It seems like every holiday brings a new run of games and apps these days — they’re like holidays sales, only a lot more fun — and Valentine’s Day is no exception. For example, Angry Birds Seasons (the holidays-themed version of the best-selling iOS game Angry Birds) recently added a slew of new Valentine’s Day levels to its Halloween and Christmas sets. That’s a free update for those who already have the game, adding even more value to something that only costs 99¢ to start with.
The designers of The Boardgame Remix Kit (which I wrote about for Tor.com) have done something similar by releasing a free PDF of new, Valentine’s Day-themed rules for existing games. In the manner of their original collection of board game mash-ups, these are new rules for games that you probably already have moldering in the back of your closet: Trivial Pursuit, Monopoly, Scrabble, and Clue(do). While the first set was released as an ebook/PDF, a printed book, a limited-edition set of cards and an app, this set comes only in PDF format, but it costs nothing and makes for a good sampling of the kinds of fun you can expect if you opt to plunk your money down later. As you might guess, the Valentine’s Day set is a bit more risque than the original, but the Clue variant is kid-appropriate.
For Geek Moms and Dads with a sense of humor about how to come up with answers to the great relationship questions in life, Geek Dad contributor Garth Sundem presents the Geek Logik ValentinesDay app. This, the latest in the Geek Logik series, attempts to apply creative equations to finding conclusions to dilemmas like “How much should I spend on my Valentine?”, “What are the chances our marriage will last?”, and the ever-important “Should you apologize?” Just enter the requested data, and your answer pops right out. The app even includes a Panic Button that leads you to a collection of useful links to sites ranging from eHarmony to ICE.com, to cover a wide range of solutions for many relationship issues.
[Disclosure: Hide and Seek Productions sent me a copy of The Boardgame Remix Kit after my note on Tor.com, and my friend James Wallis is one of the designers. Garth Sundem gave me a copy of Geek Logik ValentinesDay to review.]
