LadyoftheIvy's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.5
- Helpful Votes:990
- Reviews Submitted:54
- First Review:December 3, 2011
- Most Recent Review:April 19, 2017
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Help a detective explore a rampant briar growth in Scotland, and discover the true tale of the real Sleeping Beauty!
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
The Dark Parable games are wonderful!
PostedDecember 3, 2011
LadyoftheIvy
fromNorthern Virginia
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Family, Brain Teaser, Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
I am a huge fan of the Dark Parable games. They're extremely well done - beautiful graphics, great music, great ambient sound. This one isn't quite as good as the later ones (they have a few improvements), but given that it's the first one, it's still really well done. And for a first game in a series, it's definitely a five star one.
This is a fragmented object hidden object game with other puzzles, first off. So if you don't enjoy having to find your objects in multiple pieces, this isn't the game for you. I think it's rather well done in this game, though. Rather than being the typical scene after scene full of random (and possibly totally out of place) junk, which starts to look silly sometimes, the pieces are cleverly hidden in the scenes. It shows you pictures of the pieces you're looking for, and doing it as the fragments makes it fit better with the story for me. Once you've found all the fragments, you end up with an item to use somewhere in the game.
The puzzles tend to be on the easy side, but it's still an enjoyable game. It's more of a hidden object than a puzzle game anyway, but I like the fact that there's some of both. This may also have a bit too much back and forth between scenes for some people, but I've honestly seen much worse in other games and it didn't really bother me. It's also not a perfectly linear game like some, so how much back and forth you do is partially up to what order you decide to do things in. Of course, just like any game, there are some things that will have to be completed before some other things. It's just not 100% linear like some other games.
If you like fairy tales, don't mind a darker twist to them, and don't dislike fragmented hidden object games, then I highly recommend this game and the others in this series. (In fact, I'd recommend many of the games done by Blue Tea Games.) Just fabulous!
I recommend this game!
Help Jessica transform her aunt's failing old bakery into a complete success. Get Jessica's Cupcake Cafe up and running!
Overall rating
5
/
5
79 of 88 found this review helpful
Will make you wish you had cupcakes nearby!
PostedDecember 3, 2011
LadyoftheIvy
fromNorthern Virginia
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Family, Brain Teaser, Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
I tend to enjoy time management games a lot, even if they can end up seeming like they'd be repetitive. While you're basically spending each level filling people's cupcakes (and possibly drink orders), this one is neat in that you actually have to bake, frost, and decorate the cupcakes before you can even fill anyone's orders. And, before the level even begins, you can choose what sorts of cupcakes you'd like to offer for sale during that level.
It's similar to the Cake Mania games except that people generally can't choose anything they want, they have to choose from the cupcakes you're offering. Frequently, at least one customer will show up per level with a "custom" order, but it's not quite as random as a custom order might imply - they always use some combination involving a cupcake, icing, and topping you aren't offering as part of the main offerings of the day. I spent my time trying to get expert on each level, which is what I do with most time management games. My son, who hasn't played nearly as many of these as I have, enjoys himself just trying to reach the regular goal.
The graphics are pretty good in a cartoony way, and they're nice and colorful. The sound isn't bad or good, it's just there. I have a tendency to turn it down and listen to my own music, but it's not because the music is annoying. It's just because it's nothing to write home about either.
One of the neat parts of this game are the recipes for cupcakes and icings that pop-up in a separate recipe book in the main menu as you complete levels. As new cupcake and icing flavors come up during the levels, the recipes for them will, too. It gives you the recipes in the combinations that the game suggests for each level, not necessarily the ones you might end up choosing, but just like any cake/cupcake recipe out there, you can certainly use whichever cupcake with whatever icing if you actually do make them.
Ultimately, this is a fun game for anyone who enjoys time management games. It's not one of the most challenging ones out there, but it's a solidly enjoyable one that isn't too easy either and has some customizable features that make it more than just the same thing over and over. I'd recommend it to any fan of time management style games!
I recommend this game!
Help the ghostly inhibitants of a haunted house as you venture into the beyond and discover the secret of the 6th ghost!
Overall rating
2
/
5
33 of 44 found this review helpful
Meh...
PostedDecember 3, 2011
LadyoftheIvy
fromNorthern Virginia
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Family, Brain Teaser, Adventure, Time Management, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
I'll preface this review by saying that I'm not entirely sure how I ended up buying this game. Maybe my children did it accidentally. I'm not sure. I just all of a sudden had it purchased, and I definitely don't remember playing a demo of it. But since it was now paid for, I went ahead and played it. So, my first suggestion would be to try a demo.
It's not an awful game, but it's not exactly a good game either. It's really short, and frankly I think it would be pretty easy to complete half of the game during the hour of demo time alone. It started out as intriguing and looking as though it had potential, but quickly got repetitive. Many of the puzzles are way too easy. A few of them are easy to figure out, but hard to get it clicked/positioned in the spot you know something needs to be in, occasionally forcing you to start it over. And there are one or two that are a huge pain.
It has cartoon-style graphics which are okay, though not necessarily the best out there. I don't remember much about the sound, so most likely it wasn't annoying, but wasn't fabulous either.
There are better adventure games on this site. My personal recommendation would be to pass on this one, but again, try the demo first. It's definitely not a buy it before trying it game.
I don't recommend this game.
A Magnetic Adventure
Use a small magnet to solve physics-based puzzles that will stretch your gray matter in ways you never imagined!
Overall rating
4
/
5
18 of 19 found this review helpful
Cute and fun!
PostedDecember 3, 2011
LadyoftheIvy
fromNorthern Virginia
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Family, Brain Teaser, Time Management, Hidden Object, Large File, Puzzle, Strategy
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
This is a cute puzzle game that is fun for both adults and children. I enjoyed it myself, and my 8 and 6 year old are still enjoying it, so for that alone it was clearly a worthwhile purchase. It's more challenging for them than for me, but even still there were some puzzles in the game I wasn't able to figure out without hints, so I would say it's not too easy, but not too hard either. It's an imaginative puzzle game as well, which is part of why I qualify it as cute.
The graphics are pretty good, given that there's really only a limited amount of things shown anyway. It's basically all wood, gears, metal, plants, light bulbs, and simple things, but they are well done. The music is okay and not annoying. And the storyline helps tie it all together a bit.
As another reviewer mentioned, there is no skip which can make it massively annoying when you're stuck and have to continuously wait for hints over and over to try and solve a puzzle. I would say that there are only one or two puzzles where this was an issue for me, but having either a skip or something that gets a clue after you've asked for hints repeatedly would be nice.
Ultimately, it's an enjoyable game and if you like puzzle games, I would say give it a try!
I recommend this game!