After being recently featured on www.penny-arcade.com, I decided to try Fairway Solitaire. It's another one of those fusion solitaire games where the basic game of solitaire is mutated into another form of addiction. Similar to how there are different versions of irresistable brownies, however this falls in league with the special kind of brownies. The gameplay is basically golf themed, where you go through a golf course as a session. With different golf terminology used in the game like having birdies, eagles, double bogies, etc... It also has the 2 traps that golfers love to hate, sand traps and water traps.But how does it actually play? Well if you are familiar with solitaire, like the millions of other bored office workers, it's fairly the same rules but rather than collecting the cards on the table , your goal is to knock off cards out of play. It's a fairly easy concept to understand that is better off trying than explaining.

However be warned of it's addicting properties! You will lose sleep over this as you try to hit objectives, and getting more money for that golfing apparel you want. You can try the full game for 1 hour through BigFish Games.

 Go to Download Link

    Testing video games has always been perceived as just playing games. Yes, you are playing a video game, but you are playing it for the purpose of finding bugs, reporting them, then verifying fixes for your bugs. You are not a video game tester to play for fun, but to break the game. Another misconception about testing video games is that it is very easy. But in video games testing, expect to work long and tedious hours trying find bugs before the game ships. Video games testing can also become very repetitive, especially in trying to reproduce a bug in a level where it only shows 1 in every 10 times.

If you are still reading this, then you are probably interested in what makes a good video games tester, so I created this list just for you. 

1. A burning passion or even slight interest in video games. People who have no interest in games won't last long
2. Be able to write concise and understandable bug reports. That means being specific in pointing out where to find the bug and how to get there
3. Be an effective verbal communicator, especially when tying to describe a bug to your co-workers
4. The ability to shower everyday, and keep good hygiene. Please do not add to the smelly video game tester stereotype
5. Be a good planner. The ability to schedule and prioritize your tasks will help keep you sane, and keep your job
6. Be courteous and act professional to the people around you. They are you network in the industry that will help you land your next big job 

    Now that I have scared away anyone who is not up for the challenge, there are also benefits of being a video game tester. You become part of the video game industry that is filled with people who are passionate about what they do. It also opens the door to creating contacts, and knowing what needs to be done to get into other positions within the industry.  Most testing methodologies and terminologies are used in video games testing, which means that your skill set is transferable to other non-game industry testing positions.

   Being a video game tester is hard work, and is usually seen as bottom of the barrel in most games studios. However, that does not mean you are stuck being a games tester forever as there many opportunities to move up the proverbial barrel. You just need to be professional, create your network, and further enhance your skill sets. From there, it is just as matter of time for you to rise to the top.