•By Mike Wallinga <mlwall@iname.com>•

•By Adam Karneboge <webmaster@mymac.com>•

Kaged: The Magic Orbs 
Company: Monkey Byte Games
Shareware: $14.95, $19.95 for CD
<http://www.mbyte.com>

Mike: Kaged: The Magic Orbs has all the
makings of a classic puzzle game. It has a
simple premise, and it's easy to learn to play.
However, it's also challenging enough to make you want to come back for more.

Adam: Good puzzle games are always hard to find for one reason: originality. Many puzzle games are similar to one another, and don't offer the level of originality that makes the game fun. When you feel like you haven't played a game before, it's fun, and Kaged is one of those games.

Mike: Kaged presents you with a game board containing round spaces. Some of these spaces are filled with balls, others are left empty. You can move any ball to any adjacent empty square using the mouse. The object is to move the balls so that they are arranged in a certain pattern, and once this is accomplished, you go on to the next level and have a new pattern to match.

Adam: One tricky thing complicates this: every time you move a ball, it changes color, and your job isn't just to move the balls into the right pattern, but also to make sure their colors match the colors given in the pattern. So, you have to figure out the sequence of color changes for each ball, and then figure out how many moves it will take for you get the ball into the right spot with the right color. 

Mike: Sound easy? Maybe in the first few levels, but as you progress in the game, the difficulty grows and it becomes hard to get everything right. There have been several times where I have put all of the balls into the correct spots, only to have one ball be a wrong color. It can get very frustrating!!!

Adam: Frustrating, but always fun. Even when it seems you've mastered the game, Kaged has more tricks up its' sleeve. There's still the challenge of solving each level more quickly and in fewer moves. The game keeps track of the time elapsed on each puzzle, and also the fewest number of moves that it has taken to solve each puzzle, so you can always try to set a new record on a level that you've already solved.

Requirements/Availability
Kaged requires a PowerPC processor, Mac OS 7.5 or higher, 16MB of RAM and 20MB of hard disk space. Kaged only used 4.5MB of hard disk space on my machine (Adam).

You can download Kaged from the Monkey Byte Games website, at <http://www.mbyte.com>, or from download.com, at <http://www.download.com>.

The Summary
Mike: Kaged offers nice graphics and sound, and solid game play. If you're a puzzle enthusiast, you should definitely give Kaged a try.

Adam: It doesn't take long to become hooked on Kaged. The level of originality that Monkey Byte Games has produced is excellent. The interface and graphics are eye catching, the sounds are well done, and the game is very entertaining. Highly Recommended by the Game Guys.

•Mike Wallinga• <mlwall@iname.com>

•Adam Karneboge• <webmaster@mymac.com>

Websites mentioned:
<http://www.mbyte.com>
<http://www.download.com>

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