to draw the word. You will be able to see the guesses and know how the players are doing. Clicking on the "Give HINT" button will reveal blanks corresponding to the puzzle. The second click will supply the first letter of the word. The third click will give out the second letter. Because hints will significantly increase your chances of getting the word guessed, your score will be reduced by 2 points per hint.

As soon as a player has guessed the word, the hint button will disappear. You have the option to conclude the game as soon as one player has guessed the word, by pressing the "DONE" button. If you wish to pass on the word, press the "SKIP" button.

The round will end when any of the following occurs:

1. Time runs out.
2. The artist decides to end the round. This is done by clicking SKIP or DONE.
3. The artist doesn't draw anything within the first 20 seconds.
4. After a set time (usually 30 seconds) following the first correct guess.
5. If 3 players press the "Warn Artist" button when the artist violates any drawing rule.
6. If any rule is violated and the artist is skipped over by an administrator.

Scoring

Artist:
The artist receives 10 points for the first correct guess.
One (1) point for each additional guess is awarded, up to a maximum of 5, and a total earning potential of 15 points per round.
Two (2) points is deducted for each hint used.

Guesser:
The first guesser is awarded 10 points.
The 2nd guesser is awarded 9 points, 3rd guesser gets 8 points and so on, with a minimum of 5 points.

The scoring system ensures a big payout for guessing quickly, drawing effectively and getting as many correct guessers as you can. While using the hint button helps with your drawing and therefore getting more players to guess your word, use only when absolutely necessary.

Game Rules

The object of the game is to draw a word known only to you, and based on your drawing, other players try to guess the secret word. You can use any artistic method to make your drawing easier to guess. However, you are not allowed to use non-artistic clues, such as writing letters.

DO
Use these helpful methods to render your drawings:

Ear symbol: Indicates that the puzzle sounds like the word you are drawing. For example: If the word is "fox", draw an ear and a box.

Other Symbols: Symbols used in grammar, math, etc. are allowed. Chemical symbols are not allowed, as they are almost always abbreviations of the word. Mathematical formulas are allowed. For example: The word "equation" can be rendered using "x + y = z". Punctuations in the puzzle can be given out in your draw without having to use the hint button.

Numbers: You may use numbers in clues, (i.e., use the number 2 for "two" or "to") - including numbers that are already in the puzzle. You must not use numbers to represent letters as done in techno jargon. For example: Do not write 533 for the word "see". Roman numerals are allowed; do not mistake them for letters.
Word Count: In multiword rooms, you can give out the number of WORDS (not number of letters) in your puzzle.

Syllabify: You may divide the word into syllables or parts by slashing the line (that represents the word) and then rendering each syllable/part. You may not draw the syllable/part if it's only 1 letter. Leave it blank and concentrate on the others.

DON'T
Let's keep it fair! If any of the following occurs, you will possibly be skipped by an administrator, or receive a kick vote from a player. If the word is too difficult, skip it; do not write the word out! Repeated attempts at violating the rules may result in a kick or permanent ban.

Letters: Letters that provide clues to the word are strictly prohibited. Examples: Drawing a character saying "Shhh", "ZZZ"; writing "STORE" on a building for the word "shop", writing "R.I.P." on the tombstone. Although you shouldn't be skipped for writing personal messages like "LOL", "Hi", and "Argh, hard word" refrain from using them as they could be mistaken as part of your draw.

"Drawing" individual letters: Rendering any or all letters individually using any kind of symbol, icon, code (including colors), hint, stress, etc. is not allowed. Examples: Drawing an apple for "A", an eye for "I", umlaut on the space where the letter goes, the color green for "G", drawing another image whose first letter is the same as the letter in question.

Word "mapping": Any method whereby all or part of a different word is used to reveal part of the secret word.

Illegal use of hints: As artist, only after you have clicked on the HINT button can you freely give the number of letters in the puzzle or draw spaces representing the letters in the puzzle.

Giving away the answer: As guesser, after you have successfully guessed the word, feel free to talk in the "Chat" window. However, do not direct other players to the word. For example: typing the current word with spaces in between, giving the actor's name for a movie title, etc. Comments about the current puzzle are acceptable, but do not give leading hints. It is alright to note that a player has misspelled a word; however, do not give the correct spelling of the word.

Improper conduct: Deliberate drawing of unrelated and/or sexually explicit/racist images; giving out the word in any way; harrassing other players; using offensive language directed at other players; impersonating an iSketch administrator by username choice or otherwise.


Specialty Room Conventions
Some rooms are played according to guidelines over and above the general iSketch rules. Adopting these conventions will make the game play easier for everyone.

Connections:
Include the previous guessed word into the current drawing. The idea is to connect the two unrelated words into your drawing. If you just joined the room, obtain the last word from the players.

Big Picture / Movies (Expert):
The words in the puzzle may NOT be drawn individually, rather incorporated into one image.

Tandem:
Two artists draw a phrase simultaneously and cooperatively. The ways this can be achieved are:
1. Using the sequence the artists' names are displayed on the game window, artist 1 draws the first word on the left side of the board and artist 2 takes the other word on the right side.
2. Both artists decide to create a "big picture". In this case, the artists can communicate by writing "BP?" on the board. Do not vote to skip the artists.

Famous Faces:
Designed to allow enough time to render a face as accurately as possible. Players can open http://images.google.com in a separate browser window. Make sure both the Google and iSketch window are movable, i.e., not maximized. When it's your turn to draw, put a dot on the canvas, so the server won't think you're sleeping. Type in your celebrity's name on Google. Reposition the Google window so that you can view it while you are drawing. Copy the picture you selected as well as you can. Have fun!

he Drawing Tools
1. Eraser
2. Rectangle. Click again to toggle between filled/non-filled mode. (This goes for all shape tools).
3. Fill
4. Spray. Fills a round area with small random dots.
5. Pen. Opaque brush strokes.

6. Clear. Clears the drawing area completely. Hold down SHIFT to fill with the current color instead of white.
7. Circle
8. Zoom. Double-click to zoom out fully.
9. Line
10. Brush. Semi-transparent brush strokes.

The Color Palette
Clicking on the color preview on the right toggles between the simple and the advanced palette.
Clicking on the up/down arrow will lighten/darken the selected color.

The Stroke Width Selector
Drag the blue button to desired width in pixels, as displayed on the right bottom. Preview is shown on the left.

HINT and SKIP buttons
Click on "Give HINT" to deliver hints.
Click on "SKIP" to pass on your turn.
As soon as one player has guessed correctly,
"Give HINT" turns grey (inactive), and "SKIP" changes to the "DONE" button.

Sketching tips
You don't have to be a skilled artist to do well on the game. The most effective sketches rely on best methods used by players. As you play more, you will pick up techniques for rendering even the seemingly "undrawable" words. In iSketch, "creativity" takes on a whole new meaning!

Take your time, don't rush! Allow as much detail as possible in the allotted time. Drawing too fast will just make the sketch incomprehensible.

Use colors! By selecting an appropriate color you can maximize chances of getting your clues understood. A black circle with lines around it could be a spider. If it is yellow- it's a sun, if it's green- a frog and so on. Color can effectively get a message across.

"Chop" the word up. For instance, if the word is "understand", draw a box with an arrow below it (under), then draw a person standing (stand).

Show the opposite to clarify what aspect you're after. If the word is "tall", you could draw a very tall figure and a much shorter one. Then cross out the shorter figure.

Draw something that sounds like the word. To indicate a rhyme, draw an ear. Then draw the rhyming word. For instance, if your word is "take" draw a cake and the ear symbol.

Create your own "special effects". For example, when drawing the word "space", fill the board with black using the filled circle tool and then put some white dots over it with the pen tool to represent stars.

tiquette
People play iSketch to have a good time, not to be offended or disgusted. Use the chat box for friendly banter or to chat politely with the other people in your room.

Things NOT to do in the chat:

1. Flood: Repeatedly sending the same message to the chat box. It's irritating.
2. Use all capitals: If you've ever used any other form of Internet chat (IRC, AOL chat), you know that capitalization is usually regarded as cyber-shouting and unnecessary.
3. Make prejudiced comments: Don't attack people's race, religion or any other qualities.
4. Engage in "cybersex": The virtual equivalent of public displays of affection, only not as cute. If you find true love on iSketch, good for you; but remember: you can send private messages! Just type "/MSG username your message".

If someone is causing trouble, you can use the /IGNORE command to prevent their messages from appearing.

he windows
There are three main windows:
GAME is where your guesses should go.
CHAT is for chatting with other players, both openly or privately.
Click on either "Game" or "Chat" window to make it active (the active window will be yellow). You can also press the TAB key to toggle between the windows.
USERS lists the players in the room with their corresponding scores.

Pointing at a username in the userlist will show you the player's profile.
Clicking and holding down the mouse button on a player's name will show a window with some command shortcuts:

Selecting the username in the pop-up window allows you to chat privately with the player. The window will turn blue indicating a private chat. Click anywhere else to return to normal mode.
Ignore will hide messages from the selected player. To cancel, click again.
Boot gives you the option to vote a player out of the game. This option is not available for newbies.

Text commands
There are a number of commands available you may type in the text input box. Those of you familiar with IRC will recognize many of them. All commands begin with a forward slash (/) in order to separate them from normal chat text.

Command Explanation Example
/ME Tells the other users about what you are doing. /ME smiles
/MSG Sends a private message to any connected user. You can send messages to users in other rooms this way. /MSG Username Hi there!
/QUERY Starts a private chat with a user. Same thing as clicking on a name in the userlist. Handy when you want to start a chat with someone who isn't in the same room. You can also add an initial message after the Username if you want. /QUERY Username
/USERS Displays the names of all the players in a room. If you want to list all currently connected users, type "/USERS" (without any roomname.) /USERS Trivia
/FIND Tells you what room (if any) a user is in. Useful to check if your friends are playing without having to enter every room and see if they are there. /FIND Username
/AWAY Same thing as clicking "Auto Skip". Used when you have to leave the game for shorter periods. /AWAY
/DRAWORDER Lists the drawing queue in the current room. /DRAWORDER
/RR Displays the room description as shown when you click on the room name from the lobby. Displays what the custom room creator enters as room description. /RR
/IGNORE Mutes a specific user. Anything that user says will not be visible for you. If you want to un-mute the user you issue the same command again. /IGNORE Username
/TIME Displays the local time of a player. /TIME Username
/PING Tells you how fast your network connection is. The username is optional and will tell you how fast the connection between you and another player is. If you just enter "/PING" it will tell you the time (in milliseconds) for a message to pass to the server and back. A good value is 500ms, values over 1000ms are bad. /PING Username
/JOIN Go directly to another room. Same thing as going back to the roomlist and selecting a room there. Be sure to spell the roomname right or you will end up in an empty room. /JOIN French
/BACK Sends you back to the room you were previously in. /BACK
/COPY Copies the current image to your clipboard. You can then paste it into your favourite image-editing program and save it from there. /COPY
/CLEAR Removes all text from the chat windows. /CLEAR
/PROFILE Shows the profile of a user. Handy if you want to check the profile of someone in another room. /PROFILE Username
/INVITE Invites another user to play in the room you are currently in. /INVITE Username
/ACCEPT Accept an invitation and join that room. /ACCEPT
/PARAM Shows the room settings. (Time, wordlist, hints etc.) /PARAM
/STATS Shows how much time you have spent on iSketch as well as the number of games played and won. /STATS
/NOTIFY Add a username to a list of names to look out for. When a name on the list logs on, you will be notified (and the name removed from the notification list.) To remove a name from the list, just repeat the command. To list the current notification list, just enter the command without a username. /NOTIFY Username
/TEAM Join a team. Teamnames can be a maximum of three letters. We suggest you name them numerically ("1", "2" etc.) If you want to leave a team, use the command without any team name. /TEAM 1
/TEAMS Lists the current teams in the room. /TEAMS
/KISS Gives a person a kiss. :-

/KISS Username

/HUG Hug someone. /HUG Username
/FLIRT Flirt with someone. ;) /FLIRT Username
/SLAP Slap someone. /SLAP Username
/LAUGH Laugh at/with someone :-D /LAUGH Username
/CLAP Applaud someone. /CLAP Username
/BYE Say goodbye to someone /BYE Username
/USERCOUNT Tells you how many players in total there are online. /USERCOUNT
Operator commands
The following commands can only be used by room operators in user-created rooms. The person that created the room is automatically made an operator, he can then assign other players to be operators as well.

Command Explanation Example
/OP Gives operator status to someone else. /OP Username
/DEOP Removes an operator's op status. /DEOP Username
/OPLIST Lists all operators in the room. /OPLIST
/RESET Restarts the current game. All scores will be reset and a new game will start from round 1. /RESET
/SKIP Skips the current artist. You can enter an optional comment after the username if you wish. /SKIP Username No text please!
/KICK Kicks a person out from the server. You can enter an optional comment after the username if you wish. /KICK Username Don't come back!
/MODIFY Takes you to a screen where you can change the settings for a user created room. /MODIFY
/SET Modify room parameters. The following parameters are available:
What Parameter Short
Time / round TIME T
Grace period GRACE G
Number of words WORDS W
Player limit LIMIT L
Total rounds ROUNDS R
Number of artists ARTISTS A
Stroke limit STROKE S
Guess limit GUESS GU
Number of artists ARTISTS A
Game type TYPE TY
Game pause PAUSE P
/SET TIME 180
/SET G 20
/SET L 0

]]> 16 Dec 2006 03:22:25