Ivory is a clean-cut mahjongg game that has great 3D graphics. As far as mahjongg games go, it can be difficult to achieve uniqueness, but is about as close as you’re going to get. Surprisingly, Ivory is cross-platform, but still has a fully native Mac version (which is quite unfortunately uncommon). The controls are simple, and the camera movement shows off the smooth, 3-dimensional aspect of the game. If you don’t like the look, of the tiles, there are several replacement sets available. This is how mahjongg should be.

Rating: 5/5. Simple, clean, and fun. How it should be.

Developer site:
IvoryMahjongg.com

Otis is a fun little Mac game that’s been around for some time. The goal is to knock out blocks on a big board full of them. To knock them out, you have to click 2 or more of the same colored blocks that are touching. If there are no more block pairs you can do, you lose. While it sounds easy, the concept has proven to be pretty difficult in the end result, and the game can be pretty casual and easy or extremely challenging. The app has a nice UI , as well as some cheerful sound effects to complement the fun nature of the game. Otis is a Mac gaming classic because of its simplistic but incredibly fun gameplay.

Rating: 5/5. Tons of fun, many levels of difficulty make for a great time.

Developer site:
WonderWarp.com/Otis

Oops! is a Mac clone of the popular board game Sorry.  It has a nice, clean interface and runs pretty fast.  While it won’t keep you occupied for hours on end, it’s still a fun and interesting game that I recommend for anyone who’s looking for something to do.

Rating: 5/5. Works great, nice icon too.

Developer site:
ErikBichler.com/Software/Oops.html

Klondike Forever is a great Solitaire game for Mac that’s been around for a long time.  The developer also made Solitaire Forever, which is essentially Klondike Forever with more game types available.  It runs very smoothly and has slick sound effects, as well as an adjustable window size.  It even has an iPhone screen size setting (although it doesn’t run on the iPhone).  Overall this game is very nice, and has few bells and whistles to distract you.  It’s actually very visually appealing, as well, with its fluid movement and impressive graphics.  Klondike Solitaire is a fun and simple remake of a timeless classic.

Rating: 5/5. Runs perfect, also has nice instructions.

Developer site:
SolitaireForever.com/Klondike

For those of you who have iPhones or iPod touches on the 2.0 software, you probably know about AquaForest, the two dimensional sandbox app. AquaForest uses the OctaveEngine (Casual) graphics engine to achieve its amazing effects, but what most people don’t realize is that engine exists on Mac and Windows as well. OE-CAKE is a sort of sandbox where you can interact with tons of different elements, and draw them to see what they do. Playing with it is actually a lot more fun than it sounds, because it’s so realistic. You can adjust gravity, and generally just mess with time and other such variables. Give it a try. You’ll love it.

Rating: 5/5. Glad it’s free. Tons of fun, and surprisingly clean UI.

Developer site:
OctaveEngine.com/En/Casual/OECAKE

StepMania is one of the coolest free cross-platform games ever. It’s essentially exactly the same as Dance Dance Revolution, except with tons more songs (which can be made by the users), and a huge fan base. Now, if it sounds dull to play DDR with a keyboard, you’re right. It really is. But, StepMania takes it a step further (no pun intended) and lets you plug in a dance pad via USB. This way you can actually dance to really any song you want. StepMania has been around for a while, and keeps getting better. Simply put, this game is a blast. I might add that you need a pretty good knowledge of computers to play StepMania.

Rating: 4.5/5. Lags from time to time, but who cares?

Developer site:
StepMania.com

Nexuiz is an awesome, cross-platform deathmatch game. It’s an addictive, high-quality first person shooter that’s grown a lot since the project first started. It’s incredibly fast-paced, and plays a lot like Quake 4. It’s a blast to play, and has a fast-growing community of people to play with. If you liked Tremulous, you’ll love Nexuiz.

Rating: 5/5. Surprisingly fun for a free game.

Developer Site:
AlienTrap.org/Nexuiz

OSx360 is a useful tool for burning Xbox 360 games to DVDs. Note that it’s intended for “test purposes only”, at the moment. This app looks great from my initial view, and is very impressive. It can also verify your games’ ISO images to make sure that everything is correctly formatted. Mac OS X Tiger and up.

Rating: 4.5/5. Nice app, great speed. Shows a lot of information, as well.

Developer site: NukedSoftware.com/OSx360/Index.html

NOTE: The intended use of this application is for legal purposes–burning games to DVDs. It is NOT intended for pirating games. It’s currently only used for testing, according to their site.

Pogo Sticker is an awesome game by the creators of Porrasturvat where you’re a constantly jumping man on a pogo stick, and you have to make it to the end of the level without dying. This game has awesome, swirly graphics that are very colorful, and go nicely with the theme of the game. It runs smoothy overall, and is a blast to play. There are also Windows and Linux versions available.

Rating: 5/5. Finally, and eye-candy focused game that’s fun to play!

Developer site: SecretExit.com/Games/PogoSticker

Friendz, one of my favorite Mac apps, is back. It’s an Xbox Live friends viewer and much more. After a long period of downtime (while the developer was fixing some compatibility issues with the Xbox website), Friendz is up again. Not only can you see what friends of your are online, you can now view their gamercards, send and receive messages, and even see your achievements.

More features are coming soon, and I’m definitely looking forward to them. One of the best arts of this app is the fast login time–the Xbox website is known as being slow, but Friendz logs in in about 3 seconds. This, at least to someone with Xbox Live, is a very useful app.

Rating: 5/5. Great app, and I’m looking forward to more features soon.

Developer site: ThermoGlobalNuclearWar.com