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.
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)
Fun Factor
1/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
1/ 5
Level of Challenge
1/ 5
Storyline
1/ 5
This game was downright annoying and I could only endure playing the demo for about 20 minutes before I selected the option to exit. Even the fact that my only option was to "save and exit" made me cringe because I certainly didn't want to "save" my progress. Melinda Gordon has always been able to see the dearly departed, even as a child, she saw ghosts, but eventually learned that they were seeking her help with their unfinished business that they were no longer capable of completing. Melinda's husband, Jim Clancy is a paramedic that supports her talent and lends a hand whenever possible. Helping misguided ghosts move on is just a hobby, Melinda owns and operates an Antique Shop along with her good friend Dalia.
The storyline is somewhat intriguing but the graphics have a lot of room for improvement. There are no voiceovers (they would probably be really bad if there were voiceovers) and the characters slide when they move. I would rather see jilted movements than to watch the characters glide across the floor as if they were riding a people mover at the airport, it's so unnatural. The worse feature in this game is the inventory bar, there are two of them, one with clues and objectives that is stationary, the other holds your inventory with no option to lock it in place. This bar just slides up and down constantly, unless of course I actually need to use an item, then I have to click on it.
The Hidden Object Scenes are simple text listed items, some of the words are obscured with clouds that eventually disappear or clear up, however, if you find and click on the hidden ghost, the cloud will dissipate immediately. If you click on the ghost after the clouds automatically clear, the Moon Hint icon will fully recharge.
The Mini Games are frustrating, the kind that are solvable, but make you want to pull your hair out trying to solve them, for instance, you have to use three different dials to adjust a scrambled picture on a monitor but adjusting one knob affects the portion that you just unscrambled and you just go back and forth turning knobs in random order hoping the skip button will charge up and the nightmare will end. It's a no go for me, and I'm not a difficult person to please, I can usually find some type of entertainment in every game, not so with this game. Do yourself a favor, don't waste time on this hot mess.
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Spooky Bonus
(129)
Fun Factor
4/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
4/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Storyline
4/ 5
I was a little disappointed in the graphics of this game, the tiles aren't appealing enough, and everything is exactly the same as Queen's Garden 1 & 2, same plants, same decorations, with the addition of some Halloween inspired decorations. It's not bad, but not all that entertaining. There are three modes of difficulty, Timed, Relaxed and Piece Of Cake where there is no timer and the weed growth has been disabled.
The goal is to make matches of at least three identical tiles, with specific numbers of certain tiles to match as well as breaking all green tiles, some of which begin as a different color and eventually become green after a few matches. If you match 4 tiles you will receive a powerup on the board that will destroy tiles in a horizontal or vertical row when included in a match of whichever tile the powerup shows. Matching 5 tiles will give you a bomb, and making a combo match vertically and horizontally will give you a Bat that will remove all of the same type of token you choose as he calls in all his buddies to help.
Some cells have wooden crates, some have earth, some have chains or double chains, there are Tombstones that require 4 different matches adjacent to them to remove, and there are wicked Weeds that multiply very quickly if left unchecked. Some cells contain hidden gems that allow you to purchase special items in the shop.
The money you earn playing Match 3, can be used to purchase plants and decorations for your garden, or at least for the Queen's Garden. You can design the Garden anyway you want, adding walkways one square block at a time. There are three different categories to choose from, Garden Plants and Bushes, Man Made items such as walkways, ponds, fountains and terrain, and Halloween with pumpkins, dead trees, and even black cats. After making your selection, you can move the items anywhere you want, and the entire garden can be zoomed in or out and you can click and drag the garden to see beyond the current pathways. There is a new feature that allows you to change the garden from the normal Daytime view, to Nighttime when all the ghosts and goblins are on the prowl, enjoy!
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.
I really liked the layout patterns available in this Mahjong game where you help the wolf cub find his family. The graphics are decent and the tiles are well proportioned, and you can choose from three different styles of Mahjong tiles. This game is available in a Relaxed or normal mode of difficulty, which gives you the choice of playing with challenges such as completing the game within a specific number of moves or just a relaxed and typical game of mahjong without any gimmicks. As with most Mahjong games, you must remove all gold tiles which are usually located underneath all of the regular tiles which make it even more challenging to remove the gold tiles within a specific number of moves, making you think before randomly clicking. Mahjong is my least favorite genre, but this one's actually not bad, and not nearly as boring as some of them can be, enjoy!
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
There is no scientific explanation for the sun's total eclipse that has occurred over the town of Munich. This eclipse is just the beginning, soon the water will darken, the trees will wither and die, the Wanderer will be exposed, as will the 4 Keepers of the Prophecy. You're no stranger to this kind of phenomenon, in fact, it's your specialty, but digging deeper into this apocalyptic prophecy reveals that you might just play an important role here, because your choices guide the Wanderer's path, directing him towards creation, or destruction!
You can always count on Chimeras to deliver us a fantastic story! The graphics and ambience are perfect for this "end of days" scenario, and exactly what you'd expect during an unexpected and unexplained total eclipse, where uncertainty and a sense of uneasiness prevail, where speculations run wild and panic ensues. No, you're not seeing things, the Chimera is real, what once was no more than a slab of stone representing a mythical Greek monster, is now capable of flight and fright. This creature has the head and front legs of a lion, the head and back legs of a goat the head and wings of a fire breathing dragon and the tail of a snake. The only defense you'll have against this Chimera is an Ancient Amulet (because there is no such thing as a Modern Day Amulet) you discovered that repels any living statue. There are Plus Sign inventory items available that require some type of interaction or even a small puzzle solved before the item can be used. This Collector's Edition has the typical Achievements to earn and several Collectibles, 13 Tarot Cards to find, 19 Morphing Chimeras, and 27 random Morphing Objects throughout the game. I am a little disappointed in the Morphing Objects, although the cursor doesn't change to a hand to give away their location, the Morphs are very large and morph so quickly that you cannot overlook them. I prefer Morphs to change slowly, better yet I like it when games are nonlinear and you have to trigger the morphing action in another scene, never knowing when and what triggers the action, that's so much more challenging and fun.
The Hidden Object Scenes are a bit scarce, but I suspect that the devs realize that the HOP are getting old, and today's gamers want more Mini Games and puzzles. There are traditional Interactive listed items, Silhouetted Shape finds and Story oriented finds where you find items that match the Keywords in a small story. Not bad, but then again, there's not a whole lot that can be changed in a Hidden Object Puzzle.
The Mini Games are decent, but not very challenging, most games can be solved within the first attempt. I'll briefly "describe" some of the games within the demo:
1) Sliding gears and boxes around so that the gears on the inside will connect to the gears on the outside. 2) Changing the amount of liquid within several bottles as shown on a diagram. 3) Pressing cash register buttons a specific number of times as shown as roman numeral clues. 4) Swap Books to create an image on the spines. 5) Swap feathers on an owl correctly. 6) A multi puzzle game where you tinker with 4 different types of puzzles, lighting all lights, removing tangled bars, finding matching pairs, recreating 3d images with stars.
This Collector's Edition has 18 Wallpapers, 16 Concept Art pictures, 5 Music Soundtracks, 1 Screensaver, 13 Tarot Cards, 19 Morphing Chimeras, 27 Morphing Objects, Achievements, a Secret Room, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Adventure, enjoy!
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
First of all, this game states that it is a Hidden Object Game, but that's only because you have to find 6 hidden keys to open the gate to begin the Match 3 games. The graphics are bewitchingly fantastic, the music is purrfect and the Match 3 game is spooktacular! You can choose between a Casual Relaxed mode or a Timed mode which will certainly please Frankenstein because he's a laid back kind of dude.
The Match 3 icons are pretty gross, eyeballs, bloody knives, snakes, brains, spiders and skeletons are the norm here as you decorate your creepy mansion for Halloween. Each decoration you buy, comes along with a different bonus or an upgrade to an existing bonus. There are Silver Crosses that will burn 8 tiles around it, Pumpkins with thick peel and rough skin that explodes to destroy tiles, The Forest Witch destroys tiles vertically, The Fire Witch destroys tiles horizontally, and even a hammer (which may have been used before) to destroy a selected tile.
There are Wooden Crates and Stone tiles, as well as the typical Gold and Silver tiles that require at least one match on or near to destroy them. My favorite feature was the Spiders and Ghosts which multiply if you don't make matches near them, and can easily take over if not dealt with quickly. The goal is to make a specific number of matches if certain tiles, break all silver and gold tiles, and collect items by dropping them to the bottom of the board within a specific time to earn 3 gold stars. Enjoy!
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Gardenscapes: Mansion Makeover™
(277)
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
This is purely a seek and find hidden Object game where you are tasked with finding objects that customers want. The goal is to sell unwanted items around the house in order to make money to renovate the house (in demo you work on a guest bedroom) just like Gardenscapes. You can choose to play this game in Relaxed mode with no timer, otherwise, the longer it takes to find the customers item, the less money they are willing to give you. Each scene has a few gold coins to collect and a hidden Origami symbol to find and there are Achievements to earn as well. The money you earn is used to decorate the room with new flooring, wallpaper, windows, curtains, furniture and various decorations, each category gives you three different selections in three different price ranges. You can press and hold the ctrl key to zoom into the scene and use the mouse to click and drag the scene, but the items are fairly large and recognizable so you probably won't need to use that feature. After every seek and find game you will get to read a helpful household hint such as: Rubbing butter on the cut edge of cheese will seal and prevent the cheese from molding!
The customers arrive on the left side along with the item they want displayed as either a text, a picture or a silhouette, and the price they will pay for the item with three red hearts. If you take too long to find the items, the customer will become impatient and begin to lose their hearts as well as how much they are willing to pay. When the items have been found you scan over the coins they leave allowing a new customer will arrive until closing time. There are two types of seek and find games that I absolutely loved, the customers arrive, but the listed items they want are scrambled so you must first find out what the customer actually wants, and then find the item! The second type was even better, you are shown pictures of a handful of items to memorize for about 15 seconds, then you have to find only those items in a scene. There are also scenes where you find multiples of a single item such as 20 cobwebs or 20 Origami figurines.
There are also Match 3 mini games where you make matches below Stamps until the stams drop off of the board. This game however, was unimpressive an a wee bit boring in my opinion. This is purely a HOG, there is no adventure, no inventory items to collect and use, no complicated puzzles to solve. I must admit, I read a lot of useful tips that I haven't heard before, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
+270points
319of368voted this as helpful.
Garfield's Wild Ride
Garfield can finally do what he does best: sleep! But little does the fat cat know that his favorite lazy pastime is the key to excitement and adventure.
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
It's hard not to love that adorable lasagna eating cat, Garfield. I'll give you fair warning, this game is extremely addicting, it's a simple game, it's an "old school" game, but it's a game you just can't stop playing! You really only have to do two things, click on the left mouse button to make Garfield fly, and release the mouse button to descend. Garfield automatically runs on the ground at his own pace, and you guide him to collect as many coins as you can, avoiding the obstacles that pop up as you progress. If you hit the oblong bubbles (they look like polka dotted bandaids) Garfield loses his life and you have to start over from the beginning. When you see a red exclamation point, it's a warning that a moving object is heading your way, such as a flying ant, a police cruiser, a giant flying ant and even a UFO will take down Garfield if you're not careful. You will have to jump over umbrellas crates and whatever else gets in your way, but there are also things you want to collide with. Bonus points, and lasagna help you but powerups and icons with a question mark will give you an automatic powerup. A skateboard gives Garfield more agility as well as supersonic speed as does the flying cape. A giant Odie is virtually indestructible, but my favorite powerup is Super Boky which puts Garfield in a giant bubble with the teddy bear and acts like a magnet collecting all the coins in the area. You can purchase clothing and accessories for Garfield with your earned money, such as hats, glasses, clothing and themes, as well as themes, jungle, island and winter themes. Give it a try, but not when your in a hurry, enjoy!
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
Nevertales has returned with a brand new tale, this tale is all about strength, wisdom, deceit, and treachery but above all, it's about love that knows no boundary! The creator and Lord of taleworld held immense power which he used to protect the people of all the lands. Eventually, the lord divided his power and forged it into 5 Relics, the Healing Scepter, the Bracelet of Growth, the Necklace of Cunning, the Ring of Fire and the Crown of Courage. He bestowed the Relics upon five virtuous individuals to rule the five realms of his Kingdom with wisdom and in peace. This tale is proof that kingdoms can overcome their differences, and love knows no boundaries, even when wisdom and peace are at stake.
Equipped with only the Ring of Fire and your brother-in-law, Hark, who has the unique ability to shapeshift into a raven, you venture where no Queen has ventured before. Your mission cannot fail, without the Healing Scepter, your husband will die! The Ring of Fire has many abilities, it protects you from heat and flames, allows you to create and bend flames, and it's somehow capable of communication between you and Ashbringer. Hark proves to be invaluable asset retrieving those inventory items that somehow end up in the oddest places that are impossible for any Queen to reach. Many of the inventory items are complex items that require some type of interaction before they can be used, and the Collector's Edition has the addition of Achievements to earn that are categorized as you progress, with 9 Bronze Casual Achievements, 9 Silver Advanced Achievements and 9 Gold Expert Achievements, you even get an Achievement for finishing the Demo, so you will have to download and play the Demo before you purchase the game if you want to earn all of them! The Collector's Edition also has 40 Hidden Collectible Roses which will unlock more challenging puzzles and a secret level once they have all been found.
The Hidden Object Puzzles range from slightly interactive list finds (where you click on some items to move them aside) to silhouetted shape finds typical in most Hidden Object Adventure games, some have small puzzles to figure out or reward you with fragments that create an emblem or means to expose the final item. One familiar type of Hidden Object Puzzle is typical to the Nevertales series, where you are tasked with finding the symbols shown in a circle, within the illustrations of a book. When all the symbols are found, the story progresses a paragraph at a time, usually giving you more insight to the stories origins. The Collector's Edition has a Morphing Object to find in each HOP, personally, I love Morphing Objects in the game itself, not in the narrowed down HOS, especially when you know there's a Morph you need to look for.
The Mini Games are creative, but kind of easy in my opinion. The first MG requires you to "ring" bells in a specific order by trial and error, and there's a game where you open up two crates at a time as you try to find the matching (but not necessarily identical) items. Two of the puzzles I liked the best was plotting a course to sail the Falcon on a map, avoiding obstacles,within seven moves total. The second game I enjoyed was dragging wooden jointed tiles to the correct color coded slots on 4 increasingly difficult boards, as more colors are added and the board becomes more crowded.
The Collector's Edition has 9 Gold Expert Achievements, 9 Silver Advanced Achievements, 9 Bronze Casual Achievements, 11 Morphing Objects, 40 Hidden Collectible Roses, replayable Color Connect Puzzles (as mentioned above) 12 replayable HOP's, 18 Wallpapers, 32 Concept Art Pictures, 9 Music Soundtracks, a Legends Jigsaw Puzzle, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Haunted Domains
(48)
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
2/ 5
Level of Challenge
2/ 5
Storyline
2/ 5
There are 70 levels available in this Time Management, sadly, I could barely make it through 4 levels, because it's too boring. Chloe has asked Angela to work in her garden shop while she's on vacation, so you get a quick tutorial to bring you up to speed before she leaves for some much needed R & R. The tasks are simple and monotonous, to make matters worse, you are forced to complete one customer's order completely before you can go onto the next order.
You must click on a customer to find out what flowers they want to purchase, then you click on the gardner and select the type of flower the customer indicated they want, and the gardner disappears into the greenhouse. There is a metered icon indicating how long it takes for the gardener to finish his masterpiece, when he is finished you click on the gardener to get the flowers, and then click on the correct customer to deliver the flowers, and click on the money to collect it. You can click on the next customer, but you cannot queue up multiple tasks (unless this is an option later in the game) because you have to wait for the gardener to complete the first task before giving him another order, and this was a huge disappointment for me.
The money you earn can be used to purchase upgrades that will help you work faster. The upgrades are the normal upgrades found in most Time Management games, where you purchase extra counter space to serve more customers or even a pot workshop. The pot workshop allows you to combine a flower pot with the flowers, if that is what the customers desire. When you click on the pot workshop you get a pop up window that gives you three different types of flowerpots to choose from, which is then taken to the gardener to place the flowers he ordered into the pot. That's all the further I got, I just didn't have any fun playing this game. There is a Rush mode that will be unlocked eventually as you progress. Perhaps you will find the game more interesting, but I just can't recommend this game.
I don't recommend this game.
+57points
63of69voted this as helpful.
Off the Record: The Final Interview Collector's Edition
A man is dying, and you’re the prime suspect!
Overall rating
5/ 5
226 of 261 found this review helpful
Deadly Confessions
PostedOctober 10, 2015
pennmom36
fromI feel badly leaving Calvin in a wheelchair in the middle of a hallway,as he struggles to breathe while I rummage through all his personal belongings!
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.
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
Calvin Reedley is an aging but well respected horse breeder who want's to tell you a story, a story about his past and the mistakes he's made. This "confession" is a once in a lifetime opportunity, investigators like yourself only dream about. Unfortunately, an automobile accident on your return trip causes a severe case of amnesia, you don't even remember the interview with Calvin, much less the context of the story! You were unconscious for nearly three days and now the police are investigating you as their prime suspect for the attempted murder of Mr. Reedley! This confession may be deadly, unless you can piece together your past by piecing together Calvin's past, you just might be found guilty, of murder!
It's bittersweet, this is a well known series that captivates its audience and provides us with solid entertainment from beginning to end. We've traveled all corners of the globe, from Paris to Devonshire, and uncovered thieves of every kind imaginable, Off The Record of course. We can only hope that Final Interview is the end because the devs have something epic in store for the beginning of a brand new adventure, perhaps On The Record next time! They threw everything they had into this game, it's jam packed with all kinds of goodies (I even think I saw the kitchen sink) Complex inventory items, Achievements, Morphing Objects, Hidden Alphabet Letters, Collectible Hats (finding 6 Hats will unlock bonus HOP's & Mini Games) and 43 Hidden Teapots. Let me tell you, they are cleverly blended into the scenery, some are only partially visible, which make them more of a challenge and way more entertaining.
The Hidden Object Scenes are incredible, most of them are entertaining and plain ole fun. There are several types of HOP's and there is at least one Morphing Item in each HOS (there is an icon that will indicate if a morph is present) Most of the HOP's have more than one type, text listed items, finding icons to match text, descriptions of items, multiples of a single item, Fragmented pieces, silhouetted shape finds and even sketches of 2 items that give you clues of an item when combined or associated with. There's a Hidden Object Puzzle to please just about everyone.
The Mini Games are a bit on the easy side, but I have played a lot of games, and maybe it's just that I'm too familiar with them. If you don't want to know what puzzles are in store for you, skip the next section, I'll list a few memorable puzzles.
1) Climb a rope by matching identical pairs (this makes no sense to me) 2) Recreate symbols combining different shapes. 3) Use directional arrows to guide a knob from top to bottom through paths that can be manipulated open and closed. 4) Steer a scooter using directional arrows. 5) Arrange different obstacles around a horse racetrack so that all horses arrive at the finish line at the same time.
This Collector'd Edition has a Souvenir Room, 17 Hidden Object Scenes, 20 Mini Game Puzzles, 9 Music Soundtracks (which are recordable) 7 replayable Videos, 11 Wallpapers, 11 Concept Art pictures, 6 Collectible Hats (which unlock bonus HOP's & Puzzles) Morphing Objects within the HOP's (one of which has multiples) 43 Hidden Teapots (very fun to find because they are cleverly hidden) a built in Strategy Guide, a Bonus Chapter and a must see Tribute Video......farewell, enjoy!