LadyoftheIvy's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.5
- Helpful Votes:990
- Reviews Submitted:54
- First Review:December 3, 2011
- Most Recent Review:April 19, 2017
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Embark on an exciting expedition to crack the intriguing puzzles of the past, while developing new lands for the kingdom!
Overall rating
5
/
5
26 of 35 found this review helpful
A very nice addition to the Royal Envoy games
PostedMay 22, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Time Management
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
It's great to see another Royal Envoy game, as I really enjoy them. This one is much like the previous three, only with a different storyline. This time, new islands have been found, and the king has sent you to help the natives in exchange for them becoming a part of Islandshire. You'll see a lot of the characters from the previous games, as well as some new ones, and the gameplay is basically the same. The graphics are similar to the previous games (though this time, the houses change appearance as they're upgraded, which is neat), and the sound is also basically the same.
Much like the other games, you collect resources (wood, food, and gold in these games) to complete goals, which tend to involve building houses, collecting certain amounts of gold, clearing an area, things like that. It has a timed mode for those of us who like it, but there's also a relaxed mode for people who don't enjoy a timed mode. There are various achievements to earn, and lots and lots of levels to play. (The demo stated 114, the description here says 112. One way or the other, it's a goodly amount.) The CE also comes with a walkthrough, wallpapers, and the soundtrack.
Ultimately, if you really liked the previous three games, you're likely to enjoy this one. There isn't a huge amount of difference with this one than the previous installments, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. I actually like the fact that it's a lot like the previous ones, since I enjoyed those a lot. I'd definitely recommend it if you're a fan, and you really ought to give it a try if you've never played this series before.
I recommend this game!
Help Stella build her stylish shop from a simple corner store to a five-star luxury boutique!
Overall rating
2
/
5
17 of 22 found this review helpful
A rather slow, and therefore boring, time management game
PostedMarch 25, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
I've played a few of these salon/spa type games, though it's been awhile since the last one I tried. So I figured I'd give this one a try and see. After some initial trouble getting it to work, I got it started up and got into playing it.
The graphics are okay, though very much in an anime-ish type style that you can see a lot in internet-based style games. (My 8 year old daughter has played many of those, so I've gotten a chance to see them over her shoulder.) The sound is a bit odd, though. The music is fine, if a bit boring at times, but a lot of the rest of the sound effects sound as though they were pulled from a phone. For instance, when a customer enters your salon/spa, it sounds like the dial tone noise you get when a business line is transferring you to another person in the States. There are a few other phone-like sounds for different things as well, too. There are also some none-phone sound effects, but the phone ones just seem really out of place.
The game itself is pretty slow paced. I could see this being enjoyed by a pre-teen who's big into the fashion/styling type games I mentioned you can find on the internet. My 8 year old daughter would like this one. But with how long it takes to do anything (they walk so slowly!), I got bored after awhile. I kept playing to see if it would improve, but 10 levels into the game it was still just as slow as at the start. The mini games to pick out outfits and shoes are also a bit annoying. The shoe one pops up the minute you put someone on the station, so woe to any customer you might need to deal with right away, and if you're already standing at the dressing room the clothing one pops up right away as well. Despite being called mini games, all you really have to do with them is choose the correct outfit and the two shoes that match, so there isn't much challenge with them.
Beyond clothing and shoes, you have to wash and style hair, and put them at the spa station. The spa station seems to break down an awful lot, which gets annoying if it breaks down while you're elsewhere in the spa and can't move the customer who was using it away, as it being broken causes them to get annoyed faster. You cannot cancel queued actions as far as I could figure out as well, so that leads to issues sometimes. However, even with extra things to annoy the customers such as broken stations, extremely slow service, and no ability to move people if they aren't swapping and the other station is full (you can't put them back in the waiting chairs), it's still not particularly hard.
Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend this game unless you're buying it for a pre-teen who's really big into these types of games. It's just not very well done, and gets boring really quickly. Pass on it and find something else.
I don't recommend this game.
Jill & Mike’s gardening company has taken off in Sunnyvale, and they need your help to make their business soar! Help them win a contest and earn lucrative contracts from all over the world!
Overall rating
5
/
5
59 of 72 found this review helpful
A definite buy, especially if you liked the first one!
PostedMarch 24, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
This is a very well done sequel to the first Gardens Inc. game, and is a good example of what a good sequel should do. It still retains a lot of the flavor of the first game, but has a few new additions which add to the game without ruining it. If you liked the first one, you're definitely going to enjoy this one as well.
If you didn't play the first game, this is a sort of clear the roads style game like Roads of Rome, only with a twist of its own. You're fixing up gardens by clearing the paths, picking up resources (in this case, tools, seeds, rocks, and wood), planting flowers, and fixing up garden fixtures such as bridges, fountains, pools, etc. You'll also end up doing other non-gardening tasks that go with the story as well, such as disabling alarms and things along those lines.
The graphics are nice, and are basically the same as the first game. The neat part with the visuals isn't so much the graphics as the sheer amount of things to see and look at. Each level has some neat decorating and arranging that's fun to check out as you're playing, and many of the gardens are quite nice once you've finished sprucing them up. The music is fine - nothing you'll want the soundtrack for, but nothing annoying either. The "Okay!" from Jill every time you have her do something might get old for some, as she doesn't change her phrase like Mike does, but it wasn't really an issue for me.
I like the fact that they kept the neat features from the first game such as the bonus goal for each level while adding in extras such as the switching shed (you can switch what resource it dispenses). It is a timed game, which I like, but if you're not stuck on having to get gold you should still be able to complete levels with no issue, and it's a lot less frenzied than many timed games as well.
I would totally recommend this game, though obviously give the demo a try first. I'm glad there's been several good time management games recently, and glad to see such a well done sequel to a game I enjoyed a lot!
I recommend this game!
Make your American Dream come true in California, where the only thing hotter than the sun is the gold fever!
Overall rating
5
/
5
50 of 53 found this review helpful
A really good time management game!
PostedMarch 18, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Time Management
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I was actually not expecting this to be quite as good as it was, though I'm not sure why that is. I was pleasantly surprised as I played it though, and bought the game as soon as my trial was over.
It's a cute time management game along the lines of games like Roads of Rome, Northern Tale, My Kingdom for the Princess, etc. I never played Rush for Gold: Alaska (as I don't remember seeing it until now), so I'm not sure how it compares to that one, but if you like the sorts of time management games where you collect resources (in this game, food, wood, gold, and coal) and meet specific goals on each level (which vary - repair the sawmills, build a certain number of gold mines, collect a certain amount of gold, etc.) then you'll most likely enjoy this one.
The graphics are nice, though there are a few oddities in things they've included the initial cut scenes when the game starts if you know anything about the California gold rush. I haven't encountered any while playing the actual game yet, though, and they're still well graphically-represented oddities if nothing else. The music doesn't stick much in my mind, which means it's not annoying, but you're unlikely to wander around wishing you had the soundtrack to listen to outside the game. The story is pretty straightforward - help a gentleman get a town started in California during the gold rush by finishing the levels, clearing land, and building structures in the town.
The gameplay is very similar to the games I already mentioned, with most of your resources being obtained by using your workers to obtain them from the actual item (such as a tree, or collection of coal) like you might see in Roads of Rome as opposed to the piles you tend to see in My Kingdom for the Princess and Northern Tale. You also get resources from buildings you make by having a worker work at them, similar to the way it's done with some buildings in Royal Envoy. Unlike most of those games, though, you also have your special character (you choose from either a man or a woman at the beginning) who's basically the boss, and does certain tasks such as scaring away coyotes, negotiating with the Native Americans, etc. There's both a timed and an untimed mode to choose from, and as you complete levels you earn stars to clear areas of your town and build buildings.
Ultimately, it's fun to play and a very nice addition to the time management genre of games. I'd definitely recommend it!
I recommend this game!
Archie: Riverdale Rescue
Archie and his pals need YOU to help rescue Riverdale!
Overall rating
3
/
5
4 of 5 found this review helpful
Okay, but probably better as a mobile game...
PostedMarch 5, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I can remember reading old Archie comics saved by my Aunt when I was younger, even though a lot of those comics were before my time, let alone some being before her time. And he seems to have been going on continuously for a long time, with varying levels of popularity at different times. So when I saw this game, I was intrigued and figured I'd give it a try. It took me awhile, but I finally did so.
Ultimately, this is a mobile game that's just been 'ported to the PC. It definitely plays that way, and if you try to look at it as a PC game instead of what it is, it's definitely a huge disappointment. As a mobile game, it's not one of the best I've tried, but it's not the worst either.
The graphics are relatively simple, and very much in the style of the Archie comics. They're very one dimensional, so there isn't really any dimension added beyond what you'd expect in the comics. There is also relatively little animation, beyond watching the characters clean things up, and even that's a very minimal animation. The music is basically the same tune repeated constantly in the background and is really just "there" and doesn't get a lot of notice from me.
The gameplay isn't hard, it's mainly just completing quests popped up by and for the different characters. You start off with just Archie and Jughead, and the tutorial takes you through unlocking Betty. Veronica is next, and then ultimately there's various other characters to unlock at different levels. (Some of which I don't remember seeing in any Archie comic books, but then maybe they're more recent ones; I haven't read one since I was a child.) The characters are used to complete the quests and remove different garbage-y items around town and spruce things up. Some of these activities use up energy, which is replenished slowly over time or by drinking soda.
Sounds okay, right? Well, here's where the issue comes in. Most tasks take a fair amount of time to complete, like a lot of mobile games out there with tasks. So basically you'll start up the game, set the characters to tasks, and then end up quitting to let them go do their thing. (You can't let this run in the background and do other things on your computer, as it then acts like it's paused.) Unless you want to give them soda to speed it up. And that's where the micro-transactions come in. To get more soda other than the few you can occasionally earn for free, you have to pay real money for it. There are also items that can be placed around town to help decorate it that can also be purchased only with soda, so you have the potential to use up your soda supply rather rapidly. And there are mini games within the big game that use soda, but there's no definite way of knowing it until after you've played the mini-game at least once, using a soda you might not have wanted to "spend".
Ultimately, I do understand this is a free game and they need to make their money somehow, but it's rather slow even understanding that. And the potential to earn free soda seems rather low, though I've only gotten about 5 levels into the game so far. If certain objects are going to require soda to buy them, then there needs to be a slightly higher chance of earning soda in game than what's appeared so far. (I've only earned 2 in addition to what the game gave me so far, and am hoarding it like a soda junkie.) I think I would possibly like this a wee bit better on a mobile device than my PC, but since I use Android devices that's not an option for me. And even then, I still think the game is a bit more of a money pit than some of these micro-transaction games.
I really don't see myself doing a whole lot more with this game, as I suspect I will get bored of how slow it is and having to constantly launch and quit it on my PC just to check things. if the idea of this game still interests you, I would suggest it on your mobile device instead, and even then you'll have to be an apple mobile device user. I just can't recommend it as a PC game at all, and would still be hesitant even if you do have a mobile device that will work with it.
I don't recommend this game.
The King of the Dwarves is relying on you to lead a building expedition! An exciting adventure awaits you in Fable of Dwarfs!
Overall rating
5
/
5
69 of 75 found this review helpful
A really enjoyable game along the lines of Royal Envoy
PostedFebruary 26, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
If I had to pick games that this one reminds me of, it would be Royal Envoy and Royal Envoy 2. This one is very similar to those, though not exactly identical. And while I'm not sure I like it *quite* as much as those two, it's awfully close in how much I've been enjoying it so far.
The graphics are pretty good, with some of the graphics on the title screen and how it moves between different options there being very well done. They've actually put a lot of thought into them, as your dwarf workers come with different hair colors and everything, and there are little details on some of the buildings that add to the ambiance in the game. The music is okay - nothing that's going to make you wish you had a soundtrack, but nothing annoying either. The primary thing lacking in regards to the visual/sound quality is that there is very little to the finishing screens at the end of each level, and the level selection menus are probably one of the least visually appealing sections of the game. None of that takes away from actual gameplay, other than make me feel like they clearly wanted to focus on the actual graphics and animations in the game itself than the info boxes/screens.
As I already mentioned, the gameplay is very similar to the Royal Envoy games, with your workers heading out from a central building to chop trees, collect gold, and collect food. And just like those, it has trees that can be chopped as well as sawmills, food that can be collected as well as a market, gold mines as well as rocks to mine it from, etc. Even the occasional treasure chest. And at the end of sections of the game, there's a special task that needs to be completed. I do rather like the fact that when the workers are done with a task, they hang around briefly before slowly sauntering back to the central building, meaning they can remain a bit closer for another task than if they just rushed back. Much like any of these games, it starts off relatively easy and gets a bit more difficult as time goes along. It also has a regular mode and an expert mode, with the expert giving you less time to complete the levels. From flipping through all of the level selection sections, it looks like there are around 50 levels in the game, which can be played in either mode.
Ultimately, if you liked the Royal Envoy games, then you'll probably like this one. It's really worth giving a try! I know it's a definite buy for me, and I'm looking forward to getting even farther into the game.
I recommend this game!
Farm to Fork
Help the farmers keep their lands and make the valley prosperous once again!
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 6 found this review helpful
A fun time management game like Farm Frenzy
PostedFebruary 25, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
It's really nice to see a good time management game come out, even when it's pulling elements here and there from elsewhere as opposed to being completely new. But sometimes, that's exactly what you need with a game, and this one is enjoyable and pretty well done.
If you've ever played any of the Farm Frenzy games, you already have a pretty good idea of how the gameplay works for this game, as it's more or less a Farm Frenzy game in a slightly different form. Basically, you're farming and turning those crops into different things (wheat into bread, vegetables into salad, etc.) to sell and make money. And you can upgrade things along the way to help with that, with some upgrades being mandatory to play a level. The primary difference I've noticed so far is that the path is linear, unlike many of the Farm Frenzy games where you could follow the paths different ways. The parrots and capturing them to ultimately get money and feathers is a strange way to do the bears that were seen in Farm Frenzy, but beyond that oddity it's a pretty good game.
Those who have played the Royal Envoy games are likely to find the music familiar, as it seems to just be a variation on the theme from that game. So while it's not "Wow!" great, it's not something annoying that needs to be turned off either. (Unless, of course, you hated the music in the Royal Envoy games - I've never had any issues with it.) The graphics are well done and pleasant to work with, even if the animations are a bit over the top at times. I swear, I've never seen anyone flail about as much doing these activities as the workers in this game, it's amusing. Ultimately, if you enjoyed the Farm Frenzy games or are a fan of the Playrix time management games, I would totally recommend getting this one. It's a solid, enjoyable time management game, and might even bring back a few pleasant memories for you from other games.
I recommend this game!
Princesses have a tendency to be kidnapped, and a service for lost royals is in high demand. Start your own Lost Princesses Agency and find your one and only!
Overall rating
3
/
5
49 of 52 found this review helpful
Not nearly as good as the first three...
PostedFebruary 4, 2014
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
I really enjoyed the first three My Kingdom for the Princess games, so I bought this one without even trying it as a demo first. And while I don't entirely regret doing so, I will say it's not nearly as good as the first three. They have unfortunately tried to "improve" it a bit too much, instead of just continuing with what they had that was working so well.
The graphics are almost too shiny for my preference, especially the cutscenes, but there's ultimately nothing wrong with them. They're fine basically fine - nothing "Wow!", but nothing particularly bad about them either. I don't love the shifting floating islands, and the game would be unplayable if it wasn't for the fact that they allow you to turn off the shifting of the floating islands. That was at least one smart move. It may not bother some, but the shifting started to give me a headache after a bit, so I was glad I could turn it off. The music gets a bit annoying after awhile, and I ultimately turned it off. It's not horrible, it just annoying after listening to it for awhile. The change in music is not an improvement to me, but some may enjoy a change from the first three games.
My biggest complaints with this game as compared to the first three are the gameplay "improvements". The resources (food, wood, gold) piles are now sized in the sense that the workers go grab one, and the pile reduces a bit. Then they grab another, and the pile reduces again. Then they grab the last part of the pile (assuming it's a three-resource pile, as there are some that are two), and it's finally all picked up. And you have to click for each pickup, so you end up having to practically hover over the pile sometimes to click it again to get them to pick it all up, as that part can't be queued like other actions. I preferred the method of the earlier games in just picking it all up in one sweep. Adding in extra clicking doesn't make it more challenging, it just makes it more tedious. I don't like how you now have to mouse over an image in the upper left-hand corner to see your goals for the level instead of having them constantly displayed. And the smarmy-looking prince popping up with a rather large speech bubble each time you complete one gets annoying rather quickly. The pop-up critters that scare your workers away are annoying, though not new to the series. Now they pop up in larger quantities and more rapidly, but they're dismissed with only one click and you can occasionally build defenses to help get rid of them. I didn't care for them in the old game in their old style, and I don't care for them in this game in their new style, so that's sort of a wash for me. The defenses are nice when they're in a useful format, but they're not always useful. But they are an improvement over having no defenses over the pop-up critters.
The same very basic gameplay from the first three games is still there, though the storyline is a wee bit cheesy this time around. I think this would have been a better game had they left out the most of the gameplay improvements. Sure, a few changes wouldn't have been bad, but there's just too many in this one, and many of them are not good changes.
Try the demo before buying, even if you played the previous games and really enjoyed them, as this one is different enough for me to wonder whether anyone working on it had worked on the previous three at all, other than the voice of the narrator. (He's the same!) I'll end up playing through the whole game, but I can't totally recommend it. If you've got a coupon or some way of getting it for cheap/free, go for it. Otherwise, this one just isn't up there with the previous three. If they decide to go for a fifth installment, I really hope they reconsider some of the gameplay changes that were made and go back to some of what made the first three games good.
I don't recommend this game.
Save your niece from the evil presence haunting her school!
Overall rating
2
/
5
11 of 13 found this review helpful
Forget the game, have a real bloody mary instead...
PostedAugust 22, 2013
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Unfortunately, the Grim Tales games do not seem to be improving. The previous one was a mixed bag, and this one is even worse. This one is trying so incredibly hard to be dark, scary, and creepy that it takes it over the top and becomes ridiculous instead.
The graphics and sound are okay. Not wonderful, but not awful either. They're on par with some of the previous games, though a bit darker at times. This one attempts to make itself creepier by playing suspenseful music throughout most of the game, which I ended up turning down after awhile. The graphics are similar to the previous games, just darker colored and with a lot of red, which unfortunately just ends up looking a bit cheesy rather than scary.
The game is filled with just about anything scary the developers could think of as far as I can tell. Spiders, red-eyed dolls (that sometimes move on their own), glowing eyes peering out of the shadows, devilish children, shadowy demons, threatening messages all over, etc. And then you have your adorable chubby chipmunk companion/helper, Chucky, which seems even sillier compared to all the "scary" stuff. However, I don't get the impression that here's there to lighten the mood, especially considering Chucky's occasional glowing red eyes.
The story is just rather poorly done. I spent a good portion of the game thinking about how I must be an awful Aunt, given that my niece calls about the horrors at school, and I basically tell her to sit tight while I run around investigating after I show up at the school. Why leave with the scared little girl when we can make her sit around in the house of horrors? Sure, there are other children who need to be saved, but let's not call anyone else for help or even at least put our niece in the car while we're doing this. And then the Bloody Mary story just wasn't very well done and seemed rather forced the whole time. The bonus gameplay tries to clear it up, but does a bad job of it.
There is a ton of stuff to do in this game, but unfortunately it all ends up feeling like busy work. The mini-games aren't much in the way of games for the most part, as they usually take very little thought. And there is a lot of back and forth. You'll discover you need something, then you'll run to another location and there it is! So you go back to the first location to use it, and that will likely send you back to the second location for something, etc. Plus, you'll either be getting what you need right away, or you won't find it for a really long time, there's not much in between. Which means you'll either feel like there was no challenge to getting what you need, or you won't remember where you needed that item in the first place. The hidden object scenes are typical junk piles with nothing particularly unique about them. And the English translation is for the most part bad when it comes to text instructions or descriptions. Many of them made almost no sense, which occasionally made what you needed to do more confusing than if it hadn't had the text in the first place. I found it best to ignore the text that would pop up much of the time.
It has the pretty typical extras of most CEs, and I will say that the bonus gameplay is a true bonus. It's not a necessary part of the main storyline. However, not much thought seems to have been put into it, since if it's supposed to be what the house looked like in the past, I'd like to know why so much school stuff (in terms of items, graffiti, etc) still seems to be there. It's also just as painful to play as the main game.
Ultimately, I wouldn't recommend this game at all. I'm glad so many people enjoyed this game, but I have to go against the majority and say I spent most of this game rolling my eyes and just trying to finish it so if nothing else I could give a review of the completed game. To me, it's incredibly overrated and poorly done.
I don't recommend this game.
Solve this maritime mystery to reunite a pirate with his lost love!
Overall rating
4
/
5
1 of 1 found this review helpful
A really well done game with only a few flaws.
PostedJuly 7, 2013
LadyoftheIvy
fromFlorida
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Large File, Strategy, Time Management
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
This is a beautiful hidden object adventure game that is really well done, despite a few flaws. This one even impressed my husband when he watched me play for a bit, and he doesn't play these sorts of games. It's very likely not one for everyone, as it may play too slowly and have too much storytelling, but I was quite impressed with it.
The graphics are very nice, and very well done. The characters and portraits of them are a bit cartoony as opposed to realistic, but not in a way that detracts from the game at all. The images on the game page show you pretty much what the style of the characters is. I rather like the look they have as opposed to trying to make them look exactly like real people. The sound is also very nice and suits the game quite well, and the voiceovers are excellent. It really feels like they made quite a bit of effort in regards to the visual and sound quality of this game. The story is very well done, with lots of detail and effort put into it. It might be too much for some, especially given the storytelling that happens throughout the game, but I thought the method it's presented was quite clever. Whenever there's a story aspect to be shared, a scroll rolls out and inscribes the story for you, with a voiceover reading it.
The game has a very well done journal as well as an interactive map, both of which were quite useful in the game. In addition to the hidden object scenes and mini-games, you also collect coins to open chests throughout the game and get necessary items. The coins can be a bit difficult to find at times, but luckily the cursor changes to a hand when you've located one so if you're really stuck you can run your mouse around the screen. Which, given that the coins are necessary to complete the game, makes it easier on those who might have a hard time noticing them. (They're very well hidden in some scenes.) The CE comes with a bonus game, as well as artwork and music. I generally only buy CEs for the bonus game (and sometimes to replay mini-games), so I'm okay without there being much more than that. The bonus game is also a true bonus, meaning that it reveals more of the story, but isn't a necessary continuation of the main game, which is a good thing to me.
Despite all of this praise, the game has some flaws and bugs. The way info is presented about the mini-games and such is a neat idea, but takes awhile. When you click on the button for more info, a blue glittery light slowly moves towards the top of the screen, causing blue words of the same hue to slowly blossom across the top of the screen. A neat idea, but it could have been done at a more rapid pace. And they seem to have spent more time on everything else than they did on debugging the game. There are some major issues with the inventory, with items occasionally vanishing from your inventory and items that have been used leaving a text description in an empty box in your inventory. The easiest way to avoid this is to use items as soon as you find them as opposed to waiting to find all of an item, or just waiting in general. However, I will say uninstalling and reinstalling the game does restore items that have disappeared and doesn't cause you to lose your game progress at least, but it shouldn't be something that has to be done. If these issues were fixed, the game really would be a five star game as opposed to only four.
Ultimately, even with those issues I'd recommend the game, as they aren't a deal breaker. It really is an extremely well done game and I hope more are put out like it, just next time without the bugs.
I recommend this game!