PopCap Pounds Out Hammer Heads

By Geoff Duncan Published May 25, 2006

PopCap Pounds Out Hammer Heads

“Hammer Heads is one of those games you have to play to appreciate; atfirst glance it seems loony and somewhat simplistic, but once you startsmashing those gnomes, it’s awfully hard to stop.”

So says Jason Kapalka, Chief Creative Officer at casual game developer PopCap Games which just unveiled its new title Hammer Heads for the Web and PC. Appropriate for all ages, Hammer Heads starts from a pretty simple premise: use your hammer to keep those wacky gnomes in the ground where they belong! Along the way, players can pick up power-ups and bonuses with their hammer while trying to outsmart the gnomes as quickly as possible.

Recommended Videos

The game offers three modes (Classic Bash, Marathon, and Tough Cookie), dozens of levels, and works in plenty of twists and humor as players progress. Gnomes have attitude and sometimes special powers.

Hammer Heads was developed by Nuclide Games, which also developed Pixelus and Rocket Mania in conjunction with PopCap.

Hammer Heads has a retail price of $19.95 and will be available for free Web play from PopCap as well as game portals like RealArcade.com, MSN’s Game Zone, and Yahoo Games.

Former Digital Trends Contributor

Geoff Duncan writes, programs, edits, plays music, and delights in making software misbehave. He's probably the only member…

Gaming

Marathon: everything we know so far

A planet floats in the sky in Marathon.

After saying goodbye to the incredible Halo franchise, developer Bungie moved on to break new ground in the live-service space with two Destiny titles (and there's a mobile installment in Destiny: Rising on the way). It has been supporting these two games for nearly a decade now, but we have finally seen what else has been in the works.

To the surprise of many, it is actually a return to the studio's earliest franchise, Marathon. Those original titles were made in the same style as the original Doom games, but this new reboot of sorts is going in a very different direction. And don't forget, Bungie has proven that they're the masters of sci-fi shooters, so let's go the distance and cover everything we know about Marathon.

Gaming

Destiny: Rising: release speculation, platforms, trailers, gameplay, and more

A giant firefight in Destiny: Rising.

The next chapter in the Destiny saga is approaching, but it isn't in the form most Guardians were expecting. Instead of a proper Destiny 3 from the original developer Bungie, Destiny: Rising was revealed by developer NetEase Games as a free-to-play mobile game. While the mobile market has no doubt come a long way in terms of delivering console-quality experiences — there are plenty of upcoming mobile games on the horizon — Destiny fans are rightly cautious about how the massive live-service formula will translate. Perhaps even more important is the story, which some have invested over 10 years into. Let us act as your Ghost to guide you through all the information you need about Destiny: Rising.

If you're on the lookout for new games on your favorite platform, don't forget to visit our list of upcoming video game release dates or our articles on upcoming PS5 games, upcoming Switch games, upcoming Xbox Series X games and upcoming PC games.
Release date speculation

Gaming

Death Stranding 2: everything we know so far

Sam Bridges walks on a ridge in front of the moon.

There were plenty of hints along the way, and even some leaks by the leading man himself, but it was only made official at the Game Awards in 2022 that Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is on its way.

Coming from the same influential and creative mind as the original Death Stranding, as well as the Metal Gear franchise before it, game designer Hideo Kojima introduced the game himself. Of course, nothing about Kojima's games are ever straightforward, and what was revealed about Death Stranding 2 probably raised more questions than it answered. We're strapping on our boots, connecting to our BBs, and are ready to make the trek to find out everything there is about Death Stranding 2.