Treasure Seekers 3 and Alice in Wonderland - worth buying?

Two new hidden objects games came out over the last couple of days. It comes as no surprise, since the vast majority of new games are some variety of HOG. The new games are

• Treasure Seekers: Follow the Ghosts, and
• Alice in Wonderland.

I tested both games and found them to be fun, but not worth my money. I'll tell you why.

Treasure Seekers: Follow the Ghosts

As indicated by my review, I really enjoyed Treasure Seekers: Visions of Gold, and so did my kids. Then, I played Treasure Seekers: The Enchanted Canvases. I found it to be somewhat lacking. So my hopes were relatively high when I heard that people were pleased with Treasure Seekers: Follow the Ghosts Collector's Edition. The day before the release of the non-collector's edition, I downloaded it, eagerly anticipating another exciting treasure-seeking experience. Graphics: Still just as slick as ever. The graphics style is the same as the other Treasure Seekers games, as well as The Mystery of the Crystal Portal and The Spirit of Wandering: The Legend. Music: Good, as with the previous games. It provides a subtle backdrop that supports the mood of the scenery. Gameplay: Just like the other Treasure Seekers games, with a couple of exceptions, listed below.

• When finding stuff from scene to scene, the cursor becomes visibly active when you mouse over an object that can be picked up. I was playing in casual mode, though, so this might not happen in the challenging mode. Some people will like this little bit of help, others won't.
• The game now includes...*shudder*...standard hidden object scenes with a list of things to look for. The great thing about the Treasure Seekers games, before now, was the unique way they approached hidden objects. You had to find a certain item that required other items. Then you'd look around the scene and find the needed items. But now, they've included the basic "find this list of random stuff in the mess" scenes.

Fortunately, this game still includes a good number of puzzles and inventory-based objectives. That's the fun part for me. But, once again, the story has to do with trapped and restless ghosts. I'd really like to see Tommy and Nelly try their hand at something else. The writers over at Artogon seem obsessed with ghosts and the paranormal, since all of their games use this theme. Three more little gripes.

• To avoid spoilers, I'll just say that some of the images in this game could be, I think, disturbing to little kids.
• The puzzles I played were a little to easy for my taste.
• The developers used the exact same character art from the previous game, but just slapped new clothes on them. I'd prefer more original material myself. But, I can't blame them. If they can make a little more money by doing the same old thing, then they have every right to do so.

Final Word: I know I sound pretty negative in my opinions of this game. That's because I have, admittedly, very high standards. I think most people will really like this game. My wife said she'd probably like it, having seen me play it. If you like HOGs, there's no question - you'll love this game, so go get it. My guess is that this game will give you everything you want from a HOG. I liked it, but just not enough to buy it. That's partly because, while the production quality is very good, I've grown weary of looking for hidden objects, so any new HOG is going to have to really blow my mind to get a glowing review from me. But for you HOG fans, I think this is the kid of game you'll love sinking your eyes into. I recommend this to anyone who isn't me. =D

Alice in Wonderland

Plot: You're investigating the case of the missing child, Alice. Graphics: Very nice. The scenes look good, and the stylistic choices of the artists were visually appealing. Music: A good reason to NOT play this game. Repetitive and boring, the music hinders the experience more than anything else. I suggest turning it off. Gameplay: From what I saw, the game was primarily a HOG with a little bit of "find the differences between the two pictures." There was nothing original here. Final Word: The game looked pretty and played smoothly. The atmosphere was nice, and finding objects was fun enough. Fans of HOGs will like it. But if you're after something original and immersive, this may not be the game for you. A great soundtrack quite possibly could have kept me playing longer.

Why settle for a measly old mansion? - a review of Be Rich

Did you play Build-a-lot? Let's just say you did. And let's say you wanted something similar, but different. That's where Be Rich comes in. Today I'll tell you what I thought of this money-grubbing real estate game!

What I liked Freedom to choose building locations Lots of levels Graphics and interface Upgrades What I didn't like Some very difficult expert goals Limited selection of buildings

Quick Plot

Accomplish construction goals for cities all over the United States to successfully build up your real estate business.

Mechanics

Time Management: Each level has an Expert goal. To get the Expert ranking for a level, you have to finish it within a certain number of days. If you achieve the Expert goal, you get more prestige and money. If you don't achieve the Expert goal, you don't lose the level or anything. You simply don't get the minor benefits of Expert status. Building: This is a construction and money-making game. You'll build 3 types of buildings:

• Houses
• Buildings, and
• Decorations.

Houses earn rent, Buildings are various types of shops and consumer attractions that earn extra income, and Decorations add value and attractiveness to Houses.

Mansion, Chateau, and Apartment Block - 3 high-end houses

Highlights

Freedom of Choice: In contrast to Build-a-lot, which forces you to build in designated lots, Be Rich instead gives you gridded areas. You can put a building anywhere on a gridded area, as long as it fits. This means that you get to decide exactly how your buildings are arranged in relation to each other, which affects how much money you can earn from a particular layout. Game Length: There are 40 levels in the standard game mode (Career Mode). This makes for a pretty good length. Then, to add in more gameplay, there is a Sandbox Mode. This gives you more of the same gameplay (levels with prescribed goals) but expands the territory beyond a single screen. In this mode, you can scroll across a broader territory. I haven't played all of the Sandbox levels, but there appear to be 6. And if you care to work for them, there are a number of trophies to earn, as in many time management games. These trophies appear on the map screen.

Level map and trophy room.

Graphics and Interface: The 2D graphics are colorful and detailed. Buttons are shiny, and buildings are cool looking. The interface is easy to use, so you won't find yourself confused. This game is nice to look at. The camera perspective is directly head on, with no angle, just like Hotel Mogul. Upgrades: In a game that is otherwise fairly light on features, you are at least offered a bundle of upgrades. These can be purchased as you earn money for completing levels. Each upgrade adds a new building to your business empire, or adds a new section to your main office headquarters. These upgrades add bonuses to your gameplay, making levels easier. This shows up as things like quicker production and random rent checks popping up on houses.

Issues

Expert Rank: I often like to push for the master goals in games like this. In the Farm Frenzy series, for example, I don't move onto the next level until I've achieved the Gold medal on the current level. In Be Rich, you earn Expert ranking on a level if you finish it in a certain number of days. For the first dozen or so levels, this was no problem. After that, it became a struggle. I got really close on a few levels, but most of the later levels had incredibly difficult Expert requirements. The bummer for me was that the game didn't compel me to work for it. Neither the gameplay nor the Expert reward were interesting or engaging enough to make me really desire that higher standard of achievement. It's my opinion that Expert goals in a game should offer valuable payoff for success. When I missed the Expert goal in this game, I just shrugged and moved on. Not Much Variety: I recently reviewed Coconut Queen. One of the great features of that game is the wide variety of buildings you can construct. But in Be Rich, you're limited to

• 7 Houses
• 5 Buildings, and
• 5 Decorations.

And after a while, there were only about 3 House types I wanted to build. The various Buildings and Decorations still got frequent use though. A few more building options would have helped to keep my interest.

Your business empire. It grows visibly with each upgrade you buy.

Suitable for the family?

There's nothing either offensive or attractive to children in this game. The halflings watched me play sometimes, but usually asked me to switch to a different game. Kids seem to gravitate to games with notable characters, and this game has none.

The family man's final ruling

The game is fun. It kept me playing until the end, and it was pleasant to look at. The music is mediocre and the English is poor and awkward at times. The story offers nothing meaningful, so I usually just clicked through the text. The best thing about the game is the freedom to choose where you place each building, so that you can make the building types interact for maximum profit. For instance, a movie theater benefits from having lots of Apartments next to it, and any building will earn more money if it's constructed on a premium lot. The worst thing about the game is the lack of variety or change. You're pretty much doing the same thing all game, and while it is fun, it didn't really shine in any way. I probably like it more than Build-a-lot, though. If you're going to try Be Rich, you might also want to try its sequel, which manages to boast an even more hedonistic title: Be Richer.

A standard level. This happens to be a wintery one. The stars indicate premium lots, which earn you more money.

You'll like the game if... You like real estate and building games You want more freedom of layout than Build-a-Lot offers You won't like the game if... You want lots of variety, features, and extras

My rating:

3 new games that I liked, but didn't buy

These days, there are so many casual games being released that I test very few of them. I'm always looking for the gems among the duds. Recently, a few new casual games caught my attention, so I played through the demos. Read on to find out what I thought of

• 3 Cards to Dead Time
• Awakening: The Dreamless Castle, and
• Eden's Quest: The Hunt for Akua.

3 Cards to Dead Time

Category: Hidden Objects, Puzzles Background This was a strange experience for me. The developer, Big Finish Games, consists of the team who created my favorite adventure game series from the 90s, that is, the Tex Murphy series. Fans of the Tex series were greatly let down when Access Software was bought by Microsoft, and the Tex series was discontinued. The last Tex game, Overseer, had left us with a nasty cliffhanger, which would have no resolution. So, when their first new casual game, 3 Cards to Midnight, was announced, I was eager to see what the old Tex Murphy team had created. It wasn't Tex Murphy, but it was something. Maybe it would be just as cool as the Tex series, right? I followed the pre-release commentary as they developed the game, and became increasingly disappointed as they revealed the theme of the game - paranormal, creepy, tarot card stuff. Then, the game was finally released and I read some reviews to see what other people thought. Feedback was more negative than positive. How could my old favorite developers release something that was, apparently, mediocre? Well, they recently released the second game in the 3 Cards series: 3 Cards to Dead Time. I decided to give it a try. What You Do One thing that the Tex team was good at was creating interesting and challenging puzzles. The same is true here. The various puzzles scattered throughout the game were enjoyable. Most of the game is spent looking for hidden objects, but in an unusual way, which I found to be refreshing. Typically, standard hidden objects games give you a list of things to find. This mechanic has become very stale for me and I avoid it now. But in 3 Cards to Dead Time, you find objects according to a prescribed pattern. So, instead of a list of words telling you what to find, you have a collection of blank boxes. You are told to find something like "Objects that come in 3s." So then, you have to look around the scene for items that fit the given theme. When you find an item, its name appears in one of the empty boxes. At other times, you have to find objects that go together. The empty boxes will be color-matched, showing you how many items go together. So, you might get 3 connected purple boxes, and one of them says "King." Looking around the scene, you'll find a picture of a queen, and then you'll locate a jack, which completes that series of related items. You can choose between Casual and Challenging modes (I think that's what they were called). Casual mode just requires you to find fewer objects, from what I could tell. I would recommend the Challenging mode for die hard HOG fans. Casual was too easy. My Opinions If the game consisted of these types of scenes, with puzzles thrown in, I'd like it more. But, this game contains lots and lots of story. If the story interested me, or was presented in an attractive way, I might dig it. As it is, the creepy, weird story doesn't interest me, and with my kids hanging around, I simply clicked the SKIP button for each of the numerous cut-scenes. These scenes are made up of a series of still shots depicting awkward 3D-modeled characters, with voice-over dialogue. These scenes happen after each little task you complete. The graphics and music are both very good. The mysterious music matches the theme of the game well. So, while the graphics, music, and mechanics were all quite nice, the convoluted, family-unfriendly story and mood took this game down some notches. I would like to play more of this type of game if its strengths were applied to a more family-friendly story, and if the cut-scenes were just cut out altogether or occurred less frequently.

Awakening: The Dreamless Castle

You might remember my review for Princess Isabella: A Witch's Curse. My guess it that, if you liked that game, you'll like Awakening: The Dreamless Castle. They feel very similar in the way they play. What You Do You spend the game walking around a castle finding items and using them in various locations. Sometimes you have to complete hidden objects scenes and solve simple puzzles. My Opinions The graphics and music are good, the interface is easy to use, and you aren't likely to get stuck for too long, although sometimes you might wander around wondering what you forgot to pick up in which room. It's not always completely obvious. I would like this game more if it had something more original, innovative, or challenging about it. This game doesn't deliver anything special. It gets the job done fine, but doesn't excel. The puzzles are cake, the HOG scenes are standard, and the story is boring. I just wished this game had engaged my mind more. But, for fans of the inventory/puzzles/HOG genre that we've seen more commonly in recent months, this game should hit the spot.

Eden's Quest: The Hunt for Akua

This was another interesting situation for me. I love puzzles in games. That was always my favorite part of adventure games, and I always like them in casual games. This game is nothing but puzzles with a storyline. What You Do You solve puzzles. That's the whole point of the game. You go from station to station facing various types of brainteasers, math puzzles, and the like. You earn hints along the way, and each puzzle has 3 hints available. During my time playing the demo, I never had to use a hint. Some of the puzzles certainly stumped me, but they weren't timed, so I took my time figuring them out. My Opinions The presentation here is excellent. The character and scene art is superb - completely professional. This is unusual for the casual game market. The story is also intriguing and mysterious. It had me interested. As with all Sean Beeson soundtracks, this music is tasty. But, having realized that the game is nothing but puzzles (kind of like Azada), I lost interest in pursuing the entire game. If I could get this game for free, or even as a Daily Deal, I might play all the way through. It's fun for what it is, but I can't bring myself to buy it.

Hunks galore! - a review of Coconut Queen

You might have played the Build-a-lot or Be Rich series. But what if the levels were much larger, and you could put buildings anywhere you wanted to? Throw in a cartoony style, lots of subtle humor, an interesting story, and a tropical setting, and you've got Coconut Queen!

What I liked Humor Hawaiian flavor Cartoony graphics Building and economic mechanics Lots of levels Decision-making freedom What I didn't like I found one game-stopping bug

Quick Plot

Make Lui-Lui Island a successful money-making tourist attraction with the help of some muscly hunks.

Mechanics

Time Management: Each level has a timer bar. Once the bar fills up, your time is out. Your task is to accomplish all of your listed goals before the timer runs out. As opposed to other similar games, there is no "Expert" goal to work for on these levels. And, you know, I actually didn't miss this feature. The time limits seem just right. Some are more challenging than others, and if you fail, you'll probably have an idea of what to do differently next time. Building: This game is about construction and money-making. You'll build 3 types of buildings:

• rental
• commercial, and
• outdoor goods.

Rental buildings house tourists and make money, commercial buildings just make money, and outdoor goods make rental buildings more attractive. Many buildings can be upgraded to be more valuable and more productive.

Constructing a temple next to a hotel. The dock makes both buildings more attractive.

Highlights

Theme: The tropical island theme permeates every part of the game, from the interface to the music to the dialogue. There's a distinct Hawaiian flavor that makes me want to go to the Tiki Room at Disneyland. In fact, that's exactly what the trophy room in this game is called - the Tiki Room. Features: By "features," I mean the little things that keep the game interesting. This includes

• 5 locations with 10 levels each, and 1 location with 5 levels
• 14 tikis to work for
• Lots of upgrades and unlockable items
• A good variety of buildings
• Interesting plot
• Clever and humorous dialogue
• Unlockable free play mode for every area (no time limit, no goals)

The Tiki Room, with 2 tikis left to earn

Humor: This is one of the best parts of the game. The voice work and graphics help to give the humor a wonderfully entertaining presentation. The main thing that cracked me up were the hunks, and more specifically, the head hunk - Kane. (Strangely enough, they don't pronounce it "KAH-nay" as with the Hawaiian deity's name. Instead, they just say, "CANE" like the thing you walk with.) As you play, you receive your instructions and feedback from Kane. He's the one keeping a strategic overview of what's going on, while your job is to successfully accomplish the construction, buying and selling, hiring workers, clearing forests, and making the place attractive to tourists. Kane never fails to say things in the most amusing way. The game is jam-packed with subtle humor. The same applies to the workers that you send running around to do your bidding. Every time you assign a task to a worker (a hunk, that is, a muscly dude wearing nothing but a red cloth around his waist), he'll respond with some comment like

• "More work! That's what I'm talking about." or
• "I need no rest." or
• "See these muscles? I made them myself."

The delivery of the lines is great. Whoever they got to voice this did a great job. Kane and the other hunks are pretty much clones of Kronk from Disney's The Emperor's New Groove. They look like him, and they speak in a similar manner. During the game, you'll have to deal with yuppies, surfers, and monkey infestations. Story: This game has a story. Every so often, you're given a cut-scene to show you how things are developing. And the story is actually interesting, and funny. Let me warn you though: you're left with a cliffhanger ending, which suggests that a sequel is coming. I'll talk more about this in the Issues section below. Cartoony Style: I mentioned before that the hunks look like Kronk. Well, the rest of the game has a cartoon style that also reminds me of The Emperor's New Groove. Fans of the movie should appreciate the art style here.

Liz and Kane

Issues

Progress-Stopping Bug: I figured out how to break the game, unintentionally of course. You see, at the Yippi Kai Yeh Temple, you are allowed to clear the forest in the first level. But in the rest of the levels, the game doesn't allow you to use that tool anymore. This is the only time in the game where this happens. The reason is plot-related. So, on the first level, I cleared out some trees and built a cabana down by the water. Then, when Kane told me to plant new forest after that, I closed in my cabana with trees, not realizing that hunks can't access a building that is closed off in this way. But, by this time, my ability to tear down trees was disabled, so I was stuck. I could never get to that cabana to salvage it, sell it, or shoo the monkeys away from it. Therefore, I couldn't accomplish the assigned goals, and therefore, I couldn't proceed with the game. There is no fix for this. I had to start the game from the beginning. And Yippi Kai Yeh Temple was the 5th of 6 areas to complete. I was almost done with the game. Needless to say, the second time through the game, I cleared every single spot of trees off the map on the first level of Yippi Kai Yeh Temple. I recommend you do the same. You'll need the space. Story Ending Confusion: As it turns out, there are only 4 required areas for finishing up the storyline for this game. So, once you play Kaba Lui Park, don't expect more from the story, like I did. Having viewed the final story sequence, I went on from Kaba Lui Park to unlock the two optional areas: Yippi Kai Yeh Temple and Blue Moon Lagoon. I didn't realize these were "optional" levels, so there I was, eagerly plugging away, waiting to find out what happened with the rest of the story. I finished the final level of Blue Moon Lagoon and waited for the big closing scene...which never came. No, friends, we have to wait for the sequel to find out what happens. So, just remember, Kaba Lui Park is the last level of the game that matters for the story.

What a level looks like after some development. Upper left corner: Kane, your advisor Lower left corner: You, Liz, the Coconut Queen

Suitable for the family?

My wife hasn't played it, so I don't know if she'll like the game. She's not much into building games. My kids liked the game because of the cartoony cuteness. And they liked hearing the hunks saying their numerous funny lines. We would snicker together as the hunks bounded across the screen from one building to another. The kids also liked pointing out crabs and butterflies for me to catch in my net, hearing the monkey sounds, and watching the hunks beat up sharks.

The family man's final ruling

Of all the building/real estate games I've tried, this is my favorite so far. The humor, the story, and the polished delivery made it a very enjoyable experience, even two times through! Build-a-lot or Be Rich fans are might really enjoy the freedom you have in this game. You can build anywhere you want, and the levels are much larger than a single screen. This open-endedness allowed greater creativity in arranging your buildings. And because the story drew me in, I'm all ready to play the sequel now. What's going to happen?!

You'll like the game if... You like real estate and building games You like a tropical resort theme You like subtle humor You want more freedom than other building games give you You won't like the game if... You don't like having to race the clock (time management) You don't like having to constantly track buildings, workers, and earnings

My rating:

The Movie's About to Start! - a review of Megaplex Madness: Now Playing

Want a straightforward time management game with intuitive gameplay? Megaplex Madness: Now Playing might be just the game for you. Hopefully I can help you decide in today's review!

What I liked Intuitive drag-and-drop gameplay Adequate game length What I didn't like Repetition Lack of features Mediocre production quality

Quick Plot

Provide good customer service, and make enough money to restore all the broken-down movie theaters in Movieville.

Mechanics

Time Management: Every level consists of the few minutes before the movie starts. During those few minutes, you need to serve as many people as you can. Each customer comes in with a good attitude (5 hearts), but their attitudes grow sour if you take too long to serve them (they lose hearts). You make more money from customers with lots of hearts. Arcade Games: During the game, you can buy arcade machines for your theaters. You can visit the arcade in between levels to play the games you've unlocked. These games are old-school arcade games with new names. You can play these to make extra money.

Highlights

There are very few highlights to mention for this game. The game is very simple. But there is one feature worth mentioning. Drag-and-Drop: In many time management games, you click-click-click to make things happen. In this game, you actually click the customer you want to move -- this picks them up -- and drag them to their requested stations (popcorn stand, ticket booth, bathroom, etc.). The developers even built in physics. The limbs of the little people will flail if you move them quickly, as if they're really being picked up and thrown around. It's pretty cute. This is the first time management game that I've played that used this sort of person movement, so it's worth mentioning.

Other than that, the game is very basic in its mechanics, which should be comforting to those of you who don't like complicated games. Each level consists of the following:

1. Look at the balloon above each customer's head. This tells you what the customer wants to do.
2. Drag the customer to their desired station.
3. Continue this until each customer has gone into the movie.

You will have

• 4 colors of characters: Blue, Red, Green, and Purple.
• 3 customer types: Patient, Normal, Impatient
• 3 degrees of success: Target, Expert, and Master.

You must earn the Target amount of money to move onto the next level. Earning the Expert amount of money does nothing significant. Earning the Master amount of money allows you to make a repair on the theater. These repairs, as far as I can tell, are visual only. They don't affect the gameplay. In between levels, you spend your money to buy useful upgrades, such as new workers, new concession stands, or new services. The more upgrades, the better your service. Each of the 5 theaters seem to get a bit more challenging than the previous one. There are 10 levels per theater.

One thing I was thankful to discover was that, even if you fail a level, you get to keep the money you earned. This allows you to buy additional theater upgrades before you try the level again.

Issues

Lack of Features: The only added feature of the game is the optional arcade games. But there are problems with these games.

1. It takes way too long to earn good money from them.
2. They are difficult old-school games (like Frogger, Galaga, and Breakout).
3. They don't have keyboard controls.

So, I spent very little time in the arcade. It just wasn't fun. Many time management games include a trophy room with various long-term goals to shoot for, or new upgrades and unlockables as you play and improve. You won't get any of that in this game. You'll just be doing the same thing over and over for each level. This will either be just right for you, or boring, depending on what types of games you like. In the Farm Frenzy series, it is fun to keep playing the level, trying for the Gold medal (the highest challenge level). In this game, there was nothing very fun about trying for the Master level, so I usually just moved on, regardless of how successfully I finished the level. Also, I would have liked more variety in the way customers look. But no. Each person is one of 7 or 8 models. It's a city of clones!

Suitable for the family?

Sure. The kids watched me play some of the time, but there is nothing inherently interesting for the weefolk. Also, the adult female customers all have bare midriffs. Why? As usual, the answer is simple: male developers. Would every female in town really wear stomach-revealing shirts?

The family man's final ruling

I've played various types of time management games, and I found Megaplex Madness: Now Playing to be unlike anything else I've played. The drag-and-drop method of moving people around was fairly unique, but nothing else really stood out. Is it worth playing? Sure. It was more fun than some other time management games I've tried. It was fun enough to keep playing to the end. Still, nothing about the game really shined. The music, graphics, and story are nothing special. This was just your everyday amusing casual game that anyone could pick up and play. I almost gave it a full 3 stars, but there are too many other high quality games pushing my rating lower. That said, if you can find the game for a good price, don't miss it.

You'll like the game if... You like simple games with few mechanics You like time management games You won't like the game if... You like complex games You like time management games with multiple features or layers of depth You like games with high production values like good music and graphics

My rating:

Mirrors, mirrors on the walls - a review of Princes Isabella: A Witch's Curse

In recent months, beginning with Mystery Case Files: Return to Ravenhearst, we have seen a handful of casual adventure games hit the market. Princess Isabella: A Witch's Curse is one of the pioneers in this new genre of games. So how does it do? Read on to find out!

What I liked Lovely graphics Very nice music Nice combo of adventure, hidden objects, and puzzles Fairy companion Easy to figure out what to do What I didn't like Too easy?

Quick Plot

Restore the cursed kingdom to its former glory, save all your friends and family by reconstructing their mirrors, and deal with whatever villain is behind the curse!

Mechanics

Adventure: The interface and mechanics of the game are predominantly characteristic of point-and-click adventure games. You walk from room to room and do things in each room of the castle. Puzzles: You'll face a wide variety of puzzles. Hidden Objects: Hidden object scenes are a common task you'll encounter. These give you the inventory items you'll use during your adventure.

Highlights

Graphics: The visuals in this game are beautiful. I would have liked more animations in the scenery, such as moving water, but overall, the environments are pleasing to the eye. The character art is pretty good too. Music: One of my favorite parts of the game was the music. I didn't see who composed it, but whoever it was did a great job. From orchestra to medieval instruments, the score contributed a nice backdrop for the journey. I especially liked the jingles that played each time I solved a puzzle or removed a curse from a room. Expect to keep the music on for this game. Fairy: A small fairy floats in the upper corner of the screen talking to you every so often, and offering abilities that help you with your tasks. For instance, she can use her rock ability to smash vases, or her water ability to water flowers. She also has hints for those times when you find yourself stumped.

Variety: I liked that this game had so many different types of puzzles. There's always something new to solve. I'm burnt out on hidden object games, but I can stomach a little bit of it when it's thrown into an adventure game like this. There is also marble popping, tile flipping, tile swapping, puzzle piecing, and many other types of brain-teasing tasks.

Issues

Too easy: The game felt a little short, but I don't think it's because the developers skimped on story or player objectives. Rather, I think it's because the puzzles are just not very challenging. Most of them can be solved in seconds. For the seasoned adventure gamer, this will be frustrating, but for people who see casual games as nothing more than a pleasant diversion, these puzzles might hit the spot. Nevertheless, I will mention that this simplicity was welcome when it came to the hidden object scenes. The objects were relatively easy to find, so I felt like they didn't stall my progress. I much prefer this to the sort of terribly challenging hidden object scenes found in Luxor Adventures. *shudder* So, you'll find that the game sails along at a steady clip, which is nice in principle, but you might find the puzzles less than satisfying. Don't expect a brain-burner.

Suitable for the family?

Wife: My wife loves these puzzle adventure games, so she's been having great fun with this one. Kids: The kids came over to watch from time to time, but there isn't a whole lot here to interest them. There are some ghosts in the game, which might spook some kids out. The ghosts are just wispy, glowing forms floating around, and you do get rid of them. My kids watched the ghosts and didn't seem to be bothered. Other than that, I can't remember anything scary, disturbing, or thematically inappropriate.

The family man's final ruling

If you thought Return to Ravenhearst or Dire Grove were too difficult, this game is probably just right for you. On the other hand, if you like challenging puzzles in your adventure games, this game probably won't be very stimulating for your mental processor. In my opinion, this game is a fun romp with enough variety to keep it interesting from start to finish. I wouldn't mind playing it again some day, just for kicks. There is nothing tedious or frustrating (except the fact that you can't ever look at the castle map for more than a few seconds at a time). This game was well-designed in every respect, and I think you'll find it to be worth your money.

You'll like the game if... You like hidden object scenes You like adventure games with inventory items and puzzles You like high production quality in your casual games You like games involving castles and fairies You won't like the game if... You only like adventure games with complex and challenging puzzles You want a long, involved story

My rating:

Will I ever get home? - a review of Wandering Willows

What do you get when a casual game developer combines roleplaying with adventure and simulation? You get Wandering Willows!

What I liked Cute, colorful graphics Good game length Odd and witty cast of characters Great music Task-driven gameplay What I didn't like Too many unused items Scarcity of some important items Repetitive and potentially tedious gameplay Short, unsatisfying ending

Quick Plot

Gather items, make things, and train animals to fulfill all of your friends' requests, so that you can escape the mysterious island.

Mechanics

Items: You spend most of the game wandering around the land gathering items, with the help of a pet. You also collect recipes and patterns. Once you know a recipe or pattern, you can use the items you've collected to make something, such as an item of clothing, foods and drinks, or flower bouquets. These items are the driving mechanic in the game. Everything you do involves gathering, making, and delivering items to the other inhabitants of the area. Animals: Animals roam all over the landscape, and you always have one animal tagging along with you. Each animal has 3 stats:

• Toughness: the ability to dig up holes
• Climb: the ability to climb trees
• Charm: the ability to get other animals to give you stuff

Additionally, each animal has some particular skill that helps you. For example, a Zeepzop is more likely to dig up metals for you. There is an animal storage building where you keep the animals you've collected. Here you can incubate eggs to acquire new animals, and you can change which animal will walk around with you. Every time your pet climbs, digs, or charms, his relevant stat will go up. This continues until his skill levels reach a maximum limit. You can also make collars to equip on your animals. These collars give skill boosts to the animal. Animals are an important part of the game because they do all the work for you. Once they've retrieved some item for you, all you have to do is pick it up off the ground. As they work, their energy bar runs low and you need to give them food to restore their energy. Tasks: This is a task-driven game. You will complete more than 120 tasks before the end of the game. These tasks are assigned by the other people living on the island. Whenever one of these people has a question mark above his or her head, it means they want to talk to you. Once you talk to them, they'll give you a task. Once the task is completed, you'll receive something from them, and your friendship level with the requesting characters will increase. The friendship level doesn't seem to be anything more than a statistic. It doesn't affect gameplay, from what I can tell, other than earning medals. Goals and Medals: As you reach certain benchmarks in the game, you will receive medals. These are rewarded for things like training an animal until his stats are maxed, and gaining a friendship status of "Best Friend" with another character. Additionally, you have a set of long-term goals laid out for you at the beginning of the game, which must be fulfilled to complete your main goal of escaping the island. These goals are completed simply by playing through the game and finishing certain tasks.

Highlights

Controls: Walking around the island is simple. Click your mouse (or hold the mouse button down), and your character will go to that location. Another feature I loved is that, when picking up items, there is no limit to how many you can click in a row. So you can click on 8 pieces of wool on the ground in quick succession, and the little hand icon will remain on all of them until your character picks them up. While you do earn the ability to warp to specific locations later in the game, I wish the developers had included some kind of Fast Forward feature, allowing you to travel more quickly from place to place. Sometimes, I just didn't want to wait for my guy to walk. I also wished they would have built in keyboard controls for scrolling the camera or moving the character. But basically, if you want to do anything in the game, just click on it - whether it's a tree, a person, a digging pile, or a shop. So, the game is easy to control. Interface: The developers were kind enough to offer a small overhead map in the corner. Clicking any spot on this map will make your character walk to that location. Stars on the map indicate the locations of the other characters. Mousing over a star will tell you which character it is. A gold flashing star means that character wants to talk to you. These little indicators are very helpful. Your animal has a spot for himself in the upper left corner, where you can see his picture and his stats. Mousing over his picture will show you his abilities and description. Mousing over a character or animals will show you what they like and don't like. This is helpful when giving gifts to people or food to animals. Another helpful feature is the bar at the top of the screen. It constantly cycles through your currently assigned tasks, reminding you what needs to be done. There are arrows on the bar that allow you to manually scroll through your tasks if you prefer. And if you want a detailed view of all your tasks, there's a button in the lower left corner that brings up all your task information. Music: Because there are a host of fair composers out there, and only a handful of really good ones, I always have to highlight any score by Sean Beeson. This friendly fellow has composed another great soundtrack this time. While I wish there was more music in the game, the few tracks that repeat are very nice and fit the mood of the game perfectly.

Game length: You're going to get plenty of play out of this game. If you wanted to, you could choose to postpone your tasks and just go around collecting items, leveling up your animals, and working for those hard-to-earn medals. Humor: The characters in this game are just.....weird (or quirky, if you prefer). I did laugh out loud a few times at the comments made by the characters. Each character seems to be a witty caricature of a very specific type of person you might meet in our world - strange old man, health freak, or geek for example. But, the humor might not appeal to everyone. It seems to be written primarily for folks in their 30s or late 20s.

Issues

Repetition: If you don't like wandering around collecting things, this game might get tedious for you. And your frustration might be amplified by the fact that

• the items you get from digging or charming are somewhat random (an animal might drop 3 or 4 different items, but you never know which one it will be), and
• some items that you really need are scarce, while items you don't need show up in abundance.

Is this enough of an issue to ruin the game? No. It wasn't for me. It irks a bit, but that's all. Too many useless recipes: You will frequently collect new recipes and patterns for making things. This opens up all kinds of options for the kinds of objects you can make as gifts, or cook up for your animals to eat. Unfortunately, I rarely found use for any of these recipes or patterns. For the fun of it, I did make a pirate hat, pirate coat, and ruffed shirt to give my guy a pirate outfit (at my son's request). I also made a kung fu outfit for my guy. And hey, you can even choose what colors the clothes are. But still, all those things you collect just waste space if you don't do anything with them. That was a letdown. Your character is likely to end up a pack rat like mine did. But, you don't have to look at your recipes if you don't want to. It's the concept that bothers me. It just feels like wasted space, time, and energy. That said, you will actually need a handful of recipes and patterns for you assigned tasks.

You get to customize how your character looks!

Suitable for the family?

My wife wasn't interested in playing the game, just from watching me play. Then she sat down and tried it herself, and now she's well into her own game. She's enjoying the task-driven play. The kids loved watching this one because the characters are cute, and even more importantly, there are furry little fantastic creatures walking around everywhere. They were always eagerly requesting that I switch to a different pet to take around with me. While nothing in the game is visually offensive, I made sure not to read all the character dialogue out loud for my kids to hear. Some of the conversations would be inappropriate for kids, both in terms of language, and some insinuated themes (homosexuality and cross-dressing included). But these themes are subtle and pass by very quickly. And in case it is likely to offend you, there is also one character who frequently says (out loud), "God! Don't sneak up on me like that!".

The family man's final ruling

This game stands out in my mind as unique. There is nothing else like it on the market as of now. It has a way of keeping you playing. There's a sense of development that is often found in roleplaying games. There is always another new item to find, a new person to befriend, a new animal to train, a new area of the map to unlock, and a new task to work on. Add in cute, colorful graphics, top-notch music, and humorous characters - and you've got yourself a very good game. Sure, I had my complaints, but that didn't seem to damper my eagerness to play. The only other thing that would have made the experience more rewarding is a longer, more robust ending. But I always say that. I recommend this game, even if the humor goes over the head of some people younger than 20 and older than 40. You might get more hours of play out of this game than any other casual game in your collection.

You'll like the game if... You like task-oriented gameplay You like gathering and collecting stuff You like cute, colorful graphics You like witty, subtle humor You like roleplaying/simulation elements You won't like the game if... You get burned out by constantly exploring for random items You're hoping for some fast-paced action or time management

My rating: