PC Catch of the Week: Haunted Hotel II: Believe the Lies: A year has passed since the first encounter with the Haunted Hotel. Since then, a lone FBI agent has taken the case and discovered that the mystery is deeper than originally suspected. His investigation leads him to the Lonely Star, a Hotel with an intriguing mystery surrounding it. Can our hero find out who is behind the disappearances and close the case once and for all? Help the agent seek out the answers in his thrilling investigation of Haunted Hotel 2!

Catch the deal for your PC! Use coupon code CATCH299

Mac Catch of the Week: The Mystery of the Crystal Portal: Beyond the Horizon: Join Nicole, and her sidekick Igor, as they trek across the globe in search of her missing father! Discover a secret so big that it could threaten the very course of human history. Solve puzzles from her home in New York City, to distant lands on the other side of the world to find her beloved father and save human kind. Solve interactive puzzles and find many Hidden Object scenes in Mystery of the Crystal Portal – Beyond the Horizon.

Catch the deal for your Mac! Use coupon code CATCH299.

This $2.99 Catch of the Week runs through Sunday, January 23 at 11:59pm.

Remember Big Fish Games has a Daily Deal offering a different game for $2.99 every day.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Discounts, Hidden Object Games, Mac Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games

Can you solve a 19th century murder? You are Dana Knightstone, an up-and-coming fiction novelist. While on vacation in Scotland, you are haunted by the ghost of David, a working-class painter in love with a rich heiress – until he was killed at Fairing Point! Uncover history as you travel across Europe to investigate David’s mysterious death. Solve clever puzzles and follow the ghost’s trail in Death at Fairing Point, a fun hidden object puzzle adventure game.

This is a special Collector’s Edition release full of exclusive extras you won’t find in the standard version. As a bonus, Collector’s Edition purchases count toward three stamps on your Monthly Game Club Punch Card!

Download free to try Death at Fairing Point: A Dana Knightstone Novel Collector’s Edition.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Filed Under: Adventure Games, Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games, Releases

Awakening: Moonfell Wood follows Awakening: The Dreamless Castle. After awaking from a century long slumber, Princess Sophia finds an empty world where not a single soul can be found anywhere. Search for helpful clues and discover Sophia’s destiny in Awakening: Moonfell Wood, a hidden object puzzle adventure game. You’ll follow your fairy friend while exploring beautiful magical world to help Sophia find her people.

Where Awakening: Moonfell Wood succeeds most is in its vibrant graphics that make you feel like you’ve walked into a fairytale. Its puzzles don’t have anything special as you’ll find many of the same things — find 15 of X objects, for example — in other games.

Download and try Awakening: Moonfell Wood.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2011 Meryl Evans

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Hidden Object Games, Mac Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games, Releases

PC Catch of the Week: Lost Realms: Legacy of the Sun Princess: Alexia is woman in need of answers. Her nights are wracked with dark visions of an ancient Incan empire, burning and ruined. She sets out with her best friend Nicole to Cuzco, Peru, in search of ancestral ruins, armed with little more than visions, and hope. Help Alexia search for clues of her connection to the ancient Incas, and solve the mystery that devastated an empire. Devious puzzles await, but Alexia can not rest until she uncovers the truth.

Catch the deal for your PC! Use coupon code CATCH299

Mac Catch of the Week: PuppetShow: Mystery of Joyville: The puppet show in Joyville was once a wondrous attraction until the great fire. Now, rusted gears and dark mysteries lay within strange machinations and disheveled puppets. A young boy, Simon, is the most recent in a long line of missing people. In PuppetShow: Mystery of Joyville, you are tasked with solving nefarious puzzles, finding hidden clues, and uncovering the dark secrets of a town that is anything but joyful.

Catch the deal for your Mac! Use coupon code CATCH299.

This $2.99 Catch of the Week runs through Sunday, January 2 at 11:59pm.

Remember Big Fish Games has a Daily Deal offering a different game for $2.99 every day.

Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2010 Meryl Evans

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Discounts, Mac Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games

Anyone looking to finish the year off with a bang and lots of fun should head straight for Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove. This point-and-click game tells the story of four friends who are  graduate students filming their adventures only to run into trouble. The friends have disappeared and you find their movies dispersed throughout the captivating game.

In England, you run into a snowstorm where you come across an abandoned car with a video camera just outside of Dire Grove. Naturally, you can’t help but become curious and investigate the four friends’ claim that the legend of Dire Grove is real. While you won’t see a big leap between this one and Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, it takes on a whole new story that comes together nicely with a satisfying ending. I wasn’t too happy with the ending Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst. Return to Ravenhearst is good, but it’s not a stand-alone story like Dire Grove.

Some scenes require you to find items that appear in the list — like in hidden object games, but then you’ll be rewarded with something you need for your travels. One of the strengths of the series is that you can go any place you wish. The only time “order” matters is when you need to find something before you can move forward. You’ll see sparkles appear in scenes, which indicate you need to explore the area.

The setting goes far and wide, although it won’t look that way in the beginning. Then you discover openings to bigger areas as you explore and check everything possible. For the longest time, I made no progress because I had overlooked a barely noticeable door in one of the rooms. You may get stuck at times when you have everything and yet, can’t progress. Do not give up. Keep looking around and touching everything or ask for a hint. Sometimes you just miss a step. Hints are almost always available, but you’ll need to give the hint meter a few moments to refill.

I’m not a fan of horror films, so I can promise you that those who feel the same won’t have a problem with this one. The films only make up a part of the action and I’m grateful they came with closed-captions. When I first heard about the game and its use of video, I freaked because my experience has been that most things don’t come subtitled.

A couple of short phrases that didn’t have captions, but you can find out what was said with a little research. These little quotes aren’t detrimental to the story. Do pay attention to the videos because they give you clues that can help as does your casebook, which captures your notes of what you’ve seen. The film also has some jerky action, not too agreeable for this gal who gets dizzy easily.

Considering the Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove takes place in England, the actors also have a British accent adding to its authenticity. The whole production reels you in making you feel a part of the game. A Collector’s Edition is available, which offers bonus game play, challenge and achievement system, tracking down 50+ objects that change shape and a strategy guide.

Mystery Case Files: Dire Grove is a superb game that will entertain you for a full day, a wonderful way to spend a winter day huddled around the computer and staying warm even though the most of the scenes are frozen.

Filed Under: Adventure Games, Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games

You’ve probably heard this before when an original hidden object game came out, but this time I mean it — Pure Hidden flips the hidden object genre upside on its head, spinning it around and throwing everything we thought we knew about hidden object games out the door, heck — out of this world.

Pure Hidden takes place out of the world in a colorful scene reminding me of 1960s or 1970s graphics style with a plant and budding flowers. The flowers hold boxes, or surprises. But you can’t open them until you complete a puzzle inside one of the boxes. Upon finding the “key” or object to open another box, you can move on or you can finish the puzzle.

Good surprises wait for you behind those boxes. You could be finding hidden objects from a list, but the scenes vary. They’re nothing like you’ve ever seen before — more like different styles of mosaics.

You’ll never encounter identical scenes and objects. A couple of games repeat — not the hidden object ones, though. The dominoes game repeats and it’s a delight to do it again.

Despite “pure” in its name, the game has you doing more than finding items. Yes, sometimes you’ll look for a bunch of the same objects. But also, you’ll knock down a bunch of dominoes, help seeds bloom, look for differences in two scenes — however, in a lot of unique ways. One way has you spinning the scene around from day to night in 3D to find the differences.

Although you can move on to another scene once you find the object to open the next box, you may not help help but want finish the scene because it’s compelling and fun. You can play zen (ohhhmmmm – relaxed) or timed mode, so whatever your preference — you got it. Really, this one is for savoring not rushing through.

Hints are available when the asterisk fills up and you can select which item you want to find. The game posts a circle for you melting away any frustration in trying to find something.

The music wows. No story exists to waste your time. And the game has you from the first click, or close to it. Just go play for ten minutes. Pure Hidden is pure gold. It’s the kind of thing you’d want to do on a rainy day and a sunny one, too. Good to know innovation and creativity remain strong out there in the hidden object genre.

Download the game from Big Fish Games.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games

I thought this game was custom-made for me. The logo had “ME” on it. Of course, the initials stood for “Magic Encyclopedia” not “Meryl Evans.” Magic Encyclopedia: Moon Light follows Magic Encyclopedia, and continues with its hand-drawn adventure with a new story and main character.

Fans of the original will be surprised and delighted by the follow up, which has surpassed the original in terms of size, adventures and puzzles. This one tells the story of Katrina who had a strange (what else?) dream and her brother asks her to look into his professor’s disappearance. She finds herself traveling the world collecting scrolls and gems to figure out what happened to the professor.

The hidden object portion has you looking for pieces of objects to put them back together. Once you collect all the pieces for an object, it enters your inventory for use on one of the scenes and not necessarily the same one where you found its pieces. The last half of Magic Encyclopedia: Moon Light contains a lot of narrow, stick-light objects that will frustrate the searcher as they hide so well. Maybe too well. Clicking items don’t always take either.

Also, parts hide in little black holes that you zoom in on when the mouse rolls over these spots. This neat feature is a little bit of a curse, too. Sometimes the spot sits very close to an interactive item and the interactive item keeps lighting up instead of the spot. Those teeny-tiny parts will have you relying on the crystal ball for hints. You have unlimited hints, but must wait for it to fill back up. But sometimes the crystal ball doesn’t cooperate though it looks full.

Mini-games pop up every now and then when you’re trying to access or open something on a scene. Some resemble the puzzles you see in other hidden object games while others bring something new.  You can skip them after so much time passes and the skip button comes to life. The mini-games do challenge enough that I skip a couple after spending too much time on them. I still wanted to figure them out and I knew I could do that later because you can access the mini-games from the main menu and replay any after unlocking them. Love this feature.

The only thing below quality is the font used. The font looks like  the oft-used font that comes with Microsoft Word and other software. It’s as tired and amateur as Comic Sans. Magic Encyclopedia: Moon Light delights, charms and challenges with its graphics, audio and game play. Go download and try Magic Encyclopedia: Moon Light.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games

Talk about cheering up a gal who couldn’t do much while recovering from hand surgery! I had no idea another Mystery Case Files (MCF) game was coming out. It doesn’t feel so long ago since we had the pleasure of seeing Mystery Case Files: Madame Fate. Then I discover it’s a follow up to Mystery Case Files: Ravenhearst. I had mixed feelings because the original’s ending disappointed me. However, the game had a strong story and intriguing puzzles.

Wow! MCF: Return to Ravenhearst surpassed all expectations and blew away all previous Mystery Case File games. I believe that this one truly takes the Mystery Case Files franchise and hidden object to a full-fledged adventure where hidden objects take a back seat rather than rule the game.

Most hidden object games give you two or three scenes you can roam, one at a time, from a map. This one reminds me of the first adventure games from Sierra that I played on my Apple ][+ as a kid. Of course, the overall production transcends those old adventures.

Navigate around MCF: Return to Ravenhearst by clicking the sides of the screen when you see an arrow pointing indicating you can go in that direction. As you move your mouse around the screen, the cursor turns into a magnifying glass or a white sparkle showing there’s more to that item.

The casebook plays a big role as who can remember everything s/he reads (aside from those with photographic memory). You could write it down, but you may not remember or realize the significance of a note that appears in the casebook.

Other games with a similar casebook just rehash the story. This one provides useful details. Review the casebook as it contains clues and information that will come to play later.

Good news — if you haven’t played any of the Mystery Case Files, it won’t affect playing this one. There’s little reference to the previous games.

The game picks up from the previous after the release of Emma Ravenhearst’s soul. But Charles Dalimar — the villain of both stories — continues to torture other souls. He was also responsible for the strange goings-on at the carnival in MCF: Madame Fate. We must help free the tortured souls so they may rest in peace.

We’re seeing an influx of adventure games (yeah!), but some come too easy. Not MCF: Return to Ravenhearst. I got stuck in a few places and had to walk all over the house a few times before I figured them out. Gamers who feel games are too easy shouldn’t find that a problem here. The nice thing about getting stuck is that you don’t have to figure it out right then to move forward.

Big Fish Games, publisher of the series, has also released a separate sound track. Why? The music was annoying that I turned off the sound early on.

Some objects are nearly impossible to find. One was hidden behind a toy in a glass case. Even with the hint, I couldn’t see it. There’s no limit on the hints, but you do have to wait for the meter to refill after use.

Another negative was the game’s snarky comments when you make a useless move. I’d think, “Gee, thanks for the insult.”

Nonetheless, these little peeves hardly interfere with the experience of playing the almost perfect game.

I thought the hype surrounding MCF: Madame Fate was overdone, but not for MCF: Return to Ravenhearst. It never let me down. The game also relies on some video and they fit beautifully with the story and scenes. I generally don’t like videos because they lack captions, but that’s not an issue here as they come with subtitles. Yeah!

What will MCF bring next? When? I hope it continues to build upon the superb MCF: Return to Ravenhearst.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games

Mike and Isabel of The Nightshift Code return in Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar’s Eye, an adventure that mixes hidden objects with a variety of puzzles.

Game developers have a challenge in telling a good story, providing the right amount of story updates between scenes and puzzles, and tying the story with the game. Not an easy balance to achieve.

While Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar’s Eye comes with a heavy-duty story, the story gets lost and confusing along the way. I love a good story in a game, but this one had too much going on and didn’t flow well between scenes and puzzles. It may make more sense if I took the time to read the stories.

I like most of the mini-games, which aren’t standard fare. The anagram game requires moving letters around to form words. Great game, but tedious to play because it involves more mouse work than necessary to move the letters.

The time line mini-game is a great idea that needs better execution. Boxes appear above pictures. Each picture provides a clue so you can move it into the right box. The earliest event goes into the first box while the last event goes into the last box. The clues are too hard.

One of the beautiful things about the casual games industry is that most games come with a way to play at your own pace. Forget about that here. Time plays a big nasty role. You have to start the WHOLE level over if you run out of time during mini-games. That means finding the hidden objects again before returning to the almost impossible mini-game.

Logic is my favorite mini-game. As a kid, I enjoyed doing logical puzzles where you read a story and solve the puzzle using logic. Maybe we’ll see logic show up in more games. So much can be done with logic puzzles without ever feeling repetitive.

The mini-games steal the show in Nightshift Legacy: The Jaguar’s Eye. The hidden objects portion involves finding objects that work together in multiple scenes. Speaking of multiple scenes, the game never makes it clear I need to look elsewhere for more objects. In some scenes, the list of objects is everything you need to find in the scene.

However, in others, the list of objects cover multiple scenes rather than just one. I had to figure this out the hard way. So if time stops, that means you found all the objects in the current scene and need to go to another scene for the rest.

It penalizes you for incorrect clicks and some of my clicks were correct. I admit I had to replay a few levels because I ran out of time.

The do overs go fast because the object locations don’t change, so you won’t likely want to replay the game unless you want to figure out the puzzles that had you relying on the hints to solve it. It’s OK if you need to use lots of hints, you’re not the only one.

Download the game from Big Fish Games.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games

Samantha Swift, an archaeologist, travels all over the world to find rare artifacts for a museum. Her latest venture calls for finding six roses that belong on the Shield of Athena. Adventurers will find a rosy game in Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena.The game ranks up there with Natalie Brooks and other hidden object games slash adventures slash mini-games.

Samantha, Adam Woodson and her father’s former partner, Dr. Butler, must also deal with two bad guys who also want the roses, but for selfish reasons.

Anyway, I played this game over a month ago while recovering from hand surgery as it only needed one hand. Since typing was not possible, I had to hold off writing the review until my hand healed. What stuck with me was the game had wonderful hand-drawn graphics along with a strong story that neither overwhelmed nor confused.

In replaying the game, I got stuck on a scene and couldn’t get pass it even though I did what I needed to do to move on. I used a hint to confirm I wasn’t forgetting something. So I tried starting over with a new ID and it froze in the same spot one step further than before.

Thank goodness, I got through it the first time. I tried exiting the game and restarting the computer. Nothing worked.

Replaying the game also showed me that objects rarely change location and the list of items to find changed a little. So once you finish the story, you won’t want to replay it. But that’s often the case with this genre.

I also appreciated this wasn’t a timed-game, something I couldn’t manage with one hand. Besides, non-timed games compel us to enjoy the game more because it’s not a race. When it’s a race, we take short cuts and use more hints.

Every hidden object scene contains items highlighted in blue. You can’t find these until you’ve collected the other hidden items. Once done, use the found hidden items to interact with the scene to find the blue items. This feature appears in more of these point and click adventures. That and you may need to find items in other rooms before completing the puzzle in the current room.

Hidden objects often fit the story line and theme rather than have you find things to make the game longer lasting. Found artifacts end up in the museum that you can visit anytime during the game. Click an artifact to get its details and place of origin. Samantha travels to Guatemala, Tibet, Japan, Rome and elsewhere.

Lightning bolts hide in every scene to give you more hints. Experienced gamers might find this one a little easy, but worth experiencing the gorgeous graphics, interactive puzzles, humor and fitting background music.

Just play one hour of Samantha Swift and the Hidden Roses of Athena and you’ll find you want to keep going.

Download the game from Big Fish Games.

Filed Under: Casual Games Reviews, News & Talk, Game Reviews, Hidden Object Games, PC Games, Puzzle Games