Atari Hot Sauce

I don't eat hot sauce, but I do play video games. And as a woman who has logged countless hours on that old 2600 console, I can appreciate these lovely labels.

Disney Magic Kingdoms Game -- Secrets To Success

I see many online comments stating that this game is too difficult, that a player can't succeed without spending real money for gems, characters, and other helps. It seems to me that most of the current events have been really very easy. Let me share with you my personal method of play; maybe it will help you to succeed, too.

Note: there are different definitions of 'success.' If you're looking for a way to get every character, attraction, token, decoration, etc., with no exceptions and no effort, then I can't help you. But I can tell you how I get the most rewards while spending zero actual dollars.

Step 1: Anticipation

Use the messages sent by Gameloft to make a note of which events are coming up when, and then be ready for them with the necessary characters and attractions in place. This is especially helpful in Gold Trophy events, when you can have your characters already on the right task when the event starts. Then when you finish the task, you've got a gold trophy hours before your unprepared fellow-Kingdomers. This has proven so successful for me that I currently have 16 gold trophies, the maximum required number plus one.

Also, when beginning a Tower Event, you can click ahead to the second and third stages to see which characters will be used. Then you can work on leveling up any characters who need a boost.

Step 2: Assessment

Once an event is revealed, you can easily see what the rewards are. All rewards are not created equal. If you already have a particular reward character in your stable, then you will be offered an Attraction Enchantment chest instead, meaning a chance to win blueprints. I don't know about you, but my blueprints multiply a lot faster than I can use them. Which means I won't knock myself out trying to win that event. Nor will I take extreme measures to score a mere Decoration Chest, or more magic (I'm currently at 35 million). I'll still participate (see Step 3), but I'll allow other tasks to take precedence over the Event.

Another thing to assess is the competition. If you start a tapper event with 10 points, and then see yourself in 49th place behind players with a hundred and ten, you know you have a pretty slim chance of winning. You could expend all your time tokens to catch up, but I'd rather save them for an event where I have a fighting chance. I'll just keep on tapping and accept a smaller prize. You won't score big every time this way, but you won't waste as many resources fighting losing battles. And just maybe those other guys spent all their tokens, leaving you a clear field for the next prize.

Step 3: Action

Get involved in every event, no matter what. If all you can score are a bunch of bronze chests, then take 'em. Who knows but you might find a gem or two. This is especially vital when Maleficent coins or any other currencies that turn into gems are at stake. Gems are your most valuable resource, so it's worth your while to participate in an event, even if that's all you'll get.

Step 4: Accumulation

Any tokens you gather but don't use are stored in the game for the next similar event. So if you've reached all the milestones in an event, it may be worth your while to collect a bunch of tokens without using them. I try to end every event with all my tokens maximized, so the next time I have to rid the park of frogs or jeweled crabs, I'm ahead of the game (see Step 1).

Those are my personal steps for success. Maybe one or more of them will help you as well.

Plants vs. Zombies High Score

I'm sure it's not a world's record, but I'm pretty proud of my high score of 43 rounds in the Vasebreaker Endless puzzle in the original version of Plants vs. Zombies. I'm still not sure how I managed it. I've been trying to break that record for years with no success, but it's something to shoot for.

Disney Magic Kingdom Glitches

Here are a few more bloopers from the Disney Magic Kingdoms video game:

Eilonwy's blue dress is offered as a character costume change. Too bad she never wore one in the movie. Okay, so there was an early poster showing her in blue. But if we believed everything we saw on movie posters, we'd dress Snow White in pink.

Here's Trusty running for all he's worth, but getting nowhere.

In a similar vein, Judy Hopps is stuck on Main Street. No wonder Nick is shrugging.

Tips For Playing Disney Magic Kingdoms Video Game

Now that the Disney Magic Kingdoms game has been around for seven years, new players might feel like they can never 'catch up, like they'll always be lightyears behind the rest of the players. Well, I came to the game in its fourth year, and I'm here to tell you that, yes, you can catch up. But there are some things that I wish I knew when I started. So here are my tips for newbies.

Click on everything on the screen. You'll learn which icons do what and you'll find some useful free stuff. Which leads us to the next tip.

Take all the free gifts you can get. If it's free, you want it. You can never have too much of any currency, even if you have to watch a video to get it. Just get yourself something else to do to pass the time while that same ad plays for the fifth time. As for characters and buildings, every one will prove useful eventually, so grab it if you can. And if you find yourself with too many decorations, they can be turned into valuable elixirs.

Expect to keep some things in storage. There are more characters and buildings in the game than your park can support at any one time. That's okay, just keep them stored until you need them. It's how the game plays, so get used to it.

Don't waste gems. Gems are your most valuable currency, and they can be hard to get. So unless you're planning to spend real money to get more (which is an option), don't spend gems on random chests which often give you nothing but a common park bench. Its much, much better to hoard your gems and use them to buy premium characters. And NEVER waste gems to speed up a task; that's what time tokens are for.

Participate in every event. But do so wisely. Some events give better rewards than others, so check to see what you can win and how badly you need it. Sometimes you will find yourself hopelessly outclassed in a leaderboard event; that's okay, take a lower prize and be thankful for it. Your time will come, even to win the much-coveted gold trophies. I won my first when I was very much a newbie, just because other members were lax in that particular event, giving me a commanding head start. You'll get your trophies if you persevere.

Every upgrade has value. Enchanting a particular attraction might seem useless if it doesn't give you any tokeens, but eventually it will serve a purpose, so upgrade when you can. It's not always easy to get an attraction upgraded to the point where it gives you the tokens you need. All too soon, your characters are maxed out and don't need tokens anymore. So having an attraction upgraded before you score the characters is a real boon.

Hoard tokens. Any tokens you score are saved, even if an event ends before you have enough to purchase a particular character. So when you finally get that character, you'll already have a bunch of his tokens. When I score Carl Frederickson some day, I'll have everything I need to upgrade him multiple levels without lifting a finger. This goes for tokens used in Cascading Events and, I'm pretty sure, hot cocoa in the Tower Events. Maleficent coins, however, do not save; they turn into those coveted gems at 2500 for one gem, which is even better.

Get your landmark attractions upgraded to Level 2. And do it as quickly as possible. That gives you a free gift every day, and you know we want free stuff!

Some of this is pretty basic, I know, but these are things I wish I'd known when I started. So don't be afraid to join the game in its seventh year. Hope to see you in the Magic Kingdom.

Disney Magic Kingdoms Game Glitches

Playing the Disney Magic Kingdoms video game each day reveals a few new glitches:

Baloo and Bagheera are supposed to be dancing side-by-side, but one of them is a little out of step.

Wall-E's and Eve's flying waltz is much, much worse. In case you have a tough time finding them on that busy background, check the second picture:

And here's a short video of Trusty getting stuck:

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Capt. America's shield is a throw rug

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