Chowder for Mac1.0

I love Chowder... but I hate it even more. I want this to be a solid game so badly, because it is a fun, cool, weird game. But it isn't. How many years has it been in development now? It is and has always been totally unfit for commercial alpha release! There are so many bugs in it from graphics to music, and supports little to no customization. I fall for it every time, thinking "maybe this one will be different, maybe this time they got their act together". Yes, there are a few fixes to the problems it suffered from *two years ago* - some of the menu graphics actually render now - but that doesn't really help it since I can now see how poorly implemented the menu interface is. Perhaps I am spoiled by Snood - their premiere game and longtime Mac standard - it is polished and seamless. Chowder is WoM's abused and neglected redheaded stepchild. Don't get me wrong - I have zero problems with the low-rez gameplay elements (I am, after all, a longtime Snood player), and the gameplay itself is as entertaining as any in its class (though I do wish "bumps" would reset after each level). The basic structure and design would make for a solid $12 game. But it is the implementation of the specific elements which are consistently sub-par and kill the game. The music is good - appropriate, a little monotonous which actually works for me since it kind of follows gameplay - but it has never not frozen, gotten stuck on a short loop, etc. And the thing that sticks in my craw, is that WoM charges $20 for this thing and has done so since the beginning. Even when it was 10x worse they were charging for a completely unstable game. Sorry, no. I do not buy games specifically to subsidize development of the game itself - that's what bank loans and investors are for - I am a consumer and I buy the game for the game. Development is costly to be sure and WoM is likely a one-man company (I don't know anything about them), without the time or resources to devote to full-time private programming. I get it. But that is why people issue *public* beta releases (in addition to private), to allow user feedback and even *help with coding*. I hold nothing personal against WoM - they have done nothing to wrong me (other than to disappoint me) - but the business model of selling not-ready-for-primetime software needs to go. For reference, I am running OSX 10.5.6 on 15" 2.2GHz MacBook Pro w/ 4GB RAM and the stock NVidia GeForce 8600M GT graphics card - same system I use for Doom, WoW and Snood.

I have been playing Chowder for about two months now, and at first the game was fun, cute, and very addictive. I also had the same problem with the mouse as Kevin Ballard, but discovered that it only happened when I tried to move or center the window before playing the game. I also agree with his assessment of the price. This game is overpriced at $19.95, and $12.95 would be a fair price for what you get. However, the biggest problem that I have found with the game is what appears to be a "current" in the water. As little Chompy swims along, controlled by the player's mouse, suddenly a current causes him/her to be temporarily out of control, either faster of slower, depending on the game or puzzle level. The current often slams Chompy into another fish or keeps him from moving out of the way when he tries. This causes a safe-swimming penalty. Since the safe swimming bonus is such an important part of the score, the current gets really annoying and seems completely unfair. The current is nothing more than the programmer's periodically taking control of the mouse away from the player when the player needs it most. Dave may think that this is fun, or even funny, but it has caused the me to get frustrated and hate the game. I like games in which I can continue to improve my skills and get higher scores. This unfair feature has taken the fun out of the game for me. I had fun with the game for the first several weeks, but in it's current configuration, I would not recommend it to anyone. $19.95 is too much to pay for a game that gets old in just a few weeks. I have been playing snood for years and still enjoy that game. If the player could turn off the current, this game would be awesome, and worth the price.

Recipe for Chowder: 3 parts - Pac-Man 3 parts - Asteroids 1 part - Joust Toss all the ingredients into a fish tank, and you have Chowder, an enjoyable game with a great deal of replay value. I showed it to my 5-year-old daughter, and she was immediately taken with it. I'd agree with the price tag comments already made...a bit on the high side, but if you're looking for some relatively harmless fun for the whole family, Dave Dobson has delivered once again with Chowder. It's no Snood, but it's nearly as fun in its own way! As far as control issues, I had no problems controlling it with either my directional keys or the trackpad on my 12" PowerBook, or a Logitech MX1000 wireless mouse on my upgraded G4 Sawtooth. (In fact, my daughter is playing it on my Sawtooth right now without a problem).

Interesting game. The concept reminds me of a flash game I played a while back - I forget the name. The game itself is enjoyable. A bunch of levels (I played up to level 10), each one you try to grow by eating smaller fish while avoiding the bigger ones that can hurt or kill you. The biggest (and only real) problem I had with it was mouse control was completely broken. I don't know if it works in fullscren mode, but at least in window mode, touching the mouse to move it in any direction sent my fish speeding straight left. I had to use the keyboard. I didn't mind, though - keyboard controls are good. The music was appropriate, although it started to get old (not much variation there). The graphics are decent, keyboard controls are fine, and there seems to be a reasonable amount of play value. However, I think the $19.95 price tag is too high for this game. Were I to be spending money on games (currently I can't afford that), $9.95 would be more than fair for this game, perhaps $12.95, *possibly* even $14.95, but no higher. Had I any influence, I'd suggest $12.95 being the sweet spot for this game.