Archive for the ‘Adventure’ Category

Jewel Quest Myteries-Curse of the Emerald Tear Review

Action, Adventure, Hidden Object/I Spy, Match, Puzzle, Seek and Find | Posted by Zeke
Mar 10 2010

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Looking for lost treasure would get old by now, right? Jewels Quest Mysteries-Curse of the Emerald Tear is just as exciting and fun as all the Jewel Quest series, and you are still looking for lost treasure. Go figure. In this Mac game youJewel Quest Mysteries2 have the hidden object play with a match game and an early game board puzzle.

The main play is the hidden object one with a little twist to it. Instead of getting helps automatically you must search for 3 gold coins in order to get hints for your game. In addition to the usual list of items located on the left side, you need to search for gems scattered throughout each location. The gems will buy you upgrades to your game so it is important to find as many as possible in each area.

Jewel Quest Mysteries4You are in Egypt and the map takes you to various locations in your search for treasure. Also watch out to not click randomly on items or you will be deducted time. There are 2 modes of play for the hidden object game, Regular Time and Extended Time. The choice is yours.

In Jewel Quest Mysteries you have the familiar story of searching for gems in this case the Emerald Tear, Rupert and Jewel Quest Mysteries5Emma Pack and in a place like the Valley of the Kings, Egypt. Of course, not to mention the fabled power of this gem to do great things is another draw to investigate this unique game. All this sounds all too cliché, but Jewel Quest is consistently good with all their games and this one is no exception. The graphics and sound effects are excellent, and the play is enjoyable. This game combines the Jewel Quest match games with a hidden object play in the best possible way.

Features of Jewel Quest Mysteries:
-18 Backgrounds
-Exotic Hidden Object Games
-Mini Games
-Jewel Quest Mystery Storyline

Play more Jewel Quest games: Jewel Quest 1, 2, 3, 4 & Solitaire

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Westward II Review

Action, Adventure, Sim | Posted by Meg
Mar 08 2010

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Westward II is an epic Mac game with a grandiose undertaking to develop and defend an entire town of happy, well-adjusted folks from the Copperhead Gang. What an incredible sim game for anyone who loves cowboys, westerns and pioneer type story. The landscape in itself is enormous and in a wide scaled and diverse environment.

You enter this game with music of the great frontier and western deserts and plateaus. Everything you learned or saw in the movies about the early pioneer days will come back to you in this massive undertaking of a Mac game Westward II. You select your person or hero from 3 unlikely characters: Marion unlocks the Windmill and corn, Maureen unlocks the banks a no cost and Terrance unlocks the trading post at no cost. One of them will become your hero so choose wisely. Your job is to build a profitable, happy town in the wild west. An explanation mark over the heads of the people will appear when they wish to talk to you. Just click on the mark and find out what they want. Left click on the people and drag them to another location. To move or look at other parts of the map drag the cursor to the edge of the screen or click on the small map on the lower left side and click where you would like to go. To zoom in or out use the scroll or plus, minus (+, -) keys.

To begin building your town, click on the tool then what you need built (tent, shack, log cabin). Not all the choices will be available to you. You must get experience to unlock more items. Your character is quite amiable to build your shack, but you must get others to help so your person can go and get food, supplies and more shelter. If you keep the people fed, they will work for you, and if you need to build a house, you’ll need lumber and people to build it. You need trees to build so you must drag a person willing to go to a fallen tree and click on it to get him to chop the wood.

In order to buy supplies and items, you have to have gold or money. There are a lot of veins of gold all over the frontier to mine. You can get a mine, have someone work on it and get your gold. People will often barter with you to work on your projects so take advantage of it to progress in the game.

You would think that all this is quite enough to keep you entertained but there’s more. The wild west would not be the wild west without the bad guys, and the baddest of them all is the Copperhead Gang. You need to defend yourself and your town from them by getting a group of people to help you in a shoot out. You drag your cursor around some people, arm them with guns and they will help you defend your stakes.

The meter at the bottom of the screen will help you monitor your necessities so you do not fall behind in the game, because you get so into the play and landscape that you may forget to feed your people and provide water when needed.

I could go on and on about this game, but you need to try it out for yourself. The landscape alone will mesmerize you. I kept moving over canyons, forest, plains and rivers and nearly forgot to get back to the town. Even though it is in a cartoon setting, it’s done so well and beautifully, you forget that it’s not real and you are just playing a very involved game. The dialogue is funny, the music big and the play most interesting, so build your own prosperous town on the frontier of civilization and enjoy yourself for many hours.

Features of Westward II:
-Bring Copperhead Gang to Justice
-Over 20 Buildings
-Awards
-New Sandbox Mode

Rating: ★★★★☆

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Saqqarah Review

Adventure, Match, Puzzle | Posted by Meg
Mar 07 2010

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The ancient quest for buried treasure and wisdom can be found beneath the ground in Egypt. Saqqarah is a story of ancient gods, good and evil, riches and knowledge. You are to unveil and conquer what lies beneath the Pyramid of Saqqarah put there 1000 years ago.

Your journey begins at the Temple of Isis. All the other temples are locked until you complete the necessary levels. The temple has been ruined by Seth, the evil god who was placed below the pyramid of Saqqarah. The puzzle is a match 3 or more colors and light up the entire board. You click on a color to swap position with another piece and make a match of 3 or more gems. If time runs out you lose the level and must start again. You will be assisted by Khufu a blue talking primate. Every 5 moves Khufu will charge one of the tokens with explosive power. By destroying the obstacles you will finish faster. Matched gems fall to the ground and the scarab sweeps them away for Khufu to cast helping spells. If you want the scarab to work faster, click on it and see it scurry.

If you are stuck and cannot make any more matches, click on the shuffle button, but be wary that the next time you need it, it will take longer. When you have combos your score is higher. The token of Seth will block your moves, and you must destroy them if you can. After completing a level you will come to the Bonus Rounds. The Glyph of Magic will have you matching hieroglyphics at the bottom of the screen with rows of options above.

Each temple offers different types of puzzles. One is making a pattern with the gems to light up the boards and the other is to make the longest chain of the same color with the gems instead of swapping.

I got to the 3rd temple quite quickly and am anxious to find out what kind of puzzles with its many levels await me. This Mac game has great graphics and appropriate music, but I did not enjoy the announcer every few minutes talking loudly about each event. It was okay a few times, but after that it became annoying. I did like the fact there are 7 different kinds of puzzles in this one game. It gives you a variety of plays in one location. More bang for your buck.

Features of Saqqarah:
-Over 500 Levels
-7 Different Puzzle Game Mechanics
-Earn Ranks, trophies, Magic Powers
-Hidden Object Bonus Rounds

Rating: ★★★½☆

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Fishdom: Frosty Splash Review

Adventure, Aquarium, Match | Posted by Meg
Mar 06 2010


Fishdom: Frosty Splash is one of the holiday themed match 3/sim Mac plays made after the original Fishdom first came out. The other 2 are Spooky Splash (Halloween) and Harvest Splash (Thanksgiving). Frosty Splash with its Christmas like music and decorations gives your tank a festive appeal.

The swap match 3 or more like items to destroy whether timed or not is a very relaxing and easy play. This is where you will earn money and points from making large matches as quickly as possible. You must swap a sea creature or shell with 2 or more of the same pieces to destroy the gold tiles. You can accomplish this with the help of the bombs, dynamite and other wonderful explosives that will take out many objects in one fell swoop. The lightning will remove all of 1 type of item on the board.

The blocks in this game are the single chains, double chains, the board layout (many in forms of animals, Christmas tree, heart, etc.) and metal tiles will try to deter you from finishing the level in time.

After you earn money from the match games, you can start buying items for your fish tank. You need to satisfy the fish, beauty and comfort levels of the tank in order to earn trophies and to buy more tanks. You can also click on the eye at the top left to view your tanks at any time.

As a match player I went through the match games quickly without buying anything until I earned a lot of money, but you can buy anything after each level if you have enough money for your item. The items in Fishdom: Frosty Splash are Christmasy things like the fish with a santa hat, a lopsided Christmas tree and cold, frosty items.

This winter holiday game is very similar to the first Fishdom but with Christmas like music and objects. I didn’t find the match games challenging, but they were still fun to do. Filling the tank with bought items is not much of a novelty after playing the initial Fishdom. The artwork in all the Fishdom games are colorful and enjoyable, but the almost Christmas tunes gets a little mundane after awhile. I would suggest you try all the different Fishdom games and see which one suits you the best. I think Fishdom: Frosty Splash may have more power-ups and bonuses than the initial game, but see what you like.

Features of Fishdom: Frosty Splash:
-Design Festive, Holiday Tanks
-100 Winter Decorations
-Screensaver

Rating: ★★★½☆

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Mystery Stories: Island of Hope Review

Action, Adventure, Hidden Object/I Spy, Puzzle | Posted by Meg
Mar 05 2010

Island of Hope
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Mystery Stories: Island of Hope is a sequel to the great hidden object game Berlin Nights. Michelle Deanfield, the courageous reporter, is feted with accolades on her recent coverage of the mystery in Berlin and is offered a lavish, relaxing vacation in the tropics awaiting a possible Pulitzer nomination.

Little does Michelle know that another mystery awaits her on the Caribbean island. Her fun in the sun is suddenly Island of Hope 2brought to a halt when the professor of the local museum and a Mayan artifact disappears. Knowing Michelle, she cannot let this matter go and must investigate every nook and cranny of different buildings, dive into the crystal clear, warm waters of the sea to find answers to all the strange happenings of this paradise.

The play is similar to Mystery Stories: Berlin Nights with many interesting hidden object scenes. In addition to finding the listed items you must at times perform acts such as putting film in a camera (anyone do that anymore in this digital Island of Hope6world?) or fill a case with gold coins. The scenes are all pertinent to the story and all are interesting places with intriguing objects to discover. To solve the mystery you must solve the tasks. Some things are difficult to see and you may have to move objects to look behind them. The cursor will change to a hand for you to be able to move an item.

In each level there are hints you can find in the scene. The speed search will display many of the objects at once for a limited time, and the stop bonus will stop the clock for a limited time. Bonus points will double the amount of points for each hidden object found for a limited time only.

Also like in Berlin Nights there are the different types of hidden object play such as searching for items by viewing Island of Hope5silhouettes or by their sounds. The mini puzzles like the moving pieces to access the lock and others are interesting but can be skipped if you wish to get back to the main play.

Even though the games are similar to Berlin Nights, the scenes and atmosphere of the Caribbean isle is engaging and Island of Hope3interesting enough to play. The music is dramatic and appropriate for the story. The graphics are great with deep intense colors. The story is not as engaging as Berlin Nights but maybe it isn’t fair to compare the 2 stories with its different locations and circumstances. Also the mystery may increase as the levels go up. With 87 levels it’s bound to peak anyone’s curiosity of the mysterious disappearance of the professor and the precious artifact while playing some fantastic hidden object puzzles.

Features of Mystery Stories: Island of Hope
-87 Levels
-8 Bonus Games
-Secret of Ancient Dream Island

Rating: ★★★★☆

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