kandinsky's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4
- Helpful Votes:3,130
- Reviews Submitted:100
- First Review:November 26, 2014
- Most Recent Review:September 9, 2024
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Embark on a mesmerizing journey with Amanda and Charlie through time and space!
Overall rating
1
/
5
A NEW WRITER AND IT IS A DISASTER
PostedSeptember 9, 2024
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I have only played a few levels of this game but having enjoyed all the Amanda's previous I see now how dependent that enjoyment on the sense that it was a well made story.
the layouts were as others note always the same,
Checked the credits of a few of this developer;s games and
there is a new writer. This review just to point that out and that the seeming rare gift of the developer in storytelling is gone.
the layouts were as others note always the same,
Checked the credits of a few of this developer;s games and
there is a new writer. This review just to point that out and that the seeming rare gift of the developer in storytelling is gone.
I don't recommend this game.
Solve puzzling match-3 challenges while helping Morgan Johnson and Jack Brown’s on their latest case!
Overall rating
5
/
5
13 of 13 found this review helpful
A VERY SPECIAL GIFT FOR TELLING A STORY
PostedJanuary 6, 2022
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I love these games as I have said before and particularly for the plotting of the storylines, always warmhearted and yet also with twists and turns leaving something important uncertain until the end. In my opinion developers of HOPA games should go to school on what this developer does...seriously.
Now having said that there is a difference in medium between storytelling in a HOPA and in a Match -3, part of the mastery here is in having action take place off stage between segments in a way you could not easily in a HOPA perhaps. It may be just a little like the difference between radio plays and television drama and one can find that the old radio plays for the imaginative(or those with a specific kind of imagination) surpass most television drama.
But if any writers of games care about imaginative power and effect they ought grasp what is achieved here in these games.
As to the mechanics of the game, well to say the least the layouts are familar, but changing the power-ups around so that now one is given a limited supply for each new layout does make the play rather new. May I particularly praise the last layout where one is given three special dirigibles each able to clear the entire screen which one needs to do more than once but now can finish the game with a bang rather than slogging along to elimiate two hundred of one kind of thing. Earlier screens present some modest but real challenges in budgeting power-ups.
Now having said that there is a difference in medium between storytelling in a HOPA and in a Match -3, part of the mastery here is in having action take place off stage between segments in a way you could not easily in a HOPA perhaps. It may be just a little like the difference between radio plays and television drama and one can find that the old radio plays for the imaginative(or those with a specific kind of imagination) surpass most television drama.
But if any writers of games care about imaginative power and effect they ought grasp what is achieved here in these games.
As to the mechanics of the game, well to say the least the layouts are familar, but changing the power-ups around so that now one is given a limited supply for each new layout does make the play rather new. May I particularly praise the last layout where one is given three special dirigibles each able to clear the entire screen which one needs to do more than once but now can finish the game with a bang rather than slogging along to elimiate two hundred of one kind of thing. Earlier screens present some modest but real challenges in budgeting power-ups.
Of course it depends on how your mind works and what you find enjoyable but I think there must be quite a few players for whom these games are wonderful and again other developers ought take note of their unique achievement in storytelling.
I recommend this game!
Can you rescue a child with magical powers in time?
Overall rating
5
/
5
7 of 9 found this review helpful
BEST OF ADVENTURES!
PostedNovember 9, 2021
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I played the original Drawn, and the second part Dark Flight which I am now starting to replay, on its terms with puzzles and thinking things through. But playing it now as Redrawn I adopted a different approach: that of skipping every puzzle and just going through it as journey through the story.
This strategy avoids the question of whether there is too much dumbing down or "hand-holding" and leaves...
Leaves what I found an immensely enjoyable story rediscovered and enjoyed more than I have any game play here for a long time...
Players differ and for me with any game story ,character and the sense of place, are my first concerns but few games will stand simply on those alone and be fully satisfying.
This best and most richly imagined of stories is one that will and thanks so much to Friendly Fox for this miracle and my recommendation is to not hesitate over secondary questions of game play and so miss the beauty and power of this game.
This strategy avoids the question of whether there is too much dumbing down or "hand-holding" and leaves...
Leaves what I found an immensely enjoyable story rediscovered and enjoyed more than I have any game play here for a long time...
Players differ and for me with any game story ,character and the sense of place, are my first concerns but few games will stand simply on those alone and be fully satisfying.
This best and most richly imagined of stories is one that will and thanks so much to Friendly Fox for this miracle and my recommendation is to not hesitate over secondary questions of game play and so miss the beauty and power of this game.
I recommend this game!
Join Morgan and Jack to solve unusual cases around London that lead them to a dark conspiracy in this match-3 mystery!
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 4 found this review helpful
AT PRETTY GOOD, THE STORY IS SURE BETTER THAN MOST
PostedJuly 20, 2021
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I play and enjoy this developer's games. I do not like timed games at all so the lack of a timer does not get me out of sorts.
But this time I will knock off a star for the really excessive repetition of the same layouts , a practice that I could imagine lead another player to total disgust with the games but for me there is one thing that keeps me playing.
That is the story lines. The stories always have invention and surprise together with a winsome quality. This one just a little less than some of their stories maybe (yet a very pleasant surprise at the end) but far ahead of most of the HOPA story lines I have seen lately. This keeps me coming back and you must judge what is important to you of course but it may make this a game worth your attention.
But this time I will knock off a star for the really excessive repetition of the same layouts , a practice that I could imagine lead another player to total disgust with the games but for me there is one thing that keeps me playing.
That is the story lines. The stories always have invention and surprise together with a winsome quality. This one just a little less than some of their stories maybe (yet a very pleasant surprise at the end) but far ahead of most of the HOPA story lines I have seen lately. This keeps me coming back and you must judge what is important to you of course but it may make this a game worth your attention.
I recommend this game!
Help Amanda as she ventures into the spirit work to save her grandfather in this magical match-3 adventure!
Overall rating
5
/
5
17 of 22 found this review helpful
IT IS WHAT IT IS AND FOR ME ITS A WONDERFUL TREAT!
PostedJune 8, 2021
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This developers match 3 games present a challenge not in their play, which is easy enough to say the least, but in their evaluation. The usually do not have a timed mode, a demerit if you want to play against time for some reason which doesnt have resonance to me , why? you want to race through life? Ok but not for me. they repeat pretty much the same layouts and certainly the same sort of power-ups and game play. This does not bother me very much although I would be happy for more variation of the game layouts. On the for me positive side, they have unique stories, stories that are imbued with a sort of usually gentle and winsome fantasy and are themselves a sort of place to be and to rest ones mind and imagination in. If this visit to a place of fantasy and the winsome is not interesting for or needed by you then avoid these games certainly but I have a feeling that a great many people are like those to whom , in a poet's word. 'the circus brings its wonders to children who have lost their dream of home." If that resonates then do not be deterred from trying these simple but wonder charged games.
I recommend this game!
A routine flight becomes a perilous adventure as you struggle to survive the dangerous way of life inside the Bermuda Triangle!
Overall rating
5
/
5
9 of 10 found this review helpful
A WONDERFUL POURING OUT OF IMAGINATION
PostedFebruary 27, 2021
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
I wont write a long review, so much has been said and I just want to put myself on record too as having enjoyed this game immensely and to pay tribute to the developers for putting so much attention into every detail visually and in the story which is like a last sky rocket in a fireworks show firing stage by stage until finally filling the sky in a glory of light and color. I would urge anyone who did not complete the game to still do so and anyone who has not played it yet to not miss this wonderful act of gaming imagination!
I recommend this game!
Mystery and betrayal at Rosings Park darken an alternate version of Jane Austen’s classic!
Overall rating
5
/
5
20 of 23 found this review helpful
LEAVE EXPECTATIONS TO FIND DELIGHT
PostedFebruary 15, 2021
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
My heading sounds like a fortune cookie but perhaps it says what is needed with this game which is indeed original. We, many of us, feel the now active hopa developers are mailing it in,the formula as usual. This game is ,as Pennmom says, something different. It is not Jane Austen, in spite of the title (and of Jane Austen's work it would be closer to Northanger Abbey's Gothic mood than Pride and Prejudice),it does not offer an hour long trial run, and it does not quite work in the way of the games we complain of as mindless but have grown accustomed to. something new! "Fascinating!" as Mr. Spock would say and then also maybe you will join me in feeling a real delight!
I recommend this game!
Join Princess Miriel’s and fight Darksoul to save her brother in The Enthralling Realms: Knights and Orcs!
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 9 found this review helpful
A WONDERFUL GAME FOR SOME PLAYERS
PostedAugust 24, 2020
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
As so often there are negative or reserved reviews that make sense to me even though for me the game seems just right. I am writing this review, now writing hardly any reviews, to agree with the other five star reviewer and to encourage perhaps many others out there for whom the game can be just right.
And to thank the developer for making changes including new layouts. I just hope that they dont now give us fifty game using these layouts but this time am grateful.
And to thank the developer for making changes including new layouts. I just hope that they dont now give us fifty game using these layouts but this time am grateful.
The game is not challenging really, and if you want the added challenges of timing or of limited moves there is not that option. The story is predictable in broad outline at least.
What stands on the other side is that it is a story into which you can put your imagination comfortably , what one might call a warmhearted story and the play ,although as another reviewer said allowing doing other things at the same time, can absorb if one invests a little imagination into seeing each level as being something challenging to overcome and then allowing oneself satisfaction when it is rather soon overcome.
as the poet Cavafy said of the voyage to Ithaca "As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one,full of adventure, full of discovery...May there be many a summer morning when,with what pleasure, what joy,you come into harbors seen for the first time..."
I think there are many players out there who would if they try it find this game such a wonderful journey. This review is for them.
as the poet Cavafy said of the voyage to Ithaca "As you set out for Ithaka hope the voyage is a long one,full of adventure, full of discovery...May there be many a summer morning when,with what pleasure, what joy,you come into harbors seen for the first time..."
I think there are many players out there who would if they try it find this game such a wonderful journey. This review is for them.
I recommend this game!
Take a journey through the former USSR to investigate the whereabouts of a missing person!
Overall rating
5
/
5
10 of 12 found this review helpful
A REAL ADVENTURE
PostedJune 20, 2020
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
The premise is that of a young American seeking his girl friend who has gone missing in a backwater Russian city where it seems nothing much has changed since Soviet times. The developers are a small Russian studio. The tasks and the games are nothing special but gradually one feels something building up and...
For me the Aha! Moment was when coming out of a dilapidated hotel I see the wheels missing from my car and the translated into English of course caption "Oh (expletive not deleted)! Someone stole my wheels!"
I realized what Pennmom puts well , that this is finally within what seems the loss of interest by the main developers, this is something original. And I press on without for the first time on forever any clear idea how it will end (of course he will find the girl but why is she missing etc).
It is what one had almost given up hoping for in this genre ever again a REAL adventure!
For me the Aha! Moment was when coming out of a dilapidated hotel I see the wheels missing from my car and the translated into English of course caption "Oh (expletive not deleted)! Someone stole my wheels!"
I realized what Pennmom puts well , that this is finally within what seems the loss of interest by the main developers, this is something original. And I press on without for the first time on forever any clear idea how it will end (of course he will find the girl but why is she missing etc).
It is what one had almost given up hoping for in this genre ever again a REAL adventure!
I recommend this game!
Accompany Mary Jane and Jack on a swashbuckling hidden object adventure!
Overall rating
5
/
5
32 of 40 found this review helpful
REAL INNOVATION IN STORYTELLING
PostedJuly 7, 2019
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This brief review to add my vote and voice to Pennmom's on this game and to encourage others to not miss it. The shifting of viewpoints between Mary Jane and Jack is handled in such a way that it creates cliff hangers such as drove the old movie serials and more than that makes for two intertwined and dovetailing stories which both go beyond the played out narrative to be completed in our imagination and making the whole story richer and deeper by that. Produced by the developer who gave us the amazingly innovative "My Brother Rabbit" this from Cordelia shows how conventions, tropes, of a genre (in this case pirate stories) can be made new and fresh by the way they are combined and woven together and this gives hope surely for all of us who have played it seemed too many games and felt more and more a terrible sameness. Enjoy!
I recommend this game!