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:
Climb the mysterious tower and save your Viking heroes!
Overall rating
4
/
5
18 of 22 found this review helpful
This is a challenging Match3
PostedMay 21, 2022
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I think pennmom's review is very thorough so I won't go into really deep details of what the game offers. I agree fully with her comments on the locked bonus material.
However, I do want to add the following. I wish that they had somehow cleared up the fire on the runes once you're done setting iced-over runes on fire. It's very hard to see behind the fire, like when you want to see if a rune is on a tile that hasn't been cleared yet. I think there's a competitor M3 game that clears any fire once its done and I wish this dev would copy that feature.
I also wonder what you have to do to get three stars on a level.
I'm on the fence with this one. I love the obstacles and puzzle-like nature of the M3 levels, but I hate the idea of not knowing what the bonus material actually is like. I really, really hate slider puzzles and wish that so many of these M3 games didn't offer them. I am also not fond of their solitaire minigames. I can't risk there being a lot of slider puzzles in the bonus material, but since I can't check, I guess that means I'm not getting the CE.
So weirdly, I'm giving this 4 stars because the M3 part is excellent, but I can't recommend it unless someone loves all this game has to offer and doesn't care about not being able to see the locked material.
I don't recommend this game.
Join the Walker family on a fantastic tour of Budapest!
Overall rating
4
/
5
13 of 17 found this review helpful
Really not a bad mosaics game
PostedMay 15, 2022
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
After a little bit of research on this site it seems like the previous Travel Mosaics was pretty much detested by all. I have not played previous ones so can't really comment if this one is terrible in relation to the past ones and/or the same as the one just before it. I liked this one actually and this is the first time I have actually liked a Walkers game that I have played.
What did I like?
- The pictures are not bad at all. I can tell what I'm drawing, which is a good start. Are they beautiful? No, I wouldn't say that, but they're not terrible. I am glad that the colors are a bit more attenuated than in some of these mosaics games.
- Good challenge, but I play on Expert only. There are three other game modes so there should be something for everyone. I did have to guess in one or two cases, but that could be my logic failing.
- Two modes: fill in or cross out. I mention this because I'm playing on an ultrabook without a mouse and my 'right click' is often confused with a 'left click' in these games, which is insanely frustrating at times. The fact that I can cross things out to my heart's content alone makes this game a high contender for a mosaics game purchase on my part.
- The music: there is Mozart and Strauss in the game's music. It's not really Hungarian, but it's nice to listen to.
- The animal characters give you a bunch of history on Budapest.
- Lots of tile choices, though I ponder why there appear to be two tilesets that look like Swiss cheese...
- There are two bonuses that allow you to obtain hints. You are not overloaded with powerups, which increases the challenge and that to me is a good thing!
- The UI is kind of cute despite being minimalist. What I don't know is if the size of the play area is still smaller than it used to be, like in the episode just before this one where people complained that it had been reduced.
- Good challenge, but I play on Expert only. There are three other game modes so there should be something for everyone. I did have to guess in one or two cases, but that could be my logic failing.
- Two modes: fill in or cross out. I mention this because I'm playing on an ultrabook without a mouse and my 'right click' is often confused with a 'left click' in these games, which is insanely frustrating at times. The fact that I can cross things out to my heart's content alone makes this game a high contender for a mosaics game purchase on my part.
- The music: there is Mozart and Strauss in the game's music. It's not really Hungarian, but it's nice to listen to.
- The animal characters give you a bunch of history on Budapest.
- Lots of tile choices, though I ponder why there appear to be two tilesets that look like Swiss cheese...
- There are two bonuses that allow you to obtain hints. You are not overloaded with powerups, which increases the challenge and that to me is a good thing!
- The UI is kind of cute despite being minimalist. What I don't know is if the size of the play area is still smaller than it used to be, like in the episode just before this one where people complained that it had been reduced.
What did I not like?
- It would be amazingly awesome if the cursor was not the boring default cursor of my operating system, in particular, when I have changed modes from fill-in to cross-out. The amount of times I screwed up because I thought I was in the other mode... There needs to be some better visual cue to tell a player that they are in one mode or the other.
- It looks like the puzzles are locked behind completing the mosaics. I didn't get to the puzzles in the demo. I'm a perfectionist that must get three stars on each board. I could not check if you need to have a perfect score on all mosaics before being able to open a puzzle.
- I feel sort of meh about the subject. I kind of wish there was a travel game that wasn't about either Europe or North America. We have tons of those, why not somewhere in Africa for a change (like Kenya or Nigeria for example)?
- It looks like the puzzles are locked behind completing the mosaics. I didn't get to the puzzles in the demo. I'm a perfectionist that must get three stars on each board. I could not check if you need to have a perfect score on all mosaics before being able to open a puzzle.
- I feel sort of meh about the subject. I kind of wish there was a travel game that wasn't about either Europe or North America. We have tons of those, why not somewhere in Africa for a change (like Kenya or Nigeria for example)?
For people who want a story, this game isn't theirs. I don't need a story in my mosaics game so that's not an issue for me. If you're like me on stories in mosaics games and/or you're not tired of the Walkers, this I think this is a decent mosaics game, one of the better ones.
I recommend this game!
Travel the World searching for objects and collecting postcards, stamps, coins, and more!
Overall rating
4
/
5
38 of 41 found this review helpful
Decent Old School Travel HOG
PostedMay 11, 2022
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
My review is based on the demo.
This is a no-thrills, decent travel HOG that is composed of mainly HO scenes and some puzzles.
From what I saw in the demo, the locations were European, so I hope that there are locations elsewhere in the world.
After completing two or so HO scenes, there's a puzzle that mixes things up a little. I played a spot-the-differences puzzle and one where I had to swap tiles around.
I saw two types of object lists so far: normal and missing vowel, though another reviewer said that there are three types available. It looks like one has to revisit each location around four or so times. Each revisit provides a different type of object list and, unfortunately, there is no way to choose which kind you want to play.
Here are the pros:
- The subject matter of the scenes is very good. So far all of the scenes are of beautiful or interesting places. I liked the fact that you can see people in them, it makes the game more realistic.
- Two morphing objects per scene that are challenging to find. One of these is a passport stamp and the other is a letter. Each scene provides one fourth of the stamp of the country where the scene is located. Each letter is a piece of a postcard of the scene the letter is found in. I really like this aspect since it feels very appropriate in a game about travel.
- Three game modes, the ability to zoom in and scroll around the scene, hints and megahints, and it's got replay value in order to get three stars and boost your score by finding objects more quickly. You use the coins you earn from a high school to purchase souvenirs though you have no idea what the souvenirs are of. For example, a blue baseball cap. Great!
- The HO scenes are challenging since the objects can be a little hard to find. On some modes, using a hint lowers your score. The objects can be very precise, such as 'Dark grapes' or 'Round paint brush'. This is a good idea in my view, it keeps me on my toes.
Here are the cons:
- Fuzzy graphics, not quite sure why the resolution is so low. It's a shame for a travel game!
- Annoying sound effects and I'm not sure that there is any music in the game. This is perhaps a mixed blessing, because I usually turn the music off in these games.
- No hint button on the puzzles, which means that if you're stuck, the only thing you can do is skip the puzzle.
- The objects remain in the same location each time you revisit it.
- Really minimalist, boring UI. This is a complaint of mine in many Seven Sails games. It does the job, but only just. If they would show it even just a little bit of love... I could be wrong but it seems like some of the objects at the very bottom of the scene are actually hidden behind the bottom part of the UI. At least on my machine, I had to zoom in and scroll all the way down so I could see them.
Overall, I think that this is really not a bad HOG at all though it could use a bit more polish.
I recommend this game!
Complete more than 400 Sudoku levels across 3 different styles - Asterisk, Girandola and Center dot!
Overall rating
5
/
5
1 of 2 found this review helpful
A really nice sudoku game
PostedApril 24, 2022
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I'm completely addicted to games that tease my biological "logic gates". I was hoping for a good sudoku game on the Macintosh and it looks like one has finally come. I missed the first one in the series and will have to check that one out too at some point.
I like this computerized version very much because the pencil and paper one can get messy with lots of eraser marks, little bits of eraser and pencil holes left in the paper.
Here you can annotate your squares with a choice of possibilities by left-clicking on a square and then right-clicking on the numbers. You can then see an array of faint numbers in the square, which is a really nice thing to have! I have played some sudoku games where you don't have that feature. Once you know what the number must be, you can finalize it by left clicking on the number.
The only thing I had an issue with is that the right-click feature on a touchpad can be tricky: often times it gets confused by the game for a left click. Fortunately, you are not penalized for making mistakes while filling in a puzzle. Phew!
The UI is overall pleasant. The graphics are clear and pleasant as well. I almost never have the music on in games, so cannot comment on that. Instead, this game has the sound of waves crashing gently onto a beach, which is also very pleasant and very, very relaxing.
This one is a purchase for me.
I recommend this game!
Play more than 100 match-3 levels and earn enough gold to fully decorate the Garden of Babylon!
Overall rating
4
/
5
21 of 25 found this review helpful
A pretty okay "archaeology" game
PostedMarch 30, 2022
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
This review is based on the demo.
It is not really a match-3 game in the classic sense. Instead of swapping tiles to perform the matches, you connect the tiles instead.
The other difference is that making huge combos does not give you a power-up. Instead, you have to match "power-up" tiles in order to fill them.
Otherwise the mechanics are similar to a match-3 in the sense that you need at least 3 matching tiles, the tiles drop and you often have to make matches near obstacles in order to break them. However, this game allows you to have much bigger combos than in a traditional match-3 game.
The goal is to uncover artefacts hidden under the sand tiles and unblock gems, when there are any. I have a feeling that this game can get quite tricky later on.
You get coins to spend on upgrades for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Every now and then there's a puzzle minigame that breaks things up a bit.
Pros:
- Ancient Babylonian theme, which is quite cool in my view. It's not that common in video games. It's nice to have jigsaws and spot-the-differences based on this often, overlooked ancient culture.
- The gameplay is actually kind of fun, though it wasn't super challenging in any of the levels I played in the demo. It's not a super big wow for me, it's quite reasonable.
- I always love discovering things in the sand and this tickles that part of my inner child.
- Seems super stable on my Mac, did not come across any bugs.
- The gameplay is actually kind of fun, though it wasn't super challenging in any of the levels I played in the demo. It's not a super big wow for me, it's quite reasonable.
- I always love discovering things in the sand and this tickles that part of my inner child.
- Seems super stable on my Mac, did not come across any bugs.
Cons:
- The help is a bit sparse at least for the minigames. There was one that didn't have any instructions and nothing about it is in the help section of the game. I don't know if they were there but just not visible on my tiny laptop screen.
- The UI and the game, outside of the mini-games and the match-3 boards, is very, very minimalist. Usually that can be a good thing but this looks like a throwback. It's not a huge con, but it detracts from the rest of the game.
- I'm not too crazy about the idea of finding archaeological artefacts and selling them for money, which this game hints at.
- The UI and the game, outside of the mini-games and the match-3 boards, is very, very minimalist. Usually that can be a good thing but this looks like a throwback. It's not a huge con, but it detracts from the rest of the game.
- I'm not too crazy about the idea of finding archaeological artefacts and selling them for money, which this game hints at.
I'm a bit on the fence about whether I will get it or not, so I can't recommend/not recommend it. It's something a bit different for match-3 fans.
Feed the hungry masses on a tropical luxury cruise!
Overall rating
3
/
5
6 of 7 found this review helpful
It was okay
PostedMarch 24, 2022
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
I will start by saying that I really, really like the first game in this series and think it as one of the best, recent TM games of the 'cooking type'. I was disappointed with this one.
The pros:
- Colorful graphics, interesting dishes (in most cases) and challenges to be had. The storyline is kind of cute.
- Okay music, not annoying enough for me to want to turn it off straight away.
- Overall, the challenge feels good for each level.
- Okay music, not annoying enough for me to want to turn it off straight away.
- Overall, the challenge feels good for each level.
The cons:
- Very unstable on my Mac for some reason despite being a Unity engine game. The first one was a bit unstable but nothing like this second game.
- I did not like the last restaurant at all: the dishes we had to prepare, the layout of the kitchen, the theme. I liked all of the restaurants in the first game, so this was a big negative for me.
- Some things are hard to click on: the occasional seagull in the fourth restaurant, the milk jug in the third restaurant (easy to click on the coffee machine instead), sometimes misses clicks on some of the more complex dishes like the Spanish tortilla.
- This is also true for the first game: the dark brown chocolate sauce on either purple or brown ice-cream makes it hard to distinguish between them.
- I also found some of the food icons to be really small (onions in the meatball pockets are hard to see especially if under tomatoes).
- I did not like the last restaurant at all: the dishes we had to prepare, the layout of the kitchen, the theme. I liked all of the restaurants in the first game, so this was a big negative for me.
- Some things are hard to click on: the occasional seagull in the fourth restaurant, the milk jug in the third restaurant (easy to click on the coffee machine instead), sometimes misses clicks on some of the more complex dishes like the Spanish tortilla.
- This is also true for the first game: the dark brown chocolate sauce on either purple or brown ice-cream makes it hard to distinguish between them.
- I also found some of the food icons to be really small (onions in the meatball pockets are hard to see especially if under tomatoes).
It breaks my heard but I don't recommend this game for the reasons I gave above.
I don't recommend this game.
Explore an entire world of wonderful art as you decide how to complete each masterpiece and become the painter!
Overall rating
5
/
5
They released it for Mac!!!
PostedFebruary 23, 2022
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
This game caught my eye when it was released for the PC. It was hard to wait for it on the Mac and I'm ecstatic that it came out finally. One demo later and this game has fully met my expectations!
The pictures are interesting and are of quality. There is a pixel mode and a paint mode, which is perfect for me since I liked Pixel Art and Modern Art. This game is even better: the UI and gameplay is smoother, the colors more vibrant. So that combined with getting two art games in one made this a purchase for me.
I heartily recommend!
I recommend this game!
Extraterrestrials have arrived! Fortunately, they’re not here to invade, they just want to observe. Can you find them all?
Overall rating
5
/
5
40 of 44 found this review helpful
A Bit of an Oddball
PostedDecember 4, 2021
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This is an odd HOG where instead of having words on a list to cross off by finding their associated objects, you have a list of pictures. The entire game is made up of these replayable HO scenes, one scene per level (roughly 25, with 5 of those being bonus CE levels).
What makes this different is that the scenes are huge: you have to move around the board to find everything and you do the latter by interacting with objects, people and animals. Very few objects are in plain sight. There are lots gidgets and gadgets to turn off and on, nooks and crannies to investigate, people/aliens to tap, cows to poke, rocks to move and so on! It seems like you can interact with just about everything. There are achievements you can unlock by interacting with objects or collecting objects that are not on the list.
I really like this game because it's a mix of being old school and new. It's not an adventure, though there's a funny story that serves as a backdrop and can be skipped.
The music is quite funny, in a cheesy, 1960s Little Green Men sort of way and works perfectly with the artwork. The characters are amusing and the humor is cute. It definitely has a feeling of the early 60s sci-fi kitsch. There is much attention to detail, interacting with objects can have funny results. It also reminds me a lot of the Where's Waldo books I played around with in the 90s.
This game runs well on a Mac laptop using just the mousepad. It uses the very stable Unity engine.
So with good, fitting music, the 1960s vibe and artwork, a good sense of humor and large, replayable HOG levels, I think this is a good game even as a CE. I will be getting it.
I recommend this game!
What's happened to the missing ballerinas? It’s a new mystery for Montgomery Fox to unravel!
Overall rating
4
/
5
15 of 21 found this review helpful
Surprisingly Fun HOG
PostedNovember 21, 2021
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I wasn't too sure about this game but I gave it a shot anyway.
The verdict is that I like it! This is more akin to an old school HOG: it is very simple in execution and is predominantly made up of HO scenes with a minigame thrown in. During the trial period, which is what this review is based on, I did a bunch of HO scenes and one minigame.
This game is a bit odd. For one, it seems really kiddish but it could be a rather dark storyline. The scenes are colorful and look large and uncluttered. There are only three words on the object list to find at any given time but even so, this game's HOs are not super easy. The objects are well-hidden, which is a big bonus in my view.
There are even collectibles (parts of a magnifying glass in each scene) and a random object you put in the main character's office. This is a nice feature for an SE.
One thing that shines for me is the HO scene artwork. It is very much like a 1950s detective story, complete with a lot of objects from the time. There are also some anachronistic elements, such as CDs and the like, but the overall feel is like this is not taking place in our day. I love the old cars!
Why did I not give the storyline a 5 out of 5? I can't tell yet where it's going and I also found some typos in the fox's diary.
I also took off one box for the fun factor due to the 'close-up' area of each HO scene continuously showing bright blue sparkles. If there's one thing I would like to ask of the devs is to have them be less glaring. I found them disconcerting, even rather annoying, for some reason.
I also took into consideration in my final score the fact that one can't go back and replay scenes they might want to replay. I think that would be a nice addition to this game considering that if other players hit the 'hint' button as often as I did and want to redo a scene without any or they forgot to pick up one of the collectibles, they can't.
Overall, I think this is a nice SE HOG and personally will be purchasing it.
I recommend this game!
Look beyond the edge of usual and find mystical worlds full of magic, imagination, and relaxation as you reveal these incredible places!
Overall rating
5
/
5
9 of 9 found this review helpful
Fantastic Puzzle Game Series
PostedNovember 15, 2021
somegeek
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
I love the games in this entire series as well as some of the other jigsaw puzzle games made by this developer.
Of course, I am biased with my review because jigsaws are my favorite genre offered on Big Fish.
What is new other than the pictures, of course, is that you can purchase 'buildings' with mana, the new resource you obtain by doing puzzles in this game.
I won't go into the details on how this game plays or on the many options available since this has been covered by other reviewers quite well, but I will actually mention two things I saw in other peoples' reviews and then an issue I have.
For one, you can usually download a finished puzzle as a PNG image, which you can then set as a wallpaper. They have had this as a feature for a while in their games. Once you have finished a puzzle, go back into the chapter that the puzzle belongs to, click on the little pinkish flag icon (has an eye in it) and it will take you to a large image of the puzzle. In the upper left-hand corner, there's an icon you can click on for downloading the image and voilà: you have it as an image you can set as a wallpaper if you want.
I also saw someone mention that there are no trays and also have seen elsewhere that people wish they could move several pieces around at a time. Well you can: there's a tray that you can open in the bottom middle of the screen where you can place puzzle pieces and then move around the play area. I use this feature a lot, it's very useful! This too has been a feature of their game since Puzzle Pieces 2 at the least.
Now for a quibble though I think this is more of a Big Fish issue than the developer studio's issue: if I have other games from this dev installed on my computer at the same time, the finished puzzles and score are shared between all of the games.
After nosing around in my game files, I think I have traced it to how game resources are shared between games installed by Big Fish and the fact that you only have one profile (the same one) shared between all of them for this dev's games. As a result, I can't easily have several games from this developer on my machine at the same time without having to restart puzzles: if I do one in one game, it's done in another.
It would be nice to have a way to separate out the game files so that this doesn't happen.
Any chance this could be looked into? So far this is the only developer who seems to have this issue for me.
Once I have finished my other games made by this dev, this will be a definite purchase!
I recommend this game!