Granny_Gruff's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:2.6
- Helpful Votes:22,850
- Reviews Submitted:883
- First Review:December 23, 2011
- Most Recent Review:November 23, 2022
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Could your little boy be the child of prophecy?
Overall rating
4
/
5
16 of 22 found this review helpful
Nobu's Mother and the Prophecy
PostedMay 23, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
You are a servant at a palace in old Japan. You found a baby boy on your doorstep years ago and raised him as your own. Today you leave your son, almost five years old, alone while you go to do some service at the palace. You come home to find the rooms a mess and your son, Nobu, gone. You set out to find him. Along your way are ghosts, shape-shifters, and demons, along with visions and prophecies. Good Luck.
Good news: Four levels of game-play, including custom; OK mini-games, varied HOPs, a fairly good story, even if it is another version of save my child; good artwork.
Bad news: This IS another save my child story, although done in a fairy tale/mythic way. There is nothing innovative or exciting in the game-play or features and the music is annoyingly loud - even after turning it almost off, it drowned out the voices which were set three times as loud.
This is the new game for the holiday weekend. Enjoy the Demo and decide if you want it on sale. Have a good holiday.
Good news: Four levels of game-play, including custom; OK mini-games, varied HOPs, a fairly good story, even if it is another version of save my child; good artwork.
Bad news: This IS another save my child story, although done in a fairy tale/mythic way. There is nothing innovative or exciting in the game-play or features and the music is annoyingly loud - even after turning it almost off, it drowned out the voices which were set three times as loud.
This is the new game for the holiday weekend. Enjoy the Demo and decide if you want it on sale. Have a good holiday.
I recommend this game!
Team up with the Red Riding Hood Sisters to defeat the nightmares!
Overall rating
4
/
5
25 of 29 found this review helpful
Lurking Evil Is Always Fun!
PostedMay 21, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
You are investigating strange monsters and frightening occurrences in a small town in France. You find the Red Riding Hood Sisters are already investigating the area and you quickly find yourself in the thick of things as a strange lion-like creature seems to be following you to impede your investigation and an old woman seems to be helping. You must stay alert as you try to find out what is really going on here.
Good stuff: lovely artwork, pretty harp and flute background music, good mini-games, morphing objects and collectibles, and a bonus game in the CE bling.
Bad stuff: those blasted fragmented HOPs, needs more cohesive story information, lacks smooth game-play.
Will I buy it?
I always feel stupid while playing a Dark Parables game, as I seem to need a lot of hints - sometimes it's me, sometimes its them. (I tried to put a medallion where it should have gone half a dozen times before I gave up and used a hint. It went where I thought it should go, only it had to be positioned exactly as the Devs wanted. (Part of the reason this did not get 5 stars. The bad HOPs is the other! )
But the answer is still yes. I always find these stories eventually reward me for my perseverance with great layers of content and hours of game-play.
Enjoy!
Good stuff: lovely artwork, pretty harp and flute background music, good mini-games, morphing objects and collectibles, and a bonus game in the CE bling.
Bad stuff: those blasted fragmented HOPs, needs more cohesive story information, lacks smooth game-play.
Will I buy it?
I always feel stupid while playing a Dark Parables game, as I seem to need a lot of hints - sometimes it's me, sometimes its them. (I tried to put a medallion where it should have gone half a dozen times before I gave up and used a hint. It went where I thought it should go, only it had to be positioned exactly as the Devs wanted. (Part of the reason this did not get 5 stars. The bad HOPs is the other! )
But the answer is still yes. I always find these stories eventually reward me for my perseverance with great layers of content and hours of game-play.
Enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Discover and collect all of the videos to uncover the collector’s mystical story!
Overall rating
2
/
5
8 of 17 found this review helpful
Blame the DEVs!
PostedMay 20, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
A young couple ride down the highway seemingly relaxed and on holiday. But all is not as it appears as they make an impulse stop at a collector's place. Next thing we know, the sheriff arrives to investigate strange occurrences. And the investigation will involve lots of VCR tapes that must be watched all the way through. (Sigh!)
The story hidden in this video-burdened game could have been good. The little girl certainly has slasher movie qualities, the rest of the actors are mediocre at best. The music is inoffensive, the artwork and videos are OK, the puzzles pedestrian, the HOPs had potential, but also fatal flaws. (One HOP involving morphing objects would have been good if only you had a number of items to look for, but you have nothing.)
The English is stilted and sometimes twisted and obscure. The boat has a lack of steering mechanism does not mean you are looking for equipment, but rather two lion heads. You find what is labeled part of a welder, and a piece of "the motor lacks propeller parts" and miraculously the piece of welder and the piece of propeller give you a motor that only needs fuel.
You REALLY need to try this game if you have any intention of getting it, even with free coupon. That is as far as my recommendation goes.
The story hidden in this video-burdened game could have been good. The little girl certainly has slasher movie qualities, the rest of the actors are mediocre at best. The music is inoffensive, the artwork and videos are OK, the puzzles pedestrian, the HOPs had potential, but also fatal flaws. (One HOP involving morphing objects would have been good if only you had a number of items to look for, but you have nothing.)
The English is stilted and sometimes twisted and obscure. The boat has a lack of steering mechanism does not mean you are looking for equipment, but rather two lion heads. You find what is labeled part of a welder, and a piece of "the motor lacks propeller parts" and miraculously the piece of welder and the piece of propeller give you a motor that only needs fuel.
You REALLY need to try this game if you have any intention of getting it, even with free coupon. That is as far as my recommendation goes.
I don't recommend this game.
The Queen of Creatos is missing, and if you don't get her back soon... the entire world will crumble!
Overall rating
3
/
5
19 of 29 found this review helpful
Walk, Don't Run, Pedestrian!
PostedMay 18, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
You are a Guardian. With your owl helper, you are called in to help when a sleeping princess is trapped by evil vines.
"Please save my child," says the king.
As you hurry to comply, it turns out you are locked out of the castle. Of course the king does nothing to help you get inside, or for that matter, into his daughter's locked bedroom. And once you defeat that problem, the queen is kidnapped by what look to be alien monsters. The king is again no help and becomes trapped. For you, adventure awaits.
There are four levels of game play, various HOPs and mini-games, decent VOs, and fair music along with irritating sounds that include a whining pet "dog" and a weeping child. Aside from your cute helper, you also have a magic ring that leads to hidden runes, that lead to a puzzle picture, which in turn, will lead to another clue.
It is a game like many other games, with many things to do in each scene and a story. But the story is too pedestrian and the rest of the game too much like so many others. The lack of logic in all of the game is aggravating. I could perhaps get over the king’s lack of help in getting into his own castle, but both he and the queen both ignored the obvious answer to the very first challenge residing in their front hall. The story was once again about a villain who wants to destroy the world - or in this case, worlds - and gave us nothing new.
I could not wait for the trial to be over.
I can't recommend a game I won't buy, but be sure to check this one out for yourself.
"Please save my child," says the king.
As you hurry to comply, it turns out you are locked out of the castle. Of course the king does nothing to help you get inside, or for that matter, into his daughter's locked bedroom. And once you defeat that problem, the queen is kidnapped by what look to be alien monsters. The king is again no help and becomes trapped. For you, adventure awaits.
There are four levels of game play, various HOPs and mini-games, decent VOs, and fair music along with irritating sounds that include a whining pet "dog" and a weeping child. Aside from your cute helper, you also have a magic ring that leads to hidden runes, that lead to a puzzle picture, which in turn, will lead to another clue.
It is a game like many other games, with many things to do in each scene and a story. But the story is too pedestrian and the rest of the game too much like so many others. The lack of logic in all of the game is aggravating. I could perhaps get over the king’s lack of help in getting into his own castle, but both he and the queen both ignored the obvious answer to the very first challenge residing in their front hall. The story was once again about a villain who wants to destroy the world - or in this case, worlds - and gave us nothing new.
I could not wait for the trial to be over.
I can't recommend a game I won't buy, but be sure to check this one out for yourself.
I don't recommend this game.
There’s a corpse in your house, but who killed him?
Overall rating
4
/
5
19 of 27 found this review helpful
What Next, Ms. Gray?
PostedMay 16, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
You finally awake completely in the hospital. Before that you have flashes of a body, blood on your floor, calling the police. You go back in time to start your investigation in your own home. Who is Howard Kelly? Who killed him? And why?
As in the previous Grim Tales, you are collecting pieces of evidence that will give you clues to what happened. You also have morphing objects and collectibles to find along the way.
There are, of course, a variety of HOPs, mini-games, lovely artwork, and an interesting story.
Pluses: You get to carry with you the multi-tool you find in the beginning. (Trust me: this makes up for a lot of logic flaws.)
The map will take you where you need to go.
There are four levels of game-play, including custom.
Minuses: You have booby-trapped your home against yourself.
Most of the booby-traps involve fixing something you probably used every day, after you find the pieces in some very strange places.
Will I buy this game? You bet! I have the other Grim Tales and expect to complete this new series game also.
After all, I have to know who done it.
As in the previous Grim Tales, you are collecting pieces of evidence that will give you clues to what happened. You also have morphing objects and collectibles to find along the way.
There are, of course, a variety of HOPs, mini-games, lovely artwork, and an interesting story.
Pluses: You get to carry with you the multi-tool you find in the beginning. (Trust me: this makes up for a lot of logic flaws.)
The map will take you where you need to go.
There are four levels of game-play, including custom.
Minuses: You have booby-trapped your home against yourself.
Most of the booby-traps involve fixing something you probably used every day, after you find the pieces in some very strange places.
Will I buy this game? You bet! I have the other Grim Tales and expect to complete this new series game also.
After all, I have to know who done it.
I recommend this game!
Ominous Objects: Phantom Reflection
A mysterious mirror is causing havoc in your client's house!
Overall rating
2
/
5
17 of 23 found this review helpful
Mirror, Mirror on the Wall, Someone Come and Save Us All!
PostedMay 15, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Another wicked mirror is on the loose. As the detective, you are called in to investigate after the recent buyer of an ornate mirror disappears. The lady that bought the mirror was sucked into it as soon as she took the lock, chains, and covering off of it. She was not bothered at all in buying a mirror that was heavily covered and under lock and chains! (Better yet, there is a scrapbook of all the families killed while in possession of this mirror which you find in her son’s room.) Her butler, whom you meet after breaking into her home, does not know who called you, and her small child is too terrified to be responsible. Maybe it was the mirror!?
You have arrived in the nick of time to save the butler from being pulled into a small hall mirror. In fact, in the process of trying to get to the missing woman's son, you witness shards and thick smoke coming from every mirror you see in the house and there are a lot of them. You enter the boy’s room to see two nearby mirrors explode and the toy soldiers in the room go on the attack to tie up the child. Yet you leave the child alone in a room with the two mirrors, now looking whole, while you look for a bandage for his knee!
The detective in this case is the youngest daughter from the first Ominous Objects game, Leia, now grown up. She travels in a blimp with her pet cat, Mr. Jenkins. She has special glasses that can see through special problem areas by choosing the correct lenses and fine tuning them.
The original Ominous Objects game lacked any logic, a failing in this game also.
There are four levels of play including custom; a pink, purple, and blue palette of colors; nonthreatening mini-games; HOPs with a match-3 alternative, cut-out characters, and a storyline that we've already explored extensively in other games. There is also a cute animal helper, in this case, a cat named Mr. Jenkins, whom you may remember as the family pet in Ominous Objects: Family Portrait.
Please try the demo on this one first. You may like flying mirror shards. I do not.
You have arrived in the nick of time to save the butler from being pulled into a small hall mirror. In fact, in the process of trying to get to the missing woman's son, you witness shards and thick smoke coming from every mirror you see in the house and there are a lot of them. You enter the boy’s room to see two nearby mirrors explode and the toy soldiers in the room go on the attack to tie up the child. Yet you leave the child alone in a room with the two mirrors, now looking whole, while you look for a bandage for his knee!
The detective in this case is the youngest daughter from the first Ominous Objects game, Leia, now grown up. She travels in a blimp with her pet cat, Mr. Jenkins. She has special glasses that can see through special problem areas by choosing the correct lenses and fine tuning them.
The original Ominous Objects game lacked any logic, a failing in this game also.
There are four levels of play including custom; a pink, purple, and blue palette of colors; nonthreatening mini-games; HOPs with a match-3 alternative, cut-out characters, and a storyline that we've already explored extensively in other games. There is also a cute animal helper, in this case, a cat named Mr. Jenkins, whom you may remember as the family pet in Ominous Objects: Family Portrait.
Please try the demo on this one first. You may like flying mirror shards. I do not.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you carve a path of light through the darkness in this marble shooting adventure?
Overall rating
2
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
Recycle, Reuse
PostedMay 15, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
If you take the original Sparkle story of darkness in the woods where you are challenged to banish that darkness, and then you add a good bass VO, you have this game.
But the original Sparkle was first of all, "original," full of hidden secret amulets, with three play levels and several methods of game-play. And when you opted for the harder game-play levels, you had best have a very twitchy trigger finger indeed!
This game, not so much. When I read reviews of slow game play, I thought, "How slow can it be?"
Reeaalllyyyy ssssllllooooowwwwww.....
I am used to very fast original Sparkle and I got molasses at the North Pole!
Give Sparkle Unleashed a try. You may find the leash was undone because it was unneccessary.
But the original Sparkle was first of all, "original," full of hidden secret amulets, with three play levels and several methods of game-play. And when you opted for the harder game-play levels, you had best have a very twitchy trigger finger indeed!
This game, not so much. When I read reviews of slow game play, I thought, "How slow can it be?"
Reeaalllyyyy ssssllllooooowwwwww.....
I am used to very fast original Sparkle and I got molasses at the North Pole!
Give Sparkle Unleashed a try. You may find the leash was undone because it was unneccessary.
I don't recommend this game.
Your daughter's lost in the Maze of Fears, but you'll face more than her disappearance if you dare to enter.
Overall rating
2
/
5
40 of 47 found this review helpful
My Only Fear - This Game!
PostedMay 14, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Dear Big Fish,
I just finished the Demo of Sable Maze: 12 Fears CE. I intensely disliked the HOPs, which were actually mostly extended puzzles, and the mini-games, which mostly had really bad directions. The artwork was OK, the music barely noticeable, and ambient sounds seemed MIA. As for CE collectibles and bling, for this game they are plainly lacking. There were four levels of game-play, but frankly, with almost no storyline, and the endless hunt for the next line in the linear game-play, the number of levels was not relevant.
As Dad, I am at a carnival with my willful daughter, who disappears into a "funhouse" to confront her fears. Dad spends time going through the usual hoops to get into the building that, of course, closed and locked itself after Daughter Dear entered.
I vote we leave her there.
I vote that the Devs take this poor game back to the drawing board.
I won't even check out the SE, as it is already a lost cause!
I just finished the Demo of Sable Maze: 12 Fears CE. I intensely disliked the HOPs, which were actually mostly extended puzzles, and the mini-games, which mostly had really bad directions. The artwork was OK, the music barely noticeable, and ambient sounds seemed MIA. As for CE collectibles and bling, for this game they are plainly lacking. There were four levels of game-play, but frankly, with almost no storyline, and the endless hunt for the next line in the linear game-play, the number of levels was not relevant.
As Dad, I am at a carnival with my willful daughter, who disappears into a "funhouse" to confront her fears. Dad spends time going through the usual hoops to get into the building that, of course, closed and locked itself after Daughter Dear entered.
I vote we leave her there.
I vote that the Devs take this poor game back to the drawing board.
I won't even check out the SE, as it is already a lost cause!
I don't recommend this game.
Thieves have stolen Charon's most powerful artifact: watches that can stop time. Now only you stand in their way.
Overall rating
4
/
5
11 of 13 found this review helpful
Better Than the First Haunted Train
PostedMay 11, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Charon and Olivia are worried about Daniel, Charon's companion and Olivia's husband. He had followed a thief off of Charon's train after the thief had stolen almost all of Charon's chronometers. capable of stopping/altering time. After he has been missing for three days, Olivia sets out on a rescue mission armed with the last of Charon's chronometers.
This second Haunted Train game has varied and easy HOPs, mini-games, decent VOs, color-saturated but softly drawn scenes, and various other game elements we've come to expect. You will have your own chronometer to help defeat the villains by reversing their time bubbles, a little game element that wears thin quickly.
Demo reviews are tricky. If I only needed half the demo time to finish said demo, does that mean the game is short? But if it was fun, amusing, well-made, and entertaining, do I care exactly how long it was?
So the bottom line is: This is not the new wunderkin game of the year. It is a good solid and, IMHO, improved second installment in the Haunted Train series. I can only promise that you will have a pleasant time with the demo. After that you make the call.
This second Haunted Train game has varied and easy HOPs, mini-games, decent VOs, color-saturated but softly drawn scenes, and various other game elements we've come to expect. You will have your own chronometer to help defeat the villains by reversing their time bubbles, a little game element that wears thin quickly.
Demo reviews are tricky. If I only needed half the demo time to finish said demo, does that mean the game is short? But if it was fun, amusing, well-made, and entertaining, do I care exactly how long it was?
So the bottom line is: This is not the new wunderkin game of the year. It is a good solid and, IMHO, improved second installment in the Haunted Train series. I can only promise that you will have a pleasant time with the demo. After that you make the call.
I recommend this game!
It was supposed to be a routine mission. But when a dragon attacks your plane, crash-landing in a lush valley, you're drawn into the adventure of a lifetime!
Overall rating
2
/
5
20 of 28 found this review helpful
Story is Sorely Lacking ... Everything.
PostedMay 11, 2015
Granny_Gruff
fromLouisville, KY
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Adventure, Match 3, Marble Popper
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
You are piloting a plane to drop goods in a remote site in the Himalayan Mountains. After a plane crash, you grab your elephant statue to break the windshield, climb out over the abyss the plane seems ready to drop into, and stand around looking at a hairy rhino. You help a young girl out of the side baskets mounted on the rhino and follow her into the village she wanted to escape. You head for a secret shelter she points out as a dragon breathes fire across the village. You find the dragon is not the only problem faced by the villagers as terracotta warriors are also roaming the streets.
As in most Eipix "Myth" games, this one has beautiful artwork, decent VOs, mini-games from super easy to super hard, a variety of HOPs, an overly complicated story, and much wandering back and forth. There are four levels of game-play, including custom.
I just can't get into the story and that's a game killer for me. Cute as the girl is, helpful as the lady dragon tries to be, I'm willing to leave them to their respective fates and get out of Dodge(sic) alone.
Once again I have to say I can't choose a game for its beauty alone. I need a good involving story. This is not that story for me. Please try it for yourself.
As in most Eipix "Myth" games, this one has beautiful artwork, decent VOs, mini-games from super easy to super hard, a variety of HOPs, an overly complicated story, and much wandering back and forth. There are four levels of game-play, including custom.
I just can't get into the story and that's a game killer for me. Cute as the girl is, helpful as the lady dragon tries to be, I'm willing to leave them to their respective fates and get out of Dodge(sic) alone.
Once again I have to say I can't choose a game for its beauty alone. I need a good involving story. This is not that story for me. Please try it for yourself.
I don't recommend this game.