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 reviews0
Status:
Can you rescue your daughter from her puppet look-alike?
Overall rating
2
/
5
53 of 62 found this review helpful
One More Effort At Communication
PostedOctober 28, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromIn Mourning.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
Another Grim Tales game has hit the fan.
I knew we were in trouble when the pieces of an insect smoker started showing up in the first scene. When I found myself collecting multiple pieces of everything from dollhouses to scenery, all placed in totally obvious places, I was sad. Once I realized the absence of Richard's ghost and its entertaining comments was the best part of previous Grim Tales, I was truly depressed. Another puppet taking over a body and a repeat daughter's kidnapping sent me lower still. The use of a coin as screwdriver and a shoe as a glass cutter were the final nails in the coffin of my interest.
So one more time:
I knew we were in trouble when the pieces of an insect smoker started showing up in the first scene. When I found myself collecting multiple pieces of everything from dollhouses to scenery, all placed in totally obvious places, I was sad. Once I realized the absence of Richard's ghost and its entertaining comments was the best part of previous Grim Tales, I was truly depressed. Another puppet taking over a body and a repeat daughter's kidnapping sent me lower still. The use of a coin as screwdriver and a shoe as a glass cutter were the final nails in the coffin of my interest.
So one more time:
Dear Devs,
Please stop giving us games with little story, no original game play, and tasks that have been used in every game since the genre appeared. Please recognize that your target audience is over the age of ten years. Please remember that you wish us to use our cash to pay for your short, derivative, badly conceived games. Please grasp that we have tried to tell you the problems and need you to listen to your customer base.
Sincerely,
A former Grim Tales Fan
Please stop giving us games with little story, no original game play, and tasks that have been used in every game since the genre appeared. Please recognize that your target audience is over the age of ten years. Please remember that you wish us to use our cash to pay for your short, derivative, badly conceived games. Please grasp that we have tried to tell you the problems and need you to listen to your customer base.
Sincerely,
A former Grim Tales Fan
I don't recommend this game.
In this classic point-and-click, enter a corrupt and power-obsessed world as you try to find answers to your neighbor’s mysterious disappearance!
Overall rating
2
/
5
18 of 26 found this review helpful
There Must Be a Reason
PostedOctober 12, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromI'm speechless.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
There must be a reason that we are being offered a seventeen year old game by BFG.
Unfortunately none of the excuses I can think up are good news for players.
The best thing I can say about this game is that it is NOT another cookie cutter offering from Domini.
So Peter is peeking out of his door and sees an apparent police raid on his neighbor's apartment. After the door is blown open and the victim dragged away, Peter tries to see his family to check if they are OK.
There is no tutorial, scant story, and little to do as you point and click Peter up and down the hall and in and out of his apartment. I felt very accomplished when I managed to get him outdoors.
I had to read another review to get some idea of navigating the game. I found navigation to be clunky, movement jerky, and game play glacially slow.
Please try the Demo.
And let's hope BFG is only pulling our legs!
Unfortunately none of the excuses I can think up are good news for players.
The best thing I can say about this game is that it is NOT another cookie cutter offering from Domini.
So Peter is peeking out of his door and sees an apparent police raid on his neighbor's apartment. After the door is blown open and the victim dragged away, Peter tries to see his family to check if they are OK.
There is no tutorial, scant story, and little to do as you point and click Peter up and down the hall and in and out of his apartment. I felt very accomplished when I managed to get him outdoors.
I had to read another review to get some idea of navigating the game. I found navigation to be clunky, movement jerky, and game play glacially slow.
Please try the Demo.
And let's hope BFG is only pulling our legs!
I don't recommend this game.
Uncover the history and secrets of Fonts & Characters in a fascinating and unique platforming game!
Overall rating
2
/
5
16 of 19 found this review helpful
The History of Fonts For the Ambidextrous
PostedOctober 11, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromHow cute can a dot be?
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
Two dots roll through a world of giant letters, background pictures and a silhouette landscape. There is a tutorial for moving the dots using the arrow keys and the space bar. The music is heavy and ponderous, sounding like a church funeral. I never found a way turn down the volume.
There is much to be said for any innovation at this point, especially after the months of single note games that failed to challenge and amuse their target audience. There are no flying insects, items to be repaired, or nails to pull out with an improvised tool. There is also no story, just a scant history to be read, in small increments, of the various type faces.
The game recommends you wear ear phones to enhance your experience, but without a volume control, that seemed odd. Once through the tutorial, you are on your own to find a way to progress through the game.
I just did not see the charm here, which some players found in this game. I just played through the demo and felt I had survived an obstacle course.
You need to try the demo on this game. It is virtually impossible to describe it well enough to convey the experience of playing it.
Please
Play
The
Demo.
There is much to be said for any innovation at this point, especially after the months of single note games that failed to challenge and amuse their target audience. There are no flying insects, items to be repaired, or nails to pull out with an improvised tool. There is also no story, just a scant history to be read, in small increments, of the various type faces.
The game recommends you wear ear phones to enhance your experience, but without a volume control, that seemed odd. Once through the tutorial, you are on your own to find a way to progress through the game.
I just did not see the charm here, which some players found in this game. I just played through the demo and felt I had survived an obstacle course.
You need to try the demo on this game. It is virtually impossible to describe it well enough to convey the experience of playing it.
Please
Play
The
Demo.
Help Jane restore her house in time for Halloween!
Overall rating
3
/
5
9 of 23 found this review helpful
As a Match 3 Game, This Is The Best One Today!
PostedOctober 3, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromAt least Jane is not chatty!
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
As it is the only one I've seen today, that is faint praise.
Jane has arrived home after years away and found the house empty. She plays Match 3 levels in between scant on-screen dialogue about fixing the house.
There are a variety of special pieces and tricks in each level among game play choices - I liked the one that had me spreading fire across the game board to frozen pieces. There are wallpapers and a couple of extra puzzles to account for the CE designation. As there is no way to preview how much of any of these there may be, I can't say that they somehow make this CE-worthy.
There are a variety of special pieces and tricks in each level among game play choices - I liked the one that had me spreading fire across the game board to frozen pieces. There are wallpapers and a couple of extra puzzles to account for the CE designation. As there is no way to preview how much of any of these there may be, I can't say that they somehow make this CE-worthy.
So you have a mildly Halloween oriented Match 3 that aspires to be a CE version. You will have to play the demo to decide if you personally want to pay double for the "bling."
Can you save the day in your childhood hero's hometown?
Overall rating
1
/
5
6 of 15 found this review helpful
Playing the Demo Is Like Stopping at an Old Accident Scene. . .
PostedSeptember 17, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromWith all this reading, why did no one edit and correct?
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
. . . Once you realize that there is nothing there, you keep on moving and leave it far behind!
Nora, whose ice skating career seemed to stretch before her far into the future, finds herself without that career and the boyfriend that went with it. At a loss for ideas, she decides to go to the hometown of her childhood hero, another ice skater whom she had idolized as a child.
Aside from a very badly designed town, we are left with a CE that is not, in any way, a CE, a story and dialogue that has to be read on-screen, and an entire game for an unknown audience - too silly for adults, but on-screen reading is over the heads of most kindergartners.
It is confusing to mention CE features which are not mentioned in the menu or inside the game. According to the basic info inside the game, you can go back and replay a level/task but everything else smacks of an older game for children.
It is confusing to mention CE features which are not mentioned in the menu or inside the game. According to the basic info inside the game, you can go back and replay a level/task but everything else smacks of an older game for children.
The colors are nice and bright. The tasks are fairly simple - make a bed, straighten flowers, deliver items to citizens. There is a holding screen between each task and you "chose" the task to start it. This means everything in a very simple game takes time to get to and is simplistic when you finally arrive.
Please try the demo before you purchase.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you solve a ghostly mystery to escape a film?
Overall rating
3
/
5
22 of 23 found this review helpful
Dear Domini . . . . .
PostedSeptember 13, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromNot my cup of water. And another game that was not vetted before release!
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Hired to act in a western about a haunted mine in the Wild West, you put on the original heroine's ring and find yourself back in the past - or in the movie itself. Either way you have to fight the odds, save your kidnapped father, the sheriff, and, hopefully, get home.
Cheers for the vastly improved color palette in your artwork.
Cheers for the "new" theme of a western story.
Cheers for the Match 3 alternative to the HOPs.
Cheers for the "new" theme of a western story.
Cheers for the Match 3 alternative to the HOPs.
Boos and hisses for ANOTHER area in another game to be explored in full view of the bad guy who is not supposed to know I'm there.
Boos and hisses for the many misnamed items in my inventory.
More boos and hisses for the story, logic, and game glitches that could have so easily been caught BEFORE you released the game.
Boos and hisses for the many misnamed items in my inventory.
More boos and hisses for the story, logic, and game glitches that could have so easily been caught BEFORE you released the game.
Dear Domini,
Please remember we are on your side. We want you to turn out great games that keep you paid and players playing. So, please, read all the reviews with the many points we are trying to help you fix. Most of us have hundreds of games that we've invested in and are looking for more.
At least give us a chance to like yours!
Please remember we are on your side. We want you to turn out great games that keep you paid and players playing. So, please, read all the reviews with the many points we are trying to help you fix. Most of us have hundreds of games that we've invested in and are looking for more.
At least give us a chance to like yours!
Players beware… you’re in for a scare in the exciting Goosebumps video game, a point and click prequel to the major motion picture!
Overall rating
1
/
5
16 of 23 found this review helpful
Sorry, I Don't Like To Die!
PostedSeptember 6, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromNot my cup of poison.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
You may call it what you will.
I will even concede that this game made me somewhat obtuse, but the bottom line is I still felt frustrated and unhappy, which are not why I play games.
I will even concede that this game made me somewhat obtuse, but the bottom line is I still felt frustrated and unhappy, which are not why I play games.
The game starts with a couple of movers loading a truck while complaining of the job. Apparently they are moving this guy out in the middle of the night.
You cannot click through the dialogue - I went with it the first time, but when I started over, I was stuck with it. This has seemingly little to do with the next segment.
In that one you are a student heading home from school. Good luck with that.
In that one you are a student heading home from school. Good luck with that.
I did a loop about a half dozen times and then decided life was too short to do it again. My navigation was OK, but I obviously was missing something as I was definitely stuck with no way to progress.
Please try the Demo.
Save often.
Try again.
Not happy?
Then delete!
Please try the Demo.
Save often.
Try again.
Not happy?
Then delete!
I don't recommend this game.
The twin detectives are back on the case!
Overall rating
2
/
5
60 of 71 found this review helpful
For the Umpteenth Time This Year. . . . .
PostedSeptember 3, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromThe Domini dog gets to roll over and play dead again. He practises whenever they release a "sort-of-new" game.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
What are they thinking at Domini Games? Do they understand the concept of quality? How about value? Does anyone proof read the games? Listen to their own dialogue?
Susan has disappeared from the mall while there with her husband. We are told there are NO witnesses - until we get to the mall and a policeman stops to check our ID. He mentions the witnesses! Her husband, Dave, had gone for coffee and when he doesn't see his wife on his return, he calls the cops. Seriously, you're in the mall to look around and as soon as you get separated you call the cops? And is there a mall on this planet that does not have security cameras everywhere?
As you play as each twin at different times, you can have twice as many silly moments - like when you wander through Dave and Susan's house and reconstruct a cigarette lighter to help you search the parts that are under construction. That is so much simpler than asking where the light switches are!
There are HOPs with a game alternative, lots of mini-games, massive quantities of blue/violet artwork, and as much confusion and silliness as Domini can pack into a Demo.
When the game came to a car crash - no one told Domini you should not text and drive - I was disappointed that the Demo was not over. Luckily it had only minutes to go. I stuck it out hoping for something redemptive.
No such luck.
Please play the Demo for yourself. It is relatively short, the darkness of all the scenes is not exciting, and you will not be jarred by anything fresh, original, or innovative.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you keep the fairest woman in Taleville from paying the ultimate price?
Overall rating
2
/
5
64 of 73 found this review helpful
Again - As In You've Done All This Before and Now You Get to Do it Again!
PostedAugust 27, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromI bet the Domini dog rolls over and plays dead really well. He practises whenever they release a "new" game.
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
You know there is little to hope for when the CE bling includes Wallpapers and Concept Art from a game from another Series - In this case Secret City: Sacred Fire.
You immediately have a very strong sense of the attention to detail and care put into the game you are playing - little to none - when no one paid any attention to something so basic to a CE game.
You immediately have a very strong sense of the attention to detail and care put into the game you are playing - little to none - when no one paid any attention to something so basic to a CE game.
So Fairy Godmother is back collecting random magic pink puffs to fuel her sort-of-magic wand as she runs around performing every stock chore Domini has in their catalog to find the witch who has cursed/put a spell on/poisoned/had mean thoughts about her fairy god-daughter. Or has she?
The usual blue scenes have a little color in them. There is a Match 3 alternative to the usual HOPs. The mini-games are in place. The characters speak. Your wand is holstered next to your map. And the CE bling will need to be fixed; we hope.
There is nothing to indicate any evidence that the reviews from previous games this year have made any impression on Domini. And, as the news paper picture of the prince and his fiance, presumably "published" before the Engagement Party, shows her passed out in his arms at the garden party you just left, no logic was accidentally used in the completion of this game!
Think about it. You have a magic wand that can turn a paper boat into a cabin cruiser and you are fishing coins out of the sewer to get a newspaper to slide under a door to get the key out of the keyhole. Enough said.
There is nothing to indicate any evidence that the reviews from previous games this year have made any impression on Domini. And, as the news paper picture of the prince and his fiance, presumably "published" before the Engagement Party, shows her passed out in his arms at the garden party you just left, no logic was accidentally used in the completion of this game!
Think about it. You have a magic wand that can turn a paper boat into a cabin cruiser and you are fishing coins out of the sewer to get a newspaper to slide under a door to get the key out of the keyhole. Enough said.
I commend the other reviewers who noticed the publishing of reviews of a completed "game" in an astonishingly short time frame. I've been wondering if any one noticed something so obvious over the last few years.
As for this game, I suggest you try the Demo for yourself.
As for me, I'm still working my way through my older games, some of which have better features and were only SE's.
As for me, I'm still working my way through my older games, some of which have better features and were only SE's.
I don't recommend this game.
Can you stop the frost curse from destroying your home in time?
Overall rating
2
/
5
45 of 59 found this review helpful
The Enchanted Kingdom Has Fallen!
PostedAugust 13, 2021
Granny_Gruff
fromI found a bottle of ink in the snow and lighted a stove. How exciting was that?
Skill Level:Intermediate
Favorite Genre(s):Adventure, Hidden Object, Mahjong, Marble Popper, Match 3, Puzzle
Fun Factor
1
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
2
/
5
Level of Challenge
2
/
5
Storyline
1
/
5
The Enchanted Kingdom has definitely fallen right down the rabbit hole that is Domini's singular lack of imagination, creativity, and drive over their last dozen games.
Once again, despite players' protests, we have a very blue/purple world, repetitious tasks, and a lack luster + all too familiar story.
The Demo featured many things that will be all too ordinary to most players, including two times you need a mirror and lockpick(s) to open something. The two pronged fork makes a return appearance to pull out nails and there is a pedestrian assortment of mundane tasks to get you through the Demo.
Along with the three types of collectibles, the usual mini-games/puzzles, and tired story, there is the CE bling assortment featuring more of the very blue art work and a Match 3 alternative to the HOPs.
Bottom line: Once again I am disappointed in Domini who seems unable to hear the dissatisfaction rattling through their reviews. I wanted a new game so much, not a retread of the last retread!
Please try the Demo for yourself. I'll keep a box of tissues open for you!
Once again, despite players' protests, we have a very blue/purple world, repetitious tasks, and a lack luster + all too familiar story.
The Demo featured many things that will be all too ordinary to most players, including two times you need a mirror and lockpick(s) to open something. The two pronged fork makes a return appearance to pull out nails and there is a pedestrian assortment of mundane tasks to get you through the Demo.
Along with the three types of collectibles, the usual mini-games/puzzles, and tired story, there is the CE bling assortment featuring more of the very blue art work and a Match 3 alternative to the HOPs.
Bottom line: Once again I am disappointed in Domini who seems unable to hear the dissatisfaction rattling through their reviews. I wanted a new game so much, not a retread of the last retread!
Please try the Demo for yourself. I'll keep a box of tissues open for you!
I don't recommend this game.