TouchMaster is a satisfying set of casual games in the ever growing list of collections of mini classic games coming out for DS. It is certain to waste plenty of your time. It will keep you busy furrowing your eyebrows when puzzling over a way to get a higher score or a better hand. Like the stack of board games held together with elastic bands that once accompanied family vacations, Touchmaster is a more modern version of fun.There are many different types of games that are displayed by category on a user-friendly menu. Like Clubhouse Games from last fall TouchMaster  brings together card games, as well other kinds of games.  Games like Checkers, Power Cell, Classic Solitaire, Mah Jonng Pairs, Target 21, Artifact, Go Wild, Phoenix 13, Triple Elevens, Wordz, Times Square, Wheel of Fortune, Gem Slide and there are several other number or picture-matching games.

Game – play

Artifact is something like tic-tac-toe and Othello , Circular objects on the screen start to glow and when all of an object’s slots have been lighted, that object will explode and light any nearby objects. The goal is to swap objects until a player eliminates every opposing object on the board.

In Phoenix 13 you are supposed to combine two or more cards to form the number 13, which gets boring fast after the novelty of “ooh 13″ wears off. The Trivia games are a good distraction and give a few turns on each topic before they start to repeat.  Word search takes a moment to get used to with the stylus, and it’s a good way to save a tree instead of buying word search puzzle books.

Crystal Balls is a disappointing Bedazzle clone. You would expect something with flashier colors in a game with a name like that. Mahki is a typical Destructo type of game where you remove the tiles by tapping the screen. It’s like any puzzler where block clusters are destroyed, but it isn’t very colorful or interesting enough to keep you frustrated long enough to want to keep playing over and over. An addictive game has to be simple like this yes, but also have some special entertaining gimmick too.

Conclusion

This game is very easy to understand and get right into. The user interface is plain and simple.  The game-play with some of the games can seem shallow and not long enough. It feels as though the depth that you can play any given game was sacrificed for a wider variety of games on the cartridge

TouchMaster does have Multiplayer games, if you are obsessive enough to  enjoy playing more than one or two  of these games with a friend, you will both need game cards. Nintendo is hosting a way to enter competition with Touch Master through the easily accessible wireless DS network.

For casual gamers who want a set of virtual checkers, solitaire, and other familiar board games to keep occupied on a road trip, this might be a good choice. While the selection can be enjoyed by kids, the color scheme and the particular games they chose for this collection make this title more geared to adult gamers, perhaps targeting those who had picked up a DS just for Brain Age.

PROS: This collection will have something for almost everyone.

CONS: The individual games aren’t very long.

Total Rating – 6
Gameplay – 6
Enjoyment – 6
Graphics – 5
Sound/Music – 5