One more conference for casual game developers has passed. It has become a tradition to hold an annual winter Casual Connect Conference in Hamburg, Germany. The three day show brought together the leading game developers, publishers and key speakers from all over the world. All the halls of the Congress Center were full of people buzzing about new concepts, upcoming and released titles, new opportunities, sharing invaluable experience to their colleagues. This year the conference attended over 3000 people from 24 countries.
Congress Center, Hamburg
Awem studio was one of the sponsors at the Casual Connect Europe 2010. One of the most fascinating elements of the conference is the possibility to meet a variety of new and acquainted partners, share information about our current games as well as showcase upcoming projects for all-comers.
Promo stuff
We entered the show with a clear intent of introducing our three new titles coming this year. It wasn’t difficult to find Awem among trestle of tables and booths as our plasma panel kept working giving the possibility to the attendees to stop by and discover news firsthand. Over the next three days we’ve given away tons of Awem’s booklets, notebooks, sticky notes, pens and badges.
Awem table
One of the games we brought to the conference was Golden Trails: The New Western Rush, a hidden object game with a wild west theme and a bank robbery investigation. Right after the conference we’ve launched a beta testing and received many positive responses.
Cradle of Rome 2, a sequel to the hit puzzle game Cradle of Rome which still reaches number one on some portals and was one of the top 20 games during the last three years (2007-2009).
We were very excited to first show our pilot project - The Island: Castaway, the game we suspect we're going to be busy for several months to come as the team is new to this genre and way of thought. It’s an action-adventure game where the characters, events and story are tied very closely to the island.
Showcased games
Now we are back at our decks making improvements, creating new features, researching game audience in a word, working hard to release high quality and absorbing games.
What do you think of when you hear words western or Wild West? Bandits and cowboys, gunfights and face-to-face shootouts, dusty towns with ramshackle houses and isolated ranches, vast valleys and prairies... That's the common stereotype which firmly sits in peoples’ minds. Cinematography and men of letters did their bits in creating a strong image and typical western characters.
At the beginning of the development process of Golden Trails: The New Western Rush we took into consideration all stereotypes as we wanted to create a genuine Wild West atmosphere. We mustn’t break them on any account. Otherwise it won’t be a western. On the contrary, we decided to add something new both in the plot and gameplay, plus a bit of romance.
In spite of the fact that there is a number of games with The Old West setting, we are confirmed that western is a very rich theme and there is much space for imagination and lots of uncovered possibilities for creation. In Golden Trails: The New Western Rush we intend to reveal the great potential of western as a casual game theme.
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush Storyline
When making Golden Trails: The New Western Rush, the developer’s team aimed at making a catchy and appealing storyline. It’s very important to make it familiar, true to life and at the same time to bring in something unexpected.
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush Intro
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush can boast of rich and intricate plot. It begins with an ordinary bank robbery in Somerville, a small Wild West town, but as soon as you go deeper into the game you uncover lots of intriguing facts.
Typical game characters: dance-hall girl Charlotte and Sheriff Jack
In spite of the fact that Golden Trails: The New Western Rush features detective storyline, romance of the Wild West is one of the most essential aspects in the game. While the player investigates the bank robbery, two love stories unfold before his eyes. We think that love theme is a unique possibility to reveal characters’ personality.
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush screenshot # 1
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush is a great adventure with lots of secrets to unravel! When thinking about the plot, we wanted to make the player live the game. So we tried to center on people’s lives and their personal secretes rather than on abstract mysteries.
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush Artwork
Artwork plays a very important role in the game making process. It is not only the game’s appearance. Graphics set atmosphere and influence the player’s perception of the game.
Working on Golden Trails: The New Western Rush graphics our artists focused on creating a vivid Wild West image. We decided to try an absolutely new type of graphics which is different from what you can see in Cradle Of Rome or Romance of Rome games. It looks a bit cartoonish but at the same time it’s not deprived of the sense of reality.
Game Characters
The main task set out for our artists was to present a genuine, heartwarming and welcoming atmosphere and make the player feel ‘here and now’. A special attention is paid to our characters. They are the brightest prototypes of the Wild West dwellers.
Some of the main characters of the game
Each character is a remarkable and memorizable personage. For example, Charlotte, a pretty dance-hall girl, adventurous Cowboy Joe, brave Sheriff Jack, Mr. Taylor, a greedy and self-interested banker. Every character has his own secret which you will uncover playing the game.
Backgrounds and Locations
We used the most distinctive and associated with the Wild West locations such as The Grand Canyon, Indian Camp, Stable (a ranch can’t do without a stable), Sheriff’s Office…
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush screenshot # 2. Canyon
A special emphasis was put on details such as views from windows, county style furniture, wooden and leather textures, wallpaper patterns, décor items. Houses and buildings which you’ll see in the game are chiefly made of wood and are typical of small Wild West settlements. At the same time we tried to create bright and lively scenes by adding rich in color items and animated elements. Every item should fit perfectly the theme and situation.
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush screenshot # 3. Square
Audio
Sound effects and soundtracks always make a significant contribution to the game atmosphere. Golden Trails: The New Western Rush is rich in ambient sound effects which help to enliven the environment. For example, horse neighing, birds chattering, or guitar strumming. Pleasant county tunes which will remind you something of ‘The Good, the Bad and the Ugly’ soundtrack accompany the gameplay.
Moreover, we are preparing a surprise for you! A special song will vivify the game. It’s going to be about game events and will be performed in a cheerful and humorous way. We hope you’ll appreciate it.
Trophies and Rewards
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush is very generous with rewards. We actually tried to think over every possibility to encourage our players. Each found item brings you points. The faster you find them, the better score you have. That influences your total game success. When you have won a definite number of points you are awarded with a Bonus Star which goes to the Main Menu.
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush screenshot # 4
Like Romance Of Rome, Golden Trails: The New Western Rush will compliment you with trophies! On completing the game, the player gets a possibility to publish his achievements online to his Awem account. In addition, the game has a very impressive Trophy Room where all the players’ achievements are collected.
This is just a little bit of what awaits you in Golden Trails: The New Western Rush. Next time I’ll dwell upon the gameplay and some innovative features. Stay tuned!
On January 4 Awem studio is celebrating its 8th Anniversary. All these years we worked hard to bring you griping, whimsical and captivating games. This helped us to establish ourselves as the premier casual game developer in Eastern Europe. Awem studio’s successes have come from supporting each of our member’s unique skills to produce original games for the whole family.
On behalf of our company, we’d like to thank all our fans who believe in us. You encourage us to go on and inspire to further improvements and consequently to new remarkable games. The best present for us is to see you playing our games again and again, to see your delight and never-ceasing interest.
2010 will be rich in events for our company as well as for our fans. There will be a lot of new games and bright surprises!
In celebration of our 8th Anniversary, Awem has prepared a special surprise: 8 Best Awem Games in one Bundle, exclusively for Awem users only.
Enjoy your favorite games, and thank you for been with us!
Awem studio wishes you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! May this festival bring abundant joy, happiness and peace in your life and your world be filled with warmth and good cheer this Holy season, and throughout the year!
As you know Awem studio is engaged in creating Cradle Of Rome 2, the sequel to the hit puzzle game Cradle Of Rome. Making a game is a creative and demanding process. The work is in full swing. Everyone is so busy and hardly has time to enlighten the PR department about the upcoming Cradle Of Rome 2.
So, I had nothing to do but to furnish myself with all the necessary stuff, attack Awem headquarters and spy into Cradle Of Rome 2 development process. Now I am here and ready to share with you some rare bit of information I’ve heard and I’ve seen.
Let’s begin!
City of Rome
The main and probably the most intriguing part which awaits you in Cradle Of Rome 2 is the city! It was redrawn for several times until the developer’s team understood: “That’s what we need!”
On the one hand, the main goal was to preserve the architectural style and atmosphere; on the other hand, to bring in some distinguishing features into the new city. When the fist variant of the city map was ready, it looked rather atmospheric and attractive. However, after the buildings were modeled and the images were finalized, the city seemed to lack something… something very important. Every single element looked great and beautiful but there was no real harmony and the feel of entity.
Sketches of the first Cradle Of Rome 2 city.
So the work at the City Map was put off. Later on the artist team got a creative task from the lead designer of the project – to rearrange all the buildings on the map as they see it. So it was like a competition. As a result they got many variants and only some of them, the best ones, were chosen for further consideration.
Some more sketches of the city. But only the best one was chosen!
While looking through sketches of the new city, there appeared a very simple and obvious idea. The city lacked its heart! Of course, there were streets and squares like in every real city. But the goal was to create a dream-city and every city must have a heart.
Among several city maps there was the one with its central part, the heart. What a coincidence! This work belonged to the very artist who was working at the original Cradle Of Rome. It's fate. We are on the right track!
So, in the middle of the city is a beautiful square with fountains and all the streets meet here. Now the city looks immense and agreeable at the same time. It has its heart! And now everyone who looks at it is sure the city couldn't be better!
Here is part of final Cradle Of Rome 2 city. It’s so exciting that we decided to carry on an intrigue and let the players reveal the city’s heart themselves.
Gameplay
Match-three remains the key genre in Cradle Of Rome 2 BUT pleasant surprises await. The developer's team is thinking to introduce absolutely new game levels filled with additional challenges. To some extend it’s a kind of risk when you bring in some novelty. Well, as they say ‘Nothing venture, nothing win’.
Cradle Of Rome 2 screenshot #1
From the very beginning there were many ideas of what features to add and how they will be perceived by the players. The most important point here is not to overcomplicate things and keep reasonable balance between amount of innovation and gameplay simplicity, between level difficulty and challenge.
Unlike Cradle Of Rome, Cradle Of Rome 2 will feature fun mini-games. Now you need to put together a blueprint in order to buy a new building.
Cradle Of Rome 2 screenshot #2
Cradle Of Rome 2 will be diversified with new puzzling shapes and barriers like obstructive Skulls, or helpful Multi-Shapes which can be matched with two identical items on the board, or simply Frozen Tiles which will increase challenge and call for strategic thinking.
Game Modes
Almost without any hesitation the designers decided to add two more modes of play. Why? Because it provides more diversity and extra challenge, helps to make the game even more exciting.
Cradle Of Rome 2 menu bar
Adventure remains the main mode of the game with over 100 levels of matching fun and exhilarating process of building the City of Rome. As soon as you play enough of “Adventure” you will get the possibility to unlock more levels in Tourney and Blitz modes.
Get ready for the frenzied action in Blitz Mode. It will definitely please those who love the taste of adrenalin. Or enjoy Tourney Mode which lets you choose a level from the list. On completing a level you are awarded with a trophy.
The system of trophies is an essential part of the game. Like Romance Of Rome, Cradle Of Rome 2 will have an option of publishing the gained trophies online. Players will be able to boast their puzzling skills and compare their results with each other.
Game Artwork
Our artists do their best to create superficially attractive and rich in color images and locations. We are proud of the characters and backdrops we create for our games. Cradle Of Rome 2 is no exception.
We set a new level of graphics and Cradle of Rome 2 can boast of totally new and vibrant backdrops. But what is more important we preserve the atmosphere and style we invented in the original Cradle Of Rome.
Cradle Of Rome 2 backdrop: Mine
Cradle Of Rome 2 backdrop: Port
Game Audio
Speaking about atmosphere of Cradle Of Rome 2, I can’t but mention the sound aspect of the game. You will hear already familiar and pleasing tunes but in a new and fresh rendering. The original Cradle Of Rome has distinctive and relaxing soundtracks. Introducing absolutely new music would be very unfair. We don’t want to break the harmony of the game. The only thing we’ll do is just a little polishing.
Have a look of what we have already prepared for you.
In order to entertain the players and add some challenging features to our games Awem studio includes in the games special awards – Trophies. Starting with Romance of Rome each new Awem game will have its unique trophies which you can post online to your profile.
How can I submit Trophies to Awem?
1. First, you should download or buy the game from awem.com. All other web sites have the version without game trophies.
2. Having completed the tasks from the citizens of Rome and progressing through the game you’ll earn various trophies. You can see your trophies at anytime by clicking on the Status bar in the upper right corner. The Imperial relics you found are also displayed here.
3. On the bottom of the Status menu there is a "Submit" button. In order to submit trophies click on the "Submit" button and enter your Awem login and password in the respective fields.
In order to submit trophies click on the "Submit" button and enter your Awem login and password in the respective fields.
If you do not have an account, click the Registration button and create it. It's easy!
4. Your trophies will be submitted automatically to your personal page in the Awards tab.
Why don’t I have all Trophies?
To win the game you do not have to earn every trophy. Having completed the game you may miss some of them. But you can replay the game if you want to get every one.
See the list of trophies from Romance of Rome with a short instruction how to win them.
It was 2007, and we had just finished developing Cradle of Persia. So we asked ourselves: “What do we do now? What game should we work on next?” Since hidden object games had become widely popular, we decided to give that genre a try.
Getting Started
To begin with, we had to come up with some distinguishing features for our future game to differentiate it from the many other hidden object games already on the market. Because Awem doesn’t make “ordinary” games, we knew the game had to involve more than just clicking around. After discussing two different concepts, we collected all successful ideas and defined a setting. Due largely to the popularity of Cradle of Rome—and with the substantial help of our online community—we determined that our new hidden object game would be set in Rome.
At that point, we reviewed our assets:
• A fine setting, popular with most and familiar to all
• A nice concept
• An enthusiastic team
Meanwhile, programmers were busy with a new engine which could meet all the game’s requirements; our artists were working on the first locations; and the project lead had begun turning the concept into a full-fledged design document. The work was in full swing.
Design Challenges
At the initial stage of development our requirements were so high that both programmers got seriously stuck building the engine. But we did not lose our resolve. The forced delay gave us the chance to work out the design document and get rid of dubious features at an early stage.
When at last the programmers could show some meaningful results, the graphics were also ready. What that meant is that we now had built enough that we could share our work-in-progress with a focus group.
Its response was: "OK." Of course, we were not at all happy with "OK."
Design Improvements
To improve our game, we decided to add more characters, enliven dialogue, expand the story line, and (most important of all) introduce trading relationships and a market. Henceforth, as players found hidden objects they would earn coins which could be spent at the market. As they acquired more, their possessions would be displayed in their profiles. In addition, we decided to provide players with usable tools—an idea that received an enthusiastic response from our focus group.
Of course, all of these innovations compelled us to make changes to the interface—and as we did so, the interface became heavier and more complicated. Eventually, having experimented with numerous interface variations, we settled on the design you can see in the game today.
From Demo to Final Release
Little by little we refined our first demo version of the game and took it with us to Casual Connect Kiev 2008 . Despite the fact that the demo was a bit raw, we received warm and positive responses there, which boosted our enthusiasm for the project. What’s more, at the conference we received some valuable suggestions for improvements which we subsequently incorporated into the game.
After the trade show, we found ourselves snowed under with work—but to be honest, we faced it with pleasure. The release was at hand, after all, and we looked forward to our approaching holiday with eager anticipation.
The beta version of Romance of Rome was ready in March, but it completely failed initial testing.
At that time, we made the difficult decision to make wholesale improvements to the game—even if it meant we would have to postpone the release date for several months.
For starters, we rewrote the plot to make it more extensive while giving the heroes unique, recognizable characteristics. We also made the game more “grown-up” and serious (which didn’t deprive it of its humor and charm). We replaced straight blocks of text with bright and stylish comics. And perhaps most significant of all: We got rid of the market altogether even though it had taken central place in the previous version of the game.
Finally, after one-and-a-half years and two different budget increases—and in spite of numerous difficulties along the way—Romance of Rome was released on September 1, 2009.
It’s Halloween this Saturday! Are you ready for trick-or-treating? Or maybe you are having a costume party with apple bobbing, ghost stories and horror films?
Whatever… As this is the most horrifying holiday of the year, Halloween-themed casual games are already here to entertain you.
Almost every game genre prepared some TREAT for its fans.
Casual Connect Kyiv brings together the most talented and knowledgeable experts in the casual gaming field to further the casual games industry with the best of networking and learning. It’s the greatest event for all casual game developers which gives the possibility to boast about new games, get immense experience and positive charge. Every year Casual Connect Kyiv attends over 3,000 professionals of the casual games industry.
Awem studio has become a Gold Sponsor at the conference held October 21-23 and brings there five projects.
Golden Trails: The New Western Rush stands first in the list for beta test and will be available soon after the conference. It’s a Wild West hidden object game in which you take the role of a local sheriff and investigate a mysterious bank robbery.
Letters from Nowhere will let you dive into the atmosphere of mystery and unsolved issues. Who sends these unco letters? Why do they send them to you? What do they want? Be ready for dramatic and captivating story.
One more game we are going to present is The Island: Castaway. The Island: Castaway is a joint development of Awem studio and SahmonGames. It’s an action-adventure game with cinematographic plot. You’ll have to explore enigmatic island, find clues and solve more than 150 diverse quests.
Hope all the games will receive positive responses. I’ll report you how it was on returning home. Wish good luck to me and our games.
Awem has been working on a new game. You’ve already known the name. It’s Golden Trails: The New Western Rush– a hidden object shoot-out. Feel the spirit of adventure, search intricate scenes in the rush of gunslingers, sleuth 25 Wild West locations and meet dozens of iconic characters. In the game you take the role of a local sheriff who investigates an impertinent bank robbery.
Here are part of Springwood and the Sheriff's office.
Some alert game players could make an objection: “What about Romance Of Rome and Cradle Of Rome 2? Are you making three games at the same time?”
Awem’s development division has been working hard for the last year to make happy all its devoted fans. All the games will be unique with their own atmosphere and peculiarities.
Today I had the chance to play the first few levels of Golden Trails. All I can say is – the game is highly addictive!!! I couldn’t put it away and re-played it over and over roaming about Springwood city, collecting evidences near the bank, in the hotel and at stable and questioning came across people. Our sheriff is a clever dog. He can keep secrets and will expose the truth.
It’s only a sneak peek of but I’m sure the game will surpass all my and your expectations. Can’t wait to play the full version!
P.S. Special thanks to all of you who sent us variants of the game title. They inspired us to think of Golden Trails: The New Western Rush.
Romance of Rome took much time in the making, but the game is nearly ready! Just a couple of weeks left to tidy things up. I'm so excited abot that!
Now I want to give you a heads up about the game Awem is going to release.
So, what we have in Romance of Rome?
A fine, familiar and everyone’s favorite setting – Rome. You’ll be able to travel through the legendary Roman Empire and visit all its remote corners.
The coolest combination of hidden object and quests. Move around the scenes, find skillfully hidden items, solve puzzles, and reveal hidden locations to complete everything. Some items are very hard to find!
Trading relationships and market. In Romance of Rome we not simply find abstract subjects which are necessary only for appearances' sake, but obtain material reward, which could be spent at the market. All the stuff is displayed on the hero’s screen.
Cute heroes with unique recognized characters. In the game you’ll meet merchant Titus, senator Quint, wise Octavio and his agile grandson Lucius, the Emperor and his daughter. Everything is represented in bright and stylish comics.
The hand-drawn graphics creates wonderful atmosphere.
And, of course, a love story.
So when it comes out grab it, play it, enjoy it!
Romance of Rome coming out very soon. The expected release date is September, 2009. Dear beta testers, be ready! In a week or so it'll be that time to play and tell us your opinions!
This month Kitty221 left 119 posts and earned 937 awem coins which she can spend playing games at playrium.awem.com.
It's a new online game-room from Awem studio. All you need is create an account on awem.com and click "playrium.awem.com" in your profile. Here you can earn money playing championship, make friends and send gifts.
Our congratulations! As a prize you may chose any Awem game, released or coming soon. Thank you for participation in the Awem game forums.
Please, make your choice and let us know. See awem games here
"Any man can be a Father,
but it takes a special person
to be called Dad."
The third Sunday in June is marked in our calendar as Father’s Day. Our Fathers are wonderful people. Just think how much they’ve done and are still doing for us... They are always there for us at hard times and would give anything in the world to see us happy and safe.
Our Fathers are different and love different things. What does your Father like best? My Dad loves sweets, popcorn, Star Wars, crosswords and computer games. He’s not a huge gamer but he wouldn’t mind playing a couple of levels. Among his favorites are Ricochet Infinity, Star Defender games and Astro Avenger 2.
That will be trivial if I say that the best gift for your Dad is a computer game. No. I believe that every Father will get his special and unique present on this day.
No matter what you give… The most important is what you say. Show your gratitude and love… Take care of your Dads. They need to feel your love… always, not only on this day.
I have a strong feeling that Awem Community is filled with the most objective and nicest casual gamers. You are real pros in rating and appraising games.
May has always been my favorite month. And mostly because of Mother's Day. It is a time of breakfast in bed, family gatherings, and crayon scribbled "I Love You". Anna Jarvis made a great thing when proposed to celebrate moms.
There is no much time left before the holiday and it’s just the right moment for making the last preparations. I think, a nice gift would be a bouquet of flowers, a delicious cake from the confectioner's round the corner and of course a good game.
Funny to notice, certain games remind me some popular mothers. If you played Emerald City Confidential you’ll surely agree with me that Petra possesses qualities of Mary Wollstonecraft, known as “Mother of Feminism”. Or loved by thousands of players Flo from the Dinner Dash series makes me think about Alice Waters, who has successfully demonstrated how a restaurant can flourish.
To increase the spirit of the holiday we propose you to play the best family-themed games. Enjoy the charm of caring the lovely babies in Diaper Dash and Babysitting Mania. Or look after the whole family in Virtual Families and Nanny Mania 2.
No matter what game you choose to play we are sure you’ll have a nice Mother’s Day. And… don’t forget to kiss your Mom!
Since January Sharon left a record number of posts. It’s 30 for the last two weeks. Thank you for participation in the Awem game forums and... Our Congratulations!
From now you can choose not only the released Awem games but which are in development too.
Recently we’ve made a close look to a beta version of Romance Of Rome game and made a conclusion that it requires two more months for improvements and polishing.
We receive many letters from you, our beta testers and fans, asking about the release date. Thanks for your interest and collaboration. We are concerned about the quality not the date that’s why the launch is set back to June.
We’ve made a video preview of the game which you can see on Facebook . It’s just a demo and I’m afraid the final version of Romance Of Rome will be quite different. The changes won’t be considerable though. Hope you’ll like the audio and the cartoonish style in plot representing. There will be no market anymore (as it's written in Romance Of Rome Preview) and you won’t see the whole city as you load the game. Intrigued? I'm too.
Easter is just around the corner, and I’m looking forward to it! I spend all the weekend doing spring cleaning. Sure not only me… There are thousands of people out there that get worked up and stressed over the holiday period.
If you find yourself freaking out then sit down and spend a few hours playing your favorite games. I spent these breaks trying new games come up last week. I play games at work (it’s a part of my job) but I still have so many new ones to try.
A few of my favorites are Liong: The Lost Amulets and Emerald City Confidential.
Emerald City is based on the ‘The Wizard of Oz’ novel by L. Frank Baum. I was excited by its great story and cute characters. It seems a new casual game genre appears - click-and-point. Mahjong and hidden objects are my favorite genres and I’m so happy to find both in Liong: The Lost Amulets.
Play and relax as you plan your Easter day 2009.
Here are some notable facts about Easter:
Easter egg is a symbol of rebirth in most cultures.
Achocolate version of the traditional painted egg is perfect for Easter Egg Hunt.
Sunday April 12, 2009 we celebrate Catholic Easter and Sunday April 19, 2009 - Orthodox Easter.
The Lenten Season is the forty-six day period just prior to Easter Sunday.
Easter Bunny, as the symbol of Easter, was brought to America by the Germans.
Roast lamb is the traditional meat for the main meal on Easter Day.
Beginning January 1st, Awem studio is giving one (1) free game every month for its community. One lucky fan who leaves the most number of posts wins in the Best Profile Contest and gets a free Awem game of his choice!
Ladybird becomes ‘The user of March’. She was very active and left 14 comments.
Thank you, ladybird, for participating in Awem game forums and keeping things fresh and fun.
I won’t be mistaken if say that spring is the most long-awaited season (100% for me). Shinning sun and verdant grass, pipes, promenades along quays… It sounds prettily, isn’t it?
And with it, in spring I start to regret all these tasty pizzas and double burgers I treated myself to. Or maybe you are a sweet tooth and were treating cakes and chocolates? Well, I’m one of you…
It’s time to get ready for the new season! I see brave runners here and there. The fitness centers became overcrowded. And, frankly speaking, I had the idea to call on the gym round the corner.
The casual games market seems to march in step. The Dinertown citizens go en masse to Jo the Jogger’s gyms in Fitness Dash game. And Vikki works day and night to help people get fit and feel great in Fitness Frenzy. Of course, they won’t help you lose a kilogram or two. But you can pick up some useful exercises.
In any case, spring has come! And in spite of everything enjoy these rosy aromas hovering in air and bask in the sunshine. Vive springtime!
In continuation of my first blog where I wrote about all innovations awaiting you at awem.com I think it’s time to share with you our game projects.
This year will be rich on games from our studio.
Keeping the tendency we also head for Hidden Object games. Awem is planning to launch at least 3 seek-and-find games. The upcoming one is Romance Of Rome. It uses a traditional approach to the genre and, at the same time, has lots of challenging puzzles and original twists to entertain you.
At the same time Awem employees are working on Wild West hidden object. Players go on the world of bandits, bank robbery, secret maps; plunge into adventures... Passionate love, treachery and a rush for wealth - all these await you.
Who doesn’t love mystery? I adore it. This led us to the game with stories and enigmas in it. Our new hidden objects game will be made in the best traditions of Stephen King’s science fiction. After all, what better motivation for playing a game than finding out what happens next?
At awem.com we keep an ear closely tuned to the feedback from all of you, our fans. There was one message we heard repeatedly, loud and clear, “We love Cradle Of Rome, but are you going to release Cradle Of Rome 2?”
We are sensitive to the needs of our fans and yielded to your requests. I’m excited to tell you that we are currently working on the game. Cradle of Rome 2 will meet you with an enhanced city and the amount of innovative bonuses. We have been designing and furbishing up the city for the whole month and I’m very proud of the results.
Finally a few words about Dream Big: Reverie Manor. Just in case you don’t know it… The game turned out long, it includes several top genres (hidden object + time management + simulation). Dream Big will be launched this year too.
Mac games - Being inspired by the success of Cradle Of Rome for Mac in the nearest future we are planning to released Cradle Of Persia and Star Defender 3 and 4 for Mac OS. Just for you. Enjoy! Soon after launching PC version of Romance Of Rome the game will be available for Mac users too.
We have been working hard to bring you all of these cool new games. If you aren’t already a newsletter subscriber, you should think about signing up. Why? Well, all new awem games will be exclusive at awem.com for a month. So don’t miss out. We’ll send out e-mails to let you know of all the great releases.
This time I'd like to cover another awem game. It’s gonna be a seek-and-find game with what we are calling Wild West setting.
In the game you explore the wild prairies, gold mine, saloon, jail. Enjoy passionate love and suffer from treachery. Meet original western characters and play fast and loose. Go on the world of Wild West adventures.
I hope you’ll enjoy it!
Though creativity is very important when you’re in charge of game design the title of the game, I think, is much more substantial. We are at our wits' end about the title so we decided to ask you, casual players, for advice.
Do you like playing games? Do you know that the games you play are called casual games?
Very often the term “casual” confuses most players. Actually, there is nothing to write home about. They are the games that you can play from time to time just to relax, to spend an hour or two…
I can make a bet that many of you don’t know that the first casual game was … Tetris. This hit of the 90th was invented by a Russian computer programmer in 1984. Of course, the term “casual games” appeared much later, in February 2000.
Nowadays casual games are not only a pleasant pastime, but the rapidly rising industry. Since 2002 many companies engaged in casual games industry have appeared.
So, you are welcome to join their adepts and become an ace casual gamer!
It cannot be doubted that St. Valentine’s Day is the most romantic and the sweetest (in a literal sense) holiday of the year. Like any other holiday it has its history, traditions and symbols.
I always associate St. Valentine’s Day with red hearts, fragrant roses, chocolate, pink ribbons, lovely Cupids, teddy bears and snow-white doves.
As St. Valentine’s Day approaching I think it would be nice to mention a few of the games that are well themed for the holiday and are full of romance and high spirits.
Last year we started a great re-design of awem.com. Having launched the beta version of the site (with cute sparrows if you remember) we realized that it’s a huge part of work that flows into infinite innovations. So we put out heads down and went into work. The results are before your eyes. Now I’d like to tell you what is hidden so far.
Playing Awem games you can simultaneously develop your own profile. Why not publish your new rank or scores you get? Are you a guru in Star Defender 4? Boast about it on our site.
You probably read about upcoming games from Awem studio. Right now we are busy with plugging into them a new system that will give you the possibility to earn various trophies and points and publish them on awem.com. Having finished with the new games we’ll modernize the already existing.
We’ve decided to introduce our own currency on awem.com. It’s the so called “Awem points”. What’s awem points? How to earn them? Why do I need them?
Every registered user can earn Awem points. Awem.com will reward you each time you Create your Account, Log In, leave a comment, rate a game etc. for any activity on the site. They are accumulated. With Awem points you can participate in The Best Profile contest held weekly, receive ranks starting from “Beginner” to “The Game Expert”. The most active user will get one of Awem games for free.
We have far-reaching designs and have already launched a beta version of so called “casual social network“. Where you can compete with each other, chart, make presents etc. Right now we are busy testing it.
Announcement for all Awem and casual games fans!
We are looking for Beta Testers! What you should do?
- Simply play our new casual games holding a mouse in your right hand and a pencil in the left,
- Complete a form with brief but better detailed commentary on the game,
Be among the first to play the latest Awem games! As an Awem Beta Tester you serve as a key source of suggestions, comments, and criticism that help us make our games the best they can be.
Who is a Beta Tester?
To be a Beta Tester means to be the first to play a beta version of Awem’s game and express your opinion by filling up our questionnaire.
What will I need to do as a Beta Tester?
download and install the game you received for testing;
play the game and fill out our questionnaire completely ;
(please desist from leaving free fields and answering just ”Yes” or “No”);
let us know what you liked or disliked about the game;
provide your suggestions of what could be done to make the game better;
To say "Thank you" for your time, effort, and feedback, we provide our beta testers with a free copy of the game when it’s officially released! *
*A free copy of the game will be send only to those beta testers who filled the form completely and left the most detailed and helpful feedback.
How do I become a Beta Tester?
Create an Awem Account or Sign In;
Choose the Account Info tab
Tick off the "Beta Test" box
Click on the "Save" button
As soon as the game is ready for testing you’ll receive an additional information and instructions on downloading the game and reporting your suggestions.
We look forward to working with you!
Among all casual games genres Hidden Objects is the most popular nowadays. A little history about Hidden Object games… It all started out of Huntsville. Mystery Case Files: Huntsville is considered to be the first hidden object game.
It came as a simple game but at that time it was something incredible. From then on, Hidden Object genre has fortified its position among other genres of casual games and undergone some changes. From plain object searching it came to quest-like gameplay and extended itself with elements of other genres like puzzles and/or time-management.
Hidden Object games are one of the most popular genres nowadays. Why? The answer is on the surface. Playing a Hidden Object game is just like reading an absorbing book or watching a gripping movie. There is a catching plot that takes you to some place, and YOU are the main hero of the story. You live through the game and experience emotions…. No wonder that there are many games which were released after popular books, TV serials and shows. Women's Murder Club: Death in Scarlet, Righteous Kill, National Geographic: Herod’s Lost Tomb or Agatha Cristie games. And, believe me, they were no less successful than paper and TV releases.
Do you know that every week a new Hidden Object game comes out into the world?
By the way, Awem studio is planning to launch a number of Hidden Object games this year. Among them is Romance Of Rome, which is planned to be released in March. So, get ready for exciting adventures!
On the 4th January Awem studio celebrated its anniversary. 7 years have passed since Awem was created. It had its rise in a remote 2002 as an unknown company with the first game Pacboy and consisted of only 1 person.
Currently our team consists of more than 25 employees and steady grows year in year out. As I reflect on these 7 years I can confidently say that our efforts were not in vain and now we are proud of such products as Star Defender 2-4, Cradle Of Rome, Cradle Of Persia, Aquitania.
We did and continue doing our best to make qualitative and exciting products. Cradle of Rome for example was accepted as the Best Puzzle Game of 2007 and Cradle of Persia received a prize in the nomination ‘Best production values’ in Innovate 2007. This year we are going to release more new titles. Dream Big: Reverie Manor, Romance of Rome, Cradle of Rome 2 are just a few to name.
I want to thank all our users for being with us and feedback all these years. We value each of you and in 2008 decided to improve and re-design our site to fill it with the best games all over the world. Our support service and moderators on the awem forum pay attention to each letter and personally deal with every request. We try to meet your requirements and 2009 will be the year of even greater improvements and surprises.
Thanks everybody for being with Awem studio and loving our games.
Christmas, is not a date. It is a state of mind. It is a time of giving and sharing love & blessings. It is a time to be with the ones you love and give thanks for their presence in your life.
And in this spirit we say Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
As you could have already noticed Awem studio has 2 more new games in development: they are (or it's better to say were) Romance of Rome and Dream Real: Reverie manor. With the first game Romance of Rome everything is OK! The continuation of Cradle of Rome story from the new perspective. Look forward to play it! I’m a big fan of Cradles.
This time it’s gonna be a hidden objects game. Very qualitative as usual and with some new features and quests to solve. See more about Romance of Rome
As to the second title it underwent a certain change. Awem studio team has decided to change it. Dream Real has become now Dream Big. “Everything in the game (and even the title) should contribute to gamers’ imagination”- as the developers said. It’s a very ambitious project. Live simulation. Can’t say more but Dream Big justifies its title. Well, a great ship asks deep waters. Good luck! See more about Dream Big: Reverie Manor
You are welcomed to join our community! This community is here for you to express your opinion in our forum, exchange ideas, tips, information, receive faster help, personal discounts, and more services. Many people desperate for help whenever they get stuck in any game or have a great need for your recommendations and advice for a purchase. That’s why we made Awem Community.
On our game pages you’ll find game reviews, specific tips and tricks, comments from our users. But even much more than that! Sign in and you’ll see your profile and avatar. Participate in best profile contest weekly! Are you a game expert? Gave useful comments and received many Awem points? Get right on the awem.com home page. This Forum is here for the enjoyment and benefit of all its members.
New to the Forum? Unsure about anything? Just ask! We are here and always happy to help.
Everyone wants a positive experience while on Forum - please refrain from posting anything injurious to third parties. Your opinions are always welcome, but personal attacks are not acceptable. See Awem Community Rules.
Loo gets a Free Game from Awem studio.
