Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
4/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
2/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Storyline
2/ 5
Match Gems Mosaics is a terrific addition to the PC gaming world. #15 is another fine chapter and the second with 4 colors rather than the 3 shades used in most of its prior games.
My problem is that boredom is starting to set in and that's why I will not acquire Ancient Land. Seeing as that I already own most of the MG entries, I have reached a saturation level and a larger vessel isn't necessary. Instead of spending $$$ again, I can replay lots of the penguin games I have.
For those new to mosaics and for those who just cannot get enough of these griddlers, FM 15 is excellent. Since Match Gems has provided so many of these efforts, does this developer have anything else up its sleeve? Maybe it can do a better job using various shapes, etc. that Greatest Places tried a few weeks ago but failed in so many grids with glitches that have yet to be corrected. Here's hoping for something new from Match Gems.
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
2/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
Storyline
2/ 5
For me it's not a good sign when I remember absolutely nothing about prior games in a series. When I saw the title Curio Society as tomorrow's game today I was pleased. When I learned this is the 3rd in a group the " uh-oh factor " set in. Before I started the demo I took a gander at reviews of the previous 2 games and was somewhat dismayed they were less than glowing. Nevertheless I jumped in as some series improve as they continue. Unfortunately New Order doesn't fulfill anything for me. The main character is tasked with overcoming the villainous Frederick and his minions. Fred is a scientist who has devised a potion which renders all who drink it totally emotionless. For some reason known only to Frederick this bland state of mind is a good thing, he figures he can control an entire nation by having folks be emotional zombies. We need to stop him. I did like the way the HO sections are varied, using traditional word lists, morphs, silhouettes etc. to garner needed items. The puzzles are ridiculously easy and offer zero challenge ( at least in the demo ) There are collectible morphs and Rorchach test emblems ( 15 ) to gather up. This is yet another case where these items add nothing to the game other than " making it a CE and jacking up the price". An extremely annoying aspect to this game is that in a couple of areas, we hear Frederick repeat the same mantra over and over again about how emotions are bad for us. My emotion here is anger and frustration: " Fred, can the chatter, will ya !!" Overall this is not a game I can sink my teeth into nor is it one I can recommend to my HOPA playing colleagues.
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
2/ 5
Level of Challenge
2/ 5
Storyline
1/ 5
Rainbow Mosaics to me is a so-so game on many levels. The one asset it has is the use of 3 and 4 color grids. Treasure Trip minuses are what prevent me from seeing the game as a welcome addition to the ever growing world of mosaic grid games. The story is practically non existent. At the game outset, there is a couple of sentences about a journey. I already forgot what these words were. Then there was an unavoidable tutorial ( unless I missed a skip option ). We get with each and every grid a hot air balloon meandering to the next level. The background scene is always a mansion. There is no addition to a diorama of sorts such as we get with our penguin buddy in Fantasy Mosaics, a somewhat nice touch to give some meaning to the game. The worst part of Rainbow , at least to me, is there were no tough grids during the demo. I completed 19 levels in the hour with nary a do over for too many mistakes on a level. I never use hints when playing griddlers so to complete a demo without at least one error does not speak well for the game complexity. I suppose those players totally enamored with grid games will find this one compelling. Personally I cannot see myself buying any more of these games as I already have 10-12 of them. The Greatest Places game introduced a few weeks ago offered welcome variations with various shapes, a minesweeper game, etc. Unfortunately there are too many glitches in the GP game and the developer has not offered a patch to their mistakes. I'll stick to replaying FM games when I have the urge to tackle a griddler.
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
3/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
Storyline
2/ 5
When Redemption Cemetery began a few years ago, I enjoyed the first and second installments enough to acquire them. Since then what we get is more Repetition Cemetery than anything else. In every game the primary character is tasked with freeing tormented souls by reunion with a loved one, correcting a wrong perpetrated by the lost soul or some other similar feature. If At Death's Door were a stand alone game, I'f find it much more appealing. Since it is a case of deja vu all over again, there is little for me to grab onto. Sunnyglow in her review has more than adequately described game features, something she regularly does quite well. I'll leave the game with very scant expectations since the developer has done nothing new in the series to warrant my acquisition.
In seeing the title Black Swan for the first time, I wondered if it had anything to do with the movie of the same title that came out a few years ago. Be assured this has absolutely nothing to do with the film. The story has an investigator at the Madame Leforge School of Ballet. Strange things are occurring. We encounter a ghostly student who explains how the instructor has been overcome by some malevolent entity. We learn some of the girls have been killed while others are still alive but trapped in the academy gone berserk. OK, we've seen this same tale before yet I was intrigued enough to continue. As it soon is obvious, Black Swan is an extremely macabre takeoff of Tchaikovsky's Swan Lake. On the plus side, the background music is part of the original score of the ballet. The scenery in and around the school is very well crafted. As to game play itself, this is not a venture for beginners, something I personally admire. The hidden object segments are some of the toughest seen in quite some time. Lots of items are hard to find although it has nothing to do with their being too obscure or too small. They are well placed, "hidden in plain sight" as I generally refer to such items. There is some interactivity. As to puzzles, the best also have some hidden object aspect to them. One of the weird occurrences in HO scenes are things that morph, yet they have nothing to do with gameplay. I found no collectibles during the trial. Here is what prevents me from making this a 5 star effort. When an area need to be investigated, the cursor turns into opera glasses and they are very small. I have good eyesight and found the change to be often hard to discern. I imagine players with some sight difficulties might discover this is problematic. There are black clouds to dissolve by matching a rune displayed within the cloud. Again the rune that needs matching is very much obscured by the cloud. I found the cursor to be a tad clunky, particularly when using a hint.
The absolutely best this game offers is its challenge. Having some things really hard to see knocks Black Swan down a peg. For me, it's a game I'd acquire with a free game code.
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
4/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Storyline
4/ 5
The game was OK. My most glaring problem is that all of the areas of game play are just too dark. In some of the hidden object segments, certain items can only be found by a point and click method since they are virtually undetectable without some additional light source which of course are unavailable. Other than that, Revelation to be a solid game. It's just to bad that some things are never actually revealed. The story line is similar to lots of others. A demon named Ragnar has killed a woman and kidnapped her 10 year old daughter. A demon hunter ( that's us ) is summoned to foil the demonic major domo and its minions. There is lots of jumping around from scene to scene so the jump map is an asset. Lots of things to pick up along the journey since as in all HOPAs an item gathered at point A must be utilized at point B. Some of the puzzles were very good variations on routine tasks such as door opening. There are collectible game figurines and some coin like object. The game being as visually dark as it is, I did not pay attention to locating these objects. I'll avoid buying this game as at my advanced age, extra eye strain isn't something I need to deal with. Other than that, I'd probably wait for the SE version .
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
Storyline
1/ 5
Because of a great sale today, buying this game and getting another CE for $4.99 is a nice offer from BFG. Unfortunately Mystery of the Ancients isn't worthy of a purchase. Another in a long line of female paranormal experts is summoned to the Price Estate by Bob Price. Some very weird events are occurring. How many times have we seen this scenario? She meets a boatman who will transport her to all the needed places in a series of islands that require hopping. How many times have we seen this scenario? Upon meeting Bob Price, the characters are accosted by the ghost of Angela who once was betrothed to Bob but according to Bob, Angela ditched him. Why do I not believe Bob? Angela then abducts Bob's wife. This is another scenario seen way too many times in HOPAs. There is not a paragraph of originality in the meager story line. As to the HO scenes and puzzles again the player is faced with nothing but the same old same old. We need to find keys ( why is everything always locked in these games ? ) fuses, wires, tokens that open boxes, etc., etc., etc.One of the lamest tasks was feeding a raccoon a dozen food items. In turn he gives us a dozen fuses. I am underwhelmed. When faced against Angela in her attempts at foiling us in certain scenes, the developer gives us the easiest possible puzzles imaginable using a variation on traditional Match 3s. Bats and game character figurines are among the collectibles. I just don't care. Some demos end with a cliffhanger dilemma, something to whet the appetite. This demo ends with nary a whimper. Mariaglorum generally makes good games. Not this time. I just replayed one of the Echoes of the Past games. Time to revisit another. If Orneon is still out there: HELP !! We need something good. Judge for yourselves, IMO this installment of Mystery of the Ancients is banal, tedious, boring, YAWN. Time for a nap.
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
4/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Storyline
3/ 5
Fantasy Mosaics ( IMO ) are still the best mosaic grid games available and the Famous Places game introduced a couple of weeks ago brought a new element to the genre with the difficult shapes modification and the swap feature. The one glaring problem with Famous Places is way too many errors instilled by the developer and to date no patch has been offered. What I like about Far Kingdoms are the following: These grids are tri-color, the background music is soothing, the animated background scenery is quite nice, and no hand holding as there are some tough grids to master. According to the story line four elements are keys. I completed the demo and only water is offered. I do not know how many individual grids there are in each element. This became somewhat of a problem for me. All of the completed grids were depictions of fin fish, water vegetation and jellyfish. This got a bit boring after doing at least 20 grids. Therefore this one downside of the game will result in a no sale for me. Technically Far Kingdoms is well crafted so for those players who cannot get enough grid mosaic games, I recommend it. I'll remain faithful to our penguin buddy in Fantasy Mosaics.
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
4/ 5
When I saw the title of Love Chronicles my initial thought is this would be a "romance novel " sort of game. Was I ever wrong!! Beyond the Shadows is a marvelous fantasy game. I must admit I am often a total sucker for the fantasy genre. I own all of the Awakenings, all of the Dark Parables and most of the rest that fall into the realm of pure fantasy. This Love Chronicle has me over the moon, it's that good. A princess named Lerione is given an amulet on her 21st birthday by her mother, the Queen Alura. Lerione is told that she must don the amulet and never to remove it. Lerione is then encouraged by an elf-like being to help remove some muck and weeds from a water source that is crippling his village. Turns out the elf is is an evil henchman of a Shadow World queen and Lerione is brought into that world. She then meets some old man with branches growing out of his head!! He becomes convinced Lerione is the key to defeating the shadow world evil and restoring order to their realm. We are given a cat helper ( Sebastian ). Most of the game assistants are lame. This kitty is super cool in an arrogant cat-like manner. He gets soaked to the skin, dirtied by soot and still remains quite aloof as all cats manage to do. As the game progresses, and I have yet only completed the demo, we realize something dire will occur to Lerione at the demo end. What got me hooked with this fine offering from Vendel Games is the outstanding drawing, the life like characters, and most importantly some of the best hidden object segments and puzzles to come down the pike in a very long time. The initial HO scene is a long one with lots of interactivity and a good deal of challenge to successfully complete it. This turns out to be a harbinger of stellar things to come. I know there are some morphs to change but I only did one in the demo. If there are collectibles, I'm unaware because I got so wrapped up in the game to even think about them. Got to end this and buy the game. At year's end Beyond the Shadows may very well be a contender for game of the year. FANTASTIC!!
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object, Word, Card & Board, Brain Teaser
Fun Factor
4/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
1/ 5
Every now and then we see these type of slider puzzle in HOPAs. Except for those wherein we must slide puzzle segments into an empty space and the resulting completed image contains an empty space ( which I despise and always skip ), I can enjoy the occasional slider requiring either horizontal or vertical realignment. Some are easy and the better of them can be challenging. Having an entire game with nothing but sliders I am personally on the fence as to a buy. If it has the sliders I detest I'll avoid the game. Otherwise this seems OK. I stopped playing with 20 minutes left in the demo because eye strain was setting in. The best part of the game was the fascinating photos used as the subject matter. They included animals, seascapes, one was of the interior of a church. A brutally hard part involved properly locating segments of a birch tree forest. I was happy that once a piece was correctly placed, it was then locked in. Some of the puzzles were very abstract as far as the finished product is concerned. There are also puzzles with jigsaw pieces ( those are really easy ) some with tri-colored borders that need only to be placed on the appropriately colored background. Others are L- shaped. I am pleased that a developer has given us something rather original in concept. The more I think about it, I will probably use a free game credit and add this to my collection. It's probably best to play this game in small doses to avoid the aforementioned eyestrain. Eyestrain can lead to headaches and who wants one of those merely by playing a game? I won't enthusiastically endorse the game. My enjoyment level is a 7 on a 10 point scale.