I’m sure we have all had moments where there is nothing you can do, but sit where you are, waiting.  It might be waiting for the movie to start, or your car to get an oil change, or in my recent case: on the airplane for 6-8 hour stints.  After a while, your options become limited.  You might be able to read a book or watch a movie, but these are usually only good for a couple hours, then you are left hunting for something else to keep your brain occupied.  For me, and I’m sure the same is likely true for you if you are bothering to read this, I often turn to my trusty candy apple red Nintendo DS Lite.  Granted, some games are better suited for long game play than others, and in this writing, I would like to focus on some games for the DS hand held that I found especially helpful on my recent trip to Europe and Africa (thus the long flights).

What makes a captivating game?  In my opinion; variety, ease of play, and lots of levels.  In a nutshell, this is what makes Peggle so popular.  It has seen light on many platforms, including PC, Flash, Xbox 360 Arcade and more recently DS.  I sunk grotesquely long hours into this game, which included both the popular Peggle as well as the Peggle Nights sequel.  For those that don’t know, Peggle is very much like the Price is Right mini-game of Plink-o.  You have a ball which you can aim and shoot, in order to get rid of all the red pegs.  Sounds simple enough, except for the fact you are limited to the amount of balls you have, as well as the shots and angles you can take.  With metric tons of different maps to play, as well as unique power ups and challenges, this game is great for long trips.  Also, you can pick it up and set it down at any time with the turn based nature of it, which is very handy when the stewardess wants to hand you another drink.

Looking to take over the world instead?  I would highly suggest trying out Civilization Revolution for the DS.  Civilization has been wildy popular in the RTS space over the years, and the recent port to the DS keeps the game pure enough to make for many many hours of game play in any sceniaro you setup.  The rules are simple.  Pick out a famous ruler, such as Cleopatria or Napolean, then race to the finish in one of four ways:  conquer everyone else, get into space first, have the most culture, or be the richest.  Throughout the game you will need to make choices that will ultimately mould your fate in the game.  Weither you go to war, or setup all your towns to only research technology, everything you do will change the game, thus making it a different game every time.  This makes for excellent replayibility.  I easily could spend an hour or two after I picked a fameous ruler to sceniaro completion.  Highly recommend as a great time sink.

And who doesn’t love dealing drugs and cops chasing you?  Anyone familiar with the Grand Theft Auto series may recall the original top down GTA for the PC.  It was fun, but sometimes it languished and you would just end up trying to piss off the cops and see how long you could stay alive.  I have throughly enjoyed this iteration of GTA for the DS, named GTA Chinatown Wars.  It brings back some of the old first generation GTA, but with better graphics, an interesting storyline, comical dialogue, and great gameplay.  You start off as a punk kid, just like all the other GTAs, and start to make your fortune by working for your uncle in Chinatown, doing runs and dealing drugs.  Over time you end up working for multiple bosses and owing safehouses all over the city.  The gameplay is solid for such a small platform, with even the driving being pretty decent.  In my experience, all driving games for the DS have fallen short.  The PDA functionality works great to make the game flow.  Obviously, a sandbox game such as this leads to tons of time sunk into playing through the story, or just running around the town dealing drugs for profit.  I’d recommend it for long trips, but usually works good for small stints as well, but you may have a hard time remembering what your current objective was.

So there you have it.  Three excellent games that make long hours on a trip pass oh so much better.  Another recommendation I’d have is invest in a USB to DS charger cable.  With this cable I was able to leave my laptop in standby mode, but still charge the DS off the USB port, thus making for almost endless gameplay on the flights.  Awesome!

Happy travels!

- Ben Mazhary-Clark

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