pennmom36's Profile
Stat Summary
- Average Rating:3.7
- Helpful Votes:358,445
- Reviews Submitted:4712
- First Review:December 10, 2012
- Most Recent Review:April 24, 2025
- Featured reviews0
Status:
Fear For Sale: Mystery of McInroy Manor
Emma Roberts has been tasked with writing a story about an old haunted manor. Help her explore the McInroy Estate!
Overall rating
5
/
5
5 of 6 found this review helpful
Fear For Sale: Mystery of McInroy Manor SE
PostedJune 16, 2015
pennmom36
fromNerves of steel
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
The editors of the Fear For Sale magazine have paid a hefty price for exclusive rights to investigate this haunted manor. The magazine has sent their best investigative journalist, Emma Roberts, who has a ghostly encounter within minutes of her arrival! Lady Averill greets Emma at the front gates, pleading with her to rid the grounds of the evil presence that binds her and all the other spirits roaming the grounds. The first thing Emma must do, is find out what happened that fateful night nearly a century ago when police discovered Lord and Lady McInroy dead, as well as all their servants!
I've always been a huge fan of the Fear For Sale series, but for whatever reason, I overlooked this first episode, as well as the Sunnyvale, so I can't wait to find out more about the McInroy family! For an older game, the graphics are still pretty decent, which would have been over the top in it's heyday. There aren't any frills, no Morphs or Collectibles, but the storyline makes up for it. The Collector's Edition has 8 Achievements to earn, but most of them are done as percentages, for example, each HOS you complete without a hint will keep tabs such as 6/31 HOS completed without using a hint.
The Hidden Object Scenes are just simple listed items with no interactions required, some items are multiples such as 3 fish, 2 crosses etc. The scenes are dark enough to be creepy, but bright enough to make items recognizable. The Mini Games are entertaining, such as turning several tokens with different shaped connectors, to allow the electrical current to flow freely from one end to the other.
The Collector's Edition has 8 Achievements, Screensavers, Wallpapers, 31 Hidden Object Scenes, 15 Puzzles, Music, Concept Art, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Riddles of the Past
Discover the secrets of Riverside, the abandoned town without memory. Save your love and avert the catastrophe facing the doomed town!
Overall rating
3
/
5
65 of 78 found this review helpful
Picking Up The Pieces Of The Past
PostedJune 16, 2015
pennmom36
fromEmily's memory is so bad she thought her quarterback boyfriend was a soccer player
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Hidden Object
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)Fun Factor
3
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
3
/
5
Storyline
3
/
5
Emily Hanson (ever wonder why everyone's name is Emily in these games) moved to the town of Stokesville ten years ago with no memory of her past, her name is the only memory she retained. When she comes across a torn photo from her past, she decides to return to Riverside, where the photo was taken to search for answers.
I'm not a fan of the Bubble Search type games where the areas of interest pop up several Bubbles with pictures of the items you need to find to complete the task. Once you find an item shown in the bubble, you click and drag that item to the correct bubble. It's not bad the first few times, but then it get's old and boring after a while.
The Mini Games I will admit are clever and most of them require you to figure out the solution with the clues given. The one I enjoyed the most was figuring out the numbers that were assigned to each typewriter key letter, for example, A=5, B=A-3 and so forth. My least favorite was the Cash Register puzzle where you had to enter in $10.50 by figuring out which buttons (with numbers like 36/12/9) would total that sum.
The graphics are very plain Jane but doable, the storyline had me hooked at first, but once I finally made my way into Riverside, the story did a 180 and lost my interest. The plot should have thickened at that point with a Riverside conspiracy or maybe Emily's memory loss was an experiment and the "homecoming" was part of the plan. Instead, they gave us transformers! To make the game less credible, the hint system has a cartoon hound dog with googly eyes, who simply cannot sit still. It's a no go for me.
Fear for Sale: The Mystery of McInroy Manor Collector's Edition
Emma Roberts has been tasked with writing a story about an old haunted manor. Help her explore the McInroy Estate!
Overall rating
5
/
5
23 of 25 found this review helpful
Fear For Sale: The Mystery of McInroy Manor CE
PostedJune 15, 2015
pennmom36
fromBoo!
Skill Level:Expert
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
Emma Roberts has been sent to the haunted McInroy Manor to cover an exclusive story for the Fear For Sale Magazine. Within minutes of her arrival, the lady of the house introduces herself as Lady Averill McInroy. Yep, you guessed it, she's been dead for 80 years now! Lady Averill first met Lord McInroy after he had fallen from his horse, breaking both legs and three ribs, as she diligently and tenderly nursed him back to health. Lord and Lady McInroy were happily married for six years, until that tragic day they were found dead, along with all the servants! But that was almost a century ago, now an evil presence lurks within the Manor's grounds, a presence that binds their spirits to the afterlife.
I'm a huge fan of the Fear For Sale series, but for whatever reason, I overlooked this first episode, as well as the second, and I cannot wait to find out more about the McInroy family! For an older game, the graphics are still pretty decent, which would have been over the top in it's heyday. There aren't any frills, no Morphs or Collectibles, but the storyline makes up for it. The Collector's Edition only has 8 Achievements to earn, but most of them are done as percentages, for example, each HOS you complete without a hint will keep tabs such as 6/31 HOS completed without using a hint.
The Hidden Object Scenes are just simple listed items with no interactions required, some items are multiples such as 3 fish, 2 crosses etc. The scenes are dark enough to be creepy, but bright enough to make items recognizable. The Mini Games are entertaining, such as turning several tokens with different shaped connectors, to allow the electrical current to flow freely from one end to the other.
This Collector's Edition has 8 Achievements, Screensavers, Wallpapers, 31 Hidden Object Scenes, 15 Puzzles, Music, Concept Art, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Deadlings
Death has trained a massive army of zombie minions! Do you have what it takes to navigate through Death's maze and complete Project Deadlings?
Overall rating
4
/
5
52 of 60 found this review helpful
Love the "Sticky Zombies!"
PostedJune 15, 2015
pennmom36
fromBWAINS!!!
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)Fun Factor
4
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
4
/
5
Level of Challenge
4
/
5
Storyline
4
/
5
I'm always attracted to zombie themed games, and although this game has flaws, it quickly becomes addicting. You can use the Mouse controls OR the Keyboard and choose between Normal mode or Nightmare mode. The zombies hit the road running, as soon as you click on the play button, the portal door opens and off he goes, you cannot stop him or slow him down, which was a wee bit disappointing. Study the blueprints that are shown before the start of each level, because you can only see small sections at a time to the left, right or even above. This will be more challenging for some players, others like myself need a little more of a "heads up."
The basics of the game are simple, keep your zombies alive? or dead? or undead? or keep him from being killed? or re-killed? how about, keep the zombie out of harms way! There are different kinds of zombies, my favorite is the Sticky Zombie who sticks onto any surface he touches. In order to beat some levels, you need to choose between regular zombies and sticky zombies. Usually the regular zombies are used to blaze a path to the buttons which open upper levels, and of course, they must hurdle over spiky traps and jump over sawblades, and various other undeadly obstructions. Along the pathways of the game, the zombies will need to feast upon the bwains, all of them in fact, to earn a perfect score.
Dawn of the Deadlings has begun, and you'll love this game, if you are able to click quickly, and make split second decisions, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Grim Tales: The Final Suspect
There's a corpse in your house, but who killed him?
Overall rating
5
/
5
114 of 127 found this review helpful
The Saga continues.......
PostedJune 15, 2015
pennmom36
fromWhy are there saltwater fish in the goldfish pond?
Skill Level:Expert
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
The Gray family has another crisis to deal with, this time it's Aunt Gray herself who seems to be in a pickle! With the discovery of a dead body in her living room, Aunt Gray calls the police, and passes out. Eventually, Anna Gray regains consciousness, but has no idea what happened, now we have a problem! Anna will have to travel back to her own past, and try to piece together clues, who is Howard Kelley. Why was Howard Kelley in her house, and most importantly, did she kill Howard Kelley, if she did, why?
Grim Tales has given us another fantabulous episode of the Gray family saga. I do prefer the Collector's Edition over this Standard Edition which has Morphing Objects and Achievements to earn. Either edition has just about any feature you can imagine, an Evidence Panel, Panoramic Scenes, Dialog Options to choose, as well as Plus Sign interactive inventory items. As always, Grim Tales has superb graphics and one of the best whodunit, time traveling, mysteries available!
The Hidden Object Scenes are mostly Silhouetted Shape finds, and they are a bit scarce, at least within the demo time. There are however, a ton of entertaining Mini games and puzzles, ranging from simple tasks, swapping tiles or clicking on gems to change colors, others are longer and slightly more complicated. My favorite was the Fishing game where you attempt to catch fish by dropping the hook upon the desired fish, but, a frog protects the fish and you must either be faster or outwit him. The goal is to score 100 points, large and slow blue fish are worth 8 points, Orange fish are worth 10 points and the small Red fish are worth 15 points.
The Collector's Edition has Concept Art, Achievements, Morphing Objects, Collectibles, Wallpapers, Music, a Secret Room, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
FBI: Paranormal Case
Aid a young FBI agent in uncovering an incredible international plot!
Overall rating
1
/
5
2 of 2 found this review helpful
FBI: Paranormal Case
PostedJune 14, 2015
pennmom36
fromThat's pretty important work there agent!
Skill Level:Expert
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
Looking at the description and screenshots of this game, I drew a conclusion that it had potential, it definitely doesn't. This is an HdO seek and find type of game where you can zoom into any area of the screen as well as drag the entire scene. I've never been a fan of this type of game, even when zoomed in as close as you can, many of the objects are small an unrecognizable. The items aren't hidden, therefore I consider this game a seek and find game not a hidden object game. The items to look for are given a few at a time as a list find, as you find one item, the next word shows up. You can play this game in Timed mode or Standard, and I will admit, that Timed is very fast paced with an average of one minute time periods to find all items. Each scene has one item that must be clicked on to move it out of the way which exposes an item from the list, I also noticed that the item that needs moved, will have a glow to it if it's not identified right away. You get a limited amount of hints to use, but you will receive extra hints for each star you find, usually there are three in each scene, with 99 hints the maximum you can earn. There are the occasional mini games, the one I enjoyed the most was selecting the correct folders listed to match clues on the folder themselves. This may have been a great game back in the day, when HO's first came out, but the click and drag HdO system seems very archaic by today's standards.
I don't recommend this game.
Labyrinths of the World: Forbidden Muse Collector's Edition
Can you help the City of Artists find their lost inspiration?
Overall rating
4
/
5
109 of 130 found this review helpful
No Work Of Art
PostedJune 13, 2015
pennmom36
fromGet in the bottle.....
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object, Time Management, Adventure, Match 3
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)Fun Factor
2
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
3
/
5
Level of Challenge
1
/
5
Storyline
2
/
5
This is a very uninspiring game, I had a difficult time getting into the storyline much less keeping up with all the weird features this game has to offer. The story.....a dark force has torn Calliope's essence into three pieces, and she's not happy about it. Calliope is responsible for inspiring many artists, allowing them to create masterpieces. She believes people already have talent within, they just need help to realize their artistic potential. Now that Calliope has essence problems, the confidence of those very people she inspired, have diminished, as well as their talents!
The weird features.......let's start with the Harlequin Doll helper, by far the weirdest feature of the entire game. It's just a generic barbie doll, I'm supposed to be a detective (Essence Detective) why on earth would I have a barbie or a "harlequin" doll, it makes no sense! Even the devs added harlequin into their wallpapers, posing her around the office for photo shoots in a comical manner. WAIT, it becomes even more ridiculous when you come across several teeny tiny outfits for Harlequin to don. Why are there doll outfits in a gallery? Why does Harlequin have to change her outfit to fix a leaf blower and then again to ring a bell? Throughout the game, you will collect Olive Branches that will allow you to upgrade Harlequin's not so humble abode with tapestries, statues, fireplaces and other random decorations. There are also Hidden Coins throughout the game, hidden inside vases you must bust open to access. If you think about it, one of the artists Calliope inspired, worked hard on those beautiful vases, can't I simply turn the vase over and shake the coins out? The coins can be used in the Interface shop to purchase upgrades to make your inventory bar and icons a wee bit frillier. (this will come in handy for my detective credentials) You will receive special abilities such as a Magic Palette which allows you to paint a sketch that comes to life, and eventually two other Magical Objects in the full version. I did find the baby dragon to be awesome, especially when he made himself at home in a pigeons nest. There are 23 Achievements to earn, and some of the inventory items have plus signs indicating some type interaction is required before the item can be used.
The Hidden Object Scenes are basically the same type, either Sketches or Silhouetted Shapes to find in a Progressive manner, such as finding one item and then using that item back in the scene to uncover the next item that matches the shapes shown. The Mini Games are way too simple, most can be figured out without even reading the directions. To mention a few, a labyrinth that requires you to use directional arrows to guide the ball to the end of the maze, pressing a "play" button to see the correct positions to swap nymph statues to. If I have to pick a favorite it would be the scales game where you equally balance each side by choosing connected numbers on both the left and the right, using all the numbers and the numbers cannot jump over other numbers.
This Collector's Edition has Wallpapers, Concept Art, Music, an Interface Shop, a Gallery, Collectible Olives and Coins, 23 Achievements, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Sable Maze: Twelve Fears
Your daughter's lost in the Maze of Fears, but you'll face more than her disappearance if you dare to enter.
Overall rating
5
/
5
103 of 116 found this review helpful
What Are You Afraid Of?
PostedJune 12, 2015
pennmom36
fromHang on a minute, I'm getting a page
Skill Level:Expert
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
Fear is one of our primal emotions. We are only born with two fears, the fear of loud noises and the fear of falling. Any other fears we develop after birth are "learned" behaviors, usually occurring after a traumatic experience. Arthur, a young psychologist, fresh out of college wanted nothing more than to help people overcome their fears. He created a device to help him research, and gave this device to his first patient and assistant, Marissa Castey who had a debilitating phobia stemming from a near drowning in Sullivan's River (my favorite Sable Maze episode) at summer camp. All this information will start to make sense when your daughter, Amber, enters the Maze of Fears, ignoring your advice not to enter. You always seem to be one step behind Amber, with every slamming and trap door of the maze, clearly, Amber will have to face all Twelve Fears on her own....... if she survives!
Just about every fear will be addressed in this edition of Sable Maze, the fear of falling, fear of death, fear of storms, fear of birds (thank Alfred Hitchcock for that one) the fear of ghosts, fear of fire, fear of heights, the fear of enclosed places, fear of being lost, fear of freezing, not to mention the fear of things that go bump in the night! Being the resourceful dad you are, you are putting Arthur's Fear Collector to work, absorbing all the bad mojo surrounding Amber's fear emotions. There are plenty of plus sign inventory items, requiring some type of interaction before using the items such as combining that item with another inventory item. The Collector's Edition has Achievements to earn as well as 12 Collectible "Fears" however, I think this Standard Edition is the better value, unless you enjoy the recognition you get with the achievements.
I hope you like a lot of of puzzles and games because this game has a ton of them! The Hidden Object Scenes are mostly progressive, interactive list finds where you find the first item on the list and use it somewhere in the scene to obtain the next item and so forth. There are also silhouetted shape finds, and you have the option to play a Match 3 game instead. The Mini Games are around every corner, clever puzzles requiring you swap panels to allow a path for a ball to drop, or turn disks to match up color coded paths, finding 12 different fear symbols by using directional arrows on a telescope, or playing a variation of chess where you move tokens to available areas to either overtake your opponent or add more of your tokens than the opponent. My favorite game required you to swap disks so that the multi colored outer ring around the disks match all disks around them, left, right, top and bottom.
The Collector's Edition has Wallpapers, Concept Art, Developer's Diary, Achievements, Music, Mini Games, Collections, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Danse Macabre: Thin Ice Collector's Edition
You stop a crazy fan, but when he dies, who’s responsible?
Overall rating
5
/
5
165 of 210 found this review helpful
Blades of Forgiveness
PostedJune 11, 2015
pennmom36
fromRuth is definitely skating on thin ice with those fans
Skill Level:Expert
Favorite Genre(s):Puzzle, Hidden Object
Current Favorite:
Phantasmat Collector's Edition
(100)Fun Factor
5
/
5
Visual/Sound Quality
5
/
5
Level of Challenge
5
/
5
Storyline
5
/
5
What's up with the poor graphics? This is probably my favorite storyline of all Danse Macabres, I just don't remember the graphics being this sloppy in the previous DM series. As with all Danse Macabre games, this is a story about an up and coming star.......with a secret, and her life is being threatened by a fan with not so good intentions. Christopher Chardy has hired you detective, to keep Ruth Fisher safe, but safe from whom? Could her partner Walter have a motive, after all Ruth did publicly humiliate him during a lovers spat, perhaps someone from the show who is clamoring for her star status, maybe even her manager Christopher Chardy?
Once again you have an electronic but slightly archaic Evidence Board that keeps track of information on each suspect you meet and any important information you find during your investigation. Some of the inventory items have plus signs indicating some type of interaction is necessary before that item can be used such as combining that item with another inventory item. There are 42 Snow Globes to Collect, and 14 different Achievements to earn, some of which have 3 stars per achievement. I suggest reading the Achievements before starting the game so that you will know what goals to achieve.
The Hidden Object Scenes are different every time, some are progressive, interactive silhouettes where you find an item and use the item in the scene to uncover the next item, there are combination silhouettes where two silhouettes combined would make a particular item, even finding 6 shovels and 6 pick axes to receive the correct tool to uncover a list find! 14 of the HOP's have a Morphing Object within them, and you can opt for an endless game of Match 3 (at least once to earn achievement) The Mini Games are in abundance, there are a lot of quick matching games but also longer more complex puzzles. My two favorite was rotating circuit boards of different shapes and placing the correctly into a patterned grid, and driving the snowmobile and "steering" it safely between rocks.
This Collector's Edition has 14 Achievements, 42 Collectible Snowglobes, 14 Morphing Objects, replayable Match 3, replayable Puzzles and HOP's, Souvenirs, Movies, Music, Pictures, Behind the Scenes, a built in Strategy Guide and a Bonus Chapter, enjoy!
I recommend this game!
Fashion Finder: Secrets of Fashion NYC Edition
With one of the biggest event in the industry fast approaching, Abbie needs to find the hottest trends around New York City!
Overall rating
1
/
5
7 of 7 found this review helpful
Fashion Finder: Secrets of Fashion NYC Edition
PostedJune 10, 2015
pennmom36
fromMy camera broke
Skill Level:Expert
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
What a weird Hidden Object game this turned out to be. I couldn't even finish the demo, there's just no sustenance to the game. Basically you use your imaginary camera to take a picture of several listed items that have different categories such as Things with Fur, Belts, Coats, Dresses, and candles. The only fashion sense in this game is that most (not all) of the Hidden Object Scenes deal with clothing of some type.
I don't recommend this game.