Of all the HERO OF THE KINGDOM games, LOST TALES PART 1 is the easiest in the series, IF you've played the other 3 first. This one is shorter, ends rather abruptly [a setup for Part 2, I assume], and there aren't nearly enough barrels/crates/mushrooms to find or fish/frogs/algae to catch. I didn't feel quite the same spirit of joy with the storyline [although the dragon is great], but I like this game series enough to give it 5 stars, because HERO OF THE KINGDOM is my favorite series of games. NOTE: Be sure to backtrack to explored areas frequently for new deeds to be accomplished.
Favorite Genre(s):Time Management, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
Storyline
3/ 5
I played Relaxed mode. Seemed tedious and boring, and it wasn't just because it was Relaxed. I like MKFTP and other TM games, but this seemed unimaginative. I stopped after just a couple of levels, which I hardly ever do. Make sure you try it out to see if it captures your sense of fun.
Favorite Genre(s):Time Management, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
2/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
3/ 5
Level of Challenge
3/ 5
Storyline
3/ 5
I took so long trying to figure out how to make sugar popcorn that I didn't get far in the trial. I kept buying sugar and growing corn to no avail. I had to go to Forums during the trial game! I didn't know that I had to click on the sugar bundle when the helicopter dropped it. I thought the sugar would automatically be added to the warehouse. I didn't enjoy TV Farm 2; I shouldn't be that frustrated so early on in a game.
Favorite Genre(s):Time Management, Match 3, Strategy
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
I love this new TM game. I almost didn't check it out, because I don't like gardening games. This is a TM game with a gardening twist. I just wanted to add my 5 stars, because this is such a well developed TM game with a fun storyline. Each level adds something new and different. It has not been easy for me to win Gold on most levels unless I replayed them several times (although some were fairly easy, and later on, many were downright impossible - I'm now going to the Forums). Great game. I also love earning money to upgrade the poor dilapidated villa. I encourage other fishies to try this game.
I enjoyed the 1-hour trial game, and I'm buying it. I barely got into the game with the trial period, and it left me interested in figuring out how to build more.
I loved Build-a-Lot: Fairy Tales, but otherwise am not into the couple of BaL games I played. Definitely try the trial game and see if it's your type of game.
Travel across meadows and journey into a dark forest. Work quickly to build properties, earn gold and protect the town from fire-breathing dragons in Build-a-lot Fairy Tales.
Favorite Genre(s):Arcade & Action, Adventure, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
5/ 5
Level of Challenge
5/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
There are already a couple of good reviews of this game (like the one by gmac1007), but this is my favorite game, so I wanted to say “Bravo” to Big Fish and the people who created “Build-a-Lot: Fairy Tales.” For those reviewers who thought that this game was easy or annoying, I beg to differ on both parts.
First of all, this game is BEAUTIFULLY designed and illustrated. The colors are vibrant (sometimes you have to finish a level to be rewarded with an amazing burst of color) and the characters are wryly funny. The princess who appears with help or admonitions once in a while is fairytale pretty. You have a wolf, troll, frog prince, witch, and little pigs to accompany you along your journey. I have a love-hate relationship with the blazing red dragon: I hate him burning down my houses (because he pops In and sets my completed den- cottage- manor- gingerbread house on fire), but then he stares at me with such satisfaction that I can’t help but laugh and cuss him out before he retreats. You can protect your house from dragonfire, although some levels are so difficult to pass that, if you take even that extra step, you’re using up precious time; so it can be more expedient to extinguish the fire and keep playing than to protect your building against he-who-doth-breathe-flame (and, he might be a she, who knows?!). You can paint your houses a variety of colors, and there are other fantastic features (e.g., Wishing Wells) that add “charm” to a level – and you’ll find out about charm soon enough, my pretty.
Different levels have different time limits, and after the Storybook Levels, the game gets so difficult at times that I had to consult the Big Fish Forum and YouTube for assistance. It was all I could do to finish some of the levels in the time allotted, even knowing the solution. I have played this game going on five times and still love it. I eventually won the coveted blue ribbons (for completing a level expeditiously) in most of the beginning Storybook levels, but once I got into Expert Levels and Quick Play, I don’t think I got but one or two blue ribbons. Okay, so maybe I’m slow! IMHO there is at least one level that you will not finish unless you go to the Forum for help.
If you have a sense of humor and an affinity for fairy tales, this will be right down your alley. It’s like a chess game at times in knowing what house- structure- feature to use in what position on the screen, so it can be very intellectually challenging. Many levels have a spoiler thrown in at the end… so just when you think you’re done, you’re not. I don’t particularly care for the build-a-lot games, but this one captured my imagination, hit my funny bone, and soothed my time-management-challenge cravings. Play the demo with a light heart and enjoy!
Favorite Genre(s):Arcade & Action, Adventure, Large File, Match 3
Fun Factor
5/ 5
Visual/Sound Quality
4/ 5
Level of Challenge
4/ 5
Storyline
5/ 5
I think that most of us don’t get “scared” by these spooky storyline HO/adventure games, but it’s fun to play along. Haunted Hotel gets into necromancy, spells, the dead, the almost dead, and the living dead with a mix of good graphics.
You are playing against time to save your brother from a deceased evil recluse whose gigantic portrait hangs in the main hallway. You search the house and the surrounding grounds for clues and pages of a journal that your brother has left behind. There is an Info button in the upper right corner of the screen that you can click to re-read any of the written pages you find. You do have to conduct some pretty in-depth spells, especially toward the end of the story. I found those rather interesting and creepy.
I played the SE in Casual Mode. I have seen all of these puzzles/mini-games before, in one format or another. They all were pretty easy; but if this is one of the first HO/adventure games that you are playing, then the puzzles/mini-games might provide a bit of a nice challenge. I still enjoyed them all.
I admit that I don’t like difficult HO scenes, and Haunted Hotel had just a smattering of nice easy ones here and there: Loved that factor.
I didn’t get lost, but it never hurts to jot down notes about which room or path leads to another. I even wrote down a couple of the spells so I wouldn’t have to consult the Info button. Over the course of 2 days, it probably took me about 4-5 hours to finish the game, and I was taking my time.
Toward the end of the story, I did have to use the Hint feature twice to find out what to do next. I think that this is an extremely user-friendly game.
I did enjoy Haunted Hotel. It moved along quickly, I didn’t mind the traveling between locations in the house and on the grounds, and the storyline was creepy enough to keep me interested: I HAD to find out how it ended!