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Players create a civilization of thriving island cities in “Dawn of Discovery.”

“Dawn of Discovery” fits the Wii’s nation-building bill nicely, focusing on the construction of thriving island cities and an economic engine rather than the sprawling nations of “Civilization” games.

Played in real time rather than turn-by-turn, the game’s basics are easy to learn, but to build a thriving, self-sustaining economic engine is a fun challenge.

The game’s story mode serves as an extended tutorial for the basics. Players take on the role of the virtuous Prince William, sent by his father to develop the islands for the good of his people. His loutish brother Edward is on the same mission.

As the story progresses, William will learn how to establish a profitable colony, expand to other islands and deal with disasters and unhappy citizens, among other challenges. The story mode is restrictive, though, only allowing players to use options that have been introduced to them. The meat of the game is in the open-ended continuous play mode.

Starting a settlement is easy: Convert an exploration ship into an initial warehouse, drop in a few houses and a fisherman’s hut, set up a lumberjack and quarry for building materials, start a few dairies, farms and plantations, and connect it all with roads.

The game uses the Wii Remote as a pointer standing in for mouse control. It works very well, and creating structures is as simple as selecting them from a menu and dropping them into place with a thud.

Demolition is just as easy – it’s little trouble to reorganize a town that’s getting cluttered. A misplaced building can’t be undone, though, and the resources used to build it are lost if it’s demolished.

Citizens will pay taxes as long as they’re happy, which offsets the cost of building and maintaining goods-producing structures like plantations and farms. Fulfill specific needs of the people and they’ll turn into a more advanced form that’s willing to pay more – pioneers will become settlers if provided with a chapel and enough milk, for example.

The precise needs of the population can be vague. They may demand food or hemp clothing, but how much they need vs. how much is already being produced isn’t made clear. One just has to keep increasing production until they’re happy.

Goods can be sold off when there’s excess or bought at a premium when there’s a shortage.

Each island only supports a few resources and crops. One island may be rich in clay and suitable for herbs while another may be rich in stone and have good soil for spices and only decent conditions for grain.

The restricted real estate of the islands and their limited potential makes expansion crucial. Some islands are empty, but if a prime island is in the hands of a rival, there could be war. Load a battleship with troops and send them to the desired island, and they’ll fight it out with any defenders there.

PICKS AND PANS

THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND SPECIAL EDITION

3 1/2 stars

The point-and-click adventure game has seen something of a revival lately. Titles from “Sam & Max” to “Strong Bad” have taken an episodic approach to the genre, with a few hours of game play released at a time. There’s even a new entry in the “Monkey Island” series, “Tales of Monkey Island.” Now, the original “Secret of Monkey Island” has been given a new special edition that features totally redrawn graphics, redone music and fully voiced dialogue. The game is still entertaining after nearly 19 years, and players can switch between the old and new visual presentations at the touch of a button.

The game play remains the same, aside from a few interface changes: To progress, players have to solve numerous puzzles, directing wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood via verb commands – “walk to,” “talk to,” “pick up,” “use” and so on.

The dialogue is funny and the puzzles are clever – how does one distract the dogs guarding the governor’s mansion or get the fish away from that pecking seagull? And how can puny Guybrush hope to defeat the evil ghost pirate LeChuck?

PC (also for Microsoft Xbox 360, Apple iPhone/iPod Touch); $9.99 • Age rating: 10-plus

HOLY INVASION OF PRIVACY, BADMAN! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?

2 1/2 stars

In “Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?” the player stands in for the God of Destruction, who has been summoned by a snarky demon to assist in defeating a gaggle of do-gooders trying to invade his dungeon and drag him away.

The player carves twisting passages through the game’s grid of stones with a pickax cursor that has limited uses in each stage. Alas, passageways alone can’t stop a meddling hero or two.

Luckily, many of the blocks are infused with nutrients – depending on how full it is, a broken block may produce a Slimemoss, which redistributes and concentrates nutrients in the maze, a nasty kind of bug called an Omnom, or a Lizardman. Several other monsters are created with mana in the same way. Higher-order monsters eat lesser ones to grow and reproduce.

There’s no direct way to control the monsters once they’re free of the blocks. The trick is to arrange the maze so the heroes will get killed by monsters on their way to capture the vampire guy (it’s game over if they escape with him).

It’s sometimes frustrating and losses are frequent, but the game’s humor and low-fi charm invite one to try again.

Sony PlayStation Portable (PlayStation Store download); $19.99 • Age rating: 10-plus

– Justin Hoeger

Players create a civilization of thriving island cities in “Dawn of Discovery.”

“Dawn of Discovery” fits the Wii’s nation-building bill nicely, focusing on the construction of thriving island cities and an economic engine rather than the sprawling nations of “Civilization” games.

Played in real time rather than turn-by-turn, the game’s basics are easy to learn, but to build a thriving, self-sustaining economic engine is a fun challenge.

The game’s story mode serves as an extended tutorial for the basics. Players take on the role of the virtuous Prince William, sent by his father to develop the islands for the good of his people. His loutish brother Edward is on the same mission.

As the story progresses, William will learn how to establish a profitable colony, expand to other islands and deal with disasters and unhappy citizens, among other challenges. The story mode is restrictive, though, only allowing players to use options that have been introduced to them. The meat of the game is in the open-ended continuous play mode.

Starting a settlement is easy: Convert an exploration ship into an initial warehouse, drop in a few houses and a fisherman’s hut, set up a lumberjack and quarry for building materials, start a few dairies, farms and plantations, and connect it all with roads.

The game uses the Wii Remote as a pointer standing in for mouse control. It works very well, and creating structures is as simple as selecting them from a menu and dropping them into place with a thud.

Demolition is just as easy – it’s little trouble to reorganize a town that’s getting cluttered. A misplaced building can’t be undone, though, and the resources used to build it are lost if it’s demolished.

Citizens will pay taxes as long as they’re happy, which offsets the cost of building and maintaining goods-producing structures like plantations and farms. Fulfill specific needs of the people and they’ll turn into a more advanced form that’s willing to pay more – pioneers will become settlers if provided with a chapel and enough milk, for example.

The precise needs of the population can be vague. They may demand food or hemp clothing, but how much they need vs. how much is already being produced isn’t made clear. One just has to keep increasing production until they’re happy.

Goods can be sold off when there’s excess or bought at a premium when there’s a shortage.

Each island only supports a few resources and crops. One island may be rich in clay and suitable for herbs while another may be rich in stone and have good soil for spices and only decent conditions for grain.

The restricted real estate of the islands and their limited potential makes expansion crucial. Some islands are empty, but if a prime island is in the hands of a rival, there could be war. Load a battleship with troops and send them to the desired island, and they’ll fight it out with any defenders there.

PICKS AND PANS

THE SECRET OF MONKEY ISLAND SPECIAL EDITION

3 1/2 stars

The point-and-click adventure game has seen something of a revival lately. Titles from “Sam & Max” to “Strong Bad” have taken an episodic approach to the genre, with a few hours of game play released at a time. There’s even a new entry in the “Monkey Island” series, “Tales of Monkey Island.” Now, the original “Secret of Monkey Island” has been given a new special edition that features totally redrawn graphics, redone music and fully voiced dialogue. The game is still entertaining after nearly 19 years, and players can switch between the old and new visual presentations at the touch of a button.

The game play remains the same, aside from a few interface changes: To progress, players have to solve numerous puzzles, directing wannabe pirate Guybrush Threepwood via verb commands – “walk to,” “talk to,” “pick up,” “use” and so on.

The dialogue is funny and the puzzles are clever – how does one distract the dogs guarding the governor’s mansion or get the fish away from that pecking seagull? And how can puny Guybrush hope to defeat the evil ghost pirate LeChuck?

PC (also for Microsoft Xbox 360, Apple iPhone/iPod Touch); $9.99 • Age rating: 10-plus

HOLY INVASION OF PRIVACY, BADMAN! WHAT DID I DO TO DESERVE THIS?

2 1/2 stars

In “Holy Invasion of Privacy, Badman! What Did I Do To Deserve This?” the player stands in for the God of Destruction, who has been summoned by a snarky demon to assist in defeating a gaggle of do-gooders trying to invade his dungeon and drag him away.

The player carves twisting passages through the game’s grid of stones with a pickax cursor that has limited uses in each stage. Alas, passageways alone can’t stop a meddling hero or two.

Luckily, many of the blocks are infused with nutrients – depending on how full it is, a broken block may produce a Slimemoss, which redistributes and concentrates nutrients in the maze, a nasty kind of bug called an Omnom, or a Lizardman. Several other monsters are created with mana in the same way. Higher-order monsters eat lesser ones to grow and reproduce.

There’s no direct way to control the monsters once they’re free of the blocks. The trick is to arrange the maze so the heroes will get killed by monsters on their way to capture the vampire guy (it’s game over if they escape with him).

It’s sometimes frustrating and losses are frequent, but the game’s humor and low-fi charm invite one to try again.

Sony PlayStation Portable (PlayStation Store download); $19.99 • Age rating: 10-plus

– Justin Hoeger

Players can fight in the air or on the ground in “Battlefield 1943.”

Two new games in the “Battlefield” series revisit the familiar territory of World War II but in a fresh way.

“Battlefield 1943″ offers an experience similar to last year’s “Bad Company,” with destructible buildings and explosive action on several islands in the Pacific theater of the war, but as a download for $15 or so instead of “Bad Company’s” full $60.

“Battlefield Heroes” is a more cartoonish but no less entertaining version of the “Battlefield” formula, and it’s free to play, though there are ways for players to spend money. Neither the Allies nor the Axis is to be found in name, though the teams – the Royals and the Nationals – draw obvious visual inspirations.

The game play is as familiar as the settings. Both games pare the selection of soldier classes to three; both streamline the vehicle options to a jeep, tank and plane; both offer only the standard conquest game in which players battle over several control points and try to reduce the opposing team’s stock of “tickets,” or extra lives. There are no single-player modes.

In “1943,” players can freely choose from three classes with each new life. The infantryman is armed with a submachine gun, an anti-tank weapon, grenades and a wrench used for attack and repair. The rifleman has a long-range rifle, grenades for launching and throwing, and a bayonet. The scout carries a sniper rifle, a bladed weapon and remote-activated explosives.

The game looks fantastic, particularly for a downloadable title, and plays just like “Battlefield” should.

“Heroes” plays just a bit differently, with the action taking place from a third-person perspective and the graphics given a much cheerier look than the gritty “1943.” Instead of a direct download, players install a plug-in program and launch the game directly from their Web browser after logging in at www.battlefieldheroes.com.

“Heroes” players earn Valor Points as they play; the points can be spent on better weapons and Widgets, items that provide an in-combat boost such as healing or vehicle repair. Players may also, at their option, purchase Battlefunds in increments from 700 ($5) to 7,000 ($50). These allow players to purchase cosmetic items such as jackets, masks, hats and boots, along with other items. Players may pay a small amount to use these items temporarily, or a larger amount to keep them permanently.

PICKS AND PANS

Wii Sports Resort

3 stars

“Wii Sports,” the game packed in with the Nintendo Wii system, did a great job of showing the basics of what could be done with the motion-sensitive Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

“Wii Sports Resort,” an expanded take on the original game, means to do the same for the new Wii Motion Plus accessory, which increases the remote’s sensitivity and accuracy. The game comes with one Wii Motion Plus unit (they’re available separately for $19.99).

Bowling and golf are the only returning “Wii Sports” activities. New events include swordplay, wakeboarding, Frisbee, archery, basketball, table tennis, power cruising on personal watercraft, canoeing, cycling and air sports. Some games are better than others: Swordplay, archery, table tennis and the returning games are quite a bit of fun but wakeboarding, cycling, canoeing and power cruising are less so.

Most of the games have more than one play mode – Frisbee with a dog and Frisbee golf, for instance – and multiplayer options range from two to four players, depending on the event.

Nintendo Wii; $49.99 (includes Wii Motion Plus unit) • Age rating: Everyone

G-Force

2 1/2 stars

“G-Force,” based on the computer-animated film about a team of small animal operatives, makes for a decent game.

The enemy gadgets are cleverly designed and well-animated, the graphics on the whole are pretty good, and the game comes with two sets of glasses for playing in 3-D mode.

Players control agents Darwin, a guinea pig, and Mooch, a camera-equipped fly, in a mission to stop an evil billionaire’s plan to take over the world with an army of robotic gadgets. It’s these gadgets – computer mice, computers, waffle irons, blenders and so on – that Darwin will face as enemies.

Darwin has his own gadgets, including an electro-whip and a plasma gun at the start, as well as a scanning tool called a Saberlizer. Later on, he’ll be able to buy or find upgrades and new weapons such as a freeze cannon and the NanoHacker, which turns enemies to his side.

The player can take control of Mooch at any time to scout ahead, hit out-of-reach switches or carry back crucial items like key cards.

Sony PlayStation 3, also for PS2, PSP, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS; $49.99 ($29.99 to $49.99 for other versions) • Age rating: 10-plus

– Justin Hoeger

Players can fight in the air or on the ground in “Battlefield 1943.”

Two new games in the “Battlefield” series revisit the familiar territory of World War II but in a fresh way.

“Battlefield 1943″ offers an experience similar to last year’s “Bad Company,” with destructible buildings and explosive action on several islands in the Pacific theater of the war, but as a download for $15 or so instead of “Bad Company’s” full $60.

“Battlefield Heroes” is a more cartoonish but no less entertaining version of the “Battlefield” formula, and it’s free to play, though there are ways for players to spend money. Neither the Allies nor the Axis is to be found in name, though the teams – the Royals and the Nationals – draw obvious visual inspirations.

The game play is as familiar as the settings. Both games pare the selection of soldier classes to three; both streamline the vehicle options to a jeep, tank and plane; both offer only the standard conquest game in which players battle over several control points and try to reduce the opposing team’s stock of “tickets,” or extra lives. There are no single-player modes.

In “1943,” players can freely choose from three classes with each new life. The infantryman is armed with a submachine gun, an anti-tank weapon, grenades and a wrench used for attack and repair. The rifleman has a long-range rifle, grenades for launching and throwing, and a bayonet. The scout carries a sniper rifle, a bladed weapon and remote-activated explosives.

The game looks fantastic, particularly for a downloadable title, and plays just like “Battlefield” should.

“Heroes” plays just a bit differently, with the action taking place from a third-person perspective and the graphics given a much cheerier look than the gritty “1943.” Instead of a direct download, players install a plug-in program and launch the game directly from their Web browser after logging in at www.battlefieldheroes.com.

“Heroes” players earn Valor Points as they play; the points can be spent on better weapons and Widgets, items that provide an in-combat boost such as healing or vehicle repair. Players may also, at their option, purchase Battlefunds in increments from 700 ($5) to 7,000 ($50). These allow players to purchase cosmetic items such as jackets, masks, hats and boots, along with other items. Players may pay a small amount to use these items temporarily, or a larger amount to keep them permanently.

PICKS AND PANS

Wii Sports Resort

3 stars

“Wii Sports,” the game packed in with the Nintendo Wii system, did a great job of showing the basics of what could be done with the motion-sensitive Wii Remote and Nunchuk.

“Wii Sports Resort,” an expanded take on the original game, means to do the same for the new Wii Motion Plus accessory, which increases the remote’s sensitivity and accuracy. The game comes with one Wii Motion Plus unit (they’re available separately for $19.99).

Bowling and golf are the only returning “Wii Sports” activities. New events include swordplay, wakeboarding, Frisbee, archery, basketball, table tennis, power cruising on personal watercraft, canoeing, cycling and air sports. Some games are better than others: Swordplay, archery, table tennis and the returning games are quite a bit of fun but wakeboarding, cycling, canoeing and power cruising are less so.

Most of the games have more than one play mode – Frisbee with a dog and Frisbee golf, for instance – and multiplayer options range from two to four players, depending on the event.

Nintendo Wii; $49.99 (includes Wii Motion Plus unit) • Age rating: Everyone

G-Force

2 1/2 stars

“G-Force,” based on the computer-animated film about a team of small animal operatives, makes for a decent game.

The enemy gadgets are cleverly designed and well-animated, the graphics on the whole are pretty good, and the game comes with two sets of glasses for playing in 3-D mode.

Players control agents Darwin, a guinea pig, and Mooch, a camera-equipped fly, in a mission to stop an evil billionaire’s plan to take over the world with an army of robotic gadgets. It’s these gadgets – computer mice, computers, waffle irons, blenders and so on – that Darwin will face as enemies.

Darwin has his own gadgets, including an electro-whip and a plasma gun at the start, as well as a scanning tool called a Saberlizer. Later on, he’ll be able to buy or find upgrades and new weapons such as a freeze cannon and the NanoHacker, which turns enemies to his side.

The player can take control of Mooch at any time to scout ahead, hit out-of-reach switches or carry back crucial items like key cards.

Sony PlayStation 3, also for PS2, PSP, Microsoft Xbox 360, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo DS; $49.99 ($29.99 to $49.99 for other versions) • Age rating: 10-plus

– Justin Hoeger