somegeek's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.9
- Helpful Votes:669
- Reviews Submitted:44
- First Review:September 4, 2021
- Most Recent Review:November 7, 2023
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Take an amazing trip to Europe's most iconic locations!
Overall rating
2
/
5
0 of 1 found this review helpful
This game is bugged
PostedApril 10, 2023
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
I am writing this as a warning for at least other Mac players, though I wonder if the following is not an issue for PC players too.
Everything was going okay until I hit a car puzzle. Then things started to go wrong. In the car puzzle, for some reason, I could no longer click on certain bags in the car's trunk. I tried and tried again. I even restarted the minigame, but it did not matter, it still froze up.
I skipped that puzzle, then got to the scene in a Norwegian church. I ended up having the very same bug as someone who reviewed this game: no matter what I did, I could not light the candles no matter where I dropped the matches. Unfortunately, we can't skip HOG scenes, so it's effectively game over.
I am angry because I just threw money down the drain on a collector's edition based partly on the good reviews. I wish I had seen the review of the person having this trouble before buying it.
As for the rest of the game, I found this pretty mediocre and regret my purchase. It's the first and the last time I buy one of these.
I don't recommend this game.
Soak up the sun and have some fun!
Overall rating
5
/
5
35 of 44 found this review helpful
There have been improvements!
PostedApril 8, 2023
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Lately there has been a slump in Mac games that I have wanted to buy on Big Fish. I don't like HOPAs all that much. I have purchased every single Point 8 game released on this site for Mac so far, because this developer provides huge value for money despite some niggling little quirks and issues I have with them. I can spend hours and hours in their games and virtually no other developer comes as close to that.
I am pleased to say that this installment does not disappoint. I was slightly miffed with the one on France, because I live in France and I think they could have chosen some better pictures for some things, like the cafés and such (like why no interior of some of the beautiful art deco cafés or something like the iconic Café de la Paix?). The advantage here is that I don't know Florida, so I can't complain too much about that. So far the scenes I have looked at are beautiful and interesting, much more nature-oriented.
The other thing I noticed are the improvements that fix some issues I had previously.
For example, the magnifying glass is now a true toggle: you click on it to activate it, then you can click on the objects you want to find to your heart's content. When you're done with it, you click on the magnifying glass again and it closes. You can also now use it in conjunction with the sparkly areas whereas in the past, you could not.
Another thing I noticed is that the find-the-differences game has been changed to be more challenging. It's more in line with some other games where you truly have to find small differences like color changes or a small tweak to something rather than just clicking on objects that are different between the scenes. That was a quibble of mine before.
Otherwise, the game is pretty much the same as before, only in Florida rather than in France or California.
For me it's a purchase, so I recommend it, unless someone is sick of travel games. I have only played the demo, but already wanted to give a good score for this game because I want to get it and also tell other players that the magnifying glass quirk has been fixed!
I recommend this game!
Help Ellie and a cast of charming characters through a memorable mosaic story!
Overall rating
3
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
Nice to Have a Mosaics Game
PostedMarch 6, 2023
somegeek
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Mosaics games are some of my favorites and it's nice to see a new one. I wish there were more, it's been a while since we have had one.
So how is this one? It's okay to good. I hesitated between three and four stars.
What I liked: the challenge and the fact that this game is fairly no frills. The pictures are okay. I like having two modes since I play with a touchpad. Whenever these games require a right click, I sometimes give them a miss since I never know if they will register the fact that I "right clicked".
There are a few things I did not care for as much: the music and only two game modes. The biggest issue for me is that some of the colors make the numbers in the grid difficult to see on the grey background. I did not see a way to change the background color.
Overall, I can see getting hours of enjoyment out of it and that's a good thing.
I recommend this game!
Sort through so much stuff in this quirky hidden-object game!
Overall rating
4
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Not Run of the Mill
PostedMarch 2, 2023
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
This game is divided up into chapters.
Each chapter has a theme like Fall Foliage. Each chapter is in turn divided by four types of puzzles: clutter-like matching (no lists, you have to figure out what the matches are), find the objects written on post-it notes, a swap puzzle and a jigsaw-like puzzle.
I find the level of the puzzles rather simple, but I think this game is good if you just want a leave-your-brain-somewhere kind of game.
I think the game is going to be short, even though it is well-made with a nice UI, beautiful pictures of great quality and calming music.
So in other words: a pleasant, atypical HOG that is well-made, easy to solve and a bit on the short side.
I recommend this game!
Discover the wonders of Greece and Turkey while completing fun jigsaw puzzles!
Overall rating
4
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Nicer Pictures this Tiime
PostedFebruary 8, 2023
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
I shall preface this by saying that I am a bit surprised that we have a new one of these puzzle vacation games so soon after the last one.
That being said, I think this one has nicer pictures in it than the one on Japan. I know that this is opinion, but the subject matter is more interesting in all categories than in the previous one and the puzzles are more colorful.
The overall game play is the same and quite annoyingly, some of the things I griped about in my previous two attempts at feedback. These are namely with respect to the trays. These are still not super convenient to use.
Once again, it's because they are wide and hide the pieces behind them, without any way to move them around the screen. You have to move all of the pieces that would be hidden by them somewhere else in order to have access. Plus the pieces can still end up behind the tabs that you click on to open the trays. It shouldn't even be a thing that pieces end up behind these tabs without anyway to hide the latter. It's actually rather annoying, though not game breaking.
Lastly, once in the tray, the pieces are smaller than if they are in the play area.
Honestly, I think they could remove the trays and it would not detract from the gameplay.
The rest of the gameplay is fine and it offers more flexibilty than many jigsaw puzzle games out there.
So in summary, the gameplay is decent, the pictures are quite nice this time, but the trays remain useless. I stopped using them in the Puzzle Adventures: Christmas game, which was two games ago, if that gives any idea.
I still recommend this, even though I really do wish the devs would listen to my feedback about the trays.
I recommend this game!
Discover the sights and wonders of Japan while completing fun jigsaw puzzles!
Overall rating
4
/
5
9 of 9 found this review helpful
Pretty Good
PostedJanuary 10, 2023
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I agree overall with HeavenBound. The pictures do lack a bit in the 'really awesome' category, but overall I do like the pictures on offer.
Everything she said about cities, food and animals I also noticed. I did not have the issue with the music getting blocked. The music is quite pleasant, and relaxing, which is great for someone who has a stressful job like I do.
The rest of the categories are actually much better: scenery, castles and the unfortunately-named 'other' category, which I think is the biggest one. There are nice pictures in this game and most of them seem pretty okay to great.
There are some pictures that I think will be quite challenging with max rotation, even though we are again limited to 400 pieces (if one chooses a traditional jigsaw cut). There are some forest scenes that I think could take a person quite a long time to do.
The overall gameplay is good, but I will bring up briefly here what I said in the Puzzle Vacation game that was released around Christmas: the trays are an annoyance because you can't fetch the pieces behind them when they're open and they take up quite a bit of space.
I also now have an additional request: if the developers could add a function to hide the tray tabs, that would be great because sometimes puzzle pieces end up behind them. The only way to retrieve the pieces is to shuffle, but if you shuffle, you will lose any organization you might have to your pieces.
Despite this, I think this is one of the better puzzle games I have tried and am considering putting this in my collection, even though I probably have enough jigsaw puzzles to last the rest of my life by now.
I recommend this game!
Catch the Christmas spirit through more than 20,000 engaging puzzles!
Overall rating
4
/
5
9 of 9 found this review helpful
Very decent game!
PostedDecember 15, 2022
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
I think pennmom gave a great lowdown of the game and there is barely a need to write another review since hers is so thorough, but I really wanted to address one thing that I did not care for and why I would only rate this game 4 stars instead of 5.
What really bothers me are the trays. They are on the left side of the play area and there are a handful of them. They are also quite large. This might seem great, but actually it is not because you cannot move them around the scene. If you want to pick up pieces behind them and drop them in, it's not possible. You also cannot change their size.
If they could let us move them around and/or change their size, that would be awesome! Also, if they could make the pieces bigger when they are in the tray, that would also be awesome!
I too would like to have more than 400 pieces, so I second pennmom on that.
Other than these issues, this game has a lot going for it. It's very customizable and offers things like multi-piece pickup and relaxing music.
I still recommend this game heartily and will probably still get it, even though it's coming on the tail of another great Christmas puzzle game (which I got). How many Christmas puzzles can one do?
I recommend this game!
Ring in the season with this collection of jigsaw puzzles bursting with holiday cheer!
Overall rating
5
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
They're Back!
PostedDecember 4, 2022
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I came back to Big Fish Games just for this game, or at least I am trying to come back if I did not have a bug with their billing system.
I have almost all of Graphium Studio's previous games except for two. I will be honest and say that I do not really need another Christmas puzzle game since I have not finished most of the puzzles from the previous installment, Puzzle Pieces 6 - Christmas Advent, but I am getting this anyway for two reasons: Graphium Studio is Ukrainian and could probably use the support right now, but also because the game is excellent just taking that on its own.
What I like:
- Easy to take into hand:
It is really nice to be able to zoom in and out just by scrolling with a touch pad or mouse, easy to configure the puzzle you want to do, easy to customize the play area and it is easy to play once everything is configured. What I mean by 'easy' is that you can set up things with just a few clicks and you don't spend time fighting with the UI. Also, the puzzle locks into place once you put a piece in the right spot. I like not picking up the entire puzzle by accident!
It is really nice to be able to zoom in and out just by scrolling with a touch pad or mouse, easy to configure the puzzle you want to do, easy to customize the play area and it is easy to play once everything is configured. What I mean by 'easy' is that you can set up things with just a few clicks and you don't spend time fighting with the UI. Also, the puzzle locks into place once you put a piece in the right spot. I like not picking up the entire puzzle by accident!
- Large play area:
Even though I would love to be able to have multiple trays, they are almost not necessary because there is plenty enough space to organize pieces directly in the play area.
Even though I would love to be able to have multiple trays, they are almost not necessary because there is plenty enough space to organize pieces directly in the play area.
- Gamified play:
You get points for solving pieces. You get more points if you solve multiple pieces at a time or in quick succession.
You get points for solving pieces. You get more points if you solve multiple pieces at a time or in quick succession.
- Quality of the images:
You can zoom in fairly closely to the pieces and they do not appear pixelated. I also find the selection of images to be interesting, even better than Puzzle Pieces 6 - Christmas Advent.
You can zoom in fairly closely to the pieces and they do not appear pixelated. I also find the selection of images to be interesting, even better than Puzzle Pieces 6 - Christmas Advent.
Things I liked less:
- There are fewer images this time around and fewer chapters. I'll cut them some slack though since I am not sure how I would do if I were trying to release a game in difficult circumstances. I also have no clue what each chapter is about. It might just be me being a computer nerd having issues understanding my fellow human beings, but I'm not seeing the story here.
- I am a big Jigsaws Galore fan and I do admit that having multiple, customizable trays is pretty awesome. I can see how that might be hard to implement here, but it would be nice to have at least a big tray or a second tray at least. The available tray is kind of wimpy.
- Only one profile per game. I have this issue with their previous titles. Once you get all of the doodads, it looks like you can never reset your game so that you can get them all over again. Even though you can replay puzzles to your heart's content, you cannot reset the area, at least I have not figured out a way to do so.
- I do wish there was an Apple M1/M2 port of this game (and of course their older games).
Summary: a very decent installment to the Puzzle Pieces series and even though it's a little lighter weight than past ones, everything is top notch again.
I recommend this game!
Explore the scenes and sights of America's beloved Heartland!
Overall rating
5
/
5
90 of 104 found this review helpful
The best recent Boomzap release!
PostedSeptember 3, 2022
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
I really liked this game.
Why?
- Clear and interesting HO scenes. I find the selection better than the nearest equivalent, the last Road Trip USA game (which offers a gas station as one of the HO scenes). The scenes I played were not dark and did not have funky contrast.
- No story, no obnoxious characters so no need to hit the skip button hundreds of times and no need to cringe from the awful dialogue.
- Replayable chapters, replayable levels, many HO scene modes, many difficulty modes. They added morphing objects to the lists!
- Fun mini-games that are reminiscent of the I Love Finding X series.
What I liked a bit less:
- It seems a bit easier than the other recent Boomzap games.
- It is yet another travel game. However, the Mid-West of the US usually does not get as much attention as other places, so that is okay.
- Still takes up a gig on one's computer.
I recommend this game!
Amateur travel blogger Kate is back with a new travel adventure!
Overall rating
4
/
5
13 of 15 found this review helpful
It is a little dark, but...
PostedAugust 28, 2022
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I still found this enjoyable, based on the demo. I agree with other reviewers, there is a problem with visibility. Increasing the brightness of my screen helped, but there is an issue with contrast in some scenes (like the first HO scene) that makes it difficult to distinguish some of the items. However, it's not impossible to play, even on a small laptop screen.
I found the slightly more challenging levels welcome. There are scrambled words, not to everyone's liking, but I like them. They allow me to play a word game in English, which is nice for an anglophone living in a non-anglophonic country.
What I liked less was the 1 gig download. Does a HOG really have to be that big? It seems to me like Boomzap always has big downloads. For what it is, this game takes up a lot of space in comparison to other, similar games. I know that 1 gig is not a lot in comparison to triple A titles, but it's strange that they always are big for casual games.
I also don't really care for the main protagonists. The two women don't look like a mother and daughter pair, they look like they're the same age. I find them obnoxious, and this is one reason why I did not care for or get the previous installment in this series. They are immediately trying to pry in someone's life that they don't really know. It sort of is unrealistic, even though I know it's supposed to be a story hook.
The other thing I did not care for is the so-called Italian pizzeria puzzle. Well, no, it's not an Italian pizzeria. I happen to know, because I know Italy pretty well and there are a lot of food items that you would just never see in a real pizzeria. It is a nice scene, but from a US pizzeria (and it made me hungry).
I do, overall, recommend this game and this might be my first Boomzap purchase in a long time. I did not like the previous game, but this one is overall better than okay (3.5 stars in my view, so rounded up to 4). I recommend it, unless you are playing on an empty stomach and hitting the food scenes.
I recommend this game!