cbtx's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:2.3
- Helpful Votes:2,261
- Reviews Submitted:133
- First Review:December 30, 2011
- Most Recent Review:February 13, 2025
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Find hidden objects on a holiday journey through wintery Europe!
Overall rating
3
/
5
Just A Me-too Knockoff
PostedDecember 5, 2023
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Although it is called a trip to Europe, it looks more look a cheap version of the excellent Christmas Wonderland games. News flash to the developer ---- its been done already and been done far better.
In the game the objects are often too small and many times do not relate to the theme of the scene.
And many items are mislabeled or misspelled (for example a "sled" is called "sledge")
The themes of the scenes are just sort of thrown out there with a hint button that is painfully slow. So patience wears thin.
And many items are mislabeled or misspelled (for example a "sled" is called "sledge")
The themes of the scenes are just sort of thrown out there with a hint button that is painfully slow. So patience wears thin.
Yes, the effort is there ---- but I don't appreciate or need a copycat version of another game.
So it's really a 2 star game but I gave it an extra star for the original not seen before puzzles that are fun but certainly don't justify the price of the game.
This developer seems very capable so I don't see why the lack of something original. Maybe next time. (Enough already of trips, especially to Europe).
I don't recommend this game.
Join Santa and friends in this instant holiday classic!
Overall rating
5
/
5
Showing The Wannabes How It Should Be
PostedDecember 2, 2023
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
First, I can't believe the uninformed gripers coming here to the review section to complain about download issues and dragging down the review status of this excellent game. Issues with downloading or installing should be taken up with customer service rather than downgrade the game itself. The frustration is completely misdirected.
To the game ---- an excellent treat every Christmas that so many look forward to.
It seems that Casual Arts tweaks and improves this game with each offering without sacrificing the core of the gameplay, story, or terrific visuals.
This is what the other developers that throw their love finding, animal, nature, travel, etc. garbage at us should carefully study to see how a really great HOG should be done.
Whether it's the beautiful visuals in the HOGs, or the puzzles, or the overall spirit of Christmas, Casual Arts has nailed every aspect of the game. Like Christmas itself, these games never get old.
It seems that Casual Arts tweaks and improves this game with each offering without sacrificing the core of the gameplay, story, or terrific visuals.
This is what the other developers that throw their love finding, animal, nature, travel, etc. garbage at us should carefully study to see how a really great HOG should be done.
Whether it's the beautiful visuals in the HOGs, or the puzzles, or the overall spirit of Christmas, Casual Arts has nailed every aspect of the game. Like Christmas itself, these games never get old.
Park Rangers, Cruise, Christmas ---- all huge successes and if you thought the wannabes were making beautiful, relaxing, "soothing" games ---- just try this one and you'll see who the pace setters really are. These games come out only once in a while (or once a year) because excellence takes time, and are not slapped together to be released every week.
Thank you, Casual Arts, for this premier game.
I recommend this game!
Join the dynamic duo on an adventure full of deceit, corruption, and heroism!
Overall rating
4
/
5
All Aboard!
PostedNovember 28, 2023
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Not a lot to say because TM games are pretty difficult for me. But I try, and I have fun if they make sense. This one does just that!
The game is colorful, involves a lot of strategy, and has a lot of different tasks that set it apart from some of the more tedious TM games.
See other reviews for more detailed descriptions. I just wanted to say how much fun I have had with this one ---- got it elsewhere a while back. Give it a go!
I recommend this game!
Stroll through gorgeous garden landscapes while finding hidden objects!
Overall rating
1
/
5
What Were They Thinking?
PostedNovember 25, 2023
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
The more of these HOG clunkers that are released, the worse they get.
This one has been gussied up to make it look new and different, but it is just a HOG with the old time minigames thrown in ---- and it is very bad.
This one has been gussied up to make it look new and different, but it is just a HOG with the old time minigames thrown in ---- and it is very bad.
Start with the title ---- what is this supposed to be? The whole time I played, it looked like pictures of a cemetery ---- all green and gray in color.
Then the hidden objects ---- they all just look pasted on the scene with no real effort to cleverly hide them. Very lazy, imo.
Then the hidden objects ---- they all just look pasted on the scene with no real effort to cleverly hide them. Very lazy, imo.
But what really got me was the music ---- it was awful and very sad. So I looked in the credits and by golly, here are some of the musical selections.
- Echoes of Sorrow
- Sad Reflection and Grief Piano
- Lost in Sadness
all by MusicLFiles
and I'm not making that up. So that title and the music should inspire anyone looking for a fun and happy game to play to just jump right in.
- Echoes of Sorrow
- Sad Reflection and Grief Piano
- Lost in Sadness
all by MusicLFiles
and I'm not making that up. So that title and the music should inspire anyone looking for a fun and happy game to play to just jump right in.
I hope others are beginning to get as weary of these simplistic games of nothingness as I am and this line of gaming junk BF is stuffing us with 2-3 times a week comes to a stop soon.
I would give this game minus stars if it were possible ---- a real stinker I hope all will avoid and show these and all developers we are past tired of these terrible games.
I would give this game minus stars if it were possible ---- a real stinker I hope all will avoid and show these and all developers we are past tired of these terrible games.
I don't recommend this game.
Every passenger is another piece of the puzzle...
Overall rating
1
/
5
What Did You Expect?
PostedNovember 24, 2023
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Clunkers like this awful game (and priced at CE money) are popular in large part because too many gamers are buying similar games ---- the ones that have no story, no imagination, no originality, just find animals, or plants, or whatever ---- and seem to be satisfied by these collections of nothingness that are simply old style HOGs with extremely old style minigames thrown in.
So Relax (sure) games are just part of the Domini (I mean domino) effect ---- they want in on this gravy train of no effort, easy to develop games.
So Relax (sure) games are just part of the Domini (I mean domino) effect ---- they want in on this gravy train of no effort, easy to develop games.
So I'm not surprised at all. As long as we accept this junk, this is what we will get more and more of.
It's not the fault of the devs, or BF ---- it is the fault of gamers that think these style games are acceptable.
They are not!
It's not the fault of the devs, or BF ---- it is the fault of gamers that think these style games are acceptable.
They are not!
I don't recommend this game.
Explore a world of holiday joy through festive subgames.
Overall rating
1
/
5
All I Want For Christmas ----
PostedNovember 19, 2023
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
---- is a stop to these crummy little money grabbers that Boomzap/Tiny Little Lion keeps running through Big Fish on a twice weekly basis!
Seriously, these games get worse with every offering. So I tried this mainly because it is passing itself off as a Christmas game, and I love the annual BF Christmas offerings from the more astute developers.
What a waste of time. The games/subgames are nothing more than a collection of reworked (not reimagined a bit) minigames that were popular a couple of decades ago. One game could not correctly count the "hidden" objects I found, another was so colored in various shades of red that it was virtually unplayable.
What a waste of time. The games/subgames are nothing more than a collection of reworked (not reimagined a bit) minigames that were popular a couple of decades ago. One game could not correctly count the "hidden" objects I found, another was so colored in various shades of red that it was virtually unplayable.
So there is the usual non story, the total lack of originality, the complete absence of imaginative thinking, and now a sloppy lack of quality control.
The game is really pitiful, nothing to see here.
The game is really pitiful, nothing to see here.
But take heart, gamers, the excellent Christmas offerings that BF has every single year are just around the corner ---- and maybe these repetitious, boring stinkers are done for the year. (One can hope! LOL)
I don't recommend this game.
Explore charming New England like never before and uncover its mysteries!
Overall rating
1
/
5
And Yet Again
PostedNovember 15, 2023
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Another exercise in absolute boredom from Boomzap/Tiny Little Lion or whatever these devs are calling their cookie cutter games this week ---- it's just another game that uses the same template that all their others use with zero originality, zero changes, zero improvements, zero story, and zero value.
Everything is set up exactly like all the other games so if you like one and want more, here you go.
As an aside, I noticed that one minigame stood out because I had not seen it before. You must use your mouse to fill in colors of a scene with two deer in it, and you must color each and every pixel to be successful! Now how's that for a challenge? Or maybe the devs thought it might be relaxing, or fun, or maybe even soothing. LOL
This one is just another in BZ's long line of pseudo-games that I am very, very tired of seeing clog up the daily offerings here at BF. I think they are trying to copycat the outstanding Vacation or Park Ranger games, but they have failed ---- again, and miserably so.
If it's your bailiwick, it's your money ---- but not for me.
I don't recommend this game.
Help young Stephan navigate the big city and save his family’s farm!
Overall rating
5
/
5
Others Could Learn
PostedOctober 29, 2023
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
A remarkable game that presents a new twist on the HO genre that other developers should take note of.
Instead of mindless searches for cats, dogs, critters, plants, cluttered objects, other countries travelogues, ---- all with last centuries' puzzles/minigames ---- Grandma Studios has taken a simple idea and brought it into 2023 with beautifully and intelligently crafted hidden object scenes with an interesting story, along with new and different puzzles that will test your abilities.
And I doubt the template for this one can be used again and again ---- each game would have to be different.
I hope other developers study what has been done here and learn from it. This is the kind of game that we all deserve, and restores my faith in great casual gaming.
Instead of mindless searches for cats, dogs, critters, plants, cluttered objects, other countries travelogues, ---- all with last centuries' puzzles/minigames ---- Grandma Studios has taken a simple idea and brought it into 2023 with beautifully and intelligently crafted hidden object scenes with an interesting story, along with new and different puzzles that will test your abilities.
And I doubt the template for this one can be used again and again ---- each game would have to be different.
I hope other developers study what has been done here and learn from it. This is the kind of game that we all deserve, and restores my faith in great casual gaming.
Great job, Grandma Studios
I recommend this game!
Organize and run an epic yard sale for the ages!
Overall rating
1
/
5
Year of the Copy-Cat
PostedOctober 28, 2023
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
1
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Just another passenger on the "Me-too" train as developers rush to mimic the style that so many find "relaxing" or "soothing" (lol) or whatever.
It's just another hidden object game with puzzles from last century like spot the difference, jigsaw, turn the tiles, etc. You know, the ones that the astute developers no longer bother with.
But two things set this one apart.
First, the objects to find are super tiny and indistinct.
Second, the items to find for sale are just dumb ---- lip balm, capsule? Really?
First, the objects to find are super tiny and indistinct.
Second, the items to find for sale are just dumb ---- lip balm, capsule? Really?
This type of game was done by Playrix 15-20 years ago ---- so old you can't even buy them anymore. But these developers think this dud is CE worthy.
Sorry, this one is so bad it's laughable.
Well, that's it for me ---- I'm going to a yard sale down the street to see if there is any lip balm for sale!
Enjoy a journey filled with thrills, chills, and puzzles!
Overall rating
3
/
5
Being Halloween Saves It
PostedOctober 24, 2023
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
If this were not a Halloween game with all the spooky references, it would just be a plain old, ordinary M3.
There's not a lot special about the game and the "exclusive" bonus minigames are certainly not "exclusive". Unless they mean exclusively OLD ---- like about 20 years ago. Connect the pipes? Really? Wasn't that one of the very first puzzles devs used long, long ago? And jigsaw? Give me a break.
So the poor minis costs this one a full star, and I very hesitantly give 3 stars, mostly because it is a Halloween game
No recommendation either way ---- try for yourself and see if it's for you