LOL – NDS – Review

Every decade or so, gamers get the chance to
express their developmental creativity via program-free development software.
Games like RPG Maker have allowed players to create and customize their own
role-playing games with unthinkable depth. Now there’s a game that gives you
the chance to create your own board game/party game challenges: LOL. Created
with the goal of making players laugh (and getting them to think freely and
play without restrictions), LOL doesn’t have any rules. It doesn’t have any
specific goals or challenges. Instead, you create the challenge, up to four
players come up with the solution (yourself included), and then they vote on
the best solution available.

How does it work? Very simply but with one
prerequisite: every player must have his or her own Nintendo DS. I had assumed
that, since this was a multiplayer-only game, there would be some kind of
turn-taking feature where you could share a DS among four players. No such
feature exists. So make sure you have a few DS-toting friends handy before
attempting to play.

Once you’re ready to go, the player with the
game card (only one is needed) initiates the first challenge. No concept is
too crazy for this game. It might be too crazy for your friends. Ex: asking
them to list the best salad dressing is a tad less amusing then having them
draw the most memorable Mario enemy. (Important note: whenever a game allows
for creativity or customization, you can be sure I’ll find a way to
incorporate a Goomba.)

But your favorite isn’t necessarily the "best,"
or at least the one your friends will pick. In a more creative game, ask not
who their favorite character (or whatever) is, but who can draw a specific
character most accurately. The tiny touch screen makes it hard for everyone,
regardless of their individual skills as an artist (or lack thereof). I won’t
even attempt the cast of The Lord of the Rings, but I can do a solid Pikachu…in
about an hour or two.

Which again is part of the user-created
challenge: the time limit. You decide how long the game lasts. And it’s not
just a drawing game or a debate about the best food or movie. Anything you can
think of may be used – the only catch is the outcome. Whether an opinionated
question, a trivia game (try asking your friends to correctly spell the names
of the five creators of LOL. Their guesses alone should be funny), or
something more unique (here’s a cool one: have the challenger go outside and
snap a picture with a phone or digital camera, then have everyone draw what
they think was photographed), the "winning" answer is the one that gets the
most votes. But the winner’s only award is the ability to make the next
challenge, even though the player with the game card is the one who started.
So you don’t have to play by the game’s definition of a winner – given the way
LOL was developed, the developers likely prefer that you don’t.

Since LOL is a game that was made for everyone,
even those who don’t play video games very often, the menus are clear and easy
to use. The concept is easier to understand in-game than it is to explain. To
non-gamer friends, you could describe it as a "make your own version of Win,
Lose or Draw." That’s a cheesy description but will help them understand what
they’re getting into, and may reduce their feelings of intimidation.

And that’s all there is to this game of
make-your-own-fun. With the right crowd (casual players and especially those
who don’t take things too seriously), LOL is a fun time-killer for a group to
utilize.

Note: LOL is available online exclusively at
Agetec.