Game Review: Mean Girls High School Showdown

Hey, did the DVD or blue ray of this movie just come out? It seems a little odd to me that a new game be released years after the movie, but whatever.

That's whatever with two hands and no syllables. Ya'know... put your thumbs together with pointer fingers up. Make the letter "W" because you have too much attitude and ennui to sound the word. "W" pronounced whatever. It's the high school salute.

Which is the perfect salute to give this new high school arena game. Mean Girls based on the movie in which a girl homeschooled on the African Serengeti finds herself in the wilds of public high school, facing off against the jackals of high school cliques and learning those important after-school-special lessons. This however is a review of the game, not the movie.

I expected the game to be more like "Dangerous High School Girls In Trouble" which is brilliant, original and filled with wonderful mini-games like "Taunt" an insult call and response.

But wait!

This isn't a review of "Dangerous High School Girls In Trouble" (I promise to write that review if I ever stop playing it long enough. I have WAY TOO MUCH to say about it. All good.) But this is a review of "Mean Girls" the game. (Stop snickering. It is.)

"Mean Girls" is a very original match 3 game. The play is simple but the strategies are more complex. When the story arc leads you to challenge another character in the game you take turns in a match 3 game. The tiles that you match have additional effects causing extra turns, boost in skills, etc. By matching hearts you can gain the players loyalty. By matching whips you can erode the character's stamina (self-confidence). Whichever player first fills the loyalty meter or empties the stamina of the other wins the challenge.

The game allows you to determine whether you want to play nice or mean and to tailor your avatar and game stats accordingly.

I enjoyed the game and suspect there is more to it. However the one hour trial period may not be sufficient to understand the nuances/strategy.

The game is currently only available for PC.

System Requirements:

Windows® XP or Vista 1

GHz processor 1 GB

available RAM 32 MB

Video Card RAM DirectX

You can buy this game at your favorite online "game play" distributor. Standard price is $19.99.

It is one of Legacy Games (famous for their Zoo Vet reality game series).

http://www.legacyinteractive.com

"Mean Girls" is part of Legacy's OMG! HIGH SCHOOL game collection which includes "Clueless" and "Pretty in Pink".

http://www.omghighschool.com/

At the moment, there isn't a bundle price for all 3 games but keep checking. The deals usually kick in once the newness factor is no longer a selling point.

If you buy the game directly at Legacy Interactive

http://www.legacyinteractive.com

you can pay full price or get it for free by accepting one of a variety of advertiser's offers. The other benefits to joining Legacy's game community is they give you a free game when you sign up.

My other favorite places to buy games include

Playfirst ($9.99 with playpass)

http://www.playfirst.com/game/mean-girls-high-school-showdown

and Big Fish Games ($6.99 with gameclub)

http://www.bigfishgames.com/