sereneorchid's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.6
- Helpful Votes:6,145
- Reviews Submitted:156
- First Review:November 13, 2011
- Most Recent Review:March 4, 2021
- Featured reviews1
Status:
Help Adda and Ciro solve a mystery and restore a garden to its former beauty in Hello Venice, an amazing Match 3 game!
Overall rating
5
/
5
41 of 45 found this review helpful
Unique, exciting match game, with virtual garden
PostedJanuary 19, 2012
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Marvelous graphics and animations. Your matches are made essentially by using your mouse to draw a line through three or more matching tiles -- make a chain as long as you can. Once I got the hang of it, I loved it! It's such a fast and easy way to play, and a lot less clicking than usual. Matching breaks through the stone or grass in a garden maze and lets water flood in. A very cool effect. An arrow points the way, and you keep breaking a pathway for the water until you reach a fountain that erupts. Again, very cool. I am addicted to this in just the trial period. I love that the money earned in the matching games is used to restore a garden with beautiful flowers and various decor. Virtual gardening is always a treat for me. The only thing I would caution is I unselected the custom cursor, which often speeds up a game, and the cursor completely disappeared. I restarted the game several times, and the cursor never came back. So I wasted time trying to re-select the custom cursor with my "invisible" cursor. My advice is to leave the custom cursor alone! I didn't notice that it affected performance. Love, love this game.
I recommend this game!
After her peaceful island is invaded by strange creatures, Claudia must find her uncle in Legend of Fae, an incredible Match 3 game!
Overall rating
2
/
5
13 of 17 found this review helpful
Poor graphics
PostedJanuary 18, 2012
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
The game reminds me of something from the early days of game design. Graphics are really poor and seem out of focus, including the font. The matching game is strange: you match only horizontally within a bracket. The game has some interesting story and game play ideas, but it needs a lot more work to match the standards of other Big Fish games. I'm surprised Big Fish even offered it as a release.
I don't recommend this game.
Learn about the greatest cities in the world while playing through amazing Mahjong levels in World’s Greatest Cities Mahjong!
Overall rating
5
/
5
27 of 28 found this review helpful
Interesting mahjong variations, beautiful tiles
PostedJanuary 18, 2012
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I had kind of given up on trying mahjong games for awhile because they all seemed to be the same. But I'm so glad I didn't overlook this one with its interesting variations on mahjong, including "finding the tile without a pair," "mahjong solitaire," and "matching across a wall." They were easy to learn (in seconds), and so much fun to play compared to straight mahjong level after level. And I really loved the beautiful mahjong tiles, a mix of traditional and contemporary graphics. If you've played other mahjong games, you know that good-looking tiles aren't easy to find. If you like mahjong, don't pass this by. If you haven't tried mahjong, this is a great game for your first experience.
I recommend this game!
Join this thrilling adventure and discover the secrets of the ancient Greek gods in this great matching game.
Overall rating
5
/
5
34 of 36 found this review helpful
The game surprised me
PostedJanuary 16, 2012
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
I started this game expecting it to be just an average match 3 game. But I found it surprisingly addictive. You get to choose between two games: clicking on a group of matched tiles, or the traditional swap two tiles. What I found really nice is that at the end of each level, you are taken back to the screen where you can choose which kind of game to play. So I alternated between the two choices and found that a lot more entertaining than playing the same kind of game level after level. Also, each kind of game has its own special power-ups: I got a kick out of watching the fist that knocks out nine tiles with one punch.
Well-done graphics and animations. No help menu, but instructions are provided each level as needed, although the game does assume some previous experience with matching games. Not everything is explained, like how and why you win stars. But when you accumulate five, you can play a bonus game (see screenshot) where you plug shapes into rotating wheels. Simple, but entertaining, just like the hangman mini-games. I almost took off a star for the annoying clinking sound the icons make during matching, but overall, this is an entertaining matching game.
I recommend this game!
Solve unique brain teasers and play through incredible Puzzles as you discover the incredible secrets of Triazzle Island!
Overall rating
4
/
5
74 of 76 found this review helpful
Thank goodness for hints
PostedJanuary 15, 2012
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
A beautiful game, with lush, tropical graphics. Your task, as an explorer, is to piece together triangular stones to fit onto ancient monuments. Each triangular side has a part of an animal drawn on it, and when you match up the animals correctly, they morph from 2D to 3D and become animated. Very cool! But the challenge is putting the puzzle pieces together correctly. The first couple puzzles seemed fairly easy, but with later puzzles, the additional pieces meant a greater number of combinations...and the puzzle pieces can be rotated, adding even more combinations. So I found it easier to start off with a hint and put at least one piece where it belonged, and work from there.
I think this is a game that will "click" with you, or it won't. At first, I didn't think I would get it, but I found myself enjoying it, like doing an animated jigsaw puzzle. Make use of the hints early on, and it's easier to get the hang of it early on! Also give this a try if you enjoy deciphering codes or working with jigsaw puzzles.
I recommend this game!
Clear out and clean up the cluttered Magic Glades using a magical Wizards Hat and your fantastic Match 3 abilities!
Overall rating
2
/
5
15 of 17 found this review helpful
Like it, but have to delete it
PostedJanuary 15, 2012
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
This is a unique game with gorgeous graphics. You get to use a wizard wand to point to potion ingredients in order to create matches. Somehow you earn points to upgrade your wand, your wizard hat, and your caldron. But (1) someone did a terrible job of translating this into English, and (2) there isn't nearly enough explanation to figure out what is going on. Yes, you can pretty much figure out some of the matching part, which involves putting the potion ingredients into the hat and then placing them back on the matching board to make a match of 3 or more, but the rest of the game just isn't intuitive. And how do you make the potions? What are they good for? What a shame. I'd love to keep this game, but there's no point when you don't know what's going on.
I don't recommend this game.
Help Annabel and Harold organize their pet shop by diving and collecting colorful sea creatures in Tropical Fish Shop 2!
Overall rating
5
/
5
41 of 45 found this review helpful
Animated matching; design your own aquarium shop
PostedJanuary 15, 2012
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
This is a marvelous game with beautiful graphics. Let's face it: there are lots of Match 3 games, and many just kind of sit there on the screen and don't do much of anything. What's fun about this one are the 3-D sea life animations on the game board that wiggle around and blink their eyes at you. Even better, the critters are nicely sized and easy to see, unlike some games where the matching tiles are the size of a baby's fingernail and require a magnifying glass to see.
Sound effects are also fun. If you play the timed mode, the air leaks out of a diver's oxygen tank, and you match bubble tiles to refill it. The bubbling sound is very realistic and amusing. But the air ran out a little fast for me, so I reverted to the easy play option. During the matching games, handy objects drop off the game board that will be used in future hidden object puzzles. The HO puzzles are well done (and animated, too), with objects drawn large enough and accurately enough so that you can actually recognize them. There are also mini-games which can be skipped immediately if you just don't feel like being challenged.
My favorite part of the game is using the money earned playing games to design my own aquarium store. You can mix and match from several design styles, and change your mind at any time. To make it more realistic, the aquarium tanks are animated, as are the customers and the store manager. This game works for all ages and skill levels; I'd encourage older relatives to play it as a fun way to keep the brain cells working.
I recommend this game!
Dora Saves the Crystal Kingdom
A Greedy King has stolen the crystals that give color to the Crystal Kingdom and without your help the Kingdom will be rendered monochrome!
Overall rating
5
/
5
573 of 806 found this review helpful
Great kids' adventure
PostedJanuary 15, 2012
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I've checked out several of the Dora games, and I'd call this the best adventure so far. The premise is that the colorful crystal kingdom has become a faded, pastel kingdom because the four color crystals have been taken by the king. (Since you would presume the king owns the treasures of his kingdom, that doesn't make sense, but hey, this is a kids' game.) Dora's adventure is to find three of the crystals, while practicing her letters, colors, numbers/counting, musical note recognition, shapes recognition, and other skills. To win the final crystal, Dora and the king have a battle of the magic wands. As the fire of the king's wand changes color, the player clicks on a colored wand to match it. It's a very cool concept, even for us grown-up folks. And then the player gets to click on the four crystals -- blue, yellow, green, and red -- and turn the grayed-out kingdom into a brilliant, technicolor one. Magic again!
I played through the easy version, and was impressed with the interesting variety of challenges. The hard option essentially gives you a second game to play as the child gets older or better at the game. Graphics and colors are marvelous, as is the storyline and activities. My only criticism is that there is no option to turn the music down or off, and sometimes the music competed with Dora's voice, making it hard to hear the instructions. Game designers -- please allow an option to turn off the music. For children with ADD, hearing difficulties, or other issues, loud background music can make it difficult to play the game.
I recommend this game!
Murder, She Wrote
Help the world-renowned author, Jessica Fletcher, solve murders! Piece together the clues to crack cases in Murder, She Wrote!
Overall rating
5
/
5
83 of 109 found this review helpful
It's fun to tag along with Jessica Fletcher
PostedJanuary 15, 2012
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Thoroughly enjoyable. You follow Jessica Fletcher and the sheriff as they question various townspeople in solving 5 different murder mysteries. The doctor makes an occasional appearance. The stories are well written and satisfyingly long, and the murderer may surprise you each time!
You start the hidden object scenes by finding A, E, I, O, U, and Y hidden in the scene, which are then typed into the hidden object list. Clever. Each story has about six hidden object scenes, and you go back and forth to each of them several times as you discover clues. But the objects move around in the scenes from one visit to the next, so it's a fresh scene each time.
The graphics are very well done in the hidden object scenes. I just wish the artists had spent as much time on the faces of the characters. Jessica only has a handful of expressions throughout the entire game, and the characters are not animated. This is a marvelous game, even for kids. Looking forward to the next edition.
I recommend this game!
The Da Vinci Code
Lead your character through dark corridors to uncover clues to The DaVinci Code.
Overall rating
3
/
5
18 of 23 found this review helpful
Too stressful for me
PostedJanuary 15, 2012
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
This game has a lot going for it, including creative power-ups like the ultraviolet light wand, but it just wasn't for me. There's no avoiding the fact that the game is timed, so as the game gets more complicated, it also gets more stressful for folks who get stressed out by a timer. Then there's the flashlight tool. When activated, most of the screen goes dark, and you have to move your mouse around like you're swinging a flashlight to try to see the tiles so you can make matches...all while racing against a clock. Truthfully, I hated that part.
The matches are made immediately next to an icon representing the player. Little by little, the matches open up a pathway for the player's icon to move to an endpoint. But you don't know where that endpoint is. So you can be making matches and not getting anywhere, while the timer is ticking away. And sometimes there will be police on your tail, just adding to the stress of trying to make matches fast...sometimes in the dark. It just got to be WAY too much for me. I play games to relax, not to raise my blood pressure. This game is definitely a challenge. Whether exciting or frustrating will be up to you.