timothya's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4.3
- Helpful Votes:1,143
- Reviews Submitted:199
- First Review:June 24, 2012
- Most Recent Review:September 3, 2025
- Featured reviews0
Status:
A recent expedition uncovered unique, priceless artifacts, but at what cost?
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 8 found this review helpful
Every Body Loves Some Body
PostedMarch 28, 2020
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
A lot of fun in this one for some unusual reasons. We play as Rick Rogers, the greatest paranormal detective in the business and if you don't believe that he'll tell you so, you don't even have to ask. Of course, every time he does, he gets his comeuppance, which is part of the fun of the game. Full marks for creative writing in this one with twists that make it much less predictable than the average straightforward quest game. At times it's a real - ahem - out of body experience. We have a particularly strong supporting cast and voice acting that is up to the challenge.
Pros: generous game length, plenty of puzzles and HO scenes, excellent graphics. A twisty mystery plot that has our hero alternately aided and betrayed by nearly everyone. Rick prevails, of course, or does he? Great art and immersive music.
Cons: the main plot twist either works or it doesn't for the individual player's tastes. No spoilers, but it's really nicely pulled off by the voice acting. If you can't laugh at Rick you'll probably end up hating him.
Bonus game: more generous game length, we get to play as Rachel here, whose ambiguous motivations and ambition come through very well. More great graphics and puzzles. It may be that we'll be seeing more of Rachel...
Overall, a whole lot of fun. One gets the impression it was for the writing team as well. I had the privilege of beta-testing this one and the Devs came through with flying colors. Can't wait for the next installment.
I recommend this game!
Can you catch a magical culprit behind a string of strange robberies?
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 7 found this review helpful
Light And Easy
PostedMarch 20, 2020
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
A seasonal game that is accessible to beginning players. We play as The Detective, tasked with figuring out certain kidnappings performed by what appear to be Banshees, although these don't screech very much. It unwraps to ancient family histories and fortunes in gold. Puzzles are quite easy and violence level is very low, making it attractive for family play.
Pros: beautiful graphics, especially in the Dublin street scenes. Straightforward plot punctuated by frequent summations in which we are brought up to date on the plot developments we may have missed in the interim.
Cons: plot requires a suspension of disbelief approaching stratospheric levels, but it probably wasn't intended to be taken very seriously. But we are, after all, talking about a kidnapping ring underneath it all so maybe not quite seriously enough. Character development of the villain is late and perfunctory, obviously an afterthought. One suspects that no actual Irish people were involved in the voice acting.
Bonus Game: more of the same, really. Adequate game play, forgettable plot.
Overall, the easy puzzles and period atmosphere help to make up for the improbability of the thing. Definitely best for beginning or intermediate players as there's little in it to challenge the advanced ones. Still, game play was smooth and graphically and atmospherically it was a fun romp through a fantasy Dublin.
I recommend this game!
Could you survive a deadly game where your opponent knew your secrets?
Overall rating
4
/
5
8 of 11 found this review helpful
Nice But Short
PostedMarch 8, 2020
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
A welcome break from the spate of cartoonish Time Management games that has been our fare of late. This one has up-to-date graphics, plenty of HO scenes, and only a few fairly easy puzzles. We play a male POV with a female partner and a somewhat gadgety mind-reading superpower, the result of a youthful dabbling in scientific experimentation (and the only real explanation for the reference to rats in the beginning of the game). He/we are now a police psychologist teamed with a tough wise-cracking detective, trying to track down a not-so-mysterious villain with a penchant for elaborate traps.
Pros: Gorgeous graphics, colorful and nicely rendered, which accompanied by immersive music and environmental sounds make for terrific atmosphere. Very HO oriented for those who like that. Adequate to good voice acting, good game mechanics, very good production values. A female partner with character who isn't simply window dressing or a Damsel In Distress (bud, take my advice, when your partner says "shoot the bad guy", shoot the bad guy, don't talk).
Cons: Weak writing. The plot is straightforward but not very well timed - we learn who the villain is nearly immediately, which makes us wonder why the silly rat mask? The villain is unmemorable and rather weak, and inexplicably finds that he can succeed at whatever his objective is - we never do find out exactly - with a Rube Goldberg contrivance instead of the player character's blood. That's quite a leap in a very short game. Player character has far too much redundant internal monologue.
Bonus game: A straighforward rescue of two experimental subjects who have been abandoned to die. A couple of excellent puzzles. As the main game, rather short.
Overall, one is so overjoyed to see a decent mystery game at last that a lot of foibles may be forgiven, and the graphics and the atmosphere are very enjoyable. One star off for short game length and poor writing, but a very promising first entry to what looks like an interesting series.
I recommend this game!
A vacation to India becomes a legendary adventure in the animal kingdom!
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 3 found this review helpful
Welcome To Colorful India
PostedJanuary 10, 2020
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Now and then a developer has to take a chance on something different or get trapped into a cookie-cutter rut. This one was such a chance and it came home with flying colors. And what colors! We play as a Seeker whose loving sister has sent him off on a "vacation", and you know how that sort of thing tends to work out. He should probably have let the monkey keep the watch.
Pros: We're in India for one thing, which is a plus all by itself given the rich traditions of that country's culture. The scenery is spectacular with colors that blast off the screen and a generally exotic atmosphere. The plot is episodic with a couple of clever twists. Excellent production values.
Cons: It's talking animals who have learned to live in harmony, which makes one wonder what most of the principal characters eat. Not quite Disney, thank heaven, but a little cloying, especially when a tiger or snake or panther is lecturing us on how humans messed up their ideal world. I'll just bet it was. Perhaps a little too much exposition along those occasionally moralistic lines, but the game does keep moving.
Bonus Game: Here we play as Princess Manu, daughter of two Seekers and the sole hope to save the world from a resurrected mammoth with a Cockney accent. Lots of potions and tea-making in this one and a few excellent puzzles.
Overall, much of the same old game processes in a fresh and colorful world, well written and well worth playing. The environment is worth the stay.
I recommend this game!
Can you save your friend and escape from Acorn Hospital in time?
Overall rating
5
/
5
11 of 13 found this review helpful
Choices, Choices
PostedNovember 15, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
There are games that are too linear - simply plod, scene to scene, challenge to challenge, until you get through. This definitely isn't one of those! Here you have a few crossroads to contemplate, choices to make that definitely affect the solution path, but which is correct? I'd recommend taking notes on which choices the player makes, because we might just be back that way on a replay. This alone gives the game unusual value.
Pros: Excellent plot, slow reveals that we have to earn. Some challenging puzzles, adequate to very good voice acting, and a couple of memorable ancillary characters. And, of course, the options - one of these leads only to having to solve the puzzle over again in reverse, others to major shifts in game strategy, and the player doesn't know the consequences until after the commit button is pressed.
Cons: Plot is just convoluted enough to make play over several sessions challenging - here the journal is invaluable. I'm not sure anyone playing the SE can completely get the plot since some of it is not completely explained until the Bonus Game.
Bonus Game: Superb. It is actually a prequel but one that makes the dilemmas of the main game's characters make sense at last. A couple of nice puzzles, and adds enough play to make the CE a good purchase.
Overall, a rather innovative game with a high replay value. I'd love to see more of this approach.
I recommend this game!
Four friends are pulled inside a movie where the special effects are all too real!
Overall rating
4
/
5
2 of 3 found this review helpful
Spooky Fun But Very Easy
PostedOctober 13, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This one is a tribute to 80's teen slasher movies (disclaimer: no teenagers were slashed in the production of this game) and manages to pick up quite a few of the time-worn tropes just for fun: the spooky high school, the spooky house, the spooky summer camp. A very mild jump-scare or two and nearly no actual violence are what we get, making this more tongue-in-cheek than horror. It's a very easy game more suitable for beginning or intermediate players than dedicated gamers. We play as Ellie, determined to rescue her three best friends after they have been sucked into a haunted videotape by Evil Forces, which for some reason none of the adults believed when she told them two years prior. It sounds perfectly plausible to me. Each of the three others is trapped in a different horror movie and it is up to Ellie to pluck them back to reality.
Pros: some nice colorful graphics, well-constructed Halloweeny atmosphere without being gross, puzzles on the very easy side, and a rather amusing plot that does hang together if you stick around long enough. Spooky ambient music.
Cons: there's really nothing new here, which is in keeping with the retro feel of the game but may bore experienced players. Quite a bit of back and forth, HO scenes pretty much alike. Voice acting occasionally sounds a bit too much like adults trying to sound like teens rather than the real thing.
Bonus game: here we play a costumed Watson against our friend's Holmes as we attempt to track down the cause of our other friends turning into the creatures whose costumes they've donned. Evil school administrators. Who would have guessed?
Overall, a light Halloween romp that's a treat for fans of the old 80's teen horror flicks (and who watched maybe more than we should have). It isn't overly challenging and I don't think it was meant to be. I did think it was a lot of fun.
I recommend this game!
A journey into the mirror world unleashes a powerful villain!
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
Just Keeps Getting Better
PostedOctober 2, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
There aren't a lot of series left whose new entries I'll leap to purchase as soon as I see them advertised, but Darkness and Flame is definitely one of them. The steampunk dystopia is mixed with a little more classic fantasy this time, but it's the same show. We return to our heroine and player POV Alice, who awakens in her room with her Mother (or is she?) assuring her that the events detailed in the first three games were all a dream. Alice and we are skeptical, naturally, and when "her" cat fails to recognize her and when her fellow adventurers turn up as stone statues, we realize that something's definitely up, but what? Surely not...a Gorgon?
Pros: The most beautiful graphics of any game I've played all year, and that's saying something. Lifelike movement, great rendering on the cut scenes, colorful, imaginative - this is one of those games you like to return to just to wander around and admire the artwork. (Which, incidentally, you get to do in the Extras while cleaning up that last collection object, and hurrah! each scene is still available whether you need it or not. Wander and admire.) Coherent plot, excellent puzzles difficult enough to sink one's teeth into. Nice variety of HO scenes, smooth game play, and obviously stellar production values.
Cons: I'm reduced to minor nagging. Certain characters simply pop up for a scene and then vanish altogether - none of them actually matter but it's a little jarring. Alice's voice occasionally has that frequency-pushed chipmunk squeak to it. I did miss the counterpoint of her Uncle Colin, but we learn that he'll be back. The dialogue has been smoothed into fluency, which should be a Pro but I sort of liked the occasional quirkiness of the predecessors. Yes, I'm complaining about an improvement. It has come to that.
Bonus Game: We play in the person of one of Alice's new companions, a learned Doctor who intends to save her old friends from their stony imprisonment. This is a straight-up quest with no major villains or plot complications and it's as beautiful as the main game.
Overall, I'm delighted with this one from beginning to end...or is it? Plainly not, since we leave Alice, poisoned tentacle in hand, racing off to save her very real Uncle Colin from, well, from dark forces. That serves both to clear the board for the bonus game and to tell us that there will be a sequel. And I can't wait! Five stars for this beauty.
I recommend this game!
Can you stop a dangerous curse from destroying the realm?
Overall rating
3
/
5
15 of 20 found this review helpful
If It Quacks Like A Duck, It's A Swan
PostedSeptember 24, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
An odd game and a difficult one to review. The Dark Parables series has been, to this point, centered around fractured fairy tales, some hilariously and successfully such as the Red Riding Hood entry, some less so such as the more recent Little Match Girl effort. In this offering we have The Ugly Duckling, torn from its fairy tale moorings and cast into the maelstrom of a princess fantasy that has precious few moorings of its own. In short, the writing is a mess that can't keep up with its own convolutions. More of this in a moment. The game, though, is really quite good and is very long, which has risks of its own in terms of repetitiveness.
Pros: Colorful graphics, nice scenery, especially the interiors. Major props to the music under composer/producer Kristina Markovic, who saved the game from boredom (for me) over and over again. Adequate to good voice acting, and very generous with the game play. Puzzles on the easy side with two exceptions. Quite a few HO scenes, mostly of the junkpile sort but that junk is actually quite beautiful. So many, in fact, that they become somewhat repetitive. You're going to build a lot of amulets.
Cons: We play as The Detective, whose mini-cassette voice recorder seems as out of place as a cell phone in a Tolkein story. There isn't actually much detecting to be done between magical this and amulet that, but there are more shape-type locks to open than pages in a phone book. The inventory is frequently more than full because the time between the presentation of the pertinent object and its actual use is generally long enough for you to forget you have it. That also leads to a proliferation of open issues and a marathon of back-and-forth, and thank heaven for the map. I don't recall hitting the Hint button this much in any three games because the player is in a near constant state of "what do I do now?"
Writing: Apparently written by committee, a large caffeinated one, involving several sub-plots, each with issues of its own. It all falls together in the end more like a pile of bricks than a building. We have by turns a princess, a prince, two disapproving families, a dynasty of helpful (or not) knights with traitors in its midst, two art students, and a duck. And a resolution that leaves no one satisfied, including the duck and, unfortunately, the player.
Bonus Game: Here we play as Benno, the hero's friend and that poor fellow is in trouble again. A few loose ends were tied up in this one, some not so much, but it's a true bonus game in the profusion of HO scenes and the relatively easy puzzles. The plot's in the parables, such as it was.
Overall: Beautiful scenery and a lot of play are what one might purchase this product for. It isn't really a DP game in the sense that nothing of the tale of the Ugly Duckling is left but its honker and its web feet. If you're looking for a pretty game with lots of play and plenty of HO scenes, this might work. If you're looking for a mystery with a cohesive plot, this one isn't it. It wasn't really a happy ending at all, it was just an ending. A very qualified recommendation in this one based on, having completed it and knowing all this, would I still buy it? Probably yes. The play's the thing, the plot is not.
I recommend this game!
Can you save Vienna from a masked Phantom’s wrath?
Overall rating
5
/
5
6 of 8 found this review helpful
Vienna, A Dark City? Never!
PostedSeptember 18, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
"City" themed mysteries always raise the question, "How much of the city do we get to see?" In the case of Vienna, not enough but what we do see is (understandably) gorgeous. The year is 1886. We play as The Detective, male POV with internal monologue restricted to the deduction scenes, with one gadget that lights up clues that real detectives would probably kill for. The "fill the folder with clues and sort it out between chapters" trope is not overdone and for a change, doesn't interfere too much with game flow. Some amusing references to period composers.
Pros: beautiful graphics, a fine if somewhat convoluted mystery with enough reveals per chapter to keep it interesting, very good voice acting albeit with some occasionally painful American accents, and lush music that fits the theme - you don't often hear comments on the music, but I liked this set a lot. Great mix of HO scenes. A reasonable amount of back-and-forth with a useful map.
Cons: the puzzles in the main game are extremely easy, and the plot is peppered with ancillary characters that don't really add much to the story except complication. You practically need a scorecard to keep track of them - on the upside, the notebook serves that function fairly well.
Bonus game: really excellent. The puzzles here are challenging and the mystery more straightforward. Here our friend Johann Strauss (naw, never heard of him) needs help identifying his Muse and nearly pays for it with his life.
Overall, a better than average whodunnit set in a beautiful locale. I'll always be complaining about not enough scenery when the topic is Vienna, but what we see is well worth a little wandering. The main game needs a little more length and by itself would be four stars but I'm giving it a five due to the excellent bonus game.
I recommend this game!
The past returns inside the Zenith Museum of Oddities!
Overall rating
5
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Avoid The Candle, Little Moths, You Might Get Burned
PostedSeptember 1, 2019
timothya
fromSandpoint, Idaho
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
MCF is back in all its former glory! This one ranks up there with the very best, among which I mean RTR, Madame Fate, Dire Grove, and not much else. We play, as ever, as The Master Detective, our nemesis is an Archivist who wanted to work for the MCF organization and faced more rejection than a third-rate novelist at a literary convention. It's enough to make one...evil...
We have colleagues in need of rescue but are formidable in their own way, a welcome change from the usual save-the-helpless trope. We have single puzzles, we have HO scenes in abundance, and yes, the Rube Goldberg-style multi-stage puzzles that are the hallmark of the brand. And they're good. Really, really good.
Pros: Nearly everything. Excellent graphics, smooth game play, excellent voice acting, a coherent plot with plenty of twists, the usual sly humor and a Master Detective who doesn't take him/herself too seriously. Enough references to past cases to make spot-the-case a secondary joy. None of the puzzles is overly difficult but pieces of many of them are definitely not for beginners.
Cons: Where'd the theme go? You know, Dum Dum, Dum Dum, Dum Dum, Da Da Da Da Dum Dum... Yes, OK, we have the indispensible clacky typewriter, but no MCF theme. And apparently we, the Master Detective, no longer get nice notes from the Queen to begin. It isn't much to complain about but it's all I have.
Bonus Game: One last taunt from The Archivist - or is it? And one last hostage - or is he? And one glorious finishing puzzle as dessert.
Five stars and frankly, I didn't want it to end.
I recommend this game!