Granny_Gruff's Profile
 
 
 
Stat Summary
 
  • Average Rating:
    2.6
  • Helpful Votes:
    22,850
 
  • Reviews Submitted:
    883
  • First Review:
    December 23, 2011
  • Most Recent Review:
    November 23, 2022
  • Featured reviews
    0
 
 
Status:
 
 
Granny_Gruff's Review History
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Overall rating 
It was OK.
3 / 5
3 of 4 found this review helpful
Reviewing a BFG Offering
PostedNovember 23, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromReviews let us share our thoughts on a game. And usually these thoughts are longer than a single line.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
OK
3 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
OK
3 / 5
Storyline 
OK
3 / 5
One or two lines does not a review make, but if that is all BFG has they'll take it!
Let's pretend we want to help other players with their game choices.

We comment on the story: King Eleon has decided to blame the magical inhabitants of a special forest for his peoples troubles. The local residents are suffering from lack of foods and other goods stolen from the trade goods sent along the normal routes. The king has chosen to cut a new route out of the magical beings' forest to solve the problem, even through there is a long standing treaty in place. Evelyn, daughter of a hunter runs into a wandering minstrel who alerts them to the king's plans. And our story starts there.
We comment on game elements: This game has all the elements needed for a HOP game with a CE designation. There are HOPs, minigames, puzzles, a decent story, good artwork and good VO's. Along with a selection of CE bling, is the assortment of morphing and collectible objects in the various scenes.
We comment on game mechanics: The game follows Domini's usual lack luster patterns. Every step forward is accompanied by a great many steps side wise and backwards. For instance, in our hurry to alert the ruler of the forest and the inhabitants about the impending disaster, we stop to restore a historic hall in a centaur village, among other useless tasks that waste our supposedly limited time before the castrophe. This also leads to a mixed HOP that in has us placing items as well as finding them, with little sense in the execution.
We tender an opinion about the game: This is a really average game, with the only potential being in the story line, which may get better.
Finally we encourage the other players to check out the demo for themselves: They may want more, or less, in their games.
So please check out this new offering from Domini Games.
I don't recommend this game.
+2points
3of 4voted this as helpful.
 
Defend the realm from the evil ambitions of a powerful villain!
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
20 of 30 found this review helpful
Short and Sour
PostedJuly 1, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromSummer sun and quiet nights here in the bluegrass.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
With the usual assortment of tasks for a demo, the usual color palette, the usual character assortment, and the usual sudden local crisis that the player is expected to "fix," there is nothing here you haven't seen in just about every HOP game we've seen in the last couple of years. Even the lack of some semblance to logic or reasonable thought is par for the course.
All the usual elements of a CE game are present, along with an assortment of bling. The one thing I could surely have done without was the very loud VOs. You can adjust the ambient effects and music levels, but the voices refused to be muted even when the other two levels were reduced to about 5% of the norm. I finally had to mute the computer to save my hearing.
I sincerely suggest you try the demo for yourself.
I don't recommend this game.
+10points
20of 30voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Hated it.
1 / 5
4 of 9 found this review helpful
Another Game DOA
PostedJune 19, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromThe only excuse to "Remaster" is to make it better - not WORSE
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Awful
1 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Awful
1 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
I think they lost me when the young man spoke so sadly of not touching his mother, Goldilocks,' things since she died THREE YEARS ago. He then hunted up the items necessary to open the front door - including the second little hunter to get the key to the door away from the bear image. It was in the bottom of the trunk with his mother's things.
I guess he didn't leave the house during the last three years either!
He went outside and kindly put out the roof flaming over the head of the horse. Luckily the horse didn't mind some ash on his back.
Remember this is "the" horse - apparently the town has only one as they speak of it as "the" horse.
And naturally there is nothing unusual at finding an ice-encased carriage with the owner along side of it, telling me he was just wounded. This must be instant ice!
The only reason to "remaster" a game is to hopefully make it better and move it up to a new level. This one just got wounded and dragged down!
Try the demo. Visitation and burial to be announced.
I don't recommend this game.
-1point
4of 9voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
22 of 28 found this review helpful
Do You Call It Stealing/Plagerism If It's From Yourself?
PostedJune 4, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromSomeday a game character will stomp their foot at a couple of bird, keep their tools for more than a minute, and find an innovative developer with imagination and skill. Just not today.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
OK
3 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
Oddly enough I was lamenting with someone about the doleful game play in a recent Domini game just before I sat down with this one.
The earlier game, out only a few months, had players spraying flying insects with perfume, then finding an old boot and a large fang to get something stuck in a floor crack even though the player had an awl and other items already in inventory that could have done a better job. And yes, I had to find three coins to get a ticket and find a clothespin for a broken key, as well as a horn to scare some birds.
And, surprise! I got to do it again in this Demo!
The story wasn't bad. Everything else was mediocre. But then there were the Duh moments, like in the victim's hotel room when I use a pencil to bring up faint writing in her diary, and seconds later I'm looking at a note and wondering how I can make the writing stand out.
Save me.
Please play the Demo. If you are fond of familiar things and hate change and innovation, and repetition is your thing, you've found the answer - Domini Games.
I pass.
I don't recommend this game.
+16points
22of 28voted this as helpful.
 
A breathtaking voyage through dreams, reality, and places in between!
 
Overall rating 
Hated it.
1 / 5
34 of 61 found this review helpful
What? Huh? I don't Get It.
PostedMarch 18, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromSometimes there is no way to hold another player's hand. They just have to fend for themselves.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3
Fun Factor 
Awful
1 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
Someone has stolen the heart of Tearstone. That much is clear. The king appears in your dream and insists you catch a fish before you wake up. Somehow this is to prepare you for whatever task he wants you to perform. That's where the "What?" comes in.
I spent over half the demo not getting anywhere, including progressing in catching that fish. That's the "Huh?"
And then I quite because I just don't get it.
The artwork is pretty. The story is . . . .
The puzzles are lack luster. The HOP are present. The hint was not all that helpful. Finding three coins for no known reason was not conducive to fun, nor was trying to make a fishing rod.
Take a look at the vast canyon between the positive and negative reviews.
You will need to try the Demo for yourself. There is no way to tell what you will see here otherwise.
So, please, just do it.
I don't recommend this game.
+7points
34of 61voted this as helpful.
 
Can you save your kingdom from a malevolent creature in time?
 
Overall rating 
Hated it.
1 / 5
9 of 12 found this review helpful
Cremation Ceremony for Logic Held Here
PostedMarch 8, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromSometimes there is no redeeming value. This is one such time.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Awful
1 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Good
4 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
The Queen went on a trip with no key to the lock on her handbag. She returns to have Snow White hand her HALF of the gate key with the assurance that the other half is hidden near by the gate. So the queen finds the pieces of the handbag lock she left at home before her extended trip. She opens the bag and pulls out the luggage key. She opens the luggage and finds the other half of that gate key hidden by Snow White.
AND NO ONE SAW A PROBLEM WITH THIS.
Good news: Graphics are nice.
Bad news: Everything else is astoundingly illogical, indescribably of low intelligence, and the Queen should be running for her life.
Bottom line: I ran the above opening story line passed my significant other who fled the room in distress.
I stayed to the end of the demo to see how short it was and feel cheated of the almost thirty minutes I wasted.
Play the demo. Please.
You've been warned.
I don't recommend this game.
+6points
9of 12voted this as helpful.
 
Can you uncover who's trying to destroy the Osmont family in time?
 
Overall rating 
It was OK.
3 / 5
27 of 36 found this review helpful
Another Review
PostedMarch 5, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromJust how many of those cloaks were laying around? Did Simon sew all of them? On the rusted sewing machine? Did he buy the cloth by the bolt?
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Good
4 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Poor
2 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
(I feel I should apologize as I tested the Beta of this game and was encouraging to the Developer, Grandma Games. In hind sight I realize that after months of awful offerings from another Dev, almost anything would have looked good.
I can tell you that in some ways the Beta was better than the finished product, but mostly it is the comparison with the many disappointments in the games over the past months.)
We have another groom of questionable intelligence whose bride is cursed/bewitched/poisoned before the marriage certificate is filed, with a potentially crazy family member, in a rundown house/mansion with secret rooms and an excess of locked everything.
Good news: There is no bee smoker. You will have actual tools - wire cutters instead of nail clippers, screw driver instead of a coin, a hammer instead of a statue or paper weight.
Bad news: The groom is useless, the house is a wreck, and the garden is the only well-kept area you will see. This CE is bling lite as well as story deficient.
Good News: The game is from one of the few good Devs left and I, for one, wish to encourage them for both past pleasures and future endeavors, especially in the current political crisis.
Bottom line: This series and this developer have usually been rewarding in the past and I'll get this game in hopes they will come back stronger the next time!
Please play the demo to see what you think.
+18points
27of 36voted this as helpful.
 
As a newly recruited agent, it’s your job to uncover what lies behind the real declassified UFO sightings in this chilling hidden object game.
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
26 of 32 found this review helpful
My Enthusiasm is the Only Thing Chiled by This Game!
PostedFebruary 24, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromIf the TV series had been like this game, it would have lasted two episodes.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Awful
1 / 5
Storyline 
Awful
1 / 5
There is no actual intelligence needed in playing this game.
You will match three or more objects in a scene to their pictures, then do that again and again till you open the next scene. In between times you are given the "results" of the investigation, reduced to a single paragraph - did I mention the on-screen reading that stands in for voice overs and any action/story?
Since the cases are reduced to simplistic explanations that even the Project Blue Book personnel would find lame, we get to meet the spouse of one investigator and go shopping with her, where we will investigate the store four or five times before we move on.
To stimulate some action, some of the HOGs are timed and there is a place to play mini-games.
This is not exciting, thrilling, or chilling, just movement from scene to scene with long load times in between.
Please try the demo.
I don't recommend this game.
+20points
26of 32voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Disliked it.
2 / 5
51 of 61 found this review helpful
Another "New" Series Falls on the Cat Walk
PostedFebruary 18, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromIf Only Domini Could Find the Drawing Board to Go Back to It!
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
Poor
2 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
Good
4 / 5
Level of Challenge 
Awful
1 / 5
Storyline 
Poor
2 / 5
You are speaking to your niece now on an expedition in Greenland when something goes wrong and the phone is dead. You "hop" on a flight to check out the scene in person. Once there you find everything belonging to the expedition where it was presumably left when they disappeared hours/days ago, including their fire still burning in the snowy campground. You investigate and manage to activate a portal into another reality just in time to see your niece carried off across the saddle of a native, while the only other member of the party is lying at the bottom of a small cliff. You enter the portal carrying a heavy statue you had found locked up at the camp.
The other side of the portal is a very beautifully drawn world of highly exotic flora and fauna, which you as a detective seem to instantly understand.
Good stuff: The artwork is really lovely, the natives creatively costumed, and the game play extremely Domini, down to the Match3 alternative to the HOPs which is the same one used on other of their games. There are three different collectibles: tiny pearls in the closeup windows, tiny expedition belongings in the distance, and morphing plants in the center of the scenes, along with other CE bling.
Bad stuff: Pseudo-tools, lack of cohesive thought, and a poorly thought out premise. In other words, what we've come to expect from this developer.
Bottom line: They've ripped off another of their own series - I thought I spotted Davona in Wallpaper #16 - and you must decide this one for yourself.
I pass, again.
Please try the Demo.
I don't recommend this game.
+41points
51of 61voted this as helpful.
 
Overall rating 
Liked it!
4 / 5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Excitement is in Order!
PostedFebruary 14, 2022
Customer avatar
Granny_Gruff
fromWho knew there would be this much excitewment about an average game?
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor 
OK
3 / 5
Visual/Sound Quality 
OK
3 / 5
Level of Challenge 
OK
3 / 5
Storyline 
OK
3 / 5
Wow! After months of pain and sadness a decent game has landed. Friendly Fox has saved BFG's reputation in a small measure and given their customers what we have waited for: A reasonably entertaining game, with a fair story and good artwork.
You play as Shannon, bride-to-be tomorrow, adventuress today.
You are determined to avoid an arranged marriage due to your family's bad luck. In a last-ditch effort to save yourself, you are venturing into the forest full of magical creatures tonight to find leprechaun's gold and buy your way out of the marriage tomorrow. You have only a magic bracelet to help you. Good luck.
Good Stuff: There are two morphing objects and hidden foxes in every scene, along with a variety of mini-games, puzzles, and HOS. The story is entertaining and the main character likeable. In addition to the hidden collectibles, there is a nice assortment of CE bling.
Bad Stuff:Many of the VOs are sad. If the healer and fortune teller are especially irritating, the count and Shannon's mother only a little less so. Forget wanting Irish accents; I'd settle for a decent reading of the lines. The only other irritation was the making of potions/medicine - not something I consider "fun" in a game.
What everyone is most excited about is the lack of the same old drawn-out mechanics we have seen in game after game from Domini over these many months.
I'm giving this three star game an extra star for being worthy of three! When you go thirsty for this long, water becomes nectar!
Please try the Demo.
I recommend this game!
+4points
5of 6voted this as helpful.