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This "Top Reviewer" is one of our most frequent game reviewers. We think you'll trust what they have to say and find their reviews helpful and informative.
The developers live in a fairytale world if they think these are the features solitaire fans enjoy. Games by this developer are mass-produced with little thought or consideration to the quality of the game or its features. Reviewers state over and over that they want to be able to remove all cards, not just the special cards, but they never bother to offer Solitaire games that will please "we the people" because that would require changing something besides the title and background!
Once again, there are 9 Card Graphic Themes to choose from and 3 Font sizes (traditional, themed, and large font), but even the designs are the same as all their other solitaire games. The music isn't bad, but yes, it too is the same, not to mention that at times the music pauses and you're left with an awkward silence.
As usual, the game begins with a tutorial in Newbie Mode which allows you to replay any level. After completing the tutorial or opting out by clicking on the tutorial X, you can choose the Professional Mode which only allows you to play the entire 10 level pack.
This is a Higher/Lower style Solitaire game (of course it is) where the only goal is to remove all of the Gold Cards. Once the gold cards have been collected, you will earn the maximum amount of points and the game ends even if other regular cards remain. If you remove all gold cards you'll get a perfect score and the points of that level are added to the next level similar to bowling scores. You must earn the required amount of points to unlock the next location and there are 20 Locations with 10 levels per location.
When you remove cards with a round blue flower, you will receive either +499 points, a Joker, a Shuffle or Mulligan (undo) and you can buy Jokers, Shuffles, and Mulligans within the Shop with the points you have earned, at a ridiculous price point of 2500-8000-5000. Lucky us, they decided to add several more bonus cards per level which translates to an agonizing game interruption because the game freezes to show you what you have just won.
Once again, this game states that there are Achievements to earn, but I've yet to earn one, but then again, I didn't play further than the demo because I have no desire to waste money on a game that has nothing new to offer, and never gives me the option to continue playing after removing all Gold Cards. I refuse to even use a PCC. When and if they decide to change something other than the title, I may consider it, but only if they make an option that allows me to remove all of the cards, not just the Gold Cards. Until they bother to change something...anything...I will continue giving them a single star, I'd give them ZERO stars if I could!
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Jewel Match Solitaire games are the kind of games I know I'm going to buy the second I see it offered as tomorrow's game today. I don't even mind that they are first offered in a CE version, in fact, I love that they offer these games in a Collector's Edition version because they cram a ton of extra's into their CE's, so if possible, I strongly recommend upgrading, it's totally worth the extra money!
If you can't afford the CE version, you will still get your money's worth because this SE version still has plenty to offer. You get 50 Bonus Mahjong Levels, 12 Bonus Solitaire Levels (FreeCell Kings-Castles in Spain-Wasp-Beleaguered Castle-Strategy-Easthaven-Stonewall Light-Busy Aces-Elise-Milligan Harp-FreeCell Six) You still earn 24 Trophy Achievements and get 6 Castle Wallpapers!
This is a Higher/Lower Solitaire, however, as you progress, you will unlock 12 Different Solitaire Versions that are shown as Treasure Chests on the map and unlock with 10-25-40-80-120-160-210-270-330-400-480-520 Stars earned: Double Klondike~FreeCell Kings~Castles in Spain~Wasp~Beleguered Castle~Strategy~Easthaven~Stonewall Light~Busy Aces~Elise~Milligan Harp~FreeCell Six (The CE version includes bonus games: Napoleon's Retreat~Double Klondike by Threes~Blind Hookey~Tanana~ Double Freecell King~Double Pyramid) You will also unlock Mahjong Games shown as Oysters on the map at 18-32-60-100-140-160-290. That's a ton of bonus materials!
There are 200 main Solitaire Levels and you can play in a Normal Solitaire Mode, a Hard Mode with a Timer, and a Relaxed Mode which gives you more than one deal. There are 24 Achievement Trophies to earn (both versions) and I do recommend that you read the Achievements before starting the game because there are a few that are awarded for selecting specific options, such as, choosing a Custom Cursor, Watching the Credits, Setting a Wallpaper, Replaying a Level, and even for Removing 5 Cards in 5 Seconds. There are 4 Card Backs to choose from (extra bonus cards in the CE version) and 3 Card Fonts (Traditional-Vintage-Themed) but I wasn't crazy about the card graphics.
The goal is to Remove Cards that are either one Higher or one Lower than the Deck Card, and you get to remove all of the cards, not just special cards like some games! Each level requires you to Collect Emeralds which allows you to purchase underwater Castle Sections. When a Castle has been completed, you can set it as a Wallpaper. If you don't have enough Emeralds to purchase a Castle section, this step is bypassed. The Level Map will show you how many Emeralds are available on each level. Some Cards contain Coins that can be used in the Shop to purchase Power-ups and Wildcards. Combo's start at 5 Cards and each level gives you 1 Undo. You can earn up to 3-Stars per level and you can Replay the levels as often as you want to try to remove all of the Cards. I love that they sped up the score window, and stars earned, which pops up quickly to keep the game flowing. They also did away with the double-click feature requirement on the Deck Cards after making a Combo, so a big thank you to the devs for listening to us and implementing changes :)
There are several types of Obstacle Cards added as you progress. Lock Cards that require you to remove the Key Cards, Frozen Cards that require two Plays to remove, Chain Cards that require removing the Hammer Cards, Ribbons that require removing number specific Scissor Cards, Seaweed Cards that require removing the Sword Cards, Red and Black Seal Cards that require removing Red and Black Suit Cards, and Red and Black Suit Specific Cards that require removing Specific Suits of Cards, such as Clubs, Hearts, Diamonds or Spades.
Coins can be used in the Shop to purchase a Deck Card Counter~Earn Extra Gold~Remove a Random Card~Remove a Specific Card~Reveal some Face Down Cards~Extra Shuffle and Undo features~Card Specific Wildcards~Jokers, and the Chance to Receive Wildcards and Jokers during the Levels.
The Collector's Edition version has so many extra's you practically get another game because it includes over a hundred CE Solitaire Bonus Levels, 5 Extra Castle's and Wallpapers, 4 New Power-ups, 10 Music Soundtracks, 4 New Card Back Graphics, 24 Trophies +Extra Trophy Achievements, 6 Extra Bonus Levels Solitaire types (Napoleon's Retreat~Double Klondike by Threes~Blind Hookey~Tanana~ Double Freecell King~Double Pyramid) 50 Extra Mahjong Game Levels, and The Making Of which is a very interesting section that shows what all goes into making a Jewel Match Solitaire game. Whew, the extra's alone could qualify as a new standard game, so if you can afford it, opt for the CE version!
JEWEL MATCH SOLITAIRE SERIES LIST Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-Jewel Match Solitaire SE (December 13-2017) 4.5 2-Jewel Match Solitaire: Twilight (October 30-2017) 4.8 3-Jewel Match Solitaire: L'Amour (January 21-2018) 4.7 4-Jewel Match Solitaire: Winterscapes (February 5-2019) 4.2 5-Jewel Match Solitaire 2 SE (July 23-2019) 4.0 6-Jewel Match Solitaire: Atlantis (March 22-2020) n/a
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On my review of the CE version, I stated that "MAYBE, if I were really desperate for a new TM game (which I am not because some amazing TM games have floated our way lately!) AND I couldn't find a closet to organize or a toilet to scrub, I might consider purchasing this game in a Standard Edition version" because there's no way I would have paid 14 bucks for a boring game that only offered 10 artists rough drafts and 3 horribly repetitive sound loops?
BF is obviously trying to carve out a new "niche" by offering every game genre imaginable in a Collector's Edition version (and double their $$) but where are their morals? If they're going to require these poor developers to offer CE's (when chances are they would prefer not to) shouldn't they at least hold them to a bare minimum higher standard!??? The CE version received a mere 1.8 average rating, that's how bad it was, but I took one for the team and played a few levels of this Standard Edition version, and decided it would be more productive to go scrub the toilets instead.
As for the game, you've already played it! Collect twigs, collect a fruit basket that's been laying out in the middle of the desert for who knows how long, while I'm on a roll, who in the sand sphinx left a trail of fruit in the first place? Shouldn't I be following the trail to find the kidnapped victim? Nope, instead, I'm going to build 4 Sawmills (again, keep in mind we're out in the middle of a desert) and collect a hundred piles of twigs even though there's clearly not a tree in sight for miles & miles.
Ohhhh, and then just when I think it can't get more ridiculous, I have to build a few rock quarries... I quit the demo just before repairing the boat docks so I can fish for food.
WHAT ARE THEY HIDING FROM UNSUSPECTING PLAYERS? WHAT'S IN YOUR WALLET?
PostedMarch 21, 2020
pennmom36
fromDon't buy a pig in a poke (poke is a bag/sack) an adage warning that some merchants would cheat by substituting a lower value animal which is also where the adage "letting the cat out of the bag" came from...Caveat Emptor! (buyer beware)
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Is this a fun and challenging Time Management game? Yes, and it is a big improvement from the first Beyond the Kingdom. If this was a Standard Edition version I probably would have given it 5-Stars HOWEVER, don't ask me to purchase a pig in a poke, that's a no go! Don't ask me to purchase and play the ENTIRE game before knowing what I actually get for my hard-earned money! CE Soundtracks-LOCKED, Concept Art-LOCKED, Extra Levels-LOCKED! This may be a 10-Star kind of game, but I don't appreciate the deceitfulness, what are you trying to hide? I'm going to assume that the CE bling isn't worth the CE price, otherwise, you would have proudly shown players what they can expect when they purchase this CE version...and for that tactic, you not only lost a star, you lost my CE purchase and you lost my trust. I don't care if this is the best game ever created and I don't care if this review is on the 15th page, I won't buy this CE version because of your intentional deceit!
They have changed a few features and added a Relaxed Difficulty Mode to go along with the Casual and Challenge Modes, and I loved that you can change modes on each individual level without losing your progress. They have also added an option to enable/disable the Green Light Hints which is really cool (the green, yellow, red highlights around tasks) There are 31 Achievements to earn (why aren't those LOCKED?) as you play a mysterious number of levels over several Islands~ Palm Isle*Emerald Meadow*Parrort Jungle*Sunny Canyon*Valley of Mountains*Green Hills*Northern Lands, surprisingly they didn't hide those either :)
The graphics are decent and I'm glad they brought back those pesky Little Shop of Horrors plants, I think they are unusual and make the game more interesting. Each level is crammed with resources to collect but they are still the usual tried and true till you're blue tasks of gathering blueberries and whatever the red stuff is from bushes, giant ham hocks left out in the blistering sun, wood that has been freshly cut and neatly stacked (that was nice of whoever I stole the wood from) and treasure chests to pilfer gold (arrr, hope the pirates don't return anytime soon!) There are the usual repairs of bridges, potholes, tree blockages, weeds, and leaves to remove, revitalizing buildings as well as the usual construction of Farms, Sawmills, Fisherman Huts, Goldmines, Quarries, Barracks, Huts for workers Hunters Huts (so the Archer has a home, apparently the Archer who hunts with a Bow & Arrow versus a gun btw, is an expert in explosives...hmmm?)
The Druid does his Druid Duties Dutifully, once he gets paid with dried bushes of course, and each level has a specific goal to achieve such as getting the Gorgon to drive away stormclouds, or chasing away enchanted sheep which was a cool concept but wouldn't it have been really cool if the enchanted sheep were Morphing Sheep to collect? (they would probably have been LOCKED too :)
I'll revisit this game when the Standard Edition version is released because I refuse to purchase this CE version, which may or may not be CE worthy, because my initial thought is that this tactic was intentional because the offerings aren't worthy. I'd like to believe that due to inexperience this developer simply thought it would be a treat to reveal the CE bling prizes after completing the entire game. Personally, I'm not willing to pay twice as much for a game just to see what's waiting at the end of the rainbow. I think this is a great TM game that will certainly please most TM fans, but my conscience won't allow me to recommend this CE version. Caveat Emptor!
BEYOND THE KINGDOM SERIES LIST Title***Collector's Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-Beyond the Kingdom 1 (September 11-2018) 4.3 2-Beyond the Kingdom 2 (March 21-2020) n/a
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I love Strategy Based games and I love the Quadrium series offered by this developer. I expected Season Marbles: Autumn to be a great game, but I didn't expect it to be so beautifully colored! Even though Autumn is long over in the States, seeing the warm, rich colors of Autumn never gets old...plus I love dragons (who doesn't?) I'm not seeing much of a difference in the game mechanics, it's basically the same as Quadrium, but that is an amazing series and it blows the competition "Clear" out of the water! ;)
The music and background sounds couldn't be more soothing, this is a very Zen kind of game, but it's also a very addicting game where you'll keep telling yourself, "just one more level" You can choose between a Match 2 or a Match 3 Mode, and there are 135 levels so you'll be saying, "just one more level" for quite some time!
The beauty of this Matching Orb game is that there's no Timer so you can take your time to figure out the best strategy. The playing field has an infinite amount of Colored Orbs located on the Top, Bottom, Right, and Left sides (you can only see the colors of 2 Orbs in each row or column) and the object is to remove all of the Orbs by shooting an identical colored orb from any of the parameters at the Orbs to remove them. As you progress, more Orb variations are added to the field and naturally, more obstacles are added as well. Bonuses appear randomly, but they will quickly disappear if they aren't activated by a moving Orb. You can right-click on each bonus to get a brief description, you can also click on the Question Mark to read about all of the features.
OBSTRUCTIONS: *Glass Cells~break when hit with an orb. *Glass Border/Walls~break when hit with an orb. *Glass Encased Orbs~the first hit breaks the glass to expose the orb. *Chains~requires a matching colored orb to break the chain(s) another to remove orbs remaining. *Wooden Crates~blocks tiles, direct hit by any orb will destroy. *Wooden Borders/Walls~requires a hit by any orb to destroy. *Shielded Crates~requires a hit on the unprotected sides. *Stone Borders/Walls~can only be destroyed by Bonuses. *Metal Borders/Walls~cannot be destroyed. *Extra Armor~destroyed when orbs are matched in adjacent cells. *Mist~cleared when orbs are matched with adjacent cells. *Arrows~redirects moving orbs.
BONUSES:(appear & disappear randomly) *Flames~include in a match to detonate an explosion. *Bonus Missile~produces 3 missiles to remove 3 random orbs. *Lightning~destroys all of the same color orbs. *Bonus Bombs~transforms 5 random orbs into bombs. *Bonus Multi-Orbs~transforms 7 random active orbs into multi-orbs that can be matched with any color. *Cross Dynamite~destroys orbs in a cross pattern. *Cross X Dynamite~destroys orbs in an X pattern. *Mines~destroys neighboring cells.
As I stated earlier, this game is the same as the Quadrium series by this developer but the colors and sounds are amazing. I own all three Quadrium games and knew this was a game I'd love as well the second I saw how beautiful the levels are.
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Campgrounds IV is such a unique Time Management game and I buy them sight unseen, and I have never been disappointed. I'm happy with my CE purchase because I love the buried Map piece that unlocks a secret campground after reconstructing the map, in that version. what a cool feature, worthy of the extra price :)
In the CE version, there are 6 map pieces to unlock the secret Jungle Campgrounds, 8 map pieces to unlock the secret Desert Campground, 9 map pieces to unlock the secret Mountains Campground, 7 map pieces to unlock the secret Mines Campground, 10 map pieces to unlock the secret Swamps Campground and 10 map pieces to unlock the secret Beaches Campground. The CE version also has 18 Trophy Achievements to earn, 20 Bonus Levels, and the 6 Secret Campground Levels with the Hidden Map Pieces, and a Strategy Guide.
There are 50 Campsite Levels in this Standard Edition version which can be played in an Untimed Mode, an Easy, Normal, or Hard difficulty Mode to please any type of Time Management player.
Although you must clear paths to get to the campsites, there's not a whole lot of Resource gathering, instead, you build Factories and buy the resources needed in bulk. This is a multi-click type of TM game where you click on campsites and then a specific Tab within each campsite:
~The Housing Tab allows you to choose from several options such as Tents, Campers, Cabins, resorts, etc. which depends on the level goals as to which one to build. Each "housing" type can be upgraded 3 times, each upgrade earns more rent than its predecessor. Buildings can also be Salvaged if it's no longer useful, allowing you to erect a new type building or tent. ~The Buildings Tab allows you to build Factories for supplies, Farmhouses for food and other camp-related necessities, such as Playgrounds, Factories, and Farms which allows you to buy supplies in bulk amounts, which you need in order to build and upgrade the tents.
Whichever version you choose, don't pass this one up folks, it's unique, it's super fun, and it's challenging. I prefer the CE version because of the Hidden Map pieces that unlock 6 different Secret Campgrounds Because this game is challenging and strategy-based, I have had to resort to the SG on more than one occasion so that alone is good reason to upgrade. Happy Camping!
CAMPGROUNDS SERIES LIST Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-Campgrounds 1 SE only (August 24-2012) 3.9 2-Campgrounds 2: The Endorus Expedition (January 1-2014) 3.5 3-Campgrounds 3 (June 23-2019) 3.5 4-Campgrounds 4 (March 20-2020) n/a
AS ONE DEVELOPER RISES~ANOTHER FALLS WITH SOME OF THE MOST REPETITIVE COOKIE-CUTTER TASKS IMAGINABLE!
PostedMarch 19, 2020
pennmom36
fromThe 1st chain can be traced back as early as 225 BC In the 16th century, Leonardo da Vinci made sketches of a steel chain, technology not available until the 19th century 1st bike chain in 1800's still used today 1st Missing chain-this game!
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Completed Game approximately 4.5 Hours (including completion of all puzzles & CE Bonus Chapter) 24 Main Game Scene Locations +8 CE Bonus Chapter Difficulty Ranges: Beginner
I'm finding it very ironic that last week's game did an amazing job of abandoning nearly all cliche tasks and cookie-cutter features, while this game dove right in to take its place! It's ironic because last week's game was by a developer who had gotten so lazy that they became known as "The Emblem Motif" dev, while this developer was the polar opposite and always gave us a 100% effort. Now that developer is trying really hard to make their games more worthy, while this developer is losing their drive. I suppose when one rises, the other falls.
The tasks in this game (and most of their games lately )are so repetitive (and ridiculous) that I decided to skip taking notes on the storyline and start taking notes on just how repetitive the tasks were. Take a look at all these cliches, been there, done that, over and over, and over again. tasks Why do they stretch out a game to 5 chapters if they can't come up with new tasks for every chapter?????????
*These are tasks, not solutions!*
*move live wires...don't all police stations have bare wires laying on the floor? *use lockpicks-discard lockpicks for the next guy, the one before you did the same! *attach chain & hooks several x's...something suspicious is going on here? *pry open doors and a lockers because the Hulk recently passed thru town. *saw branches and/or roots-discard saw...I'm sure the tree has survived worse? *find keys-if you can't find the key, make one...yes I'm serious *disperse smoke-discard smoke disperser *remove nails--discard nail remover-doesn't anyone know how to hammer a nail w/o bending it over? *feed animal-lots of animals-cuz you probably just destroyed their home (see above) it's the least you can do *scare away animals-but only if you don't have food to feed them, I'm sure they still have homes *bend rebar bars-several x's-where's Hulk when you need him? *replace statues, figurines, toys & mannequin parts *replace inlays & motif shaped items-all boxes require them *replace batteries & bulbs-may as well take the gas can while you're out... it's coming, wait for it *remove gooey substances from everything-this I have no response for *use chisel-discard chisel-chisel while you work *use awl-discard awl-repeat often-who decided upon this name an owl? *tape wires-discard tape *use tweezers-discard tweezers *remove screws-discard screwdriver-use screwdriver & discard 6 more times *use corkscrew 3-4 x's-discard after each use *use magnet-discard-use magnet-discard-use magnet-discard *replace buttons-ALL of them *replace drawer knobs-ALL of them *dig dirt pile, dig sandpile, dig another dirt pile & another sandpile-all with different tools *use hairpin-4 of them in fact-use pushpins pins when hairpins aren't available, duh *plug escaping steam-3 x's *replace missing valves-I lost count! *replace lots of missing wheels *remove a ton of bricks-literally, move a ton of bricks! *remove broken glass-there's broken glass everywhere *use oil-you know what for :) *remove cobwebs, dust, dirt, ashes, even stylophone *replace lots of ladder rungs-whata ya know, some are intact! *cut rope, string, twine, and thread-just cut anything tied together *saw anything and everything-don't forget to throw it away each time tho...this is important to remember! *use pliers, bolt cutters, allen wrenches, and wrenches-only the disposable kind *use and discard files-doesn't everyone? *use hammer, if no hammer any heavy object works well *replace every chain-seriously this town has a chain thief! *bees-you know what to do! *levers-the chain thief has moved on to bigger and better items! *fuel-apparently when things run out of gas in this town they just walk away, no wonder they turn to a life of chain & lever crime *gloves-multi-purpose, they may not be disposable gloves but that's easily remedied...toss them...just do it!
Collectibles & Morphing Objects (CE Version Only): Domini always gives you plenty of CE Bling, but they are always the same, they never change and never will! You can enable/disable the Collectibles availability Tabs and choose whether or not to show them on the Map as well. There are 15 Morphing Statuettes that tell you about Dakota & Colin Wright (the same number of statuettes, the same morphing statuettes available in every game in every series by Domini) 15 Photographs (same number of photo, same photos-different pictures) and 40 Zoom Zone Coins that are used to purchase 15 Kitchen Items. (same Coins-different room to buy the items with) I love collectibles & morphs, that's why I pay the extra price for the CE version, but it gets pretty boring when they are the same collectibles every time!
Hidden Object Scenes: There are 13 Hidden Object Scenes +5 in the CE Bonus Chapter and an alternate Match 3 Game available, which btw, doesn't allow you to make consecutive matches quickly. (you have to wait for all tiles to stop falling before you can make the next match) These are the same types of HO's they always offer, in fact, I think they are in the same order in all of their games) they are neither challenging, creative, or located in interesting scenes, The objects to find stick out like a sore thumb, the kind of HO scenes where you can click on 90% of the objects correctly, without even looking at the list! They include Interactive List Finds, Silhouetted Shape Finds, Keywords in Sentence Finds, Spot the Difference Finds, Multiples of the same Objects Finds. Replace Items into the Scene, and Combo Silhouettes (find items that match the description of two combined items) Sound familiar?
Mini-Games: There are 17 Mini-Games +6 in the CE Bonus Chapter. You can choose to play them in an Easy or Hard difficulty mode and you can choose which mode to have them start out in the Custom Setting (you can still switch between modes for each individual game) These are the same games offered in their last game from another series, the only thing that changed were the graphics, See if any of these sound familiar?
1-Arrange tokens so they travel along paths to their matching-colored slots. 2-Navigate through rooms, collecting items to use to progress forward. 3-Swap buttons along paths to their color-coded slots & rotate to the positions shown. 4-Select numbers 3-5-7 and arrows to move the dial clockwise or counterclockwise to land on the correct shapes. 5-Move sliders according to the clues of numbers that are <->-=. 6-Find the numbers that intersect on the row & column and enter on a lock. 7-Move blocks to free a path for the key block. 8-Adjust shapes hanging on chains to match the shadow silhouettes. 9-Connect colored wires to matching colored slots. 10-Use a forklift to move the crate using directional arrows. 11-Swap lock teeth until they align. 12-Click on Cubes to change the image to the correct sequents of events.
Bonus Chapter (CE Version Only) Let the games begin! After receiving a video message from an anonymous man (and of course cloaked & masked) you are rendered unconscious after being zapped by a taser. Apparently, this begrudged citizen isn't very fond of journalists, and you discover you have just one hour to escape, naturally, while reflecting on your morals. This is a slightly above average-length chapter spanning over 8 scene locations with 6 additional Mini-Games and 5 Hidden Object Scenes. You will continue your search for the final 4 Morphing Character Statuettes, 4 Photographs, and 7 Zoom Zone Coins which allows you to purchase the final Kitchen item decorations. This chapter contains the same repetitive tasks as the main game, just in case you hadn't yet grown weary of finding a barrage of ropes, buried items, caches, exposed wires, missing knobs, chains, and padlocks.
Collector's Edition Extra's: (CE version only) 10 Wallpapers, 10 Concept Art Pictures, 5 Music Soundtracks, 27 Movie Video Cutscenes, 40 Achievements (the same achievements offered in all of their games), 15 Replayable Mini-Games, 18 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes, 15 Morphing Statuettes (learn about Colin & Dakota Wright's life) 15 Photographs, 40 Zoom Zone Coins, 14 Kitchen Items (purchase with the collectible Coins) 5 Main Chapters +Bonus Chapter, and a Built-In Strategy Guide.
FATAL EVIDENCE SERIES LIST Title***Collector's Edition Release Date***Average Rating
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I've said it a thousand times, I'm a puzzle geek! I love Mosaics because they are my Zen, I play Mosaics for relaxation but this one has so many issues that it made the puzzles frustrating instead of fun. For starters, the Custom Cursor wouldn't work unless I held the mouse button down while moving it. I solved this issue by going to the Options Setting and disabling the cursor, only to discover even more issues! There is a serious lag between clicking (or X's) cells, and when the cells actually fill in, it was almost painful to have to sit and wait for a cell or group of cells to be filled in properly, so much so that I'd wonder if my selection was recognized or if it was another issue! The Music would "stick" as well so I decided to uninstall and reinstall, and hopefully, fix the games' issues...it did not. Does anyone actually vet these games before throwing them out?
You can choose from 3 different difficulty modes, Bronze (Easy) which gives you a 30-second refill timer, 5 Lives, 9 Shovels to reveal a single cell and 3 bombs to remove a 3x3 grid. Silver (Medium) gives you a 60-second hint refill timer, 3 Lives, 6 Shovels, and 2 Bombs. Gold (Hard) gives you a 120-second hint refill timer, 1 Life, 3 Shovels and 1 Bomb.
There are 128 Mosaic Levels and 16 Mini-Games. I only played a few of the levels because the issues made the game really frustrating, instead of feeling really Zen, I felt really aggravated. I hate having to ding a developer but in my opinion, this game needed to be ironed out a little bit more before hanging it out to dry!
FOUR SEASONS AROUND THE WORLD MOSAIC SERIES Title***Release Date***Average Rating
1-Spring In Japan Mosaic Edition (June 20-2018) 3.3 2-Summer In Italy Mosaic Edition (July 27-2018) 3.6 3-Autumn In France Mosaic Edition (November 28-2018) 3.4 4-Winter in New York (March 17-2020) n/a
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Man, these guys sure know how to do Match 3 games right, in fact, that's the only genre they focus on and that my friends are why every Match 3 game they create is a masterpiece! You can always count on FRH to incorporate something new with each release, and you can always count on the games to be challenging. I never bother with the Demo trial on any of the Match 3 games, I go straight for the "Buy Now" button because I'm confident that they will all be superb games...and I've never had buyers remorse on any of the games by FRH Games. It may be a Monday morning but I'm doing my Happy Dance, wanna join me?
You can play in a Relaxed Mode or a Limited Moves or Limited Time Mode, and you can Enable/Disable the Hint Feature. After each Match 3 level, you can play a Solitaire or Mahjong game as well as my personal favorite, Spot the Difference with differences that aren't as obvious as you'd expect. (you can skip the mini-games) The tutorial is pretty vague but you can click on the Book at the top of the screen to read everything you need to know, including tips & tricks.
Spellarium is a Match 3 game where the only things that matter are Collecting the Coins and Collecting Colored Tiles, but those goals are tricky to obtain because there are so many variables. There are plenty of obstacles to make those goals really challenging to obtain, and more than likely, you'll have to replay many of the levels when playing with Limited Moves or Time...this ain't your granny's kind of Match 3 game!
There are several types of Coins available: •Gold Coins: requires an adjacent match to collect. •Dirty Coins: require 2 adjacent matches. •Frozen Coins: requires activating torches. •Half Coins: requires joining 2 halves by making matches between. •Locked Coins: requires creating a path for the Key. •Coin Molds: requires guiding liquid gold to the mold to form a coin.
There are several Obstacles preventing you from getting to the Coins, however, if they aren't blocking a coin there's no need to overcome some obstacles. Power-ups will destroy most obstacles as well:
•Crates: requires an adjacent match to remove. •Shielded Crates: requires an adjacent match on the unshielded portion. •Ground Tiles: requires adjacent matches. •Clay Tiles: requires adjacent matches to remove. •Stone Tiles: requires 2 adjacent matches to remove. •Fog Covered Tiles: requires an adjacent match to remove the fog. •Ice Tiles: requires a match 3 of whichever tile is trapped in the ice. •Locked Coins: requires making matches to create a path in front of the key(s) •Vials: requires filling with purple drops by matching vertically. •Torches: melt ice by making adjacent matches to spread the flames. •Bugs & Bug Coins: chase away or make adjacent matches. •Red & Green Hot Stones: adjacent matches on Red & Green Cells will destroy the stones. •Stumps: requires specified amounts of matches of whichever tile icon is shown on the stump.
Large Matches will earn Power-ups on the board, however, there are times when a Power-up can hurt rather than help (read the Tips & Tricks Book) Most power-ups can be moved or double-clicked to activate.
•Rockets: selects a target in order of importance. (order shown in Tips & Tricks) •Bombs: explodes with an adjacent match (usually w/ a chain reaction) •Toggles: matches on the toggle switches opens inaccessible board sections. •Cannons: requires an adjacent match on the Red Cell to activate. •Permanent Bombs: usually sets off chain reactions with an adjacent match.
SPELLARIUM SERIES LIST Title***Release Date***Average Rating
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Completed Game approximately 5.5 hours (including completion of all puzzles & CE Bonus Chapter) 32 Scene Locations Difficulty Range: Beginner-possibly Intermediate
This is simply a Hidden Object Game with Mini-Games and a weak plot. Each Scene is a whole room Hidden Object Scene where the goal is to find neon batteries to make a fog-clearing apparatus more powerful which allows more HO scenes to become available. I LOVED this concept in the last game by this developer in a different series, but they clearly didn't put forth the same effort as they did with the previous game! The infamous voice-actress, Lani Manilla is the same voice for 2 different characters, (in all fairness they are aunt & niece) she is a very talented woman, but I found her soliloquy, detailing every thought, action, and observations, to be annoying and downright grating, by the end of the first chapter!
Collectibles & CE Bling (CE version only) There are 32 Collectible Skulls located in the main scenes as well as the original Hidden Object Scenes, some of which are very well-blended into the scenery and difficult to spot. There are no collectibles in the very short Bonus Chapter and other than the usual wallpapers, concept art, music, videos, and achievements, there's no incentive to buy the CE version, I regret using my free CE code!
Gadgets/Helpers: There is a Monster-Mist Clearing Machine Gadget that is used 7 times with an associated mini-game (which I actually დ'd!) You complete available Hidden Object Scenes to collect groups of 3 Neon-blue Batteries then return to the Machine to place them and solve a mini-game (described below in the Mini-Game section) which in turn, opens up more areas of hidden object scenes to search for more batteries, lather, rinse, repeat.
Hidden Object Scenes: There are a whopping 48 Hidden Object Scenes +10 in the CE Bonus Chapter. I was blow-away by the HOP's in the league of light because the scenes were beautiful, creative, entertaining and challenging, but these HOP's were not! Many of the items are tiny and others are located on the dark outer fringes that are impossible to spot. I still like this "Whole-scene HOPA-HOG-hybrid concept (occasionally not every time) they aren't HO scenes located in an area of the room, they are located in the entire room. Each scene is accessed via the pop-up map, available HO scenes have green marker points, red marker points can't be accessed until you have the equipment required. Most are simple Listed Item Finds (25), but there are also Keywords in Sentence Finds (1), Spot the Differences (1), Multiples of the same Objects, such as 20 Bobbers, 12 Pressure Gauges, 20 Crosses, etc.(9) Pairs of Objects Finds (7) Silhouetted Shape Finds (2) Swatch Finds where you find areas in the scene that match a swatch sample (2) Symbol Silhouettes where you find 2 partial symbols that match the silhouette when combined (1) Some of the HOP's have a puzzle or mini-game to solve and many of the scenes are repeated in chapters 3-5, and most of the scenes have a Collectible Skull. (not available in the repeated scenes)
Mini-Games: There are 31 Mini-Games +4 in the CE Bonus Chapter. Unlike their last game in the league of light series, these games were nothing special and certainly not challenging, and very few of the Hidden Object Scenes included puzzles. There is a repetitive game (7x's) associated with the Machine which requires connecting color-coded wire nodes from the right & left columns, to the central fuses which must have the correct colored wires attached (1 from the left, 1 from the right). I actually loved this puzzle that increased with difficulty each time by adding several wire nodes that required specific color combinations! Here are a few descriptions of the puzzles you'll encounter throughout the entire game:
℧-Connect color-coded wires from the left & right to the central fuse x7 ℧-Insert the specified number of pins into each numbered cell on the grid. x1/Make a specified number of connections horizontally, vertically, or diagonally x1. ℧-Move marbles to their matching-colored slots by rotating disc rings and moving colored marbles to empty slots. ℧-Tetris style game placing various-shaped boards/Blocks style games where you move blocks vertically & horizontally to clear a path for the main block to escape. ℧-Manual dexterity puzzles that require dragging a marble through tubes w/o touching sides/puzzles that require sliding objects along tracks to their correct destination. ℧-Memory matching games where you flip over two cards at a time. ℧-Pipes variations drawing water from valves to turn corners/Turning valves to set all gauge needles to the green zone (1 affects others) ℧-Swap Tile variations to complete image/Swap pie-shaped pieces to create a clown face. ℧-Direct colored beams of light by placing lenses to change the direction of the light beams. ℧-Escape from the monster by moving up to 2 spaces each turn, but the monster can move 3 spaces if he sees you. ℧-Choose the correct emotions so that Sorrow reaches a level 5 before all other emotions.
Bonus Chapter (CE Version Only) The Bonfire stories continue where the game left off but this time the story is told by the town's barber from a different perspective. This is a short chapter with just 10 Hidden Object Scenes and 4 Mini-Games. There are no Collectible Skulls in the Bonus Chapter and it was a rather boring ending.
Collector's Edition Extra's: 17 Wallpapers (most have no characters yay!), 36 Concept Art Pictures, 8 Music Soundtracks, 31 Movie Video Cutscenes, 8 Achievements including the famous Mariaglorum achievement of answering 3 questions about the game (6 of the achievements are in 3 categories) 40 piece Fresco Puzzle (FYI: can be completed at ANY time, even before playing the game, and you'll earn an achievement for completion) 32 Collectible Skulls~1 in every scene including the HOP's (You can return to any scene to pick up missed Skulls by clicking on the empty Skull slot in the collectibles Tab) 5 Main Chapters +Bonus Chapter and a Built-In Strategy Guide.
BONFIRE STORIES SERIES LIST Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating