The object of this game is NOT to paint or place crystals. In fact, there is absolutely NOTHING crystal-like about the pictures.
Just like the 'paint by numbers' types of games, there is a board covered in randomly placed numbers. #1 matches a color, #2 matches another color, etc. etc. You click on the numbers to 'destroy' the 'crystal'. When finished, you'll have a completed picture.
The 'crystals' to be 'destroyed' are not crystally at all. I associate crystals with being shiny, bright, ANYTHING other than something akin to a paint swatch. Okay. I then thought, maybe, the picture beneath would be all 'crystally'. Nope.
Clicking on each individual 'crystal' is frustrating. I guess I just don't have that kind of ... patience? I wish there was a feature whereby I could swipe across a series of 'crystals' at once. Would that have helped? Yes. Somewhat. Maybe? As a diamond painter and enjoyer of paint-by-number type games, I was really excited to demo this game.
I heard a lot of pre-release hype about how great and new and amazing this game was. I was definitely not impressed.
Why did I give it 3 stars instead of 1?
Sigh. Guess I was feeling generous this morning.
This was NOT a game for me. Not a purchase. I slogged through the demo to give it a fair chance.
The storyline is a bit slow-placed but the reading is minimal as opposed to some games that have so much reading a body could nap between scenes. Not so here. The graphics were great. I had no problem finding any of the items. They were large enough and not hidden so badly that these old, covid-ruined eyes couldn't manage.
There are no options to choose your gameplay (such as easy, expert, custom, etc.) unless you are in a minigame that gives that option. There is a hint button hidden (not really) as a magnifying glass. There is no tutorial, per se, but enough instruction before each game that it's easily figured out.
This is a game of nothing but mini-games! YES!!! And thank you! And enough of a variety that I wasn't bored at all. They ran the spectrum of easy-peasy to hmmm-that's a bit of a challenge. I enjoyed collecting stars to 'purchase' tiems to decorate the various areas. Always a plus IMO when playing a game. And 'purchasing' was as easy as clicking on the box on the screen. When you have enough stars, click on one of the boxes and that's where the decor appears. LOVE IT!
Why did I take away 1 star? When playing the mini-games, I felt there was too much of a 'lag' between clicking on something and it disappearing.
I don't know if the CE is worth the cost with the extras that you can find but I DO know I'll definitely be getting the SE. It was fun and enabled me to use my brain without stressing me out. Relaxing gameplay!
Try it yourself ... play the full demo to give yourself a real chance to see whether you like it or not ... and ....
Played the game without sounds so can't comment on that. I felt the graphics were very good.
Gameplay was actually fun and got better as you continued through the levels.
At first, it's just click and play and things get picked up and sorted out, etc. Then, you get to levels where you have to place items in the right spot, change tools to clean up stains on the floors, clean windows, etc. After 10 levels, which took about 30 minutes, I was outside and the yard needed LOTS of work lol but it appeared the demo was o-v-e-r! I wanted MORE! That's MY personal key that this was I game I wanted.
If I'd stopped at the first few levels, I would have probably said 'nope' but the different cleaning tools, replacing items kept me going. Sometimes, it wasn't so easy to find what I missed because the level didn't end.
Would I purchase it? Maybe on a BOGO weekend. I wouldn't go for the CE though.
If you want something mindless to do that isn't necessarily just repetitive, this just might be it. That's what I need these days, mindless activity so I'm not thinking too much lol.
This is an automatic purchase for me. 'Nuf said lol.
I stumbled upon this series a bit ago (#5) and immediately fell in love. I like that you have choices in paint brushes, background color, areas to be painted and plain painting or shaded. The colors are always bright, the pictures are always beautiful. It's the last game I play before going to bed because it's very relaxing to me. I don't listen to the music/sound so I can't comment on that. There's no storyline and I like that because I don't need a story every time I play a game.
I just finished #9 in the series and I did not care for it as much as others because there were a lot of pictures with very, VERY tiny areas. TEENY tiny areas. Right from the start where before the pictures would start with large areas and easy and work their way up to more intricate and smaller areas. I definitely prefer that because I don't have to zoom my screen to the point where I can't see the entire picture.
I also wish the completed picture didn't 'show' for a hot second and you can't click on a completed picture and get a full screen or larger picture. I like to look at what I've done and enjoy the finished product. I'd LOVE for that to change.
Again, an automatic purchase for me. Everyone has their own tastes so play the demo, you've got nothing to lose.
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Hidden Object, Large File, Match 3, Time Management
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
4/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
I haven't reviewed a game in forever. For-EVER! I just had to review this one.
I've played the demos for finding the cats, more cats and dogs and, quite frankly, expected the next in the series to be even MORE cats or more dogs. Imagine my surprise when we've moved on to 'critters'.
The game is relatively simple .... find the hidden objects .... and 'critters' and morphing butterflies in each scene/level. There's a magnifying glass which came in very handy for this woman of a certain age with old eyes and who probably needs glasses. There's also a quickly regenerating hint button indicated by a pigeon. There you go, the basics.
I read the reviews talking about the CE extras like the awful, non-believable dev pets .... this IS about critters and the pets leaned towards those. I did LOVE the wallpapers and almost decided before even playing the demo to get the dang CE just for those! Btw, I've NEVER used a game's wallpaper feature and I own hundreds of games.
There are minigames between each scene and not just one. Puzzles of all varieties and spot the difference. LOVE THIS FEATURE! It breaks up the monotony for my poor old eyes lol.
What I found off-putting about this game is that my interpretation of the word 'critter' varies from the developers'. I think spiders (well, maybe more a creepy-crawly), iguana, etc. to be critters. I noticed in one scene they were more squirrels, hedgehogs and mice. Yet, in the last scene I played the 'critters' were birds of every variety and type! So, here I go again, as I did in the first scene, clicking of every animal, creepy-crawly, etc. I saw! It was off-putting but didn't change my mind about this game.
I'm buying it. It is challenging ... taking into consideration you really don't have a clue what critters you're looking for ... fun and has those cute animal wallpapers to use. Honestly, I was much more focused on finding the critters in each scene than the actual hidden objects and it took T-I-M-E. lol
Didn't buy the cats, more cats or dogs (sorry puppers) but this critters version is definitely going into my game stockpile!
I love this game series and own every single game. Every one! I especially like that the colors are easily distinguishable, the grids don't hurt the eyes and you can change the type of 'filler' you want. A lot of games seem to have grids that, quite frankly, are not comfortable to look at or you can't tell the colors you're using from the background of the grid!
The story is always fun. The interactive games are enjoyable. Watching the house, yard, etc. come alive after every level is fun too. I can't comment on the music because I usually turn it off.
There are 3 game modes. I like the 'zen' mode. There are a number of colors and a lot of choices for the grid 'filler'. Fantasy Mosaics is a nice, relaxing, not-a-lot-of-thought-needed kind of game for me and I've replayed them over and over and over.
This series of games is an automatic buy for me. I have never been disappointed in a single game and I doubt I'll be disappointed this time. I don't need to play the demo but, please, play it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Favorite Genre(s):Card & Board, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Match 3, Puzzle, Time Management
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Storyline
3/ 5
I don't do reviews much anymore but I had to do one for #5 in this series.
I own them all and am currently replaying #4. I found #s 1 and 2 to be the most difficult, especially since there was pretty much no tutorial and I had to figure things out for myself. I loved the concept in #3 of 'buying/saving' the puppies and cats with money I earned playing the game and it was much easier than the earlier games. I'm enjoying #4 with the concept of sea animals but I REALLY like that I can play 2 ways .... at the same time! Matching or making 'lines' of like colors. Again, easier than the 2 first games. #5 I'm not sure about.because there's just TOO MUCH! Get rid of x number of like colored blocks to explode the ONE block needed to get honey to that bee! But THAT color you need is nowhere to be found. Then, there's the 'fire' challenge which took me a bit to figure out. Add breaking 'x' number of blocks above, below or to the side depending on the directional makes no sense to me at all. Sometimes, that area is small! Add to THAT the challenge of breaking 'x' number of blocks but only UNBROKEN blocks are counted and not lines of blocks that are already broken just for the sake of getting that color done. It's just WAAAYYY to much to learn!
I got through Level 8 before the Demo ended and honestly, I'm really on the fence and am glad I didn't buy it before trying it ... as I do with several game series' I love. #4 has twice the number of levels in all the series. I play this game for the endless, mindless, numbing relaxation but I don't really get that with #5 because there's just ..... too much!
I haven't done reviews in a really long time but i had to do one on this game. I have Dig the Ground 1 so I understood the concept going in. I had to figure out what all the resources were and what they did. That was fine. I had to figure out how to get across the minefields .... not so easy to figure out so not so fine. I also had to figure out that as the water 'hits' the squares it refreshes fruits and flowers ... ok no problem. But it appears there is only 'expert' and 'timed'. I don't consider myself an expert or I wouldn't have these questions and I don't like timed games because I play to relax. Also, and this is a biggee .... I came across a 'field' of sad looking cute creatures (?) .... I don't click on them to play a game. It appears they need rescuing but how? I got up to Level 9 during the demo but hadn't freed anything yet. It would be really, really, REALLY nice if I knew the ins and outs of the game and if the developer is going to assail my senses with jailed cute creatures at least give me a CLUE how to go about rescuing them! Maybe I missed something. Maybe not. Maybe those who loved thsi game don't care. I don't know. But, because of the issues stated herein, I'm very disappointed that this will not be a purchase nor a recommendation for me.
I gave this a 3 because I'm not quite sure how I feel about #7. I own the previous 6 Cursed House games and still replay them over and over …. from #1 thru #6. I've been able to gain relaxation and 'empty' playing, meaning not a whole lot of thinking needs to go into the gameplay.
And that's why I don't know how I feel about the new game. It's definitely more strategic and way more challenging …. on the 'relaxed' mode no less. I play Cursed House, Luaraville (sp?) and others like it because the changes are more storyline and small things that are barely noticeable so I keep enjoying the 'empty' gameplay. This? Just a little TOO much thinking has to go into succeeding. I keep going back to this game series, as Luaraville, or Fantasy Mosaics because I can play it while multi-tasking ….. like listening to the news, dling laundry, playing fetch with the dog, glancing at the t.v. to keep up with a show that I don't need to be glued to …. like that. I can't see myself being able to do that anymore with CH7. Now, I need to be glued to what I'm doing on the screen. There are other games I can play for that kind of intensity.
So, 3 stars because I just don't need this level of intensity all at once. Baby step us there.