Warning: Contains nudity.

cactus will release a new game called Organic Units sometime next week.

Description: You are hired as a tester for a mysterious company, who wants you to try out some weird machinery made out of flesh. But the tests are not exactly safe, you have to put lives on the line (one of them being your own), and soon you realize that the machinery is not what's being tested, but yourself.

Nice. Where do I sign up?

[Illegal Communication, Retro Future, Precision, Retro II review]

X-It Again is an excellent remake of Psygnosis's puzzler for the Amiga, faithful in nearly every aspect. Profiles are used to save progress instead of passwords, although to play in full screen the setting.ini file has to be edited. Change the Fullscreen value from 0 to 1 in order to maximize the window.

Much like Sokoban, most of the gameplay involves pushing blocks around to fill holes and getting your character to the exit tile. Instructions can be found inside the Documents folder, with some rather useful hints provided. All tiles are described in detail, for example glue tiles can be walked over but blocks get stuck when they are pushed onto them. At least one level contains red herrings as well.

Name: X-It Again
Developer: Puzzlehouse
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB

Home Base is an excellent puzzler by BBaller which is still in production but shows plenty of promise even at this early stage. Your objective is to guide four blocks of different color to their home bases which are represented by pulsating colored tiles.

The trouble is that all blocks move simultaneously for every key press, so careful planning is required to complete each level with the least number of moves. Only twenty stages are included in this early beta.

Name: Home Base
Developer: BBaller
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 5MB

The title says it all. Buster's latest work now available in English. Just apply the translation patch and you're ready to go. [AGTP link, Guardian of Paradise review]

Shih Tzu says: There's one crash bug right now when you check a pedestal in the desert ruins. It'll be fixed at some point, so for now just don't do that, or fix it yourself with the instructions here.

From Dekovir Entertainment comes Chameleon Gems, a match three game sporting a 3D engine and several new surprises. Power-ups can be bought from shops, which include exotic items like different skins for your creature. These are not just cosmetic changes, they provide special abilities as well.

Certain gems are stacked on top of each other, and can only be removed by destroying the stones underneath first. May not exactly be your cup of tea but just the right thing for Zuma fans in search of more matching action.

Name: Chameleon Gems
Developer: Dekovir Entertainment
Category: Puzzle
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

The original Solomon's Key by Tecmo was fondly remembered for it's difficulty, but in Abracadabra the platforming elements feels more like a chore. Most of the items and monsters from the arcade classic do make their appearances in this game, though not without a few cosmetic changes. Levels are designed to be less challenging unfortunately.

Name: Abracadabra
Designer: Phelios
Category: Platformer
Type: Demo
Size: 10MB

As a few of us may remember, Pushover was an excellent puzzler published by Ocean about fifteen years ago. The remake by IshiSoft features the same objective as well, to topple all dominoes found in each level. The difficult part was figuring out how to arrange certain pieces in order to successfully cause a chain reaction and finally ending up with the trigger piece being pushed.

For this reason, the protagonist can pick up and place domino pieces in key areas. Some dominoes may have special characteristics, although most are explained during the first few tutorial stages. Press the Z key to grab tiles or push a domino by using the left or right directional key with the action button. Fullscreen can be enabled under options. Later levels are rather challenging, but don't let that discourage you from downloading this fabulous remake.

Name: Pushover
Developer: IshiSoft
Category: Puzzle
Type: Freeware
Size: 20MB

Noiz2 may sound like the prequel to Kenta Cho's Noiz2sa, but besides the abstract shapes there is practically nothing similar between the both of them. The game requires Java installed to run, but no button presses are required for shooting. Position your ship in front of an enemy to fire at it.

Green stars can be collected for points. This particular effort has been largely ignored because of the application requirements.

Name: Noiz2
Developer: Kenta Cho
Category: Shooter
Type: Flash
Size: 1MB

A sequel to The Longest Journey, Dreamfall had disappointed many fans of the original with a new control scheme and action-oriented gameplay. Presumably this decision was made with console owners in mind, though camera angle issues still exist.

The surroundings are a delight to explore at first, but the amount of backtracking meant that most locations had to be revisited several times. Some puzzles are now cleverly disguised as stealth missions to prolong the adventure with mixed results. The ending is unsatisfying, and character models look absolutely nothing like the promotional materials found in most advertisements.

If you're sticking around for the conclusion, then it'll probably be a rather long wait. Cliffhangers, unresolved plots and lengthy cutscenes are rarely considered ingredients for a well-written story.

Name: Dreamfall
Developer: Funcom
Category: Adventure

Bug-ridden and practically unplayable, Paradise is a rather forgettable effort by White Birds Productions. It's designer should be strapped to a chair and forced to play this turkey, just to understand what the fans had to go through. Both thumbs down.

Mr. Sokal, the press called and they're asking for their awards back.

Name: Paradise
Developer: White Birds Productions
Category: Adventure