DrDavid's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.3
- Helpful Votes:2,837
- Reviews Submitted:246
- First Review:November 24, 2011
- Most Recent Review:July 12, 2022
- Featured reviews0
Status:
The city park is slated to be turned into condos, unless you can clean it up and rally the townsfolk to save it!
Overall rating
4
/
5
22 of 24 found this review helpful
An interesting M3 where some of the play is NOT to win
PostedMay 6, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Save Our Park is an interesting twist on the usual M3 because of the scoring. There is no help or instruction page to tell you how things are, so you have to figure out for yourself how scoring goes and what bomb does what. I wasted a number of levels of the first group with one star and two stars before figuring out that there is a minimum number of tiles to remove. You win when all of the colored background squares are gone -- OK I understand that, but until you have the minimum number of tiles removed you might ‘win’ with only 1 or 2 stars. I play in untimed mode, so this may be different for me. I actually have to play not to win for several minutes each board until the third star is shown. Then, and only then, can I actually try to win, again. I cannot remember any other game where trying NOT to win was part of the game. But it actually is fun in an odd sort of way. A weird sort of way.
I will take exception to the lack of help and to the horrible lack of navigation. I was shocked when I hit the second group of boards and suddenly I was at level one again. I kept on playing and was still improving the park, so I guess that was correct. Now I am at level 11 in the fourth group of boards and I think overall I am at about the 60th level. It is not possible to tell, since there is no way to navigate around.
Overall the game is rather easy and rather straightforward except for the necessity to play part of each board NOT to win. That still amazes me
I will take exception to the lack of help and to the horrible lack of navigation. I was shocked when I hit the second group of boards and suddenly I was at level one again. I kept on playing and was still improving the park, so I guess that was correct. Now I am at level 11 in the fourth group of boards and I think overall I am at about the 60th level. It is not possible to tell, since there is no way to navigate around.
Overall the game is rather easy and rather straightforward except for the necessity to play part of each board NOT to win. That still amazes me
I recommend this game!
Set your business back on the track to success! Repair a dilapidated railroad and reroute from the brink of bankruptcy before it’s too late!
Overall rating
4
/
5
17 of 18 found this review helpful
A simple, fun, game
PostedApril 29, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
The game begins with a backstory of the typical trite hero and protagonist, yawn, but improves from there. Game play is timed or untimed. The game seems a bit simple, but at least it provided me with fun. I recommend it for anyone just looking for a fun release from the daily grind. One of the laughable things is when the train runs over a worker like he was a ghost or a worker runs right through a stopped train like it was not there. OK, so they could have coded that better. Hardly railroad safety material, but funny. Remember this is just a game. The levels get a bit harder but never confusing as one goes through the levels.
I recommend this game!
Guide the dewy-eyed Eugene on an epic quest to save his master!
Overall rating
3
/
5
4 of 6 found this review helpful
Overly complicated but basically OK
PostedApril 26, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This game is one with impossibly short times to accomplish levels, not humanly possible, but fortunately the times mean absolutely nothing. Best bet is to ignore the times and play any way you want because the times mean nothing. I confess that initially I hated the game but I bought it just to write a fair assessment of it. It turned out to be better than my initial assessment, although I ran out of time an every single level after the first two, which I replayed several times each.
The Good: Excellent graphics
Interesting story and play
The Bad: Overly complicated play
Times are at least 2 to 15 minutes too short on most levels
One collects mana in the game but it has almost no function and simply sits at 100 units all game
Spells are short lived and relatively meaningless
One is asked to make potions after each level which accumulate into the teens and are useless
So I am forced to ask why mana, potions, and spells which seem to do nothing and why can you finish the game without any chance to try more than about 5 spells? Overly complex play spoils an otherwise OK game.
The Good: Excellent graphics
Interesting story and play
The Bad: Overly complicated play
Times are at least 2 to 15 minutes too short on most levels
One collects mana in the game but it has almost no function and simply sits at 100 units all game
Spells are short lived and relatively meaningless
One is asked to make potions after each level which accumulate into the teens and are useless
So I am forced to ask why mana, potions, and spells which seem to do nothing and why can you finish the game without any chance to try more than about 5 spells? Overly complex play spoils an otherwise OK game.
I recommend this game!
Travel to the faraway land of Sundast, where emotions exist as real sentient beings!
Overall rating
2
/
5
6 of 9 found this review helpful
Beautiful graphics wasted on a poor game
PostedApril 26, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Beautiful graphics and an original, if somewhat stupid, idea drive this game. Powerups can be won with ease on some levels and cannot be won at all on others. The Powerups range from useless to useful but the game board sizes are small enough to make the play very difficult. I was initially interested, but by level 21 I was becoming disenchanted with the actual play. At that level the powerups were useless because the harmony blocks were impossibly few in number. I lost the level due to use of too much time and I deleted the game. For the good in the game: graphics and interesting play and for the bad: too small boards, relatively useless powerups, infrequent appearance of target blocks requiring removal. Overall, this game just barely got me to buy it and now I am sorry. Timed games really cannot be given a recommendation to buy. Avoid wasting money on this one.
I don't recommend this game.
Your opponents are cresting the horizon and time is running out! Build cannons, save money, stockpile secret weapons and brace for impact before the enemy closes in!
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 8 found this review helpful
Another in a series of hit tower games
PostedApril 22, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I have just finished playing “Mayhem” and already another game from that group is out. This game has some similar elements and some different ones along with some new quirks not in previous games. In Time Mayhem, one could accumulate rewards called DNA and use it to purchase towers where in Iron Sea the Anchors (reward) cannot be used that way. Anchors still are used to make towers stronger and cheaper and to increase loot from enemies, however.
For those of us who have played the earlier games, there is nothing really new enough to require much help from hints, but I am sure new players appreciate the hints. From earlier games I recognize most of the “players”, both towers and enemies, but here they look different and may move differently. So the game is old and the game is refreshed. This game looks, so far, like it will be harder than some of its predecessors, but I think I can handle it, or have fun trying. This game is most similar to Fort Defense and Fort Defenders Seven Seas.
For those of us who have played the earlier games, there is nothing really new enough to require much help from hints, but I am sure new players appreciate the hints. From earlier games I recognize most of the “players”, both towers and enemies, but here they look different and may move differently. So the game is old and the game is refreshed. This game looks, so far, like it will be harder than some of its predecessors, but I think I can handle it, or have fun trying. This game is most similar to Fort Defense and Fort Defenders Seven Seas.
I recommend this game!
Make friends with sorcerer kings and see the power of the elemental magic in action!
Overall rating
5
/
5
13 of 14 found this review helpful
True to the past
PostedApril 9, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Northern Tale 3 is much like the previous two Northern Tale games. If you liked them, you will find enough similar elements to like this one too. The game plays like the previous games and, to me, was very much like a continuation of the story.
I recommend this game!
Help four magical sprites rescue their fairy friends in this match-3 fantasy adventure.
Overall rating
4
/
5
20 of 22 found this review helpful
An easy and fun M3
PostedApril 9, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Fantasy Quest is a fairly easy to play M3 with lots of sound effects and some odd power ups which I have not tried. Initially I was a bit put off with some of the rules of play but after a few levels and rereading the rules I figured out how to play this game and have fun with it. There is a timer, but it only factors into the points given at each level and the points mean nothing, so it is essentially an untimed game. Nothing difficult, just fun.
I recommend this game!
Jill & Mike’s gardening company has taken off in Sunnyvale, and they need your help to make their business soar! Help them win a contest and earn lucrative contracts from all over the world!
Overall rating
2
/
5
7 of 13 found this review helpful
Far better than the original; almost average
PostedApril 5, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
The original Gardens Inc was horrible and not worth buying, but the sequel is far better. The original was a 1 star where this lands between 2 and 3 stars and gets my vote as being marginally worth buying. It is always timed, but should you choose to ignore the time limits, as I did, you should be about half way finished when the time runs out and nothing bad happens except that you get less cash. The cash can be used to buy ‘improvements’ to your headquarters in a hokey side area like the equally silly ‘trophies’ area. Despite finishing most levels 10 minutes past when time ‘ran out’, I got a bunch of worthless trophies. This version has an improved game engine which did not run slower as you added additional people or else this laptop is faster than my last one. The graphics are quite nice and motion within the game is seamless. Again there are vandals and plenty of them to make the play less fun but not as worrisome as the initial game. Several times a ‘shed’ quit working and the level could not be completed because the resource was not available elsewhere. That was annoying but a replay always fixed it.
I recommend this game!
Help the professor and his loyal companion fend off hordes of dinosaurs and protect their time machine from being trampled!
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 11 found this review helpful
A tower game I think will be a winner
PostedApril 1, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
Another 8th Floor game has arrived. If you liked Fort Defense and Fort Defender and Royal Defense, then you will like this game. Conversely if you did not like those games you should probably avoid this one. No secret that I liked this games predecessors. It is played in the same way, using the same type of strategies and towers and enemies but with a different theme. This time the enemies seem harder to see and distinguish, even with my new glasses, but the basic game play will be familiar to you. Somehow I lost on an early level because I did not have enough ‘gems’ which is DNA in this theme, but partly I was distracted by laughing and missed the fact that I had enough money to buy tower upgrades and did not do so in a timely fashion. So I replayed that level. The dinosaur theme is humorous. I think this game is going to be another winner. It won’t be easy to win, but it should be as much fun as the previous games from 8th Floor.
I recommend this game!
Make your American Dream come true in California, where the only thing hotter than the sun is the gold fever!
Overall rating
5
/
5
13 of 14 found this review helpful
Relaxing and fun after a hard day
PostedMarch 19, 2014
DrDavid
fromRaleigh, NC
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This is a time management / adventure game which has an untimed mode for simple relaxing fun after a day of work. I could play this type of game all day. Resources are limited, so one has to plan to some extent, but for the most part it is mostly easy fun. Sometime in the past I have played another game by this group and I found that the game play was very simple because of that past experience. There are some catastrophes, but they are far fewer that several recent games where the sudden, unexpected calamity destroys all of your planning. I like this far better. I recommend this game as relaxation in the untimed mode. I cannot say how hard the timed mode is, because I doubt I shall ever play it.
I recommend this game!