Investigate some experiments that have been going on and do some rescuing! Something about mind control. Not gory, not disturbing, just good atmosphere and more like mad-scientist wanting to take over the world. Not a hectic, edge of seat game. You play as the investigator Alex Hunter. It is rather a long game, and seems to last a long time. This could be good or bad depending on how you look at it. I began to struggle with the neverendingness of it, and found the ending more of a chore rather than a triumph. BUT that was only the last 10% I'd say.
GRAPHICS: Nice clear graphics. It has the right amount of color and falls somewhere in between realistic and cartoonish. You CAN see every leaf on the maple tree. HOPS: 30+ PUZZLES: A LOT. I think perhaps 20? All skippable. SOUNDS: 2 settings: music (which was nice to listen to for the first 5 mins of getting back into the game), and then the ambient, which also included the mouse-click effects. I’m always glad when the environment sounds are not tied to music.
HINT: 30 seconds to recharge on Casual. The first hint will lead you to where you should be and what needs attention. The second hint (after waiting for recharge) will show you which item to use. (Strategy Guide is included in this game! To access it from your game page, you click on the little circle, lower right, with footprints in it.) MAP: TRAVEL. Several layers of maps, divided into areas. INVENTORY: Not lockable. JOURNAL: YES. CHARACTERS: Minimal interaction with any characters.
EXTRAS: This was an SE, and yet there were numerous extras: Strategy Guide, Bonus Game, a secret room, secrets signs to collect throughout the game, awards and prizes, wallpapers. The main game was long enough in itself.
(Available at BFG since 2014) You’ll find yourself in various city settings: sky scraper terraces at night, with the full moon glowing down on a hot tub, a huge hotel foyer with granite slab and inlay flooring, and more… A sociopath is out to test you. Only he knows the reason and it is related to your father being a director. Find the solution each time…otherwise someone will die! Save 5 characters from 5 movies. Switch back and forth, from one reality to another. A fun and exciting game to begin with, there’s a large lull in the middle, and then it picks up again for the ending. GRAPHICS: Mixed, sometimes sharp, but mostly a Kind of a blurred quality. Works fine in spacious scenes, where there is lots of interesting structures and buildings, but kind of disappointing when it came to the HOPS. HOPS: A lot. Words and silhouettes. PUZZLES: LOTS and LOTS at different abilities. SOUNDS: 3 HINT: Will guide and lead you. DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 4 choices MAP: Travel INVENTORY: Lockable
JOURNAL: Yes, with objectives too. CHARACTERS: Not too much character interaction, but you get lots of recordings and messages and calls from the maniac. Well voiced-over side-kick character that is your companion from time to time.
It should have been a tremendous achievement, but the tunnel through the Ridge of Leviathan became the site of a great disaster. What really happened that day?
Available at BFG Sept 2013. Intriguing story line. What is The Pantheon and where have your husband and little girl disappeared to AND the ENTIRE TRAIN?! Real people. Nice looking HOPS. Lots and lots of narration by the mother, almost too much,but good if you’re in the mood for it. Game has mid-section lull, but picks up again. GRAPHICS: Nice graphics. A bit of a blurred quality though. A mix of real and not real. HOPS: About 15. You have to remember that in these HOPS you usually have to use 1 or 2 items from your inventory. If you forget, the hint button will tell you what to do and where to find it. PUZZLES: Mix SOUNDS: 4 HINT: Clear hints IN WRITING. There is no leading. DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 3 & interchangeable during game. MAP: Travel INVENTORY: Lockable
JOURNAL: NONE. But you do get replayable cut-scenes. CHARACTERS: Lots of character interaction. REAL people are used, which I liked. No lip movement. The narration of the mother is sometimes a bit over the top, but it is better than too dry, considering the situation.
Professor Ashmore, the same man who so kindly took you in and raised you as his own has been murdered. It’s up to you to find out why, but are you prepared for what truths may be uncovered?
(Game available at BFG since 2014) We begin with abundant nature and sounds of frogs. You see wonderful, evening skies that take on a galactic look at times. You also get to investigate a lighthouse, and then spend a ton of time in a mansion. The question is, what was released from another dimension in the experiments? Something terrifying by the sounds of it… Not a scary game to play though, just atmospheric and relaxing.
GRAPHICS: Mix of real and generated. A real mix of how they look. Generally clear. HOPS: -25- HOPS in the main game. Good visibility. Wordlists with each having 1 or 2 morphing objects and 1 or 2 that require further interaction. PUZZLES: Fun and mixed ability. “Instructions” appears bottom right. Select it for clear instructions. SOUNDS: 2 – Music and Sound
HINT: 30 seconds to recharge on casual DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 3 MAP: TRAVEL –you must click ON THE WORD on the map! INVENTORY: Lockable
JOURNAL: YES CHARACTERS: Rare interaction.
EXTRAS in this SE: Achievements, Collectables and a Bonus Game; however the main game was roughly 4hrs and the bonus game was more like an afterthought, so I only lasted 15 minutes in that, but there are more HOPS in that. The collectables are 7 each of 4 sets of things you collect throughout the game: leaves, coins, and flasks and cameo brooches.
Scariest game I’ve played on BFG! The atmosphere builds up on you. I really started to feel “oh my goodness what am I going to find now?” Not gory except for the beginning cut scene and you do see corpses once or twice, plus scary faces. Although it’s a different story line, it reminded me of the movie “The Ring,” but not as an R. I found myself squeezing my eyelids almost shut on several occasions towards the last third of the game, in anticipation of what I might NOT want to discover! However, I rarely watch anything horror these days, if ever, so my tolerance is probably pretty low.
Roam around a couple of places, one of which is your old home childhood home that never sold. It’s now decaying, dusty, old and worn cracking, peeling and boarded up in many places. You are trying to find clues about what happened to your sister. GRAPHICS: Clear. Mainly browns and grays and neutral colors. Represents the feel of the game well. Fills the whole screen. HOPS: 12-15 Wordlists with some items hidden. PUZZLES: Mixed bag SOUNDS: Music and Sound. The music is more like eerie effects as opposed to actual music. In the beginning environmental sounds are plenty, but as the game progresses, they lessen apart from your mouse-click sounds and actions that proceed from that. It totally suits the game. HINT: Recharges at 30 seconds on Casual DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 3 - interchangeable MAP: Travel with useful indicators. INVENTORY: Lockable. Gets pretty loaded, sometimes 10-12 items.
JOURNAL: A “facts” notebook/journal is present on the start page, and in the game itself. I really like journals, because if you have a significant break from the game, the notes are an instant reminder of what this particular game is about. Replayable CUTSCENES also present at the start page. CHARACTERS: Rare interaction. Notes and letters give you insight into your family's thoughts.
-A 2016 game- OUTSTANDING eerie atmosphere, enhanced by outstanding effects, music and environmental sounds, and the type of graphics I love. Secret passages and cubby holes to be discovered and you never know what’s lurking or has been locked away for decades. Fogs and webs, smokes and dust. The mansion is made to look sinister and foreboding without making you want to run away, because of the contrast impressive fixtures and fittings!
You feel glad (well I always do), that they don’t cross the line and turn it into a menacing R. You don’t witness any cruelty or terrible suffering of anyone living. Although, anything bad they do want to convey, they do in ultra-cartoonish fashion, so that it isn’t intensely disturbing. There’s only one scene I had to look away from and that was when blood was pouring from two containers (which the sound effects made worse). A couple of times, just when you think the game is ending, there’s more! Once or twice there are in fact little, unexpected occurrences, that make the game humorous just for a few seconds, but I can’t give it away.
GRAPHICS: Mix of real and generated. Absolutely GORGEOUS GRAPHICS, my favorite kind – very realistic looking. Lots of darks, shadows then highlights. SOUNDS: 4 . EXCELLENT in every department. A lot of thought and effort must have gone into this to have the right music and the right sounds at exactly the right times. Rarely do I keep music on for so long! Wish I'd got the CE for the music alone. HOPS: About-20! Good looking. All kinds: silhouettes, interactive, matching pairs, even a morphing objects one! PUZZLES: A LOT! 30-400? Regular puzzles, all kinds of levels of difficulties.
HINT: Guides and leads DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 4 options MAP: Travel with indicators INVENTORY: Lockable
JOURNAL: NONE CHARACTERS: You are mainly on your own, but you need to help your Nephew Brandon, his wife and son. You meet some deceased relatives too. Great voice-overs and lip-sync.
A 2016 game Find your Uncle and all the other missing people! Lots of weird and wonderful. You never know in this game what, when or how inert items are suddenly going to react to your cursor! Not a scary game to play though. It's a fun game.
GRAPHICS: Typical bright and colorful of 2016. Not really my favorite, but good visibility. HOPS: Around 15 or more HOPS, scenes are used twice. Didn’t enjoy the HOPS as much here (not great to look at) but they’re clear. I think the main fun is in the adventure part of the game. PUZZLES: Mix SOUNDS: 4 (Really worth getting the CE if you like the music, since there’s LOTS of it! 27 tracks, using piano, violin, cello, guitar and keyboard, 7 of which are 3 minutes long AND fade out at the end –no abrupt ends.)
HINT: Guides and leads DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 4 MAP: TRAVEL, and extremely useful with indicators. I used the map A LOT in this game! INVENTORY: lockable
JOURNAL: A notebook has goals. CHARACTERS: Your uncle from the antiques shop and others you meet. Real people, good voice overs with lip-sync. Very likeable.
Want a change from 'eerie' and 'serious?' Meet your dolphin buddy and re-recover your memory gradually in a game that is set on coastal land and underwater. This game gets better the more you play it because of the variety of places to go, and the storyline which just keeps unfolding. The puzzles are so much fun and quite a few are different from what are coming out lately. I liked the graphics and especially the UNDERWATER SCENES.
GRAPHICS: Nice, clear & fills the whole screen. (There was one puzzle where it was a bit difficult to see the clue I’d collected in the journal, but BFG does a Walkthrough if you need it). HOPS: 12-15. Some silhouettes, some wordlists. Mostly interactive PUZZLES: LOTS. Maybe 30+ . A mix of difficulties. All skippable. SOUNDS: 3. Music, Sound and Voice.
HINT: Will guide and lead you on Casual. 20-30 seconds to recharge. DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 3 –interchangeable from options MAP: Travel with indicators and option to switch off indicators on map from options. INVENTORY: Lockable. In the top middle of the inventory bar is a little crab. If you select it, it will lock the bar.
JOURNAL: Yes. Notes and tasks. CHARACTERS: You play as Marcus. The voice-overs are good. There’s NO lip-syn.
I was very disappointed in this game and found it boring, tedious and sleazy. The graphics and story start off well and gave me a false impression of how the game would progress. Everything changes after 15-20 minutes. There were warning signs and I should have heeded them.
(Game offered by BFG in 2015) On your quest to find your niece in Tibet, you get to enjoy lily ponds, tree blossom, multiple Tibetan temple structures, with smiling Buddhas, sheer cliffs of rock towering up against moody skies, fountains and ice, gongs, urns, vases, jars, teapots and lanterns. Easy to see HOPS. Occasional character interaction. Charge your scepter multiple times with different gems, as you make your way up the mountains and overcome various obstacles. Just when you think the story is concluded, there a bit more. 4-5 hour game.
GRAPHICS: Clear and colorful. Mix of real and generated. Filled the whole screen. Not all scenes are created equally, some are very detailed, some are more basic. Brightness and visual content seems to decrease a bit after ¾ of the game. I think they used up all their good stuff. HOPS: 35 ! (Option to play Mahjong instead.) Clear and easy to see throughout. Silhouettes and wordlists. Some nicer to look at than others. NOT difficult to find. Each HOP has 1 to 2 morphing objects that morph every 10-15 seconds. The way to tell which words are morphing objects in the word list is that they change color in sync with the morphing (green to white and back again). Any objects that simply require interactive work to be remain green. Occasional wrongly worded, eg ‘Trinket’ instead of Trinket box. Happens maybe 2 more times.
PUZZLES: 15-20. All explained very clearly. All skippable. Mix of difficulties: some included are scrambled pictures, sliding bars to create a pathway, elements with numerical values, find matching tiles, re-organization to proper places. SOUNDS: 3 –Music, Voice, & Sound. Outdoors you get goo environmental sounds, eg wind gusting around, fountain, crickets. Mouse-click sounds all thematic and related to that part of the world. Relaxing world music (ever watched the program Lonely Planet??). HINT: 15 seconds to recharge on Casual. Will guide and lead you. DIFFICULTY LEVELS: 3 -interchangeable MAP: TRAVEL with indicators JOURNAL: Notes and Tasks CHARACTERS: Real people. Perhaps a photo taken and then computer used to animate their talking. Minimal cut-scenes.
The only thing I hated doing in this game was having to catch a blue tropical fish by stabbing a stick through it! Probably one of Nemo’s friends :(