crinoid's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.8
- Helpful Votes:86
- Reviews Submitted:4
- First Review:August 24, 2012
- Most Recent Review:August 24, 2012
- Featured reviews0
crinoid's Review History
Night of the Scarecrows
Your farming village is under attack by an army of angry scarecrows come to life! Use strategy to keep the oncoming army at bay!
Overall rating
5
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Cute, spooky and fun
PostedAugust 24, 2012
crinoid
fromAlbuquerque, NM
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Arcade & Action, Adventure, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This is one of my all-time favorites. An exceedingly simple and cool little game with a great Halloween atmosphere and very pretty design. The movies are great, with wonderful animation and soundtracks (parents, note these are too spooky for my five-year-old.) There are no sophisticated controls, only minimal powerups, and you can't save your game. The game is made to be played right through - to the highest level you can reach anyway - in one sitting and it is perfect for that. I have enjoyed it almost year-round for a couple of years now.
I do have a problem with my high scores not saving after I close the game, but it is possible this is caused by my interesting computer setup rather than any game problems. Besides, the high scores don't matter too much :)
I recommend this game!
Faerie Solitaire
Have some Faerie Solitaire fun in this addicting Card game! Raise a Faerie pet and repopulate the magical land of Avalon.
Overall rating
4
/
5
6 of 6 found this review helpful
Sweet, simple and soothing
PostedAugust 24, 2012
crinoid
fromAlbuquerque, NM
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Arcade & Action, Adventure, Strategy
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Definitely not the most challenging gameplay of all time, but a very pretty atmosphere and soothing soundtrack. The creatures are very cute, and I always call my very small son over to hatch the eggs and help the fairies.
This is a nice way to slow down your overworked brain at the end of the day or to occupy a young child with a sweet, simple fantasy story.
I recommend this game!
Dark Parables: The Exiled Prince
Investigate the disappearance of the chancellor's daughter and uncover the long lost kingdom of the exiled Frog Prince!
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
My favorite Parable
PostedAugust 24, 2012
crinoid
fromAlbuquerque, NM
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Arcade & Action, Adventure, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The Dark Parables series are a ton of fun for my 5-year-old son and I to play together, and we especially enjoyed the story of the Exiled Prince. There is a nice spooky fairytale atmosphere that isn't too much for my son, but also isn't boring or cheesy for me. The challenge level, graphics, and soundtrack are all very good. The game does not at any point become tedious, as many HOGs do.
I recommend this game!
The Sparkle 2: Evo
Climb your way through the evolutionary ladder. Start as a little organism and transform into a magnificent aquatic being.
Overall rating
1
/
5
77 of 87 found this review helpful
It literally hurt my eyes
PostedAugust 24, 2012
crinoid
fromAlbuquerque, NM
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Arcade & Action, Adventure, Strategy
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
After years of playing and loving Big Fish games, this experience finally prompted me to write a review. I am familiar with the concept of this game and have played the original title, on which "evolution" games are based, on my home gaming system. I'm not against inexpensive spinoffs of a cool game idea - look at the Match 3 genre. However, this is a very badly made – as in, badly designed and programmed - game.
Full disclosure: yes, I am in fact a professional software tester - but no, these are NOT merely "technical issues." My experience was not a matter of a few bugs. My computer is a very standard MacBook Pro that I also use for my work, as well as to play the many other Big Fish games I love; there is no problem with my individual setup.
First I was challenged for my screen resolution. Kind of surprising in this day and age. This alone would stop some players dead in their tracks.
The interface seems to have been designed for old CRT screens, because on my LCD the white saturation was blinding. Again - this is actually happening in 2012? Thanks to the nonsensical iconic menus, I couldn't find any settings to adjust the graphics (besides the resolution choices before the game started) - or else these options don't exist. Colors were washed out and the white literally hurt my eyes with my screen brightness turned all the way down; beyond the tutorial I was not able to play the game because it was extremely difficult to distinguish elements of gameplay (i.e., targets from the background.)
A tremendous amount of text exists in this game. All of it was obviously written in the designers' original language and then passed through something like Google Translate. It was not charming. It was distractingly bad.
I did not expect my trackpad to be the ideal controller but the user character was sluggish even when controlled by keystrokes.
When I finally gave up and hit Esc to quit, some other game function popped up. Seriously?
I understand that to rapidly release new, inexpensive games to their customers, BFG often needs to move ahead when minor problems exist in a game. I'm willing to play through a few little problems to enjoy cheap fun games. This game, however, is far below BFG’s usual quality standards.
I don't recommend this game.