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:
Start off as a Rookie and play your way to MVP, travelling to different states across the USA!
Overall rating
5
/
5
15 of 16 found this review helpful
A GREAT GAME
PostedSeptember 11, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Doing another late review which is not the way to fame and fortune as a reviewer I guess, but in honor of a game I have now completed after hours of enjoyment.
In "current favoites" I will put a solitaire game with a vastly immersive story line and replay value, however this Home Run Solitaire game is great fun.
I will limit myself to a strategy suggestion:
Not to replay every incomplete inning immediately. Let them go and move on and come back later at need when you have built up your power-ups and can do with maximum ease.
In "current favoites" I will put a solitaire game with a vastly immersive story line and replay value, however this Home Run Solitaire game is great fun.
I will limit myself to a strategy suggestion:
Not to replay every incomplete inning immediately. Let them go and move on and come back later at need when you have built up your power-ups and can do with maximum ease.
and note the difference between the passive power-ups and the group of those which remove cards. Of these latter one can only have four active at a time so supposing you have bought six you must decide which four to use in each game or inning. On the whole this suggests that buying four one might go on to complete the passive purchases before buying more of these.
these notes with gratitude to the developers for pleasurable hours which I commend also to you...
I recommend this game!
Can you uncover the truth behind a string of strange thefts?
Overall rating
2
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
A TERRIBLE CONCEPT FLAW IN VERMILLION WATCH GAMES
PostedSeptember 6, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
This review is a late one and just about all there is to say has been said by reviewers. I will therefore focus on one problem, as it seems to me. The Vermillion Watch games come to a point where our hero visits Rufus and puts down the "evidence" he has acquired and Rufus tells him that this represents three places he must go. Then the player chooses any one of these for a chapter and then another and then the third, before going on to the final chapter.
BUT if the result of one chapter does not have any effect on that of the next and the next (since they can be played in any sequence) then the necessary illusion is broken that one is doing things that have consequence for how the game goes.
One might as well skip all three and go directly to the end it would seem.
Granted that this is an illusion ,almost all HOPA games are unicursal, have only one possible development. still for me at least this illusion is a vital one in game making.
Beyond that as an old Oz fan sort of nice to see Dorothy looking fine in black and shooting at people, but the plot as a whole is it seems to me tiresome.
However it is this one concept problem which I would beg the developers to reconsider.
I don't recommend this game.
Lead a team of specialists as they unravel the darkest secrets of the first decades of human space exploration in this graphical text based thriller.
Overall rating
2
/
5
12 of 14 found this review helpful
CHOOSE YOUR OWN ADVENTURE--SLOWLY
PostedAugust 28, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
This is like the old choose your own adventure books, You are mission command and you make choices from time to time for a team sent to the moon to investigate a mysterious signal source.
There is a great deal of discussion and banter between the team members and this is for me the problem, in particular when having made a bad choice one must cover that ground again.
There is a great deal of discussion and banter between the team members and this is for me the problem, in particular when having made a bad choice one must cover that ground again.
In the old choose your adventure books it was easy to explore the whole layout of the story, and hopefully of course having arrived at a 'good' ending.
For my self and perhaps paradoxically I found the slow unfolding of the story far less immersive and fun than the quickly absorbed old stories.
This is my review then, based on the demo but also on looking at a walk-through and so having an idea of where the story went. The story contains elements of horror as well as science fiction and may very well appeal to some more than it does to me. To me it seems conventional and tiresomely slow and as always recognizing that some, perhaps you, may find it just right, I cannot recommend it.
I don't recommend this game.
Help John D investigate cases and free the city from the Mafia’s grip in this challenging match-3 game!
Overall rating
5
/
5
9 of 10 found this review helpful
This is "The Voice From Heaven 2. "
PostedAugust 20, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
In January we had from this developer The Voice From Heaven , like this a plot driven match three game which as I wrote in a review then was a gift for me at that time.
The plot in Crime Stories is very different from that sunny whimsical journey through fairy lands...Here is is a police officer's quest for revenge rather in the "Sin City" mode as he goes after the Mafia bosses through fire and bullets. There is a jazz background which is very pleasant to me, it was Jazz that drew me to the first two Cadenza games.
However with every difference it can be noted that in fact the game is pretty much the same and even the same match three levels are being used ,at least often, with of course different colors and designations but in fact the same games.
The plot in Crime Stories is very different from that sunny whimsical journey through fairy lands...Here is is a police officer's quest for revenge rather in the "Sin City" mode as he goes after the Mafia bosses through fire and bullets. There is a jazz background which is very pleasant to me, it was Jazz that drew me to the first two Cadenza games.
However with every difference it can be noted that in fact the game is pretty much the same and even the same match three levels are being used ,at least often, with of course different colors and designations but in fact the same games.
A difference is that the boost ups have been strengthened in this appearance with one which eliminates a whole line , and another ,dynamite, which blows out a major part of the set up. This makes easier what was already a rather easy match three game but for me the strong plot and colorfulness of the game are enough and indeed I like a challenge which is more imaginary(looks difficult even though the difficulty melts away in a few minutes play) than real.
It is fun , a time passer without other pretension than fun, and I like it, and I think you may too... so I recommend this game to you!
I recommend this game!
Become a Firewielder and prevent the Dark Lord’s rise!
Overall rating
3
/
5
18 of 19 found this review helpful
BRING ON THE ENGINEER!
PostedJuly 12, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
My favorite character in the dark realm series is the short engineer-pilot (dwarf?) in any case whimsical character. He appears late in the game which is an entertaining one except that.... well let me put it this way: at the end of the bonus game Valera has a choice ,to not give a spoiler I will say to test cars on the Utah Salt Flats or to enter Harvard Medical School, a choice that radical! and I DONT CARE. and playing it both ways I see it doesnt matter she is the same either way. a totally two dimensional figure with the task of periodically saving the world. it seems to me the developers have done the best you can with it but this kind of story really is not worth a series except that the business seems to call for such, It is a problem in HOPAs . I thank them for the enjoyable moments in this game, more as it went along. But then the abrupt end where (yawn) the world has to be saved. ..I wish that then in the bonus chapter after a mage gives the choice, the engineer-pilot had appeared in a fantastic vehicle of his own invention and said to Valera " NO THERE IS ANOTHER WAY. KISS OFF THIS STUPID WORLD and let us go out there! into the new!"
this is also my advice to the developer whose games I have loved.
this is also my advice to the developer whose games I have loved.
A young journalist following a wanted felon chases him to a golden elevator that takes her to other worlds, where huge danger threatens everything.
Overall rating
5
/
5
63 of 73 found this review helpful
MOST CREATIVE CASUAL GAME STORY IN A LONG TIME!
PostedJune 24, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This one had me fooled for a while. I thought well it has the inventive games and graphics that we expect from Mad Head games but the story is ,perhaps with a twist from a couple of possibilities I see, going to be one I have played over and again.
It in the end was not that at all, but that rarest of things in the world of hidden object puzzle adventure, a creative and new story which grows out of one of the most basic stories. I will say that the team which made this is aware of the stories of P.K.Dick but beyond that just this to invite you to not just do the demo but sign on for the whole journey. I wager you won't regret it.
The only more ground breaking story I know was Adam Wolfe and that was the work of this same team.
Enjoy!
It in the end was not that at all, but that rarest of things in the world of hidden object puzzle adventure, a creative and new story which grows out of one of the most basic stories. I will say that the team which made this is aware of the stories of P.K.Dick but beyond that just this to invite you to not just do the demo but sign on for the whole journey. I wager you won't regret it.
The only more ground breaking story I know was Adam Wolfe and that was the work of this same team.
Enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Overall rating
5
/
5
80 of 99 found this review helpful
Almost Giving Up These Games--One I Am Enjoying!
PostedMay 9, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This review is not based on completing the game and is very subjective. But I am making it because I think there must be a good many players like myself who feel like this kind of gaming has used up its shelf life for them as individual players. awkward sentence but hey!
I liked a game which was very innovative and which I will put in current favorites, and it was so innovative that perhaps it spoiled the games since then for me since it has not been learned from or built on yet.
So I play again and again a solitaire game or a match three but also I read books, go out to dinner with friends, watch a video.. well but enough on me just that maybe you reader mon semblable mon frere(as an old poet put it) understand.
I liked a game which was very innovative and which I will put in current favorites, and it was so innovative that perhaps it spoiled the games since then for me since it has not been learned from or built on yet.
So I play again and again a solitaire game or a match three but also I read books, go out to dinner with friends, watch a video.. well but enough on me just that maybe you reader mon semblable mon frere(as an old poet put it) understand.
Then before closing the door on HOPAs try this one say I. It is old fashioned , it is from the east of Europe and so poorly translated as to be on that account kind of endearing.
It has a plot that so far is free from the mind numbing cliches. the scenes are pleasant places to be. Hope is an endearing character to play and gives one somehow, well, hope...
The game play is awkward but for me is secondary to character, plot , place... I do not mind so much waiting for the skip button to recharge on a puzzle I could hardly care less about when I am in a nice location with a pleasant companion and story and other resources at hand to pass the wait time.
If this story holds on to its oddity and pleasantness it deserves to be a cult classic and again is a delightful gift maybe for players like myself.
you know who you are! If it fits give it a try!
If this story holds on to its oddity and pleasantness it deserves to be a cult classic and again is a delightful gift maybe for players like myself.
you know who you are! If it fits give it a try!
I recommend this game!
Help Aurora collect the resources she needs to make the world a better place with the power of her chants!
Overall rating
5
/
5
58 of 69 found this review helpful
GREATLY HELPED BY THIS GAME
PostedJanuary 22, 2017
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
My deepest thanks to the developer for this game. My review will have two parts the personal and the game in itself and I will give it five stars on both though obviously it can be a little
hard to separate.
First my special gratitude is because a friend who is close and important to me has been hospitalized for a week, after a post procedural infection the antibiotics has taken hold and she may probably be going home tomorrow. In many hours of waiting and stress I played this game and it focused my stress and gathered it up and in some measure cleansed it as Aurora's song does.
Although this is very personal I do think in one way or another at one time or another most players use thse games in this sort of way sometimes. As such this game is supreme it seems to me.
Secondly the play has the limits that have been pointed out,until you get used to the colors and designations it can be hard to immediately see what token is what sometimes . Also the game does not develop the powers of the boostups and at the same time make the levels progressively more difficult as some match three games do even reaching the virtually impossible. The virtues of the game for me include this level playing progression which may displease another. Besides this the story is quite wonderful, characters with this or that limitation or flaw but all entering the song of renewal of the world and of life. My
focus in games is on character and story and for me these seem very wonderful of their kind. No over-reaching and attempting to match some graphic novel guru , but the setting out and telling of a pure and grand story. Enjoy!
hard to separate.
First my special gratitude is because a friend who is close and important to me has been hospitalized for a week, after a post procedural infection the antibiotics has taken hold and she may probably be going home tomorrow. In many hours of waiting and stress I played this game and it focused my stress and gathered it up and in some measure cleansed it as Aurora's song does.
Although this is very personal I do think in one way or another at one time or another most players use thse games in this sort of way sometimes. As such this game is supreme it seems to me.
Secondly the play has the limits that have been pointed out,until you get used to the colors and designations it can be hard to immediately see what token is what sometimes . Also the game does not develop the powers of the boostups and at the same time make the levels progressively more difficult as some match three games do even reaching the virtually impossible. The virtues of the game for me include this level playing progression which may displease another. Besides this the story is quite wonderful, characters with this or that limitation or flaw but all entering the song of renewal of the world and of life. My
focus in games is on character and story and for me these seem very wonderful of their kind. No over-reaching and attempting to match some graphic novel guru , but the setting out and telling of a pure and grand story. Enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Help your little sister get a second chance this Christmas after she gets on the naughty list.
Overall rating
2
/
5
21 of 27 found this review helpful
Looking elsewhere for Christmas
PostedDecember 10, 2016
kandinsky
fromNew York. Hudson Valley.
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
I loved the nutcracker and the tin soldier, the last for what seemed to me the wonderful use of the character of hans christian anderson, and I played the others and plodded through with mixed pleasure but--enough!
Not going to go on with this one, paid for it, played about
half. maybe I am spoiled by a very innovative game I played recently for one thing, but within this series even, this seems "dead as a doornail" to use an expression from Christmas Carol.
Christmas Carol... Carols...thats an idea! I do believe
Ill find Christmas in some seasonal gathering, in a
place set aside, of song and shared bread and wine.
Not going to go on with this one, paid for it, played about
half. maybe I am spoiled by a very innovative game I played recently for one thing, but within this series even, this seems "dead as a doornail" to use an expression from Christmas Carol.
Christmas Carol... Carols...thats an idea! I do believe
Ill find Christmas in some seasonal gathering, in a
place set aside, of song and shared bread and wine.
I don't recommend this game.
Act as Adam Wolfe, an investigator of the paranormal. Discover an occult world hidden in modern San Francisco!
Overall rating
5
/
5
149 of 168 found this review helpful
This is THE ONE
PostedNovember 28, 2016
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
This is the one that creates a new genre. I hope that acceptance and also the practicalities of creating this sort of game will allow there to be others..
The developer madhead has broken through the limits of casual gaming, as those who follow their work will know they have been progressively doing over the last years, and created something which has the immersive depth , visual and in plot dialogue and character, which goes with hard core gaming and yet with the ease of play which makes casual gaming casual. They have opened a whole new genre maybe in the process of renewing the tired old genre of hidden object puzzle adventure gaming. By all means play this and I think you will be impressed and have a good time too!
It is the first two parts of a four part story arc which I have played through and without further spoilers beyond saying it will not disappoint ,I invite you to enter the story...
The developer madhead has broken through the limits of casual gaming, as those who follow their work will know they have been progressively doing over the last years, and created something which has the immersive depth , visual and in plot dialogue and character, which goes with hard core gaming and yet with the ease of play which makes casual gaming casual. They have opened a whole new genre maybe in the process of renewing the tired old genre of hidden object puzzle adventure gaming. By all means play this and I think you will be impressed and have a good time too!
It is the first two parts of a four part story arc which I have played through and without further spoilers beyond saying it will not disappoint ,I invite you to enter the story...
I recommend this game!