robinbobbin's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:4
- Helpful Votes:215
- Reviews Submitted:25
- First Review:January 14, 2012
- Most Recent Review:April 10, 2022
- Featured reviews0
Escape an underground vault of clockwork wonders with the help of its mysterious and eccentric inventor in Fantastic Creations: House of Brass!
Overall rating
4
/
5
4 of 5 found this review helpful
Great game, way too short
PostedMarch 24, 2012
robinbobbin
fromGrand Rapids, MI
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Based on demo only. I liked this game! I liked finding the hidden objects by some common quality rather than the normal list of nouns, I thought the steampunk atmosphere was cute, and the puzzles interesting and challenging without being needlessly obscure.
However, I got to the end of the demo in 24 minutes. Checked the walkthrough and I was a little over 1/4 done. I generally avoid any game that short; it's just not worth it to me. But I feel like I should reward the developers for doing good work, even if they didn't stick it out for a "full-length" game. Positive reinforcement, voting with my wallet, etc.
Not sure if I'm going to buy it, but I definitely would recommend trying it. You might find it just right. :)
I recommend this game!
Mystery of Mortlake Mansion
Explore the dark halls of Mortlake Mansion and discover its secrets! Break the evil spells and become the owner of the mansion!
Overall rating
5
/
5
Very nice
PostedMarch 18, 2012
robinbobbin
fromGrand Rapids, MI
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
Loved the artwork on this game. I am a real fan of that art deco realist style (I'm making up the name, that's what it makes me think of!), where things are nearly as detailed as a photograph, but look much nicer. :) The characters were cartoon/illustrated, which I like better than wasting a lot of time, money and memory on actors or 'realistic' animation.
Game play was good; a nice mix of HOS, adventure to-and-fro, and puzzles. Good map showing active areas and allowing jumping, which is such an excellent idea, and has been around for so long, that I'm starting to look down on games that don't have it. Flipping back and forth from real world to shadow world doubled the game length without doubling the artwork needed; some people might think this lazy or repetitive, but I liked seeing the differences between rooms. (Shadow teddy bears!) And they mixed up the arrangement of rooms between the two floor plans, which I thought was fun.
Only downside was a LOT of voiceovers, which I HATE. Not only did you not get a separate volume level for voice, but turning down the music and effects did not seem to affect the voice; it was like they were yelling at me from a hushed room. So I don't really know what the other sound was like since I had to turn my speakers off. But you can click through the dialogue and they will stop talking when you do, and the cutscenes (are they still called that when there's little to no movement?) were mercifully short. So that did not detract much from the game.
All in all I liked it very much!
I recommend this game!
Visit Puzzler World and enjoy different Puzzle types like Wordsearch, Fitword, Sudoku, and many more!
Overall rating
4
/
5
3 of 4 found this review helpful
Nice basic puzzles
PostedMarch 14, 2012
robinbobbin
fromGrand Rapids, MI
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
First thing to note about this game, there is a Challenge mode and a Quick-Play mode. The puzzles in the Quick-Play mode are very, very easy; elementary school level at best. The Challenge mode (which just has a long list of all the puzzles and tracks your time for each one; the challenge is finishing them all) has harder puzzles, but they still aren't super challenging. As others have said, they're relaxing and fun, not hair-pulling mental workouts. Another neat thing is that you can click on the letters or numbers, use your keyboard to type them, or use your mouse or tablet stylus to draw them. The character recognition that lets you draw the letters and numbers has a mode to teach it your handwriting if you're having trouble, too. That would probably be fun for kids. :)
The constant motion is slightly annoying, as well as the many splash screens. If I clicked the Play button, I want to play; I don't need another screen giving me a chance to go back!
I used a coupon to buy this game only because it has Link-a-Pix, which are a really fun picture-forming logic puzzle. This is the only computerized version of Link-a-Pix I know of, except for the 3-4 free puzzles weekly on the creator's website. For me, that was worth a coupon. For others, maybe not.
I recommend this game!
Mishap: An Accidental Haunting
The Burtons have just moved into a beautiful new home, which just happens to be haunted. Help them deal with the ghosts!
Overall rating
5
/
5
8 of 9 found this review helpful
Very nice game
PostedFebruary 12, 2012
robinbobbin
fromGrand Rapids, MI
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I missed this one on the original release, but I'm glad I caught the daily deal!
The graphics are very good, cartoon-style. A couple of the cutscenes are older 3D animation, which never looks great in my opinion. Others had a static comic-book style, where you could wait for the voice over, or just click to light up the next panel. I always skip cutscenes and voice overs, so I can't review the voice acting.
There are a ton of hidden object scenes, with a lot of objects in each one. They were tricky too; not unfair, hide a matchstick under a broom tricky, but finally find it and say "how did I miss that??" tricky. Each chapter has one huge main scene you can scroll sideways through, with 3 doorways into linked scenes that don't scroll. There is not a lot of adventure-type running back and forth, which I liked, and no annoying tasks that can only be done with a ridiculously specific item. You do collect objects, but they are combined into a machine behind the scenes and used at the end of the chapter. You also have to do a hot-and-cold seek game in each scene to catch ghosts, and each chapter has a rebus riddle that tells you to do a small task. The only real challenge of the riddles is to find the area where the task is held; sometimes the riddle gives a clue, other times you have to just hunt until the cursor changes.
There are eight mini-games, one at the end of each chapter. They are interesting, and a few I really liked (card game!). You're using the contraptions to help the ghosts with their unfinished business, whatever it happens to be. Most were arcade-style and involved some speedy mouse-work, which is a little harder with a trackball, but I was able to do just fine. One mini-game had a loading lag time that made it difficult to play; I just skipped that one.
There is a lot of story, including a mini-story for every ghost, but I liked that nearly all of that was completely optional - it was stored in a separate log area and you had to choose to open it. So when a little way in I figured out the "twist ending", I could skip the rest of the details and diary entries and just play. Maybe next time I will read all the macabre little death stories; maybe not.
Best of all, as mentioned above, there are 8 full chapters in the game, and it was an excellent length. I kept getting interrupted, so my very vague estimate is about 4 hours; and I'm a fast player. A very nice game and an excellent value!
I recommend this game!
Spirit Seasons: Little Ghost Story
Explore the Blindhill Place manor and meet the ghost of Agatha, a young girl who is haunting the huge mansion!
Overall rating
3
/
5
41 of 47 found this review helpful
Very short
PostedJanuary 14, 2012
robinbobbin
fromGrand Rapids, MI
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Word, Hidden Object, Puzzle
Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Nice graphics, even in the hidden object scenes. LOTS of hidden object scenes, which is a plus. Not many puzzles, and they were quite easy. Bottom line, I finished 5 of the 7 chapters in the one hour trial, even while watching some of the cut scenes to try and make sense of the story; so it's too short for me to be worth my money. But, I tend to play fast, so if you want something fairly high quality but not frustrating or difficult, this is a good game for you.
I recommend this game!