It’s that time of the year again! All right, I agree that the commencement of a new school semester may not be as festive as I’m making it sound, but there are still many reasons to be happy. Here are some excellent substitutes for homework:

Dangerous High School Girls in Trouble by Mousechief
“Welcome to 1920s Brigiton, USA, home of wily young girls, steadfast boys, and small-minded adults.” With what has to be the best name for a game ever, and one of the best taglines to boot, the game demands that you play it on casual interest value alone. However, once you do open it, you’re in for a treat: this is one of the most original casual games you have ever seen. A strange mix of dating sim and board game, the real beauty of the game is its incredibly inventive story. Some of the story lines allow you to “Uncover secret love-lives and improve them. Manipulate tribunals. Smuggle pogo sticks. Brave the ghost of the town’s founder. Dance at the nightclub. Raid the hidden still to ensure it’s quality. Make a pony the town’s mayor. Confront oppressive adults and malicious peers with naughty little games.” And much more. In the end you can “Discover the town’s destructive secret, pass judgment, expel the wicked, and then graduate with style.” You just can’t ask for better fun than that. [Website]

Summer Session by Tycoon Games
“In Summer Session, you must balance your schedule to raise your stats and pass your exams. Meet unique characters, make friends, and find romance, then play again to unlock all the endings…” Yes, it’s a traditional dating sim, but wrapped and packaged like a casual game. And luckily, this is a fairly clean version of one of these – think more “Fast Times at Ridgemont High” than “Porkys” – and pretty well done to boot. If you have never played a dating sim, this is a good place to get a taste for the genre, which is very much like a classic “Choose your own adventure” novel. This time around, it’s the tale of a love lorn high school student forced to spend the summer taking biology class from a strangely attractive biology teacher, in a school filled with attractive young women to win and handsome men to compete against. It’s a fun little game, and deeply worth the 20 bucks. Give it a go. [Website]

Fashion Cents Deluxe by My Game Company
In the great glut of fashion games that have come out recently, it is worth looking back to the game that did fashion before doing it was cool: Fashion Cents. It’s definitely worth a look now that they a new “Deluxe” version out. If the “Like, ewww!” you get when choosing fashion does not sound 100% authentic to you, it’s only because you have never been shopping with your daughter. The pain of thinking you found something that looks good, only to completely disgust the daughter you are shopping with, is modeled so perfectly, you’ll think you’re shopping for new school clothes at Target without ever leaving home. Enjoy. [Website]