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This "Top Reviewer" is one of our most frequent game reviewers. We think you'll trust what they have to say and find their reviews helpful and informative.
Completed Game approximately 5 Hours (including completion of all mini-games & CE Bonus Chapter) 28 Scene Locations Difficulty Range: Beginner-Intermediate
Note: The CE version has a ton of interesting morphs & collectibles as well as a very interesting HOP style to unlock with those collectibles.
Rick Rogers, Paranormal Detective extraordinaire, endowed with supernatural Electrodermal abilities, and ready at a moment's notice to de-Haunt the Haunted, Exterminate the Ectoplasm, Grab the Ghostly Grigori Glossolalia, Abduct your Aliens, Banshee your Bigfoots, Cartomancy your Chimeras, or Yeren your Yetis. Rick Rogers has foreseen the unseen and explained the unexplainable but can he rid an entire town of their ghostly ghouls, one of which has a deadly right-hook?
I thought the storyline was way better than the last episode of Paranormal Files, and it took a turn that I should have seen coming but didn't. The graphics were decent and reminiscent of Elephant's earlier games which back in the day were second to none. I also loved that I didn't have to find and place a million "emblems" which was becoming a thing with this developer and super annoying, I also loved that they didn't include every HOPA cliche known to mankind, there are still a few of them here and there, including the ole fish pond/fountain that seems to be where the entire town throws away their junk?
What I found absolutely maddening was an audio glitch of some sort that caused the dialog to stick and stutter on a loop, repeating the same word over and over, like a scratch on a vinyl record, even though I kept playing on, even if I moved on to the next scene. It would literally loop for an entire minute at times, and nothing I did seemed to make a difference. (perhaps the Hook Man was trying to communicate...where's Zak B when you need him, Jason? Grant? Rick?) I also found it to be a constant back and forth, mindless task after mindless task kinda game. I do however, think it is a vast improvement over the last several games by this dev, and I remain hopeful that they will climb to the top again and start making games with the quality they used to insist on in their original blockbusters. They went from challenging games to beginners only game, and got stuck in that mode-rut just like the soundtrack!
In the CE version, there are several "extra's" available, each of the 19 locations in the main game (+9 within the CE Bonus Chapter) has a Morphing Object that morphs way too fast and furious. Each Morphing Object you find will unlock a Jigsaw Puzzle Piece to assemble a 28 piece jigsaw. (because a 30 piece puzzle is just crazy, seriously, what were you thinking?) Each of the scenes also has a Hidden Eye, some of which are very well-blended. When you collect 7-15-25 Eyes, it unlocks a really clever HOP in the Secret Room and keeps track of your Best Time as well as Current Time scores. Twelve of the scenes have a Character Doll collectible which makes no sense to me, even if they are supposed to be voodoo dolls it has nothing to do with the theme of this game??? (another example of the rut this dev is stuck in)
There are 10 main Hidden Object Scenes and 4 smaller Zoom Zone HO's +6 in the CE Bonus Chapter. There are the standard Interactive List Finds, Silhouetted Shape Finds, Progressive Interactive Finds, Spot the Differences, Finding & Replacing Items and Keywords in Sentence Finds, There are a few interesting scenes such as finding objects that match Swatch Samples (some of the colors, however, were WAY OFF!) another HO scene required using arrows & a slider bar to combine images on 2 wooden cubes. In the CE Extra's section, you can unlock a very unique HOP with the collectible Eyes that I really enjoyed. There are black & white paper cutouts and props that tell a visual story and you are tasked with finding 2 small details at a time. They are very cleverly blended into the drawings and quite entertaining to try to decipher the story being told. (is the rut-curse being broken here folks?...baby steps)
There are 24 Mini-Games +5 in the CE Bonus Chapter that range from fairly easy to medium difficulty. Below are brief descriptions of some of the games I enjoyed throughout the game:
☭Swap tokens according to the progression of day & night time. დ ☭ Select directional arrows to move map pieces into place, using other pieces to stop the continuous movement. დდ ☭ Create a continuous chain through all orbs to connect symbols in the order shown. ☭ Select 2 hand positions that are used to create the shadows shown in the center (would have been awesome if it were a little more challenging) დ ☭ Use directional arrows to control the forklift to push the boxes to the designated slots w/o getting stuck. დდდ ☭ Move through the house while overcoming obstacles by selecting 1-3 character tokens that have different skills. დ
In the CE Bonus Chapter, Rick Rogers returns to Ashen Valley to search for Greg Odell whose father vehemently insists is being possessed by an entity. This is an average-length chapter that takes place across 9 scene locations with 6 Hidden Object Scenes and 5 Mini-Games. You will pick up the remaining 3 Character Dolls, 9 Morphs, and 9 Hidden Eyes that consequentially unlocks the final Bonus HOP with the Eyes, and the Jigsaw Puzzle Pieces to finish the Bonus Art jigsaw with the collected Morphs.
The Collector's Edition version has 10 Wallpapers (Dear Elephant: your scenes are gorgeous, why can't we save images of the artwork WITHOUT a character profile slapped on every one of them??!!??), 11 Concept Art Pictures, 1 Screensaver, 1 Bonus Art 28 Piece Jigsaw Puzzle (receive a Jigsaw Piece for each Morph discovered to assemble the puzzle...completed image rather disappointing) 5 Music Soundtracks, 10 Achievements (two of the achievements have 3 categories or star-tiers and two of the achievements have 5 categories or star-tiers) 14 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes, 13 Replayable Mini-Games, 28 Morphing Objects, 12 Collectible Character Dolls (huh?) 28 Hidden Eyes, a Secret Room to unlock 3 very clever Bonus HOP's by collecting 7-15-25 Eyes, (why are there 28 eyes to find but only 25 are needed to unlock the HOP's?) 3 Main Chapters with 28 different scene locations +Bonus Chapter with 9 new scene locations, and a Built-in Strategy Guide.
PARANORMAL FILES SERIES LIST Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating
fromThe Boogeyman goes by many names, Krampus, El Coco, Old Hag, and Baba Yaga, & almost every culture has a boogeyman dating back to the early 1500's.Booge simply means hobgobin in middle English, He was created to scare children into behaving!
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Completed Game approximately just under 6 Hours (including completion of all puzzles and CE Bonus Chapter) *25 Scene Locations +11 in the CE Bonus Chapter*
NEVER open up Pandora's Box of Fears, you never know if urban legends are true, so why risk it? After receiving a video chat from Uncle Oswald and your father trying to scare you on Halloween, you realize that they are both in dire straits after donning a cursed masked. Uncle Oswald ordered the masks for his Sheer Horrors Shop but didn't take the cursed mask warning seriously until it was too late. Unfortunately, the masks are just a tiny piece of the puzzle, the real danger is Pandora's Box of Fears that will summon the Boogeyman and release the fears of every single human!
Hidden Object Scenes: There are 18 HO Scenes that are all Halloween related and located in interesting locations. Most of the scenes are highly interactive, some of which require switching between scenes. They vary with Interactive List Finds, Pictured Related Item Finds, Silhouetted Shape Finds, Interactive-Progressive Silhouetted Shape Finds (Find and use the item back in the scene to uncover the next item) Matching Pairs Finds, and Multiples of the same Item Finds. There is an alternate Match 3 Game available and one of the achievements are earned for playing a HOP in this alternate puzzle offered.
Mini-Games: There are 29 Halloween-themed Mini-Games that are available in an Easy or Hard difficulty mode. They are decent puzzles but they have been recycled from previous games, so much so that you probably won't need to read the instructions. Below are brief descriptions of some of my personal favorites:
1-Read the clue and click on the various grid pattern buttons to guide each token to the correct slot. 2-Place beads to omplete the patterns on each necklace. 3-Find the right sequence of moves to avoid the traps, you can move forward, backward, or make no move at all for each turn. 4-Select buttons to move ice cream cone sections between columns to complete both cones from bottom to top. 5-Move token to fill all honeycomb-shaped cells. 6-Place gears by aligning symbols.
Bonus Chapter (Collector's Edition Version Only) The Bonus Chapter is an above-average length prequel that takes place over 11 scene locations. Pandora's Box of Fears is stolen by a father who believes that he can summon the Boogeyman to cure his daughter's fears and subsequence nightmares. There are 5 Hidden Object Scenes and 7 Mini-Games and the CE Extra's continue with the final Book of Monster Page, 3 Morphing mythical Figures and 9 Collectible Coins which allows you to purchase the final Trophies in the Trophy Room.
Collector's Edition Extra's: 20 Wallpapers, 20 Concept Art Pictures, 31 Movie Video Cutscenes, 5 Music, 33 Achievements, 18 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes, 20 Replayable Mini-Games, 15 Morphing Figures, 15 Book of Monster Pages (15 Monster Descriptions) 60 Collectible Coins (purchase 15 items in Trophy Room) Trophy Room (purchase 15 items with Collectible Coins) 7 Main Chapters +Bonus Chapter and a Built-In Strategy Guide.
HALLOWEEN CHRONICLES SERIES LIST Title***Collector's Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-Monsters Among Us (October 18-2018) 3.9 2-Evil Behind A Mask (October 24-2019) n/a
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I think this may be my favorite game in the series! Incredible Dracula has always been on my personal Top 5 favorite Time Management Game Series, mostly because it's one of the few TM games that have a humorous storyline worth reading. The characters are hilarious with hilarious personalities, the tasks and buildings are equally as clever, it's just an all-round fun game to play, but don't let the humor fool ya, this is a strategy-based TM game that starts out rather easy, but quickly intensifies. NBG has thrown in everything but the kitchen sink so there's lot's of things to do and build on every level!
One of my favorite features is constructing or repairing the infamous BloodDonald's which is Vlad's prime source of nourishment. Rufus the Zombie and his fellow undead workers aren't left in the dark though, they eagerly gobble up the pumpkin patches which look like heads to them, but that's probably because their little bwains have deteriorated a bit too much to notice the difference. All our favorite characters have returned, Witches, Zombies Rufus, Frankie, Elizabeth aka Princess, and of course, Vlad and his little furbaby. You'll meet different characters on every level that is in dire need of solving a crisis or dilemma, which usually means Vlad gets roped into helping begrudgingly.
There are 50 Levels and 33 Achievement Trophies to earn, and you can play in a Normal Blood-sucker Mode, a Casual Mode for chilled Vamps and a Relaxed Mode with no Time restraints to cut your fangs on. The goal is to earn 3 stars and levels can be replayed to earn a better score. Bonuses are awarded when discovered within Treasure Chests which also contain other goodies as well.
There are the usual yet unusual TM tasks of collecting Resources, Clearing Paths, Repairing and Upgrading BloodDonalds Restaurants, Sawmills, Quarries, Frankenstein's Laboratories, Fire Towers to produce Fireballs, shady-looking Drug Stores to continually replenish Magic Elixir, Crystal Mines to keep your powers in tip-top shape,and Merchants that are always willing to do a little merchandise swapping.
Some Items need to be Crafted after collecting the specified ingredients, the Craft Tab is located on the Right Side and once the required ingredients have been collected, you click the icon to craft magical items that help you progress, such as Magical Axes to break enchanted mirrors blocking the paths. Before crafting the items needed, you may need to build Frankie's Laboratory and clear paths to instruction booklets to brush up on the requirements.
This is by far one of the better TM games out there. I fell in love with the humor from game one, but I continue to be a fan because the game is so fun and always has new tasks and features to look forward to! This is one of the few games that I buy before trying because I have never had buyers remorse with this series! Thank you, NBG for the light-hearted entertainment!
INCREDIBLE DRACULA SERIES LIST Title***Collector's Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-Chasing Love (November 3-2015) 4.3 2-The Last Call (April 30-2016) 4.2 3-Family Secrets (January 17-2017) 4.6 4-Game of Gods (January 16-2018) 3.3 5-Vargosi Returns SE only (September 19-2018) 3.7 6-The Ice Kingdom SE only (January 18-2019) n/a
I THOUGHT I WAS A PIXEL PAINT BY NUMBER KINDA GAL BUT THESE PICTURES ARE WAY COOLER!
PostedOctober 21, 2019
pennmom36
fromThere aren't any groups of pixels like Pixel Art has, you fill in small areas not pixels so the auto-fill feature from PixArt has no purpose in this game???
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I just finished playing Pixel Art 5 and I just didn't like the blah colors all the images seemed to have. Immediately, I downloaded this game because the pictures shown on the Big Fish synopsis looked so colorful. This is exactly what I was hoping to find, paint by numbers with bright, vivid happy colors, and it's by the same developer! Looks like my Pixel Art Zen-Train just took a permanent detour!
The only difference between the 2 versions is that with this game, you fill in sections instead of individual pixels. I think this series has a few adjustments to make, the numbers can be difficult to see (however, if you scan the mouse over a section it will show that particular number above the cursor and it's large enough for anyone to see easily) and some sections are so small that you can't spot them easily. It's hard to see the "gray shade" that appears for each number you have selected (an easy fix actually, allow the player to choose from a color scale chart, a bright pink, orange or any contrasting color would be easier to spot than dark gray in my opinion) but then again, for me, it was kind of like a treasure hunt challenge, a paint by number hidden object scene lol.
There's not a whole lot to have to figure out, it's about as uncomplicated and basic as it gets. Paint By Numbers is a computer version of Oil or Colored Pencil Paint by Numbers, and actually closer to the real thing than Pixel Art is. Each area has a number and you simply chose the corresponding color bubble from the palette (also numbered) on the right side, left-click to fill in all the numbers with the correct color.
There is a Slider Bar that allows you to zoom in & out (there's a "fit" tab as well) you can also move the entire page around by right-clicking and dragging. There is also a slider bar that allows you to change the color of the background, but it really only allows you to change the colors in shades of grey or black. It would make more sense to have an entire color scale available on a paint by numbers game though, wouldn't it? I would love to see a "texture" feature added that would mimic different paint variations as well.
Keep an open mind, it isn't supposed to be a brain-burner kind of game. It's a very basic and rudimentary game that's just supposed to take you out of the hectic zone for a bit. If you love bright colors and abstract images, this series is sure to please. (yes, it's a series, hopefully, BF will catch up with the T1 releases)
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If you've ever completed a real paint by numbers picture (not a computerized version) you may recall how bright and colorful they were, with images of birds, cats, horses, peace signs, and even geckos. They always had vivid contrasting hues of purples, reds, blues, yellows, and greens side by side which made the completed works of art pop with color. They can still have realistic colored images, but most of these particular pictures just seemed to have very little contrast because the colors used were dull and too similar. I still enjoy these zen games I just wasn't crazy about most of these images, and then to my delight, I played Paint By Numbers which has only been released on Mac so far and those were the exact pictures and colors I was yearning for, colors that pop, and it is by the same developer! I think my zen-train just took a slight detour lol.
At first, I wasn't a Pixel Art fan because the demo portion mostly offers small puzzles with very few pixels and even fewer details. Once I purchased the original Pixel Art game and discovered that the puzzles became more intense after the demo, I was hooked and found it very relaxing and very zen. When I say intense, I just mean more intricate, because the puzzles don't actually require a lot of thought, but that's the beauty of it...it's totally Zen! The accompanying music is soothing with occasional nature sounds blended into the background to make the experience even more peaceful, with frogs and crickets chirping or the sounds of waves as they ebb and flow.
There's not a whole lot to have to figure out, it's about as uncomplicated and basic as it gets. Pixel Art is a computer version of Paint by Numbers. Each pixel has a number and you chose the corresponding color bubble from the palette (also numbered) on the right side, and you simply left click to fill in all the numbers with the correct color, you can hold the mouse button and swipe through large groupings as well.
There is a Slider Bar that allows you to zoom in & out (there's a "fit" tab as well) you can also move the entire page around by right-clicking and dragging. There is an auto-fill feature that will fill in large groups of pixels in a particular color by double-clicking, but that feature has to recharge after each use, besides, it's more satisfying to color them yourself. The last feature is a slider bar that allows you to change the color of the background, it really only allows you to change the colors in shades of grey or black. It would make more sense to have an entire color scale available on a paint by numbers game though, wouldn't it?
Keep an open mind, it isn't supposed to be a brain-burner kind of game. It's a very basic and rudimentary game that's just supposed to take you out of the hectic zone for a bit, and who knows, you may find yourself aboard the Pixel Art Zen Train too. I'll save you a seat!
PIXEL ART SERIES LIST Title***Release Date***Average Rating
1-Pixel Art 1 (August 27-2018) 4.3 2-Pixel Art 2 (February 13-2019) 4.1 3-Pixel Art 3 (June 17-2019) 4.4 4-Pixel Art 4 (June 25-2019) 4.3 5-Pixel Art 5 (October 21-2019) n/a
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Completed Game approximately 8 hours (including completion of all mini-games & CE Bonus Chapter) *29 Scene Locations* (22 main + 7bc)
Jane thought she and her brother Victor were simply invited as guest speakers at the Archaeology Lecture on Ancient Mechanisms. After a series of unfortunate events, this speaking engagement turns into an epic adventure that will forever change their lives as they become unwitting pawns of a deadly conspiracy that threatens the existence of humanity itself!
There is a TRANSLATION BOOK GADGET that is used 13 times +2 in the CE Bonus Chapter. It is a book that has an attached repetitive mini-game requiring you to use a magnifying glass to find a few symbols in the book as shown on a clue to translate. The symbols are not made larger nor does the magnifying glass reveal hidden symbols so I'm not sure why the included its use. I didn't mind this HO variation but it would have been less annoying if the symbols were more complex or less orderly to make it somewhat challenging.
There are 14 HIDDEN OBJECT SCENES +4 in the CE Bonus Chapter. In this Collector's Edition version, each scene has a Morphing Object, most of which are well blended and challenging to find. Most of the scenes are Listed Item Finds but there are also Silhouetted Shape Finds, Find & Replace Items, Matching Pair Finds, Pictured Item Finds and Symbols to find.
There are a whopping 56 MINI-GAMES +13 in the CE Bonus Chapter which includes the repetitious Translation Book Gadget games. The games are mostly mechanical-related puzzles that are easily solved on the first attempt. Below are brief descriptions of some of my favorite puzzles throughout the game:
❂-Place symbol tiles on 4 sides of a cube that logically fit according to adjacent symbols. ❂-Select gear at the correct time to interlock with the main gear. ❂-Click to reveal images and match pairs (several variations throughout the game) ❂-Choose movement and rotation speeds to interlock gears at the correct moment. ❂-Place various sized gears to create continuous movement. ❂-Rotate semi-circle to bounce red & blue balls into the correct chutes. ❂-Defeat the giant spider by selection directional arrows to dodge its attacks or shields to deflect poisonous gas. ❂-Arrange the books on the shelves until they all have the same amount. ❂-Select the run button at the correct times to avoid all guards. ❂-Fill the entire grid by placing colored tiles with specific coverage amounts. ❂-Exchange liquid between 3 columns until the middle column has the exact amount of liquid.
The journey continues across 7 new scene locations in this lengthy CE BONUS CHAPTER when a suspicious-looking government agent comes knocking on Jane's door claiming to have found another ancient Monolith. It's been 3-years since Neev's disappearance but Jane is confident that the Monolith investigation will churn up new clues to his whereabouts or at least confirm that he has moved on to the afterlife. There are 4 Hidden Object Scenes +4 HO Morphs (All HO's can be replayed in the CE extra's section to earn gold, silver, or bronze awards, improve accuracy percentages, or pickup missed HO Morphs) There are 13 additional Mini-Games, two of which are associated with the Translation Book Gadget. After finding the final 7 Collectible Symbol Signs, it will unlock the Ultimate Hidden Object Scene (listed items) and finding the remaining 7 Morphing Objects the Ultimate Puzzle becomes available as well. I didn't miss any of the Scene Morphs so I'm not sure if you are given an opportunity to revisit the scenes to search for them but I suspect they would.
The COLLECTOR'S EDITION version has 8 Wallpapers, not 4 (and they don't have characters slapped on the beautiful scenery!) 6 Concept Art Pictures (with a before/after slider bar) 10 Music Soundtracks, 11 Achievements (6 available in 3 category star levels) 18 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes, an Ultimate Listed Items Hidden Object Scene (unlocked when all Collectible Signs are found) an Ultimate Puzzle (replay of main game puzzle variation, unlocked after completing the Bonus Chapter) 29 Scene Morphing Objects, 18 HO Morphing Objects (you can replay the HOP's in the CE replay section to pick up missing HO morphs) 29 Hidden Symbols Collection, 3 Main Chapters (very long) +Bonus Chapter (long chapter) and a Built-In Strategy Guide.
WANDERLUST SERIES LIST Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-What Lies Beneath (March 30-2018) 3.9 2-City of Mists (April 7-2019) 3.8 3-Shadow of the Monolith (October 20-2019) n/a
DEATH WAS ONCE A HUMAN~GUESS THAT MAKES HIM A DEAD HUMAN NOW~WHICH TECHNICALLY MAKES HIM A ZOMBIE~OR IS HE A HER, A SHE-ZOMBIE?
PostedOctober 19, 2019
pennmom36
fromThe Grim Reaper 1st appeared during the 14th century Black Plague. A skeletal figure represents the human body decaying, the robe represents apparel worn during religious funerary services, the scythe represents harvesting, to reap or pluck from earth ☭
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Completed Game approximately 5 hours (Including completion of all mini-games & CE Bonus Chapter) *38 Scene Locations*
Bravo "Big E"! Nowadays I'm rarely impressed with HOPA games by this developer because they are so linear, so easy, so boring, so "I know where to look, when to look and why to look" kind of games with very uninteresting graphics and storylines, but I gotta tell you, lately, these guys have really stepped up their game! This time they actually set-up the plot the right way. I've said this over and over, game after game, "Never show the monster/bad guy till the time is right" but they almost always showed the cheesy monster 5-10 minutes into the game, but chapter one passed by...what just happened? Chapter two comes and goes...who was that? Chapter three...was that a...yep, that's the way a good creepy movie/game is made, ya gotta keep 'em guessing! (especially when most games have such cheesy, fake-looking, laughable sticky-mist-monsters)
I wasn't bored with the tasks, I wasn't bored with the plot, in fact, I wanted to keep playing because I wanted to know the who's, what's, where's, and when's. I LOVED the graphics, I loved the morphs, (because again, they did it right, if a mushroom morphs into a baseball in the middle of a forest that's gonna be so easily spotted, but if it morphs into something you'd expect to see, as a branch, for example, it's harder to spot!) I kinda even dug picking up the collectible trash lol. I've always loved the creepy abandoned, everything got left behind n a rush, I'm the only one here scenario and they really did pay attention to the detail to make it seem realistic, to make the player feel like they are playing as a character within the game, not just pushing an avatar around in a game, does that make sense?
(just a thought to share if I may) I read a review once where someone stated a game shouldn't receive a 5-star rating unless it's a perfect game. I disagree, the rating is a personal preference which is why it says "I loved it, I liked it, it was okay, I disliked it, I hated it. I include the in's and out's of the game so that other gamers can decide if it has the features they are looking for in a game, but the star-rating is how I personally felt about the game. Just because I give a game a 2-star rating or a 5-star rating, it doesn't mean that the game is a really bad or a really good game, it doesn't mean the developer is a bad developer if I disliked the game either, it's just my opinion as to how much I enjoyed or didn't enjoy playing that game. This isn't a perfect game and it's not a "brain-burner" hard to figure out what to do next kind of game (which I actually prefer) but I really enjoyed playing the game, it just worked for me. I know I speak for many of my fellow reviewers when I say, we love playing games and we love writing, but most of all, we love being able to help other gamers by sharing our thoughts and opinions, We all enjoy different plots, tasks, and game features, but we're also required to give a star rating in order to submit our reviews, so let's all agree to disagree once in a while, if you don't agree with someone's star rating, that's awesome! It proves we aren't all the same right? :) I just don't want reviewers to get discouraged from sharing their opinions when the reviews get voted on according to the star-rating or profile and not the content because this is now the only way we have of telling the developers what works and doesn't work :) :) :)
Hidden Object Scenes: There are 14 HOP's +3 in the CE Bonus Chapter. I loved that most of the HOP's required you to enter a code you discovered, or solve a puzzle first, it was kind of like unlocking a treasure chest! Most of the scenes were Interactive List Finds or Silhouetted Shape Finds. Although there wasn't a whole lot of variety, the scenes were decent and the scenes were located in somewhat interesting locations.
Mini-Games: There are 32 Mini-Games +3 in the CE Bonus Chapter. Most of the puzzles are easy to solve but for the most part, enjoyable. Below are brief descriptions of some of my personal favorites:
☢~Gather all the leaves in a single pile by clicking on highlighted spots to combine smaller piles into larger piles until only one remains x3. ☢~Use directional arrows to roll a barrel sideways or top to bottom to reach the X. ☢~Place cash register buttons so that each column and row equals the sum of 15.
Bonus Chapter: (Collector's Edition version) This is a somewhat short chapter that takes place over 7 Scene locations, most of which are scenes you visited in the main game. There are only 3 Mini-Games and 3 Hidden Object Scenes but the collections continue with the remaining 7 Collectibles, 4 Morphing Objects, and 2 Magnetic Cassettes Tapes. Once the Bonus Chapter is completed, the Souvenir Room becomes available to search for 19 hidden objects after completing 5 puzzles.
Collector's Edition Extra's: 4 Wallpapers, 4 Concept Art Pictures, 8 Movie Videos, 7 Music Soundtracks, 20 Achievements, 19 Replayable Puzzles, 15 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes, Secret Room with 19 Souvenir Room Hidden Objects (Souvenir Room requires 5 Codes & 5 Puzzles) 38 Collectible Acorns/Cups, 19 Morphing Objects, 10 Magnetic Tapes, 4 Main Chapters +Bonus Chapter and a Built-In Strategy Guide.
DREADFUL TALES SERIES LIST Title***Collector's Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-The Space Between (January 3-2019) 4.3 2-The Fire Within (October 19-2019) n/a
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Completed Game approximately 6 hours (including completion of all mini-games & CE Bonus Chapter)
Benno and Siegfried, two art apprentices stood in disbelief as the Princess stepped out of her portrait and exchanged places with Siegfried. Everyone has heard the story of the Stained Princess of Cisneros, a Princess cursed 300 years ago over a Forgotten Promise, a curse that won't be lifted until she remembers what that promise was, but the real mystery is whom she made the promise to!
I've always loved the Dark Parables series, especially the original Blue Tea versions prior to this dev purchasing the franchise, because of 2 original Key Features, the FROG type of Hidden Object Scenes, and the Parables you collect (within the CE versions) to read 5 different Parables that elaborate more on key features of the story (The Ugly Duckling, The Water of Life, The Ugly Princess, White Swan, Black Swan, The Clan With No Hearts and in the CE Bonus Chapter, The Swan Knight and the Realm of Darkness)
Clearly, Eipix has worked hard on the last 2 games in this failing series to bring back the Blue Tea nostalgia and let go of the Eipix-touch that just didn't fly with true Dark Parables fans, My biggest disappointment that disappeared along with BT was the incredible Non-linear Cursed Objects that didn't morph the first time you visited a location, it required a triggered action in another scene, but you never knew what or where! There are still Cursed Objects (21 in the CE version) but they aren't the clever non-linear Cured Objects beautifully created by the Master of Morphs, (Zhao)
There are 16 FROGS (Fragmented Object Games) +3 within the CE Bonus Chapter. FROGS require you to search for several fragments that are shown in 3 separate groups. Once you find all the fragments in a section those fragments join together and the completed fragment sections will join to create a useful inventory item.
There are only 16 Mini-Games spread over the 10 Main Chapters and another 4 within the CE Bonus Chapter. It seemed to me that they didn't bother being creative with the puzzles and focused all their energy on the FROGS. Below are brief descriptions of some of my personal favorites:
1-Rotate 3 plates with partial images to match the design shown when stacked. 2-Diorama puzzles that require interacting with several key features related to the story's paragraph. 3-Connect Tokens by the number of spaces next to them. 4-Rotate and connect identical colored pipes.
CE BONUS CHAPTER: We play as Benno in this CE Bonus Chapter titled "The Knight's Name Taboo" It's not long before the recently freed Princess finds herself in dire need of a Knight in Shining Armor. Benno and Siegfried set out on a heroes' mission to rescue the kidnapped Princess. There are 4 Mini-Games and 3 FROGS (Fragmented Object Games) and you'll pick up the last 3 Cursed Objects and 13 Parables to unlock the final 2 Parables, The Swan Knight and The Realm of Darkness.
Collector's Edition EXTRA'S: 8 Wallpapers (all with characters :( 6 Concept Art Pictures, 8 Music Soundtracks, 6 Movie Video Cutscebes, 12 Achievements, 19 Replayable Mini-Game Puzzles, 2o Replayable Hidden Object Scenes (which are actually FROGS) 10 Chapters +Bonus Chapter (The Knight's Name Taboo) and a Built-in Strategy Guide.
DARK PARABLES SERIES LIST Title***Standard Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-Curse of Briar Rose (March 27-2010) 3.9 2-The Exiled Prince (March 25-2011) 4.2 3-Rise of the Snow Queen (December 30-2011) 4.3 4-The Red Riding Hood Sisters (October 26-2012) 4.3 5-The Final Cinderella (June 21-2013) 4.4 6-Jack and the Sky Kingdom (March 7-2014) 3.7 7-Ballad of Rapunzel (July 25-2014) 3.6 8-The Little Mermaid and the Purple Tide (December 12-2014) 3.5 9-Queen of Sands (June 19-2015) 3.8 10-Goldilocks and the Fallen Star (December 18-2015) 3.3 11-The Swan Princess and The ( Dire Tree (August 5-2016) 2.9 12-The Thief and the Tinderbox (October 21-2016) 3.8 13-Requiem for the Forgotten Shadow (March 29-2017) 3.3 14-Return of the Salt Princess (April 13-2018) 3.6 15-The Match Girl's Lost Paradise (November 30-2018) 3.8 16-Portrait of the Stained Princess (October 18-2019) n/a
"ART WASHES AWAY FROM THE SOUL THE DUST OF EVERYDAY LIFE"
PostedOctober 17, 2019
pennmom36
fromA Haunted Art Museum in Tokyo encourages kids to not only visit, but scream & run away from haunted exhibits? Hands that emerge from the Mona Lisa, Van Gogh's shifting eyes, a Michelangelo moving statue? Yes! It's haunted by the kids themselves! ..B⍥⍥
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What if art could cleanse our souls and bring us peace and joy. What if we could paint a perfect world with just the stroke of a paintbrush? A world that would keep our loved ones safe for eternity, a world with no sickness, no pain, and no suffering, Such a beautiful world of bliss would surely come at a high cost and such a peaceful solitary Eden would surely become lonely. What if one grieving father created such a perfect world to keep his baby girl from suffering but loses his soul in the process? How can there be a happily ever after Utopia if everyone lives in fear of the artists' brushstroke especially when the artist is a father who just wants everything perfect for his little girl?
Hҽʅρҽɾ/Gαԃɠҽƚ: Art and Soul have a Gadget and a Helper! The "Gadget" is the newly revised Mystery Tales Glasses upgrade, a Cell Phone that allows you to make and receive calls from the Dearly-Departed which requires a big stretch of one's imagination to contemplate. For me personally, the glasses made more sense, whatevs, but the fact that Domini felt the need to add this "Gadget" so that it could be used ONE SINGLE TIME throughout a very long, drawn-out game, including the CE Bonus Chapter, is utterly ridiculous!
The Helper is a talking cat named Morty who has quite the sarcastic "tude" since I happen to thrive on sarcasm, I was totally fine poking this begrudging bear. He's actually adorable and reminded me of my beloved cat (without the bi-colored eyes) besides, he's only used 8 times during the main game and not at all in the CE Bonus Chapter, and like most felines, he sleeps most of the time. I would suspect he was just as bored with this game as I was...just saying...
Hιԃԃҽɳ OႦʝҽƈƚ Sƈҽɳҽʂ: There are 13 Hidden Object Scenes +5 in the CE Bonus Chapter. The objects are easily spotted and the scene types aren't very creative. There are Listed Item Finds, Interactive Listed Items Finds, Silhouetted Shape Finds, Combination Silhouetted Shape Finds (SS+SS=?) Multiples of Item Finds, Keywords in Sentence Finds, Matching Pair Finds, and Item Replacement Finds. There were only2 Scenes I enjoyed, one required aligning pictures that had a shaped hole into the scene where the missing item was, the other one was a Riddle Description Find that at least some effort was put towards its creation. There is an alternate Match 3 game available which doesn't allow you to make fast consecutive matches because you have to wait for all the tiles to stop falling before you can make your next move, and there's no Time of Move Limit which kind of defeats the purpose of the game, unless the purpose is to allow you to skip the HO scene to which I say, "why not just have an option to Skip the HO scene"?
Mιɳι-Gαɱҽʂ: There are 23 Mini-Games +6 in the CE Bonus Chapter. I'm a puzzle geek but most of these games were recycled games from previous games, not to mention the fact that they were super easy even on the Hard Mode. Below are a few brief descriptions of some of the mini-games that were more interesting"
≻ Rotate 4 Maze sections to allow the ball to travel through each maze to the exit. ≻ Rotate picture fragments that are connected by hinges. ≻ Move musical notes to highlighted slots to align them withing their color-coded columns. ≻ Create a path to the exit by swapping tiles that will change your direction when landing on them. ≻ Arrange clock numbers correctly by rotating the face and swapping the numbers. ≻ Select sliders to rotate different loops to fill the center square with Gargoyles and the outer with Phoenixes.
Bσɳυʂ Cԋαρƚҽɾ (Cσʅʅҽƈƚσɾ'ʂ Eԃιƚισɳ Vҽɾʂισɳ) This is a lengthy, boring tedious, sequel with a ton of repetitive tasks. After receiving a frantic video call from a potential new client, the Detective is convinced that Scarlett Dubois is dealing with paranormal activity at the Modern Art Museum. When he arrives at the museum, no one seems to know the whereabouts of Madame Dubois and foul play is suspected. There are only 6 Mini-Games and 5 Hidden Object Scenes taking place over 10 Scene Locations which just shows you that there's a lot of meaningless filler tasks added to stretch the game. You will find the final 3 Postcards, 4 Morphing Paintings, and 10 Coins which allows you to purchase the final items to decorate the Study. Morty the Cat's services aren't required i this chapter, nor is the Otherworldly Paranormal Mobile Device, even though Morty is still visibly napping the entire time.
Cσʅʅҽƈƚσɾ'ʂ Eԃιƚισɳ Exƚɾα'ʂ: 5 Wallpapers (all with characters...why can't we get wallpapers without characters? why can't they just add character profile pictures separately?) 10 Concept Art Pictures. 5 Music Soundtracks, 29 Movie Video Cutscenes, 37 Achievements, 15 Replayable Mini-Games, 18 Replayable Hidden Object Scenes, 15 Morphing Portraits, 15 Collectible Postcards (learn more about the Art Gallery Museum) 65 Collectible Zoom Zone Coins, 15 Study Items to purchase with Coins, 3 Main Chapters +Bonus Chapter, and a Built-In Strategy Guide.
MYSTERY TALES SERIES LIST Title***Collector's Edition Release Date***Average Rating
1-The Lost Hope (January 25-2014) 4.0 2-The Twilight World (January 24-2015) 3.5 3-Alaskan Wild (August 29-2015) 3.9 4-Her Own Eyes (February 18-2016) 4.1 5-Eye of the Fire (September 29-2016) 3.4 6-The Hangman Returns (January 26-2017) 3.8 7-The House of Others (June 29-2017) 3.9 8-Dangerous Desires (October 14-2017) 3.1 9-The Other Side (March 17-2018) 3.0 10-Reel Horror (September 9-2018) 4.2 11-Dealer's Choice (April 4-2019) 2.9 12-Art and Souls (October 17-2019) n/a
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Every Halloween the Enchanted Pumpkin Patch appears within the Haunted Graveyard to grant a wish to those able to solve all the puzzles within the pumpkin patch. Little Whichella isn't the bravest of witches but she has come to the graveyard tonight hoping to solve the puzzles and have her wish granted so she can break the curse that has cursed her father.
This is a Limited Moves Match 3 Game with some really cute graphics and fun features and obstacles to overcome. The goals are given to you before the start of each level and you can purchase Boosters with the coins you earn before the start of each level. You can earn up to 3 Stars per level which is shown as a star meter on the top of the board.
A Match 4 will earn Horizontal & Vertical Line Busters, on the board, a Match 5 will earn a bomb explosion, and a T or L Shaped Match will earn a horizontal & vertical line buster. You can purchase Power-ups that can be used at your discretion, such as Fireworks to target all of the same tiles, Tornados to shuffle the board, a Hammer to crush a single tile, Paint to change a tile to a similar one, a Surprise Box with a surprise bonus, Extra Moves or Pearl Jokers.
The Obstacles were fairly challenging, my favorite obstacles were the Black Pumpkins that are destroyed with adjacent matches, and clearing a path for monsters to exit the board. There are also Yellow Glass Cells requiring several matches to break them, Ice Cells that spread, Water cells requiring adjacent matches, etc.
After playing a couple of Match 3 Levels, you get to play a Clutter style Hidden Object Scene with Match Pairs, Matching Fragment Halves, and a candy version where you keep matching a candy that grows with every new match.
Halloween is my favorite Holiday and I love playing all the Halloween-related games. I don't normally like Limited Moves Match 3 games, especially when they give you a ton of boosters that for me makes the game way too easy, but this game is actually quite enjoyable and I will purchase it when I get a new code!