Egg Mania

When I tore through the envelope to get out the game which would be the subject of our first hands on preview, I was very surprised to see Egg Mania, a game I had never heard anything about. The information that came with the game told me it was game in which you duel it out until you are able to build a tower reaching the top of the screen. On the way to the top you have to avoid rising water eating away at your tower and monsters stealing from your tower. Oh, and by the way, you are eggs for no apparent reason except to make you laugh. All of this all rolled into one crazy game.

When I first popped it in, it looked to me like a kid�s game, and after the first game, it appeared I was right. When I played the next game though, I noticed something more. I didn�t want to stop playing. The gameplay was so simplistic at first, now it had become more challenging. One of the few games out there that can be said that it is easy to play, but a lifetime to master.

I played many games until I made sure I had figured out the strategy. Even then it seemed as though the computer would beat me every time on hard. As I progressed I found out when building a tower it is not how fast the tower is built but how sturdy it is. Often while playing on hard mode I found it was not a race to the top but just a matter who could survive longer.

One mode in which the game really shines is multiplayer. While it only supports up to two players, it is the most fun when both you and your friend are sitting there for hours engulfed in frenzied action, and then you begin to realize this will be a game you will pull out at every party.

We can all hope that the final version will have enough extras to keep the single player game fun for a long time. This game is a contender for puzzle game of the year. Fast, fun, exciting, Egg Mania is a game you will have to try for yourself.

-Rory